Chapter 2.2

‘Am I crazy!’

This angel, no, why did the teacher smile so easily! 

Just meeting his eyes made his lips curl beautifully, and her heart couldn’t take it.

“The maid said she would bring tea soon and asked me to wait here.”

“Oh, I see.”

She wished Selly would come quickly. She didn’t know what courage had led her to converse with this man and even make a contract yesterday. 

Had I been bewitched by something?

“Is it alright to conduct the lesson here?”

“What?”

“I didn’t know the lesson location was filled with such pure paintings.”

The teacher looked around at her works with a meaningful expression. 

What misunderstanding was this man having?

“Oh, this is…”

“I’m nervous about having a lesson in front of works featuring children.”

Wait a minute. What are you imagining? This is just my studio. 

She tried to correct the misunderstanding, but her mouth closed in embarrassment.

Being alone with a man without Selly made her feel like a fool. She took a deep breath and gathered her courage. She couldn’t use her sacred studio for such purposes.

“So, this is my work…”

“Miss? Did you choose your studio as the classroom?”

And of all times, Selly appeared.

“Well, the bedroom would be a bit much, right?”

Selly giggled, oblivious to her master’s blushing with embarrassment.

* * *

Selly placed tea and snacks on the table set in the studio. The scent of jasmine tickled her nose. The freshly baked oatmeal cookies smelled savory. Seeing the food calmed her heart. She thought filling her stomach might give her more courage, so she reached for a cookie.

“Oh, Miss. You finished before the lesson.”

“Yes, but I still have a few more to paint.”

Work was piling up. She meticulously incorporated the demanding requests into each piece, and the constant influx of work was truly exhausting.

But thinking about buying Felix’s new magical items made the fatigue disappear. The recently released self-defense magic gun looked so cool that she had coveted it for a while. Of course, it wasn’t particularly useful for someone who rarely went out, but it was worth collecting.

“Our butler is very skilled at brewing tea. Please try some.”

“Thank you, Miss.”

Imagining the magical items seemed to relax her body. After offering tea to the teacher, she tapped her ear, calling Selly over. The quick-witted Selly bent down. She whispered softly into Selly’s ear, ensuring the teacher couldn’t hear.

“Why did you send the teacher alone? You should have come with him! I was so startled.”

“I couldn’t help it. Miss Diana arrived, so I told him to go up quickly.”

“Diana?”

“Yes, as you know, Miss Diana has a hobby of collecting handsome men, regardless of their status.”

Using the word ‘collecting’ for people wasn’t appropriate, but there was no better way to describe Diana’s hobby. If someone caught her fancy, Diana would always get their name and contact information. She remembered countless times when she had seen Diana approach unfamiliar men while they were out together.

‘My dream is to find all the hidden beauties in the world.’

Thinking about Diana’s hobby made her head spin.

“Why did she have to leave work early today? Wait, did she go up to the room?”

“She said she was just picking up some things and would leave again.”

Phew. Erica felt relieved. If Diana ran into the teacher, she would somehow get his contact information and might even assign him some task. She could even make him handle a whip. Just imagining it was awful.

She glanced at the teacher. He was leisurely sipping tea and admiring the paintings, seemingly uninterested in their conversation.

She told Selly to leave and fiddled with her wrist bracelet. It was curious that the teacher had found her in the studio while she was wearing the bracelet.

The bracelet had the function of making her presence faint, so even people nearby wouldn’t notice her. It also set up an invisible barrier that kept people at a certain distance. Because of this, Selly often called out, “Miss, where are you!” even when she was right in front of her.

‘Hmm, I’ve startled people by speaking to them, but it’s never been the other way around.’

Anyway, it wasn’t important right now, so she pushed the thought aside and removed the bracelet. She couldn’t let it interfere with the lesson.

“In the future… even if I’m working, please knock on the door. When I’m focused, I don’t notice someone next to me.”

“Yes, understood.”

“And wait for my permission before entering.”

“I’ll follow that too.”

The teacher nodded at whatever she said. In the contract, she was the one in charge. The teacher could only proceed within the boundaries she set. If he violated them, the contract would be voided.

“Let’s have the lesson here in my studio. The bedroom is a bit much… and using an empty room is awkward.”

“Sounds good.”

The teacher gave a brief nod and lifted the teacup to his lips naturally… even the way he drank tea was elegant. Every small gesture was enticing. The teacup touched his lips and then parted, revealing a glimpse of his tongue. The sight made her fingers curl inexplicably.

“So, what kind of… lesson is it today?”

“Observation.”

“Observation?”

“Yes, it means observing me. You get used to me by looking at how I appear. How do I look to you, Miss?”

“Um… you’re handsome.”

“Please describe in more detail. If you were to paint me, what brush and colors would you use to express it?”

Painting? 

She was a bit flustered as she had never captured an adult male on canvas before. She mostly painted children or animals with ambiguous genders, so it felt like a challenging task.

“Take your time and tell me slowly.”

The teacher leaned toward her. His lips curled slightly. Feeling tense again, she clutched her dress and subtly leaned back. She wanted to avoid it, but she couldn’t be an uncooperative student after paying for the lessons.

‘…It’s just looking.’

Even the servants in her house could look without difficulty. She could also engage in conversations with male nobles at social gatherings to some extent. Although she hadn’t really observed closely since childhood…

After telling herself several times that observation was nothing, she mustered the courage to start from the teacher’s jawline.

“Your jawline seems delicately drawn with a fine brush. Your lips are moist and have a clear cherry color. And…”

Starting from the teacher’s jawline, she slowly moved upward, describing his face. The more she spoke, the more embarrassed she felt. The teacher was too beautiful, so most of her descriptions were close to praise.

If she were to actually paint him, she felt she would need expensive and luxurious paints for his hair, which seemed spun from silver threads, and his eyes, which resembled rubies.

“I haven’t touched it, so I don’t know, but your skin seems smoother and softer than canvas fabric, like marshmallows.”

“Would you like to touch it?”

“N-no!”

He pointed to his face and asked, making her shake her head vigorously. She was afraid of touching a man’s face, and she was also scared of carelessly laying hands on an angel. If she accidentally caused a blemish, she would feel as if she had damaged a precious artwork, and it would break her heart.

“I’ll do that next time!”

Still, she thought, just once, she really wanted to touch it. It was scary, but even a brush of the fingers had been okay. Unlike other men, perhaps there really was no aversion. Maybe soon she might even dare to touch his face…

The teacher seemed to sense her thoughts and smiled with his eyes. She felt a pang of guilt and cleared her throat.

“Uh, anyway, I think that’s all for the facial description.”

“Then let’s move on to the next part.”

The teacher suddenly unbuttoned his top.

“Wait a minute! What are you doing!”

“Now you need to observe my body.”

Oh my goodness! 

Startled, she hit the table with her knee, causing the tea to spill in various directions. Unfortunately, a large drop landed on the teacher’s collarbone.

“Oh.”

“Oh no, are you alright?”

The tea had cooled enough not to be hot, but it was surely unpleasant. The light yellow tea on his prominent white skin was too noticeable. It felt like she had stained a pure white statue, and she felt guilty. She even had the absurd thought that it might leave a stain.

Embarrassment and guilt flooded her at once, making her face hot. The thought that she needed to fix this immediately dominated her mind. In her fluster, she remembered the handkerchief in her pocket and quickly took it out to gently dab at his collarbone.

“I’m sorry, I…”

“It’s alright.”

The teacher was undoubtedly an angel, just as he looked. If it were her, she would have at least said to be careful. But the teacher showed no sign of anger. Instead…

“Sigh…”

His warm breath touched her face.

‘Oh no! What am I doing!’

She realized his lips were right in front of her.

Only then did she become aware of what she was doing.