HIGOS CH 06

Could anything be more out of the blue than this?

Paul stood there blankly, turning Jester’s words over and over in his mind.

He wants me to teach him about marital relations…

No.

Come to think of it, perhaps it wasn’t as unexpected as it seemed. The couple had spent their first night together yesterday, and judging by the fact that Jester had brought this up the very next day, something had clearly gone wrong.

Nobles usually received lessons about marital relations before marriage. However, Jester had lived as a commoner for more than twenty years before receiving a title as an appointed noble. Since he had never lived the ordinary life of a nobleman, it was possible that he simply didn’t know.

But hadn’t he worked with a mercenary group in the capital for quite some time?

The atmosphere among the mercenaries Paul knew was rather rough and free-spirited. Surely, after spending so much time among them, Jester must naturally have seen and heard certain things.

So what exactly could he possibly not know that he had gone so far as to ask Paul for help?

Embarrassed, Paul awkwardly scratched his head before answering.

“Is there some particular problem, my lord?”

“My wife.”

“The mistress?”

“She said she absolutely hated it. Even the look on her face showed how much she detested me.”

The mistress?

Paul swallowed hard, thinking that he had been surprised more times today than he could count.

The mistress he had met for the first time yesterday had, contrary to his worries, turned out to be an extraordinarily gentle woman. Her shy smile and soft manner of speaking had impressed every servant in the castle who met her for the first time.

And wasn’t their master himself no exception? He had looked completely captivated, constantly sneaking glances at the mistress while escorting her inside.

Could that have been the reason she had sought out Jester separately earlier?

To tell him how unpleasant her first night had been?

No, if the mistress had actually gone as far as to say something like that herself, just how serious could the situation have been?

Paul had already noticed that Jester possessed an innocent side unusual for a man of his age, especially someone who had been a mercenary. But he had never imagined it was to this extent.

Paul swallowed a groan.

“I’m sorry, my lord, but I don’t think this is something I can help you with. I don’t have the knowledge necessary to teach you, and I don’t believe it would be proper for me to hear about the private matters between you and the mistress.”

Paul politely refused.

Jester nodded awkwardly.

“That’s true. I asked something unnecessary. You may go.”

“However, my lord, marital relations do play a significant role in a healthy marriage. If there is some aspect that you are having difficulty with, then it is only natural that you should seek to learn about it. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to help you, and there is no suitable person within the castle who could teach you…”

Jester’s hopeless eyes suddenly brightened.

Paul hesitated for a moment before making a tentative suggestion.

“Hmm. There is probably a woman within our territory who might be able to help you, my lord.”

“…A woman?”

Why would a woman be involved in such a private lesson?

Jester frowned.

“If you truly need instruction, it would probably be better to receive it from a woman. Please don’t misunderstand. I’m talking about theoretical instruction, not practical training. However, I would be concerned about what people might think if she were brought into the castle. If you give me permission, I can discreetly contact her.”

“Then who are you talking about?”

“Lady Fleurette.”

Lady Fleurette.

It was a famous name.

Did he really have to receive help from that woman?

Jester frowned deeply as he fell into thought.

[I only came to dislike it afterward.]

But the moment Cassia’s voice came back to him, his brief hesitation came to an end.

They couldn’t continue a marital relationship that forced either one of them to make sacrifices.

It seemed that he had made a mistake because of his inexperience. In that case, shouldn’t he learn?

“Haa… All right. Contact her.”

Lady Fleurette.

She had once been a courtesan in the small rural territory of Greze, but she had accumulated wealth and fame entirely through her own abilities.

If her only talent had been her extraordinary skills in bed, she would have remained nothing more than a courtesan in a rural village.

But Fleurette was different.

In order to meet the standards of the nobility, she practiced cultured manners and refined behavior, while also acquiring intelligence and etiquette.

It was only natural that she eventually became famous as the finest courtesan in the capital.

No one knew exactly how many noblemen she had captivated with her beautiful face and talents.

What was certain, however, was that the fortune she had earned while entertaining nobles as a courtesan in the capital was an amount ordinary commoners could never hope to possess in their entire lifetimes.

She was no longer someone waiting to be chosen by nobles.

She was the one doing the choosing.

Countless nobles in the capital never considered the time and money they spent on her to be a waste. Some wanted nothing more than to dine with her, watch a play together, or even hold her hand once.

There were nobles willing to line up all the way outside the capital just for the chance to spend time with her.

By then, it was obvious that Fleurette’s charm could not have come solely from her talents in bed.

Her glamorous life in the capital, where she had countless male nobles wrapped around her finger, had earned her the nickname “Lady Fleurette.”

The title “Lady,” normally reserved for noblewomen, had nothing to do with her actual birth.

In fact, it was also a mocking title aimed at the foolish noblemen who had fallen under her influence.

After her glamorous life in the capital, Lady Fleurette had returned to her hometown of Greze for a period of recuperation.

It was only natural that Paul had immediately thought of her as the most suitable teacher for his master, who was twenty-four years old yet hopelessly inexperienced when it came to relations between men and women.

Paul nodded.

There was one thing that worried him, though.

Fortunately, not long after he contacted her, Fleurette had cheerfully replied that she would be willing to take responsibility for teaching Jester.

However, if word somehow spread among the castle servants, it could become troublesome.

Of course, it wasn’t because of Jester’s public image.

Nobles openly kept mistresses and routinely summoned courtesans. Even if people found out that Jester had invited Lady Fleurette to the castle, it wouldn’t be particularly scandalous.

The problem is the mistress.

She’s newly married. If she finds out that another woman was brought into the castle, she’ll be shocked.

For now, I should make sure the servants keep quiet. If she misunderstands anything, I can explain it to her myself.

There was no way Paul could tell anyone, Our master doesn’t know how to conduct himself properly with his wife, so he needs lessons.

So, for the time being, he planned to arrange for Jester and Lady Fleurette to meet discreetly.

It wasn’t as though he actually wanted to put another woman beside his master when the mistress was such a kind and beautiful young woman.

Lady Fleurette would merely serve as a good teacher for Jester and Cassia’s healthy married relationship.

There was another reason for Paul’s concern, so he had even arranged to attend the lessons himself.

There shouldn’t be any problem.

Even so, Paul continued to worry that the gentle-hearted mistress might misunderstand something.

He remained concerned all the way until he went to Cassia’s room to arrange for a maid to attend her.

But the moment he saw Cassia again, Paul deeply realized that bringing in Lady Fleurette and properly educating Jester was the most urgent matter of all.

“…My lady?”

Paul had definitely heard her say, “Come in,” before opening the door.

So was he hallucinating now?

Cassia was lying horizontally across the bed, her neck hanging over the edge as she looked at Paul upside down.

Her beautiful silver hair was scattered chaotically across the floor.

Paul was startled.

Even though her face was undeniably beautiful enough to belong to heaven itself, seeing her expressionless face turned upside down as she stared at him inevitably sent a shiver down his spine.

Why is she like this?

Perhaps he had opened the door before receiving permission to enter.

Thinking that must have been what happened, Paul hurriedly closed the door.

Then he knocked again.

“My lady, it’s Paul. I came because I have something to discuss with you. May I come in for a moment?”

“Come in.”

Paul opened the door again.

But Cassia was still in exactly the same position.

She lay flat on the bed with a bored expression, her neck bent backward as she stared directly at Paul.

This can’t be! The mistress really was traumatized by her first night with our master yesterday!

Otherwise, there was no reason she would have suddenly gone to Jester first thing in the morning, nor for Jester to have been so deeply shocked that he started talking about receiving lessons.

And there certainly wouldn’t have been any reason for her to greet a servant in a state so completely different from the dignified young lady he had met yesterday.

No matter how much she had been affected, how could she look this disheveled?

Paul neatly folded away his lingering concern about bringing Lady Fleurette to the castle and sent it flying out of his mind.

It seemed that the most important thing was to properly educate Jester as quickly as possible and help ease Cassia’s heart.

“My lady, is there something troubling you?”

Paul asked with an awkward smile.

“Hmm? Something troubling me? No. I’m currently enjoying relaxation for the first time in my life.”

“…Pardon?”

“I never knew lying around and doing absolutely nothing could be this satisfying. You work hard too, but don’t forget that you need to rest sometimes. What good is it to work yourself to exhaustion if no one even appreciates it? You should take care of your health while you’re still young.”

Was that really something a seventeen-year-old should be saying?

Paul swallowed a groan.

Cassia was clinging to the bed like a lazy, sluggish bear, radiating the unmistakable feeling of someone who had discovered how to live all over again.

She must have completely lost her mind.

And all because of that shocking first night.

What on earth did our master… do to this young mistress?!

Paul looked down at the absentmindedly rolling Cassia with pity.

Then he suddenly clapped his hands together to get her attention.

“My lady, I came to ask which maid you would prefer to have attend you personally. I’m thinking of having them take turns serving you. However, if there is someone you particularly like, please choose her and I’ll make sure she is properly trained. I was thinking of bringing a few candidates for you to choose from. Would that be all right?”

“Yes, do that.”

“Yes, then…”

Knock, knock. Knock. Knock, knock.

At that moment, someone playfully knocked on Cassia’s door.

Paul immediately frowned.

“Paul, are you in there? My lady, are you there? My name is Vita. I didn’t get the chance to greet you properly yesterday, so I came to introduce myself. May I come in?”

From the frivolous way she announced herself at the mistress’s bedroom door to her discourteous manner of speaking, the only person in the castle whom Paul had absolutely not wanted to introduce to the mistress had finally appeared.

Paul hurriedly called out.

“Miss Vita, that is rude. I’m currently speaking with the mistress, so please come back later—”

“Wait, Paul.”

Cassia, who had been lying listlessly on the bed, suddenly sat up, her eyes shining.

Paul tensed.

“Who is she? She says she wants to introduce herself. Why would that be rude?”

“Ah, yes. Th-That’s true, but she…”

“Why? Is there some problem?”

Cassia gritted her teeth inwardly at Paul’s inability to answer.

Thinking about it now, even Paul had been too much.

When Cassia had first arrived at the castle, he had been so busy trying to hide the existence of that woman from her.

Vita Berkeley.

She was from the same village where Jester had been born and raised, and she was his childhood friend.

From the very day Jester had been granted his noble title, she had been given a room in the castle and had established herself in an ambiguous but powerful position.

She carried the title of Jester’s precious childhood friend, someone he cherished dearly, and inside the castle she was called “Miss Vita” and treated almost like a young lady.

Logically, none of it made any sense.

But then again, neither Jester nor Vita were people who could be understood through common sense.

Cassia quietly ground her teeth.

“Childhood friend,” my foot. You brought her here so you could openly cheat on me, didn’t you?

Cassia’s eyes narrowed as she stared toward the unseen Vita standing beyond the door.