Chapter 4
The first lesson with Seion was a complete disaster.
Because Seion kept bringing his face close, I spent the time worrying our lips might touch, backing away, and trying to convince him to let go of my wrist that felt like it might break. Not to mention calming my heart, which was racing out of control…….
Truly, I couldn’t keep my wits about me at all.
Furthermore, after escaping Seion’s grip, I spent all my time trying to instill common sense into him.
Things like: a student should never make a teacher kneel, one shouldn’t just grab and sway people at will. That you shouldn’t touch others without permission and that it’s necessary to control your strength.
I felt less like a dating coach for a grown Grand Duke and more like an actual teacher teaching basic common sense to baby Seion.
“I feel suddenly so bleak……”
Just one day into the lessons, a sigh leaked out. The long journey ahead with Seion seemed like it would be much rougher than expected.
* * *
What is the correct way to deal with Seion Fernandi?
Before I could find the answer to that worry, a new morning dawned. Which meant, in other words, it was time for another lesson.
“Your Highness! The weather is lovely today as well. It’s a perfect day for a peaceful lesson!”
Opening the office door wide, I tried my best to put on a bright voice. I was trying hard to erase the memory of being helplessly swayed by his hands yesterday.
‘Let’s remember, Annette. In everything, dominating the atmosphere is important!’
The moment I lose initiative in the lesson, the genre of this world will turn into angst.
Seion, who was focused on his work, lifted his head. After glancing at my face, he checked the time.
“You haven’t already forgotten what I said yesterday, have you?”
“Yes. I remember.”
When I asked while flopping down on the sofa, Seion nodded. Along with his short answer, Seion organized the documents he was reviewing and sat down across from me.
“Although I had many doubts, I understand for now that I must prioritize Annette’s words.”
I didn’t bother asking what he had doubts about. If I did, the lesson would surely veer off course again.
“However, I still believe it is the teacher’s role to oversee the application of what was taught in the lesson to actual practice.”
Just like now. If I took my eyes off him for even a second, I would be swept away by his logic and end up doing whatever he wanted.
Dating Seion……. With the way he is now, I couldn’t even conjure a vague imagination of it.
“Your Highness. It’s not that I won’t oversee it, but that the partner doesn’t necessarily have to be me.”
“There is no partner as suitable or appropriate as Annette.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Did we not sign a contract? I suppose I can trust you more than others.”
That’s not what I meant, you jerk. Who chooses a dating partner based on who is rational? The premise itself is wrong!
I took a deep breath to calm my thoughts. There would be no end to it if I started getting dragged into his logic.
“Your Highness, dating is about two people sharing their hearts.”
Seion kept his mouth shut as if lost in thought.
Now is the chance!
“First of all, the premise is that each person must be the other’s type. Whether it’s the face or personality. Feelings only build when two people are attracted to something about each other.”
“…….”
“If dating were a relationship bound by a contract, there would be no need for these lessons in the first place. A single piece of paper would suffice.”
So, stop bringing up the idea of dating me.
I swallowed the following words and put on a firm expression. It meant I would no longer accept his logic.
“Annette……”
Seion’s lips, which had been tightly closed for a moment, slowly parted. What was he going to fluster me with this time? I reflexively swallowed hard as tension rose.
“Annette…… do you not like my face?”
Haha, damn it. Why does your thinking flow toward such nonsense, you Grand Duke fellow!
There wasn’t a hint of playfulness in Seion’s expression. He was sincerely asking if his face was not good.
It’s strange. It’s not like there are no mirrors in the Grand Duchy. Does he have bad eyesight……?
I opened my eyes wide and scanned his face meticulously. Looking only at his appearance, he was a perfect creation that God must have put the most effort into.
“It is a bit of a cold impression, but……”
At my small murmur, the ends of Seion’s eyebrows lowered. It looked as if he was intentionally putting on a gentle expression.
Perhaps because of that, the coldness I had felt since we first met vanished in an instant, and his sharp eyes and the atmosphere carrying a cold bloodlust settled down.
He was a person who could…… make that kind of expression?!
Once that characteristic fierce coldness cleared, his handsome beauty hit me even harder.
“I am aware that my impression is not good.”
Seion’s voice, which was no different from usual, sounded sullen.
The humanity felt from a man who had seemed like a cold, hard statue. I was so flustered by the contrast that I couldn’t easily continue speaking.
“It isn’t a face that inspires favorable feelings.”
A sullen cold-handsome man. This is dangerous! Is this what they call a natural flirt?
Just in case, I wiped under my nose. I shouldn’t be bleeding from the nose without even knowing it.
Fortunately, the tip of my nose was dry. As soon as I confirmed that, I shook my head.
“Your Highness, objectifying yourself is very important, you know?”
Now was not the time to be helplessly defeated by his facial attack. Leaving a gloomy handsome man alone is a near-crime.
I gave a small thumbs-up toward Seion. If nothing else, his appearance was the strongest in this world.
Black hair, white skin, and red eyes—how much of a cliché, textbook beauty of the romance-fantasy world was he?
“Do I look like someone you’d want to curse for the rest of your life?”
“……Pardon?”
No, I mean. Why are you so extreme?!
I hurriedly shook my head side to side. So hard that a “whoosh” sound could be heard, to the point of feeling dizzy.
However, Seion’s gloomy atmosphere did not change. He had a face that looked as if I had already placed a curse on him.
Of course, if you only looked at his face, he did look like someone you’d want to be terribly entangled with. Should I say he has the kind of face that makes you want to linger while going through a divorce lawsuit? Or should I say he makes me want to become a flowerpot in his room and watch him contentedly?
“You do not have to lie. I know it is not a face one would like.”
While I was lost in thought for a moment, Seion’s voice grew even lower. Without even hearing my answer yet, he had given up on his own.
Perhaps because of his softened impression compared to the beginning, it felt as if I could see non-existent puppy ears drooping atop his head.
This damn imagination.
I don’t know why Seion’s self-esteem is so low, but I couldn’t stand it. I say it again: leaving a gloomy beauty alone is a near-crime.
“No! Your Highness’s face is the kind where your nose would start bleeding just by catching a glimpse of it while passing by in a carriage! It’s the kind of crazy face that makes you start thinking about your grandchildren’s names the moment you see it……! Hup!”
I covered my mouth that was blurting out tactless fangirling.
Oh, damn. I didn’t mean to drag out and show the things buried deep inside me to this extent. My mouth was far too reckless today.
“I-I mean……. You’re handsome! Hahaha, ha ha, ha… ha……”
Silence fell as my fake laughter died down. Beyond the window, an unnamed bird chirped.
Ah, is it now? Is now the time for me to jump out the window? If I could escape this suffocating silence, I felt like I could jump.
Seion had already erased his sullenness and returned to his usual expressionless face.
“I see.”
His monotonous voice brought back a sense of reality. Get a grip, Annette. You’re being swayed again just like yesterday!
“Anyway! Now, let’s truly have the lesson! Let’s find out Your Highness’s type.”
I changed the subject with a noticeably awkward tone. The corners of my mouth, which I had forced up, were trembling.
“Your Highness, what is your ideal type?”
“My ideal type?”
“Yes. Physical appearance, personality, or even things like ability or wealth are fine.”
I spread out the paper where I had written Seion’s information. And below his strengths and weaknesses, I wrote a new subheading.
[Ideal Type: Source – Himself]
“I like short hair, cut around the jawline.”
I nodded while taking down Seion’s words.
A preference for short hair—passed. Since the novel’s heroine was a young lady who stuck to long hair, his preference was very desirable for now.
“And?”
I asked while writing Seion’s answer on the paper. Seeing him state specific conditions unexpectedly, I thought I could find his ideal type soon.
“A person who resembles spring.”
Right. A person who resembles spring……. What?
“I like a person who makes me think of spring whenever we face each other.”
The thought that I could find his fated partner soon was completely off the mark.
Doesn’t looking at someone and thinking of spring just mean you love them? My head was filled with confusion.
Then, a face suddenly came to mind. The heroine of this novel, Eirin Javier. Her hair was a bright pink that could remind one of cherry blossoms.
In describing Eirin, she was compared to cherry blossoms several times. Once, her existence was even expressed as a spring breeze.
No way. It couldn’t be, right?
“Since you say it like that, it sounds like you’re talking about a specific person.”
I asked as if testing Seion. If he was already interested in Eirin, the lessons and everything else were already over. Because he would kidnap Eirin as he pleased and lead the Fernandi Grand Duchy to ruin.
“Because I said it while thinking of one person.”
*Thump.* My heart sank at his concise words.
“I-is it someone you like?”
“Yes. Is it strange? That I like someone.”
“No! It’s not that, I’m just curious about what kind of person they are! Anyway, I’m Your Highness’s dating teacher, so I thought I could only help if I knew the partner.”
“……You will help me.”
Seion laughed softly. With a face I had never seen before.
“Yes. Because that is why I am by Your Highness’s side?”
Certainly, Seion’s lips were curving into a gentle arc. But for some reason, his atmosphere felt subtly chilly.
“It has already failed.”
It already failed? So it’s not Eirin?
I bit my lip at the confusing development. Seion’s cold smile had already turned bitter.
Seion turned his head toward the window. His calm eyes looked empty somehow. His gaze lingered in the air as if chasing something invisible.
“She hated me, disliked me, and loathed me.”
Seion’s brow wrinkled slightly. It was a change so minute that I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t been observing him closely.
“She tried to never accept my help.”
I held my breath and listened to his past. There were many things I was curious about—who the woman he loved was, what had happened—but I couldn’t say a word.
“……Even until the very moment she died.”
The voice, as small as a breath, looked terribly painful.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
