The Northern Duke’s Eldest Son’s Tutor

After Kyle’s schedule ended, I immediately prepared a letter to send to that woman.
Unlike the formal letters used by the Eristirol ducal family, I didn’t need to pay any attention to writing style at all.
Rather, that woman would prefer if I wrote in my usual tone.
“Hmm….”
I believe it doesn’t take much time for a letter to reach the magic tower.
If I write today, a reply should come within this week.
-Scratch scratch
I wrote the letter on paper with a pen.
The content wasn’t complicated.
It contained nothing more than asking her to teach magic to Kyle.
There was some casual conversation mixed in… but not enough to be a problem.
“Is this enough?”
I read through the completed letter once.
It contained all the necessary information and clearly indicated it was from me.
It was too late today, so I’d have to send it tomorrow.
Thanks to Catherine, I didn’t get to rest properly today.
So today, it would be good to sleep a bit earlier than usual.

“Young Lord Kyle.”
“Lady Oldenburg. What brings you here?”
Late at night, when most servants were asleep and only guards and those patrolling the mansion were moving about,
Catherine and Kyle met in the corridor.
“Hmm… this place isn’t very suitable, how about we talk in a proper room?”
“…Alright for now.”
As Catherine suggested, Kyle entered a dark reception room where all the lights were out.
Though the interior wasn’t very bright, the candles lit by mana were sufficient to adequately illuminate the dark interior.
“So, what did you want to talk about?”
A somewhat rigid and cold tone, different from how he spoke to Sofia.
Sofia would have been a bit surprised if she had heard it.
He always used a somewhat kind and normal tone with Sofia, but not now when Sofia wasn’t present.
“Haha.. don’t glare at me like that. I believe I already mentioned this when we were alone before?”
“….”
“Hmm… right. I’ll get straight to the point as Young Lord Kyle wishes.”
Catherine continued with a smile.
Kyle was looking down at Catherine with somewhat sharp eyes.
“I have something to say about Miss Sofia, that is, your tutor.”
“…..”
“Honestly speaking, she seems like a good person.”
Kyle agreed with that statement.
To be precise, it wasn’t complete agreement.
For Kyle, Sofia was a person who was more than just “not a bad person.”
It was natural for him to feel that way since Sofia was the one who cared for him, taught him, and always assisted him after what happened when he was 12.
“In that sense, Young Lord Kyle, I have a proposal for you.”
As soon as Kyle heard Catherine’s words, he predicted what she would say next.
Having gotten to know Catherine’s personality to some extent over the past few days, Kyle knew that Catherine’s intention wasn’t merely to praise Sofia.
“….”
“Could we borrow your tutor for a few years on our side?”
Kyle felt anger upon hearing the expected words, even though he had anticipated them.
But Kyle’s anger was completely natural for him.
Although the age difference wasn’t extremely vast, it was only natural for him to be angry upon hearing a sudden proposal to take away Sofia, who had played a role like a mother to him in some ways.
But he didn’t fully express that anger.
Although he knew he was in his own domain and that he was the eldest son of the ducal family, his opponent was not to be taken lightly either.
Catherine, the lady of the Oldenburg Count’s family, was not someone with whom Kyle could act rashly as a young lord.
It was better to keep his mouth shut rather than failing to contain his anger and causing trouble here where no one else was present.
“….That is not for me to decide.”
“Then who decides? Aren’t you the employer? Perhaps the Duke himself..?”
Catherine’s question.
That question was such a noble-like inquiry.
It was natural for there to be a division between employer and employee, and most employers were nobles.
But Kyle’s answer didn’t come from that reason.
“The choice is Miss Sofia’s. It’s neither mine nor my father’s.”
“….”
Catherine’s eyes widened a bit.
Surprised by the unexpected answer, Catherine soon added interest to her surprised eyes.
“I see… haha… Young Lord Kyle… you’re more interesting than I expected?”
“Is that so.”
Kyle concealed his expression as much as possible.
He didn’t want to express his current emotions on his face.
It was an emotion and face he never wanted to show to Sofia.
Even though Sofia wasn’t present, he always thought about Sofia the tutor, the woman.
“..It’s cold. Let’s go inside now.”
“Shall we? I think we’ve had a good conversation after a long time. It was as interesting as our first-day conversation, no, even more so.”
With those words, Catherine left the reception room where they had been talking.
Unlike Catherine, Kyle remained seated in the chair, staring at the candle illuminating the room.
The candle that wasn’t incredibly bright but gently illuminated the surroundings.
“Miss Sofia….”
He thought of Sofia again.
For him, it was already impossible to imagine daily life without Sofia.
Although it was a very short time compared to other servants and maids who had been there for about 3 years, the saying “quality over quantity” wasn’t unfounded as he thought a lot about Sofia.
At first, he just thought of her as a teacher.
A person who would teach him and somewhat ‘correct’ that trauma.
But such thoughts had completely disappeared now.
Now Sofia was a tutor who always taught him something, a servant who always helped him, and a woman with whom he spent his daily life.
The north was already cold, but the interior wasn’t.
However, Kyle, sitting alone in the room, felt a chill.

When I woke up in the morning, the servants and maids were busily conversing.
I have no idea why these people, who are usually working, are talking so much now.
Did something happen while I was sleeping?
“Did something happen?”
I spoke to a maid with whom I occasionally exchanged a few words.
She wasn’t a high-ranking maid, but working as a servant and tutor, I inevitably had to speak with some maids.
“Ah, Miss Sofia!”
The maid smiled and greeted me as soon as she turned around and found me.
I smiled at her and nodded slightly.
“Very late last night… there’s a rumor that the Young Master and the guest were talking together in the reception room!”
“What..?”
The Young Master mentioned here was definitely Kyle, and the guest… was none other than Catherine.
Since Catherine was the only guest currently staying in the domain, it was natural.
Those two talking alone in the reception room late at night?
“Is that true?”
I couldn’t help but be surprised.
I didn’t expect Kyle to suddenly have a conversation with Catherine alone.
I didn’t care much about who initiated the conversation.
Kyle had a conversation with Catherine just the two of them, at a time unrelated to his usual conversation hours.
Is this what they call significant progress?
After all, the two were already having one-on-one conversations about once a day.
It was entirely possible for them to talk alone in a secluded place at night.
“Yes! Several servants who were patrolling the corridor yesterday said so! Lady Catherine suddenly came out of the reception room, and about ten minutes later, the Young Master came out.”
“Oh…”
To think that clumsy kid has already reached this level.
Talking with a woman alone in a secluded place at night.
Impressive.
I wonder if the very minimal sex education or stories about romance that I occasionally gave him had an effect.
I was happy if that was why Kyle had a conversation with Catherine alone.
It meant that what I taught Kyle had actually been effective.
Of course, since I had never been in a relationship myself, I had only taught him things I had heard or read in books.
I couldn’t imagine myself in a relationship at all.
All because of the memories I recalled when I was young.
Unfortunately, since my past life was as a man, I didn’t have proper thoughts about it.
The thought of dating a man gave me goosebumps.
It felt like I was definitely a woman, but my mind was that of a man.
That’s why I couldn’t have a proper relationship.
There was also some resistance to dating women.
But it was incomparable to dating men.
Of course, I had never felt any heartbeat or love for either men or women.
-Knock knock
I stood in front of Kyle’s room and knocked on the door.
There was no sound from inside.
“Young Master, are you there? May I come in?”
I spoke first.
In case he hadn’t heard the knock, I had to speak like this.
If Kyle was sleeping, I needed to ask whether he wanted to continue sleeping or wake up.
I opened Kyle’s closed door.
As I entered, I smelled the familiar scent of Kyle’s room and saw Kyle sleeping.
He probably didn’t go to sleep early because he was talking with Catherine alone yesterday.