The man pointed to the struggling child with a nod.

Brightling? That Brightling?

While she might not know other nobles, Brightling was a name impossible not to know. They were known as the wealthiest family in the Kingdom of Greet, said to own so much real estate that one steps on Brightling land every two hours within the kingdom.

So the late child was their son……

“Over there, you can sit in that empty seat.”

Connie pointed to the seat next to the princess that had been empty until now.

“I hate it, I hate that place, I hate that seat. I hate school, and I hate you too, Uncle!”

Ah, so it’s his uncle, not his father.

The appearance that couldn’t possibly be seen as the child’s father was immediately explained.

As Callian struggled, his uncle simply tucked the child under his arm and strode purposefully to the seat Connie had indicated. The child’s flailing made him look like a puppet, such was the man’s unhindered movement.

Is that okay? Isn’t he handling him too roughly?

But since he was the child’s guardian, it was awkward to intervene, and truthfully, Callian was causing such a commotion that it seemed like he couldn’t be subdued any other way.

“I said I hate it…… I hate it, I hate…… Huh?”

But strangely, Callian, who had been forced into his seat, continued shouting but suddenly closed his mouth tightly, and as if under some spell, sat quietly in his place.

What’s going on?

While Callian’s sudden change in attitude was curious, the commotion had at least been settled for now. After Callian took his seat, his uncle looked around the classroom, moved to the back where the parents were standing, greeted the Queen, and stood beside her. He seemed to already be acquainted with the Queen.

The Queen’s expression didn’t look particularly bright as she received the greeting, but……

By the way, why did Callian’s attitude suddenly change?

Connie, who had been looking at the Queen and Callian’s uncle, now turned her gaze to Callian. The red-haired boy who had been causing a scene saying he hated everything was now sitting straighter than anyone else, looking at Princess Daniella, who was sitting properly with her back straight, looking only at her teacher, Connie. No, to be precise, he was only looking at the princess’s face.

Hmm…… Is it really okay?

Although she intuitively felt a bit uneasy, Connie eventually began the activities she had prepared.

The first-grade children were looking at her with bright, attentive eyes.

⁕⁕⁕

After the welcome greeting, calling the names of the twelve children, showing them their seats and lockers, and telling them to go home with their parents and meet again tomorrow, an hour had quickly passed. The entrance ceremony day only had that one hour of class, but Connie felt exhausted from just that time.

But far from rest, more intensive classes would start tomorrow, so she had to spend her time busily preparing not only for lessons but also for all the things that needed to be prepared at the beginning of the school year.

“Teacher Clarence, we have a meeting to attend.”

Teacher Anna, the homeroom teacher of the neighboring class, came to find Connie, who was busy attaching name tags to the children’s lockers.

It seemed the faculty meeting time had arrived.

A new vice principal was supposed to arrive today. According to Teacher Anna’s explanation, the new vice principal was the only son of the Steen family and had come as vice principal to gain experience before inheriting the Steen Foundation, so he was a young person with no teaching experience.

‘Even if he’s the foundation’s heir, can someone young and inexperienced fulfill the role of vice principal?’ There was some doubt, but it was just a private thought. Perhaps the heir to the foundation was inherently different from the start.

Since he’s the heir to the Steen Foundation, his surname must be Steen……

While thinking this, Connie’s eyes widened dramatically when she saw the young man entering with the principal.

Why, why is Ethan here?

The man who entered with the principal was Ethan Schwab. The very Ethan Schwab she had last seen on graduation day and thought she would never see again.

“Teachers, you’ve all worked hard today. Thank you for your efforts. First, let me introduce our new vice principal, Teacher Ethan Schwab.”

What, Vice Principal Ethan Schwab? In the midst of the confusion as the principal introduced Ethan, Connie’s eyes met with his. His eyes widened. It seemed Ethan also didn’t know that Connie had become a teacher at this school.

But Ethan, you weren’t as surprised as I am. Heir to the Steen Foundation? Why Ethan Schwab, not Ethan Steen?

Ethan gave Connie a barely perceptible smile before moving a few steps to the center and introducing himself. He said that he had just graduated from Steen University and had no experience, but would learn and work hard to help the teachers.

After Ethan’s introduction, during the principal’s and several teachers’ speeches, Connie tried not to look at Ethan and regained her composure as much as possible.

“Teacher Anna, how is Ethan Schwab…… Vice Principal Schwab is the heir to the Steen Foundation? His surname is different.”

While returning to the classroom after the meeting, Connie discreetly asked Teacher Anna.

“Oh! You didn’t know. It’s a famous story, why wouldn’t you know? Teacher Clarence, you really must have only studied and never looked at news or magazines.”

“……”

“The current chairperson is the daughter of the previous Marquis Steen. Since he had no son, the foundation was passed to his daughter. The chairperson married Count Schwab, so the son born between the chairperson and Count Schwab is set to inherit the foundation.”

“Ah……”

How could she have known all the succession news of noble families? For the past four years, she had been interested in nothing but studying and tutoring.

Even at Steen University, she knew she was attending school with people from famous noble families, but Connie neither had interest in them nor the luxury to care. After all, the world they lived in and the world she lived in were different.

Still, it was funny that she didn’t even know this about the man she had passionately loved for three years.

Come to think of it, not directly confessing to him that day was heaven-sent. Now that we’ve met again, what would have happened if I had confessed then? He still likes the woman he broke up with, and as the heir to the Steen Foundation, he could even be considered my employer.

I thought I was unlucky when the prince overheard my confession of unrequited love that day, but seeing how things turned out, it was fortunate that it was the prince who overheard. Of course, his little sister has now become a student in my class, but the chances of running into a student’s brother must be a thousand times less than running into a workplace superior, right?

“Teacher Connie Clarence!”

A man’s voice flew into the back of Connie’s head as she was trying to calm herself.

She could tell who it was just by the voice.

Anna, who turned around with her, raised her eyebrows slightly as if asking, ‘Why is the vice principal calling Teacher Connie?’ Connie shook her head as if she didn’t know.

“I’ll go to the classroom first. Come after you’ve finished talking.”

Anna shrugged her shoulders once and headed toward the classroom, and by then, Ethan had come right in front of Connie.

“Hello?”

Connie deliberately greeted him without adding a title because she wasn’t sure how to address him.

“Hello, Clarence.”

“Umm, yes.”

She felt like she should speak formally since he was the vice principal, but when Ethan spoke casually, it felt awkward to be formal alone, so she gave a strange response.

“There’s no one else around, so feel free to speak comfortably, okay?”

“Umm, but why did you call me?”

“Just wanted to say hello because I was glad to see you. I never imagined you would become a teacher at this school.”

Whatever he might have become, he probably never imagined anything about her. So he must mean that someone so young had been hired as a teacher at Steen School.

“I’m working as a first-grade homeroom teacher starting today. I was hired before graduation.”

“I see. I thought you would definitely continue studying at the university. Teachers don’t usually let go of students with grades as excellent as yours.”

“Ah……”

It was true that Connie had been either first or second in her class throughout her four years. But would Ethan Schwab have known that? Was he saying this after seeing her receive the top graduate award at the graduation ceremony?

“You…… don’t seem to know how famous a student you were.”

Ethan said with a grin.

“What? Famous? Me? Why?”

What on earth was he talking about?

“Connie Clarence. The ‘Study……’ who doesn’t interact with anyone, locked away in the deep mountains of academia, living only on dew…… Anyway, you were famous.”

“Study…… what?”

“You always went around alone. So everyone was curious about you. Because you didn’t give them a chance……”

Though she couldn’t understand what Ethan was saying, she could clearly see that his face, reflecting the afternoon sunlight, was dazzlingly beautiful. Connie forgot she needed to respond to his words and just stared at his refreshing face.

“Ah! Sorry, I’m talking about things only I know. Actually, I followed you because there’s something I wanted to ask.”

“What?”

“Weren’t you going to tell me something on graduation day? You said we’d talk again when we met next time. I was disappointed we didn’t have a chance to meet again, but here we are meeting again.”

Connie gulped. He remembered that. Just forget it. Why is Ethan Schwab so kind, friendly, thoughtful, and even has such a good memory? This is why I like you. No…… liked you……

That verb had to be firmly in the past tense now.

“It was nothing special. I was just going to congratulate you on graduating.”

“……Really?”