The Teacher of Budding Villains Suffers Today, Too - Chapter 62

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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 62
“And you say this is related to the Crown Prince?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The moment the Crown Prince was mentioned, a smile bloomed across the Emperor’s face.
The Emperor was a small man. When his talented son had won the affection of the empire’s people, he envied him—and burned to diminish him. He both admired the Crown Prince and longed to tear him down.
Lucas was well aware of this fact. Which was why his mind churned with complexity.
“Hmm, the Crown Prince being the Crown Prince hardly means he cannot be implicated in unsavory matters.”
The outrageous had already twisted into something worse. Lucas narrowed his brows slightly.
“So then, what exactly is this business, Empress?”
“The tutor of Princes Theo and Noah, Miss Rachel Swan, is conducting the most scandalous affair. She is teaching commoners to read and write.”
“Teaching commoners to read?”
A hollow laugh spilled from the Emperor’s lips. The delighted Empress spoke again.
“The Crown Prince himself knew of this and has been turning a blind eye to it.”
“Turning a blind eye…”
The moment Lucas’s failure was mentioned, the Emperor could not hide his smile.
“Crown Prince—is this true?”
The Emperor asked with exaggerated sternness.
“Yes. It is.”
Though one might have expected him to wilt under the Emperor’s weight, Lucas answered without hesitation.
“Damn it, Lucas. How much faith have I placed in you, only to be disappointed like this!”
The Emperor’s voice rose. But not a trace of change crossed Lucas’s face.
“I understand this is a somewhat sudden change. Yet I believe the day must come when even the empire’s common children learn to read and pursue their studies.”
“Learning is the exclusive domain of the Nobility. It has been so since the empire’s founding.”
“At a time when so many kingdoms grow stronger, the empire too requires change.”
“If that change undermines the standing of the Nobility, it must cease at once!”
The Emperor possessed the thinking of a nobleman through and through. To such a man, Lucas’s words could only be shocking.
“What matters most to you, Your Majesty? The glory of Tirnes, or the glory of the Nobility?”
Yet Lucas did not hesitate. He countered the Emperor directly. Which was more important?
“Crown Prince!”
“I shall advance for the glory of the empire—for our Tirnes.”
Lucas spoke with quiet conviction. His voice carried immense force.
* * *
‘And he didn’t even bow his head?!’
All the way back to the Empress Palace, the Empress seethed.
‘I was certain he would grovel.’
She had expected that if she pressed the Crown Prince so hard, he would surely retreat. But Lucas had come back at her with boldness instead. He had dared to challenge the Emperor himself, invoking the empire’s future.
The Emperor was not a logical man. The moment Lucas stood his ground, he capitulated. And so the confrontation ended in absurd anticlimax.
‘Then…’
The Empress settled onto the sofa, slowly caressing her belly. If she could not attack Lucas directly, she would crush Rachel Swan properly instead.
“I shall hold a tea party. Have invitations prepared.”
The Empress spoke with calculated grace. Her true attack was about to begin.
* * *
“Miss, an invitation has arrived from the Empress Palace.”
The Nanny handed Rachel a letter. What reason could they have for summoning her now? Rachel let out a deep sigh.
“I suppose I should be grateful the dress I had fitted finally has an occasion, though I’m not sure what to feel about any of this.”
The Nanny offered an awkward smile.
‘I have to go anyway.’
Rachel’s thoughts deepened as she unfolded the tea party invitation.
‘If it’s come to this, I might as well do it properly.’
But she had no intention of avoiding it. A frontal confrontation was the only way.
The tea party preparations proceeded smoothly. Rachel dressed in the gown she had prepared beforehand and made her way to the Empress Palace.
Her steps felt heavy the entire journey. She couldn’t help but entertain an overwhelming array of possibilities about what the Empress might have planned.
‘She’ll probably claw at me.’
Strangely, once she had contemplated the most extreme scenarios, her mind grew calm.
Rachel drew a deep breath and stepped into the Empress Palace.
“Miss Rachel Swan, if you would come this way.”
The moment she entered the Empress Palace, a maidservant recognized her. Rachel, with her guard raised, followed carefully.
The maidservant led her to a brilliant garden. The Empress’s tastes were evident everywhere—the space was adorned in crimson and gold.
‘How much money does she spend on a single tea party?’
Because it was someone she disliked, everything about it seemed hateful to her. Rachel walked on, her inner criticism deepening with each step.
‘…what?’
She’d expected to find a table set up in the center of the Garden, with a handful of young noblewomen already seated. Instead, the table was completely full, and even the Empress herself—the very reason for this gathering—remained in her chair. Rachel’s eyes widened in surprise.
‘Did I misread the time? I checked it carefully!’
Rachel quickened her pace. The Empress, noticing the movement, turned her head to look at her. Above the fan that concealed more than half of her face, the Empress’s eyes gleamed with sharp intensity.
“Someone is late to a Tea Party hosted by the Empress.”
As Rachel approached, the Empress’s brow furrowed deeply.
“It seems that coming from such a humble Marquis House, she lacks both propriety and manners. Your Majesty.”
“You speak truly, Miss Teison.”
Rachel immediately recognized the brown-haired woman seated directly beside the Empress. Katie Teison. Lucas’s betrothed.
‘Whatever I say here will only sound like excuses.’
The Invitation clearly stated the Tea Party was at three o’clock—but explaining that seemed pointless. There was no sense in stirring up more trouble.
These women had already made up their minds to torment her. She had no intention of making herself an easy target. So Rachel arranged her expression into one of sincere apology and watched their faces carefully.
“I apologize. I must have confused the time.”
Rachel’s response was unexpected. A brief silence fell over the table.
“Sit.”
The Empress commanded. Rachel carefully took a seat before the table.
Various Refreshments were arranged across the table. Normally such a spread would have stirred her appetite, but inexplicably she felt none. It was surely due to the attacks from the Empress and Katie.
“How do you do? I’m Sylvia Luce. By the way, Miss Rachel Swan was said to be a tutor to the Crown Prince, wasn’t she?”
A young noblewoman with striking black hair and green eyes spoke up.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Usually it’s young noblewomen from fallen families who work as home tutors. It seems your house must have some standing, Miss Swan.”
Rachel understood now why the woman had brought it up—it was a thinly veiled attack. She felt a flush of irritation rising. And to demean her profession on top of it all. Heat crawled up her neck.
“It seems you have a poor view of the teaching profession, Miss Luce.”
“I do. I was disciplined by my home tutors quite often. From childhood.”
Rachel thought to herself that she should have been disciplined more. She kept the thought private.
“A teacher is someone who shapes the futures of children. That’s why I take great pride in the teaching profession. The fact that all of you here have grown properly is thanks to the countless efforts of teachers like myself.”
Rachel spoke with confidence. Katie’s expression twisted visibly. She clearly didn’t appreciate what Rachel had said.
“You certainly have a gift for flowery words.”
Katie let out a derisive laugh as she spoke. As the betrothed of the Crown Prince, she would hardly look favorably on someone who spent time with Lucas.
Rachel had already become her enemy, she knew. And she had no interest in winning such a woman’s approval. So she spoke.
“The ability to speak so calmly even in awkward situations—that too must be the result of receiving a good education.”
Rachel had seized the upper hand at the table. She surveyed the four young noblewomen gathered at the Tea Party and the Empress. Their faces had all grown slightly tense.
“Ahem. The reason I summoned all of you here is one.”
Perhaps sensing the need to shift the atmosphere. The Empress began to speak.
“I wished you to search wholeheartedly for things beneficial to Prenatal Education for our child.”
The Empress stroked her belly. Rachel watched her for a moment.
The Empress had borne her firstborn and was now pregnant again. The Emperor doted on her all the more because of this late child. The Empress had grown increasingly emboldened.
‘From the way she’s speaking, it sounds as though I’m expected to prepare a Prenatal Gift.’
Rachel’s heart sank. Whatever Prenatal Gift she prepared, the Empress would find fault with it.
‘In a situation where she might accuse me of trying to harm the child.’
Rachel’s thoughts deepened with dread.
“Your Majesty, I have already given some thought to the matter.”
Whether Katie knew of Rachel’s misgivings or not, she spoke up boldly.

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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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