Chapter 47
The Duke looked at her with an expression so plain, Diane wondered if this was the most honest face in the world.
Her flustered feelings seemed almost irrelevant to him.
But a walk alone with the Duke—she shouldn’t even imagine such a thing.
While the Earldom family was present, she’d barely spent any time with the Duke, which had helped her keep her feelings in check. Now, with them gone, she had to avoid any situation that would stir her heart again.
“Ah, now that I think about it, watching Young Master’s piano lesson might be nice. I don’t know how to play piano at all, so I’m curious.”
“Oh, would you?”
The Duke nodded as if it was nothing.
She felt strange.
Had she actually hoped he would insist on walking with her?
She wanted to laugh at herself for being so foolish.
Trying to avoid spending time with the Duke, yet secretly wishing for it—she was scared of discovering these hidden feelings.
“Oh! I have a great idea!”
Suddenly, Leon grabbed her hand.
A great idea?
Anxiety washed over Diane.
Whenever Leon made that face, it usually meant something outrageous was coming.
“Young Master, what are you thinking?”
Diane asked cautiously, hoping her strange feeling was wrong.
“Teacher! My piano teacher has to teach me piano, so you should learn piano from my dad!”
“What?”
Of course! Her instincts hadn’t been wrong.
Diane felt like she’d been hit on the head with a hammer.
What did Leon just say?
Why had he come up with such a strange idea?
“You can’t sing, and you can’t play piano, right? Piano is basic etiquette… or, what was it—‘foundation’? That’s what my piano teacher said. So you should have basic foundation too. Isn’t it bad for you not to know?”
“Haha! Young Master, I’m not your piano teacher. I’m your reading teacher.”
Diane wasn’t even sure what she was saying, but she had to object.
“No, no! Piano is basic etiquette for everyone. Right, Dad?”
“Hmm, well…”
The Duke neither agreed nor disagreed, letting his words trail off.
“And when I said I didn’t want to learn piano a few days ago, you told me that men who play piano are cool. So I should learn hard like Dad.”
“What?”
Diane was so startled she thought she might hiccup.
She had said something like that to encourage Leon when he didn’t want to take piano lessons.
But why bring it up now?
It felt embarrassing for Leon to say that in front of the Duke, even though she hadn’t meant the Duke specifically. Still, she’d been thinking of the Duke playing piano when she said it, so it felt like her secret thoughts were exposed.
“I’m learning piano to become a cool man. Because you said so. So you should learn piano like I said.”
What kind of logic was this?
Apparently, Leon hadn’t learned logic or rhetoric yet.
Leon was learning piano for himself, not for her, but he twisted the logic so that since he was learning for her, she should learn for him.
But she couldn’t say, “If you’re learning piano for me, do whatever you want,” in front of his father.
“Young Master, I’ll learn later.”
She needed to escape this situation, so she gave a vague answer.
“So Leon is learning piano thanks to you, Miss. Thank you. Now that I think about it, I should return the favor.”
“Oh! No, not at all.”
Return the favor?
She was already getting paid more than enough.
With the Duke joining in, Diane was overwhelmed.
“As Leon said, I’ll teach you piano, Miss.”
“……!”
Diane was so shocked by the Duke’s words that she was left speechless, mouth agape.
This father and son—are they playing with her?
“Great! I’m going to my piano lesson now. Teacher, you’ll learn in the room where Dad played piano last time. I’ll be in my own piano room.”
Leon even picked the location, grabbing both Diane’s and the Duke’s hands and heading for the entrance.
No way.
This was ridiculous, but Diane was being dragged along by Leon.
She couldn’t believe the Duke was going along with Leon’s absurd idea.
Ah… When Leon went to his piano lesson, surely the Duke would end this charade?
She glanced at the Duke’s calm face, finally accepting the situation with this prediction.
Her prediction was wrong.
This was truly absurd.
The same thought spun around her head dozens of times, but in reality, she was doing the absurd thing.
Sitting at the piano, listening to the Duke’s explanation.
“This key is ‘Do.’ First, it’s important to know where this key is.”
He bent over and pressed a white key right in front of her chest.
Ding.
The piano’s sound rang through the tea room.
At that sound, Diane’s mind went blank.
‘Do? What’s that? Ah, a note name.’
A piano was in front of her.
But all she saw were repeating white and black keys—a frightening puzzle.
“Um, Your Grace. I don’t think this is right. Piano… I really don’t need to learn.”
“Diane.”
Diane whipped her head around to look directly at the Duke.
This time, she was sure.
He was openly calling her Diane.
“You don’t deserve to be called ‘Teacher’ with such a poor attitude toward learning, Diane.”
She couldn’t even think of a reply.
He was calling her Diane and even scolding her.
She just blinked at him.
“Now, look at the keys. Which one is ‘Do’? Point to it.”
To make matters worse, the Duke’s voice grew strict.
‘No, this isn’t right! This really isn’t right!’
She clenched her hands tightly above the keys.
“Your Grace.”
She called him in a firm voice, looking him straight in the eye.
But at that moment, his face suddenly moved closer.
Startled, she leaned her upper body back, but at the same time, his hand touched her right hand.
He unfolded her clenched fist and pressed her thumb down on a white key.
“Diane, this is ‘Do.’ Remember it.”
Now, the Duke’s body seemed to envelop her from behind.
Diane felt like she couldn’t breathe.
Her heart beat so fast she could hear it louder than the piano.
“This is ‘Re.’”
He guided her second finger to another white key.
She swallowed nervously.
Goosebumps ran up her neck and arms.
He continued, guiding each finger to the keys up to ‘Sol.’
“Shall we stop at ‘Sol’ today, Diane? You don’t seem able to focus.”
Diane blinked at his hand, still holding her pinky.
“What are you doing!”
A tremendous shout rang out at that moment.
President Edward Wale was standing at the entrance to the tea room.
The Duke released Diane’s hand and rose slowly.
He was unbelievably calm.
Diane, on the other hand, stood up so quickly her piano bench scraped loudly.
“Ed, when did you get here? I heard you’d gone to Agris. You’re back already?”
The Duke spoke as if he was genuinely curious, calm and natural.
“What are you doing! What are you two doing here!”
But unlike the Duke, Edward’s face was twisted with rage, his voice so fierce it seemed he might hit the Duke.
“Edward, don’t yell. You’re scaring Miss Diane.”
“What! Miss Diane? Now… d*mn…!”
He cut himself off and strode toward the piano.
Diane shrank back, intimidated by his force.
She felt as if he might grab her by the hair.
The Duke glanced at her, then stepped forward as if to shield her from Edward.
“Move!”
Edward shouted right in front of them.
“You move.”
The Duke didn’t flinch.
“Move!”
Edward shouted again, loud enough to echo through the second floor.
Diane was so startled she almost collapsed, accidentally pressing a key beside her.
The piano’s discordant sound rang ominously through the tea room.
“Diane Lina, aren’t you coming here right now? Get over here!”
With the Duke standing firm in front of her, Edward now yelled at Diane.
His piercing gaze made her body tremble.
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Aqua_the_idiot
God if Edward didnt exist i would have cheered for the duke but i still like Edward ughhh but Ed my boi you have a long way to go! Stop shouting!