Private Tutoring for the Duke’s First Night - Chapter 2

Julia’s eyes widened.

“Duke Drexton?”

Edgar Drexton.

An unmarried man with a reputation that echoed throughout high society.

“Did the House of Drexton even have a child?”

Julia drew Duke Drexton’s family tree in her mind. It was a family she had ties to in her girlhood, so it wasn’t hard to recall.

But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t remember any young child of an age that would require a tutor.

“Hiring a private tutor isn’t only for children, you know.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“…The one hiring a tutor is Duke Drexton.”

Cecile glanced around and lowered her voice.

Julia blinked. Her long eyelashes fluttered.

As far as she knew, Duke Drexton was a cultured intellectual. If he were seeking a ‘private tutor’, it should be someone with learning at least on the level of a university professor.

Seeing that Julia clearly couldn’t grasp what she meant, Cecile moistened her lips and, looking frustrated, scooted a little closer.

“Duke Drexton is quite due to marry, isn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“So… he needs a female tutor.”

It sounded like vague, fanciful talk, but Julia understood exactly what Cecile was trying to say. Letting out a sound that was hard to tell whether it was a sigh or an exclamation, she made it clear enough. The next moment, Julia’s face turned somewhat pale.

“A tutor to teach a woman’s body.”

Even so, Cecile pointed it out explicitly, as if to eliminate any room for misunderstanding. Julia pressed a hand to her forehead as though she were dizzy.

Among unmarried men in high society these days, hiring a private tutor before marriage was spreading as a discreet trend.

That tutor was brought in for a ‘first night lesson’.

The argument was that since a husband must naturally guide his pure new bride gently on their wedding night, prior ‘education’ was necessary.

What a truly twisted display of propriety.

To put it bluntly, it was an exclusive courtesan.

As private tutors for such work, dignified noblewomen like Julia, widows who hadn’t long since lost their husbands, were preferred.

Widows whose mourning period hadn’t ended wouldn’t threaten gentlemen with the existence of an illegitimate child even if they became pregnant. It would only smear their own name. They would simply erase the child quietly.

Julia had heard rumors of such a trend, but she had always thought it was nothing more than gossip.

But to think Duke Drexton would be seeking such a tutor.

‘Edgar…? I can’t believe it.’

Cecile subtly began to urge on Julia, who was covering her mouth with a hand clad in a black glove.

“Julia, think carefully. That might be the best option you have right now.”

“……”

“He’ll pay an enormous tutoring fee. Duke Drexton, that is.”

“It’s true… that he’s wealthy.”

The fertile ducal lands all belonged to Duke Drexton.

Even if one rode at full speed for a long time, one couldn’t even cross half of the farms owned by Duke Drexton. On top of that, the handicrafts produced in his territory were of such fine quality that they were immensely popular in the capital, so speaking of Duke Drexton’s wealth was enough to make one’s mouth sore.

“If you want to repay your debts, that seems like the only way. Close your eyes and go in, Julia.”

Cecile’s words somehow felt like pressure.

Julia closed her mouth heavily. Cecile might be right.

Julia had lost her husband and was saddled with an enormous debt.

To repay the burden she had taken on and make a fresh start, she wasn’t in a position to refuse such an arrangement.

But.

It wasn’t just the nature of the work that was the problem. The other party was a problem too.

Julia bit her lip.

Her vision swam.

He had been a shy boy.

Julia remembered the rose-colored brick mansion where red magnolias bloomed in abundance. Back then, Duke Drexton, Edgar, had still been a young Duke, his cheeks full of vitality, beautiful and…

「 Sister Julia! 」

She could still hear the clear voice of the boy who used to run toward her like a puppy whenever he saw her from afar. Even though it had been a full fifteen years ago, the reason she could remember it so vividly was probably because that period had shone the brightest in Julia’s life.