The Princess's Private Tutoring - Chapter 6

Episode 6. Celestia’s Situation

‘Can I really endure this?’

Killian, who had been gazing into the pale tea, lifted his head.

Celestia was smiling brightly.

Can I protect that lovely smile to the end?

Can I stop myself from breaking such a tempting princess?

Even now, like this… Killian lowered his head and clenched his fists tightly.

Though he had crossed his legs to hide it, his member was swollen to the point of bursting.

Just looking at her was enough to make him want to ravage Celestia.

But it was something he must never do.

Killian flatly rejected her request, almost to the point of seeming cold.

“That’s impossible. I cannot dedicate more than three half-days a week to Your Highness.”

He had no intention of staying by Celestia’s side for long.

***

In the White House office, Killian sat in his chair with his eyes closed.

At first glance, he looked asleep—but he wasn’t.

His mind was clearer than ever. And busier, all because of one person.

‘Her Highness the Princess.’

His head was filled with Celestia.

Innocent eyes, pupils shining like stars in the night sky, a radiant smile, a laugh as light and warm as a feather, and soft red lips that looked like they’d pop with a touch—those came to mind in sequence.

He wanted to stop thinking about her. But how?

Should he just avoid seeing her?

He knew it was useless.

Even when she wasn’t in front of him, he saw her clearly.

It was like she was burned onto his retinas.

Killian was in agony. Because if he didn’t stop thinking of her here, he knew how far his thoughts would go.

Depraved, obscene, vulgar… scenes too filthy to speak aloud. That innocent face, utterly ruined in ecstasy…

‘You’ve really lost your mind.’

He wished someone would just knock him unconscious.

“You’re back?”

Roxanne visited Killian’s office. She was the last person he wanted to see at the moment, but oddly enough, her visit was a relief.

It pulled him out of those disgusting fantasies.

Killian stood up from his seat.

“Let’s have some tea. It’s good for fatigue.”

She had prepared the tea herself.

“Thank you, Aunt.”

Roxanne and Killian sat across from each other at a wide table.

The luxurious sofa placed in the office for occasional guests embraced Killian’s large frame.

Roxanne said nothing as she steeped the tea leaves, as if she had truly come just for tea.

Her movements as she warmed the cups and brewed the tea were elegant.

“Drink.”

Killian, with an impassive face, pulled the teacup toward him.

“How does it taste?”

Roxanne waited until he sipped the tea. The moment he set the cup down, she asked.

“I could tolerate about five minutes of your nagging. You must have something to say. I can’t spare more than that.”

There had to be a reason Roxanne, one of the household’s elders, was personally pouring tea. Killian could easily guess what it was.

It would be about Celestia.

Just the thought of her made his eyes burn. Killian took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“Why must you speak like that? I’m simply wondering how Her Highness is doing. Is she still the same?”

Celestia naturally came to mind.

She hadn’t changed. She was still cute, lovable, and bright, just as she’d been in childhood.

But she had also changed. Her cheeks still had a trace of baby fat, but she exuded a mature woman’s charm.

‘Should I call that unchanged…?’

Roxanne carefully observed Killian, who fiddled with his teacup in silence.

Her nephew’s expression looked just like the future of their house.

Dark. Uncertain.

“Killian, if you can’t stop tutoring Her Highness, then at least be with a woman on that day.”

Killian lifted his eyes. His gaze sharpened in an instant, the air turning heavy.

“Are you saying that knowing what happens to me on that day?”

“Of course I know. My father and my brother went through the same.”

Even against Killian’s overwhelming pressure, Roxanne didn’t so much as flinch.

The blood of Eustia ran through her veins too. Strong, brave, combative blood.

“Let’s pretend I didn’t hear that, Aunt.”

“Killian, it’s just one day a month. For that one day, if you put aside your nobility, you could live at ease. You’ve lived abroad—you know how things are now. People date freely. Marriage aside.”

Roxanne had wrapped sex in the language of romance.

“That’s not something I care to hear from you. I don’t care how others live, but I won’t live like that.”

“Then at least sleep with a prostitute! For a nobleman, it’s hardly a challenge.”

“Aunt!”

Killian’s voice finally rose. Their eyes clashed, sparks flying.

Roxanne was the first to look away, but she didn’t stop talking.

“You have a duty to continue our bloodline. I have a duty to protect this house. I’m worried the Eustia line will end like this.”

“If our family head goes mad once a month because of a curse, maybe it’s better for the line to end. That’s enough. Please leave. If you say one more word, I’ll be the one to go.”

Roxanne clenched both fists.

It was a week before the full moon.

She had planned to persuade him to bring a woman into his bedroom that day…

Yet she couldn’t even broach the real issue.

What kind of woman did Killian want as the mistress of House Eustia?

In truth, Roxanne already knew the answer.

‘Her Highness Princess Celestia…’

Could Eustia and the royal house of Mason ever truly unite?

‘Impossible. That’s why I have to separate Killian from the princess no matter what.’

Her loyalty to the house blurred Roxanne’s reason.

***

A deep sorrow darkened the side of Celestia’s face.

It was an expression rarely seen.

Born under a misfortunate prophecy, Celestia grew up surrounded by worry.

Before she could even begin to worry for herself, before she could resent or curse her fate, the people around her were already in turmoil.

Every time King Perriorson looked at young Celestia, his face darkened. When their eyes met, he would turn away. And he drank all through the night.

It was an open secret that he had once teetered on the edge of alcoholism.

And what about her attendants?

Even when Celestia merely stumbled while toddling, or got startled by a sudden bee, the palace would be thrown into an uproar.

Then Celestia fell gravely ill from an unknown disease. It happened when she was seventeen.

The entire palace was swallowed by a heavy gloom. That gloom disrupted governance, and even the lives of the people were affected.

So Celestia got better. No—she had to get better.

She treated her prophecy as a trivial piece of gossip, behaved cheerfully, and smiled even when she wanted to cry.

And people praised her for it.

“Her Highness is amazing! She doesn’t even fear death.”

“Look how brave our princess is. She really is different.”

How could one not fear death?

The happier life was, the more frightening death became.

And by that measure, Celestia was truly a happy person.

The only blemish in her life was the curse: ‘She will die if she doesn’t receive yang energy.’

Her mother’s early death was a misfortune, but it meant she received immense love from her father in return.

There were times she felt the absence of siblings, but her relatives cared for her as dearly as older brothers and sisters.

Of course, that didn’t fully fill the void her mother left.

But there were countless others in the world who lived far harder lives.

There were plenty who would scoff at the kind of misfortune she faced.

People who woke up each morning unsure of their next meal. Children who lost both parents in an instant to accidents. People whose homes and lives were wiped out overnight by natural disasters…

Knowing their stories, Celestia didn’t want to whine about not having a mother, or about the curse being hard to bear.

And she vowed to find a way to break the curse before she turned twenty-three.

Because she had hope, Celestia was able to keep death at bay.

But after turning twenty, even Celestia began to feel fear.

Because her body had begun to change.