Karl's hand trembled as he turned the door knob but just stood there, not daring to push the door open. It took him a few deep breaths before he slowly opened the door.
His breath was caught in his throat as he saw his mother staring at him, her face neither smiling nor angry.
Karl quickly looked down, focusing at his own feet, too scared to meet Ercia's eyes.
"M-Mom, I thought it was a servant..."
Karl gave an excuse as he kept cursing himself for being stupid.
Ercia just stood there, silent, as Karl and all the servants just kept praying to get out of this alive.
"...Children's Hall." Ercia spoke after a few minutes.
Even though her voice might sound calm, that scared Karl more as he had never seen his mother so calm.
Karl quickly nodded as he made a run from the scene.
As all the servants saw Karl run, they were left stranded, not knowing what is going to happen to them.
Will they be killed for hearing what they shouldn't have?
That was the only thought going through everyone's mind.
Fortunately for them, after a few minutes Ercia also turned and walked away towards the inner part of the manor, making all the servants let out a sigh inwardly.
But their relief was short-lived as Ercia suddenly stopped and turned towards them.
All the servants had paused in the position they were at since Karl had cursed.
So those whose faces were in the direction Ercia cursed for being subject to Ercia's gaze while those who couldn't see Ercia felt more scared of the unknown.
"Do not tell what Karl said to anyone."
Ercia, ignorant of the servant's feeling, just said her mind before turning around and continuing walking.
***
Karl ran towards the knowledge hall, cursing himself for his actions.
Because he had been sorting out all the knowledge he had got, worrying about the future, he had really fucked up the present.
'But still, its good that it was mom there. If it was dad-'
Karl felt chills just thinking about what could have happened to him.
Guards bowed to Karl but he ignored them as he ran inside the knowledge hall.
Karl busted open the door, quickly running back to the class, sitting at the seat where he had sat yesterday, not paying any attention to the others.
The students gulped nervously at Karl's action as they turned towards Esta but became shocked as they saw Esta smiling.
The most shocked of them all was Taner, who had became excited about the scolding Karl might get.
But there was one kid who was not paying any attention to Esta's reaction.
A certain red eyed girl was staring down at her table as her mind was flying over cloud nine.
***
After Karl had gone after speaking his share, Esta was left overwhelmed. But the decision was not too hard for her.
After reaching her room, she had made her nude video but did not stop at only that.
'After watching the video, a young boy like him will fall in love even if he had not already.'
Esta's plan was simple, if she could just make Karl fall for her, trust her and... follow her, then everything she had endured since her parents died will become worth it.
She will be able to take revenge for her parents, the thing she wanted to do the most.
'Though I will not be able to marry someone I love, it is very worth it. If I become the duchess, I will be able to meet the best of the men. I can just have sex with them without Karl finding out.'
Esta's plan was simple but she felt it all fall apart when Karl did not come to class.
She waited even after the class time had started for Karl to come, her heartbeat increasing with each passing minute.
After 10 minutes passed, she understood that Karl was not coming.
'Why did he not come?'
As the thought came to her, lots of bad scenarios began playing in her head, all ending with her death.
While she was getting paler by the second, students started calling her, breaking her out of her stupor.
'I am thinking too negatively. If he had told others, I would not be standing here right now. Right now, I should start the class.'
While Esta had continued to teach the class more about noble etiquettes, she was still feeling scared about Karl's absence.
But as the door burst open, Karl entering the class, the only emotion she felt was relief.
While she was basking in her happiness, she noticed students staring at her.
She cleared her throat, clearly understanding their gaze but now knew better than to question Karl.
"We will continue with how to behave in front of patriarch and..."
As the class continued, most kids forgetting Karl's abrupt entrance, only two kids were not paying attention to class.
'Should I bunk? No, wherever I go, servants will find out and if somehow mom finds out- Fuck! I should not have cursed aloud but I got far more important things to think about rather than this useless stuff!'
Karl somehow calmed himself down and started to concentrate, continuing to understand all the information that had been shoved in his head.
But unknown to Karl, the girl sitting beside him was storming her head, thinking of ways to start a conversation with him.
***
As the class was about to end, all the students felt impatient, trying to get out of the class and talk with friends. All other than two.
Karl was still deep in thought, too concentrated to pay attention to anything else.
On the other hand, Esta's emotions were a bit complex.
'He is still not listening.'
Emily smiled bitterly as she looked at Karl not paying attention to what Esta was teaching. She had tried to talk to Karl but was outright ignored.
Even when Esta had distributed cups to the class, teaching the correct way to hold them, Karl had not even looked anywhere.
While Emily was feeling happy about being able to sit beside Karl yet bitter about Karl being too busy with himself, the bell rang, marking the end of the class.
Esta once again asked everyone other than Karl to leave which everyone complied with.
As Karl was the only one left in the class, he was still not aware of the class ending.
Esta, also aware of Karl being too occupied with his own thoughts, went to her table and took out a cube covered with intricate lines from her bag.
As she put the cube in front of Karl, Karl still was not paying any attention, his eyes closed, his face having a slight frown.
"Young Master."
Esta called out but Karl did not hear her.
"Young Master."
Esta repeated, this time her hand slightly caressing Karl's face.
Karl, disturbed by the sudden touch, opened his eyes only to find the classroom empty and Esta looking at him with a seductive gaze.
It did not take long for Karl to understand that the class had ended and could also guess the intention behind Esta's coy smile.
'I can't take that from her today- Wait! Yeah, I can just blame it all on her! She taught me how to curse! But... no. If brainwashed, father will easily catch the lie and also she will be a lot useful in the upcoming years. No. She would have been useful. If the knowledge I got is true, then she is a necessity.'
Karl spoke as he made up her mind.
"Not today. Give it to me tomorrow."
Karl spoke as he stood up and walked out of the room, leaving alone the dumbfounded Esta in the classroom.
As Karl walked out of the room, the sight he saw was complete opposite of what he had always seen.
This was his second day in children's hall yet the first time he was doing something in time as he had arrived late both days and left late the previous day.
As Karl looked around the hallway filled with children, his eyes fell on a certain boy.
'Oh! I forgot about this dude! Wait. Fuck, problem solved!'
Taner felt a chill run down his spine as he saw Karl suddenly smile while looking at him.
'I need to thank this guy for helping me~'
As Karl was about to approach Taner, he heard someone shout his name. As he looked to find who had shouted his name, he saw a girl with red eyes looking at him, her face blushing.
"Hmm?"
As Karl tilted his head in confusion, Emily's head went blank, too nervous to speak anything.
'Do I know her? I don't think so.'
"Did you just call me Karl?"
Emily broke out of her stupor at Karl's words, understanding the blunder she had done.
She panicked as the memory of her father telling her to respect young master and the patriarch kept repeating in her mind.
But fortunately for her, Karl quickly let it go, turning away and walking towards a slim boy.
"Long time no see."
Karl smiled gently as he saw Raun for the first time after the ceremony and Raun smiled back.
"You are not in my class?" Karl asked just recalling Raun's existence.
"I am in class F. I didn't have enough potential to be in class A."
Raun answered, his voice not showing any sadness.
'Classes are divided on the basis of potential? Too sad.'
Karl continued to talk with Raun as they got out of the Children's Hall and walked around in the garden.
A lot of kids took this chance to become friendly to Karl, and luckily for them Karl was also in the mood to know others.
Karl kept talking around for the next few hours but as it turned evening, all of the kids left, leaving Karl all alone with his painful trip to home.
'Shit, how do I go back to home now?'
Karl walked slowly, back to the family's manor but as he neared, what he dreaded came true.