Lady Felice’s Secret Class - Chapter 71

“What a beautiful, sunny day!”

Felice, hoping for a safe topic, quickly opened the conversation with a comment about the weather, racking her brain for what to say next. Lately, she’d been so busy that she hadn’t even kept up with her artwork, let alone the news or society gossip.

Claude walked at an easy pace beside her, lifting his head to glance up at the sky when she spoke.

“Yes, it’s as bright as yesterday.”

Felice flinched at his answer but forced a polite smile and nodded. Suddenly, she remembered the painting that had turned out to be a forgery.

“Ah, yes. By the way—what happened with the painting?”

“I’ve turned it over to the authorities. The sellers wanted a second opinion, so they’re having it examined. In the process, I met the artist, and he was quite certain it wasn’t his work.”

Relieved that the topic had shifted away from her, Felice nodded with satisfaction and listened to his explanation.

“But when I asked the artist if he knew Miss Felice, he turned the question back on me—he wanted to know what your relationship to me was.”

Felice shrugged innocently, squinting as if she didn’t know what he was talking about.

Her art mentor had always insisted that their teacher-student relationship remain a secret. No matter what, it was all supposed to be kept strictly confidential.

Even if Claude ever pressed the artist for details about her, the artist would deny knowing anything. Most likely, the artist was simply startled to hear her name from Claude’s mouth and reacted accordingly.

If anyone asked again, the artist would probably claim he had confused her with another woman.

“Is that so? Well, I’ve never met him myself.”

“Is that so? Still, Miss Felice seemed to know an awful lot about him.”

Claude replied with a slightly teasing tone.

Felice only shrugged again, playing dumb.

“I just hear a lot from the ladies around town, that’s all.”

“Hmm.”

Claude gave her a suspicious look for a moment, but then his eyes softened and he smiled warmly.

“I see. Well, I’m glad to hear you have no particular connection to him. Anyway, I happened to meet a lady you used to tutor a few days ago…”

Felice swallowed hard. The conversation seemed to keep circling back to her.

“She told me you used to teach four or five lessons a week—sometimes even more.”

“Ah, yes. As a governess, that’s how it was.”

“But with me, this is only our sixth lesson. I wish we could have lessons more often.”

“Oh, but the lessons I taught before were to children, so they were naturally more frequent. Romantic lessons are a little different…”

Before she could finish, Claude halted in place.

“I’ll be meeting Lady Elise soon. I need as many lessons as possible before then. I’ll have to be confident and able to take the lead if I want to impress her.”

With a gentle smile, Claude brushed a stray lock of hair from Felice’s face, caught by the breeze.

Startled by his smile, Felice completely missed her chance to refuse.

“Master, your carriage is ready.”

The servant announced.

With a soft smile, Claude led Felice toward the carriage.

“Shall we head back?”

“…Yes.”

Felice considered raising the topic of more lessons, but shut her mouth. She simply couldn’t come up with a good argument against his reasoning—and, honestly, she just wanted to escape this tense atmosphere.

But when she climbed into the carriage, she found herself staring in disbelief at the man sitting across from her.

“Mr. Claude?”

“If Miss Felice gets out of a regular carriage, no one will pay attention.”

“But didn’t you say you had business at the post office? If we get out together, even from an ordinary carriage, people will still notice.”

“I decided to put it off. I realized I’d forgotten a letter I meant to bring anyway.”

“Then… where are you going now?”

“Oh, just for a little ride and a breath of fresh air. I’ll head back soon.”

Stunned by his answer, Felice could only nod, looking dazed.

“I, I see…”

As the carriage set off, Felice pressed her hands together and fixed her gaze out the window—partly because Claude was staring at her so intently from the opposite seat.

She made a conscious effort to blink, trying to ignore him.

“Would it be all right to begin the lesson now?”

“Huh?”

For a moment, Felice completely forgot he was a prince, snapping her eyes to him in surprise.