Chapter 66

His face was obviously annoyed and his tone was sharp, but it seemed that something Selina said had struck a chord with him.

Tsk tsk, of course, things couldn’t be going well.

“If you don’t want to see that woman being led around by the Duke and his son, you need to fix your attitude first. With your looks and wealth, there are plenty of women who’d like you even with your awful personality, but Diane Lina is different. Her situation is complicated. The Duke is her rival. And his son, too.”

“…”

Edward was now looking at the Duke and his son sitting up front.

“Get it together, Edward. You have to beat both that father and son. That woman is slow, but also strangely timid. If you tell her you like her in a blunt way, she’ll only hear the blunt part and miss the liking part, so use kind words, gentle words only. Got it?”

As Selina checked for his response, a bell rang. The explanation session was about to begin.

Amy approached, and the girl she’d been playing with returned to her parents.

Edward stared at Selina.

He looked as if he was asking if he could leave.

“Alright. You can go now.”

As soon as she said this, Edward stood up and walked straight out of the auditorium.

He didn’t even say goodbye to Amy.

Selina Dunn regretted letting him go; she should have made him work for it a bit more.

* * *

Because the Duke arrived before the refreshment, Diane was able to leave for the Wale mansion before the event started.

But it was already past the communal dining room’s lunch hour.

She had followed Leon around the Compton campus all morning and was tense, so she was especially hungry.

Her stomach was empty, her body tired, and she hadn’t even eaten.

Since her first day at the Wale mansion, she hadn’t taken a single nap during the day, but today she felt she absolutely had to. Especially since there was no reading lesson for Leon.

She didn’t want to be late for dinner, so she went to the servants’ hall, grabbed an alarm clock, and lay down properly in bed.

But despite her exhaustion, maybe because the sunlight outside was so bright, she couldn’t fall asleep right away. The beautiful scenery of Compton unfolded behind her closed eyelids.

The tightly packed ivy, the green garden covered in grass, the sunlight sparkling like transparent beads in the fountain’s spray, Leon’s lovely figure running around, and the Duke, Amy, and Selina Dunn she saw after turning the corner, the prince’s golden hair shining in the sunlight, green eyes as warm as the lawn behind him, even with a slight frown.

It was truly beautiful.

‘……!’

What?

She suddenly realized that at the end of the image, she was remembering Edward walking behind Selina Dunn.

Why was the prince appearing there? Why was she thinking of President Edward Wale?

Why was she even recalling the way his long legs moved so indifferently?

She must really be tired.

Shaking her head as if to dispel the image, Diane squeezed her eyes shut again.

But even when the image faded, her thoughts wouldn’t stop.

What was the relationship between Edward Wale and Selina Dunn?

Were they just friends?

Why did Amy call President Edward Wale “uncle”?

Why did he appear at Compton?

Why did President Wale listen to her silent plea to stay quiet today?

Ah! That’s it.

Strangely, he was someone who usually annoyed her just by thinking about him, but now, without any unpleasant feelings, she kept thinking about him.

Because he granted her request.

It wasn’t even a big favor, but considering how he usually acted, it was an astonishing thing, so her dislike for him had faded.

Remembering that reasonable cause for thinking about him made her feel at ease.

Yes, today he behaved properly.

Her mind, now at peace, began to drift off.

President, Edward Wale, Ed… prince…

Without realizing that the hard fact of him being the prince was seeping into her soft feelings, she gently slipped into unconsciousness.

Knock knock.

“Mm…”

Knock knock knock.

“Uh, what is it…”

Something was disturbing her.

“Diane Lina.”

“Mmm…”

“Diane Lina!”

“……!”

Diane sat up with a start.

She was on her bed in her room.

Ah!

She’d taken a nap.

Only then did she remember lying down after coming back from Compton, unable to fall asleep right away and thinking all sorts of useless things, but eventually drifting off.

It was still bright outside, and the alarm clock showed there was time before dinner.

“Diane Lina, are you in there?”

A voice called again from outside the door.

Wait… Was the person knocking Edward Wale, the President?

It sounded like him.

Diane got off the bed.

The knocking continued.

How long had he been knocking?

She looked herself over before opening the door.

Her clothes weren’t messy.

As she opened the door, Edward was about to knock again, his fist raised.

He lowered his hand when he saw Diane.

“What is it, President?”

“You slept again?”

“Again?”

“You’re always sleeping.”

“When was that…”

He was still talking about her first day here.

He was so strange.

She’d only taken two naps since coming to this house, and both times, he’d shown up while she was asleep.

“Did you eat?”

“…?”

Diane squinted at Edward.

Food, suddenly?

“Did you eat lunch? Did you have lunch after coming back from Compton?”

“……”

Only then did she remember skipping lunch and deciding to nap instead.

Now she felt hungry.

“I knew it. You never eat properly, so you end up fainting and sleeping all the time.”

“That’s not true. I’ve never fainted or just slept like that.”

How long was he going to bring up that nap?

“Why did you come?”

Diane changed the subject.

“Take this.”

He thr*st something toward her chest—a white paper bag.

Diane reflexively accepted the bag with both hands.

He’d been carrying it in one hand all along, but she took it with both hands, as it was quite large.

“What is this?”

“Well, just… this and that.”

Just this and that?

Confused, she opened the bag and found it packed with enough desserts to last a week.

“Did you bring this for me to eat?”

“I didn’t hire you to starve and get dragged around to pointless places.”

“……”

Diane was momentarily speechless.

He’d known she hadn’t eaten and brought her food? President Edward Wale, of all people?

“By the way, why did you go to Compton earlier?”

Looking at the bag, Diane raised her head.

Of course! The desserts were just the appetizer; he wanted to talk about this.

“The Duke asked me. Something urgent came up.”

“So, if my brother asks, you just do whatever he says?”

Diane glared at Edward.

“If Leon whines and my brother asks, you do whatever?”

“That’s not it. This morning, I had no choice…”

“How long are you going to let them drag you around?”

Diane bit her lip.

The wall she’d almost let down because of the dessert bag was now rebuilt.

“What will you do when my brother gets married?”

Marriage?

Why was the Duke’s marriage coming up now?

“I just helped within the scope I could.”

“The scope you could? You’re not Leon’s mother or my brother’s wife. Going to Compton was outside your job.”

She was shaking with anger.

Was he saying she was acting as the Duke’s wife or Leon’s surrogate mother?

She was just an employee, doing what she could in unavoidable situations.

“I only did what I was asked as Leon’s tutor.”

“As his tutor…”

“……”

“Is that really all? Do you think that’s all it is for my brother and Leon?”

“Why are you doing this!”

Diane was finding it harder to stay calm.

He seemed to be interrogating her feelings.

“What will you do when Leon starts school? From what I saw at Compton, it looks like he’ll enroll next year.”

He abruptly changed the subject. Diane took a breath to regain composure.

“I’ll have to find another job.”

“Speaking of other jobs, do you remember that part of your contract with James Wharton—besides reading to Leon?”

“……?”

Diane narrowed her eyes.

She remembered discussing this when signing with James Wharton.

“So you do remember.”

“My job as your reading helper?”

“Yes.”

“Forget Leon’s tutoring. Just be my reading helper. Move out of this house, and I’ll give you a room at my hotel. Same salary, but if you want a raise, we can negotiate.”

“Hah!”

She couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

The President’s reading helper had only been an extra duty added to Leon’s tutoring. Where else could she get the same salary just for that, plus housing at a hotel?

Was that even a real job? And hotel housing?

He needed to make sense!

“What, are the terms too good? It’s better than being Leon’s nanny or the Duke’s secret mistress.”

“What did you say!”

Diane was so stunned, she shouted.

The Duke’s what?

“Why, isn’t it? That’s what my brother’s doing to you. Officially, he’s marrying Lady Lautrec, but…”

Diane genuinely wanted to slap Edward.

“Hearing this from you is outrageous. Weren’t you the one who treated me like a professional beauty to do whatever you wanted? I was hired as Leon’s tutor, not your reading helper. I’m so offended I don’t even want to look at you.”

She was so angry that words she’d never wanted to say spilled out.

“What?”

“Please leave. Don’t ever come to my room like this again.”

“Treated you like a professional beauty? Me?”

Edward’s brow furrowed.