CH 10

Anna, who stared at Livia with fierce eyes, interrupted instantly with a bright smile, as if she had never reacted in a panic in the first place.

“Can’t I stay too? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, so I don’t want to leave.”

She seemed uneasy about leaving the two of them alone.

Anna, whose sly face resembled a cat’s, exuded the most lovable charm when she smiled. There’d never been anyone who hadn’t fallen for Anna’s charm….

“I’m sorry, Tutor Lever, but this is something I’m only saying to Tutor Pellington. I ask for your understanding.”

‘As expected as the butler of the villain.’

Winston cut off Anna’s charms without batting an eye.

“Well, then it can’t be helped. I’ll go out first.”

Embarrassed, Anna left the room with a bitter expression on her face.

The door closed with a little extra force, and Livia returned to the other side of Winston and sat down. After looking at her for a moment, he parted his lips.

“It’s about last night.”

‘As expected,’ Livia observed.

She had been acting like it never happened, but she couldn’t really pretend it hadn’t happened.

She wasn’t sure what to say to Winston at this point. She had been added to the class schedule, so she knew they wouldn’t kick her out at this point.

Reassured by her own logic, she waited with a much lighter heart for his next words.

But Winston suddenly stood up from his seat and bowed to her. 

Livia’s eyes widened at his sudden action.

“Butler? All of a sudden….”

“I heard from the young master. Yesterday, Tutor Pellington helped the young master who was having a hard time with a high fever.”

“Did…. Did the young master say that?” Livia was surprised by his unexpected words and asked back.

He nodded.

“It was my mistake to leave the sick young master’s side even for a moment. Although it is difficult to understand all the actions of the tutor who entered the young master’s room without a word at night. But grace is grace. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the tutor.”

“Ah……”

Livia looked at the white top of Winston’s head with bewildered eyes. She never thought Vincent would defend her.

It felt strange.

Anyway, it worked out well, so seeing an old man like Winston bowing his head to her made her feel ashamed and embarrassed.

Through those feelings though, she still had to wonder…Did she get any points? Did this news reach Cardien’s ears?

As far as she knew, Winston oversaw most of Vincent’s agenda, so it was highly likely that it didn’t get into Cardien’s ears.

But it didn’t matter. The important thing was that Vincent tried to protect her.

Livia started to laugh without even realizing it.

Winston looked at her quietly.

***

As soon as Livia left Winston’s room in high spirits, her mood plummeted underground.

“Livia Pellington!”

Anna, who had been waiting resentfully in front of Winston’s room for Livia to come out, charged toward her.

As soon as Livia’s eyes found Anna, she erased her smile and stared at Anna’s ferocious face coldly, as if she had never laughed before. Then Livia smiled her coldest smile and asked, “Are you going to stop acting fake now?”

“Shut up, Livia Pellington! Why are you here?”

“What do you mean ‘why’?”

Livia shrugged her shoulders.

“You heard it, too. I became a resident tutor here. Just like you.”

“How dare you!”

Anna’s voice echoed in the empty hallway.

Unlike Anna, who was huffing, Livia asked in a relaxed manner, “Are you going to be okay? We’re in front of the butler’s room.”

“…..!”

Only then did Anna realize where she had raised her voice; she hastily took a step back in surprise.

Seeing Anna like that, Livia couldn’t help but blatantly laugh. Anna’s face turned red again. But she didn’t run to Livia screaming like she did a while ago. It seemed like she might have actually been thinking for once.

Well.

It wasn’t just Anna who wasn’t happy with her partner.

The tutor in the original story. Livia couldn’t believe that horrible tutor was Anna Lever.

But on the other hand, it was rather convincing because it was Anna. If it was Anna, she was enough to drive a wedge between Cardien and Vincent.

Livia snorted as she saw Anna glaring at her with a bright red face.

“You’re not the only one who’s getting angry, Tutor Lever.”

But this place wasn’t Livia’s first choice for a conversation either. She nodded at Anna and stepped away.

“Follow me.”

Then Anna glared at her and gritted through her teeth, “How dare you give me orders…..”

“Then you should just stand here alone.”

Livia couldn’t care less.

Anna’s face looked dangerous, as if it were about to explode, but she took seething steps forward anyway. Seeing Anna following her well enough, Livia held back her complaints.

***

Livia headed with Anna to the backyard of the duke’s residence.

This place. Bordered by bushes, it had no surrounding facilities, so there were few people here. It was a place she had found by chance while finding her way to the western hill.

It was perfect for a private conversation.

Anna came running towards her as soon as she stopped and slammed Livia’s shoulder against the wall.

Puck!

Narrowing her brows at the surging pain, she looked at Anna with cold eyes.

“Now that I’ve followed you here, tell me what you’re up to, Livia Pellington!”

Anna was emitting a murderous breath that seemed to tear Livia to shreds at any moment.

Anna was always like this. Like a person who wanted to kill Livia whenever she saw her.

A sudden burst of laughter broke out of Livia’s mouth.

“You’re laughing?” Anna shrieked. 

“Yes, that’s right. It was you and your father who took everything from me, so why are you treating me like an enemy?”

“………!”

If you thought about it, it was really strange. She and Anna first met when they were nine years old.

At that time, Livia was very excited about meeting a friend of her age. On top of that, she had heard from her father that Anna was a kind and caring child.

‘This is the daughter of your father’s best friend. I hope my Via can become close friends with Anna, just like your father with Count Lever.’

‘Yes, Father!’

Having watched the strong friendship between her father and Count Lever, Livia was thrilled that she might be able to develop a similar relationship with Anna.

The first time she met Anna, she was as lovely and pretty as she thought.

‘Hi, I’m Anna. Let’s be friends.’

Touched by Anna’s smile, Livia reached out her hand first to her and smiled broadly as they held hands together.

‘Please take good care of me, too!’

Livia’s father looked at her with delight. Soon the adults left, she went to Anna with her favorite doll.

‘Anna, we…’

‘Put that away.’

However, Anna threw her doll that Livia held out. She sneered at Livia with a cold expression, as if she had never smiled lovingly at all.

Looking at the doll rolling on the floor with surprised eyes, Livia froze at Anna’s continued words.

‘Do you think you can be friends with me?’

With that unchildish sneer on her face, Anna looked down on her.

But that wasn’t the end of Anna’s other side.

When the adults returned, Anna picked up the doll she had thrown and snuggled up next to Livia. Then she smiled broadly and pretended to enjoy playing with dolls.

‘Hah, you kids. You’ve already become friends.’

‘I knew you would suit each other well.’

Anna, who heard the men’s words immersed in satisfaction, seemed to think for a moment, then tucked Livia’s hair behind her ear and said.

‘Please take care of me from now on, Livia.’

‘……..’

Anna was kind of creepy, so Livia couldn’t say anything. Since then, Anna had shown a double face whenever she met Livia.

Until then, it was fine.

It hadn’t been long since Livia last met Anna.

However, after entering the academy, things began to change when Livia’s father was stabbed in the back by Count Lever and owed a huge amount of debt.

One day, children of the same class approached Livia as she was moving after class. Livia got along well with the kids in her class, so she welcomed them.

But the children’s expressions were a little mysterious. Like someone who had dug up a secret.

The moment she saw that expression, Livia felt somewhat uneasy.

And that anxiety…..

‘I heard that Miss Livia’s father gambled away all his money and owes Anna’s father a huge amount of money. He even had to get down on his knees and beg to delay the date a bit…….Is that true?’

That anxiety appeared in its worst form.

Livia immediately argued with Anna, but whenever that happened, Anna used Livia’s father to put pressure on their family.

As time went by, Anna’s rumors became more vicious, and the students accepted them without resistance.

All of the students who were friends with Livia became Anna’s friends, and started slandering Livia behind her back. Just as Anna had hoped, Livia was left completely isolated and alone.

But thanks to that, Livia was able to concentrate more on her studies. She thought that was probably even more upsetting to Anna, who hated to feel academically inferior to Livia. 

She wondered if Anna even knew. That she didn’t want to bow her head to Anna when it came to academics, so she gritted her teeth even more to ensure that she would surpass her two-faced “friend” in their studies. 

Livia stared at Anna, who gritted her teeth and was trying to stare her to death.

“Livia Pellington……how dare you…..” Anna, who had been chewing on each letter as she spoke, suddenly laughed. “So, are you going to get revenge on me now? Are you saying you‘re taking what’s yours?”

Livia stared at Anna, who was obviously laughing at her. Soon after, she shook her head and parted her lips.

“Anna, you must be under some big illusion.”

When Livia peeled her back off the wall and took a step forward, Anna took a step back.

As if it was an unconscious action to give up ground, Anna’s face turned red again almost immediately.

“What, what……!”

Livia smiled softly and murmured, “You are not worth that much to me.”

“………!”

“Just because you’re conscious of me, don’t get the illusion of me being conscious of you.”

Grrrrk…

Anna, whose eyes were reddening with rage, glared at me while audibly grinding her teeth.