Request made by adventurefan2020
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(Y/n), as a mere commoner, was never destined to be a princess or even a duchess. And she was perfectly fine with that. After all, she worked her butt off to become a tutor through all of the years of her life, struggling to acquire education. However, her pride came from that struggle, holding her head up high from her life's work. Even given the opportunity to become an assistant teacher at a prestigious school meant for young nobles, she was more than satisfied with her position in life.
"Miss Iulian," a small noble boy questioned, holding the book above his head, "What does this mean?"
The young teacher sat the boy down at his seat as she skimmed the section he was confused about. Carefully and calmly, she explained the situation between the fourteenth emperor and his sons in the simplest of terms. The boy nodded with a focused gaze before he fully understood the concept. He then smiled and thanked her, packing up his books in his bag before his personal maid took them. Waving farewell, he scampered off, likely to go play at his manor.
It was satisfying to be a teacher. The (h/c) haired girl certainly thought so. At times, it could be a chore, but any job had such thoughts. To educate the bright future of tomorrow was demanding and time-consuming, just the way she liked it. Doing something as small as cleaning up the classroom was also rewarding, the girl placing the next day's materials to the side in anticipation of the main professor's needs.
Holding her own notes to her chest, she walked through the halls, smiling at the noble kids still lingering about. Some were too proud to throw a glance at her while others were glad to speak to an accomplished commoner. Either way, she continued to glisten the entire way to the dean's office, presenting her notes to the secretary before she was given papers intended for the teacher she worked under.
"I'm very sorry to tell you, Mr. Boucher," the dean said loudly, allowing the girl and sighing secretary to overhear, "Your son has denied every tutor we have been able to provide. Unless you'd like an assistant teacher or intern, I'm afraid I don't have any others to recommend."
"I'm at a bit of a loss myself," a man sighed, "but I am willing to take anyone at this point. Even a fellow noble child would do."
The (h/c) haired girl heard a crash emitting from the other side of the door, flinching at the sound it made. It sounded expensive. Yet there was no reaction from the other parties inside the room. They simply continued speaking as though nothing had happened at all. Only when they opened the door did she note that a small child must have been the culprit. He was in the midst of pouting, crossing his arms over his chest and haughtily looking down on everything in his way, including his own father.
"Miss Iulian," the dean coughed, a bit surprised by the young girl's presence, "I don't suppose you would like the challenge of handing a young boy?"
The girl looked at the boy once more, taking note of his aggravated features. He was grumpy and maltempered, but he was still a boy. At least, she had thought so, but the look he gave her was mature, clearly wise beyond his years. He even made the adults beside him look uncertain of themselves as if he could steal away their confidence with that look he had on his face.
"Miss Iulian?" another man repeated, presumably the boy's father.
"Ah, sorry! I'd be happy to tutor him, but I would have to do so after my classes for the day."
"We'd be happy to accommodate you. If at all possible, please come to this estate tomorrow. Introduce yourself to the guards at the front gate as Sosseki's tutor. Thank you very much, Miss Iulian!"
The man gave a joyful beam and began shaking the girl's hand very tightly and enthusiastically. He then bowed and handed her a gold-plated card that possessed his name, title, and address. It was rather excessive for a bit of information, but nobles adored such pointless things, especially high-ranking ones. As she noted that kind of behavior, even his son possessed that mentality, though he was more stingy than his father. He even turned his nose up at him giving away the card to an assistant teacher.
After the pair left, the (h/c) haired girl was also thanked ecstatically by the dean. He elaborated he was running out of excuses to give the nobleman, continuing to ramble nonsensically about how no one in the school wanted to take him on as a pupil. From what she had heard, he was quite stubborn in being taught and refused to acknowledge others' attempts to do so. In fact, he believed he was far more intelligent than anyone else. That was the issue.
As she was told, once she finished her classes, she was greeted by a carriage, likely prepared by the dean for his gratefulness towards her accepting the challenge. Swiftly taken to a large county estate, she was shown inside by a guard who was almost in disbelief about her reasoning for being there. However, he did escort her directly to the young boy's study despite his doubts.
"You actually came," he huffed, closing a book with a loud "oomph", his eyes darting to the girl with anger, "but don't think you'll stay long."
"Is that so? I've heard you're a bit of a troublemaker. Guess there's the proof."
The boy sneered, giving a scoff before proceeding to stare at her. He didn't say much, just mumbled to himself every now and then, likely scheming on how he would get her to leave. Or perhaps it was him attempting to come up with a way to enjoy her presence, such as scaring her off or traumatizing her so much it would halt her teaching for the rest of her life. Then again, with the confident way she sat down on the couch, he didn't think it would be fun to do the former. So the latter it was.
"Come take a seat," she smiled, "We should get started right away."
Accepting the challenge she issued to him, the boy plopped down right next to her, crossing his arms over his chest. Though he wasn't at all interested in listening, he was somewhat curious as to what ploy she would come up with to get him to pay attention. So he sat obediently, for the time being, watching as she put down a puzzle. It wasn't one with which an adult would have toyed with. It was one for babies. Well, the way the blonde looked at it, one would have thought it wasn't even suitable for a newborn.
"How dare you!" the boy blushed in embarrassment, slamming his hands on the table, "Mocking a future count! This won't go unpunished!"
"Ah! Could it be...does my lord not know how to solve such a thing?"
"D-D-Don't be pre-preposterous!"
With a growl, the blonde began to quickly put in the blocks to the slots of their respective shapes. He then darted his eyes back to the girl who proceeded to give him applause. His cheeks turned red in embarrassment, wondering where a commoner had gotten such gall as to ridicule him in such a childish manner. However, she only proceeded to place another puzzle on the table, this one a word search. He glared at her further but played along, solving it within half a minute and sticking out his small chest in pride.
She then presented him with a third puzzle, one more adult-like and suited to him. The boy scoffed with arrogance and proceeded to click the pieces of the puzzle together. Three hundred pieces later and he had completed an image; the scenery of some faraway countryside. Once again did he smirk with confidence, believing with all of his heart that she or anyone else wouldn't have been able to solve it as quickly and concisely as he did. Once again, she applauded and praised him, the boy unmoved by her words. It was only natural he would be congratulated. He constantly accomplished great feats.
The last thing that she did was place down a piece of paper. He studied it carefully only to find it was some sort of cipher. The letters were all jumped up, there was strange writing used to create the cipher and no clear clue on how to proceed with it. Rather, as soon as it was placed down, the (h/c) haired girl packed up the other puzzles and began to leave, the blonde eyeing her curiously before he threw a cup at her. It shattered on the ground, drawing her attention, but she did not react to it.
"You've been here barely an hour and you're already leaving?" Sosseki questioned, throwing her a hateful glare, "After giving me such stupid kids' toys? Commoners really don't have a work ethic."
"Say what you will, but I've completed the first step towards being your tutor."
"And what was that?"
"Why, giving you homework, of course, young lord. All you have to do is complete that before I return next week and I won't ever come back to bother you. Your father was on his last legs, you know. So if you complete it, this way you'll never have to be subject to a tutor again. Sound good?"
The blonde smirked, ignoring her as she left. He only stared down at the cipher, determined to do as she requested. The boy just assumed she didn't want to have to put in the effort to teach him just as everyone else had before. After all, the pay his father offered for one session was enough to have a commoner live carefree for an entire year. So he would do that one thing and be given the freedom to learn at his own likeness.
A month later and (Y/n) returned to the estate. She took the time to have some tea with a maid of the boy's. She was rather nervous about speaking but after some time, she opened up, expressing her wish for him to gain some humility. Of course, the (h/c) haired girl had already seen that as a major flaw of his, or at the very least an obstacle to his learning. She suspected that was the reason that he had gone through so many different teachers.
"You!" a shout echoed, the sound of the door opening sending the maid to tense and look over the tutor's shoulder in concern, "You! Y-Y-You commoner!"
The blonde boy stood with shaking legs as the girl stood up to greet him. He immediately clung to her leg and began to quiver, likely in rage. She chuckled at the shameless way he held onto her, further amused when he clung tighter. He looked up and shook a piece of paper in front of her, all but demanding she answer for the ridiculous task she had given him. He despised having to act in such a manner, but he was hectic and panicky, lacking any sort of patience whatsoever.
"What is it?! What is it?! You must tell me! I'm going crazy trying to figure this out!"
"So what you're saying is that you can't solve it, young lord."
"Is that not what I said?! Solve it! Solve it right now!"
The girl chuckled and took out a pen, beginning to show the boy how to solve the cipher. His eyes watched with great curiosity, taking close note of everything she did. And when she finished, his name was revealed, the boy's face lighting up bright red even to the tips of his ears. He didn't even have the courage to look up at her, gripping at his pants and sniffling in frustration. The boy didn't know why he couldn't solve it. He hated that feeling of being useless and ineffective. In his wallowing, the girl kneeled down to him and spoke softly.
"Not everything can be solved with the knowledge you already have. That's what learning is for, Sosseki; to teach you how to approach the unknown. Listen, it's alright if you can't solve something. In fact, it only encourages you to keep learning. You have to grow your mind to solve obstacles like this. Only that way can you become so annoyingly arrogant. Okay?"
The blonde sniffled further and clung onto her leg, refusing to let go. He had never been so dejected by anything academically related. And yet, despite that, he continued to listen to her as her tutoring session began. Oddly quiet and obedient, he did everything she instructed, keeping his nose in the book with pink cheeks and ears. Even when she left, he escorted her to the carriage, waiting for her, tugging on her dress before she left.
"You'll come back next week, right?" he murmured quietly, looking up with hopeful and yet angry eyes.
"I did promise," (Y/n) responded with a chuckle, patting him affectionately on the head, "Next time, we'll have some fun."
"You promised," he frowned, reminding her of her words, "You can't go back on it."
The boy's tutor was none the wiser as to why he had requested such a thing. In fact, she had planned on coming back whether he wanted her to or not. After all, that was the deal between the two of them. However, each week she had finished up with a class after that, she found a luxurious carriage waiting for her, the small boy inside of it. He would peek through the window to watch her before quickly nudging a nearby servant harshly. They then opened the door for the (h/c) haired girl and bowed respectively, treating her as if she was a countess in her own right. Despite that, however, the blonde refused to look at her, turning his nose up at her.
The two would then proceed to start the tutoring, reading in the ride to the estate, and then doing fun activities to help him learn. He was far more obedient than he was beforehand and put in much effort to learn everything she presented him. In fact, in many ways, he seemed eager to boast, always showing her the things he had achieved at the beginning of their weekly session. He even requested that she tutor him three days a week instead of one. When doing so, his arrogance only increased, stating that she should want to help raise her future count. Even with all that obedience, he was still a little brat.
He had spent the entire school year under her tutelage, about as eager to learn as she was, and she was quite proud. The boy had been top of his class, his father even presenting him with a fine gun to congratulate him. He eagerly showed it off to the (h/c) haired girl before they started, bragging about how intricate the small details were. The boy then sat down and patted next to him, demanding the girl sit right beside him as she always did.
"How exciting. You're going to move up a grade," she beamed, obeying the way the boy held her hand to his head and petting him gently, "This will be our last session together."
"Wh...What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said. You won't need me to tutor you anymore."
"B-But you said that I have to grow my mind! I'm not done growing my mind! So...y-you can't leave. A commoner can't leave their lord...not without permission. I demand you keep teaching me!"
"And I would love to, but I'm not qualified to teach the next grade up."
The blonde boy clenched at the girl's dress while she began to teach him. He could only think on her words, far more unfocused than he typically was. The boy continued to grasp the concepts presented to him, even giving correct answers to her questions. However, when the time came for the session to end and she packed everything up, he grabbed tightly onto her wrist and looked up at her harshly.
"Do you really intend to just leave?" he growled, his grip on her only getting tighter.
"That was the point, yes. But you can always come to find me at the academy whenever you feel lonely."
"I wouldn't miss you!"
The boy's eyebrows furrowed in rage, displeasure seen in every inch of his body. As (Y/n) looked at him, she wondered why he was so adamant about proclaiming that she was lesser than. Surely she had proven to him that she was just as capable as anyone else, including a noble. And yet, he simply refused to acknowledge such a fact for whatever reason. It truly made her sad. Even with all that time she had spent with him, he still didn't view her as anything other than a "commoner".
"Then I will take my leave, my lord," she sighed, wrestling her wrist from the boy.
"Don't you dare! Turning your back on a count is an act of treason! Treason! I'll have you killed for that!"
The (h/c) haired girl ignored the boy. He was quite known for temper tantrums and threats, especially when he was backed into a corner mentally. However, it was nothing for her to worry over since that wasn't something she was capable of changing. It would be the next tutor that would have to experience such a thing. Still, the blonde continued to shout at her to cease moving, even going so far as to call the guards. They promptly surrounded her and locked her arms in place, following the words of their master's son.
"This is childish. I would like to return home sometime today."
"I forbid it! You'll stay here and be a live-in tutor till the day you die pathetically just like the commoner you are! Put her in a guest room and lock the door!"
"Sosseki!" the girl yelled, making the boy flinch from the use of his name, "You tell me all the time you hate me and you want me gone, but the moment I take off by myself, you can't stand it?"
"I do hate you! But that doesn't mean I don't want you! If I want it, I'll have it!"
Motioning largely to the guards, he instructed them to take them away. They complied easily, throwing her into a room. For two days, the only things that passed the doorway were food and water. Then the blonde came in on the third day and sat down, throwing her a book about politics. He demanded she work for her stay, but he was only met with silence. So, to spite her, instead of leaving as she clearly wanted, he sat there, reading the contents of the book himself while occasionally darting his head up to see if she would sit down beside him.
Day after day, he repeated that cycle, sometimes bringing her food to get on her good side. Eventually, he was met with the sight of an empty room. Everything was torn to shreds: the mirror cracked, the curtains in tatters, the bedposts splintered, the bed ripped apart. He looked boredly to the sight of the (h/c) haired girl, tilting his head as she shivered by herself, muttering words underneath her breath with her eyes dilated.
Walking slowly over to her, the boy began to realize she had gone completely insane. Perhaps it was because he was the only one to ever come into that room or perhaps it was because she was locked in that room all day without anything to do. He was the only one with access to books, and even then, he would only let her have them if she agreed to tutor him on its contents. However, her stubbornness had done her in, so in the end, she was left with nothing but a blank and empty mind that fostered insanity.
The blonde chuckled to himself at the sight, finding no pity for her. She had the choice to help him grow his mind, but she rejected it. It was only right that she be punished for her stupidity. After all, he was to be the future count of that land she resided on. To admonish him for wanting to foster a fascinating educational environment was tantamount to the betrayal of her home. So, the boy parted her arms, watching as her fingernails separated from her bloody flesh, and sat on her lap, allowing her to hug him as though he was a teddy bear. He snickered and leaned into the embrace with arrogance, patting her head mockingly.
"I'll suppose, out of the kindness of my own heart, I'll let you have this one thing. But don't think you're getting anything else besides me."