The Private Tutor (1)
"Whew......"
In the mirror, a serene woman's reflection gazed back at me.
Her expression looked a bit stiff, so I made an effort to smile—but no matter what I tried, it only ever came out awkward, and I gave up before long.
Apparently I have no talent for acting.
I stared at myself in the mirror for a long while, and only one thought came to mind.
"Wow. Seriously, I'm so goddamn pretty......"
Every single time I looked, she was impossibly beautiful. From any angle, in any light, gorgeous enough that I never got tired of staring—whenever I stood in front of a mirror, time simply evaporated.
Truly, it was a face with a bewitching, spellbinding charm.
It had been almost four months now since I began living in this body, and my opinion hadn't changed one bit.
It wasn't narcissism or anything of the sort. Right now, I was speaking from a perfectly objective standpoint.
"I might as well be the goddess of beauty herself......"
"Mmuuu. Mama."
"Tia's awa— GWAAH?!"
Jolted by Tia's voice, I tried to peel myself away from the mirror too quickly, tripped over my own feet, and went down flat.
The back of my head throbbed.
As I lay there stunned, Tia came scampering over with a worried face and crouched down beside me.
"Are you okay? Does it hurt a lot? Should Tia blow on it for you?"
"Please blow on it."
"Okay, put your head here. Hoo... hooo......"
I lifted my head slightly and rested it in Tia's lap.
She wrapped her arms around my head and began puffing gentle breaths onto the back of my skull.
Whenever Tia bumped into something or fell over and cried, this was exactly what I did for her.
And the sight of her going down in a heap, sitting there bewildered until I came over, and only then bursting into a loud *mwaaah*—I can't even tell you how adorable it was.
These days, though, the little one had grown so brave that a minor scrape wasn't enough to earn a blow from me anymore.
I was a little. A very, very little disappointed.
"Does it still hurt?"
"Nope. Thanks to Tia, it's all better."
"Mmuu......"
And with that, I pulled her into a fierce hug.
When I was little, my mother used to hug me every spare moment, saying she was recharging her energy.
Back then I always snapped at her that no amount of hugging could actually fill you up with energy.
But now I understood exactly how she'd felt.
Holding Tia and nuzzling her skin was enough to make strength come flooding back.
"Mmuu... I can't breathe...... Mama, where are you going today?"
"I told you, remember? Starting today, I'm the imperial prince's private tutor, so I'm off to teach him."
"Ohh. That really tall person?"
"That's right. So Mama is about to die of nerves. One wrong move and it'll be a disaster."
"Th-then, Tia will hug you again!"
"Thank you......"
This time Tia spread her arms and offered me her tiny embrace.
I let myself be drawn into her little arms and hugged her tight.
Then I planted one big kiss on her cheek.
Something about injecting courage, or whatever.
It certainly worked.
"Mama's gonna do great! For sure!"
"Hehe. You think so?"
"Mmuu. I even saw you practicing your bowing in front of the mirror all morning. You won't make any mistakes, you'll do great."
"Thank y— ...huh?"
Just as I was about to get misty-eyed over receiving my daughter's full support, my entire body went rigid.
She saw me practicing my greeting to the royal family in front of the mirror?
She wasn't asleep back then?
Which meant she'd also seen and heard every bit of the nonsense I'd been spouting while plastered up against that glass just now.
I felt my face ignite in an instant.
"Mama, are you okay?"
"No...... I am not okay......"
I wanted to die of embarrassment right then and there.
I'd never wanted to know what a mother felt like after being caught bragging about herself in front of her own daughter.
Never imagined I'd actually find out.
Tia just looked at me with innocent puzzlement, which made it a hundred times worse.
And come to think of it, this was far from the first time she'd witnessed me like this......
"S-so, Mama's going to get changed now, okay? It's almost time to leave."
"Mmuu!"
I hastily detached myself from Tia and went to change clothes.
My face was burning so hot I considered opening a window, but one small test of the cold air was enough to tell me that wouldn't help, and I shut it again.
Standing before my open wardrobe, I agonized briefly over the day's outfit before settling on my choice:
A loose, billowy dress in muted, colorless tones, with no flashy adornments and nothing clinging to the skin.
The hem was as long as I could manage without dragging along the floor.
The guiding principle of my selection was simple: do not stand out.
I had already learned the lesson that drawing anyone's eye at the Imperial Palace was a shortcut to nothing but trouble......
I'm so nervous. If only I had some of that calming medicine......
I never thought I'd actually miss that filthy-tasting potion I'd chugged on the day of my college entrance exams.
Too nervous to stop, I tucked my trembling hands into the drawer.
Something came out with them—a token that looked like an oversized coin.
Sailor had handed it to me a while back.
Seriously though, what on earth is this thing......
I still couldn't fathom why he'd tossed it to someone he'd never even met before.
Curious, I once went to ask the Marquis about it, but he only gave me an inscrutable smile and told me it was precious, so I should keep it safe—dodging the question entirely.
Just in case, I decided to bring it along.
And somehow, fidgeting with it made me feel calmer.
I clenched the token tight in my fist, then slipped it into a small bag.
"Mama, off I go?"
"Bye-bye! You've got this! Tia will keep cheering for you!"
I stepped out of the lodging with a smile, but the trembling hadn't subsided in the slightest.
It was bad enough that I was afraid my nerves alone would make me botch it.
Still, go I must.
Gritting my teeth, I walked toward the carriage waiting for me at the main gate.
"Huh?"
"......"
The door swung open.
The moment the driver pulled it open, I had to fight to keep my expression from crumpling.
Inside the carriage, the Marquis was tipping his hat back from his face, regarding me through faintly drowsy eyes.
Apparently he'd been sleeping in there.
"What are you doing in here, my lord......"
"Catching a little shut-eye. I got too drowsy waiting around."
"N-no, that's not what I—"
"Stammering isn't very becoming of a young lady like you, Yulia. Quite nervous, are we? Drink this."
"I'm sorry, wh—mmph?!"
The Marquis hopped down from the carriage and pressed something to my lips.
The liquid inside a small vial was poured straight down my throat before I could taste a thing.
The moment I swallowed, I realized my mistake.
What if this was an aphrodisiac, or some other strange drug?
"What— what did you just make me drink?"
"A rare medicine. Ah, but it wasn't expensive, so don't feel too indebted."
"Medicine? What kind of—"
I didn't need to ask anything more.
The effects kicked in at once, telling me exactly what it was.
My heart, which had been hammering away thunderously, gradually quieted, and the trembling in my hands stilled.
My mind went calm.
I looked up at the Marquis in shock, and he smiled gently, as if satisfied.
Strangely enough, for once his smile didn't disgust me.
"Um, about that......"
"Hurry up. We'll be late at this rate."
Just as I opened my mouth to say something, the Marquis gave me a push between the shoulders, and I climbed into the carriage.
Once seated, I stared at him blankly, and he said airily:
"Why are you just standing there? Should I come along too?"
"No?! I'll politely decline!"
"Hahaha. That was a joke, of course. Well, you seem to have calmed down, so off you go. One thing—slip up with the prince, and even I won't be able to cover for you. Be careful."
"I won't slip up......"
Somehow I'd expected him to drag it out longer.
The Marquis waved me off with unexpected coolness.
Soon the carriage rolled into motion.
Until moments ago I'd been so suffocatingly anxious and sweaty I thought I'd lose my mind, but now everything was still, and my nerves had settled.
What is wrong with that man......
It drives me insane.
A man who trampled my dignity and my pride into the mud without offering a single word of apology.
And yet I can't bring myself to hate him freely, which only irritates me more.
What am I to that man?
Nothing more than a tool to be used and discarded?
Is he merely playing the part of a kind gentleman to extend his own dwindling lifespan?
And if not that, then......
"Ugh."
My reflection surfaced in the fogged window, and a groan escaped me before I knew it.
A flush had risen to my cheeks.
My heartbeat seemed a touch fiercer now, too.
Damn it all. It wasn't expensive, was it.
The medicine had already worn off, apparently.
"I trust you slept well, Your Majesty."
"Koff! Koff! Krrgh......"
The hour was nearing noon.
Emperor Vladimir III shuffled unsteadily out of his bedchamber, coughing dryly.
His beard and hair had long since turned snow-white, and his back was bent with age.
Along the wide corridor, a framed portrait showed an armored monarch standing tall and proud, radiating commanding presence.
It was his own likeness, from a mere five years ago.
The Emperor had wasted away in the space of only five years after the war.
"Your Majesty. Your meal is prepared."
"Not necessary. I've only just risen—no appetite. Where is Nikolai?"
Vladimir shoved aside the servant who had come to support him and barked the question.
Having already drawn up his will and had it sealed, having already chosen his successor, Vladimir now simply waited for death—and his one and only joy in that waiting was the imperial prince, Nikolai.
A son born so late in his life that he was nearly a grandson, and the old Emperor melted at the sight of him every time.
Rumor even had it that the Emperor had chosen Nikolai—not his eldest daughter, who currently governed the duchy—as the next ruler of the empire.
"He should be at his studies now, Your Majesty."
"Studying what?"
"Mathematics."
"Ha! Then by now the little scamp will have skipped out to go play somewhere. Hehe. Now, where shall I go hunting for the rascal today......"
"His Highness is currently attending his lesson in the classroom, Your Majesty."
"What? Has the boy finally come to his senses?"
Vladimir's face brightened at once.
Out of devotion to his precious late-born son, he had finally, at his ministers' exasperated insistence, attached tutors to Nikolai in a variety of fields.
But since the Emperor indulgently overlooked it whenever the boy skipped the lessons he despised to swing a sword or whatever else he pleased, the tutors' efforts had borne almost no fruit.
And now Nikolai was earnestly attending the very mathematics lesson he hated most of all.
The old Emperor half-wondered if the sky had turned upside down.
"He has a new mathematics tutor as of today. An employee of Dragonia's—a commoner woman......"
"A human of Dragonia's, then. Tch."
Vladimir clicked his tongue in displeasure.
For a moment he wondered if she might be a spy planted in the palace, but it seemed he needn't trouble himself with such worries.
The information accessible to someone of imperial tutor's rank was nothing but low-grade trivia, and Dragonia was hardly the sort to bother with such clumsy schemes.
Had he truly wanted to plant a spy, he would have sent one with an identity laundered beyond reproach.
"What does birth matter? All that's needed is that the woman teaches well. I'll see for myself how these lessons are conducted."
Suppressing his anger with effort, Vladimir made his way toward the classroom.
This was an emperor who had once been hailed as a great reformer.
He didn't consider himself so narrow-minded a man as to judge others by their rank or origin.
Presumably the tutor had some genuine talent, enough to keep that little troublemaker Nikolai seated in a chair.
Cradling a flicker of expectation, Vladimir peered in through the classroom window.
"How many times do I have to tell you—stop flying at me like that? I said I'd give you discretion over the lessons!"
"Discretion over the lessons, not license to commit sacrilege!"
"This is sacrilege? You're the sacrilegious one, butchering sacred mathematics like this!"
The sound of bickering drifted out from within.
The Emperor's face froze solid.