Chapter 3

“Master Cedric is eight years old and Lady Cecilia is five. Do you need to know anything more than that?” the butler asked with a soft smile.

Two weeks had passed since the duchess had fired the previous governess. This also meant Cedric and Cecilia had been without a teacher for that long.

Due to the duchess’s abrasive personality, she was the subject of all manners of rumors that circulated throughout the capital, so no one wanted the governess position.

That was when Estella had appeared to save the day. Javier wasn’t going to let her go.

In fact, by the butler’s standards, the interview question had been quite difficult. The average educational level of citizens in Mesquite Kingdom was not very high.

Estella’s quick reply had more than satisfied his criteria.

But to Estella, the test was the easiest one she had ever encountered.

Her multiplication skills had always been good, but remembering her past life had increased her speed.

In her previous life, when she was in kindergarten, her mother had taught her multiplication by putting up a chart on the wall. The chart naturally became a part of her.

I can’t believe it’s possible to become a teacher without taking an exam.

Estella smiled. She had realized one more positive thing about the world she was living in now.

The butler stared at Estella, waiting for her to ask him questions.

Instead, Estella calmly followed the butler without another word. As they walked, Javier explained various things to her.

“Actually, for Lady Cecilia, your role will require you to be more of a playmate. Lady Cecilia’s language development skills are a bit behind. You would have difficulty holding a regular lesson with her.”

“Does she have trouble speaking?”

“She can only say simple words, such as ‘food,’ ‘bathroom,’ and her name.”

“But Master Cedric is fine?”

“He’s a troublemaker, but he’s in good health. The truth is he will be the more difficult pupil.”

Javier beamed at her as he said that. Then he abruptly offered nice words about the young master.

“Although he is not as brilliant as Lord Diego, the eldest son, Master Cedric is also very intelligent. His studies should progress nicely.”

You have no idea, do you?

She furrowed her brows slightly.

Young boys were the most difficult to teach. Not only were they physically strong, the scale of trouble they caused was on a different level from girls.

This was especially true when the boy had a history of being a troublemaker.

When she had been an elementary school teacher, a lower-grade student had fallen out of a second-floor window during playtime. Even though it had happened a long time ago in a completely different world, it still sent shivers down her spine as she recalled the incident.

So, an out-of-control boy and a girl with a speech impediment...

They would be quite difficult students.

Estella was excited about the high salary offered by the duchy. If there was one immutable truth in a capitalist society, it was that money was never free.

Well, this society is based on social status, so perhaps that’s a difference?

As she chuckled, a sense of déjà vu made her scratch her neck.

Listening to the description of the children, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. She’d felt similarly when she had found out their names earlier.

“First, let me introduce your students.”

Although Estella felt somewhat uneasy, she calmly walked behind Javier.

It was quite difficult to keep up with him because of his long strides. He also explained things as they walked, so she was a bit out of sorts.

She had no time to properly digest the mysterious development that was happening to her.

At that moment, Javier stopped walking.

“This is Master Cedric’s room. The room at the far end is Lady Cecilia’s.”

With a cursory glance, she memorized the rooms the butler had pointed out. They were at each end of the hallway, so it was easy enough to remember.

Javier looked back at Estella, who was nodding. He spoke to her in a more serious tone than before.

“Before you meet the two masters, one thing you should keep in mind is... you must make sure the two young masters and Lord Diego don’t run into each other. It would be better for you to avoid Lord Diego as much as possible as well.”

“What?”

When she looked puzzled, Javier smiled awkwardly.

This confused her even more.

Earlier, when the butler had mentioned Lord Diego, a sense of familiarity had been in his voice. She couldn’t fathom why Javier would tell her Lord Diego was someone to avoid only now.

Javier explained in a reluctant tone, “Lord Diego is a gentleman, and Master Cedric and Lady Cecilia are also extremely lovely people... But every family has its conflicts. Lady Cecilia and Master Cedric are not on good terms with Lord Diego because of their different mothers.”

It happened again. Another inexplicable sense of déjà vu settled over her heart.

Diego, Cedric, Cecilia. Half-siblings...

Her face stiffened for a moment.

“Wait,” she said.

“Yes?”

“Did you say the young lord’s name is ‘Diego’?”

With a puzzled look, the butler nodded.

Her voice became lower and quieter.

“And my students, Master Cedric and Lady Cecilia... have a different mother than Lord Diego?”

“That’s correct.”

Estella’s face turned pale.

Until this morning, she had felt confused because she hadn’t understood why she had suddenly remembered her past life.

But now Estella had a sense of what was happening to her. The reason evoked an eerie feeling rather than a pleasant one.

If all that she’d heard was true and if her judgment was correct, then...

Isn’t this the setting of the novel Contractual Marriage to a Dangerous Duke?

Estella retrieved from her memory a novel she had been reading before her death in her past life.

She had stayed up reading the novel the night before the accident, so she had no trouble recalling it, especially now that it had manifested in front of her.

If the only similarity was the family name, she would have brushed it off as a coincidence. However, she could not deny it anymore when the children’s ages, genders, and even their family history overlapped.

Even the name “Miss Margaret” had appeared in the novel. Estella would soon have the title that the governess who looked after the children in the novel had.

Estella tried desperately to sort through the contents of the book.

She couldn’t exactly remember whether the titular duke had been “dangerous” or “wicked,” but she was sure that the protagonist had a contractual marriage. As the bland title suggested, the plot of the novel was quite predictable.

The female protagonist, Adriana, was an impoverished woman sold to an old and ugly but powerful man. To overcome this situation, she proposed a contractual marriage to a young nobleman. That young nobleman was Diego, the lord of Bertha Duchy and the male lead of this novel.

Although Adriana had nothing to offer Diego, she knew the secret that he was trying to hide behind his good-natured face.

The secret was... that Diego had murdered his father and half-siblings.

What were these memories that flooded her mind trying to tell her?

The household she had joined, House Bertha, was unfortunately a corrupt family—and one that would soon be destroyed by an exceedingly immoral person.

“Miss Margaret?”

She didn’t reply.

“Miss Margaret!”

“Yes?”

A few beats later, she finally realized Javier was calling her.

As she turned around with shock in her eyes, Javier asked worriedly, “Is there a problem?”

“Oh, no... I-I was just a little worried about how I should behave around Lord Diego,” Estella stuttered her answer.

Although she couldn’t fully shake off her confusion, she had regained some composure.

The fact that she was breathing and walking helped to calm her anxiety. At least she still had some sense to organize her thoughts.

“You don’t need to worry about that. Teaching the children is your only role.”

“Yes, I understand."

“We got here a bit later than planned. Let’s go in first.”

Javier led Estella into the room where the young masters were waiting.

For a moment, she felt an urge to turn and run, but the wooden door coldly slammed shut behind her as if to signal that there was nowhere to go.

Nevertheless, Estella could hardly face the children who would become the cause of her demise.

Javier, who was in front of her, approached Cedric and asked, “Master Cedric, where is Lady Cecilia?”

“She was just here, but she left because she had to go to the bathroom. You should’ve gotten here earlier,” a young voice answered irritably.

As if taken over by something, Estella stepped forward.

Cedric’s appearance, which was obscured by the butler, slowly came into view.

She gazed at Cedric’s face for a moment.

Although he looked quite cute, taking after his beautiful mother, his face was filled with all sorts of mischievousness. He looked quite similar to the image she’d had in her mind while reading the novel.

Just looking at his bandaged knee, which looked rather battered, she could guess what an active child he was.

In the novel, Cedric had been described as the ultimate troublemaker.

I guess it’s true.

Estella winced.

Could it be all this was just a nightmare?

She wondered if this was simply a terrible dream caused by the anxiety of leaving her hometown and going on a long journey.

But she’d never had a dream in which she could perceive every object so clearly.

There was a sense of excessive realism in this space. So much so that she couldn’t deny that it was real.

Estella quietly clenched her hands into fists.

She clearly remembered how the governess named “Miss Margaret” had been disposed of in the novel.

Although Miss Margaret was only a supporting character and had not appeared in too many scenes, her death was quite memorable because she had been with Diego’s half-siblings.

The novel’s Miss Margaret was killed by a sword while trying to protect Cedric and Cecilia from being attacked.

If anyone could die in vain, she certainly had.

I died once already, but I’m going to be killed soon yet again?

Estella’s hands reflexively tightened as she thought about her bleak future.

Or perhaps the moment she died in this world her soul would return to the crushed body in her car... And her long hallucination would finally end.

However...

It suddenly occurred to her...

If this was real, if she had actually been reborn in the world inside the novel—if such an absurd thing had actually happened—she would be able to save her life by abandoning the children and running away.

“Who is this disoriented person?”

As if he had caught a glimpse of her thoughts, the first thing out of Cedric’s mouth was a personal affront.

Jolted, Estella opened her eyes wide.

She was so shocked she couldn’t even respond.

At least in Korea, none of the children had been in a position higher than her. Even if the child had been unruly, they had still treated her with respect as a teacher.

But Cedric was pointing a finger in her direction.

“Your glasses are so thick that I can’t even see your eyes. How can someone as clumsy as her beat the devil?”

“The devil?” Estella muttered in confusion.

Looking troubled, the butler standing behind her whispered into her ear, “He’s referring to the duchess, his mother.”

Estella had no words.

A boy who refers to his own mother as the devil...?

Estella was even less confident whether she would be able to handle him.

Cedric seemed to have realized that Estella’s reaction toward him was not a positive one.

With his arms crossed, he looked her up and down.

“What are you looking at?”

At that moment, Estella seriously considered a selfish option that went against the spirit of her profession.

Should I abandon the children and run away...?