The tutor, her face pale and stricken, hastily packed her belongings and left Sain's room in a flustered state.
Sain, who had witnessed everything, squirmed uncomfortably as if sitting on a bed of thorns. He could tell Penelope was furious, but he didn’t fully understand why.
Only after calming her emotions completely did Penelope turn her gaze to Sain.
“I’m sorry. I gave you a choice, but I didn’t realize it wasn’t a real choice given your situation. You wanted to impress me, so you studied hard and said nothing even when you were punished. Isn’t that right?”
“I... I’m okay. It didn’t hurt much. Really, it didn’t.”
Sain was confident in his ability to improve. He truly meant it.
Learning to read and write was the foundation of all study. Without mastering that, he couldn’t move forward, so he wanted to give it his all.
Standing before the tutor sometimes made him so nervous he broke into a cold sweat, but it wasn’t as bad as life at the orphanage. Compared to the beatings from the director and the group attacks from his older brothers, the tutor’s punishments felt like little more than tickles.
“I’ll introduce you to a new teacher. From now on, the people who teach you will never hurt you.”
“But...”
Sain opened his mouth to protest but quickly closed it again. His thoughts were a tangled mess. He didn’t want to burden Penelope over something like this.
And yet, Penelope was trembling with fury over the fact that Sain had been hit even just a few times by the tutor.
“Sain, you don’t realize this yet, but you don’t need to be hit with a switch to study hard. Isn’t that true?”
“...”
Suddenly, Sain’s vision blurred as tears welled up in his eyes. Oddly enough, he didn’t feel like crying, but the tears came anyway.
He said nothing, but silent tears began to stream down his face. Penelope stood silently, simply watching him.
Only after a long moment did Sain murmur in a halting voice,
“I... I studied really hard...”
“I know.”
“I wanted to be helpful to you, my lord...”
“I know that too.”
At that, Sain let out a wailing sob, his voice cracking as he cried. By then, Penelope’s own eyes had turned red.
Gently, she reached out and patted Sain’s back in a comforting rhythm.
“I already know that you’ve been doing your very best.”
***
Sain finally calmed down after a long while. He seemed both embarrassed by how much he had cried and relieved at the same time.
After feeding him some hot chocolate, Penelope tucked him into bed.
“Alright, take a nap now. You’ll feel much better when you wake up.”
“....”
Sain silently stared up at her.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Am I... okay? I still don’t know how to read yet...”
“Of course, you’re okay. There’s no such thing as too late or too early when it comes to learning. As long as you want to try, you can do anything.”
Sain’s face looked blank as if he was absorbing her words. After a moment, he finally spoke.
“I... want to go to school.”
“You’re not afraid of it anymore?”
“I think I’ll be okay. And... if I don’t like it, I’ll tell you.”
“Good. But let’s work on learning to read and write first, okay?”
Penelope smiled warmly. Sain nodded firmly, his eyelids growing heavy. It seemed the tension had left him, and he was on the verge of sleep.
“Good night, Sain.”
Penelope quietly left the room.
The moment she opened the door, she was startled.
The narrow corridor was packed with staff members. Even Ahwin and Lianel were among them, standing near the back.
It wasn’t surprising to see Ahwin, who had been following her since earlier, but Lianel’s presence was unexpected.
Lowering her voice, Penelope addressed the group.
“Sain just fell asleep. Let’s move to the sitting room.”
The gathered staff followed her en masse toward the sitting room. Ahwin watched the crowd shuffle along before moving himself, with Penelope and Lianel bringing up the rear.
Once the door to the sitting room closed, the staff erupted into an outpouring of guilt and frustration.
“It’s all our fault. If we had known the young master was being punished during his lessons, we would have told you immediately.”
“We never imagined that so-called tutor would be so shameless.”
“Exactly! What kind of person hits a child’s calves until they’re bruised and swollen?!”
“Everyone makes mistakes when they’re learning to read! Did that tutor never struggle with anything as a child? It’s unbelievable how small-minded they were!”
Even Giselle raised her voice, visibly furious. Every one of them had cared for Sain as if he were their own younger brother, and the incident had left them all fuming.
Penelope sighed deeply before speaking.
“Sain being punished is partly my fault. I’ll make sure to pay closer attention to him from now on. Can I count on all of you to do the same?”
“Of course.”
“We’ll watch over him more carefully,” the staff answered one by one.
Once they had settled down, Penelope continued.
“Sain mentioned that he wants to go to school, so we’ll need to start preparing for that.”
“Do you think it’s safe?”
“He won’t be going immediately. I’ll make sure there’s no danger before he attends. In the meantime, I’ll hire another tutor, but this time I’ll need all of you to keep a close eye on them.”
“Absolutely!” Laura answered enthusiastically.
Penelope let out another sigh of relief.
“Alright, meeting adjourned. Everyone back to work. Don’t you all have things to do?”
The staff quickly dispersed, filing out of the sitting room. Soon, only Ahwin and Lianel remained.
Ahwin raised an eyebrow before turning to Lianel.
“Why are you still here?”
“I have something to ask the lord,” Lianel replied.
“Go ahead,” Penelope said, nodding.
Lianel spoke, his tone measured.
“Sometimes, corporal punishment can be the most effective way to discipline a child.”
“And?”
“Do you think overprotection could end up ruining the child’s future?”
His expression seemed genuinely curious, but Penelope felt a surge of anger nonetheless.
“If you want my opinion, the idea that corporal punishment is more effective is nothing but an excuse. How much do you think a child truly learns from studying out of fear of being hit? Children have their own sense of self and self-worth. Do you really believe that damaging those with violence leaves them with anything meaningful?”
“...I see,” Lianel said simply. He gazed at her for a moment, his dark eyes flickering with an unreadable light.
“I’ve resolved my question. I’ll take my leave now.”
‘That’s it?’
Penelope blinked in disbelief. She had expected more from him, but Lianel left the room, clearly satisfied with the answer, his steps firm and steady.
Now, only Ahwin and Penelope remained in the sitting room.
Ahwin studied her silently for a moment before shrugging.
“Are you over it now?”
“...More or less. I wanted to take better care of Sain, but I keep wondering if I’m just making things worse for him.”
“Doubt it. Compared to starving and being beaten at an orphanage, this is paradise.”
“I know that much. I also know I’m using him for my own purposes.”
“You think he doesn’t realize that? At twelve years old, he’s more than capable of understanding what’s going on and making his own choices. Sain is here because he chose to be here with you.”
His tone was cold, almost cynical, but Penelope felt strangely comforted by his words.
With a sudden slap to her cheek, Penelope startled Ahwin.
“What are you doing? Self-punishment?”
“I had a weak moment of doubt, that’s all. I agree—Sain is happier here, and I believe that too.”
“Good enough,” Ahwin replied with a faint chuckle.
Penelope bit her lip briefly before speaking again.
“Well, you should leave too. I’m heading back to the office.”
“Don’t you have something to ask me first?”
“...Me?”
“Yeah. Got any favors you need from me?”
Penelope looked puzzled. Ahwin stared at her intently, as if peering straight into her soul.
She flinched under his gaze. His lips curled into a smile—one that was both captivating and faintly mischievous.
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“As you already know, there’s almost nothing I can’t do in this world. So, tell me. What do you want from me?”
Penelope hesitated. For a moment, she caught the glimmer of gold in his eyes—a reminder of the innate power he wielded as a beloved of the abyssal mana.
“I do have a request... but are you sure it’s okay?”
“Of course.”
Ahwin answered without hesitation.
Penelope swallowed hard before speaking.
“That tutor. I want them to receive exactly what they did to Sain. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Ahwin frowned deeply.