The Noble Kindergarten Teacher’s Hardships – Episode 009
It was a thoroughly flustered voice.
Naturally so—because they had just encountered their old teacher in such an unexpected place.
The children were all former students of Efna, who had graduated from kindergarten just last year.
“Why is the young master of the Gophen family acting like that?”
“They called her teacher! Could she be a teacher at the academy?”
“Oh my, no—isn’t she the teacher from Roendel Kindergarten?”
“You mean the teacher who managed to get the heir of the Marquis of Gophen into the academy? Good heavens.”
The nobles whispered noisily. In the midst of it all, Efna crouched down to match the children’s eye level.
Hahaha. These cute little things. Had they already forgotten her after such a short while?
“Danian, Hatchel, Raypol.”
She called their names more gently than anyone else could.
So why were her children sweating so nervously?
Normally, she would have wiped their sweat away for them. But not this time. Something more important remained—etiquette education.
Efna’s voice was soft as she addressed the children.
“Didn’t I teach you that when you see your teacher, you must greet them?”
“Hiiik!”
“And to think you would gang up on someone together. Your teacher never once taught you to do that. …It seems I’ll have to give another lecture on ‘The social and psychological variables influenced by group bullying.’”
Why were their faces turning so pale? Ah, they must be overjoyed to see her after so long.
With a gentle smile, she patted the children’s shoulders. Suddenly, a calm yet languid voice sounded behind her.
“Bantaid.”
A man in a dark-gray suit and a black mask was walking toward them.
The five-year-old boy who had been standing still toddled quickly toward him. Then he clung tightly to the man’s shin.
The child’s tiny lips parted, and a slightly dull-sounding voice spilled out.
“…Hyung-ah.” (Big brother.)
He said “Hyung-ah.” In that adorable, dopey little voice. Hyung-ah.
“Bantaid. What were you doing here?”
Bantaid stretched his chubby little arms while nestled against his big brother’s chest. His tiny finger pointed—straight at the children who had just been scolded by Efna.
“…Fought.”
It was an utterly deadpan bombshell. With just two syllables, the murmuring nobles fell silent.
Understandable. They must have felt it too—the oppressive aura radiating from this “Hyung-ah.”
Efna certainly did.
The man, in short… was like a silent predator.
His mere presence overpowered the crowd. After a brief silence, he spoke in a low voice.
“Fought?”
“Mm-hm.”
His eyelids blinked slowly. The man’s gaze followed the boy’s finger.
Through the slit of the mask, crimson eyes glinted coldly as they swept over the children.
‘The problem is, the ones he’s glaring at are just kids.’
They’d burst into tears at this rate.
Efna rose from her crouch and approached the man.
“Hello.”
This was the protocol for dealing with a guardian.
First: put on a “business smile” to lower their guard. And then, address the child’s…
“Are you the guardian?”
“…What?”
“I asked if you’re the guardian.”
Damn. Of course—in his eyes, she must look like she was claiming to be the children’s guardian.
Efna’s “professional teacher manual” was only effective from the teacher’s perspective.
‘In situations where you’re mistaken for a parent, it’s useless.’
So she abandoned the manual altogether.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I was their teacher. Their parents should be arriving shortly.”
“Crawling over here, you mean.”
They’re human—they’ll be walking over here.
“In any case, as their teacher, I sincerely apologize for what happened. I’m truly sorry.”
Though Bantaid had said only “fought,” it was obvious to everyone that it had actually been bullying.
Bowing her head to the man and to Bantaid, Efna called the children again in a firm voice.
“Danian, Hatchel, Raypol.”
“Yes, teacher.”
“You know without me saying it—but this can’t be called a mistake. It’s your fault. …Ah, here come your parents.”
From afar, the Marquis of Gophen came running, tearing off his mask as he went.
Efna didn’t know what message he had received to arrive so flustered and enraged. But he was glaring at Bantaid’s “Hyung-ah” as if ready to kill him—until he spotted Efna.
‘Ah. He’s rattled.’
On the Marquis’s flushed face, an awkward smile surfaced.
“Ho-ho, Teacher Efna. I didn’t expect to meet you in a place like this.”
“It’s been a while, Father. Have you been well?”
“Why yes, of course. Quite well indeed. But what in the world happened here?”
“As you can see, there was a dispute among the children, so I stepped in to stop it.”
It was bullying, not just a dispute—but one couldn’t speak so bluntly to a student’s parent.
Still, the Marquis of Gophen understood at once. After all, something similar had happened when Danian was in kindergarten.
“This… how could this…”
He couldn’t bring himself to finish. His eyes darted around nervously.
The nobles were watching with interest, whispering among themselves.
The Marquis rubbed his forehead, troubled. And that was the exact moment Bantaid’s big brother finally spoke.
“Elriherd, Marquis of Gophen.”
Just those words drew everyone’s attention.
“…Did he just call him Marquis of Gophen?”
“Or was it—‘Gophen, you stupid bastard’? …Perhaps that’s what he said.”
“…What?”
Had she heard wrong?
‘Did I just hear the words “stupid bastard” in there?’
Efna tapped her ears a couple of times.
Unfortunately, her hearing was fine. Too fine, in fact. Not only she, but every noble nearby stared, mouths agape.
The dumbfounded Marquis of Gophen shouted, his face dark with fury.
“Are you insane? Out of your mind? Do you know who I am, to spout such madness!”
“They say your son picked a fight he couldn’t even win against my little brother.”
“You think you can rely on something, is that it? You’d better prepare yourself. Young men these days aren’t just rude—they’re mad!”
“Then you should teach him it’s not bravery, but recklessness.”
Was there some kind of wall between the two men? Otherwise, how could they both be so unwilling to hear the other’s words?
Bantaid’s brother shifted the boy comfortably in his arms.
“Something to rely on, you said.”
“What nonsense are you spouting now!”
“Funny. That’s exactly what I was thinking. If anything, you’re the one who’ll need something to rely on, Marquis. Whatever it may be.”
Even through the mask, his arrogant gaze was unmistakable. Noble—but also laced with a dangerous, indefinable aura.
‘Just who is he?’
As if answering her sudden curiosity, the man’s lips curved into a cold smile.
“My reputation isn’t the best, you see.”
He raised his hand. Beneath the elegantly tailored cuff of his suit, veins bulged across the pale back of his hand.
That long, white hand seized the black mask. With a light motion, it fell away—revealing first a pair of languid, feline eyes.
“They say I’m a brute who reaches for his gun the moment something displeases me. And honestly, I can’t say the rumors are entirely wrong.”
‘That man is…’
Her ears had deceived her, and now her eyes too? Efna rubbed them in shock. No, they were working just fine.
And as if voicing her own stunned heart, someone in the hall shouted in disbelief:
“H-Hildebon Grand Duke, Your Grace!”
The man was none other than the Empire’s sole Grand Duke, Kaiden Hildebon.
“How could His Grace the Grand Duke Hildebon be here…!”
“Doesn’t he usually only appear at imperial banquets or in high society?”
“My goodness, he’s even more manly than in the recent portraits—so much more…”
A young lady pressed her hands to her cheeks, intoxicated.
Her flushed face was so red it was visible even beneath her pale yellow mask.
Another lady beside her opened her fan gracefully, whispering.
“Lady Seirin, please restrain your frivolous remarks.”
“Lady Hena, but you think the same, don’t you? You’re just pretending otherwise.”
“His Grace has always been remarkably manly. Especially from the perspective of testosterone.”
“How learned you are. I see I misspoke.”
So this was the refined conversation of educated aristocrats?
The only shame was that, aside from these erudite young women, almost everyone else was frozen stiff.
Efna, of course, included.
“Marquis of Gophen.”
Kaiden, Bantaid’s elder brother, took an unhurried step forward.
“I don’t care for the kind of ‘reliance’ you place your trust in. Everyone is equal before a gun. Especially on the battlefield.”
Efna had never in her life seen someone advocate for abolition of class hierarchy and equality of human rights in such a chilling way.
“So rather than flaunting your rank before me, it might be more efficient to tend to your frightened son.”
“……”
The Marquis squeezed his eyes shut.
Despite seeming like a stubborn old boss, he was in truth a fairly shrewd politician.
The chandelier’s brilliance reflected in the nobles’ stares—on him, and on the Hildebon family.
‘He’s already done the calculation.’
His voice came out calmer, more deliberate.
“My child has caused great offense. In the heat of the moment… I misspoke.”
“You heard him.”
Kaiden tilted his head toward Bantaid. The boy, with his vacant expression, replied:
“‘S okay.”
Sniff. In the silence, even the sound of Bantaid’s runny nose echoed delicately.
And just like that, the situation dissolved anticlimactically. The Marquis of Gophen and his wife gathered Danian and fled as if chased.
Still…
‘The Hildebon family…? It’s still shocking. Come to think of it, in the original story too…’
Her thoughts trailed off. Efna’s face hardened.
She turned her gaze to the brothers, standing there indifferently.
‘Damn it, you fool Efna. How could you forget? The Hildebon family is…!’
