Chapter 13

At the same time, Edward was startled by Diane’s reaction and unconsciously took a step back.

As the sunset streamed through the window and illuminated his face, Diane finally realized that the owner of the dark figure was Edward Wale, the president.

“What’s going on!”

Roden shouted as if scolding someone.

However, it was unclear whom he was scolding.

Edward felt that Roden was scolding him, while Diane felt that she was being scolded.

“Sir Roden!”

Diane sprang up from the bed.

At last, she realized she had lain down for a short nap before dinner in her room at the Wale Duchy, but must have slept far too long.

Her anxious gaze swept the room.

On the table by the window sat a clock.

The hands pointed almost to six o’clock.

‘Oh no! I’m completely late!’

Diane’s face flushed with embarrassment and self-reproach.

“Sir Roden! I’m truly sorry. I only meant to lie down for a moment.”

Diane bowed her head, apologizing to Roden.

“Ha! Hey! Don’t you see me?”

At Edward’s sharp voice, Diane and Roden both turned their eyes to him.

“Is Roden your employer? Am I some kind of creep?”

“What?”

“I’m the one who didn’t eat and waited because you didn’t wake up.”

“What?”

Diane couldn’t understand Edward’s words, and Roden was incredulous at what Edward said.

Who told him to wait?

Not only had he ignored all the rules and discipline, but he’d even watched the teacher sleep in her room.

Roden felt like kicking Edward out of the room right then.

The Lord had always acted outrageously, but at least when it came to women, he’d never caused trouble or even shown interest. Now Roden worried he might start acting out in that area too.

“My Lord!”

Roden held back the urge to scold, ‘Are you really going to stay in this room, watching the teacher sleep?’ and instead shot Edward a reproachful look.

But Edward seemed to have no intention of interpreting the message in Roden’s eyes.

“Unbelievable! I was just trying to wake you up, and now you’re blaming me? I’m hungry, so come down and eat!”

Edward shouted and left the room.

Roden watched his retreating figure with a deep sigh.

“Sir Roden, I don’t think I should have dinner tonight.”

Diane spoke carefully.

She was hungry, but after making a mistake on her first day, she felt she had no right to ask for food.

“Please come to dinner. The first round of meals in the communal dining room on the first floor is ending. Dinner is prepared in the formal dining room on the second floor, so come there.”

Roden, still glaring at Edward’s departing figure, ignored Diane’s words and spoke firmly before leaving the room.

Left alone, Diane bit her lips hard.

She was overwhelmed with shame and self-reproach for causing trouble on her first day.

The shock and unease she felt when she saw the president of Wale Corporation looking down at her still lingered.

She couldn’t understand why the president had come to her room at all.

‘Diane Lina, how could you make such a mistake? On your very first day.’

She wanted to hide under the covers out of regret.

But that wasn’t possible.

Judging by the butler’s cold attitude, she needed to hurry out right away.

She said she wouldn’t eat, but Roden had ordered her to, so refusing didn’t seem an option.

Besides, not the communal dining room but the formal dining room? Formal dining room?

The very name made Diane uneasy.

Regardless, she had to go there.

* * *

In the formal dining room sat Adrian Wale, the Head of the Wale Duchy, and his son, Leon Wale.

They had been about to start their meal, but the butler’s announcement of Edward’s arrival made them keep waiting for him.

“Why is Uncle Edward so late? I’m hungry!”

Leon grumbled.

Just then, Edward entered the formal dining room.

“Uncle, why are you so late? Regular mealtimes are so important for a growing child!”

Little Leon scolded the adult Edward.

Edward ignored him, ran his fingers through Leon’s hair, and went to sit in his own seat.

“You invited Leon’s teacher to dinner?”

Adrian asked Edward.

“It’s the teacher’s first day, so I thought it’d be nice for everyone to meet.”

At Edward’s odd suggestion, Adrian nodded indifferently.

It was against Roden’s rules and the Wale Duchy’s traditions, but for something Edward did, it wasn’t such a big problem.

As the Head of the Wale Duchy, Adrian was responsible for the family’s external affairs, and he was busy fulfilling the duties of the peerage council’s chairman, inherited from his father.

Like Edward, who was barely interested in the household, Adrian also left most of the housework to Roden.

“Dad, she couldn’t sing, but she was pretty.”

Leon said something incomprehensible to Adrian.

At that moment—

“Um… Is this the formal dining room?”

For nearly three years, a woman’s voice hadn’t been heard at the Wale family’s table, but now it echoed at the entrance of the formal dining room.

The three men turned their eyes to the entrance.

Seeing the three men seated in the formal dining room, Diane was filled with surprise.

She had come to the formal dining room only to find Edward Wale, Leon Wale, and a man who was clearly the Duke.

Diane couldn’t believe she was supposed to eat here.

She hesitated at the entrance, unable to step in.

Edward tried to say something, but Leon was faster.

“That’s right, come sit down. I’m hungry.”

Edward frowned at Leon, who spoke up before him, and Diane bit her lips again.

Her nap had created this awkward situation.

Suddenly, to have dinner with the masters of this house….

She wasn’t sure if she’d even be able to breathe, let alone eat.

“Come in. Roden told me. You’re the new teacher, right?”

Adrian, seated at the head of the table, stood up and kindly welcomed Diane.

It was an excessively courteous gesture for the Duke to show a mere commoner employee, but it was simply the ingrained etiquette toward a woman invited to a formal dinner.

Tonight, she was the woman joining their dinner, and unlike Edward, Adrian was always polite and friendly to everyone.

But Diane froze at the Duke’s unexpected kindness, and Edward’s face twisted.

‘What is he doing? Why is my brother standing up and making a fuss?’

Edward glared at Adrian as if trying to bore a hole through him, but Adrian didn’t notice his brother’s gaze, simply looking at Diane’s flushed face with gentle eyes.

At that moment, Edward’s irritation exploded.

“What are you doing, standing there? Everyone’s waiting! Sleeping on your first day after getting paid!”

Just like that, Edward’s usual rude words poured out.

Diane’s face turned even redder from embarrassment and shame.

“Edward!”

“What!”

Adrian frowned at Edward and rebuked him, but Edward only glared back.

Adrian shook his head and looked away.

“Please, come in, Teacher. You must be hungry.”

To make up for Edward’s rudeness, Adrian even pulled out a chair for her.

Edward’s face grew even harsher, and Diane’s face stiffened as she reluctantly walked to the table.

“Uncle, you were late too.”

Only Leon grumbled cheerfully in the frozen atmosphere.

As soon as Diane sat down, the food began to be served.

“Dad, I said she was pretty, right?”

Diane felt so awkward she thought she might faint, and to make matters worse, Leon said something strange to the Duke, making her wish she could disappear.

There was only one person at the table who could be called pretty: Diane.

She was the only woman there.

Adrian Wale’s wife, the young Duchess, had died of illness a few years ago.

The previous Duchess had also died early, and when the next Duchess died at just twenty-four, people in Rettrang said the Wale Duchy’s misfortune was continuing.

Since the Duchess’s death, Diane was the first woman to sit at the family’s table, though she didn’t know it.

If she had known, she would have been even more frozen.

Looking at the three men at the table, Diane thought she understood why this mansion felt so lifeless.

Regardless of her feelings, Diane really wanted to shut Leon’s mouth.

She couldn’t understand why that little boy was talking about whether she was pretty or not.

“Yes, she’s beautiful. Teacher, Leon seems to like you. That’s a relief.”

Adrian, the Duke, continued to speak to Diane formally.

Diane was uncomfortable with Edward’s rude speech, but she also felt uneasy with the Duke’s formal language, which highlighted their difference in status.

“Please speak comfortably, Your Grace.”

Diane said in a small voice.

“You’re my son’s teacher, so I can’t.”

Adrian replied with a gentle smile.

Diane returned a shy smile.

Edward watched their conversation with a dark, almost glaring look.

He had hired Diane, and he was the one who invited her to this table.

But why were Adrian and Diane chatting so warmly?

“My brother, you sure are talkative today. So noisy.”

Edward’s offhand remark made Adrian frown.

“Ed, what’s your problem? Let’s just enjoy dinner.”

At that moment,

Diane’s wide eyes turned to Edward in surprise.