‘I was tricked.’

Irina bit down hard on her lip.

When she was finally told that she would be given work, she hurried straight to the duke’s office in the western wing.

What awaited her there was—

“Allow me to introduce you.”

—proof that she had been thoroughly deceived.

“This is Viscountess Helpriton. She will be staying at the estate and overseeing your education from now on.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Irina Leonid. My name is Wender Helpriton, and I will be teaching you reading, basic academic subjects, and etiquette.”

“I-It’s a pleasure to meet you?”

She was so shocked that her voice cracked.

Study? Instead of giving her work, they wanted her to study?

The very notion of receiving an education had been beyond Irina’s imagination until now.

“His Grace explained your circumstances to me. It seems you have quite a lot to learn, so I intend to make your lesson schedule rather intensive.”

“Y-Yes.”

“It will be difficult, but please do your best to keep up and not fall behind. You can do this, my lady.”

‘No, I can’t.’

Swallowing her response, Irina sent Logan, who was standing behind her, a pleading look.

‘You were lying, weren’t you?’

‘There’s been some kind of mistake, right?’

Logan read the message in her eyes, approached Irina, bent down and whispered softly into her ear.

“A student’s job is to learn.”

Without moving his head, he merely raised his eyes to meet hers.

“I kept my promise, Lady Leonid.”

_

“You liar…!”

Irina dropped her forehead onto the desk.

The papers piled high upon it from her writing practice fluttered to the floor.

‘All I’ve done since that day is study.’

She woke early in the morning to learn the imperial script, then studied table manners over lunch.

Afterward, she resumed her writing lessons and studied various subjects considered common knowledge until dinner.

‘I can’t believe there are even more lessons waiting for me once I master the alphabet….’

How could there still be no end, no matter how much she learned?

‘The viscountess said these are lessons for young children.’

How did children living in the slums still have so much energy when they had to learn things like this every day?

Irina sniffled and rubbed her throbbing forehead as she gathered the scattered papers from the floor.

‘This isn’t what I wanted.’

The work she had wanted was something that would be immediately useful to the duke and the others.

Things like cleaning, doing laundry, or cooking.

‘This wasn’t what I meant. Not this.’

After collecting all the sheets of paper, Irina let out a deep sigh and sat back down at the desk.

Then she picked up her quill once more.

Studying was difficult, truthfully.

Even though she already knew the words, learning to read and write them was arduous. No matter how simply the viscountess explained each lesson, Irina barely understood any of it.

Nevertheless, she enjoyed it.

_

“That’s right, my lady! You remembered it perfectly!”

Because she was happy whenever she managed to accomplish something.

“Irina Leonid. This is my name, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“It’s amazing. It’s truly so amazing….”

She had been overwhelmed with emotion the first time she wrote her own name on paper.

“I can read this book. I can read now!”

She had been overjoyed to finally understand the written words that had always left her feeling helpless.

And she simply loved knowing that she was capable of doing more than cleaning or washing clothes.

‘I’ll work even harder.’

She found herself growing increasingly ambitious.

She wanted to learn even more.

‘Even though it’s difficult.’

A few tears escaped from her eyes.

At least the Imperial common tongue, which she had always spoken, was relatively easy to understand.

However, the words used by nobles were completely different and she was finding them difficult.

“…Lady Leonid?”

At the sudden voice, Irina jerked her head up and found Viscountess Helpriton watching her with a lamp in hand.

“My goodness, are you still here? It’s already late.”

“What?”

Irina blinked and turned to look out of the window.

The Viscountess had been right.

At some point, it had got dark outside.

Judging by the position of the moon, it was well past her bedtime.

How much time had passed?

She could have sworn the sun had only just set.

“I noticed light spilling through the window, so I came to check just in case.”

The viscountess blinked in surprise.

“Studying is important, but you mustn’t ruin your health, Lady Leonid.”

“I didn’t realize it had gotten so late.”

Irina hurriedly began tidying the desk, only for her hands to pause.

Oh, right. This.

“Um, Viscountess.”

“Yes?”

The viscountess came over to help her tidy the desk, then met Irina’s gaze, silently prompting her to continue.

“Could you explain this to me one more time? We learned it today, but I’m still a little confused….”

“Ah, so this is what was troubling you. That’s perfectly understandable. These two look quite similar, so people often confuse them. Now, try pronouncing it like this.”

Irina repeated the sound after her.

It was nearly identical to what she had practiced earlier, yet strangely enough, she could pronounce it correctly when the viscountess was beside her.

‘I should practice before I forget.’

As Irina repeated it several more times, the viscountess chuckled softly.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I simply enjoy seeing how diligently you study. However, my lady….”

Viscountess Helpriton closed the writing primer on the desk and continued,

“As I said earlier, you mustn’t push yourself too hard. When it’s time to sleep, you should sleep.”

Irina hesitated for a moment.

“I want to do everything I can. Besides, reading and writing are something I can learn quickly.”

Although the Imperial common tongue was considered rather difficult, Irina had lived in the Empire her whole life.

Of all the things she was currently learning, it was the most familiar to her, and she could master it the fastest.

“I thought that if I learned to read and write quickly, studying other subjects might become a little easier.”

Even now, she could only read a few words.

She had no choice but to rely on the Viscountess’s explanations in order to follow the lessons.

Moreover, revising everything after class was difficult.

“That’s why I wanted to try a little harder.”

“Lady Leonid….”

Viscountess Helpriton gazed at Irina, visibly moved.

“But I still cannot allow it.”

The book was promptly taken away from her.

Irina’s shoulders drooped in disappointment.

“Shall we go? I’ll escort you to your room, my lady.”

She meant that she wouldn’t leave until Irina was in bed.

With no other option, Irina nodded and left the duke’s study.

The study, which Irina had temporarily borrowed for her lessons, was in the western wing of the house; her room was in the eastern wing.

Irina and the viscountess slowly made their way down the long corridor.

The lamps hanging at intervals along the walls and the moonlight filtering in bathed the hallway in a faint glow.

“Um, Viscountess Helpriton.”

“Yes?”

“May I ask you one more question?”

“Of course. Which pronunciation is troubling you this time?”

“No, it isn’t related to my lessons.”

After hesitating for a moment, Irina spoke.

“What do you think happiness is?”

Viscountess Helpriton stopped walking and looked at Irina.

Her expression seemed to ask whether she had heard correctly, and Irina nodded.

“That is quite an abstract question.”

“Hmm.”

The viscountess tilted her head to one side, causing her pale, washed-out golden hair to spill over her shoulder.

“Well…. It is difficult to give a precise answer. For one thing, I believe the definition of happiness differs from person to person.”

“From person to person?”

“Yes. Shall I give you an example? I don’t like sweet things, so if someone gave me candy, I probably wouldn’t be particularly pleased, would I?”

Irina listened attentively and nodded.

“But you enjoy sweets, don’t you, my lady?”

After all, hadn’t Irina almost been told off for ignoring her table manners and reaching for the dessert before anything else?

Irina nodded again.

However, her cheeks had turned slightly red this time, unlike before.

“So, if someone gave you sweets, you would be happy. I believe happiness is rather like that.”

Irina felt as though she understood what the viscountess meant.

Yet she was still confused.

“Then, Viscountess, if I may ask, when were you happiest?”

“Of course. The times when I was happiest….”

Her voice trailed off as she searched through her memories, and then a faint smile appeared on her lips.

“No matter how much I think about it, I realize that I was happiest when I first met my husband and my daughter.”

A delicate blush colored the viscountess’s cheeks.

“My heart was always aflutter when my husband and I were courting. I suppose that was happiness as well.”

She readjusted the shawl slipping from her shoulders and continued in a gentle voice.

“And when I held my daughter in my arms for the first time, I finally understood what it meant to feel overwhelming happiness.”

“I see.”

Irina nodded.

Now that she had imagined it, she thought she would feel the same way.

Meeting someone she loved and starting a family with them.

That certainly sounded like happiness.

The mere thought brought a smile to her face.

“Thank you, Viscountess. That helped.”

“My, there is no need to thank me. I was merely speaking from personal experience. But, my lady, why did you ask?”

“Well….”

‘His Grace told me to remain at this estate until I become happy. But I don’t know when that will be. I’ve thought about it for a long time, but I couldn’t find an answer, so I wanted to ask you.’

‘…I probably shouldn’t tell her that.’

“Oh, I was merely curious.”

“Hmm?”

Perhaps finding her answer insufficient, the viscountess tilted her head slightly.

However, the viscountess did not question her further. She merely nodded as though she understood.

“We’re here.”

At last, they arrived at Irina’s room.

Viscountess Helpriton personally opened the door and watched until Irina had climbed into bed.

“Sleep well, my lady. You mustn’t be late for tomorrow’s lesson, understood?”

“Yes. Have a good night, Viscountess.”

The viscountess nodded and was about to close the door when she paused and turned back toward Irina.

“Don’t study any more tonight. Go straight to sleep, all right?”

“Yes.”

The door closed.

Irina squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then sat up as soon as the sound of footsteps faded into the distance.

‘She’s gone, right?’

Hiss.

She lit the candle beside her bed.

This time, she did not forget to draw the curtains carefully so the light would not escape through the window.

‘I only have a little more to do before I reach today’s goal.’

Irina retrieved another primer from the drawer and settled into her chair.

“So, this word is dobidok…. Hmm, it means ‘fool’?”

The sound of Irina reading aloud filled the room beneath the candle’s gentle glow.