LITFTNKT CHAPTER 5

The Noble Kindergarten Teacher’s Daily Struggles

Episode 005

“What nonsense are you spouting? How annoying. Just go inside, my lady. You’re only getting in the way.”

The way the maid spoke—arrogant and dismissive—was unthinkable for someone addressing the daughter of a noble house. The other maids giggled along with her.

Efna, watching them silently, plucked the broom from the maid’s hands and swept up the trash at her feet.

“You fear your master—my father—but not me, is that it?”

“Wh-what are you saying…? My lady, did you eat something bad?”

“Because I have no ‘talent,’ isn’t that right?”

No one replied. The maids only cast furtive glances at one another, their silence an admission.

Efna didn’t mind. She opened her violet leather-bound notebook and smoothly wrote something inside.

“Just now, you said I’m the family’s disgrace. That I’m a fake.”

“That’s…!”

“Maybe you’re right. But here’s the thing—I can’t stand it when children are rude. Consider it an occupational hazard. So while I am still the genuine daughter of this house, I’d advise you to mind your manners.”

The maid swallowed hard.

In truth, Lady Efna had no power here. She couldn’t even command a single servant. Such was her standing in this estate.

And yet… why did her warning feel so chilling?

Her clothes were shabby, her skin dull. She hardly looked like a noble lady at all—less, even, than a commoner.

But something about her aura demanded caution, like that of a kind but strict schoolteacher.

“Manners… w-what do you mean…?”

The maid trembled, sweating nervously. Efna’s smile only softened further.

“Thanks for the information. My half-sister Lilien is to be officially registered into the family, is she? What wonderful news.”

“Wh—…! Have you gone mad?”

“Perhaps. Feels like I picked the wrong webnovel, after all.”

“Web… what?”

The bewildered maid could only gape, but Efna spared her no glance, turning and leaving without another word.

The maids left behind could only stare blankly, as if a storm had blown past them. At last, one whispered in awe:

“She’s changed. Different. Like she’s become someone else entirely… Was Lady Efna always like this?”

“That’s the same lady who used to say nothing even when someone spilled a drink on her dress?”

“I swear, she reminded me of that professor. You know, the scariest one back when we were in maid academy…!”

With their shocked murmurs, a rumor spread swiftly through the manor:

Lady Efna had changed. Completely. As if she were someone else.

✦ ✦ ✦

The Windyster family was special.

Every child of the Windyster line was born with a remarkable “talent.”

Some with extraordinary beauty.
Some with great physical strength.
Some with a knack for business.
Some with genius artistry.

Even with its relatively short history, the Windyster Count family had managed to carve out a place among the central nobility thanks entirely to these talents.

But for the first time in family history, a child was born without any talent.

“That child… was me, wasn’t it?”

Back in her room, Efna sat on the sagging bed, muttering to herself. The half-broken frame creaked under her weight.

Drip, drip. Filthy water leaked from the ceiling. Staring at it, the thought struck her:

This possession really went wrong.

Indeed, three weeks ago, she had woken up in this body—a seventeen-year-old noble girl.

And not just that. It was still twenty whole years before the original novel was supposed to begin.

The protagonists weren’t even born yet. She had possessed a character completely unrelated to the story.

Rubbing her throbbing temple, Efna closed the leather notebook where she’d been jotting down notes.

Then—

The tightly shut door opened without warning.

“Efna sister, there you are!”

Light footsteps. Lilien entered with a bright smile, her pink hair braided neatly.

Behind her stood two brothers, their expressions sour, as though even looking at Efna disgusted them.

“We’ve been searching everywhere.”

“Lilien? What is it?”

In the past three weeks, Efna had hardly spoken to Lilien at all. Understandable—Efna had always been alone.

Waking in a shabby room, eating meager meals, struggling to adapt to this world—that was her daily routine.

But now Lilien linked arms with her and chirped,

“Come out with us for dinner! Father says he’ll treat us to something delicious.”

“Me too?”

“Of course! Oh, how about inviting your fiancé, Marquis Bilzen, as well?”

“Hardnis Bilzen returned to his territory yesterday.”

“Oh… I see.”

Lilien’s shoulders drooped, disappointment written all over her. Seeing this, her second brother stepped forward with a scowl.

Tall, muscular, with red hair—he had inherited the family’s “physical talent,” and easily become a knight. He loomed over Efna as though threatening her.

“Hey. Did you really have to phrase it like that and disappoint her?”

“What do you mean…?”

“You could’ve made something up. I went out of my way to bring you along despite the embarrassment, and you ruin it with your mouth. Damn irritating.”

What exactly did I do wrong just now?

It was senseless venting. Yet no one spoke up against it.

The eldest brother was too busy flipping through business plans to care. Efna answered quietly:

“I don’t see why I should lie to cover for my fiancé, wherever he is, Brother.”

“What? I’ve heard rumors you’ve gone half mad, but maybe it’s true. Are you talking back to me?”

Whish. His large hand rose without hesitation, practiced from many strikes.

But before it could fall, someone blocked it.

“Enough. Not in front of the servants.”

It was their father—the Count of Windyster. He pushed his son aside, then turned to Efna.

“Efna, you insolent girl.”

Smack!

The slap cracked through the shabby room, sharp and cold.

Did he… just hit me? He slapped me?

She turned back to him blankly, handprint burning on her cheek. The Count looked down at her with pure disgust.

“To think you’d dare talk back to your brother. I told you to keep your head down and live quietly.”

“Father…”

“Lilien has awakened another talent. In her very first shooting lesson, she hit six out of ten shots near the center. A clear mark of physical aptitude. She now carries the same talent as the first Count of Windyster himself. Tonight we dine to celebrate it.”

He flicked the hand that had struck her, as though shaking off filth.

“And you dared spoil Lilien’s mood? You get away with just one slap tonight. But if you ever stand in the way of my daughter’s future, I will not spare you.”

If Lilien is “your daughter,” then what am I, Father?

The words rose to her throat, but she swallowed them. She couldn’t speak—

Because they all turned and left, abandoning her alone in the room.

Was she even truly family?

Maybe those maids were right—that I’m a fake.

Bang! The old door slammed shut, nearly splintering. Staring at it, she finally felt the weight of her reality.

In this mansion, I’m nothing but someone they wish erased…

Such a pitiful existence.

She needed air. Perhaps then she’d feel less crushed.

Efna wandered out aimlessly and found herself in the training yard.

There, her eyes fell on a gun—Lilien’s. Left behind after practice.

Her pale hands closed around it.