Private Tutoring for the Duke’s First Night - Chapter 21

Julia’s body was hot when she woke from a fitful half-sleep. Her breath was hot as well.

Something felt off about her physical condition.

Normally, Julia would have diagnosed herself with the onset of a feverish illness. But today, she was uncertain. Was she still intoxicated by last night’s unclean heat, or was it the beginning of a cold? With her foggy head, she couldn’t tell.

“Mm…”

It seemed the fiercely sucked n****e had suffered a tiny injury. When she gently touched the n****e, still swollen and not fully calmed, her body twitched as if static electricity had sparked there.

She hurriedly got dressed and stood before the mirror for a long time, examining herself. She kept having the illusion that the size difference between her right and left b*****s was showing through her clothes.

‘It shows that my b*****s were sucked. What do I do…’

Eyes that had lost objectivity were hardly capable of making a sound judgment, yet she felt anxious anyway. She couldn’t ask anyone else, so Julia merely hunched her shoulders.

It didn’t stop at simple nervousness. All day long, Julia’s comportment was restless in a way it hadn’t been before. It was clearly different from the past two days, when she had been anxious yet composed. She felt as though she were feverish, and also as though she were harboring a secret.

Yet the only one who actually saw Julia’s unsettled state was Head Maid Mary. Julia, feeling withdrawn, hadn’t left her room all day.

When Mary came to attend to Julia’s lunch, she stared at Julia’s flushed face for several seconds. Her expression looked as if she had noticed something.

Meanwhile, Julia, who would normally have been anxiously reading the room and worrying, was lost in her own thoughts.

With a hazy expression, Julia barely ate. As she stared out the window and sighed, her mind was in complete disarray. The heat she couldn’t control suddenly ignited low in her abdomen.

“It’s hot…”

After struggling with the heat for a long while, Julia finally whispered.

Mary offered her a fever reducer without complaint. After swallowing the bitter medicine, Julia put a generous spoonful of honey into her mouth. Then, as soon as the fever eased, she collapsed into a nap, sleeping as if dead.

Naturally, she missed dinner. Even after hearing that Julia was asleep, Duke Drexton waited for her and ended up eating later than usual.

When Julia came to her senses, it was 9:12 p.m. The lesson started at nine. She was supposed to be at the Duke’s study before then, but she was late.

“I’ve lost my mind. I’ve lost my mind…”

Being late for a lesson.

Julia’s heart pounded. In time with that pounding, her head rang loudly.

A teacher must be the most punctual of all. If she doesn’t arrive at the lesson site on time, it’s useless no matter how well she teaches. A teacher must be a model for her student. How could she teach anything while being late.

What she had to teach being s****l matters made no difference.

No, because it was s****l matters, all the more so…

She must not drag this professional ‘lesson’ into a personal realm.

“I have to do the lesson. I can’t just rest as I please.”

A sense of duty pushed Julia forward. She hurried out of her room. Being late already, she had no time to fix her hair or attire. Part of her roughly pinned-up hair had come loose and spilled down over her nape. She hadn’t fastened the brooch that usually sealed her collar like a lock. She didn’t bring the meaningless book either.

Her mind was still dazed, but the cells on her skin’s surface were extremely sensitive to surrounding stimuli. Her unsteady footsteps rang loudly in her ears.

The walk to Duke Drexton’s study felt impossibly long. No matter how much she walked, it didn’t seem to get any closer. Julia felt overwhelmed, even desperate.

I want to get to the study quickly. I want to open the door. I need to see Duke Drexton’s face.

She had no room left to distinguish whether this urge came from her duty as a private tutor or from private feelings.

Julia nearly stumbled in front of the study. She barely managed to grab the doorknob and brace herself against the doorframe. She didn’t fall, but her body struck the door, making a fairly loud sound.

The knob turned and the door flew open.

“Ah—”

Julia let out a startled cry. Duke Drexton, who had already come close to the door, caught her and held her up.