Private Tutoring for the Duke’s First Night - Chapter 7

She knew where the study was. Not because Duke Drexton had explained it so thoroughly, but because she and Edgar had often played hide-and-seek throughout the mansion in the past.

Julia stood in front of the study and took a deep breath.

After counting to three in her head and knocking at steady intervals, a pleasant baritone voice came from inside.

“Come in.”

Julia opened the door. Perhaps because the hinges had been well oiled, the door to Duke Drexton’s study opened smoothly without a sound.

The long-missed sight of the study unfolded before her eyes. The deep scent of paper, the thick carpet laid plush beneath, all of it was familiar. Julia’s gaze naturally drifted to one side.

The fireplace she knew well, the armchair in front of it. In the seat where the previous Duke of Drexton used to read, Edgar was now sitting. He was leaning back as if half-buried in the armchair, his long legs propped up on a stool.

Wearing glasses, Duke Drexton glanced up from the thick book he had been reading and looked at Julia. His jacket was draped over the back of the armchair, and he was dressed in a dress shirt and vest, his wrists and ankles slightly exposed.

Julia was seized by a vague, inexplicable sense of intrigue.

Duke Drexton leisurely slipped a bookmark into the book he had been reading. Even after placing the book on the table near the armchair, he neither stood up nor removed his glasses.

From that behavior, Julia became keenly aware that he held complete dominance in their relationship. If he were truly treating Julia as a ‘guest’, he would have risen the moment she entered and personally guided her to a chair.

Rather than feeling lavishly treated, her heart actually felt more at ease. As her trembling subsided, Julia found she could even offer Duke Drexton a smile.

She moved naturally, went to the desk off to one side, and brought over a chair for herself.

She placed it opposite Duke Drexton’s armchair and looked at him, waiting for permission to sit. One of his thick, handsome eyebrows lifted slightly. Soon, he let out a brief laugh.

“Please, sit.”

Julia bowed her head and took her seat.

“I will begin the lesson.”

Duke Drexton’s gaze slowly scanned Julia piece by piece. Her hair was twisted up without a single strand out of place. Under the awareness that she was a widow, she had consciously chosen a dull dark green dress. The dress was designed to cover her all the way up to the neck, and she had even fastened a brooch as if locking herself in place.

“The purpose of union between man and woman is, ultimately, to produce offspring with excellent genetics and thereby contribute to both family and society. No matter how much one emphasizes that it is a sacred act, it is never enough.”

Julia’s composed, low voice began to fill the study.

Duke Drexton’s eyelids slowly closed. It wasn’t so much that drowsiness had overtaken him, but rather that he seemed to be concentrating on Julia’s voice. Then he lightly licked his lips.

Julia, who had kept her eyes fixed on the book as she spoke, had no idea.

“Since the purpose of this lesson is to ensure Your Grace’s smooth first night, I would first like to explain what kind of posture and mindset are required in order to plant good seed within a woman’s womb.”

Julia herself knew very well what she was meant to do, but she put up a smokescreen as though this were truly an academic lesson. She felt that only by starting so dryly could she remain composed during what would follow.

As she lectured on vague, theoretical points, Julia’s mind settled into a remarkable calm. Her fear and nervousness that ‘Edgar’, an old friend, might recognize her, as well as the misery and shame tied to her circumstances, gradually faded away.

At this rate, it isn’t so bad.

Just as Julia was feeling that way.

“Wait.”

Duke Drexton stopped Julia’s lecture. Her heart dropped as she looked up. Only then did she clearly see him, eyes closed, pressing his fingers to his temple while still wearing his glasses.

“I apologize, Missus Devel, but I learned such things even from the tutor hired in my childhood.”