Neville straightened his back and studied the massive castle rising before him. Dark clouds blanketed the sky, making the surroundings dim even at midday.
RUMBLE.
The thunder made Neville’s stomach lurch. He tried to suppress his stray thoughts, but he could not help feeling an ominous foreboding.
‘If it weren’t for the Society’s letter of recommendation......’
No... If not for Miren, the adorable child who would soon be born, he never would have accepted this job. Dealing with a noble Young Master was difficult precisely because the pay was high.
However, the Young Master assigned to him was no ordinary noble. He was the son of House Esterji, which ruled the North’s vast territories.
‘Still, how am I supposed to get inside?’
The main gate showed no sign of opening. Ordinarily, a servant would have come out to greet him first. Neville peered through the windows, trying to look inside the building.
CREEEAK.
Then, without warning, a small side door set into the wall opened, and a woman holding a lamp appeared from within. She seemed to be in her early thirties and had a kindly appearance.
“Are you the etiquette tutor?”
the woman asked.
“Yes. My name is Neville.”
“The main gate is under repair. Please come this way.”
Neville drew a deep breath and followed behind her.
Candles were lit along the corridor, but they were not enough to drive back the darkness. As Neville walked by their faint light, his eyes were drawn to a framed picture hanging on the wall.
“...What a curious painting.”
Something that looked both like writing and a painting was coiled across yellow paper. It seemed to have a pattern, but Neville did not have the knowledge to decipher it.
“Young Master Iden enjoys drawing.”
Neville recalled several rumors about Young Master Iden. He had certainly heard that the boy had a talent for painting.
“Oh, there is something you should be careful about.”
The woman turned around and spoke as though admonishing him.
“You must follow me closely. Too many people have gotten distracted and lost their way... Understood?”
“Yes.”
Neville nodded, wondering how anyone could possibly lose their way in such a straight corridor.
“Young Master Iden is in the room at the end of the corridor. Do not get distracted under any circumstances. Just follow me.”
The woman stressed the warning once again.
Neville grew tense for no reason and sharpened his senses. Suddenly, everything felt suspicious. He thought he saw a suit of armor move by itself, and he thought he heard someone calling his name.
Whenever that happened, he murmured the name of the child who would soon be born like a prayer.
“Miren, Miren...”
“Young Master, Neville, the etiquette tutor, has arrived.”
Neville widened his eyes and looked around. He was standing on the threshold of an antique reception room. Before long, he discovered a being more wondrous than anything he had seen in his life.
A child as exquisite as porcelain and as beautiful as a flower.
“Hello.”
As the child gave a small wave, Neville hurriedly dropped to his knees.
“G-greetings! I-I will be in charge of Your Highness’s education from today...!”
“You’re Neville, right?”
The child’s lips curved into a smile. It was a warm, unpretentious smile.
Countless Young Masters Neville had encountered during his years as an etiquette tutor flashed through his mind. They had all been as impressive as their families were powerful.
Intoxicated by their own excellence, they had never listened to a word Neville said. It was fortunate if they did not turn him into a test subject for their Awakened Abilities.
Among them had been Chris Esterji, the Duke’s second son. The time Neville had spent with that little devil occupied the most painful stretch of his memories.
“First, I will give you a book. It contains the etiquette Your Highness must learn.”
Neville placed the bag he had brought on the table. However, the book was so thick that it was not easy to pull out.
Then something so cold it chilled him to the bone touched the back of his hand. The child reached out with a small hand and easily pulled the book free as though pulling up a radish.
“Ah, thank you.”
More than gratitude, Neville was astonished by the child’s thoughtfulness.
It might have seemed trivial, but it was the first time he had experienced such a thing while working as a tutor.
It was inconceivable for a noble child who had been waited on his entire life to display such consideration during his very first lesson.
It was enough to make Neville believe he was living his second life.
“If you need anything, just tell me. I’ve waited seven years for these lessons.”
The child opened the book and smiled faintly. A bell rang loudly in Neville’s head. To Neville, whose mind was filled with etiquette, the boy was already every inch a duke.
***
My remaining lifespan was thirteen years.
I could not say for certain that I would die at exactly twenty, but judging from my previous life, I was sure I would die around then.
I had considered throwing away my title and wandering the mountains and fields in search of monster materials, but that would only be a repeat of my previous life.
Rather than wandering the world without purpose while waiting for a fortuitous encounter, it would be far better to become the Duke and wield immense wealth and human resources.
‘My son wants it, doesn’t he?’
That one sentence from Father became the compass of my life. Hadn’t he shown me firsthand that everything would become much easier once I became Duke?
That was why I had high expectations for the education I would begin today. Sovereign Studies in particular was a discipline a ruler had to learn.
“Sir Marden is a little late.”
Lily looked at the clock and spoke in a worried tone.
“He should have arrived by now... He is not someone who would ever forget an appointment.”
“Is that so?”
“Moreover, Sir Ainsel, the liberal-arts tutor, is also late. We have not received any notice at all.”
Do not worry, Lily. The two of them had arrived on time.
They simply had not arrived in one piece. Marden was a trained assassin, while Ainsel was being controlled by an Awakened Ability he did not even know existed.
I did not want much. First, they had to be of sound mind. Second, they could not be excessively greedy.
Had they met even those conditions, they would have passed safely through the formation. But they did not, and thanks to that, they were currently enjoying a pleasant exploration of the maze.
“Now only Martial Arts and Sovereign Studies are left.”
Then I sensed an outsider entering the formation.
A tingle ran down my spine.
Who was it? Martial Arts, or Sovereign Studies?
......Neither.
The alarm devices attached to the formation were ringing noisily. With hostility at this level, it could not be a tutor—unless it was someone who had come to remove my head.
I reached into the air and bent my middle finger into a hook. Puppet No. 2 and Puppet No. 3, which I had made from brooms, received the signal and deployed.
I wondered whether he had ever been hit by a broom infused with Daoist Power.
At that moment, my connection to Puppet No. 2 and Puppet No. 3 was severed at the same time.
‘He intends to break through by force?’
I whirled toward Lily.
“Lily!”
“Yes?”
“Go upstairs for a while.”
“All of a sudden?”
“Yes, right now!”
I forced the bewildered Lily upstairs. The intruder was smashing through every obstacle and cutting straight through the formation.
I could hear it—the crunch of flowerpots shattering and the crack of trees snapping.
Puppet No. 34 and Puppet No. 35, who had guarded the entrance to the reception room, had just fallen in the line of duty.
I prepared for every possibility. Rising from my seat, I wrapped my body tightly in the energy of the Five Elements.
It would be a mistake to think a Daoist could not fight in close quarters. I simply did not prefer fighting by throwing my body directly into the fray.
BANG.
With an explosion loud enough to burst my eardrums, the door was torn from its frame and embedded in the wall like a dart.
Through the cloud of dust, a young man in a black uniform walked in step by step.
Brown skin.
Two horns protruding from his forehead, curving inward.
Jet-black hair, and fangs sharp enough to seem suspicious.
His eyes were multicolored like a kaleidoscope, while gray smoke curled up through the gaps between his fangs.
He was a man who could not possibly be considered human... Someone who looked as though he had stepped straight out of a monster compendium.
“Who are you?”
I drew upon as much Daoist Power as I could. His presence weighed down the space around us. It was the first time I had felt such pressure since my master.
“Me?”
He pointed at himself with a long finger.
“I am Karoi. And who are you?”
“I am—”
“That is enough. You must be one of that bastard’s kids. You look just like him.”
He cut me off and waved his hand dismissively.
Oddly enough, I could not sense any bloodlust from him. Only boundless annoyance seeped from his expression.
“Are you the Martial Arts instructor?”
“I am the Martial Arts and Sovereign Studies instructor. Consider it an honor, human brat. If it were not for that bastard’s request, I would not even have had reason to exchange words with a brat of your kind.”
“You are teaching both Martial Arts and Sovereign Studies by yourself?”
“I never said I would teach. I only said I was a teacher.”
...What was that supposed to mean?
“Take it.”
He tossed me a book. It was a thick book covered in lumpy leather of deeply suspicious origin.
An unidentified energy seeped from its pages, and I could say with certainty that it was not the holy power Colin used.
“I wrote this book myself. Treat it as an honor and study it diligently on your own.”
The bastard trudged over to the sofa.
“Wake me when you finish reading it.”
Leaving only those words behind, he flopped down. He even placed a cushion over his head.
I alternated my gaze between the book in my hands and the bastard.
I had held great expectations for Sovereign Studies, but judging by the state of the man who had come, he seemed far removed from academics.
Still, I should read it. One could not judge a person by appearances alone.
In any case, he was the teacher Father held in especially high regard.