The Tight Tutoring Sessions

It was a few days after that intimate tutoring session. Duke Ricardo summoned me to his study.

“Leo, I think it’s time I handed over the management of the estate to you.”

He still looked as vigorous as ever, but it seemed he had decided the moment had come to personally guide me through the finer details of territory administration.

“You’re no longer the incompetent fool you once were. I believe you’ll handle this without issue as well.”

He passed me a massive stack of ledgers and territorial statistical reports, asking me to review them. Having spent years bouncing from one battlefield to another, estate finances were an entirely foreign field to me. A battle against new knowledge.

I spread the reports open in the study. Current State of Viscount’s Forest Forestry and Reforestation Plan. Magical Resource Mining Output Analysis and Alternative Investment Report. The numbers before my eyes were tangled in complex webs, and there were plenty of unfamiliar terms.

I deliberately buried my face in the reports and put on a serious expression.

…Yua should be showing up any moment now, right?

The ‘perfect’ Head Maid Yua would never tolerate her young master’s inefficient way of handling work. And she would appear with a ‘solution’ in hand.

This time, I intended to obtain something beyond a mere solution. I wanted to drag out the real Yua hidden behind her flawless mask.

…Just as I expected.

A short while later, the study door slid open quietly, and Yua entered carrying tea and refreshments. She silently set the tray down and cast her gaze over the report I was examining. That look seemed to contain an extremely faint, yet precise judgment.

“Yua, you came at just the right time. Looking at this financial report, I have so many questions. Especially this ‘Tenant Farmer Corvée System Improvement Proposal’—did you come up with it yourself? It looks quite complicated… I’m not getting a feel for it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at all. There are way too many numbers.”

I furrowed my brow and pointed at the report, pretending not to understand. I wondered how well my acting would work on her.

Yua held out her wooden board as expected. She picked up the booklet. I pretended to look at it.

“Hmm… No matter how many times I read it, it’s still difficult. Yua, I’m really terrible with numbers. Could you explain it to me directly? I tend to understand things better when I hear them spoken. I think it would sink in much faster if you taught me from right beside me.”

I observed her reaction. I waited for that subtle agitation, wondering how she would respond to my suggestion.

Yua’s eyes trembled slightly. She looked a little flustered, but soon nodded. She pulled over the chair beside me. Closer than before. The sound of the chair scraping against the floor faintly broke the silence of the study.

She dragged it so close that the backrest nearly touched my own chair. Our arms were close enough that they could brush against each other at any moment. A faint floral scent wafted from her.

Ah, that scent. My heart began to race again, as if playing a prank.

I wondered how suffocating this situation must be for her. I enjoyed this narrow gap where I pierced through her self-control.

“Alright, shall we start with this table? The trend of production increase and decrease here is like this…”

Yua pointed at the booklet with her finger and explained through writing. Her finger accurately indicated the numbers.

I deliberately acted as if I couldn’t understand her explanation and tilted my head.

“Hmm… I still don’t quite get this part. Production has increased, but why has farm household income decreased? I think I might understand better if I look at it closer. Could you come a little nearer…”

I lightly covered her hand—the one pointing at the booklet—with my own. Her fingers were cold, but they trembled ever so slightly. That tremor transferred completely into my palm.

“Hmm… I still don’t quite understand this part. I think I might get it if I look closer. Could you come a little nearer…”

The young master’s voice was so gentle that it tickled my ears. I leaned my body even closer. Now we were close enough that I could feel his breath. The faint soap scent from his hair and his body odor. All my nerves were focused entirely on him.

I mustn’t let Leo notice my confusion…

The Head Maid must always be perfect. But my cheeks were already burning as if scorched by fire. I was terrified that Leo might see this red face.

I mustn’t let him notice…

I tried my best to point at the booklet calmly. I desperately suppressed the trembling of my fingers. The subtle warmth I felt from his arm. My field of vision was filled only with the numbers in the report, Leo’s fingers, and his arm, but my pupils were fixed solely on his face. Nothing else was visible.

In this space, there were only Leo and me. Just the two of us.

I wrote more slowly and clearly than usual. I was afraid my emotions might seep into the handwriting. I held my breath, terrified that the trembling of my hand would reach the young master, that he might realize how flustered I was. My heart was beating so hard it felt like I couldn’t breathe.

Thump! Thump! Thump! It felt like the sound of my heartbeat was echoing throughout the entire study. Cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck. This heat wasn’t simply because of the weather. It was all because of Leo. Only because of you.

I deliberately made calculation errors and asked clumsy questions. Yua explained meticulously from beside me, sometimes taking my pen to correct the numbers. Her touch was neat, yet within it I could sense a strange softness.

Every time her breath touched my ear, I didn’t miss how the lobe of her ear turned red. She was desperately trying to hide her emotions, but to me, every single ripple of agitation was painfully clear.

It felt like I was holding her heart in the palm of my hand. I watched how she reacted to every single word, every single gesture. It was delightful. Seeing her emotions laid completely bare.

“Ah, now I get it! As expected, Yua is so smart. It’s all thanks to you. There’s probably no one who understands the estate reports as perfectly as you do. It’s all because of you!”

When I praised her, she hurriedly tried to pull back. The chair scraped against the floor with a creak.

With those words, she hurried out in a fluster. I couldn’t hold back my laughter.

Beneath her perfect mask, there was a Yua who was delighted and shy at my praise. A very cute side of Yua.

After that day, our ‘tight tutoring sessions’ continued every single day. Starting from the estate reports, we covered the status of specialty products in each village, and even the production efficiency of the magic mines the ducal house had invested in. I used every excuse imaginable to request her ‘special guidance.’

She had no room to refuse. If the duke’s son personally demanded ‘knowledge’ and the Head Maid refused, it would go against her belief in ‘the efficiency of the mansion.’ She was a perfect Head Maid, and I was taking full advantage of that perfection.

Yua always appeared in the exact same way. She would bring perfectly prepared materials and sit right beside me, so close that our shoulders nearly touched. She would explain in a perfectly calm voice (through writing, of course), as if reading from a boring textbook.

But I didn’t miss a single one of the minute changes happening beside her. Her faint floral scent now lingered permanently in my study. It no longer felt like my study—it had become our study.

I would often complain that the letters in the report were too small and pull her face closer. She would widen her eyes in surprise but obediently lean in and hold the report up right in front of my eyes. Her faint floral scent tickled the tip of my nose.

Her gaze remained fixed only on the report, but I could see how red the lobes of her ears had become. It was as if every time my fingertips brushed her skin, a faint electric current flowed between us.

It was real. A shiver ran through me.

One day, while reviewing a mining development blueprint covered in complex magic circles, I deliberately traced the lines of the circle with my hand—only for my fingertip to graze the tip of Yua’s finger. Her hand froze for a moment, and the pen she was writing with slipped slightly, smudging the line. She quickly corrected it, but her agitation had already reached me. Her breathing had grown just a little rough.

“Ah, sorry. I must have been too focused, Yua.”

When I apologized, she shook her head and immersed herself in the explanation again. But her cheeks were dyed a much deeper red than usual. As if they were burning.

It seemed even the effort to hide it had become too much for her.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Another day, while pretending to look for a calculation error, I placed my finger on a number she had written and asked, “Why did this number come out like this?” She pointed at the number with her own finger to explain, and our fingers overlapped. Her hand was as cold as ice, but it seemed to absorb my body heat immediately. That warmth transferred fully into my palm.

Her eyes trembled, but she soon tried to regain her composure. It was as if all her senses ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were concentrated on my fingertips, as if no number could enter her eyes anymore. In her world, it seemed only she and I existed. She desperately tried to hide her emotions, but at my praise, her cheeks and ears would flush red.

I decided to take advantage of this. Now, even Yua’s ‘work’ had become the subject of my ‘research.’ My goal was simple: to make Yua reveal every single one of her emotions to me. To strip away all her perfect masks.

During a short break in our tutoring session, I suddenly held out the romance novel I had been reading. The cover featured a lavish illustration of lovers facing each other.

“Yua, this book… I think you might find it interesting too. It’s a romance novel.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. She looked back and forth between the book cover and my face. Her pupils dilated slightly.

Her writing was almost stuttering. The letters wavered like waves. Her reason was shaking. It seemed perfect defense was no longer possible.

Satisfied with her confusion, I took the book back.

“Haha, I was just joking, Yua. Still, you should occasionally read something like this to relieve stress when you’re not working. Okay?”

I lightly patted her head. Her body flinched again. As if an electric current had run through her at my touch.

He continued to playfully hold my hand, tell me jokes, pretend to lean on my arm, and even stimulate my emotions by handing me romance novels. My reason constantly screamed ‘efficiency,’ ‘regulations,’ and ‘scope of duties,’ but my heart was already endlessly tilting toward Young Master Leo. With every small gesture, every single word, my entire world shook. My whole body reacted with painful sensitivity.

Even after leaving the study, I spent a long time gasping for breath. My cheeks were still burning, and my heart was running wild. I was terrified of him discovering my feelings. If he found out how much I loved him, he would surely run away.

Leo would never understand my hell.

He must never find out. Absolutely not.

And then, one day after some time had passed, I saw Yua pushing herself too hard and leaning weakly against the chair in the study.

“Yua, are you okay? You look really sick…”

But right after that, as if she were crumbling, she tried to collapse beside me. I quickly grabbed her shoulder to support her. Her body leaned into my arms, and I sat her down beside me.

“Yua, are you really okay? Did you overwork yourself?”

She shook her head. But she didn’t try to pull away from my embrace. Her trembling grew even worse. I carefully wrapped my arms around her shoulders. Her small body fit perfectly into my arms.

In that moment, I heard a faint sound from her. A very small, faint… sob. She was crying.

The real Yua hidden behind the perfect Head Maid Yua’s mask. The Yua with emotions was crying.

I gently stroked her back. I felt her body gradually calming down within my arms. She said nothing, but her trembling told me everything.

Her breathing grew ragged, and my collar became damp with her tears.

Her body trembled as if sobbing within my embrace. I felt my collar growing damp.

“Yua.”

I gently pulled her away from my chest. Her face was still wet with tears, but within it was not the cold mask from before, but the pure Yua.

I carefully wiped the tears clinging to her cheek with my thumb. Her skin was still hot.

“It’s okay, Yua. Everything’s okay. It’s fine to show me this honest side of you. I’m happy you let me see it.”

I whispered softly. She couldn’t avoid my eyes. The teardrops gathered at the corners of her eyes sparkled. This was the sight I had wanted to see. It felt like I had finally seen the real Yua.

I took her hand and quietly helped her to her feet. She kept her head lowered.

“Let’s stop here for today and rest. We can continue the tutoring tomorrow. Tomorrow… we might tackle some even more difficult parts. At least, that’s what I’m thinking.”

I gave her a slightly playful smile. At my words, she lifted her head just a little. There were still tear stains around her eyes, but within them shone a faint resolve.

She picked up her wooden board.

The handwriting was still neat, but within it I could sense a subtle anticipation. She withdrew her hand from mine and quietly left the study. Her retreating figure was no longer that of the rigid Head Maid. It was small but firm, and adorably swayed by my teasing.