Chapter 61

After some time spent in thought, he ultimately decided to set a grace period.

If there was a period when commuting to Compton and having a home tutor coexisted, even if the marriage procedure wasn’t completed by the time of Compton’s admission, Diane Lina could fill the absence of a mother for a while.

He stared at the invitation for a long moment, then finally began to write a reply to the headmaster of Compton.

He wrote that on the day of the event, Duke Adrian Wale and Young Master Leon Wale would also visit the school.

* * *

‘It’s not here.’

It was a strange thing.

For several days, every time she came to the study, she looked for the book called ‘Romance’ that she had considered reading before, but it never caught her eye.

Diane was the only one in this house who read romance novels, so unless she was reading it, it should have been on the romance shelf, yet oddly enough, it was missing.

She wondered if the President had thrown it out that day.

He was a spiteful person, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he had torn up the book she was reading and tossed it away.

Eventually, she gave up searching and picked up another book, heading out to the garden.

She didn’t want to stay in the study too long and risk running into President Edward Wale or Duke Adrian Wale like last time.

Of course, since then, neither of them had appeared in the study.

About thirty minutes passed as she read in the garden.

Sitting on a shaded bench with her head bowed over her book, she suddenly saw a pair of riding boots.

“Hello?”

Diane looked up at the owner of the voice.

“Ah…”

It was the riding instructor she had only seen from afar.

It was curious how she had come so close without Diane noticing.

“Did I disturb you?”

The riding instructor smiled brightly.

“No, not at all.”

As Diane awkwardly tried to stand, the instructor waved her hand down.

“No, stay seated. I’ll sit down.”

“Oh, okay.”

Diane, who had been sitting in the middle of the bench, scooted over a little.

She hadn’t realized it from a distance, but the riding instructor was just as tall as Diane and was a striking beauty with bold features.

“My name is Selina Dunn.”

“Oh, yes. You’re Young Master Leon’s riding instructor, right? I’m Diane Lina, the reading tutor.”

“I know.”

“Oh… okay…”

Diane had seen Selina Dunn many times from afar, but never thought Selina had noticed her, so her words, ‘I know,’ felt odd.

“What book were you reading?”

Selina Dunn asked, glancing at the book in Diane’s hand.

“It’s a romance novel.”

“Do you like those?”

“Yes.”

“I see. That’s unexpected.”

‘Unexpected’ is a word used when something differs from what one knows, isn’t it?

Since this was their first meeting, Diane found Selina’s words unexpected.

“Um… Are you on your way back after Young Master’s riding lesson?”

“Yes. Before heading back, I heard you were here, so I came to see you.”

“To see me? For what reason?”

It wasn’t that she ran into Diane by chance—she had come specifically to see her.

“Edward came looking for me.”

“What?”

For a moment, Diane couldn’t understand what Selina Dunn meant.

But then she recalled the story she’d heard in the communal dining room, about President Edward Wale recommending the riding instructor.

Even so, ‘Edward’?

Were they really friends with the President?

So, even someone like him had friends…

The unfamiliar fact that the President had friends made Diane observe Selina Dunn as if she were an alien life form, and coincidentally, Selina Dunn was also looking at Diane with the same gaze.

She couldn’t understand why Selina Dunn had come to see her just because the President had visited her, and the instructor’s searching gaze felt uncomfortable and awkward.

“Are you close with Edward?”

“Close? What do you mean?”

Diane’s observant gaze instantly turned wary at Selina’s words.

The instructor’s words immediately brought back unpleasant memories from the opera house.

The memory of the Viscount pestering her, asking if she was close with the Marquis.

“Ah… Is it hard to understand what I meant?”

“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say. The President and I are simply employer and employee.”

“Hmm, no, that’s not it. At this rate, I’ll get killed by some crazy bastard.”

Selina Dunn muttered something incomprehensible.

Diane felt increasingly uncomfortable being with this woman.

Were odd people only friends with other odd people?

No doubt, this woman who was friends with the President was also strange.

“Ms. Selina Dunn, do you have something specific to say to me?”

“Oh, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Edward mentioned the reading tutor, so I was curious about what kind of person you were.”

Diane couldn’t trust her words at all.

Why would the President talk about her to this woman?

As expected, if a woman was connected to the President, it was best not to get involved with her either.

“If you don’t have anything particular to say, I’ll head back now.”

An awkward silence fell, and Diane, thinking it was a good time to leave, quietly gathered her strength to stand.

“Do you know Viscount Anton?”

But at the mention of ‘Anton,’ Diane’s legs lost strength and her bottom stayed glued to the bench.

Of course, she knew the name.

That day, at the opera house, it was the man who harassed her.

She wanted to forget, but strangely, the memory was vivid.

Even just now, Selina’s words had reminded her of that man.

But she couldn’t say they were acquaintances.

“We’re not acquaintances, just happened to meet once.”

“That’s right. No one would want to be friends with that bastard.”

‘That bastard.’

At Selina Dunn’s choice of words, Diane’s heart momentarily sank, but oddly enough, the wariness she’d felt toward Selina began to melt away.

Yes, he really was a bastard.

“Yes… But why are you bringing him up…?”

Diane became curious about what Selina Dunn wanted to say.

“That bastard is lying at home with his limbs broken, I hear.”

“What?”

“Hahaha! They told him not to grope around with those filthy hands. Not to go anywhere.”

Selina Dunn suddenly laughed out loud as if telling a funny story.

It didn’t seem like a story where someone’s broken limbs should be amusing.

“In fact, that’s not all. I hear he’s lost most of his teeth too. So he can’t even spout filthy words anymore.”

“What?”

Diane blinked.

Broken limbs and lost teeth?

Why suddenly?

“That’s not all.”

There’s more?

Diane unconsciously swallowed.

“All the *ssaults that Viscount committed have appeared in the newspaper gossip columns. They were published anonymously, but anyone could tell it was him, and as if waiting, lawsuits started popping up everywhere.”

*ssaults published?

So he’d done to others what he did to Diane.

“Of course, he’s losing every case.”

Even amid the shocking revelations, Diane couldn’t understand Selina’s words.

Why was he losing every case before the trials were even held?

“Why is he losing every case?”

“Well, because Ed— I mean, the rich guy has already bribed the judges, prosecutors, and lawyers. He’s guilty anyway, so even without bribery he’d be convicted, but honestly, it’s hard for commoners to win against nobles in court, right? The bribery is a sure thing.”

“Commoners filed lawsuits too?”

“Uh-huh. Even if he loses and only has to pay compensation, he’ll be ruined. I wonder if he’ll have any money left for treatment. He never had anything except his title anyway.”

Diane was curious about who this rich person was that had bribed judges, prosecutors, and lawyers, but it seemed Selina Dunn didn’t want to say the name, so she couldn’t ask.

Why did the wealthy person bear such a grudge against Viscount?

Maybe someone in their family had suffered at Viscount’s hands like Diane had.

But to take revenge so severely…

Was the person who punished Viscount Anton a righteous person, or, since they bribed people, not so righteous? Diane couldn’t decide.

“He brought it on himself. He sowed what he reaped.”

Diane kept blinking, trying to process all the information, while Selina Dunn, excited, continued talking.

“Yes… But how did Viscount… end up with all that? I mean, the broken limbs.”

If everything Selina said was true, how could so many bad things happen to one person at once?

When Diane saw him at the opera house, he was a perfectly healthy assailant.

“The rich guy took care of it with money, of course.”

“Took… care… of it?”

Diane stammered.

Was she hearing correctly?

From Selina Dunn’s beautiful, charming face came words that were far too harsh.

“Some vagrants he met on the street broke all his noble arms, legs, and teeth and ran off. Then suddenly, an anonymous benefactor appeared, funding lawsuits for commoners and nobles alike, and that’s how he got destroyed. You know? The kind of story where vagrants start working when money gets involved?”

No, Diane didn’t know at all.

But suddenly, goosebumps covered Diane’s body.

She wished she didn’t understand, but in truth, she understood almost everything Selina Dunn said.

Viscount Anton’s series of misfortunes hadn’t happened by chance, but at the instigation of a wealthy person.

She’d heard rumors of organizations disguised as vagrants who would do such things for money, but to think that someone she’d met had actually become a victim…