The Teacher of Budding Villains Suffers Today, Too - Chapter 55

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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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Chapter 55
Rachel stopped mid-motion. Was this what being dumbfounded meant?
While she stood there in a daze, Lucas picked up the Teapot and poured tea into her cup.
“At least have some tea and calm yourself.”
His voice carried an unmistakable weight of authority.
Rachel found herself lifting the cup as if entranced and took a sip. Yet she tasted nothing at all.
‘Why…?’
She didn’t believe she’d said anything wrong. And yet Lucas had disagreed with her.
“Rachel. Have you settled yourself?”
Lucas asked her gently. Rachel managed a small nod.
“I understand what you’re trying to say.”
“Then why…?”
Rachel let her words trail off.
“Books have been the exclusive domain of the nobility for ages. They won’t want to surrender that privilege.”
“I know.”
It was common knowledge. Everyone understood that the nobility sought to monopolize learning.
“Asking the nobles to relinquish their privileges is quite a dangerous move.”
“Dangerous?”
“Yes.”
Lucas took a sip of his tea, his expression growing visibly tighter.
“The Empire’s nobility wield tremendous power. Many of them maintain private armies. Building a School alone is already an enormous undertaking, but if you’re suggesting we share the nobles’ knowledge all at once, you’ll face severe backlash. In the worst case, if they turned their backs on the Empire, the consequences would be catastrophic.”
Yet Rachel couldn’t accept his reasoning.
“I believe this is an issue we must face eventually.”
Gradual, slow change wasn’t necessarily bad. But now was the time to accelerate. The Empire needed faster transformation.
“They’ve already begun paying taxes. That alone sparked enormous resistance. Moving too quickly now will only breed discord.”
“But—”
She began to protest, yet found herself unable to continue.
She could afford to create upheaval and walk away. But Lucas couldn’t. As Crown Prince, he had to manage the fallout from every decision.
For him, charging forward with only his eyes on the goal was dangerously reckless.
‘I understand, but…’
She didn’t lack understanding. Yet separate from that, her impatience was undeniable. Rachel bit her lip hard.
“I hope Your Highness will make this matter your foremost priority.”
In the end, that was all she could say. What more could she do? It was difficult to ask for anything beyond that.
The meal proceeded in silence. Neither of them spoke.
Even so, Rachel’s mind churned with thoughts—how to convince Lucas, or how to persuade the nobles.
As she returned to the palace, her thoughts remained turbulent.
The disagreement with Lucas. The shock of it jolted her into reflection about her own conduct.
‘Have I been pushing only my own views?’
She looked down at her feet quietly. Lucas had never opposed her before. Perhaps that was why she’d grown to believe—without thinking—that he would agree to everything she said. But his approval was never something she could take for granted.
‘I was presumptuous.’
Rachel exhaled softly. Her shock was all the greater because she’d treated his agreement as inevitable.
‘Let me think about this from his perspective again. To do that…’
To understand his position, she first needed to learn clearly what situation he faced.
‘Could I attend the Noble Meeting Hall?’
If she could sit in on the nobles’ meeting, she might at least understand the atmosphere.
‘A baron’s daughter has no standing to do that.’
A baron’s daughter with nothing to claim would never be allowed into the Noble Meeting Hall. Rachel’s mind raced.
‘If only I could see the Meeting Minutes…’
The School kept Meeting Minutes whenever they held a gathering, so that afterward they could easily review what had been discussed. If even the School maintained such records, the more important Noble Meeting Hall surely kept Meeting Minutes as well.
Rachel stood up at once.
“Is something the matter?”
After breakfast with Lucas, when Rachel—who’d been listless until then—suddenly rose from her seat, the Governess broke into a bright smile.
“This is sudden, but… do the nobles keep Meeting Minutes when they convene?”
“Meeting Minutes?”
“Records of what each person said during a meeting, that sort of thing.”
Rachel explained what Meeting Minutes were. The Governess tilted her head uncertainly, her expression growing blank.
“I’m not entirely sure where such things are kept.”
“I see…”
Rachel hadn’t held high hopes, so her disappointment was mild. She narrowed her eyes slightly, thinking of ways to slip into the Noble Meeting Hall undetected. And at that moment, a Maid’s Uniform passed before her.
Something flickered through her mind in that instant.
‘What if—just what if—I disguised myself as a maid and slipped into the Noble Meeting Hall…?’
High-born nobles never held their meetings without tea.
The idea struck Rachel like lightning. She furrowed her brow slightly, already turning over the logistics in her mind.
‘That’s it. I’ll pose as a maid and sneak in for a look. What’s the worst that could happen?’
A spark of defiance kindled in Rachel, and her resolve hardened.
* * *
“Is something the matter?”
The maids’ eyes went wide at Rachel’s entrance, dress in hand. She forced a bright smile, feigning perfect innocence.
“Well, it’s just….”
In truth, she’d come to procure a maid’s uniform, but she kept that detail to herself. After all, what she was doing amounted to theft.
“Do you require assistance with something?”
“I got something on my dress. Could you tell me where the Laundry Room is?”
Rachel lied with all the brazeness she could muster.
“Please, let us attend to it. We’ll have it cleaned for you right away.”
“Oh, no, really. I don’t want to add to your burden when you’re already so busy. I can manage it myself.”
Rachel delivered her performance with touching sincerity. Perhaps her acting worked—one of the maids, who had looked uncertain, pointed vaguely toward the left.
“The Laundry Room is that way. But truly, are you certain? It’s really our responsibility….”
The maid trailed off. Rachel nodded quickly.
“Thank you so much. I’ll be sure to leave the dress in good hands!”
She hurried toward the door on the left.
The moment she pulled it open, soiled linens tumbled out in a deluge.
‘This is perfect.’
With so many garments piled here, one missing Maid’s Uniform would never be noticed.
Rachel smiled to herself as she laid down the dress she’d brought, then plucked out a Maid’s Uniform that looked reasonably clean.
‘I’ll change right here and slip out. Simple.’
She already knew the Noble Meeting was scheduled for today—that’s why she’d timed her arrival.
Besides, she’d heard that one of the maids normally attending the meeting was ill, and she’d already arranged to send a replacement in her stead.
Rachel quickly stripped off her dress and changed into the Maid’s Uniform. Fortunately, while she dressed, no one entered the storage-like space.
‘Let’s go.’
She opened the back door instead of the one by which she’d entered. Beyond it lay a narrow Garden. Rachel hurried out, keeping her head low.
‘There are people who know my face.’
It wasn’t as though no one knew her—and if any of them spotted her now, everything would unravel spectacularly.
Keen to avoid such a disaster, Rachel moved cautiously toward the Noble Meeting Hall, her eyes alert.
‘I need to keep my head down the whole way. Someone among the nobles might recognize me.’
A few of them had already met her as a parent at the School. She had to be extremely careful.
Rachel climbed the stairs to the Noble Meeting Hall, her mind open to every contingency.
“Who might you be?”
An Attendant stepped forward to address her.
“I don’t believe I’ve seen you before.”
“I, well….”
“I know every Attendant and maid who enters the Noble Meeting Hall. Are you new? Who sent you?”
The Attendant pressed her for answers.
“The Empress Palace—they s-sent me!”
She knew the Empress occasionally dispatched maids to the meetings to gather intelligence. So Rachel drew on what she’d prepared for exactly this moment.
But the Attendant’s expression grew steadily colder. Slowly, he opened his mouth to speak—his tone gravely serious.

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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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