A Saint Who Was Adopted by the Grand Duke

Judy jumped up and ran to the door, while Darwin flinched and straightened his back.

“Your Grace… Are you all right?”

“What do you think?”

“… Nevermind.”

It was the first time that Darwin, who did not tremble even while before the emperor, was nervous. Ben couldn’t hold back his escaping chuckle.

All parents with children seemed unable to relax in front of the teacher.

“Greetings. I am James Griffith, who will demonstrate today’s class.”

James entered the living room and politely conveyed his greetings.

“Welcome. Please come this way.”

Esther stared at James from the moment he arrived until he perched on the sofa.

It was said he was young. he appeared to be in his mid to late twenties. He seemed bright, but he bore a strict face.

“Thank you for inviting me. I have been tutoring a total of six students since graduating from the academy.”

As soon as he positioned himself on the couch, James introduced himself, reciting his career accordingly.

There were many prominent children amidst the ones he taught, some that Darwin had heard of.

“Oh? I know Sera. She retained first place in the academy countless times.”

“That’s right.”

One of them was aquantained with Judy. James nodded indifferently, stating it wasn’t much.

Darwin began leaning toward James with great satisfaction.

“That’s very good. Alright, let me introduce my children first.”

Esther, who had been waiting quietly, stood up and greeted him with modest grace.

“Hello, I’m Esther, the youngest.”

“We’re twins. I’m Judy, he’s Dennis.”

James studied the three children one by one, his gaze attentive.

The moment Esther made eye contact with his rust-colored eyes, she felt she had been caught, although not guilty.

“Today, I’m going to present a short demonstration. Please sign the contract if you favor my teaching.”

“Alright. Let’s go now.”

They all stood up at once. Darwin’s pre-arranged study room was located on the second floor.

A large blackboard, a round table, and a few chairs. In addition to the increasingly large area composed for dance practice.

The room was thoroughly supplied.

Esther, Judy, Dennis, and Darwin sat around the round table one by one.

James placed down his bag and commenced preparing for class when he belatedly noticed Darwin was also sitting on a chair.

“Your Grace… Will you also stay throughout the class?”

“Yes, I came here to judge.”

“…Yes.”

Darwin glared at James with an expression that would kill him if anything went wrong.

No matter how good James was, he bore no talent to face Darwin’s deathly gaze.

When Ben noticed the back of James’s hand trembling, he patted him on the shoulder, advising him not to feel pressured.

“He is just observing, so don’t feel too pressured and make yourself at home.”

But it was of no encouragement at all. No matter what Ben assured, it couldn’t be comfortable to teach a class in front of the Grand Duke.

His confident figure instantly disappeared. James gulped down his saliva, his sweat drowning him.

“Then… let’s get started.”

The class James had prepared was for a beginner’s level, presenting the history of the Empire.

He was told to start from the basics of any subject.

James explained what could be difficult as swiftly as possible.

He asked Esther basic questions and proceeded with the class according to her level.

“The story begins in the dark ages when all kinds of disasters were happening around the world.”

Esther knew this part well, given she was drained from hearing it while at the temple.

“…Every country covering the continent was lost in a mix of disasters. However, under the patronage of the Goddess Espitos, the Holy Saint and the First Emperor drove out the darkness. Those who survived the dark ages were the founding citizens of the Austin Empire.”

In the history of the Austin Empire, the story of the Goddess and the saint could not be omitted.

There were even scholars who argued that the First Emperor was a temple knight who served the saint.

This was the very reason for the abnormally concentrated power in the temple.

“I will explain the four generations, next class.”

It was new and interesting to hear from a different point of view, although Esther already understood everything.

When Esther and Dennis burned with curiosity and their eyes ignited in excitement,

“If you don’t mind… Shall we spend a little more time?”

James, inspired by the children’s motivation, soon forgot about Darwin’s existence and continued his class passionately. Endless questions were asked and they underwent deep discussions.

Darwin watched the children pleasantly and quietly exited the room during the middle of the lecture.

** ━━━━━━━⋅•⋅⊰∙∘༓∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ ━━━━━━━**

After class.

The children’s evaluation of James was excellent. Darwin decided to hire him on the spot and moved on to the contract.

“Now, here is the contract.”

Ben was in charge of the papers, so he and James sat face to face in the drawing-room.

They exchanged records.

“I placed the provisions as I stated the other day, but in case you happened to forget, they can be read here as you sign.”

“Yes. But… Does his Grace favor his children?”

“That’s the way it is.”

“I had no idea.”

James was astounded. The rumors he heard of completely differed from what he had seen from Darwin till now.

Contrary to the stories that he brutally slaughtered infants, *honey dripped from his eyes as he observed his children.

*TL/N: A phrase used to describe one’s eyes looking at someone else’s eyes in a very lovely way.

Ben agreed that he was also perplexed every time while handing over the contract already signed by Darwin.

“If there is no problem with the contract, sign here, if you may. I have the advance payment.”

A box filled with jewels was prepared in advance.

“Oh, I’ll take about this amount, I don’t need double.”

“Take it for now. Instead, the masters will join your lecture from time to time, so I’d appreciate it if you could be generous as you perform your duties.”

“Yes… Well, that’s fine.”

Throughout the conversation, James couldn’t look Ben in the eye.

Then, after he finally managed to must his courage, the teacher slowly glanced at Ben and brought up his words.

“I’ve heard a lot about you. Many professors have said that ever since the academy was founded, there had never been such a competent student.”

James’ eyes as he glanced at Ben were filled with respect.

Ben tapped James on the shoulder, feeling somewhat modest.

“Haha, it’s all exaggerated. We’ll see each other often in the future, so let’s get along well.”

“Yes. Please teach me well.”

“How could I be of any help?”

Even so, Ben grinned as he didn’t mind the junior looking up to him.

“And My Lady, please take good care of her. She has many scars concealing her.”

“I will.”

Ben and James shook hands vigorously after exchanging the contract signed by both sides.

** ━━━━━━━⋅•⋅⊰∙∘༓∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ ━━━━━━━**

“Yes, it’s finally over!!”

Judy shouted vigorously. He had finally completed three weeks of his short-term swordsmanship classes.

He was so excited that he couldn’t help but grin like a fool.

Following the three weeks, Judy’s appearance had developed quite a bit. He lost weight and certainly improved his physique.

He grew a few centimeters in length and felt much older than before he entered the training.

The butler was very pleased with his young master’s appearance when he arrived to pick him up.

“Good work, Master.”

“How is it at home? Esther, how is she?”

“My lady is fine. Was the training alright?”

“Yeah! I’m so strong now. Did you know I won first place, last class?”

Judy kept bragging about his class. He found them quite entertaining.

He kept chanting the same things, but he truly felt like he worked hard. He even gained more muscle.

“That’s great. Let’s chat on our way home first.”

“No, I’ve got a place to drop by.”

Judy abruptly created a straight face and shook his head.

His eyes shone the same way whenever he played with dangerous toys.

The place he stopped by was an abandoned town.

The village, which had been re-built before but unfortunately collapsed, was in ruins for a while, as people had been cut off from the place. He pounced into one of the many abandoned shelters.

When he reached the house that was on the verge of collapsing, Judy placed his hands against his waist.

And proudly kicked the door.

“Hey, Sebastian! Get out!”

The name that burst out with a bang, was none other than Sebastian’s.

This was a place where Sebastian and his group often associated. This was the information Judy learned from a child who participated in his class.

Sebastian was stupid, but he had many followers since he was the young master of his family.

Judy came here to prey on Sebastian.

The boys who were playing around froze at the boy’s sight.

“…Everyone, run!”

After a moment of silence, a tremendous commotion proceeded. Everyone started running and freaking out to avoid Judy.

Judy had already examined all the children, but Sebastian could not be seen.

“Have you already run away?”

Judy strode in, his voice provoked.

There was a wooden sword in his hand that he had brought in advance. It produced terrifying sounds as he dragged it against the ground.

Unfortunately, the boy who was closest to the door couldn’t escape and could be found shaking.

Judy stood in front of him and asked blunt questions.

“Do you know where Sebastian is?”

“I, I don’t know.”

It was an obvious lie as his eyes shook violently.

“Are you going to tell me, yes, or no?”

“…”

“Should I count to three?”

“…”

“One.”

“Gee, I really don’t know…”

“Two.”

“He’s not here. Really.”

“Three…”

“H, h, he went that way!!”

Screaming, he covered his face in fear of really being propelled by Judy.

When Judy heard the answer he needed, his feet headed towards the same direction without touching the terrified lad.

“Wow, those without loyalty.”

Fortunately, there were signs of Sebastian, proving that the kid was not lying.

Sebastian’s big body wasn’t something he could cover. He hid between the walls to hide, but Judy could discern his protruding stomach very well.

Judy giggled.

“Found you.”

He ran excitedly and aimed towards the protruding flesh with his wooden sword.

Then, Kack! With a shout, Sebastian popped forward. His hands were sweaty and he was trembling unstoppably.

“What are you doing here, Sebastian?”

Sebastian seemed as if he were about to cry.

He bowed his head and made excuses to avoid Judy’s dark gaze.

“I was, I was just resting.”

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