The Teacher of Budding Villains Suffers Today, Too - Chapter 28

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 28
Lucas let slip words she could not have known.
Something on his mind? What could he possibly mean?
Rachel sat alone, turning the question over in her head.
While she pondered, the Shop Owner rummaged through various items on the shelves.
“Let’s see here…. It looks like we do have everything you’re after. Just give me a moment while I fetch them.”
The Shop Owner gestured toward a sofa. Standing had begun to feel awkward, so Rachel settled onto it without hesitation.
Lucas took the seat across from her, his eyes wandering curiously around the General Goods Store as if seeing it all for the first time.
“Is this a place you visit often?”
“Yes. Beyond Children’s Day, there are quite a few occasions when I need to give gifts to the students.”
“Such as?”
“Well…. When they do their assignments well, or when they score high on a test. But those cases are rare.”
“Then what’s the most common reason?”
Rachel answered with a bright smile.
“When they help a friend.”
“When they help a friend?”
“Yes. When they show teamwork.”
Among the children who enrolled at Swan Knights School, none arrived entirely illiterate or without basic knowledge. The problem, rather, was that most lacked courtesy and consideration for others.
So nearly every lesson was designed around building fundamental daily habits: greeting others properly, not fighting with friends, showing consideration—the rest came later.
“What about Theo and Noah?”
“Theo and Noah, you say…?”
“I’m curious whether they’ve done enough remarkable things to earn a gift.”
Like any older brother, Lucas showed genuine interest in his younger siblings’ daily lives.
Guardians who took such interest in their children were always precious. Children transformed quickly when they felt truly seen.
“Theo plays a great deal with the other children. Sometimes he even creates his own rules and teaches them to his friends.”
Rachel spoke brightly, her expression warm.
“Once, he stacked blocks into a tower, then invented a game where players had to remove them one by one without it collapsing. While they played, the children never quarreled even once. They were all so absorbed in it.”
A famous board game from twenty-first-century Korea—and he’d created it all on his own without the slightest hint. It struck her as remarkable.
For three straight hours, all the children played peacefully together, thanks to Theo’s invention.
Impressed by his gift for bringing them harmony, Rachel gave him a present: silk stationery of fine quality.
“Theo is truly an exceptional child.”
She wasn’t exaggerating. Theo was busy devising another game using the silk stationery.
Sometimes she wanted to share a little of her twenty-first-century knowledge with him, but whenever she saw him so absorbed in his creative pursuits, she’d hold back. She wanted to draw out his imagination to its fullest.
“And Noah?”
“Well…. Noah is a good child too.”
To be honest, she found herself choosing her words carefully when it came to Noah. He was sensitive and struggled to mix well with the other children.
But one couldn’t judge a child solely by weaknesses. Noah had his strengths too. For instance, his ability to focus intently on a single task.
“Noah has received a gift as well. He once spent hours trying to solve a difficult mathematics problem, attempting different approaches over and over.”
Though he never found the answer, the effort itself was admirable, and his concentration more than worthy of praise.
Rachel had been so impressed by his determination and persistence that she’d given him a beautiful fountain pen.
“From what I understand, Swan Knights School’s finances are hardly in a comfortable position. Surely this sort of spending must strain them?”
“…. Not particularly comfortable, I’m afraid. Sad to say.”
Rachel smiled ruefully and admitted it freely. After all, hadn’t the school been hastily founded as an emergency measure to pay off her family’s enormous debts?
But when it came to the education of her students—their futures—she didn’t want to pinch pennies. It was a principle she’d carried with her from her previous life, a value she’d held as an educator.
Fortunately, both Colo and Henry had fully agreed with this view.
“Still, things are much better now. Thanks to your generous support.”
In the past, after paying debts there was nothing left. But Lucas’s support had made the finances quite comfortable.
She couldn’t express how grateful she was. Rachel smiled brightly at Lucas.
“It’s all thanks to you, Your Highness.”
There was no falsehood in those words. She truly believed everything was his doing. At her words, Lucas’s expression softened.
“What have I done, really?”
“You show such concern. And you visit the school regularly.”
Rachel smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners.
“Rachel, it’s you who’ve worked so hard.”
Lucas turned the credit back to her.
It wasn’t entirely wrong. Rachel had worn out several pairs of work trousers keeping pace with the demands.
Thinking of those difficult, grueling times, she felt her eyes grow hot.
“We both worked incredibly hard.”
She wasn’t trying to flatter him. Rachel felt genuine gratitude toward Lucas.
“So… might I give Your Highness a small gift? Of course, with my own money.”
Rachel smiled bashfully.
Their circumstances were meager, and every coin had to be counted, but she wanted to repay his kindness for coming all this way and buying gifts for the children.
Please, she thought desperately, clasping her hands together and sending him an earnest look.
“I feel too guilty receiving a gift from you.”
“There’s nothing to feel guilty about! You’ve given me so much already!”
Rachel laughed brightly and rose from her seat. The perfect gift for Lucas was right in front of her eyes.
“Would you give me this Male Brooch?”
Rachel pointed eagerly at the Male Brooch. The golden gleam of it would suit Lucas perfectly.
“How much is it?”
“Five thousand Rubel.”
“Five thousand Rubel…?”
It was the equivalent of two months of her living expenses. Yet Rachel quickly pulled out her purse and withdrew five thousand Rubel.
This was a gift for someone of near-royal standing. She didn’t want to give him anything shabby.
After completing the purchase, Rachel approached Lucas.
“Wait a moment.”
She hesitated briefly, then reached toward the left side of Lucas’s chest. Watching to see what she intended, Lucas felt a peculiar flutter somewhere in his heart at the gentle sound of her laughter.
“Rachel.”
“Yes?”
Rachel answered while concentrating on fastening the brooch to Lucas’s left chest.
Struck by the sweet fragrance that suddenly enveloped him, Lucas barely restrained the urge to take her hand.
“Surely you understand what it means to wear a brooch on the left side of one’s chest?”
His low voice carried an almost seductive quality. Whether Rachel understood the situation or not, she merely offered a serene smile.
Her attention remained wholly focused on securing the brooch.
“Don’t most people wear brooches on the left side of the chest?”
Everyone wore them on the left, so wouldn’t it be stranger to wear one on the right? Rachel thought reasonably as she carefully adjusted the pin.
To verify the brooch sat straight, she gave his chest a light pat and then tilted her head up, beaming at him.
“There! See? I wasn’t wrong, was I?”
But Lucas’s reaction seemed oddly off.
He, who would normally have brushed it aside without a second thought, now gazed down at Rachel’s face as if he’d witnessed something he shouldn’t have.
His gaze felt almost uncomfortably warm, and Rachel tilted her head in confusion.
“…Lucas?”
“Ah, well, if that’s what you think, then I’ll accept it gratefully.”
The moment their eyes met, Lucas turned his head away.
Then, as if his neck had suddenly itched, he cleared his throat and fussed with his shirt collar.
Though he’d said he’d accept it gratefully, his expression didn’t look pleased at all, which puzzled Rachel.
‘Does he not like it?’
“I think I’ll look around the shop for a while. What about you?”
“I was going to rest for a bit.”
“Then I’ll go ahead.”
Lucas rose from the sofa. Unlike his usual graceful gait, his retreating figure seemed oddly stiff.
He examined the displayed items one by one as he moved deeper into the shop, but to Rachel, he looked like someone fleeing from something.
“Is that person perhaps your fiancé?”
Just then, another staff member approached with an intrigued expression. Rachel immediately shook her head dismissively.
“No. He’s just… someone I’m connected to through work.”
“Connected through work? But you fastened a brooch to his left chest?”
“What’s wrong with fastening a brooch? It’s just a gift.”
At Rachel’s calm reply, the staff member’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“Of course! When a woman fastens a brooch to a man’s left chest, it’s a confession of ‘I have taken your heart’—an action done when pledging love.”
“…What?!”
“My goodness, you didn’t know that at your age?”
Rachel’s pupils trembled ceaselessly.
‘So that’s what he meant by asking if I understood the meaning?!’
She’d only fastened it to the left side because it seemed the right placement, because it would look good there.
Her face burned so intensely she felt as though it might catch fire.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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