“No.”

“Then, from the Duke of Veridian’s family…?”

“No?”

Vale, who had cautiously opened his mouth, was now confused.

“Then how…?”

“How? What’s wrong? Can’t I talk about your father?”

“Well, that’s…”

“What did you say earlier? You said if you spoke, something would happen. So, what now? I’m perfectly fine.”

“…”

“Tsk, tsk, you really have no idea who I am, do you?”

Feldarn pushed Vale’s forehead with his finger. Vale tumbled backward and landed awkwardly. Feldarn smirked at the boy’s ridiculous appearance.

“What the hell are you doing…?!”

Vale, his face red with embarrassment, shouted, feeling humiliated. Feldarn briefly spoke.

“Listen carefully.”

Feldarn stood up, smoothing his wrinkled clothes. After hanging his coat on a hanger, he sat down, casually crossing his legs.

The smoothness of his lifted lips, his posture—Vale stood awkwardly in front of him, his eyes full of tension as he watched.

“I don’t like noise. And this place is filthy. If you keep studying in a place like this, you’ll get sick. Clean it up and make it tidy from now on.”

“What the hell are you to tell me that…?”

“What do you mean, ‘what the hell am I’?”

Feldarn chuckled.

“From today on, I’m your tutor and the one who’ll teach you economics. Don’t you think I have the right to give such orders?”

“You? You’re my tutor? A good-for-nothing like you?”

“Good-for-nothing? You’re going too far. I’m also a noble, you know.”

“A noble? How are you a noble? Who are you? What family are you from?!”

Feldarn glared at Vale, whose confidence had returned. Normally, Vale wouldn’t react to such a glance, but for some reason, he felt like he should comply now.

Vale hesitantly took a step forward, and Feldarn, with a sympathetic expression, grabbed his shoulder. And then…

Smack!

“AAAHH!”

With a loud sound, Vale grabbed his head and crouched down. Feldarn had given him what is known as the “justice slap,” silencing his loud mouth, and then spoke bluntly.

“Who I am is your homework. You’d better figure it out by the time we meet tomorrow. Got it?”

“Y-you bastard! How dare you lay a hand on me?! You’re dead. I’ll make sure to kill you…!”

Smack!

“AAAHHH!”

“Just so you know, in my class, I’m the only one who can swear or shout. If you do it again, there will be various punishments waiting for you. So, unless you’re a pervert who gets excited by pain, you better hold it in.”

“You bastard…!”

Smack!

“AAAHH!”

After the third slap, Vale finally burst into tears and collapsed to the ground.

“Tsk.”

Anyone who saw this might think he was fighting with a kid. Feldarn clicked his tongue and stood up. Vale, flinching and crying, looked up at Feldarn.

“Class starts tomorrow, so follow what I said today. Unless you want to get scolded the moment we meet. Got it?”

“…”

“Answer.”

“…Fine.”

“What?”

Feldarn glared at him with fierce eyes, and Vale lowered his head, eyes downcast.

“…Yes.”

“…”

Although Feldarn wasn’t entirely satisfied, he decided to settle for this. He rubbed his eyes, put on his clothes again, and opened the door. Immediately, the sounds of movement disappeared. Probably, Vale’s servants had gathered outside the door, worried about their young master crying.

Feldarn glanced at Vale and then turned without care. Left behind, Vale, filled with anger, sprang to his feet.

“I’ll get my revenge!”

Of course, it wouldn’t be Vale who would carry out the revenge himself, but that didn’t matter. His resentment toward the man who had struck him for the first time was immense. He was determined to pay back this humiliation and headed toward his father’s room.

---

“So, did you find out?”

Inside the now clean room, Vale lowered his head glumly.

“I asked you, did you find out?”

“…It’s Lord Aztein.”

Vale flinched and slowly opened his mouth when asked again. Feldarn smiled and looked around the room.

Unlike yesterday, it was very clean. It looked much cleaner than usual, but whether it was because of the scene from yesterday or because the servants had been more careful, Feldarn couldn’t tell. Vale, who had been watching Feldarn survey the surroundings with nervous eyes, slowly opened his mouth.

“Is it… okay?”

“Eh, it’s fine.”

Without even looking at Vale, Feldarn replied gruffly. He glanced at Vale and, as their eyes met, Vale flinched instinctively.

Training’s going well in just one day. Feldarn thought to himself with satisfaction, then tried to maintain the most stoic expression and voice he could manage.

“So.”

“Yes?”

“So, what did you say to your father about me?”

Feldarn noticed Vale flinching again. Vale, with an awkward voice, shook his head quickly.

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about! I didn’t say anything to my father! Nothing at all! We made a promise, didn’t we? Not to tell. Right?”

“Oh, really? Amazing. You didn’t tell?”

Didn’t tell, my ass. Last night, Duke Sapeldric had personally visited, apologizing and thanking him for punishing his son, even giving him a gift.

They had been friends for 15 years, ever since they met in college. Bechillon had said that his son’s character was so terrible that he had no one to teach him, and he had personally begged Feldarn. He pleaded, saying it was fine to beat or curse his son, just please teach him some manners and discipline his behavior.

Normally, Feldarn would have refused, but because of Bechillon’s constant begging, he reluctantly accepted the offer.

They were friends who used to curse at each other without hesitation, so what’s the big deal about calling each other by name? Feldarn had always thought that children who were arrogant and rude could be tamed with a few good slaps.

Especially children raised in greenhouses. Once they realized that the greenhouse no longer protected them, they became very anxious and jittery, feeling vulnerable and shrinking into themselves.

If it went too far, it could have the opposite effect, but Feldarn knew just how to handle it properly.

“As I said yesterday, let me explain again. From now on, I, Feldarn, will be in charge of your etiquette training and economics. There’s nothing difficult about it. If you just follow along as I told you yesterday, our relationship should be very peaceful. What do you think?”

Vale, glancing around nervously, slowly nodded. Feldarn narrowed his eyes.

“Answer me.”

“Yes. I, uh, think that’s probably true.”

Vale hurriedly responded, fearing that another burst of anger would come. Feldarn, with an indifferent face, clicked his tongue and opened his bag, pulling out a large book. He placed it on the desk.

“What’s this?”

“It’s the work of my grandfather, who compiled the economics of the Lirrus Empire. It’s a book from 50 years ago, so some parts are outdated, but I’ll go over those minor issues. Once we get into the core of it, there are more errors, so we’ll fix those later.”

Feldarn pushed the book towards Vale, then briefly said:

“I’ll teach you the basics of economics contained in this book.”

“Got it.”

Vale adjusted his posture, and Feldarn, with a serious expression, opened the cover of the book for him and began speaking.

“What do you think is the best way to study?”

Vale blinked a few times, not understanding the sudden question. He answered purely from his own thoughts.

“I think it’s just about seeing a lot, hearing a lot, and learning a lot.”

“That’s just studying itself. What do you think is necessary if you want to learn easily and perfectly?”

“Hmm, of course, it’s your head, right? If you’re stupid, no matter how much you’re told, you won’t understand or get it.”

“Right. If you explain the basic principles of economics to a fool, they won’t get it. But there is a way to help even that fool understand the basic principles of economics.”

“Really?”

“Of course. In fact, if you use this method, you could even get into college in less than three years.”

“How?!”

Vale’s eyes lit up, and he asked eagerly. Feldarn smiled faintly. Vale, feeling a sense of unease, opened his mouth urgently, but Feldarn spoke first.

“Memorize it.”

“…”

“From here to here. I’ll give you three days. Memorize all of it. After that, there’ll be a test.”

“Wait, over 200 pages…!”

“By the way, if you get more than 10 wrong, punishment awaits. If you’re curious, you can try failing and see what happens.”

“…”

Vale swallowed nervously as he quickly opened the book. The first page, full of tiny text, and behind it, a pure stream of characters with no pictures.

Vale, looking upset, raised his head. Feldarn, with a disinterested look, met his gaze and nodded.

“Oh, and by the way, every time you get one more wrong, the severity of the punishment increases. So if you’re curious, you can fail even more.”

Feldarn’s smile looked so evil, it seemed like the embodiment of a devil.

“This is way too much. Even so, this is a bit…”

“Do you want me to make it longer?”

“…”

The word “negotiation” didn’t exist in Feldarn’s vocabulary.