I adjusted my posture to sit upright. Today I will be interviewing potential tutors for Elodie. Though she was the ducal heir, I couldn’t help but think a child of six was too young for formal tutoring.

But if the child’s father thought a tutor was necessary, I had no intention of stopping that decision.

‘Still, I should see what kind of person they are.’

Anyway, the final decision lies with Theodore Baniche. That’s probably why he’s telling me I can go back if I want. But it wouldn’t be right to not participate at all in selecting the tutor. Besides, the reason I was momentarily lost in thought wasn’t just because I was tired.

‘The Duke… what is he thinking?’

I glanced at him. As my thoughts cleared, like a fog lifting, the recent events started to make sense bit by bit.

‘There was no need to ask to be made the official guardian. Duke Baniche had already completely entrusted Elodie to me.’

The “life” implied by the act of kneeling on both knees could be interpreted in various ways. In Duke Baniche’s case, it probably meant his daughter, who was more precious to him than his life.

‘At that time, it hadn’t been long since he got to know me. But how…’

My heart started pounding again. Had I shown the Duke something to make him trust me to that extent?

But there was little time to dwell on these thoughts. Duke Baniche began explaining while leafing through a stack of papers.

“They say they’ve filtered out as much as possible from the documents. After all, both you and I are busy people.”

“How many in total?”

“Forty-four. All of them have been background checked, so you can rest assured.”

I looked at Duke Baniche in bewilderment. If forty-four was the number after filtering out as much as possible, just how many applicants were there originally…?

Inevitably, a somewhat overwhelmed voice flowed from my mouth.

“Are we interviewing all of them today?”

“No. We’ll see half of them.”

“Eric must be having a hard time.”

“It’s a task he has to handle.”

Duke Baniche answered coldly.

“Besides, I heard Eric took several helpers with him.”

“That’s right! They’re all very diligent and good people, and they’ve been a great help at the café.”

In fact, there was almost nothing left for me to do at the café now. Eric had brought a promising maid from the kitchen and had her learn how to make drinks and desserts from me.

So in my spare time, I could think of new menu items, or analyze customers’ reactions to existing menu items to improve them further. I could also make time for Elodie like this. Not turning Eric into an enemy had been a good choice.

“I’m glad to hear that. It means he could repay you a little.”

I blinked. Could it be that this man thought the compensation he had given me so far was not enough?

Before I could think properly, words automatically spilled from my mouth.

“I’ve received more than enough compensation already.”

“Is that so? Then it means you don’t need any more. How disappointing…”

My face flushed at his teasing tone.

“If you’re willing to show kindness, I have no intention of declining.”

“Is that so? I’ll keep that in mind.”

The Duke chuckled and handed me a heavy stack of papers.

“Just skim through this before the interviews start.”

I looked down with a dumbfounded expression. It wasn’t just white paper and black letters… but documents densely packed with details of each candidate. It would take quite some time just to read the first page!

I looked up at the Duke.

“When did you write all this?”

“Of course, I didn’t do it myself.”

The Duke smiled.

“It turns out I have quite a few capable people left around me.”

“Like Count Jacob?”

The Duke raised one eyebrow.

“I thought you disliked Jacob, but has your mind changed already? Yes, of course, including Jacob.”

“I never disliked him.”

I quickly replied.

“Rather, I’m grateful that he respects me.”

“I see.”

The Duke seemed a bit surprised but didn’t press further.

‘At this rate, he might find out that I asked about the meaning of kneeling.’

That day, the Duke seemed out of his mind, but he would still remember. Feeling like I had learned about his taboo, I quietly closed my mouth and opened the stack of documents. Each candidate, with perfect abilities, family background, and recommendations, seemed too valuable to turn away.

‘Why would such people want to be tutors?’

I was genuinely curious. Why on earth would a Marquis’s daughter who graduated second in her class from the Empire’s top academy want to become a tutor?

If she didn’t want to work for her family, she could have pursued a successful career as an imperial official. One peculiar fact was that there were also some male candidates.

“There are many men too?”

Men here usually wouldn’t take on the job of teaching young children, even if it was for a duke’s daughter. That’s why in village schools responsible for basic education, there were only female teachers. The Duke nodded.

“I ordered them to focus on people who could become the best tutors, regardless of gender.”

“Well, if they have the ability…”

I answered somewhat reluctantly. I couldn’t say the Duke was wrong. But I did think that a woman would be better as a tutor for a six-year-old girl.

‘Still, it’s better to meet them first.’

In the end, without having properly read even a quarter of the many documents, the tutor interviews began.

And when the first memorable candidate entered, I was so dumbfounded that I gaped.

‘What’s with this person?’

The documents certainly seemed fine. But dressed flamboyantly from head to toe, they didn’t seem like someone who could take care of a child at all.

Even though a tutor is supposed to teach, Elodie is an active child. How could they teach Elodie to wear clothes that looked stiff and tight, making it difficult to move?

The Duke seemed to share my thoughts, shaking his head and marking an X next to the first name on the list. The candidate, ordered to leave without even being asked a question, looked greatly disappointed but left the place bowing politely. The next candidate was a bit better.

“I plan to create a new weekly schedule every week. I’ll submit reports every weekend, and if you point out any deficiencies, I’ll correct them immediately.”

I whispered to the Duke.

“I like this one.”

The Duke carefully opened his mouth.

“Can we see an example of that schedule?”

“Of course. I thought you might be curious, so I prepared a suitable schedule for the young lady in advance.”

The candidate elegantly handed the weekly schedule to the Duke. Hmm. This won’t do. It might be okay if Elodie was sixteen, but does it make sense for a six-year-old child to spend ten hours a day studying?

The Duke, with a half-horrified expression, marked an X above the name of the second candidate. By the time we had interviewed all the candidates we were supposed to see that day, I was exhausted and slumped over the desk.

“How is it that there isn’t a single suitable person? They all looked so good on paper.”

“We still have tomorrow to go.”

The Duke calmly replied.

“Today wasn’t bad. I’d like to hire some of them as my aides. They weren’t suitable as Elodie’s tutor, though.”

“…Ah.”

It finally made sense.

“So they didn’t come just aiming for the tutor position.”

“That’s right.”

The Duke sighed.

“Still, this is a bit too much… I hope we find someone suitable for Elodie tomorrow.”

I nodded in strong agreement with Duke Baniche. There were twenty-two candidates left. Surely, there must be a suitable person among them, right?

***

To cut to the chase, finding a suitable person was not easy at all.

‘It’s better than yesterday, but…’

I sighed. Certainly, the candidates’ profiles were much better than yesterday. At least there was no one who seemed incapable of taking care of Elodie for even an hour.

‘Did the aides deliberately gather only unsuitable candidates yesterday?’

But there were some candidates who were so unsuitable that Duke Baniche reacted violently…

“Lady Carbodin, leave immediately.”