“Lord Leone really… He has been doing so much lately that it’s hard to summarize. He is really busy.”
“Doing too much to summarize? Is Leone okay?!”
He seemed calm, but he did so many things. She was worried about Leone and looked at her Adler with a serious face.
“Of course he is fine. No, it’s not good enough. Lord Leone is a genius.”
Adler’s eyes were shining. What the hell was going on…? She, too, had neglected her responsibility as a guardian for too long. She couldn’t even guess what Leone was learning.
“Where is Leone? I want to see it too.”
When she asked because she was so curious, Adler looked at her with a happy face.
“Also, Trixie’s feelings for Lord Leone are enough to compete with mine.”
Suddenly, he gave her a hearty smile and patted her shoulder, as if to say, “I picked a good person.”
“Ah, yes…”
Enough to compete with him, it would be a compliment to a man like Adler, but it didn’t sound that good to her. She wasn’t thrilled with Leone’s kneeling just because he walked on two legs. But, she couldn’t… To the extent of hearing these words, had she been seen as the same level as Adler’s babbling?
“But you can’t go see him. Since Lord Leone told me to let you rest-”
“I’m really fine. Rather, I think I’ll get sick if I lie down. I’ll go directly to Leone and tell her I’m not sick. Ok?”
“Hmm.”
Adler looked at her quietly and then nodded his head.
“But Benjamin says he needs Trixie. It was a little difficult to endure alone because of the sudden increase in work.”
Benjamin was having a hard time? She immediately got out of bed and stood up.
“I’ll return and go right away.”
* * *
Adler said that he was busy and left, and after she had changed her clothes, she was guided by the ladies-in-waiting. The place where they arrived… It was a riding ground.
As expected, a commotion came from inside.
“Oh no!”
“Be careful!”
“He’s not such a timid kid…”
The smell of manure reached the tip of her nose. If it was a horse riding… Maybe Leone wasn’t hunting horses…? After passing through the entrance blocked by layers of safety devices and entering a little further, she saw the horse’s butt.
“Your Highness the Prince. Could you please come down for a minute? I’m afraid of words… If you run amok like this, you will get hurt.”
“…I will.”
And her dog, let alone hunt horses… was sitting on a horse. Leone was meticulously dressed in riding clothes that would have driven him insane, and answered with a lofty voice like that of a prince. A dark blue equestrian suit finished with a cool material, gray pants, up to long boots. It fitted him so well.
Leone reached out to pet the horse, but the horse bowed and backed away. It was a frightened attitude.
“I’m scared, that’s a lot.”
She felt that those words were cut short because she was clumsy, but the attendants who served Leone around didn’t seem to feel that way.
“Sorry. I brought it because I thought it would be brave because it was raised for the cavalry… How do you do this?”
“Isn’t it that mere creatures don’t know what to do with His Highness’ spirit! Haha. You are amazing.”
Leone stood at the center in an apology position. Oddly enough, he wasn’t awkward. Like a person who had been in that position since he was born. Benjamin was nowhere to be seen. Only Gourden stood next to Leone, proudly checking his safety gear. She has only been out for a week. Did it make sense to change so much in the meantime? Really, that…
She approached him as if possessed.
‘Is that Leone?’
Of course, after coming to the imperial palace, he had washed and tidied up his hair, so it was cleaner than before. Thanks to that, whenever she faced Leone, her heart health was getting worse. Still, when he visited her for the past week, he was wearing a comfortable shirt and pants, so he didn’t look very unfamiliar to her. Not like now. He really looked like royalty or a nice guy.
“…Trixie?”
It was a moment. As soon as she got to his feet, Leone looked in her direction and widened his eyes.
“Leone. What’s happening! A horseback riding.”
She smiled exaggeratedly and approached him. Leone also walked towards her. It was obviously walking, but the stride was too wide, so she got closer in an instant. She seemed to be running.
“I see your face every day, but I didn’t even know Leone had developed this much. I’m disqualified as guardian, huh?!”
She was talking about this to Leone, who approached her, but a hot energy hit her. She was in Leone’s arms.
“Trixie, are you okay?”
Leone pulled her away again and looked at her face. Only the purple eyes embedded in his emotionless face seemed to contain a light of concern.
“Ugh. Wow, I’m perfectly fine.”
“I gave to the knights, orders… Didn’t I?”
Leone frowned slightly.
“Oh, no. Leone. I really wanted to get up now. I was frustrated. It’s so fine.”
“…thank God.”
If she said it briefly, it must be because the words were awkward. Why did such a reticent man sound like he was talking kindly?
“Leone. The next class is ready- Trixie!”
Then, a familiar voice was heard. She took his eyes off Leone and turned her head away. Standing there was Benjamin, with dark circles under his eyes.
“Trixie, here you are! You came!”
Benjamin hurriedly approached. There was desperation in the eyes that looked at me.
Meanwhile, Leone blocked his way.
“Leone. I’ll only speak to her, so please get out of the way. Please.”
She heard a voice pleading in front of the huge man standing in front of her.
“Yes, Leone. I wonder what’s going on too.”
“Yes, Trixie.”
As soon as Leone got out of the way, Benjamin made a strange noise.
“Huh. Trixie. Please save me.”
“Yes?”
She thought the bottoms of his eyes were just black, but his skinny face was even more emaciated. He told Adler he couldn’t stand it any longer… Really.
“I never thought the day would come when I would say that I wanted to rest in my life. Most of them were in a position to whip… His Highness’ passion for learning is so hot that I’m about to faint from overwork.” said Benjamin quickly with a growl. Seeing a person who had always been cool and rational collapsed like that made her realize the seriousness of the situation.
Leone and his passion for learning. It was a really odd combination.
She stepped aside and looked at Leone.
“What on earth did you do to make a person like this in a week, Leone?”
“Take a look.”
As she tried to rob Leone, Benjamin handed her a notebook.
“This week’s class content and timetable are all written down.”
As soon as she opened the note, she was flagged. This schedule made it difficult for Adler to summarize. Sleep was only three or four hours a day. The rest of the time was tightly packed with classes to learn basic knowledge such as writing, history, and arithmetic, as well as classes to learn the knowledge of the imperial family, such as horseback riding. It’s amazing how he took the time to come see her.
However, the only class Benjamin could do was the morning writing class. Of course, it was the longest class, but… There seemed to be no reason to be so tired.
“There is only one Benjamin’s class?”
“Mrs. Adler ordered me to observe all of Leone’s classes.”
“…You follow all this schedule?”
“Gourden and I, we split up and chased after him. So I distributed it so that I could follow the schedule only to the extent that my physical strength could withstand it, and it should have been fine originally. But another problem arose.”
“What problem?”
“Because Lord Leone is progressing so much faster than I thought, I already changed the textbook twice within a week. This textbook is quite complex and I will have to go through it again, and the course of future courses will be more complicated. As I followed my schedule, created a curriculum, and studied, my sleep naturally decreased. Trixie. I’m sleepy. I am really sleepy!”
“So far… Is he progressing so fast?”
What the hell happened? It was surprising that Leone was so engrossed in class. Did he suddenly awaken as a member of the royal family?
“Trixie. Do you know what Lord Leone says to me every morning in class?”
“What does he say?”
“When I finish explaining, he looks me in the eye and asks, ‘And?’ Then I have to go on to the next progress, and the next progress again. Lord Leone keeps repeating ‘and?’.”
“He is not understanding… Isn’t he?”
“I thought so, but he repeated it, so I made him take the test and he got a perfect score.”
Was this a new type of bullying? ‘And?’ If it was a disciple with a higher status than her who repeats only, she thought she would end up like that too. It just gave her chills down her spine.
“Benjamin. Just focus on the class from now on. Since I’m all healed, I’ll follow Leone around.”
At her words, Benjamin nodded his head in gratitude.
“And I need to persuade Leone to adjust my schedule accordingly. This sleep time is too little even for Leone.”
“Great, Trixie. If it’s you, Lord Leone will listen! He never listened to me!”
A subtle joy flashed across Benjamin’s face.
“I have to start today. You just have to go around and manage it as written in the note, right? Okay. So go get some sleep, Benjamin.”
“Thank you.”
“Riding lessons now, right?”
“No. I can’t take this class today. I was on my way to leave my seat earlier and prepare for the next class.”
“Ah… Come to think of it, the horses must have been very scared.”
She asked a question, recalling the memories of entering the riding arena.
“At first, I brought the language used in the beginner’s liberal arts class… As soon as they saw Lord Leone, they were terrified and stopped moving on the spot.”
Benjamin sighed.
“It’s like seeing a predator.”
Predator…? If the horses were frightened, could it be that Leone brought out his animal instincts and threatened them? Or maybe he was trying to hunt by mistake.
“Leone. What did you do?”
So, without knowing it, she asked Leone.
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