Chapter 19

Before entering the Wale family, Gale had offered to buy her shoes, but Diane refused, saying she could wear her current ones for another half year. In the end, it seemed Gale had sent them anyway.

She was rather tall and disliked discomfort, so she preferred shoes without heels and with a comfortable fit. Seeing the design matched her taste exactly, Diane was sure Gale had sent them.

Ah, he bought something so expensive.

Even without knowing the price, just by the feel of the leather—or even by looking at the box the shoes came in—she could tell these were very high-end.

They were so nice, she almost didn’t want to wear them.

But Diane was already trying on the new shoes.

She liked them so much she couldn’t resist, and her old shoes were so worn out she needed new ones anyway.

They fit her feet perfectly.

Just as she’d expected, they were comfortable.

Still, she’d have to save them for special occasions.

The day after she moved in, she received slippers to wear inside the mansion, so she didn’t need to wear shoes indoors.

She intended to save the shoes for walks or outings, and as she was about to put them back in the box, she noticed a card with a ribbon design at the bottom.

It looked like Gale had even included a card.

But when Diane opened the card, she blinked in surprise.

What she thought was a card was actually a warranty certificate.

A warranty promising free repairs for one year.

She was amazed such a thing existed, but what shocked her even more was the name of the person who ordered them.

[Wale]

‘Wale…? Adrian Wale?’

Looking at the shoes, the only Wale who came to Diane’s mind—no, the only one—was Adrian Wale.

For the other Wale who actually sent the shoes, it was unfortunate once again.

‘Did the Duke really buy me shoes? But the Duke wasn’t even in Rettrang at the moment. Well, he could have placed the order anytime. But why?’

As the question surfaced at the end of her thoughts, Diane glanced at her own shoes in the corner of the room and blushed.

Her shoes looked so shabby.

Maybe, for the servants of the Dukedom, even their clothes and shoes had to meet a certain standard.

In fact, in noble houses, not only maids and footmen but even the butler wore clothes provided by the employer or had to get them from designated shops for the family’s staff.

As a governess, Diane was mostly exempt from such dress codes, but she realized there was probably an expected level she had to meet.

However… these shoes were far too luxurious and elegant to be considered something provided for a servant.

Perhaps the Duke simply wanted his employees to be neatly dressed, and that’s why he ordered them, Diane thought. Yet, as she alternated her gaze between the light violet shoes and the card with the name of the person who ordered them, she felt a strange, violet-colored cloud softly swelling in her heart.

She couldn’t explain what it was, but the color matched the shoes exactly—violet.

* * *

Just because Diane agreed to eat with Leon didn’t mean she had to eat all three meals—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—with the masters of the Dukedom.

By default, the masters of the Dukedom ate breakfast and dinner in the formal dining room, but lunch was eaten in their own rooms.

Leon also ate lunch alone in his room, so Diane had lunch with the servants in the communal dining room, which was where she was supposed to eat.

Moreover, the Duke had left for the Duchy the day after Diane moved in and hadn’t returned to Rettrang for several days.

And another person—

Edward, who had hired Diane for the mansion, hadn’t shown up at all since appearing at the formal dining room for dinner on her first night.

Diane had heard about the Duke’s whereabouts, but since no one mentioned the President, she guessed Edward was just someone who often left the house.

So, for a week after moving into the ducal residence, the only person Diane ate with in the formal dining room every day was Leon.

It was almost surprising that, on her first day, all three masters of the Dukedom had gathered at the dining table.

Leon’s mention of ‘mom’ was uncomfortable, but Diane, who’d begun to feel a sense of camaraderie with Leon, even thought it was fortunate she could eat with him.

After all, imagining such a young child eating alone in the vast formal dining room for every meal was heartbreaking.

Diane was an orphan, but she rarely ate alone.

Growing up at the orphanage, she ate with friends, and after living with Uncle Tertz and Gale, she always had company.

Leon, unlike her, was wealthy and had a father, but Diane thought he might be even lonelier than she was.

Anyway, for various reasons, Diane had spent several days eating with Leon, and the formal dining room meals were becoming less burdensome and more familiar.

The reading lesson from 4 to 5 was just Diane reading books Leon picked out, but after the lesson, as Leon insisted, they’d walk hand in hand to the formal dining room, and Diane was starting to enjoy it.

Today, after finishing the lesson and heading down to the dining room with Leon, Diane asked kindly,

“Young Master, should I keep reading the book we started tonight?”

She enjoyed going to Leon’s room every night to read to him.

Leon felt like a younger version of herself, and seeing him fall asleep listening to her read made Diane Lina feel as if she herself, as a little girl, was receiving a mother’s love.

Even though she wasn’t his real mother, just playing the role for a motherless child was enough to make her happy.

“Okay, Teacher. But….”

As they entered the formal dining room together, Leon suddenly stopped and looked Diane straight in the eyes.

“Yes, what is it?”

“How long are you going to keep calling me ‘Young Master’? In the books, moms call their children by name. So stop calling me ‘Young Master’ and call me ‘Leon’ instead.”

“Ah….”

Diane was speechless.

Just because being a mom for Leon wasn’t difficult and was even enjoyable didn’t mean she was really his mom, but sometimes Leon made these sudden requests.

At this rate, he might soon ask her to call herself ‘Mom’ instead of ‘Teacher.’

No matter how much she enjoyed playing ‘mom’ with Leon and didn’t want to lose her job as his reading teacher, some boundaries had to be clear.

“Young Master Leon, I….”

At that moment—

“Leon!”

It was the Duke.

Diane’s face flushed with embarrassment.

The Duke, who’d been away for a week, had returned and was even sitting at the dining table.

He must have just heard what Leon said.

Of course, it was just a child’s words, but it was still embarrassing.

“Dad!”

Leon, undaunted by the Duke’s stern voice, smiled brightly and went to his seat.

He acted as if he’d done nothing wrong.

Diane shyly went to her usual seat.

It was unfortunate that the Duke, who hadn’t appeared for so long, showed up just when she was having such an awkward conversation with Leon.

“Dad, you haven’t been home in so long.”

Leon’s emphasis on ‘so long’ was so natural.

“Yes, Leon.”

The Duke, confronted with his son’s pointed remark about his long absence, relaxed his expression.

Whether Leon said it to make his father feel guilty or just as a thoughtless child, Diane couldn’t guess what was going on in the six-year-old’s head.

In any case, Diane was relieved that the awkward conversation with Leon was interrupted, and she didn’t have to address the uncomfortable topic. She let out a faint sigh of relief.

She really needed this job.

“Hello, Duke.”

Diane greeted him cautiously as she sat down.

“Yes, Teacher. It’s been a while.”

“I heard you went to the Duchy.”

“Yes. Something urgent came up.”

“Ah… I see.”

As soon as Diane responded, Leon began chattering.

“Teacher reads to me every day. Dad, do you want to come to my room tonight? Teacher reads really fun stories, you should learn from her.”

“Cough, cough!”

Diane hadn’t even had a sip of water, but it felt like something was stuck in her throat and she began coughing.

Leon’s innocent invitation for his father to come at night sounded extremely awkward.

“Teacher, are you okay?”

Leon looked at Diane with a worried expression.

Adrian also looked at Diane awkwardly.

As Diane finally stopped coughing, Adrian spoke.

“Teacher, could you spare a moment to talk after dinner?”

“Pardon? Ah, yes!”

Diane looked at Adrian, startled, but quickly nodded.

She guessed he wanted to talk about Leon.

Just then, a cold, rough voice came from the entrance of the formal dining room.

“What’s with this atmosphere? What are you two talking about?”

It was a voice perfectly opposite to Duke Adrian Wale’s gentle tone—forceful and icy.

Of course, Edward Wale was entering the formal dining room.

“Oh, Ed. You’re early.”

Adrian greeted him with a pleased expression.

Having just returned to Rettrang, Adrian didn’t know that Edward had also been absent from the mansion while he was away.

Edward glared at Adrian’s smiling face and spat out,

“So the three of us are just sitting here, eating together? And what, you’re going to talk after dinner? What do you two have to talk about?!”

With Edward’s harsh voice, the atmosphere in the formal dining room instantly froze.