Maylily - Chapter 12

At the cautious question, one of the Count’s eyebrows twitched slightly. He leisurely crossed his arms and leaned back again. A faint smile played on his lips.

“Wasn’t that lesson something we had agreed upon?”

Since Cartian proficiency was an important qualification for an opera singer, Maylily also agreed with the Count’s opinion that education was necessary.

She had learned Cartian during her school days, but because the school had been small, the education hadn’t been systematic. After graduation, the only help she received was occasional pronunciation correction or libretto interpretation from a teacher hired by the opera company. She simply hadn’t been financially well-off enough to afford private tutoring.

So, for Maylily, who had always thirsted for learning, the Count of Everscourt’s suggestion had been extremely tempting.

“Take Cartian lessons. I’ll cover the costs.”

Though it felt like debts she couldn’t repay were piling up, she convinced herself that her growth and success would be her way of returning the favor to her patron, and allowed herself to be greedy just this once. But then, a problem had occurred in an entirely unexpected place.

No—that wasn’t quite accurate.

In fact, she had vaguely sensed it from the very first lesson but had tried hard to ignore it. So it couldn’t be said to be completely unexpected. In any case…

“I’ll keep studying diligently, just as I promised. But I’d like to request… a different teacher.”

“Why?”

“The teacher is…”

“……”

The Count, still wearing a faint smile, patiently waited for Maylily to finish.

“Strange.”

“……”

Sensing the second question hidden in the Count’s silence, Maylily bit her lip for a moment.

“That is…”

Ah, how should she say this?

“He keeps trying to make personal advances.”

At her carefully chosen words, the Count chuckled. That laugh made Maylily’s face burn bright red.

Suddenly feeling wronged, she added in a small voice, “It’s true.”

Despite his respectable appearance, Michele, the Cartian tutor, had a subtly inappropriate habit of touching.

It hadn’t been easy to recognize at first.

Fundamentally, Michele was a passionate and considerate teacher who helped his students grow. That was why every time he overlapped his hand with hers while correcting her pen grip, or touched her lips under the pretense of correcting pronunciation, Maylily attributed her discomfort to her own oversensitivity.

But she became certain of his impure intentions the day he invited her to a Cartian restaurant as part of a so-called cultural experience.

He had cut the large chunk of meat served to her into bite-sized pieces, one by one, and occasionally stared at her as she ate with an inscrutable smile.

After the meal, he had bought a single rose wrapped in kraft paper and ribbon from a flower shop, given it to her, and escorted her all the way home.

The entire sequence felt like a date. It was strange and uncomfortable, like the sticky gaze with which Michele had watched her the whole time.

All of this had happened within two weeks of starting the Cartian lessons.

“Personal advances… I can’t quite imagine what that means.”

Though he had already received some reports from David, Hugh feigned ignorance, tilting his head naturally and letting his eyes languidly relax. His expression clearly showed how much he was enjoying pushing the already flustered Maylily into deeper discomfort.

“For example, going to a restaurant together, cutting meat for me, giving me flowers… that kind of thing.”

It seemed the man had put in a fair bit of effort. Was that exotic masculine charm simply not to her taste?

“Can’t those things be considered acts of kindness between people?”

Of course, Hugh would never do anything as ridiculous as cutting meat or gifting flowers to a woman purely out of kindness.

“That’s not all.”

“Then?”

Maylily fidgeted with her fingers before speaking with a deeply humiliated expression.

“He touched my hand… and my lips too…. It was supposedly for teaching Cartian, but…”

“That, too, can happen when learning a language.”

Besides, Hugh had studied several languages before entering university, but for whatever reason, no teacher had ever dared to lay a hand on him.

“But the intent behind the touch felt different. Even I could tell that much.”

So, she wasn’t quite as naïve as he’d thought.

Hugh rubbed his temple, slightly annoyed. Should he look for a new tutor now, or would it be better to leave that man with Maylily a little longer?

“I’ll warn the teacher for now. But if the same issue happens again, we’ll discuss it again.”

That should calm her down enough to let it go. However, what came back was not a compliant answer but a provocative question.

“Aren’t you worried about this situation, Count?”

“Hmm. What should I be worried about?”

“I…”

Maylily’s round cheeks flushed as red as ripening fruit going through seasonal change. Then her voice slipped out in a whisper.

“What if I end up… sleeping with some man?”

When the words he never imagined a woman like her would say aloud hit his ears, Hugh felt a laugh bubble up.

“Didn’t you say yourself that you’re not the type of woman who sleeps with just any man?”

“But didn’t you also say that the problem is always the men, Count?”

He hadn’t expected her to take that statement so much to heart. Maylily Aile must have been a diligent student back in school. Hugh finally let out a short laugh.

He had set boundaries for her personal life, then left a flirtatious man at her side, so of course she would feel conflicted. This conversation must be the result of that turmoil.

“I’m sorry if my words offended you. I just thought… it would be easier to focus on my lessons if the environment were more comfortable.”

Not knowing why Hugh was laughing, Maylily blinked anxiously as she apologized.

She was fundamentally a timid woman.

That only made Hugh all the more unwilling to change his plans. Even if he replaced Michele Baratti with someone else, it would be a waste of time and lead to the same outcome.

Feeling it necessary to ease Maylily’s guard toward Michele, Hugh adopted a gentler tone and expression than usual.

“Maylily.”

“Yes, Count.”

Though confused by Hugh’s noticeably softened demeanor, Maylily obediently answered as she always had.

“Try to relax a little.”

“……”

“Touching your lips won’t get you pregnant.”

Understanding the veiled rejection, her eyes drooped sullenly. After a moment of silent thought, she gently fiddled with her skirt and whispered, “Then… could you not say anything to the teacher? I just don’t want to make things awkward, even by chance.”

“All right.”

Hugh closed the conversation with a smile disguised as kindness and stood up. He didn’t know much about Victor Heywood’s daughter yet, but one thing was certain: she was easy to manage.

As he sat at the desk and lit a cigar, Maylily, who had packed her bag and stood up, hesitated at the door and looked back.

“Um, Count…”

Hugh paused before lighting the cigar and willingly met her eyes.

Swallowing dryly with a nervous face, she said, “I really hope you’ll come next week. Please.”

She bowed her head politely and left. Only after her figure had completely disappeared did Hugh shift his gaze from the door and light the cigar, letting out a soft chuckle.

Perhaps it was because her pleading voice, instead of sounding desperate, was rather pleasant to hear that he didn’t mind her cheeky request.

If Maylily Aile continued to act this adorably, there would be no reason not to indulge her at least once. In any case, she was a woman guaranteed to be entertaining to watch.

***

Everything in Buhin, swallowed by the shadows of the prosperous city, was crude and inferior. The cheap detective James Hill, occupying a room in a shabby building down a secluded alley, was the worst of them all.

“Damn it!”

Crushing the paper in his hand and swearing loudly, Victor kicked the leg of the chipped desk hard. The desk shook, and a pen fell off, rolling across the dusty floor.

“What’s the matter, sir? Please calm down.”

James stood up, pressing on the desk, raising his voice. But his words didn’t reach Victor, who was seething with rage.

“I waited because I was told to trust and wait, and this is how they repay me, with this worthless scrap of paper.”