“What? Can’t you even do your job properly? What do I need you for?”
The Duke’s face became red and blue as if he had heard this plenty of times like an angry goat.
She firmly bit her lips to stop herself from laughing at the Duke’s behaviour. She took out the stuff in the bag with slowly and carefully.
It was a set of beautifully crafted building blocks and colourful pieces of stones that is commonly used for teaching in elementary schools in Korea.
“This is a teaching aid I developed. Such an outstanding child like Prince Alizée has advanced intellect. We need to utilize a lot of teaching aids for children of the same age to keep up with his learning prowess.”
The Duke couldn’t take his eyes off the object he had never seen before. Subsequently, Sera nodded as she explained how to use the teaching aid through simple demonstrations.
“So, how much does it cost to teach Alizée?”
Duke Bethman, who was prepared to negotiate the price, waited for Sera’s answer with a nervous look.
‘I’m Sera Popo, the best tutor in the Adelio Empire. I know. How much should I ask for? He is guilty of touching my body, so I’ll ask for more.’
Singing joyfully in her heart, Sera took out the stiffest piece of paper from her bag.
The Duke of Bethman tried to snatch the paper away and read it, but Sera whacked his hand. The bewildered Duke’s eyes turned to Sera.
“It’s a little pricey, Duke.”
“How much is the tuition fee for two sessions a week?”
The Duke’s words made Sera smile. She slowly drew a table to show the amount of tuition fee for 40minutes x 5 sessions, once a week, twice a week, thrice a week, four times a week and five times a week.Sera grabbed a red pen and circled the amount below the “twice a week.”
“Do you mean 30 golds twice a week!”
She shook her head quietly instead of answering.
The Duke opened his surprised eyes wide and looked down at Sera. 30 gold! It was quite a lot for tuition. Thirty gold coins were a month worth of salary for court knights working in the Adelio Empire.
But Sera didn’t stop here. With an embarrassed look on her face, she wrote “x 2” at the circled part.
“You mean 60 gold!”
He yelled at Sera not believing his own eyes, the proposed tuition fee is completely unimaginable.
“For a gifted child as smart as Prince Alizée, the price of education will need to be much higher. Duke.”
‘Education is the most expensive commodity anytime, anywhere. In my previous life, Korea’s education cost was very high as well. Come on now, open your wallet. Duke.’
The Duke took a long breathe as she waited in excitement. The amount felt burdensome.
“Duke, the Duchess would have spared no amount of money on your education. I’m sure you said it would be okay if it was twice the price. I’m busy, too, so anyone else besides Master Alizée wants….”
Sera closed her mouth at the right moment as she bait a sense of remorse from Duke Bethman who could easily dedicate 60 golds every month.
Duke Bethman’s hand grabs her fair spotless hand. He holds a pen in his wrinkled fat hand, and tries to interlock his fingers with hers.
Sera stared at him in disbelief.
“I’ll give you twice as much. How about 120 golds.”
120 gold. That amount of money is enough to buy a carriage. It was a huge sum of money, but it’s nothing for the Bethman family.
He looked at Sera convinced she would not refuse it.
“It’s 120 gold every month.”
The Duke squeezed his hand further. It was sexual harassment in plain sight. He was looking for a sexual relationship.
‘I know I love money, but not so much to go into this kind of perversion!’
Sera shook off the Duke’s hand as hard as she could and jumped up from her seat. The duke did not expect her to have such a reaction.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it. Duke.”
A cold voice, completely different from before, answers back toward the Duke.
“120 gold. It’s not easy for a nobleman to come up with such money. I’m making it easy for you. Miss Sera.”
He was a man who had a daughter as old as her. It was not the first time she had to experience this; there were plenty of people who dreamt of having an immoral relationship with their tutor. However, there was no one as rude and shameless as to directly request for it.
As he tried to wrap his hands around her waist slowly, Sera raised her hand out of displeasure.
WHACK!
The Duke flustered as his hand was forced away, he looked at Sera. After a while, he started breathing heavily and his nostrils flared as he realized what had happened.
“Are you rejecting me now? Miss Sera.”
“Duke, I don’t want to hear my name coming out of your mouth.”
The Duke of Bethman glanced greedily over her body with his gray eyes.
‘My skin is crawling.’
Sera took a step back and instinctively ran to the nearest exit. The books and teaching aids she brought were still on the desk but it was not the time to think about such a thing.
‘I have to run away. The Duke is a dangerous man.’
As soon as she reached the doorknob, a damp, unpleasant smell of tobacco came from behind her. It was the Duke of Bethman.
His large hand grabbed over her hand at the doorknob. Sera started to feel frightened. She felt suffocated and trembled in fear of a terrible future that might soon occur.
“You must prevail. You can’t win with your strength. You must find an alternative way.’
She tried to think rationally while her body was shaking in fear. She paused for a moment and looked back at the Duke with a clear sweet smile as usual.