Episode 6: I Pinned the Tutor Against the Wall.
Sharing meals, sleeping together.
The distance between Ati and me has considerably closed.
The Ati in the otome game was such a terrible woman, almost a template for a villainess, but Ati as a young girl is an angel herself.
At first, she was shy and kept a little distance, but when I treated her honestly, she opened her heart and became attached to me. Truly an angel. Undoubtedly an angel.
I absolutely won’t let her become such a nasty woman in the future.
Absolutely!
However.
There was someone who didn’t find this amusing.
…What is this house? Is it a house where demons dwell?
“Ati-sama cannot spend time with Madam today.”
After sleeping together, waking up, and having breakfast, the one who stood before me as I tried to go to Ati’s room was Ati’s tutor.
Probably around my age or a little older. The guy who manages all of Ati’s education.
His name is Samuel.
“I am aware that Ati-sama is having a pre-engagement meeting with the Andreu Family today. (Although I don’t know why I, as her stepmother, who is still a mother, cannot be present.) Ati seemed nervous, so I was just going to say something to cheer her up— (no,) to ease her tension.”
I said smoothly, and the moment I tried to avoid the tutor (Samuel) standing in the hallway, he quickly blocked me again. What’s with this guy? So fast.
“Please refrain from doing so.”
…Huh? What did he just say?
“Excuse me, what do you mean—”
“Please refrain from doing so.”
He replied almost overlapping my words. So fast. I heard you. That’s not why I asked again.
“Could you tell me the reason?”
“No.”
Huh?
Did he just refuse? Even to tell me the reason, he refused?
“Could you tell me the reason why you can’t tell me the reason?”
“No.”
“Oh, is that so? Then, could you tell me the reason why you can’t tell me the reason why you can’t tell me the reason?”
“No.”
Haha. He’s still going to say it.
“I see, that’s unfortunate. Then, at least, could you tell me the reason why you can’t tell me the reason why you can’t tell me the reason why you can’t tell me the reason?”
I’m persistent in situations where I’m not convinced. Prepare yourself.
After I persistently, persistently, persistently pressed him, the tutor (Samuel) sighed very, very deliberately, exaggeratedly.
He’s picking a fight. Definitely.
He adjusted the monocle on his left eye and said slowly, as if explaining to Ati, as if explaining to someone who still has difficulty with words, carefully and deliberately.
“It is the Marquis’s intention.”
Good enunciation, oi.
Did he think that if the Marquis’s name came up here, I, with my weak position, would back down?
Good courage.
That’s right.
But.
In the first place, that’s a lie.
If that were the case, that guy would have kept me away from Ati much sooner. Besides, who cares about the intentions of that Marquis (spineless guy) anyway?
“Is that so… It seems the Marquis-sama still doesn’t understand how worried I am about Ati…”
I put my hand to my mouth and quickly averted my gaze from the tutor. Trying to look sad. Well, I think my brow is furrowed, though.
Forcibly pushing through here would only stir things up. And it’s Ati who would be troubled.
Pretending to be disheartened, I’ll retreat for now and go to Ati’s place from another route.
Thinking that, the moment I turned around to quietly retreat—
“Stop with the pathetic acting, ‘Raging Stallion of the North’.”
Such a curse was hurled at my back.
At the same time, I felt hostility being directed at me.
There’s no mistaking it. That voice just now was the tutor, Samuel.
“What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
I turned around slowly. Trying to smile as much as possible. Well, I think my brow is furrowed, though.
And I looked at the tutor (Samuel) standing there with as gentle eyes as possible.
He had completely erased the smile he always wore and was staring at me with a completely expressionless face.
“I said, stop with the pathetic acting.”
Hey. What happened to your usual polite rudeness? This is just plain rudeness.
“Even if you say pathetic acting…”
I’m not going to take such cheap bait. I’m constantly looked down on, underestimated, and unconsciously insulted. If I got upset every time, I couldn’t live as a woman.
I put on a sad expression. But I tried not to avert my gaze from him.
“So, you’re saying it’s not acting at all. Well, fine. Even if that’s what you think, I see through everything.”
What do you mean? I’m just being polite, how rude. If you’re saying that being polite is acting, then living as a woman is acting, you idiot.
“A defective woman who’s been remarried.”
…I can’t ignore that.
“What do you, mean?”
An ominous atmosphere begins to drift between me and the tutor. I felt like the temperature had dropped.
“Even though you couldn’t have children and were divorced, you’re sneaking into a new house. And, of all places, the Marquis household. A useless freeloader. Are you after the property? Thinking you’ve successfully infiltrated, you’re starting by winning over the daughter. Lowly women do things differently, you whore.”
The tutor (Samuel) spews out terrible abuse without any emotion.
Perhaps mistaking my lack of reaction to his words as shock, he continues his abuse even more eloquently.
“Even if you can deceive the kind Marquis-sama and Ati-sama, you can’t deceive me. Your inferiority makes my nose wrinkle, you filthy bitch. Hide your face, which has no trace of dignity, and quickly run back to your parents’ house, you sow.”
The tutor, having vented his anger by insulting me so much, took a breath and looked somewhat satisfied.
“…Is that all you wanted to say?”
After confirming that he had run out of words, I slowly opened my mouth.
Since we were standing a little apart, I quickly stepped forward and closed the distance between us.
He seemed to have not expected me to approach, and he flinched for a moment.
I got close enough to him that our breaths mingled, and I pressed my face close to his, who was about the same height as me because I was wearing heels.
“You just said whatever you wanted while I was listening silently. My ears are rotting.”
When I spoke in a deep, menacing voice as if from hell, the tutor’s eyes widened, and he tried to take a step back.
I grabbed both of his arms tightly. I won’t let you escape.
“What are you misunderstanding? Your information gathering is weak, isn’t it? Are that monocle and head just for show, huh? This marriage was proposed by this Marquis household, you idiot. Otherwise, who would come to a Marquis household full of conspiracies, you moron?
The previous severance wasn’t because I couldn’t have children. If you’re going to investigate, don’t do it halfway, investigate thoroughly. Being half-assed is dangerous. You’re the one who’s going to be caught with false information and end up dragging down the Marquis household.”
The moment I said that, his face flushed red.
“You—”
I covered the mouth of the guy who was about to retort, and quickly swept his feet.
I turned his body, which had lost its balance, and pressed him against the wall next to us.
And then, I thrust the beautiful stiletto heel that my sisters had pooled their allowances to buy for me as I was getting married into the wall next to him.
“Huh? Did you think I wouldn’t retort? You know me, right? Did you think the ‘Raging Stallion of the North’ was just a tomboy? You’re not enough.
Winning over the daughter? What are you teaching Ati? Isn’t it your role to raise Ati into a decent person?
But you’re locking her up in the house, making her study history and math, which can be done later, and on top of that, you’re making her eat alone.
Doesn’t the word ‘Emotional Development’ exist in the textbooks in your great head?
Ati is still young.
She’s a child.
So first, you need to nurture her heart.
The adults around her should take her hand and let her experience various things so that she can have a stable mind and intellectual curiosity.”
The stiletto heel embedded in the wall sank even deeper, making a creaking sound.
The tutor’s face turned pale, and he was opening and closing his mouth.
“You can suspect me all you want, but if you lose sight of what’s important because of it, you’re putting the cart before the horse. Your job is to help Ati grow as a person. Don’t think about anything else. Just think about Ati. Your job is to incorporate anything that benefits Ati and eliminate anything that hinders her.
If you watch closely what I’m doing, you should understand, right?
Don’t misinterpret what you see.”
After saying everything, an ear-splitting silence descended.
Ah! I feel so refreshed after saying what I wanted to say!
The anger that had been boiling in my womb has subsided, and I take my foot off the wall. I managed to get my shoe off too.
Oh, my precious shoe! It’s stuck in the wall and won’t come out!
I pulled and tugged until I finally got the shoe out of the wall, put it back on, and straightened my clothes.
When I noticed, Samuel was sitting on the floor with a blank look on his face, staring up at me.
Oh no, while I’ve been doing this, Ati might be shrinking in her room from nervousness!
It’s all because this guy is getting in the way!
I deftly sidestepped Samuel and headed towards Ati’s room.
But, I stopped and turned back once.
“Even if you didn’t tell me, I’ll be gone eventually. Severance is just a matter of time.
Until then, I just want to give Ati as much love as I can. I want Ati to become a wonderful, independent person who can stand on her own.
So, you should use me for Ati’s education too.”
I said only that and ran to Ati’s room.