The Northern Duke’s Eldest Son’s Tutor

“Oh right!”
“What is it now?”
“Where am I staying?”
“I’ll let you know after the lesson is over in a little while.”
Kyle’s lesson is more important than Louise’s room.
She isn’t carrying her luggage right now anyway, so she doesn’t immediately need a room.
I spent time drinking tea with Louise.
There were about 30 minutes left until the swordsmanship lesson ended, so it was fine to spend time like this.
*
“Oh… is that the Young Master?”
“Yes.”
We watched Kyle and Elin training in front of the training ground.
With Louise beside me.
Louise seemed to be seeing Kyle for the first time.
After all, there wasn’t much news about Kyle in the newspapers, so it couldn’t be helped.
Kyle had never gone to other domains and just stayed in Eristirol, so it was even more so.
“Ooh…. not bad.”
As Louise says, Kyle is not bad.
Rather, he’s on the good side.
With his handsome face and solid body, he was certainly better than most men.
“Right?”
“Yes, I can see why strict you suddenly became a tutor.”
“When was I ever strict?”
“You once immediately left a party when an ugly tank tried to join.”
“….”
That did happen.
But I didn’t leave just because he was ugly.
“That’s because he looked at me with strange eyes.”
“He was just looking at you….”
“No, he wasn’t.”
I didn’t like the way he looked at me then.
He looked at me with some strange eyes.
Anyway, that’s what happened.
“Hmm… for now, tell him to go wash up. It’s not okay to come with sweat on him.”
“Okay, I got it.”
Kyle’s sweat smell isn’t that bad, so it should be fine.
I occasionally smell it when I wipe his sweat during massages, and it was okay.
“Young Master, the magic instructor has arrived. Let’s meet her after you wash up first.”
“Yes.”
I left the training ground with Kyle and wiped the sweat from Kyle’s body.
There wasn’t enough time to wash completely right now.
It would be better to wash after finishing the magic lesson.
“Young Master, she’s somewhat lacking in manners. She might speak informally or say strange things… but I would be grateful if you could look at her with a generous heart.”
Despite having the intelligence to speak formally, Louise…
She will probably speak informally to Kyle as well.
I’ve never seen Louise speak formally.
“And she’s naturally a free-spirited style. You can attend the lessons without feeling too much pressure.”
“Hmm…”
“Do you have any more questions about Louise?”
“What kind of relationship do you have with this person, Miss Sofia? It seems you’ve known each other for a while.”
“Ah.”
He must have heard us speaking informally to each other.
Since I’m someone who doesn’t speak informally to anyone in the castle, it’s natural for him to be curious.
There’s nothing special about our relationship, but we have known each other for a long time.
She’s probably the person I’ve known the longest after my mom and dad.
“Just a mage I met during my adventurer days.”
“I see.”
We’re really not anything special.
I just met her while gathering a party during my adventurer days.
-Wipe
-Wipe
While wiping the sweat on Kyle’s back with a towel, I talked about Louise.
Unlike with Elin, there were many questions.
Naturally, there would be more questions since we also heard more about Elin from the Knight Commander.
“Young Master, is this outfit sufficient?”
“Yes.”
I dress Kyle in the clothes he will wear.
It’s a bit more uncomfortable than the clothes he wore during swordsmanship time, but he’s a noble, so he should wear clothes of a certain rank.
These clothes suit him better than overly comfortable ones, even if they’re a bit uncomfortable.
“Are you here?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.. are you the Young Master? Hello?”
“Yes.”
Louise greeted Kyle with eye-smiles.
With her uniquely curious eyes, Kyle also seemed a bit curious.
“Hmm.. it’s bothersome, so is it okay if I just call you Kyle?”
“Yes, I don’t mind.”
This crazy woman is speaking informally to Kyle from the start.
Is this normal even for someone who likes to be comfortable?
I also like comfortable things, but I wouldn’t immediately speak informally to the eldest son of the mighty Eristirol.
“Hmm.. have you never experienced magic before?”
“No.”
“I see.. then I should first test your aptitude. Kyle, give me your hand for a moment.”
“My hand..you say?”
“Yes, give me your hand for a bit.”
What is she planning to do by asking for his hand?
Kyle gave his right hand as Louise said.
“Yap.”
“….?”
And Louise held Kyle’s hand.
Why is she holding his hand?
I don’t understand.
She said she would test his aptitude, but what does that have to do with holding his hand?
“Hmmmmmm……”
Louise ponders while holding Kyle’s hand.
Could it be that Kyle doesn’t have an aptitude for magic?
I was confident he would, since he’s the son of a noble family.
“Hmmmm….”
“What’s wrong?”
Kyle also questioned why Louise was acting this way.
Is he afraid he might not be able to use magic?
Even though he’s grown more than before, he’s still a kid.
He might be scared if she tells him he can’t use it.
“Hmm… Sofia, have you ever met the Duke?”
“No.”
I don’t understand either.
I’ve worked at Eristirol Castle for years, but I’ve never met him once.
How can he not return to the castle even once in several years?
He’s definitely alive, that’s for sure.
Since he’s alive, he would have sent me messages through the head butler.
“Hmm… is this kid crazy?”
“Huh?”
What is she saying, suddenly calling him crazy?
What does she mean by suddenly saying Kyle is crazy?
“His aptitude is unbelievable.”
“Huh..?”
“He could probably use most magic just fine? Of course, he’d still need to learn.”
Ah, so that’s what she meant.
She wasn’t talking about Kyle’s mental state but his aptitude for magic.
If that’s what she meant, then that’s good.
“Hmm… Kyle, want to try learning magic seriously with me? It might be good to visit the magic tower once.”
“The magic tower is not an option.”
“Hmm…. then it can’t be helped. Anyway, it’ll be worth teaching you for a while.”
It’s fortunate that there’s no problem with teaching Kyle magic.
It’s really fortunate that he can learn both sword and magic.
Since I couldn’t learn magic, I had hoped Kyle would be able to learn if possible.
In that sense, it was really good.
“Um… how long are you going to hold his hand…?”
I was curious how long she was going to keep interlocking fingers with Kyle.
While it’s true that Kyle is handsome and charming, how long is she going to hold him like that?
“Hm? Why? Sofia, do you want to hold his hand too?”
“What are you saying!”
There’s no way I would say such a thing because I want to hold Kyle’s hand.
Of course, holding Kyle’s big hand would be reassuring, but that will absolutely never happen.
“Just kidding.”
Louise said that and released the hand she had been holding.
“Hmm… there’s nothing special to teach you right away today, so let’s start properly from tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
“Alright! Then you both can go now… no, Sofia, show me where my room is.”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, I promised to show her.
I almost forgot and was about to leave.
Suddenly I feel like I don’t want to tell her… but a promise is a promise.
“Young Master, please go wash up. I’ll come to call you when it’s mealtime.”
“Yes.”
Kyle said that and went to wash.
Behind him, attendants followed to assist him with his bath.
“First, I’ll show you your room.”
“Okay!”
I took Louise out of the room and moved towards her room.
Rather than saying it’s Louise’s room, it’s just a guest room, but well, it’s the room where Louise will stay for a while, so it’s right.
It’s not as good as the room where Catherine is staying, but it’s still a fairly good room.
Just looking at the view from the window, it’s better than mine.
The frozen river behind the castle and the incredibly high mountain range.
Honestly, I’m a bit envious.
“…..”
Should I ask to switch rooms with her?
No, it’s a room close to Kyle, so it’s too precious to switch with Louise.
After all, it’s just the view outside the window.
It’s less important than being close to Kyle.
It was better to be close for various reasons, including walking to Kyle’s room in the morning.
“There, is this enough?”
“Hmm… kind of a boring room.”
“What can I do about it? All the rooms are like this. If you’re bored, should I ask the servants to bring you some toys?”
“Oh… are there toys too?”
I’m not sure if there really are, but there probably are.
If not, I can ask them to buy some.
“Is there anything you need? You didn’t bring any luggage.”
“Everything!”
“Hah….”
I knew this would happen from the moment she arrived without any luggage.
How could she come from the magic tower with absolutely nothing, truly just her body?
Even if she came using magic, isn’t it normal to carry at least a bag?
“For now, just use the pillows and blankets inside as they are… I’ll tell the servants. Dinner time is in about 30 minutes, so just come out around then.”
“Is the food delicious?”
“Compared to what we ate during our adventurer days, there’s no comparison.”
Normally, Louise wouldn’t be of the rank to eat with Catherine and Kyle, but now she’s a magic instructor and a guest.
Since she’s a guest, naturally I had to arrange for her to eat together with them.
Honestly, I didn’t like welcoming such a person as a guest.
The fact that someone who worked as an adventurer with me is suddenly getting extremely luxurious treatment, and the way she kept holding Kyle’s hand, and the way she blew the money she had saved on gambling…
“Hey, did you also blow the money I lent you?”
“Yes!”
…..
Suddenly, I began to seriously consider changing the magic instructor.