Cannot Escape the Devil - Chapter 27. Bearable

Asaya tossed and turned all night long without sleeping. She was bothered by the fact that Edwin still hadn’t come back from work, and with what Edwin had said at the restaurant. She wasn’t sad or angry, but she was strangely annoyed. It kept bothering her. Eventually Edwin came back at dawn. Asaya had to laugh bitterly, interpreting this was his intention to completely draw a line.

“Good morning, Lady Asaya.” A servant greeted Asaya.

“How’s about the lord?” Asaya asked.

“He’s probably in the library.”

“Was he in the library all night?”

“I think so. Our Lord is a known workaholic.”

It wasn’t because of work. Asaya touched her forehead and sighed slightly. Edwin obviously tried to avoid her. Inevitably, the uncomfortable airflow continued. Did he pretend to be okay but he wasn’t? He must have been uncomfortable. Asaya smiled bitterly and walked to the library. She Knocked on the door gently. After a while, she heard a brief voice asking her to come in. Asaya carefully opened the door and entered the library. There he was, sitting in a chair, and gently opened his eyes.

“Isn’t our appointment time in the afternoon?”

“Let’s not have it today.”

“Why?”

“We’re uncomfortable with each other. Is that why you avoided me?”

Edwin softly frowned at Asaya’s causal question.

“I have never avoided you.”

“Then why did you sleep in the library uncomfortably?”

“I just had something to think about.”

At Edwin’s firm answer, Asaya slowly approached him.

“I forgot my situation for a while. I thought I could have a good relationship with you in the future because you’re kind. However, I must have been mistaken. I didn’t know that my feelings toward you and my presence would be burdensome. It was a very presumptuous idea.”

Asaya knew well that the distance between them was as high as the wall that divided the world of the nobles and the commoners. The wall that could never be crossed.

“There will never be anything beyond that line. So don’t feel uncomfortable.”

Edwin didn’t respond. He just looked at her with the expressionless appearance as usual. When Asaya had finished speaking,she nodded and went out of the library. Edwin, who was left alone, tapped on the desk with his long stretched fingers. This was primarily one of his reactions when he felt upset. Asaya’s spoken words were clear and concise. She basically repeated what he said to her at the restaurant but why did he feel so unpleasant now after hearing it from her lips? He stared blankly out the window, trying to ignore the strange feelings had left uncomfortably between them.

****

Since that day, time had passed without anything special happening. More precisely there was no time for something special to happen. After making the relationship clear, Asaya treated Edwin the same as the day she first saw him. Strangers. Edwin also showed no reactions and acted as usual. However, they still went on dates regularly. They went out and looked at every corner of the estate, but there was no joy like the first date. The outings that the two of them had were more like a show rather than a date.  Meanwhile, the National Day celebration was just around the corner.

“l am preparing for an important guest visiting today.” Edwin said.

“Who is this important guest?”

“Mrs. Romula said she wanted to meet you.” Edwin said.

Besides Mrs. Romula, Edwin was constantly looking for someone who could be in charge of etiquette education, but finding a teacher was a difficult situation. No one was willing to educate a person from outside the wall. In addition to that, the deadline for the National Day celebration was too closed. Meanwhile, the news of Mrs. Romula’s visit was very welcoming from Asaya’s point of view.

“I have to prepare carefully so that she can agree to be my teacher.” Asaya said.

“I hope you don’t get too disappointed if you can’t get a courtesy teacher, because I think you’re a capable woman no matter what.” Edwin praised.

“You overestimate me.” Asaya said.

“Aren’t you underestimating yourself?” Edwin asked.

“I am a more realistic person than anyone else.” Asaya said.

“That’s the same for me.” Edwin said.

Asaya laughed lightly. Edwin seemed to be a more ferocious man than anyone else, but at times like this he was a very friendly man. But that was it. Asaya, as before, decided not to attach meaning to every single word or deed.

“I will work hard to meet your expectations.”

*****

Romula Brotagne. The nanny of Edwin, the Lord of August, who took over the title after the death of Lord Serafina. She served as the hostess of the Kabelheider family, and one of the few people Edwin was obedient to.

“My name is Romula Brotagne.” The woman, who was rumored to be a strict manners teacher, was a very profound and quiet woman according to her reputation. She had white hair and a wrinkled face, which showed traces of time, was full of grace and beauty. Her posture of her old age was very upright and tidy, and the orderly behavior added weight to the quiet atmosphere.

“I’m Asaya Lubedoa. Please take good care of me.”

Mrs. Romula glanced up and down Asaya as if she was searching for something. She wasn’t outright, but Asaya could see that Mrs. Romula didn’t like her. In a way, her attitude was natural. Who would be happy to teach new etiquettes to a lady who was already over twenty years old? Besides, she wasn’t even a noble lady but a commoner.

“Edwin brought you in from outside the wall?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Asaya politely answered.

Mrs. Romula was at loss. Courtesy education couldn’t be achieved in a short time. Aristocratic children were educated in general manners from a very early age. The duration of the training varied widely depending on whether or not it was fully acquired, but it would take at least a few months to a few years.

“How can I educate a person who knows nothing until The National Day celebration?”

The courtesy education of the nobility would take place throughout life. Courtesy education for the nobles was not just etiquette education, but it also included court etiquette, foreign languages, arithmetic, musical instrument performance, dance, singing, religious rituals, shogi….etc. It didn’t make sense to teach all such an education in less than a month.

“I heard that you were visiting and we prepared some refreshments. Why don’t we enjoy tea time and discuss the future direction of education?” Asaya offered.

Just in time, Mrs. Romula was craving sweets under the rising stress. In addition, tea time would help make it possible for her to be at a certain calming level. She nodded after she had finished thinking.

“Alright.”

The refreshments prepared at tea time were delicious fresh cream cakes with a teapot of herbs, milk, honey and sugar cubes were set in turn. Mrs. Romula, who enjoyed tea with a cup of tea with her back straight, took notes of Asaya’s manner. She relaxedly tasted the aroma tea, and soon spread the prepared napkin over her lap. The way Asaya raised her teacup was gentle.The movement of putting down the teacup after a sip was also quiet.  Mrs. Romula was amazed at her impeccable posture.

“Marshall said he was having a lot of trouble getting a courtesy teacher. Perhaps because of my origin, it is difficult to find a teacher who will take charge of education. In the meantime, I am very happy that Mrs. Romula took the time to visit me.”

At Asaya’s gentle and polite tone, Mrs.Romula doubted for a moment whether the woman sitting in front of her was really an innocent woman brought from outside the wall as rumored. There was no frivolity in the actions of the beautiful woman sitting in front of her. Her voice and speech were also very calm and soft. She didn’t look like a person who grew up without learning at all.

“It won’t be just because of where you came from. The deadline is so tight that I can’t even think it would be possible.”

“It’s bad timing. I wonder if I dare to attend the National Day celebration, but an invitation was sent with my name on it, I can’t refuse it… and I have to make the impossible possible. Can’t you help me? I know it’s a ridiculous request. Still, please do it despite my shame. Can you help me, not for the Lord, and for August here? I need a great teacher to make that impossible possible.” Asaya pleaded.

“Why do you refer to me as a great teacher?”

“I heard that you were in charge of the general education of the Lord. Isn’t that something you can tell just by looking at the lord? Asaya said.

Mrs. Romula burst into laughter after hearing what Asaya said.

“That stupid guy is the worst student I’ve ever produced.”

“If he is the worst then who can be greater? He is the youngest of the twelve lords, and despite being less experienced than the others, he made this estate prosperous.” Asaya said.

August estate was once a barren land under the former Lord. However, now it was a prosperous land that stood shoulder to shoulder with the capital thanks to Edwin.

“Everyone in this land is indebted to Kabelheider’s name. The honor of the estate is our honor. If you are going to be the hostess of Kabelheider, you should know this better than anyone else. This is where heavy determination follows. Will you be able to handle that position?” Mrs. Romula asked.

“To be honest, I am not confident. For me, this is too much of a responsibility, and I have neither the guts nor the ability to bear the weight of it. But I have to deal with it. That’s the challenge I’ve been given, and that’s why I can live with my family here. That’s why I need your help.” Asaya said.

Mrs. Romula looked at Asaya’s unshakable eyes and spoke.

“You’re a transparent person. Those eyes resemble the ones I know well. Just like seeing Serafina in my youth. Where did you learn etiquette?”

“I learned it when I was a kid. But I have lived outside the wall for about 7 years.”

Mrs. Romula’s hardened expression was finally softened. The clogged up feeling was now being swept away.

“If you have been learning all along, why do you need my help?”

“My habits may have changed because of living outside the walls for so long. In addition, I lived in a very remote place and I didn’t enjoy social gatherings, I couldn’t dance well. I received training on dancing, but it’s been so long and I don’t remember it. I don’t know anything about the trend of social circles.”

“Were you a member of the church?”

“Yes,I have power.”

“Then, all this weird situation makes sense.”

Mrs. Romula had taken care of Edwin since childhood. So, she was one of the people who knew the situation better than anyone else. The shock when she first heard of the engagement was still vivid. Mrs. Romula had thought that Edwin would die of  loneliness after living alone and buried in work all his life. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested in women, or that there weren’t any women around him, but Edwin just wasn’t interested. He was the one who snorted and ignored the advice of the elders in August that he should marry quickly and have children for generations to come. All proposals to Kabelheider were declined, and only polite rejection letters were sent. The news of his sudden engagement was surprising, but when she learned that his fiancée who came from outside the wall, Mrs. Romula almost fainted.

“This relationship can’t be true.” As soon as she realized that it was a play, Mrs. Romula regained her mind.

“For the remainder of the period, we have to do our best. However, the basics will not be difficult to learn.”

“I will work hard.”

“You will have to. You will be the focus point at the event. They will compare you with Menefrida.”

“Menefrida, the former servant of the Lord, it seems that she was a great person.”

At Asaya’s words, Mrs.Romula frowned openly and expressed displeasure.

“In a sense, she was great. You have to be careful not to be like her.”

“ Yes?”

“Don’t forget your place. Don’t be presumptuous. I hope that you will not be a disgrace to the Lord like her.”

Disgrace..? Asaya was shocked by Mrs. Romula’s cold words. But she didn’t say anything anymore. After drinking the remaining tea and eating the cake, she instructed Asaya to start training right away. Asaya followed her after Mrs.Romula, who took the lead, and thought about her attitude. She was embarrassed by the outspoken Romula’s contemptuous attitude. However, Asaya decided to leave her resentment behind. Severe education began.