✩ Chapter 4 ✩
Rachel tightly tied up her hair and climbed onto her horse. She had a feeling Chase had gone to the western mountain today.
“Chase! Where are you?!”
Just as she called out loudly, she sensed someone behind her.
She quickly turned her head and met Chase’s eyes as he peeked out from behind a bush. He flinched, then immediately started running.
“Get back here right now!”
“How dare you speak such nonsense to the great leader of the bandits!”
When is this bandit leader phase ever going to end?
Rachel quickly jumped off her horse and chased after him.
“I shall spare your life if you surrender, hehe. Do you know the Flame Dragon of the Mountain is raging in my hand?!”
His bandit leader fantasy mixed with his eighth-grader syndrome was truly unbelievable.
“Just pick one. Either be a Flame Dragon Mage or a bandit leader. You’re giving your teacher a headache.”
“Hehe… So my magic has finally worked.”
“If your magic causes stress headaches, then yes, it worked.”
Rachel caught Chase by the shoulder after he finally got tired and stopped running.
“Alright, Mr. Mage. It’s time for your Flame Dragon’s manners lesson. Let’s go back to the classroom.”
“Ugh.”
Chase finally gave up arguing and dramatically raised his hands in surrender.
Rachel dragged him all the way back to the academy.
Just then, in the hallway, she ran into Henry, who was carrying Kana by one hand.
Kana was kicking her legs and struggling, but it was useless against Henry, whose entire body was built with a knight’s strength.
“Kana, where were you?”
“I was making a time travel machine.”
The smell of something burned coming from her clothes made it obvious she had set another strange invention on fire.
“How do you even make a time travel machine?”
“With two drops of dragon’s tears and…”
“Who tricked you into buying those this time?”
Kana wasn’t very good at telling reality from lies. She often bought strange things from scammers.
Every month when she returned from home, she always came back with something even stranger than before.
“I’m confiscating the two drops of dragon’s tears.”
“Ah! Why?!”
Kana continued to protest.
But Rachel remained firm.
“If you keep arguing, I’ll make you do handwriting punishment.”
Students who misbehaved had to copy pages from books filled with lessons about good behavior.
Sometimes they copied ten pages.
Sometimes fifty.
It was called handwriting punishment.
It was the punishment students hated the most…
…and the most reliable weapon teachers had.
It always worked immediately.
“So? Do you feel like attending manners class now?”
“No! I’m not doing it! Teacher, I won’t let you get away with this!”
“Alright. You can deal with me after you finish today’s manners class.”
Rachel tucked her book under one arm and opened the classroom door.
The moment the door opened—
An ink bottle flew straight toward her.
“Danger—!”
Henry, who was standing behind her, reached out at the perfect moment and caught the ink bottle.
“Henry, thank you.”
Rachel looked up at him with a warm smile.
The tips of Henry’s ears immediately turned red.
Even in that short moment, he tightly pressed his lips together to hide his feelings.
That was just like Henry.
No matter how expressionless he tried to be…
…he could never completely hide his feelings in front of the woman he loved.
No matter how expressionless he tried to be… he could never completely hide his feelings in front of the woman he loved.
“Everyone, take your seats.”
Standing perfectly straight on the platform, Butler Colo gave his order.
Not a single student listened.
“How much do I have to pay for you to leave?”
“Mare, we do not talk about money at school.”
“Whaaat diiid yooou saaaay?”
“Eckard, stop making childish jokes.”
“You know that’s defamation, right?”
“Roka, sit down.”
Although Colo’s expression never changed…
…his voice had become much lower and colder than usual.
Rachel immediately noticed.
This is bad.
He’s really angry.
Unlike Rachel, whose face turned red when she got angry…
Colo’s voice became quieter the angrier he was.
“If no one sits down…”
“…tomorrow’s breakfast might be nothing but vegetable porridge.”
Behind his glasses, his sharp eyes seemed to say—
“Go ahead. Try making noise one more time.”
At once…
The only sound left inside the classroom was the scraping of chairs as every student hurried back to their seat.
After confirming that everyone had settled down,
Rachel quietly closed the classroom door.
Phew.
Nothing about this job is easy.
Manners class belonged entirely to Colo.
At least she could catch her breath for a little while.
Even if it was only for a moment.
The Imperial Palace should have been the most dignified place in the Empire.
Yet today…
It was complete chaos again.
The reason was simple.
The Third Prince had skipped his manners lesson once again and was hanging from a window, teasing everyone below.
“Prince Noah! It’s dangerous! Please come down! I don’t think I’ll live much longer at this rate!”
His nanny beat her chest in despair.
But Noah simply hung from the window frame with one hand.
“Aren’t you curious too? How badly someone would get hurt if they fell from here?”
“Not even a little!”
His private tutoring had already been reduced to only once a week.
Even that seemed too much for Prince Noah.
“If you don’t want me to jump, fire that teacher… whatever his name is.”
“He’s one of the Empire’s greatest scholars of etiquette! Crown Prince Lucas personally invited him to educate both princes!”
“I don’t care.”
“I don’t need boring lessons like that.”
“Oh? If you come any closer…”
“…I’ll really let go.”
Just as Noah leaned even farther out the window after noticing his nanny slowly approaching—
The bedroom door burst open.
“M-Major news!”
The maid turned pale after seeing Noah hanging halfway outside the window.
Still, she quickly continued.
“Prince Theo’s room is on fire!”
“What?! How?!”
“W-Well… Prince Theo refused to attend class and set Master Shuke’s book on fire… then the flames spread to the books beside it…”
The nanny pressed a hand against her forehead without taking her eyes off Noah.
One prince wanted to jump out a window.
The other had set his textbooks on fire.
She felt like she was losing her mind.
Only one month ago, she had been hurriedly hired after the previous royal nanny resigned.
Now she completely understood why so many before her had quit.
Ever since her first day…
She had carried a crumpled resignation letter in her pocket.
At this moment…
She desperately wanted to throw it on the floor and walk away.
Just then, Noah burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! Brother Theo actually did it! Nanny! Shouldn’t you hurry to him instead? At this rate, he’ll burn down the whole palace!”
There was only one option left.
“Report this to His Highness the Crown Prince immediately!”
“Yes!”
She knew the Crown Prince was busy handling state affairs.
But countless nannies and private tutors had already resigned because of the princes.
Now…
There was only one person in the entire Tirnes Empire who could control them.
Their older brother.
Crown Prince Lucas Maxim of the Tirnes Empire was a man whose very presence overwhelmed everyone.
Even the wild princes became quiet whenever they stood before his cold gaze.
The Chief Chamberlain stepped forward with an awkward expression.
“Your Highness.”
“The tutor assigned to the princes two days ago has submitted a resignation.”
Crack.
The quill in Lucas’s hand snapped in two.
“Only two days?”
“Even so… he lasted longer than the previous tutor, who resigned after only half a day.”
That alone was almost a miracle.
The princes ran wild like untamed horses.
Teaching them was difficult enough.
Simply avoiding injury was considered an achievement.
Lucas fell into deep thought.
He could no longer ignore the rude and undisciplined behavior of the princes who carried the Imperial bloodline.
He had to find a solution.
“Actually, Your Highness…”
The Chief Chamberlain lowered his voice.
“I recently heard an interesting rumor.”
“An interesting rumor?”
“A rather unusual boarding academy has opened in Rios.”
“Several noble children who attended have completely changed their behavior.”
“Even the child of Duke Kellyu, who was famous for being impossible to handle.”
“Even Duke Kellyu’s son?”
Lucas’s expression changed slightly.
If there was even the slightest chance of changing his younger brothers…
…he was willing to try.
The two princes had lost their mother at a young age.
They had been raised by their grandparents in a provincial territory.
Their grandparents loved them dearly and spoiled them without limits.
As a result…
The princes grew up fearing nothing.
Even their father, the Emperor, had once said—
“The greatest mistake of my life was leaving my two sons in their grandparents’ care.”
Among noble families,
it was customary to hire private tutors to educate their children.
The reputation of those tutors reflected both the family’s learning and its wealth.
So if even Duke Kellyu had sent his son to an academy no one had ever heard of…
There had to be a good reason.
“It is run by a young lady named Rachel Swan.”
“Would Your Highness be interested?”
“Rachel Swan…”
Lucas quietly repeated her name.
An academy that even proud nobles trusted enough to send their children to…
Interesting.
“Rachel Swan…”
A faint smile appeared on the Crown Prince’s lips.
