Now that everyone got their books, except three people in the room who either had no interest in reading or did not know how to read, they settled down. Esmeralda and Dylan sat beside each other on a couch near a large window, Austin sat across Esmeralda with a short coffee table in between them. Saddie intentionally sat beside Austin. Briana and Eva was leaning against the window sill while all the other servants stood behind their masters. Only after their masters got absorbed into their books, did they start to relax and find an appropriate place for themselves to sit as well. What no one noticed was that Austin had been covertly keeping his attention on Eva. This led him to notice how Dylan's butler blushed a little while approaching Eva after Saddie's attendant nudged him with a teasing grin before walking away. He tried to ignore how Dylan's butler used Eva's book as something to converse about, however, the longer it went on, the more foul his mood got. 

Not revealing how he felt on his face, Austin calmly put down his book and stretched his neck a little. His movements caught Saddie's attention. He casually threw a glance at Dylan's direction before calling out casually. "Esmeralda."

However, Esmeralda did not hear him. Although Saddie felt jealous, she helped him to get Esmeralda's attention. "Esmeralda!" 

Saddie's harsher tone drew Esmeralda's attention away from her book. "Yes?"

"Have you considered teaching other servants besides Briana and Eva?"

"My parents are slowly easing up on the idea about teaching all the servants of my household."

"I meant the other two who are almost always with you."

"Humphrey and Daisy?"

"Don't you think it'd be nice to give him the opportunity to learn since he seems interested?" He looked towards Eva and Humphrey, which led everyone else to look at them as well.

Humphrey started to blush as he felt like he was caught red handed. On the other hand, Eva remained as cool as a cucumber.

Esmeralda's eyes lit up. "Is that possible?" She then looked at Dylan and Saddie for their approval.

"I never thought of it. Sounds fine to me." Dylan agreed with an agreeable smile.

"What if our parents found out?" Saddie worried with a slightly disapproving frown.

"There's no one here but us now." Austin highlighted.

"So it'll be fine if no one here leaks a thing." Dylan assured.

"But, brother!" 

"I'll handle any consequences." He smiled gently and patted her head.

Dylan relinquished his position for Humphrey and Daisy to sit beside Esmeralda, Edwin automatically got materials for Esmeralda to use, Saddie was left pouting as usual, and Austin returned to his book feeling satisfied. Because only BaoBao was paying attention to Austin at this moment, only he spotted the slightest quirk in Austin's lips that hinted a tiny smile.

BaoBao started giggling again. It never gets boring watching what Austin did for Eva. You should thank him for helping you to get rid of the nuisance.

I probably would if I could. Eva had no complaints about Humphrey being drawn away from her because he had really been interrupting her progress. Since he could not read, he could only infer what the book was about and continuously ask her questions about it, which led to a conversation about guessing why she would be interested in reading a botany book. He had not gotten any of her hints that she was not interested in talking. 

Just as she started wondering why something unusual like this was happening to her, Austin helped her out. 

Now that she could read in peace, she threw herself into studying the plants of this world. While she focused entirely on reading, BaoBao took over her job of paying attention to Esmeralda's needs, only alerting her when she is needed.

Austin noticed how engaged Eva was in her book and how fast she was reading as compared to everyone else. While everyone else here is reading and behaving leisurely, here she is working hard by herself. What a girl. His lips quirked up again without him knowing.

At this moment, Esmeralda happened to look up and caught that little smile on his face. Her eyes grew wide in realisation. She stood up and leaned over the coffee table. "Austin."

Austin jumped slightly and snapped his head in her direction. He leaned back in reflex when he saw how close her face was to his. He grew slightly red in embarrassment for not noticing that she had gotten this close to him. Dylan and Saddie felt uncomfortable watching this scene for similar reasons.

"You actually care, don't you?" She asked him with big clear round eyes.

"About?" His voice was as calm as ever, revealing nothing about what he was feeling inside.

"About Eva."

"Why- Why would you say that?" He stammered for first time in everyone's memory of him.

Esmeralda beamed brightly. "I knew it. I saw the way you looked at her while her nose was buried in the book."

"You were seeing thi-"

"Oh, stop denying it. You see her potential as well, don't you?"

"What?" Now Austin was genuinely confused.

Dylan took this chance to gently but firmly pull Esmeralda back. "Maybe you should give him some space and explain properly, otherwise it would be hard to process anything you said."

She sat back down on the edge of the couch but still eagerly leaned forward with her hands on her knees. "Somewhere inside you, you wish to develop everyone to their full potential, right? That's why your butler's educated, why you thought of telling me to teach these two today, and why you liked the sight of Eva studying hard!"

Austin could not believe his ears. He thought that his slip up had resulted in trouble, but Esmeralda ended up helping by concluding something that was far from the real reason. Seeing how it worked out in the end, he went along with it. "I guess you caught me." He raised an eyebrow.

"What do you say about combining efforts to push for a change in our society?"

Saddie immediately interrupted. "Austin's not just some random person. If he suffers any backlash from this, he'd suffer more than you, more than us. How can you ask him so thoughtlessly like that?"

"I'm sure Austin would know what's best for himself. He's the most capable one of us here." Dylan reassured his sister.

Austin took a moment to think about it. Eva finally took a personal interest in what was happening and looked up from her book to looked at Austin. I bet that he'd agree. It'd be no surprise if the second male lead supports the female lead in her endeavors after all.

I bet that he'd agree too but because he loooves you. BaoBao giggled.

Austin happened to glance at Eva and met her gaze. The sunlight filtering in from the window illuminated the golden specks in her eyes. The sight looked beautiful and right to him. There was just something that was missing but he could not place his finger on it. Nonetheless, he felt an increasing greed to have her by his side. I guess it won't hurt to start setting the stage for my next goal. "Sounds good to me."

Esmeralda cheered. Dylan smiled warmly to see Esmeralda so happy. Saddie look concerned and upset. She interpreted Austin's behaviour as simply giving in to Esmeralda because of existing affections he held for her. I refuse to let this go on! I won't let her take the two men I love the most in my life away from me!

Austin did not chance another look at Eva after that, which bored and worried BaoBao. 

He's not looking anymore. Eva, he's not looking anymore. Why's he not looking anymore? Don't tell me he really reverted back after Esmeralda's request? Were you right? Eva, wh-

BaoBao, if he really reverted back, that's how it should be anyway. You're being surprised about the wrong thing.

But, but, but...

Let's get back to work, shall we?

BaoBao silently sulked by himself while Eva focused on reading.

The rest of the time passed by peacefully. She was only halfway through the book when it was time for them to leave. 

"You know, I've never thought that doing something so quiet and individual like this could feel be this enjoyable just because we're together! Let's do it again some time!"

"We can always do this again next month." Austin replied. He knew that Eva had not completed her book. 

"It's settled then." Esmeralda grinned then turned to Humphrey and Daisy. "In that case, your next lesson will be next month! The both of you shall practice whatever you learnt today by yourselves in the meantime, alright?" 

They bashfully nodded their heads. They were indeed excited about the chance to do something they never thought was possible. Soon, they would be able to read and write like Briana and Eva.

Austin watched them leave in their carriages, his gaze lingering on Esmeralda's carriage until it could no longer be seen. He then returned back to his private study and sat on his armchair. Finally, I'll be able to focus on my work again. 

Austin had recently found it hard to rein his feelings in. Perhaps it was due to having a taste of how it felt to be closer to Eva in some way. Every little interaction they shared made him yearn for more. It was like he thought, if he did not want this, he should have ignored what he felt from the start, not respond to it, and not find chances to speak to her. However, he chose to speak to her that day.

Now, every day that passed only felt like a day closer to when he could meet her again. He got more and more fidgety and his attention span would drop. He would increasingly find himself drifting off in a daydream about the many possible ways the next meeting could progress and how he could get as close to her as possible. There was really no way he could go back now.

It was thanks to Esmeralda's suggestion that helped him rein his feelings back in. It gave him a clear goal to work towards which made him feel more assured. He had the confidence in himself to achieve his goals and once they were achieved, it would be the day he would openly woo Eva.

He smiled softly as he stroked the paper under the pink cherry blossom crystal paperweight. "Just a while more. I'll make sure to catch them the next time they make a move. I promise."

Suddenly a knock on the door was heard and the butler spoke through the closed door, "Drey sent word that someone may have contacted the assassin couple."

"Reward Drey as usual and prepare the men." 

"Understood."

Austin took out a piece of paper that had the names of all the people he suspected may be the next target. The list was classified into three different groups. 

He has noticed a pattern in how long the assassin couple took to carry out their assassination after they were contacted. The higher the class and stronger the target, the longer they took to carry it out. It probably correlated with the time they spent to research and prepare themselves for the assassination. As such, he first stationed the most men to watch over the targets of the lowest class first, while the fewest men would keep watch over the ones in the highest class. As time passed, he would gradually rearrange the men accordingly.

Initially he had no plans of keeping watch together with the men. However, as the days passed, he could not shake off the feeling that something bad may happen to Eva. He knew that he was worrying without rhyme or reason but he could not stop it. In the end, he decided to complete his work in advance so that he could take a few days off to personally watch over Esmeralda's estate with his men. It was better to be safe than sorry.

Thanks to this, he found out that Eva's family actually never wore the servant's uniform whenever there were no visitors. He also found out that Eva's family did not live with Esmeralda but a short distance away. It looked like a horrible place to live in and every night, there was only one small dim light shining. He could not understand why their family would opt to live separately if this was the best living conditions they could afford by living on their own.