I’m Just a Counselor Chapter 54

Estella, who had spoken jokingly, gradually widened her eyes as my silence lengthened.

 

“Did my brother really confess to you?”

 

“No…?”

 

It’s just something Jeremiah said that made me feel weird, it’s not like he said anything special, right?

 

I’m like, ‘I’m really paying attention to the weirdness of this situation. Vanessa Asell, get a grip!’

 

I shouted, plopping down on the bed, feeling unnecessarily sullen. Estella narrowed her eyes at me, then sat down next to me.

 

“Vanessa…”

 

I was patting myself on the cheek, and Estella cooed softly, as if she had noticed that my mood had subsided.

 

I looked at her like a puppy nuzzling my side and cheered up.

 

‘No, no. This is not the time.’

 

I shoved Jeremiah to the back of my mind. I have more important things to do with Estella than that right now.

 

I pulled myself together and turned to Estella.

 

“Estella, do you know how to dance at a banquet?”

 

Estella’s eyes widened, and she answered confidently.

 

“No?”

 

“Then what are the etiquette rules at a banquet?”

 

“I don’t know!”

 

As expected. I pulled her to her feet.

 

Estella’s face darkened as if she realized she shouldn’t be doing this.

 

“Well, I don’t plan on dancing, but I should know how to…”

 

“You’d better.”

 

“I hadn’t thought of that, since the original story doesn’t talk about it much. I’m sure the real Estella knows about such things, right?”

 

Estella frowned.

 

“If she did, my brother and others would think it was weird if I suddenly asked them to teach me about it…”

 

Clearly, this is not an easy problem for Estella. As I listened to Estella mutter to herself, I recalled the rudiments of manners I’d seen in Jeremiah’s room yesterday.

 

‘Yesterday I said I’d just look in Jeremiah’s room, but… I’ll have to get it for Estella.’

 

To do that, I need to have a lesson with him again today…

 

Honestly, after yesterday, I wanted to skip it, but that wasn’t the only thing I could avoid. I’d have to be with Jeremiah for dinner right now.

 

It’s better to get it out of the way sooner rather than later than to keep this awkwardness going. For me and for him.

 

‘Yeah. It’s weird that I’m the only one who keeps doing this.’

 

I steeled myself once more, painstakingly erasing the emotions I had felt yesterday, and offered Estella the solution I had in mind.

 

“Why don’t I learn from the Duke and bring it back to Estella?”

 

“Won’t that make me too annoying?”

 

“It’s okay, I’m just double-checking to make sure I learned it well when he taught it to me in the first place.”

 

“Mmm…”

 

Biting her lip to make sure my words didn’t worry her, Estella sneaked another glance at me. 

 

When I smiled at her like I was really okay, she finally smiled back.

 

“Then I’ll do you a favor, sis.”

 

“And the dancing probably isn’t something Estella can’t do if she doesn’t want to.”

 

I stood in front of her, deciding to save Estella from the countless men who would ask her to dance at that banquet. Just as Jeremiah had done yesterday.

 

Estella’s eyes widened as I took her hand, which was smaller than mine, and pulled her close, wrapping it around my waist.

 

I smirked at her surprised face. For the record, I’m not being selfish at all!

 

“So, shall we start by practicing our dance?”

 

Estella’s eyes widened, but then folded into a cute half-moon shape.

 

“Yes! Good luck!”

 

I beamed at her adorable smile and began to move my feet in the same way I had seen her do yesterday.

 

It was worth the effort of concentrating to the point of exhaustion yesterday.

 

‘This is why I endured Jeremiah’s Spartan class…’

 

The warmth of my body against her seemed to melt away the tiredness I felt yesterday.

 

‘You can endure that kind of thing again and again, Vanessa!’

 

* * *

 

The mantra I’d been repeating to myself all afternoon that I wouldn’t feel awkward looking at Jeremiah had thankfully worked, and that evening I was able to look him in the face with aplomb.

 

He didn’t seem particularly conscious of me either. He must have dismissed last night’s events as a mere whim of mine. 

 

‘I guess I was right not to freak out alone after all.’

 

I was able to finish dinner in a much more relaxed mood and look forward to the rest of my lessons with Jeremiah.

 

He was waiting for me again today, pushing the furniture in his bedroom to one side.

 

“Are you feeling better where you hurt yourself yesterday?”

 

That was the first thing Jeremiah asked. I nodded.

 

“The ointment the Duke gave me worked so well, it was healed by the time I woke up this morning.”

 

“I’m glad to hear that. I assume you’re wearing low heels today?”

 

“Well, sort of…”

 

I mumbled a reply and looked down at my shoes.

 

They were lower heels than yesterday’s… but I’m not sure if they’ll be okay since I’m still going to end up with a ton of jeans.

 

‘At least I hope I don’t end up on the floor today and have to take them off.’

 

Jeremiah said jokingly as I wiggled my toes in my shoes.

 

“I’d rather not have to pick you up and carry you to bed tonight.”

 

“……!”

 

I jerked my head up and looked at him. In a flash, the events of last night flashed before my eyes.

 

Jeremiah picked me up, sat me down on the bed, put the medication on me by hand, and…

 

It was a simple list of facts, but it made me blush.

 

‘What, what? I don’t remember feeling so ashamed yesterday…’

 

“Vanessa, what’s wrong?”

 

His voice boomed in my ear with fury.

 

‘I’m trying to find out, Duke.’

 

Despite my best efforts to ignore the words, the evening I thought I’d gotten away with, the uncharacteristic feelings quickly resurfaced and enveloped me.

 

I swallowed dryly and looked up at Jeremiah, who was staring at me with a puzzled expression on his face.

 

No music had yet sounded in the room; instead, I listened to his irregular breathing and mine.

 

For a moment I thought my own breathing was too loud for my ears.

 

After holding my breath for a moment, not wanting to hear it, I blinked and barely managed to squeeze out a voice.

 

“Yesterday…”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I wanted to borrow the book… you saw yesterday, too, because I think I need to study on my own…”

 

Jeremiah glared at me as if that was all he had to say, but I stubbornly kept my mouth shut.

 

After a few moments, it was Jeremiah who finally turned his head.

 

“Then do it.”

 

He replied bluntly and walked over to the gramophone to turn on the music. I stared longingly at his bobbing hair and narrowed my eyes.

 

Suddenly, I felt like my shoes were squeezing my feet.

 

Maybe there’s something wrong with this whole situation, I thought to myself.

 

* * *

 

Regardless of my thoughts, time continued to pass, and in the meantime, I dutifully attended class, trying to push my thoughts away.

 

Learning from Jeremiah, teaching it back to Estella. I also studied the etiquette book I borrowed from Jeremiah with Estella.

 

Meanwhile, at the Duke’s castle, they prepared to leave for the Islands.

 

“You won’t be spending much time in the carriage.”

 

Sir Melvin told me that after a three-hour ride from the Duke’s Castle, we would take the warp gate from Loasen to the Island, and then another three hours to reach the center of the Island, where the townhouse was located.

 

I nodded as I listened to the route he outlined.

 

“By the way, Sir Melvin is coming with us.”

 

‘He’s probably going to help Jeremiah clear out the slave masters in the Island. Not only was Sir Melvin coming with us, but several knights and privateers as well.’

 

There are also knights from the Duchy in the townhouses of the Island, so what is the overall level of force in Oppenheim?

 

‘Oppenheim is the ruler of the North, so it’s probably the least powerful of all the noble houses in the Empire, right?’

 

‘Well, the head of the family, Jeremiah, is a great knight.’

 

‘I know that, but it hasn’t really hit me yet…’

 

Since coming to this castle, I’ve learned that the Oppenheims have a great deal of wealth…