Chapter 24

The atmosphere inside the carriage was as tense as a powder keg about to ignite.

Adrian was bewildered when Leon unexpectedly joined his provocation, but Edward had already lost his temper.

Fortunately, at that moment, the carriage stopped in front of the bookstore.

Adrian spoke hurriedly.

“Teacher, please get off here. I’ll send the carriage back to the bookstore for you in a little while.”

Diane, afraid someone might grab her, quickly took Leon’s hand and got off the carriage in a rush.

She bowed her head slightly to Adrian in greeting, but until the carriage door closed, she didn’t spare Edward a single glance.

As she got off, Diane branded Edward with a clear mark in her mind.

‘Edward Wale, trash!’

* * *

After Diane Lina and Leon Wale got off the carriage, Edward immediately shouted at his brother in a murderous voice before the door had even closed.

“What are you doing! That woman is someone I hired, my…!”

Edward stopped mid-sentence.

“Ed, whoever you hired, that woman is now my son’s teacher. Once she entered our house as my son’s teacher, you need to treat her as his teacher in front of me and my son, not as a woman. Whatever you feel, as long as she’s my son’s teacher, you need to restrain yourself!”

Adrian replied to Edward, whose words had suddenly halted, in a calm tone but with sharp content.

“Why does your son like Diane Lina? Reading tutor? That was just a pretext for bringing her into the house, how dare you!”

“How dare I?”

A trace of anger appeared on Adrian’s face.

No matter how infamous Edward was as the President of Wale Corporation who shook the kingdom’s economy, to Adrian, he was just a younger brother.

The Head of the powerful Wale Duchy, which gripped the political world of Traum Kingdom, was Adrian.

Leon Wale was his son and the only heir of the Wale family.

“Ed! I’ll warn you one more time. My son, Leon Wale, is my heir as Duke Wale. The only heir. Leon is far more precious and important to me than your interests or romantic games. If Leon doesn’t want the reading tutor, no matter what you say, she’ll have to leave my house. The only reason I let your reckless actions slide is because Leon doesn’t mind. Don’t forget that.”

Adrian usually let things slide no matter what Edward did and rarely got angry, but when it came to Leon, he wouldn’t yield even a little.

But to Edward, the great Duke Adrian Wale was just another person who happened to share his family name.

“Then kick her out! Rather than watch Leon play ‘mommy’ games with Diane Lina, I’d rather send her out from under the Wale Duchy’s roof. That’s not the only way I can keep her around, you know?”

He said it without a hint of hesitation.

“Keep her around?”

A slight sneer appeared on Adrian’s face.

His younger brother didn’t even try to hide his intention to keep Diane Lina close.

“Whether it’s tomorrow or the day after, she’ll be sent away. But only when Leon says he no longer needs her as his teacher. After I find someone to fill the ‘mom’ role that Leon wants. So don’t rush me, Edward.”

Edward glared at his brother, and Adrian glared back.

Adrian added as if he’d forgotten something.

“Oh! And what makes you so confident that just because she’s a commoner, she’ll do anything you suggest, even after all your harsh words? If I were a woman, I wouldn’t want to exchange a single word with someone like you.”

“What!”

“I’m just worrying about you as your brother.”

Adrian’s words sounded more like teasing than concern, and Edward’s face twisted in anger.

Adrian drove the point home.

“If you keep acting like this, that teacher will leave on her own before I or you get the chance to send her away. As long as Leon likes her, she can’t leave, so don’t speak carelessly to his teacher. She’s my son’s teacher.”

“Ah, d*mn…!”

Edward barely swallowed a curse and glared fiercely at Adrian, but Adrian, now perfectly calm, added in a sing-song, rhythmic tone.

“Get out, it’s my carriage.”

“What!”

The usually dignified and gentle Duke Wale was pettily kicking Edward out of the carriage.

Having what he always did to others done to him by his brother, Edward was so stunned he was at a loss for words.

“Stop the carriage.”

At Adrian’s command, the carriage stopped.

“Ah, d*mn it!”

Edward finally cursed at Adrian for kicking him out and got off the carriage.

Bang!

Edward slammed the carriage door so hard that the whole carriage shook.

* * *

After buying books for Leon, Diane found herself alone with him in the carriage Adrian had sent back, and she steeled herself.

Even if the Duke was looking for a wife, it wasn’t something that would happen in just a few days, and she couldn’t keep finding herself in such awkward situations forever.

Since the Duke always showed weakness to his son, Diane felt she had to speak clearly to Leon herself.

“Young Master Leon, why did you act like that earlier?”

“What do you mean?”

“The Duke, your father, and I are not getting married. I’m just here to eat meals with you and read you books at bedtime until your father gets married and you have a mother.”

“No, no!”

Leon shook his head vigorously.

“What is it?”

“Teacher, you eat with me, go on walks with me, read me books, and tell me old stories. That’s what a mom does. And I’ve already decided you’re my mom, so you have to marry my dad! I’ve already chosen you as my mom.”

“Young Master Leon, marriage is something your father does, not you. So don’t say things like that anymore.”

“No, no!”

Leon was so confident and relaxed.

“I like you, Teacher. I liked you from the moment I first saw you. Except for not being able to sing, I like everything about you. You’re pretty, too.”

‘Where does he get such confidence?’

Seeing the little boy speak so calmly and confidently, Diane felt almost deflated.

It seemed that persuasion and explanation didn’t work at all on this child.

Maybe this boldness ran in the blood of the ducal family.

‘This Young Master really does resemble not just his father, but his uncle too.’

As Diane, frustrated by Leon’s stubbornness, said nothing, Leon continued.

“Teacher, Dad will love you. Because I like you. So don’t worry.”

“What?”

Diane was dumbfounded.

Worry? What was she supposed to be worried about?

She hadn’t even thought about it, but both President Wale and this child kept pushing her into strange situations.

She was starting to feel anxious, wondering if she could endure this no matter how much money she was paid.

* * *

A few days after returning from the bookstore, Diane entered the study for Leon’s reading lesson and was shocked.

The once spacious bookshelf was now packed with new books.

All of them were romance and mystery novels.

Romance, mystery novels…

She remembered the conversation she’d had with Duke Wale in the carriage.

They were exactly the two genres she had mentioned liking.

Seeing the shelves filled with the books she’d said she liked, Diane felt strange.

‘Did the Duke buy them?’

She tried to dismiss the thought, but the fact that only romance and mystery novels filled the shelves was too suspicious.

Strange feelings bubbled up in her chest, and she tried several times to shake off her thoughts.

But even as she read to Leon and discussed the books with him, her mind kept wandering, making it impossible to concentrate.

“Teacher, it’s time to go eat.”

“Huh? Oh, right?”

Diane, still dazed until Leon closed the book and spoke, headed to the formal dining room with a reluctant expression.

Lately, Adrian was always the first to arrive for meals in the formal dining room.

Seeing Adrian, Diane wondered whether she should ask about the books.

If she asked and it turned out he hadn’t bought them, she’d be embarrassed for imagining things.

Still… if the Duke had bought them, she felt she should thank him. Like with the shoes last time.

But the Duke only chatted with Leon about various things and didn’t mention the books at all.

In the end, Diane finished the meal without asking anything.

* * *

Though she didn’t know who had bought them, Diane enjoyed her leisure time much more after all the novels arrived at the ducal mansion. There was so much to read.

However, she didn’t read in the study.

She didn’t mind choosing books from the study, but the room felt like it belonged only to the family members.

So she mostly read in her own room or on a bench in the garden.

The garden was quite large, with benches in several places, but after finding a spot shaded by trees that was perfect for reading, she spent several afternoons there after lunch.

On this day too, she was deeply absorbed in a book.

“Teacher, even if you hide here, I’ll find you right away.”

Leon, who somehow found the bench where she sat, suddenly appeared and said something mysterious.

“I wasn’t hiding, Young Master.”

“Now it’s my turn to hide.”

As usual, Leon ignored Diane’s words and only said what he wanted.

Diane was taken aback, but ended up smiling warmly.

The young master must have been bored.

“All right, then it’s your turn to hide. I’ll count to 100. Hide while I count.”

“Okay, but you can’t open your eyes until I tell you to!”

Leon earnestly insisted.

Suddenly, Diane was reminded of playing with friends at Lina Orphanage as a child and smiled brightly at Leon.