CH 34

“……Are the home tutors these days able to see through parents’ circumstances?”

“Not really…….,” Livia said as she scratched her cheek nervously.

She couldn’t get away with glossing over this, could she?

But she also certainly couldn’t say, ‘I read it in a book. This is all fictional!’ either.

Livia glanced at Cardien, trying to gauge his reaction. 

Cardien was scrutinizing her with sharper eyes than ever. She needed to choose her words carefully. If she made a slip of the tongue…

But the pressure was too intense.

Unconsciously, she started stammering.

“It’s because……. I like Your Grace.”

“……What?”

Cardien looked at her with a bewildered expression.

Finally regaining her senses, she hurriedly raised her hands.

“Oh, no, I mean, it’s not like I like you, romantically….”

“…….”

The more Livia tried to explain, the more confusing it became.

‘I meant I liked him in the book!’

But she had already come too far to go back.

Fearing that his misunderstanding would deepen, Livia hurriedly added to her words.

“I meant as a fan!”

“A fan?”

He responded with an even more perplexed face, but Livia confidently nodded her head.

“Yes, since my academy days, I often heard stories about Your Grace. I’ve admired you since then.”

“……..You know what?”

“What?”

“Sometimes, Tutor, I think you’ve lost your mind.”

“Ahaha…….” Livia let out a small laugh, facing Cardien’s bewildered expression. 

She couldn’t deny it, which made her even sadder. Fortunately, he didn’t press the issue any further.

‘Guess it worked.’

Well, it wasn’t entirely a lie.

“Alright, then – let’s hear what conditions the teacher has.”

‘Here it comes.’

Gulp. Livia took a deep breath and spoke calmly.

“The heirloom from the Mercedes family.”

“…….”

“Allow me to use it once.”

~ Translations by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at moonlightnovels.com ~

Cardien stared at her in silence.

Livia met his gaze without avoiding his eyes.

All she needed was the Mercedes Heirloom, which was said to be able to manipulate magic, to cure her illness.

“Of course, I’m not asking you to let me use it right away. One year. I’ll help your Grace for a year, and after that, if you’ll let me use the heirloom, just once…….”

She didn’t think Cardien would refuse this proposal. She was not taking anything away from him,  just asking to be able to use it once.

However, his following words left her frozen in place.

“It’s a pity.”

“…….?”

“The noble heirloom from the Mercedes family has been lost for a long time.”

“……What?”

Livia asked, doubting her ears.

Lost… Does that mean the heirloom doesn’t exist anymore?

‘This…….’

What kind of nonsense is this again?!!!!!

* * *

“…..Tutor.”

“…….”

“Tutor Via!”

“……Ah!”

Snapping out of her reverie at the sound of someone calling her name, Livia quickly looked at Vincent.

Vincent, holding a pen, looked at her with his cute, chubby face.

“Ah, Vincent. Have you finished all of it?”

“Yes.”

“I see. Let me take a look.”

Livia pulled Vincent’s completed worksheet in front of her and started grading it one question at a time.

But her head was full of the conversation she’d had with the duke yesterday.

‘The heirloom is missing?’

Not just any heirloom, but the heirloom from the Mercedes family.

“Does that even make sense?”

“Tutor?”

“Ah.”

Pulling herself effortfully out of her thoughts at Vincent’s call, Livia sighed deeply as she looked at the red lines she absentmindedly drew on the worksheet.

“Tutor, are you feeling unwell?” Vincent asked, concern written all over his face. Livia’s condition didn’t seem normal to his eyes at all.

“No, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”

Livia tried her best to smile, but it didn’t ease Vincent’s worry.

Eventually, she rushed out of class and made her way to the duke’s room.

Sighs escaped her pursed lips the entire way.

Yesterday, after receiving the shocking news that the heirloom had been lost, she had returned to her room in a daze.

Livia couldn’t even remember if she bid farewell to the duke.

‘There was no mention of the heirloom being lost in the original story.’

Well, <Everyone Loves the Saint> didn’t delve too deeply into the Mercedes family’s circumstances.

But something felt off.

‘Only the family head can touch the heirloom.’

So Livia’s plan was to use Cardien’s hand to use the family heirloom.

‘How did the heirloom get lost?’

‘I wonder if Cardien knows something.’

Lost in thought, Livia found herself in front of his room in no time.

She came to her senses and looked up.

“Whew.”

Taking a deep breath, she raised her hand.

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

Unlike yesterday, a clear response came back.

Livia cautiously opened the door and stepped inside.

Cardien was sitting at his desk, engrossed in his work. Unlike the disarray from yesterday, today he appeared flawless, without a single flaw.

“What is it?” he spoke without taking his gaze off the documents.

“Oh…… I’m here to report on Master Vincent’s class.”

“Speak,” he said coldly.

The more he acted this way, the more Livia compared him to yesterday’s Cardien.

She observed that he was a little more expressive yesterday…….

Could it be that he was angry with her?

‘Sure, after the way I walked out yesterday.’

Livia was so surprised to hear that the heirloom had been lost that she didn’t even say goodbye to him properly, and just fled the room.

From his perspective, he might have been angry at her rudeness.

Despite feeling disheartened, she calmly presented her report. Throughout the report, Cardien didn’t raise his head.

“…..so far, the classes are progressing smoothly,” Livia concluded.

“I see.”

“Yes…”

She blurred the end of her sentence and pondered on how to proceed. Her heart was restless. It felt like he could kick her out at any moment.

However, surprisingly, Cardien remained silent, just leaving her be. It was more accurate to say he was indifferent.

~ Translations by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at moonlightnovels.com ~

While contemplating how to phrase it, Livia blurted out, “How did the heirloom…… get lost?”

She knew it was presumptuous, but she decided that it would be better to directly ask instead of beating around the bush.

After all, he might answer…

“The previous head of the family took it.”

Eh…… What?

‘He answered?’

She had asked, though she never really expected him to answer, so Livia looked at him with wide eyes.

“If it’s the previous head of the family… you mean His Grace’s elder brother?”

And Vincent’s biological father.

Cardien was silent. That was the answer.

Livia couldn’t hide her surprise at the unexpected mention of this person. But she soon understood the situation.

In the first place, only the family head can touch the title.

Even if it’s just for one day, his brother was also the Mercedes family head.

‘He handed over the family head position to Cardien and disappeared in just one day.’

In any case, that meant it was possible for him to take the heirloom.

But why?

Aside from the flood of questions, Livia glanced at Cardien worriedly. After all, the heirloom represents the head of the family.

The fact that it disappeared meant that Cardien’s already unstable position had become even more precarious.

‘I’ve heard that there are still many among the council who do not acknowledge Cardien’s existence.’

Cardien was an outcast, suffering from Mana overload that had been mistaken for mania.

And he didn’t even own an heirloom.

‘It’s the worst.’

It was as if everything was pushing against him. Livia’s heart squeezed.

“….Your Grace, are you alright?”

In response to her cautious question, he scoffed briefly.

“If it’s not alright, will the missing heirloom magically reappear?”

“That…”

He had a point, and Livia had nothing to say in response. There was nothing to say in response to his accurate remark.

He moved the pen on the documents with a tired face and continued speaking.

“Losing a mere heirloom doesn’t change anything.”

As he said that, he smiled as if he had thought of something and looked at her.

“But you must be disappointed, because you approached me because of the heirloom. Now that you’ve confirmed that there is no heirloom, are you going to leave this house?”

No, but why does this person keep being condescending?

Livia understood his point, but she couldn’t help but feel hurt.

“That won’t happen.”

She unintentionally gave a curt response.

Cardien quietly stared at her. Maybe it was because of the mood.

His usually pale, dull violet eyes seemed a little different than usual.

“Of course I need the heirloom, but…….”

No, it’s not just a matter of need. It’s an item that must not be missing for the sake of extending her life.

“It’s not necessarily the only reason I stayed in this house.”

Yes, the heirloom was her initial purpose, but living in this house and watching Vincent by her side, Livia realized that she wanted to change the predestined future.

“I’m not leaving.”

“…….”

Cardien’s eyes were always like a dry desert. A dead land without a drop of rain, without a blade of grass.

How much pain he must have experienced for that purple landscape to be so dry.

Livia was not in a position to feel sorry for him, but her impression of him was irrevocably different than before.

Maybe that’s why she answered more firmly just then. She meant what she said.

“……..You’re a good talker,” Cardien let out a low chuckle and turned his head. Eventually, he muttered in a low voice, “The search for the heirloom is currently underway.”

“…….Ah.”

“My goal is also to recover the heirloom as soon as possible.”

Livia nodded her head.

As he said that, Cardien lifted his head, and their eyes met. He looked at her intently for a moment, then slowly parted his lips.

“The heirloom will be recovered. Therefore–”

“…….”

“–I accept the proposal you mentioned, Tutor.”