CH 16

“I-I’m afraid I’ll disappoint Tutor Pellington because I’m stupid.” 

“What?”

Hearing about that, Livia couldn’t hide her shock.

Obviously, she expected Vincent, who suffered from a social phobia, to have difficulty learning with strangers…..

But this was a little different from what she thought.

Livia frowned slightly.

Vincent, who misunderstood her frown, hunched his shoulders.

Something wasn’t right.

Livia decided to dig a little further.

“Vincent, I’m the one who is here because I want to help you. But suddenly I’m disappointed in you? Why would you think that way?”

Vincent hesitated and answered her question quietly.

“…..because Tutor Pellington is a genius.” 

“Eh?”

“I-I heard that.”

“…….Can you tell me more?”

What did he hear?

An ominous hunch came into her mind.

And usually such forebodings—

“Tutor Lever said that Tutor Pellington was a genius since childhood….so you don’t even deal with stupid people. I was sure you’d be very disappointed in me too….” 

—Are never wrong. 

‘Damn it,’ Livia swore internally.

She knew at once who was responsible for this.

It was her again.

Anna Lever.

In fact, it was not surprising.

Isolating people with a rift was her long-standing trick that had been going on since their academy days.

Although Livia expected that she would use a trick, she didn’t expect her to do something like this on the first day of class.

“Whooh.”

Livia let out a deep sigh to suppress her anger.

Seeing that, Vincent looked at her with his shoulders drooped like a scolded puppy.

“First of all…..”

Livia was thinking about where to start with the corrections and managed to get her first words out.

“It’s a misunderstanding that I’m a genius.”

It was a somewhat embarrassing explanation, but Vincent’s misunderstanding shouldn’t deepen, so she said it in a serious manner.

Vincent’s ears perked up slightly.

“I mean, it’s true that I did well at the academy, but that’s because I worked hard.”

Wherever Livia went, rumors spread by Anna would always follow behind her back, and the only place where she could breathe was the library.

Thanks to that, Livia was forced to concentrate on her studies. Above all, she didn’t want to lose to Anna when it came to studying.

“Ha, and that part about how I didn’t even deal with kids who couldn’t study.”

“That’s…..”

Livia slightly frowned again as she remembered the bad memories.

However, in order to open up someone else’s heart, she needed to open her own heart first.

Yeah, it was better this way. Now that they had a chance to share an honest story like this.

“When I was at the academy, I was a loner.”

“A loner….?”

Vincent opened his eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe it.

Livia laughed slightly because he looked like a surprised rabbit.

“Why, can’t you believe it?”

Vincent nodded.

“Tutor Pellington is good at studying, and…..”

“And?”

“……..”

Vincent didn’t speak any further, but his cheeks were slightly red.

“Hmm, what were you trying to say?”

Vincent, whose mouth was tightly closed, shook his head wildly when Livia asked slyly.

She wanted to tease him more because he was so cute, but she couldn’t do that.

“You may not believe it, but it’s true. No one wanted to hang out with me.”

Vincent looked in her direction.

When their eyes met, she smiled. Vincent’s face grew redder.

“Someone spread bad rumors about me.”

Livia didn’t bother to say that that “someone” was Anna.

If she told the truth, Vincent would naturally try to stay away from Anna, but she didn’t want to prejudice Vincent in that way. 

She didn’t want him to get involved in adult affairs. Livia shifted her gaze to the softly gleaming fountain in front of them and continued. 

“The kids who were my friends started to stay away from me at some point, and wherever I went, the whispering voices followed. It was so hard that I naturally started avoiding people.” 

“……..”

“There was no such thing as me not hanging out with someone because they were dumber than me. That’s a wrong story. And above all–”

Livia turned her head and made unexpected eye contact with Vincent.

Vincent’s eyes widened.

She grinned and said, “I will never be disappointed in you, Vincent.”

“……Why……?”

“I am your tutor. If you trust me, I will respond to your faith. If it’s hard to keep up, tell me. I will be waiting.”

“……..”

Vincent was only a means to loosening the vigilance of the villain and getting closer to him.

But at this moment, Livia wanted to be the support of this child.

He didn’t even have to run to the beautiful tree on the western hill; he could rely on her if he had a hard time.

Vincent didn’t answer right away, and she didn’t wait for an answer.

Livia didn’t mean to hear his answer right away, and Vincent was going to need some time to adjust.

Instead.

She stood up and reached out her hand to Vincent. Vincent stared blankly at her extended hand.

“Shall we go now?”

Hesitating at her words, he gingerly held her hand.

Like on that day in the garden after the rain had stopped. But a little faster than that time.

However, there was something that Livia didn’t know.

The fact that she and Vincent weren’t alone there.

***

It was when we arrived in front of the main building while holding each other’s hand.

“Tutor Pellington!”

Someone called me and approached quickly.

“Butler?”

It was Winston.

He approached quickly and looked at me with strange eyes. To be precise, his questioning gaze was directed at the hand that held Vincent’s.

He looked at me and said, “I was looking for you because I couldn’t find you. But at this time, why are you with the young master…..”

Winston had not known yet that Vincent had disappeared.

Livia was a little stumped; it was difficult to explain this situation to Winston without getting Vincent in trouble for ditching class.

Vincent, who was holding her hand tightly at that time, took a step forward.

Livia looked at Vincent with surprised eyes at his sudden action.

“I said I wanted to go out.”

“What…..? Young Master, what is……”

“Tutor Pellington only listened to my request!”

Only then did Livia realize Vincent’s intentions and close her lips.

‘Are you protecting me now?’ She thought, her heart filled with endearment.  A small back stood in front of her like a shield.

The hope rushed in like a tide.

It was Winston who was taken aback.

As Winston glanced between Vincent and his tutor, it was as if he didn’t anticipate that Vincent would defend her.

His gaze was strange. Wasn’t it a little bit too sparkly….?

“I see. Then there is nothing I can do. But if you suddenly disappear, I will be surprised, so tell me next time.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry for worrying you.”

Winston’s eyes widened at Vincent’s apology.

His gaze soon shifted to Livia.

She smiled awkwardly at his twinkling eyes which seemed to say, ‘What kind of magic did you use?’

It was then.

Growl.

Winston’s eyes turned at the same time as that sound echoed.

“Ah…….”

Vincent hesitated with a red face and covered his stomach tightly.

At that sight, Winston and Livia burst into laughter.

Winston said, “You must be hungry since you skipped dinner. I will tell the chef to prepare something.”

Vincent nodded slightly and looked at Livia.

“What about Tutor Pellington?”

She could feel Winston looking at her in surprise, but she tried to ignore it and shook her head.

“I’m fine, so go ahead and go in.”

Vincent’s eyes widened for a moment and soon became sullen. He nodded.

“If you feel hungry, even if it’s late, tell Chelsea.”

Livia nodded at Winston’s words.

Soon Vincent and Winston headed back towards the mansion. She watched their receding backs. 

Then–

Vincent, who suddenly stopped walking, ran back towards her.

“…….?”

At his unexpected behavior, she opened her eyes wide. Winston also looked back in surprise.

Vincent was in such a hurry that when he reached me, he had to bend over and hold onto his knees to catch his breath.

What was it?

It was at the moment when Livia tried to call Vincent with a mixture of worry and bewilderment.

“Vin…….”

“Tomorrow…….!”

Vincent raised his head, his eyes clearly facing her.

She couldn’t speak any more and stared blankly at Vincent.

Taking a deep breath, Vincent straightened his back and looked at her.

“I’ll take classes properly tomorrow.”

“……..”

“I’ll be waiting.”

“Ah, ah…….”

At Vincent’s sudden remark, she couldn’t answer immediately and simply blinked.

Soon she came to her senses and nodded with a relaxed smile.

“Yes, I’ll be looking forward to it. See you tomorrow.”

See you tomorrow… Vincent’s eyes sparkled at those words.

“Yes!”

Vincent shouted loudly, turned around, and ran towards Winston.

His appearance from behind looked very refreshed.

Winston looked back and forth between Vincent and Livia with a curious expression before going inside together.

Livia watched Vincent’s back moving away with a proud heart. But that was only for a while.

Her expression quickly turned cold.

‘Anna Lever.’

This incident had made it clear.

She couldn’t leave it like this.

In the original story, Anna, the tutor, separated Vincent from Cardien. It must have been like this.

Livia was sure that without her, it would have been as Anna wished.

But she wasn’t going to let things be the same as they were at the academy. 

Having made up her mind, she turned around to go back to her room.

At that moment.

Stagger–

‘Eh?’

For a moment, Livia’s vision blurred and her body stumbled.

She was collapsing to the ground.

‘I’m falling……!’ She realized helplessly. Unable to stop, she closed her eyes tightly.

But–

Tak–

Someone grabbed her arm just before she hit the ground.

With her legs safely attached to the ground, she looked at the person holding her.

The moment she identified him, it became difficult for her to breathe.

Silvery hair like melted moonlight and pale purple eyes. A man with unrealistic beauty, like a dream.

Cardien Mercedes…..

How did he do that? 

It was at the moment when Livia stared at his sudden appearance with her bewildered eyes.

Suddenly the tip of her nose began to tingle. 

Drip, drip, drip.

“………”

Her nose began to bleed.