Chapter 2
Part 1: The Governess and the Little Devil (1)
Agnes stood firm, her face tense, as she endured the sharp gaze of the stern butler.
The butler glanced at the letter of introduction through his thin-rimmed glasses, then at Agnes’s face, narrowing his eyes with suspicion.
Agnes fully understood his doubt.
“It’s suspicious, no doubt about it.”
At twenty-two, Agnes was a young governess with only three years of experience—young even among her peers.
Though she had been forced to work due to her family circumstances, it was still highly unusual for an unmarried woman of marriageable age to work as a live-in governess for a single man.
It was an environment prone to scandal.
“They probably think I’m pretending to work just to catch the eye of the unmarried duke…”
They might suspect her of being a foolish girl dreaming of unwarranted fortune and romance.
But Agnes stood tall. She had not even a grain of romantic interest in Duke Battenberg. On the contrary, he was her enemy.
After all, Duke Battenberg would be the man to kill her fourteen years later.
The butler finally spoke to the calmly waiting Agnes.
“You’ve only been working as a governess for three years?”
“Yes.”
“And your letter of recommendation comes from Countess Westwick?”
“That’s right. I worked for her for about a year and a half. I taught a nine-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy.”
“And why did you leave?”
“I had personal reasons.”
She couldn’t exactly say, “Because I came back from the future.” So she gave a vague answer. The butler’s suspicions seemed to deepen, but there was nothing else Agnes could say.
“Have you read the letter of recommendation?”
“No. She just told me she’d write a good one, and I trusted her.”
“I see. Well, what she wrote can hardly be called a recommendation. She said she hoped you’d come looking for a job with this letter so she could ask the reader to kindly chase you away.”
“Did she really?”
As expected. Agnes simply smiled.
Upon returning to the past, the first thing she did was resign from the Westwick household. Originally, she would have continued working there until the count returned to his estate a year later.
Even back then, when she finally had to leave, the countess had written a mischievous letter stating: “Please send her away so she’ll have no job left and come crying back to us.”
“She’s quite the playful type.”
“And the children in the Westwick household? Were they playful as well?”
“They took after their mother quite a bit.”
They were adorable little troublemakers. Agnes smiled without realizing.
Even before her regression, the Westwick siblings had remained in touch with her, unlike many other students who easily forgot their childhood tutors. These two continued to write and ask after her, playful yet kind-hearted.
“I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors, but to be honest, this isn’t a job we like to offer young ladies.”
The butler said.
“Rumors?”
“You came here without any information at all?”
“I heard that the Marquis and Marchioness of Reynold died in a tragic accident, and that the Duke of Battenberg took in his nephew, which is why a governess is needed… That’s all.”
“In truth…”
The butler lowered his voice. Even without hearing the rest, she could guess.
People in households with naughty, troublesome children always had the same reaction as this butler: “Why bring this hardship on yourself? Go somewhere with gentle children.”
Of course, Agnes also preferred easy students. The simpler the job, the more comfortable the life. But the ones who stayed in her heart the longest, who kept in touch even years later, were always the children who had made her life hardest.
“So, yes, Miss Agnes May Graham—Miss Graham it is.”
“Yes.”
“Before you came, we had quite a few tutors. The last one was someone with a fifteen-year career—very well known. But even she didn’t last a month.”
“…”
Agnes tried not to nod. The face of the 21-year-old Marquis Reynold flickered in her mind.
Of course. He had shown signs from the start.
No matter how foolish he became in the future, there was no way someone became such a scoundrel overnight.
“She even ran away in tears…”
The butler added ominously, as if hoping Agnes would be frightened and leave too.
Agnes was grateful. The world was full of people who would knowingly push others into hardship while pretending not to.
“That’s why we prefer a live-in governess. If strange stories get out, it could lead to scandal. And he’s so difficult that it’s hard to keep a regular teaching schedule.”
“That’s fine.”
“You’ve never worked as a live-in tutor before.”
“I’m planning to start now.”
“With only three years of experience, I doubt you can handle it.”
“My experience may only officially count as three years…”
Agnes’s gray eyes sparkled with resolve. It was frustrating that she could only speak to three years of experience.
“But I can assure you—I’ve lived a difficult life.”
Right now, her family was ruined, her engagement broken off, and she needed to earn money. That counted as a difficult life. And having died once, she was confident she had more life experience than the butler before her.
“The children in the Westwick family weren’t easy either. They were playful and high-spirited. Surely you knew that when you accepted the countess’s letter?”
“…That may be true, but I didn’t expect someone so young…”
“I’m not that young.”
“If you insist, I won’t stop you. We don’t have many options either. But don’t come blaming us later.”
She had come with a proper recommendation, and since she had already left the Westwick family, they couldn’t just turn her away. The butler sighed in resignation.
“Will I be starting work today?”
“No need to rush. Unpack your things first. You’ll be introduced to the young master tomorrow.”
He added that it was best she mentally prepare herself.
“Is that all your luggage?”
“Yes. I packed light.”
Agnes gave a sheepish smile. She’d packed too simply, rushing here without thinking.
“I’ll show you to your quarters. Follow me.”
“Alright…”
“My name is Carlo Wischo, but you can address me however is comfortable.”
“I’ll call you Mr. Butler.”
Agnes smiled brightly and finally took a look around.
The Battenberg estate, located in the heart of the capital Conswirn, was the most magnificent and luxurious building she had ever seen—fitting for one of the empire’s most prestigious houses. Duke Battenberg was said to be the crown prince’s closest aide and an excellent knight, known for his cold and ruthless nature.
“They say he was on the battlefield with His Highness not long ago…”
That was about all she could learn from the newspapers. The image of the bloodstained sword she saw before her death flashed in her mind, and she squeezed her eyes shut before opening them again.
“Now that you’ve been hired, you’ll need to greet His Grace. But he’s very busy, so I can’t say when he’ll return.”
“Understood…”
“He entrusted me with hiring a tutor, so there’s no need to worry. Your pay will be as generous as we discussed…”
The implication being, as long as she didn’t run away, she could have whatever she wanted.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Butler. I might look like this, but I’m used to handling troublemakers!”
“Is that so…”
Carlo nodded with a doubtful expression, as if pretending to believe her because he had no other choice.
“Seventeen years of tutoring, dozens of students…”
To be honest, after her regression, Agnes had no intention of seeking out the Marquis of Reynold.
She was human too.
Twenty-two years old.
She had traveled fourteen years into the past.
At the moment everything ended—the unfair death, the heat of the flames that engulfed the castle—she remembered it all vividly. She didn’t know why she’d returned, but she was sure that if she avoided the Reynold estate forever, she could escape her tragic fate.
She could survive.
But the moment she decided to run, the faces of the children she had hidden in the underground tomb flashed before her eyes.
“If I run away like this… who will save Rachel and Eren?”
Agnes had loved all the children she’d taught, but the illegitimate twins of the Marquis of Reynold were like her own children.
They had trusted and followed her wholeheartedly.
Despite their noble blood, their names weren’t even on the family registry. They were constantly neglected and mistreated. If she left them now, Rachel and Eren would face the same future again.
Born without blessing, scorned and ridiculed, and eventually killed.
“No. I can’t let that happen again.”
And Marquis Reynold—though he was foolish and reckless—did not deserve the tragic end he met.
During her three years at the Reynold estate, Agnes had seen and experienced many things she wished she hadn’t.
The loyal people who shared her fate and died because of the Marquis’s mistakes were all good people. So good, in fact, that she had once considered settling nearby even after leaving the estate.
“Maybe this time, I don’t have to let them die. I can’t just run away to save myself.”
Agnes knew she was a bit stiff and old-fashioned, but she couldn’t bear to preach morality to the children if she had abandoned her own.
“Whoever gave me this second chance—I won’t let them meet the same fate again.”
Until the moment she died, Agnes had longed for the one chance that the Marquis of Reynold never had. And now that she had it, she felt ashamed for even considering running away to save herself.
“I will make sure the young master becomes—”
She didn’t even finish her sentence—
Crash!
“Kyaah! Please stop, young master!”
“Where do you think you’re going? Hahaha, take this!”
“Please! Kyaah! Not the bug—Aaaah!”
The butler’s face turned pale.
Agnes smiled coldly and continued,
“I will make sure he becomes a proper human being.”
