9 - Another Grueling Day for the Aristocratic Kindergarten Teacher
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The voice was full of embarrassment.
Understandably so. She had run into a teacher in an unexpected place.
The children were all Ephna's former students who had graduated from the kindergarten last year.
"Why is the Gopen family's child acting like that?"
"She's a teacher! Is she a teacher at the academy?"
"Oh my, isn't that the teacher from Loendell Kindergarten?"
"The teacher who got the Marquess Gopen's heir into the academy? Goodness."
The nobles whispered even more boisterously. Amidst them, Ephna knelt down to meet the children's eye level.
Hahaha. You cute little ones. Have you already forgotten me after not seeing me for so long?
"Danian, Hachel, Raypol."
She called out the children's names more kindly than anyone else.
Why are our children sweating so much?
Normally, she would have wiped away the sweat, but now was different. More important etiquette education remained.
Ephna spoke gently to the children.
"Didn't I teach you to greet your teacher when you see them?"
"Hiek!"
"Besides, ganging up on one person. I never taught you that... I suppose I need to explain 'social and psychological variables that affect bullying' once again."
Why are your faces turning so pale? Are you happy to see me after so long?
She patted the children's shoulders with a gentle face. Suddenly, a calm yet languid voice came from behind her.
"Banteid."
A man in a charcoal gray suit and a black mask was walking towards them.
The five-year-old boy, who had been standing still, toddled towards him. Then, he clung to the man's calf.
The child's small lips parted, and a slightly dull voice flowed out.
"...Hyungah."
He said 'Hyungah.' With that cute, dull voice. Hyungah.
"Banteid. What were you doing here?"
Banteid, hugged in Hyungah's broad chest, stretched out his chubby arms. His tiny index finger pointed at the children being scolded by Ephna.
"...Fought."
It was a bombshell, delivered with utter indifference. The three words silenced the whispering nobles.
I understand. You must have sensed that 'Hyungah's' imposing aura was unusual.
Ephna felt it too.
The man, well... he was like a quiet beast.
His appearance alone overwhelmed the crowd, and after a moment of silence, he spoke softly.
"Fought?"
"Uh-huh."
His eyelids blinked slowly. The man turned his gaze, following the child's finger.
The grayish-red eyes, barely visible through the mask, coldly scanned the targets.
'The problem is that the targets are children.'
They're going to cry at this rate.
Ephna rose from her kneeling position and approached the man.
"Hello."
A manual for dealing with guardians in this situation.
First, relax the tension with a 'business smile.' And then, the victimized child's...
"Are you their guardian?"
"Pardon?"
"I asked if you were their guardian."
Damn it. Right, in this man's eyes, she must look like the children's guardian.
Ephna's 'pro teacher manual' was only effective from a teacher's perspective.
'It's useless in a situation where I'm mistaken for a parent.'
She quickly abandoned the manual.
"Nice to meet you. I'm the teacher who taught these children. Their parents are probably on their way."
"Crawling, it seems."
They're probably walking like normal people.
"First of all, as the children's teacher, I apologize. I'm really sorry."
Banteid only said they fought, but anyone could tell it was bullying.
Ephna bowed to the man and Banteid, then called out to the children in a low voice.
"Danian, Hachel, Raypol."
"Yes, Teacher."
"You know without me having to say it, but this can't be a mistake. It's your fault. Oh, their parents are coming."
Marquess Gopen was running towards them from afar, throwing off his mask.
She didn't know what he had been told, but his face was flushed and he was huffing and puffing.
He glared at Banteid's Hyungah as if he was going to kill him, but stopped abruptly when he saw Ephna.
'He's flustered.'
An awkward smile appeared on Marquess Gopen's red face.
"Oh, Ephna. I didn't expect to see you in a place like this."
"Father, it's been a while. How have you been?"
"Yes, of course. I've been well. But what's going on here?"
"As you can see, there was a dispute between the children, so I was trying to stop them."
Bullying is more accurate than a dispute, but she couldn't say that directly to a student's parent.
But Marquess Gopen understood Ephna's words immediately. Something similar had happened when Danian was in kindergarten.
"T-That's, what on earth..."
He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence and looked around.
The nobles were looking at them with interest, whispering amongst themselves.
He rubbed his forehead as if he was troubled. It was then that Banteid's Hyungah, who had been watching the situation as if he was an observer, spoke.
"Eliherd Gopen, Marquess."
With just those words, everyone's attention was focused on him.
"Did he just say Marquess Gopen?"
"Did he say Gopen, you moronic bastard...? Or something like that."
"W-What?"
Did I hear wrong?
'I think I just heard the word moron in my ear.'
Ephna tapped her ear a few times.
Unfortunately, it was normal. It couldn't be more coincidental. Not only her, but all the other nobles were gaping.
Marquess Gopen, who had been staring blankly, shouted with a ferocious face.
"Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind? Do you know who I am to spout such nonsense!"
"The Marquess's son picked a fight with my brother that he couldn't even win."
"It seems like you have something to rely on, but you should be prepared. These days, young people are not only rude but crazy!"
"You should teach them that it's not courage but recklessness."
Is there a wall between the two of them? Or is it that no one is willing to listen to the other's words?
Banteid's Hyungah lightly readjusted Banteid, who was limply drooping.
"Did you say something to rely on?"
"What crazy things are you saying since earlier!"
"That's exactly what I wanted to say. You should have something to rely on, Marquess. Whatever it is."
An arrogant gaze that could be felt even through the mask. An aristocratic yet indescribably dangerous atmosphere.
'Who is he?'
As if in response to the sudden curiosity, a cold smile appeared on the man's lips.
"The quality of my rumors isn't very good."
He raised his arm. Below the luxuriously tailored suit cuffs, a hand with bulging veins.
A white, long hand gripped the black mask. The first thing that was revealed behind the mask that was lightly removed was the languidly raised eyes.
"Everyone says I'm a ruffian who pulls out a gun at the slightest provocation. I don't think that's a wrong rumor, either."
'That person is...'
She had to doubt her eyes as well as her ears. Ephna rubbed her eyes in shock this time. This was also normal.
As if representing her feelings, someone shouted in horror from somewhere in the banquet hall.
"H-His Grand Ducal Highness, Hildebon!"
The man was the empire's one and only Grand Duke, Kaiden Hildebon.
"How could His Grand Ducal Highness Hildebon be here...!"
"Isn't he someone who doesn't even set foot in social circles unless it's a royal banquet?"
"Oh my goodness, he's become more masculine and even more... than the portraits that have been spread recently."
A young lady covered her face with both hands as if she was in a daze.
Her red cheeks were clearly visible even under the pale yellow mask.
Another young lady next to her whispered, elegantly fanning herself with a fan.
"Lady Seyrin! Please refrain from frivolous remarks."
"Lady Hena, you think the same way, don't you? Don't pretend you don't."
"His Grand Ducal Highness was originally, very, very masculine. Especially from the perspective of testosterone."
"You're well-educated. I certainly made a slip of the tongue."
Indeed, is this the dignified conversation of highly educated people?
One unfortunate thing was that most people, except for these prominent scholars, were frozen stiff.
Of course, Ephna was also included in the 'frozen people.'
"Marquess Gopen."
Banteid's Hyung, Kaiden, leisurely took a step forward.
"I don't particularly care about that 'something to rely on' that Marquess Gopen likes. Everyone becomes equal in front of a gun. Especially on the battlefield."
Ephna had never seen someone support the abolition of the class system and equality of human rights so chillingly.
"So, instead of throwing your weight around with your status in front of me, it would be more efficient to take care of your frightened child."
"......"
Marquess Gopen closed his eyes tightly.
Even though he looked like an old-fashioned person, Kim, the section chief, to put it bluntly, the Marquess was a fairly skilled politician.
The nobles watching him under the dazzling chandeliers. And the Hildebon Grand Ducal family.
'The calculation is already over.'
A more composed voice flowed from his mouth.
"My child has caused great rudeness. With the heart of a father... I made a slip of the tongue."
"That's what he says."
Kaiden tilted his head towards Banteid. Banteid replied with a blank face.
"It's okay."
Sniffle. Perhaps because the hall was too quiet, Banteid's sniffling echoed delicately.
The situation was resolved at once, almost anticlimactically. The Marquess and his wife, who had bowed deeply, took Danian and disappeared like the wind.
But still.
'It was the Hildebon Grand Ducal family. It's still shocking. Come to think of it, even in the original...'
As soon as she finished thinking that far, Ephna's face hardened.
She turned her head and looked at the brothers standing indifferently.
'Oh no, you crazy Ephna. How could I forget? The Hildebon Grand Ducal family is...!'
