Chapter 25

“Where is Leon?”

Adrian, who returned home a little earlier than usual, asked about his son.

“He’s playing in the garden.”

Roden answered with a stiff expression.

“The garden?”

“Yes. The Young Master said that when you arrive, Duke, you should come to the garden.”

“Really?”

Adrian tilted his head in curiosity.

He had told Leon earlier that he would be coming home a bit early today.

But he wondered why Leon was waiting for him in the garden instead of the usual place.

“Which part of the garden did he go to?”

“The west garden.”

Adrian noticed that Roden’s face seemed somewhat dark as he answered, and headed toward the west garden.

The west garden was a place with more trees than flowers.

Even after walking around the garden, he couldn’t see anyone.

Maybe this wasn’t the right spot?

“Ah!”

Unable to find Leon, Adrian was about to turn around and leave when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He had spotted an unexpected figure.

It was Diane Lina, the reading tutor.

Strangely, she was sitting alone on a bench, eyes closed, muttering something to herself.

Adrian was about to speak to her, but thought she might be startled if he spoke while her eyes were closed, so he decided to quietly leave the garden.

He didn’t know what she was doing, but since she had her eyes closed, he didn’t want to disturb her, so Adrian carefully tried not to make any noise as he walked away.

Just as he moved a few steps,

She, still with her eyes closed, suddenly shouted out loudly.

“Young Master, aren’t you hiding yet? You’re making me wait too long!”

Only then did Adrian realize what the tutor had been doing.

She seemed to be playing hide-and-seek with Leon.

Suddenly, as if to answer her, Leon’s voice rang out from somewhere very close by.

“Not yet, Teacher, are you peeking?”

“No, I’m keeping my eyes closed.”

“Liar. I can see you’re peeking a little right now.”

Leon’s voice came from somewhere among the trees, but even after looking around, Adrian couldn’t spot him.

“Young Master Leon! I told you, my eyes are closed!”

Diane, still with her eyes tightly shut, stood up from the bench, sounding indignant.

Adrian, who had been about to leave the garden, froze when he saw Diane stand up.

“Teacher, just walk five steps forward.”

Leon instructed her, eyes still closed and standing.

“No.”

Diane refused firmly.

“If you walk five steps, I’ll be right in front of you.”

“What’s this? What kind of hide-and-seek is this?”

Diane protested, eyes still closed, and Leon whined.

“I want to play like this.”

Diane sighed.

She knew well that there was nothing in the space in front of the bench, so she decided to indulge Leon’s whims.

It was almost time for reading lessons anyway, so it was better to quickly do as the child wanted and end the game.

Leon Wale was a stubborn child who was hard to persuade once he set his mind on something.

“All right. But after this, let’s go back inside. It must be almost time for your reading lesson.”

Diane, eyes closed, took a step forward.

But it was Adrian who was startled as she stepped forward with her eyes closed.

If she walked five steps, she would be much too close to him.

If she opened her eyes and saw him, it might look as if he’d been secretly watching her.

He thought he should get away from Leon and the tutor’s game as quickly as possible.

But as he started to move, Diane spoke.

“Young Master Leon! You’re not supposed to move. Stay still!”

At her words, Adrian stopped.

In the end, Adrian couldn’t move until Diane came very close to him.

After five steps, Diane said,

“I’m going to open my eyes now.”

“No, just two more steps forward. Then I’ll be right in front of you.”

Leon gave another instruction from somewhere.

Adrian felt extremely awkward in this situation.

If she took two more steps, she’d be right in front of his nose.

But it was too late to say anything now.

While he hesitated, Diane had already taken two more steps and opened her eyes wide.

“Young Mas… Duke?”

Diane’s eyes, which she had opened wide to scold Leon for playing around, instantly filled with surprise and froze that way.

‘What’s going on? Why are you here, Duke?’

“Hello, Teacher.”

“Ah! Yes….”

Adrian gave an awkward smile.

“Teacher, now you can hug Dad.”

Once again, Leon’s voice rang out from somewhere, and at those words, Diane’s face turned beet red.

“Leon!”

Adrian called out in a scolding tone.

Laughter echoed, but Leon couldn’t be seen anywhere.

“Duke, I didn’t know you were here.”

“Ah, sorry. I came to look for Leon, and since you had your eyes closed, I tried to just pass by, but I guess I was too slow.”

The Duke smiled, trying to ease the awkward atmosphere, and Diane managed to smile as well.

“I was playing hide-and-seek with Young Master Leon.”

“Ah, yes. It seemed that way.”

The two stood quietly for a moment, lost for words.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Adrian called out to Leon again.

“Leon, let’s go inside. Come out.”

“No.”

“I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me later. I’m leaving.”

With that, the sound of rustling was heard, then faded away.

Leon had left the Duke and Diane alone in the garden and run off somewhere.

“Teacher.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry that Leon keeps putting you in awkward situations.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“It’s not certain yet, but I think I should let you know in advance.”

“What is it…?”

“Soon, someone who will become Leon’s mother will come to the house. Please bear with it a little longer. If Leon approves, I plan to proceed with the marriage.”

“Ah! Yes….”

“By the way, I’ve wanted to mention since last time—your shoes are very pretty.”

“Oh… I actually wanted to thank you for them.”

The Duke tilted his head slightly and furrowed his brow.

‘Was I thanking him too late?’ She thought.

He looked at her shoes again and this time smiled faintly.

“There’s no need to thank me… Anyway, I’ll go look for Leon now.”

He nodded to Diane and walked toward the garden entrance.

Watching the Duke walk away, Diane felt a strange emotion.

Someone who will become Leon’s mother… Marriage… He’s getting married.

Diane swore to herself she had never, not even for a moment, thought about becoming the Duke’s wife or Leon’s mother as Leon often said.

No, not even in her dreams.

But strangely, when she imagined her prince marrying someone, she felt a little envious of that person.

But soon after, she let out a self-deprecating laugh.

She had no special feelings toward the Duke, yet she found herself foolish for even a little bit envying the woman who would marry him.

Maybe, after hearing Young Master Leon’s strange words so many times, she had gotten used to it.

“Get a grip… Diane Lina, you’re just the reading tutor.”

Muttering to herself, she looked down at her shoes.

The lavender shoes that always made her heart flutter seemed unusually dull today.

* * *

“Is there a department at the hotel or department store where only women work?”

Edward called the busy James over and asked a strange question.

“Excuse me?”

James didn’t understand the question and asked again, causing Edward to click his tongue.

“How do you even do your job as a secretary? Can’t you understand simple instructions?”

James clenched his teeth.

“I’m asking if there’s a place in Wale Group where only women are, whether they’re old or young, even babies, and where there’s no chance of meeting any men!”

“So, President! What exactly do you mean? I can’t think of any such job… And could you explain why you’re asking?”

James showed a bit of resistance in his question.

Edward started to say something to James, then abruptly fell silent.

Since being kicked out of his brother’s carriage last time, Edward had been angry ever since.

Every time he remembered Leon’s nonsense in the carriage, his anger flared up.

That brat was after his Strawberry.

“President, aren’t you going to give me instructions?”

When Edward didn’t answer, James asked again, but Edward still kept his mouth shut.

“Then I’ll leave for now. If you have any instructions, please call me again. I’ll look into whether there’s any work that only involves women, with no men around.”

Leaving the seemingly lost-in-thought Edward behind, James exited his office.

Last time, he had suddenly been told to buy up all the novels at the bookstore, and now he was being asked to find some strange job.

James shook his head, recalling the previous order to buy every romance and mystery novel and deliver them to the ducal mansion, warning him not to miss a single book or there would be trouble.

‘Ha… So tiring.’

He went back to dealing with the pile of paperwork on his desk.