Chapter 11

“Why does he climb trees?”

“That… You should ask the Young Master.”

It was unclear whether Roden didn’t know the reason or simply didn’t want to answer, but Diane kept quiet.

While talking with him, suddenly an iron gate came into view.

‘Wow! It’s really huge.’

Breath caught in Diane’s throat at the imposing scale of the mansion before her eyes.

Now she understood why Number 7 was so far away—after seeing the palace-like mansion, it made sense.

She had to cross a vast garden, so even after seeing the mansion, she still had to walk quite a bit further inside.

Leon was already nowhere to be seen, having vanished into the mansion.

Standing before the mansion, which exuded an overwhelming sense of authority, Diane felt a bit weighed down.

She worried anew whether she could get along well with the small Young Master she had just met in such a grand mansion.

As Diane and Roden crossed the garden, a man suddenly ran up to them.

“Ah, here you are. Bill.”

Roden handed the cart he was pulling over to Bill.

Bill, grasping the cart’s handle, openly gazed at Diane.

His friendly face was filled with pure curiosity.

“You must be the new teacher.”

“Ah, yes. Hello.”

At Roden’s introduction, the man named Bill greeted her with a broad smile.

“Hello, I’m Diane Lina. I’m the Young Master’s reading teacher. Please take care of me.”

“Oh, there’s nothing for you to ask of me. I’m just the gardener. But if you ever want to see the flowers, please come out anytime. I know every inch of this Wale Duchy’s garden. Yes, indeed.”

His generous and friendly demeanor helped Diane relax a little.

“Bill, we’ll be off now. Good work.”

At Roden’s words, Bill put his hat back on and bowed his head.

“Oh dear, I’ve kept the teacher who’s come a long way. Please, go inside.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine. I’ll be going then.”

Diane politely greeted Bill, who was almost overly courteous, and followed Roden, who was already walking ahead.

Upon entering the building, a spacious interior unfolded before her.

However, rather than being splendid, the mansion’s interior felt somewhat dry.

Diane had never been in a mansion of this scale before, so she had nothing to compare it to, but she sensed that the owner of this mansion preferred neat, straight simplicity over intricate, detailed beauty.

Overwhelmed by the grandeur and elegance of the interior, Diane was approached quietly by a servant.

“Let me carry your bag, Miss.”

“Oh, that’s okay…”

At Roden’s words, the servant quickly took Diane’s bag.

She tried to decline, but her bag had already vanished from her hands.

“You must be tired, so you can look around the rest later. Today, I’ll only show you the Young Master’s study and your room.”

“Yes, please.”

Roden began to ascend the central staircase in the first-floor hall.

“The right side of this staircase leads to the East Wing, the left to the West Wing.”

At the point where the wide staircase split into two, Roden turned left and explained.

He climbed to the third floor and started down the corridor of the West Wing.

He stopped in front of one of the many rooms lined up in a row.

Inside the door Roden opened, the first thing Diane noticed was a large desk placed with its back to the window. It was quite a low desk.

“This is the Young Master’s study.”

“Oh, yes.”

“There are books in this room, but the library is separate. I’ll show you later. The Young Master’s reading time will be set tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

It seemed Roden also managed the Young Master’s study schedule.

Roden headed back to the stairs and turned right into the corridor on the fourth floor.

After walking down the corridor for a while, he opened the door to the second-to-last room at the end.

“This is the room you’ll use, Miss.”

“Yes… Ah!”

Peering into the room through the open door, Diane couldn’t help but exclaim.

The room was as large as two of the rooms in her previous house combined.

Because the building faced south in a straight line, sunlight streamed in and the interior was very bright. All the furniture looked as clean as new.

It was a much better room than Diane had imagined.

“The bathroom is right next door at the end. Everyone living in the East Wing on the fourth floor shares that bathroom. There are no other restrictions, but bathing is prohibited after 9 p.m. so as not to disturb others.”

“Oh, yes!”

Diane was grateful the bathroom was right next door.

She’d never lived somewhere with such a convenient bathroom.

She felt a surge of gratitude for having found such a good job under such favorable conditions.

“Meals are in the communal dining room on the first floor. Teachers’ mealtime is the first shift, at 5:30. After the teachers finish, the other staff eat in the second shift, so please be punctual.”

“Yes, understood.”

Diane wondered just how many employees there were to require split meal times.

“If you’re tired, rest and come down to the first floor for dinner.”

With those words, Roden left her and retraced his steps, and Diane finally entered her room.

Her bag was already placed inside.

‘Wow, everything is so orderly.’

Looking at her bag, which the servant had silently brought in, Diane was impressed.

‘I mustn’t miss the 5:30 dinner.’

Recalling the perfectly organized mansion and the staff moving about without any sign of disorder, Diane felt everything operated under strictly controlled order and resolved to be punctual.

The clock showed she had about two hours until dinner.

Diane relaxed a little.

“I should rest.”

Without unpacking, she went straight to the bed and lay down.

The tension of being in a new place, combined with the exhaustion of carrying her luggage for hours, left her wanting nothing but to lie down.

The mattress was so springy that as soon as Diane’s back touched the bed, she felt all her accumulated fatigue melt away.

‘So good! So comfortable. Wonderful…’

Diane’s eyes slowly closed.

She thought she had plenty of time to rest for a bit.

* * *

For Edward, going to the family home in Center Shire twice a month was considered frequent, but now he was heading there for the third consecutive day.

And always at exactly 5 p.m.

For James, this was truly a blessing.

Edward’s departures were earlier and arrivals later.

The reason was surely Diane Lina, who was set to move into the Wale Duchy in the next few days.

‘Miss Diane Lina is a lucky charm. I hope she settles in at the Wale mansion for good.’

Watching Edward hurry off in his carriage, James smiled with satisfaction.

Of course, if Diane hadn’t moved in today, he’d hear, “When is she moving in? Is this how you handle contracts?” in the morning, but for now, he was pleased.

Leaving the satisfied James behind, Edward rushed home by carriage and arrived at the mansion at 5:40 p.m.

He stopped at the stairs.

Suddenly, he remembered dinner was at 5:30.

He didn’t usually eat with the staff, so he didn’t know their dinner time, but he thought perhaps they ate at the same time.

He found himself heading toward the communal dining room.

If the woman had arrived, she’d be in the dining room.

“Ah! My Lord!”

“Roden.”

Roden was coming out of the dining room.

“Why aren’t you going to the second-floor formal dining room? Why are you here?”

Roden’s eyes widened as he saw Edward approaching the communal dining room.

“Just wanted to see. What are you doing?”

“I’m on my way to fetch the new teacher, who seems to have forgotten the dinner time.”

“The new teacher today?”

“Yes. I explained the dinner time, but it seems she forgot.”

Roden’s face was full of annoyance.

Edward learned two things at once: the woman had arrived, and the strict Roden was about to admonish her.

Since Edward was a boy, the one who truly managed the mansion wasn’t the Duchess, but the butler Roden.

Because the Duchesses of Wale died young, for a long time there had been no proper lady of the house.

But even without a lady of the house, the mansion ran perfectly.

Thanks to Roden’s excellent skills and resourcefulness.

His two fundamental principles as a butler were:

Order and fairness.

With these, he managed and led the huge mansion’s staff smoothly and efficiently, without a hitch.

But he wasn’t just stern and strict.

He was generally gentle, but by maintaining clear boundaries, he earned respect and authority.

Yet, the new teacher was already ten minutes late for the strictly mandated dinner time on her first day.

This was clearly against his standards.

Edward didn’t care how the strict old man treated the staff.

He trusted Roden and left things to him, but also had little interest in the house. After his father’s death and his brother becoming the Head of the family, it was fair to call this his brother’s house.

But now, the old man was about to scold the woman on her first day at his home.

“Roden!”

Edward had no intention of letting the woman hear Roden’s scolding.