The Kids Have Changed - Chapter 10

“Sharon will hate you?”

“Ah… I guess you wouldn’t know, since you aren’t close to her.”

Julien shrugged. He couldn’t really refute Carol’s statement.

Carol snickered.

‘I’m definitely her closest friend!’

Carol crossed her arms and haughtily looked at Julien. She had been a little jealous because Sharon had started to take care of him, but now her unpleasant emotions settled down.

“Sharon likes kids who are nice. She wouldn’t like it if she knew that I always fought with you. So, you need to co… co…”

“Cooperate,” Julien said, dumbfounded that Carol didn’t even know that much.

Carol did not notice his disdain. She clapped her hands. “That’s right! Cooperate.”

“Whatever.”

Julien tilted his head, and his red hair flowed with the movement.

Carol frowned, irritated.

‘Who does he think he is, being prettier than me?’

If Carol was being honest, that was one of the reasons she hated him. Carol wanted to be the second prettiest after Sharon, but Julien was prettier than her. She had come to accept it, but it still bothered her sometimes.

Julien turned back to look at Sharon and stopped paying attention to Carol.

Carol looked back and forth between him and Sharon.

‘It’s like a prince and a princess…”

They were like the people in the fairy tales that Sharon often read.

Carol had a thought, then. ‘They suit each other.’

She didn’t know, but her thought on this day would change the course of her future.

Meanwhile, Julien was also thinking furiously. ‘I want to become close to Sharon, too.’

However, he could only meet with her once a week. Also, that idiot Carol would always tag along, so that was a problem.

What should he do?

Julien smirked, foxlike and clever. There was one card that he could play, and Sharon had been the one to personally deliver it to him.

He didn’t expect that his miserable situation could become this advantageous.

Julien covered his smile.

It seemed that it wouldn’t be so hard to find time to spend alone with Sharon.

***

We finished our fishing expedition with only two fish.

The fish that I had caught, that is.

What were these kids even doing while I was asleep?

Carol and I ate dinner—steamed fish made by the palace chefs—with Julien and returned to duchy in the evening.

That was already three days ago.

Time sure went by quickly.

I sighed.

Then, I felt the sharp eyes of the governess turn toward me, and I sat upright in my sleep.

Don’t you know I could do this in my sleep?

That’s what I was thinking inside, but I didn’t say so out loud. I knew well that the governess was working hard to teach us, so I had to be respectful.

The governess, seeing my eyes were open and focused, turned away. That’s how she caught sight of Carol, who had slumped over and began to snore.

Uh-oh.

Carol always fell asleep in these classes, but the governess did not give up on her. But really, what did she expect from an 8-year-old?

I sighed as I shook Carol awake.

“Carol, wake up.”

“Huh- what?”

“Wipe away your saliva and sit up.”

Carol wiped at her mouth with her sleeve. Half-asleep, she asked me, “Is- is it over…? Then, I want to sleep a little more.”

She laid down her head again, using her arms as a pillow. The governess’s quill snapped.

Oh no…

“Miss Carol!”

I giggled as I saw Carol, quickly lifting her head with a surprised expression. There were sleep marks on her face.

At my laughter, the governess focused on me.

“Miss Sharon, why are you laughing?” She sighed. “I simply cannot teach you like this. Neither of you are paying attention! So, memorize the contents of today’s lesson. Next time, there will be a test.”

What? My jaw dropped.

No, why me as well?

But before Carol and I could protest, the governess left the room, slamming the door.

…It had already been years since I graduated college. What do you mean, I have to take a test?”

I shook Carol.

“It’s all your fault!”
“What did I do?!”

“Our teacher got mad because you fell asleep!”

“It’s not my fault I got sleepy! I hate history!”

Yeah, well, history would also hate her.

I dropped my head on the desk with a thud.

Since I spent most of my time reading in the study, I’d be able to pass the test pretty easily… The problem was with Carol.

Will she only get 2 out of 30 questions correct, again?

I glanced at her as she hummed happily.

Why was she so pleased? Just because the lesson was over?

Wasn’t she worried about her grades?

I didn’t know what exactly would happen in the future, but nobles needed to know this sort of knowledge.

It seemed that I had to intervene.

I stared meaningfully at Carol.

Her freedom is done for.

***

Carol usually spent the time when I was in the study either napping, idling away, or looking through picture books. Fortunately, she didn’t feel awkward inside the study because she spent most of the day with me (unless she had obligations as the household’s daughter).

Today, she was leafing through her picture book next to me as I read. She lifted her head.

Carol was so carefree. Maybe she didn’t understand what a test was.

…No way. She couldn’t be that dumb.

I considered her as she dangled her legs beneath the chair, humming.

How could I make her interested in studying?

“Um… Carol, we’re not having a lesson next time. We’re taking a test.”

“Really? Then we’ll finish early! Do you want to go to the candy store afterward?”

…Was that really what she should be focusing on?

What the heck.

Discreetly, I clicked my tongue and tried again.

“I’m telling you that we have to take a test.”

“Yes. So what?”

Carol looked at me, suspicious.

What should I do?

It was one thing to read her fairy tales from around the world to help develop her mind. But this? This required her to accumulate and retain knowledge.

Then, I thought of something that may entice Carol. The corner of my lip tilted up.

“If you answer seven questions on the test correctly, I’ll go to the candy store with you.”

“No fair!”

“That’s the way things are. What will you do?”

Carol considered my question, biting her lip and clutching at her hands.

I laughed as I saw her act as though she was facing great hardship.

Did she really hate studying that much?

The test would be designed for an 8-year-old. It wasn’t going to be that hard.

Still, I couldn’t let Carol off the hook for this.

In the original novel, Carol was teased at social gatherings for her lack of knowledge. As the villainess, she of course took the appropriate revenge, but I still couldn’t let that happen to my baby.

“Well, what do you say?”

“Ugh… Fine! But you have to help me!”

I readily accepted that stipulation. “Of course.”

However, I started to regret doing so very soon.

I had worked as an English tutor for a long time, but I didn’t take into consideration that I wasn’t experienced in teaching younger kids. I couldn’t believe I thought I could handle this Energizer Bunny of an 8-year-old with just the little amount of volunteering I had done as an elementary school tutor.

I had been too arrogant.

“Okay? So why did they do that? Hmm?”

“…Hey. You don’t have to ask why they established the nation here, just that they did it! And they did it because they wanted to live healthily and eat well! I told you, you just have to memorize the facts for history.”

“Oh, I keep forgetting. So why do people form countries?”

I breathed sharply and clenched a fist over my chest.

Seeing Carol’s smile, it was obvious that she was doing this on purpose, just because she didn’t want to study. This little brat!

I yelled, “If you’re going to be like this, study alone!”

“Aaah! That’s not fair!”

Irritated, I told her, “Then memorize this properly. Why don’t you know anything? This is just rote memorization! And why would I know why the King was named Duncan?”

“Are you annoyed with me right now?” Carol asked. She looked shocked, like she had been struck by lightning. “I hate you!!”

My throat choked up. “I hate you too!!”

Ah. I really shouldn’t act like this… I was getting too angry, and she was only a kid.

In a huff, we both turned away from each other. That was when I noticed Madame DeJoue, looking at us bemusedly.

…When did she come in? Did she see this entire display?

I was too embarrassed to even clear my throat. Madame DeJoue walked up to us, balancing a tray of snacks.

“I brought some orange juice and madeleines… But it seems that you two were fighting. Hmm.” Madame DeJoue’s gaze turned to me.

Hey, I’d been acting like a proper adult up until now!

“I suppose that you still are a child.” Madame DeJoue laughed as though she was pleased.

Darn.

My adult-like image had crumbled apart.

***

Argh.

Carol still didn’t want to study, so I left her behind in the study and went to the hallway under the excuse of going to the restroom.

I had to get some fresh air; I couldn’t even eat the madeleines because I was still so heated.

I walked slowly down the hallway.

Madame DeJoue and I had devoted ourselves to decorating the hallway, and now it looked elegant, fitting of a noble’s mansion. I felt satisfied that I wouldn’t have to see Carol trudging through the bleak hallways anymore.

Luckily, the Duke and Duchess were uninterested in the changes inside their home. The only ones excited were Carol and the maids.

I happily walked on top of the soft carpet.

“Madame DeJoue really had great taste.”

I took a closer look at the statue that she had put on the other side of the hallway. The sculpture was in the shape of a mermaid, and a mother of pearl decorated its tail. It shone with a mysterious light, and I was enraptured by its beauty. That’s when I heard it.

“A-ah…”

I lifted my head, hearing that muffled groan. What was that sound?

It sounded like the whining of a dog, or maybe a small, shrill scream. I slowly followed the sound to its source.

Curious, I cracked open the door of a room. Then, I froze.

“What the…”

Fortunately, the couple inside the room was too focused on each other to notice me.

Though, honestly, there was nothing fortunate about this situation.

I knew that the Duchess had affairs, just as the Duke did, but I didn’t think that she would have one inside the mansion while Carol was still within it. Her legs were wrapped around a panting man, and I closed the door.

She was crazy, I decided. I was just about to leave and ignore that I had witnessed this when I heard them talk.

“…So that bitch will get a lot of money in the future?”

“That’s what I said. The old duke left most of his inheritance to Carol in his will. He was a sly old man.”

I held my breath as I listened to their strange voices intermixed with groans.

What were they talking about…?

“If we just manage to take that and run away, then we’ll be set for life.”

“That’s right. We don’t need to live inside this stuffy mansion. With her inheritance, we can live without any worries.”

“But can you get your hands on it?”

“What, like it’s difficult to trick a little brat like her? She’ll receive her inheritance when she’s 15, according to the old duke’s will. That’s when I’ll take it.”

The Duchess’s cackles sent a chill throughout my body.

I tried to remember the original story.

Oh. That was exactly what happened.

Carol’s mother had stolen everything from her, and so Carol clung onto the crown prince. She had lost everything, so she held on tight to the one hope that she did have. Love.