SJGV CH 12

Posted by bed0zx_, Released on August 28, 2025

Chapter 12

The clear sound of a young girl’s voice filled the quiet library.

“And so, the brother of the first King of Falz was granted the surname Cohen and became the first Duke. Later, he even acted as regent for the next king…”

History.

“…In countries that inherited the ancient royal laws, strict primogeniture was followed. As long as the first son has descendants, the second son has no right to inherit.”

Succession law.

And then literature, mathematics, science…

Cassia was, in truth, lecturing.
But it was a lecture for only one person.

She used the contents of the villa’s books, combined with the Academy lessons still lingering in her body’s original owner’s memory.

At first, Edmund had only focused on hiding his loud heartbeat behind the curtain.
But soon, he realized:

This is… nothing like Moretti’s clumsy teaching.

Her explanations were short, clear, and to the point.
Just listening, the knowledge slipped easily into his ears.

Starved of proper education for so long, Edmund quickly found himself absorbed in Cassia’s voice.

Cassia, on the other hand, deliberately kept reading aloud—smiling faintly.
At first, Edmund’s shadow behind the curtain had been far away.
Now, it had crept closer.
So close that a bit of his silver hair peeked out from under the curtain’s edge.

Hmph. See? You understand now, don’t you? This is a real class!

Of course, giving these lessons wasn’t easy.
She had only her scattered memories of classes before she transmigrated and the books here.

But Cassia was confident.

Back in Korea, even before college, I was already famous in my neighborhood for tutoring!

She first taught the children at the orphanage.
When their grades improved, parents who volunteered there asked her to tutor their kids too.
That’s how she began private tutoring.

Thanks to that, she earned a decent amount of pocket money and savings while still in high school.
And she had entered the College of Education to pursue teaching.

Well… all that money’s gone now, but still…

Cassia almost fell into gloom again, so she quickly distracted herself with self-praise.

Right now, my level should be… about the same as a new professor at the Academy, right?

And it wasn’t really an exaggeration.
Sure, this world’s history and literature were different.
But Cassia already had strong basic knowledge.
And more importantly, this world’s academic level lagged far behind Earth’s.

What Edmund needs right now is no more than what a Korean middle schooler would study. Easy!

The matter of finding the family’s signet ring—Edmund would manage on his own.
After all, she had already given him the library key.

In the original story, he found it himself before escaping anyway.

So she didn’t need to interfere there.
But Edmund’s education was another matter.
That was where he needed her most.
And it was something directly tied to her major in Korea.

In a way… this job isn’t a total scam anymore.

The entity that brought her here had said they were looking for a tutor.
Now that she’d kicked Moretti out, Cassia really was teaching Edmund.

Room and board included… and technically this villa is far away from Seoul.

Almost as if it had been planned from the start.

But Cassia shook her head firmly.

No. This is me doing well on my own! Whoever dragged me here still tricked me, no doubt about it!

Rip—
Her pen tore through the page from the force of her grip. Ink blotted across the paper, but at least the writing was still legible.

She took a deep breath, calming her temper.

Then, closing the book, she stood. Her “monologue” continued unnaturally, half like a lecture, half like stage acting.

“I’m tired. I’ll stop here for today. I’ll come again tomorrow at the same time to study.”

She left the open book, her neat notes, and the papers on the desk, and exited the library.

Click. The door locked.

The moment she was gone, Edmund slipped out from behind the curtain.
He went straight to where she had been sitting.

“….”

There lay the open book.
And next to it, the notes—summarizing and simplifying material far beyond what the book alone could offer.
Beside them sat a small jar.

Under the jar, a note:

“It’s ointment for wounds. Don’t forget to destroy this note.”

Edmund looked down at his hands, covered in scars.

Since his parents’ deaths, no one had ever bothered with such small kindnesses.

He stared blankly at the desk for a long while—then slumped into the chair Cassia had sat in.

The faint warmth left in the seat seemed to wrap him gently.

The next day.

As promised, Cassia came to the library again.
She smiled faintly—because Edmund’s shadow flickered behind the curtain, just like yesterday.
And the ointment jar was gone.

And so, their secret lessons began.

Chapter 3. A Step Before the Door

About a month after Cassia and Edmund’s secret classes began—

“Did you call for us, Little Madam?”

“What is the matter…?”

The villa’s head cook, Marsha (who oversaw the maids) and the footman, Paul (who oversaw the male staff) had been summoned to Cassia.

Both had worked for House Cohen for decades.
Even now, they showed no nervousness.

They looked down on the 14-year-old girl trying to imitate a strict mistress.

She’s still a child. Only a couple months in this villa—what could she possibly know?
She’s younger than my youngest daughter. There’s nothing to worry about.

And their confidence wasn’t baseless.
For the past six years, they had been the true powers of the villa, skimming profits while using Moretti as a front.

Unlike Moretti, however, they never openly took sides in conflicts.
Whenever masters changed, they kept their heads down and stayed.

We’ve survived every change in leadership. This is true survival skill.

Cassia, meanwhile, opened the villa’s budget ledger Marsha had given her earlier and asked calmly:

“The records say that every month, a considerable sum was spent on new clothes and shoes for Edmund.”

“…”

“But since I came here, I haven’t seen a single new outfit or pair of shoes for him.”

Her sharp eyes flicked between the two.

“Frankly, Paul, the shoes you’re wearing look far more expensive than Edmund’s. Am I mistaken?”

But Marsha and Paul didn’t flinch.
They exaggerated their innocence.

“Oh my, is that really what the ledger says? I can’t read, so I had no idea!”

“Can’t read? But hasn’t the ledger been your duty since Moretti was expelled?”

Normally, the head maid would handle finances, but with no head maid, Moretti had filled that role.
After Moretti’s removal, it naturally passed to Marsha, the cook.

Yet Marsha put on an innocent face and denied it.

“I was only handed the book, that’s all. Until now I only used the budget Moretti gave me.”

Paul chimed in.

“That’s right. You know what Moretti was like. We knew nothing.”

Then he lowered his voice, speaking slyly:

“But, Little Madam… what you just said could be taken… the wrong way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, to my ears, it sounded almost like… you were worrying about Young Master Edmund. Like you’re taking his side.”

A smirk curled on Paul’s lips.

Cassia instantly understood.

That was a threat. If I keep pressing, he’ll report to the Duke that I’m siding with Edmund.

Her expression stiffened.
After a brief pause, she spoke lightly: