I Adopt The Male Lead - Chapter 33

Claude frowned.

“Mrs. Terrace, didn’t you say Astrid was a great student? If you’re upset these days…….”

“I’m not.”

Miss Terrace shook her head.

“On the contrary, she is following the level of education far beyond her age.”

“So, there’s nothing wrong with Astrid.”

Miss Terrace replied in a hard voice.

“Yes. I didn’t mean to dare tell you that there was a problem in her.”

“Then the problem is….”

“It’s me.”

She couldn’t feel any emotion in Ms. Terrace’s voice.

“What does that mean? Miss Terrace is the best tutor I’ve ever seen. There can’t be a problem with you.”

Miss Terrace bowed her head politely.

“Thank you for the compliment, but I’d appreciate it if you could understand that the princess is so excellent that I can only handle it when I focus all my attention on her.”

“That’s why you can’t accept these two children.”

“Yes, unlike a normal situation, the princess is now learning lessons that 3 tutors should be teaching.”

Claude clicked his tongue low.

“Yeah, Astrid is a bit shy.…….”

“In this situation, it’s too much for me to get another student.”

“I see.”

Claude groaned quietly.

Ms. Terrace continued to talk.

“If I take charge of these children, it will affect the education of the princess and my pride does not allow it, so I ask for your understanding”

“You don’t have to teach them for a long time because they’re young.”

“They’re children I’ve never taught before, so it will take a lot more time to prepare.”

“I see. It’s a shame.”

Claude seemed to be sincerely disappointed.

Karina wondered why he insisted on Miss Terrace’s education so much, but she didn’t intervene.

In any case, both are people who are much higher than themselves.

There was no need to scratch and make a rustle.

After Miss Terrace returned, Claude opened her mouth with an apologetic voice.

“I’m sorry. But I’ll look for another tutor.”

“Actually, you don’t have to

do that. Leaving school for a while doesn’t mean you’re in trouble.”

Claude replied with a voice that he would no longer allow refusal.

“There are things to be learned only at that time. It’s not only for Madam but also for your children, so I hope you don’t refuse.”

Karina couldn’t hold back her curiosity.

“I don’t intend to refuse if you send me a good tutor. By the way, why did you insist on Terrace?”

“Because she’s the best.”

An absurdly simple answer came back.

“And it fits her well.”

“In what way?”

“I called all the famous tutors, but they were all too coercive. Astrid was so nervous that she vomited.”

Karina tried to hide her surprise.

Miss Terrace already seemed strict enough, but are tutors who are much more coercive like her famous?

Still, it may not be comparable to Lord Renke, but it was quite shocking.

“I thought she was a good student.”

“She’s a good student. She is also a good younger sister.”

Is it an illusion?

Karina noticed a bitter sign in Claude’s words.

But she didn’t ask any more.

If it’s about the story of the Duke and the Duke’s sister.

She doesn’t need to know, doesn’t want to know, and shouldn’t know.

Claude immediately turned his head around.

“There are a lot of things that are lacking because they are prepared in a hurry. Will you come to the main building? It’s like eating.”

Karina couldn’t answer for a moment.

“Madam is my guest. You’re not an employee. So, I think we can have a meal together.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t feel pressured. It’s not even an official banquet, it’s just a meal together.”

They need to pass a ling corridor from the house Karina will live in to get to the duke’s dining room.

Karina realized that it was a very interesting situation now.

If he was a general nobleman, as soon as they entered the duke’s residence, the servants would run to guide her and the children to a separate house.

Claude would just turn them over to a servant and disappear somewhere.

‘He wouldn’t even ride a carriage with us in the first place.’

Of course, he wouldn’t also invite us to eat. He wouldn’t care whether the children are hungry or not.

‘Is it because of Roland or……’

Karina shrugged her shoulders.

There is nothing complicated to think about.

Claude seemed to be envious of Roland’s talent, and in the meantime, if she becomes a good magic merchant, it would help Tors.

‘Maybe, I can stay here all the time.’

However, Karina did not fully believe in Claude.

Claude was a good person, and obviously he is completely different from the other nobleman Karina had known so far.

To the point where she thinks it would be good to become his vassal.

If Karina had known nothing about Claude, she might have already sworn allegiance as a vassal.

However, Karina knew Claude too well.

Someone who will be obsessed with Roland in the future.

‘It’s right to keep a distance. But it can’t be helped right now….’

Upon arriving at the dining room, a wonderful table was prepared for the four.

Karina waited until Claude sat down, and then put her two children on both sides.

Claude smiled faintly as she sat across from her.

“It’s been a while since I had a meal with someone.”

“What about the princess?”

“Astrid doesn’t like me that much.”

“I see.”

Karina was gently convinced.

‘It can be burdensome to have an older brother who is 10 years older.’

Soon, delicious food was prepared in front of them.

Roland and Melissa’s eyes shined at the rich food they hadn’t seen in a long time.

Karina smiled at Melissa, who had been wary of her surroundings as if she had been spiny, smiling at a bite of bread filled with raspberry jam and butter.

“As expected, eating is the best.”

Claude’s words were not an exaggeration.

The food of the duchy was really the best.

It was not because it was all unfamiliar food that she had never seen before.

All of them were easy to find in Tors.

Soft bread, pulp-chewing raspberry jam, green beef stew, and salad with fresh vegetables and sweet and sour sauce on top of it.

However, just because they were common foods, the taste would be the same.

Each food melted in her mouth, and she was amazed by it.

Karina was surprised to notice that unlike herself, the children were just eating quietly, they were eating according to etiquette.

Roland learned strict etiquette because he was going to inherit the title baron, and Melissa seemed to have learned from Roland.

Claude inadvertently threw a word.

“You raised the kids well.”

Karina was about to say thank you immediately, but her body hardened on its own at the thought that suddenly came to mind.

‘I’m not the one who raised the children.’

I can’t do that.

She is just an unlucky widow who somehow took on the children raised by her deceased husband’s ex-wife.

In other words, she was not the one who raised these children.

“The kids were raised well by their dad.”

“… Was it a noble family?”

“No.”

Karina shook her head hard.

“He’s just more educated than his peers.”

I’m starting to sweat.

‘The story that I made up……is he suspicious?’

Karina spoke out as soon as she remembered a job rich enough for her child to receive a high-quality education.

“I was a merchant.”

Claude frowned on his forehead.

“If you were a merchant, you would have saved a lot of money, but why are you suffering in such a place?”

“……..”

She was speechless.

‘I didn’t think of that……….’

No words came out of her mouth.

All the words that barely came to mind were seen as obvious excuses.

At that time, Melissa pouted her mouth and stretched her bracken hand toward Claude.

It was a friendly move as if he had not been wary of Claude.

“U, uncle is a bad person.”

Roland too, swallowed a chunk of meat that he had been munching a while ago and added it with a loud voice.

“Yes, our uncle hit us and took all the money!”