Husband, Wanted

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Chapter 10

Since he was just starting to learn to speak, he had read thick books of thought and philosophy that could be used as a blunt weapon. With his constant craving for new knowledge, he had excelled as a genius by entering numerous fields such as geology, history, politics, astronomy, and engineering.

I could feel the extraordinariness as if reading the life story of a hero.

The people of Letonia wanted Blake to become the next master of the throne, though Blake had no interest in the throne.

He only had a desire to savor new knowledge. Therefore, in order to learn many things in the wider world, he abandoned the royal life, bought the surname and title of ‘Javern,’ and ran out of the Royal Palace.

I didn’t want to tie myself into the same category as Blake, who was so callous and unlucky that I wondered if he was human, although his decision made more sense than anyone else.

I, too, have been struggling to leave my comfortable home and go to study abroad.

Oh, even though Blake left the castle and left for a foreign country, his relationship with his family did not break up. The royal couple respected their son’s decision, and he said he would occasionally write letters to his mother, who was weak by birth.

No wonder… He was not at all discouraged when my father asked to teach me a little softly, but rather, he would have been able to boldly say, “If you don’t like my education system, hire another private tutor.”

If someone asked me how I knew about Blake so well, I wanted to respond, ‘what I was supposed to do when I heard something that came into my ears even if I didn’t want to know?’

Undoubtedly, his splendid background, his genius that would go down in history, and his cold impression that it was hard to approach. On top of that, because of his tall height and handsome and beautiful face, the word about him circulated everywhere he went.

I received countless requests from the Academy to deliver love letters for him.

Even if I was rejected because Teacher Blake was scary and difficult, my friends were reckless. In the end, I couldn’t overcome the begging and delivered the love letter, and the whipping I got hit that day was particularly painful.

Whip, slap!

“Ah!”

“I would have told you not to think about other things during my class.”

“Well… Because it hurts so much…I’m trying to forget the pain…”

There was a lot of regret in my voice. I clenched my teeth so as not to shed tears. Meanwhile, Blake swung his stick as if he didn’t feel any pity for me.

Whip, slap.

Whip, slap…

A cold rod cut through the air and slammed my calf. It felt as if the burning sensation on the skin was tearing me apart.

“Huwaaaa, ah! It! It hurts… Ah!”

The heat around the eyes was more intense than the calves. I chewed my lower lip the whole time I was beaten and endured the pain, and finally, a wet moan broke out.

…I was wrong, I’ll do my homework.

I’ll do twice as much as you gave me last week.

Forgetting my shame, I cried and begged.

“You can’t even handle it.”

My hand, which had lifted my skirt, trembled terribly. When the pain that had been heating up my calves stopped, I belatedly thought that he had beaten me too much for something I had never done before.

Well… I was the one who confidently answered, “Ten!” when asked how many hits I would get if I didn’t do my homework, but it was still disappointing.

There was no reason to feel wrong, but it was so.

In a sniff, I heard the soundtak—Blake putting down the stick. Then, cold palms touched my hot calves as if they were on fire.

“Does it hurt?”

“Ugh, are you the one talk?”

“Come this way.”

He stretched out his arm towards me. His voice was so sweet that it was incomparable to the time I had heard the whip, and it was like a different person.

Whispers naturally erupted in the relaxed atmosphere.

He didn’t even hold my hand even as I came down from the desk, trembling. It wasn’t that I was urging him to say why he was acting so slowly. He just sat there and watched me as I took each strenuous step and shed tears and runny nose.

“Are you going to do your homework now?”

“…Yes.”

“I believe you. Get down here, I will take care of your wounds.”

Blake got up from his chair.

Even though it was just a simple movement from sitting down, he strangely caught my eye because he was so tall. Long legs seemed to take twice as long as others to get up. Blake’s height difference was so significant that I had to tilt my head back a long way to see his face.

I sat down on a soft chair with my knees bent.

I put my hips up. The body temperature he had left in the chair was holding up well, and it wrapped itself around me as if praising me.

“Ugh… it hurts. It hurt so much that I almost ran away.”

“Don’t make a fuss.”

His large hand caressed my swollen, swollen calf.

Thinking he was comforting me, resentment and fear towards him dispersed like smoke. Blake took out the ointment and applied it thoroughly to my calf. He also tied the hem of my skirt tightly above my knees, so it did not touch my calves.

“…It really hurt.”

I wanted to hear compliments from him saying, ‘You endured well.’ Although the pain had long since passed, I whispered timidly once more.

Blake patted my head and said, “If you do your homework, it won’t hurt.”

Despite the fact that it was far from the answer I was hoping for, I liked the soft touch from the top of my head to the back of my head, and I liked the gentle voice, so a bashful smile leaked out.

“I will definitely do my homework now.”

“Neither do I want to beat you either.”

Lies.

My lips twitched. If I didn’t like it and the teacher didn’t like it, he didn’t have to hit me. Then, we would both be happy. I said sarcastically inside to my heart’s content.

The next moment, I heard another voice saying that I couldn’t concentrate in class.

Blake, who kept his appointment on time, started the class at the correct time without a single minute of error.

However, for the next class, after I took the beating, he arrived thirty minutes earlier than usual to take care of the wounds. Applying the ointment meticulously, he blew the wind with his mouth. The look didn’t suit him at all.

As his breath hit my calves, I had to struggle quite a bit to hide my goosebumps.

It was dissatisfying that I had to leave thirty minutes early because of his kindness. Nevertheless, the touch that gently caressed the wound wasn’t bad, and I was never late for class, even on the day we started thirty minutes early.

Ah… wait.

Looking back on my memories… For some reason, I only vividly remember the time when Blake was kind to me.

Nonsense.

I blew away ten years of memories… What really happened to my head?

On the day of Blake’s tutoring, I sighed more than a thousand times. I even sighed with the tension of having to take his class from the day before.

Yes, how terrified I had to take his class. Sweet Blake was ridiculous.

Though My last memory, when I was sixteen… I had the last class with Blake the day before I went to study abroad. When I mentioned that I was going to study abroad… What was Blake’s expression like?

The memory of that time was hazy, as if a black cloud had covered it.

Even though I gave strength to my forehead and tried to recall that time, I couldn’t dig deep into the memories of the past as if a black wall was blocking me.

My head felt weird.

It was really strange.

When I get to the mansion, I’ll have to call the doctor first. Now, I need a detailed examination.

“If you don’t want to answer, I won’t force you to ask.”

Blake spoke calmly as he ran his fingers through my hair.

At this, I chuckled to myself.

This was funny. Couldn’t he remember what he did to me at sixteen? He would throw out a question and pour heartless words without hesitation if I didn’t answer it properly.

“Am I taking a class with a goldfish right now?”, “This is the first time I have ever felt skeptical in my life as an educator. I have prided myself on being a pretty good teacher.”, “Is my pronunciation a mess? Or maybe there’s something wrong with the Miss’ ear, or… Does your head hurt by any chance?”

…How many tears did I have to swallow at the bitter ridicule?

There had been times when I memorized the entire textbook to hear Blake’s praises. But, as if he knew that I had memorized the textbook, he would ask questions from the previous level textbook I finished less than a month ago.

I became mute.

Such a guy… what the hell?

And now, he’s not forcing me to answer…?

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