“Nice to meet you, I’m Rosette Yttrea.”

The man stared down at her with a scary face, an intimidating aura fluctuated around him. His expression carried a big hostile frown, his pointed eyes glared at her. His big tanned figure towered over her, leaving Rosette standing under a huge shadow.

‘Bruh what you doing to a 7 year old, you wanna fite?’

A normal seven year old would have succumbed and cried upon seeing the man’s scary appearance but Rosette was not a child. Despite being inwardly scared, she also had this unnecessary pride as an adult who did not want to back down. 

Not losing to the hazel eyes that glared at her, she stubbornly stared back at the man’s rough face.

A sinister smile crept up his lips.

“Oh? You’re approaching me? Instead of running away, you’re coming right to me?”

‘What’s with this out of place JoJo reference-’

“That’s your employer, idiot.”

Slapping the back of the man’s head as soon as he came into the room was Paul, the head butler of the mansion.

“I’m sorry about that my lady, I should’ve been here to properly introduce this idiot.”

“That’s alright Paul, I understand you’ve been busy.” Rosette gave a friendly smile towards the head butler.

“This is Hugo, my little brother. He’s been away on a guild mission to Koran Empire and just recently got back. Sorry for the delay in getting him here.”

Her eyes flittered between the huge towering rudimentary man who was the younger brother and the neatly dressed refined man who was the older brother. 

‘How are these two significantly different people anything close to related?’

On a more detailed analysis, she could see some common features between the two; the sharp jawlines, the tall thin nose and uniquely shade of brown hair.

“It’s alright, it’s only natural that a student must understand their teacher’s circumstances. After all, I was the one who insisted, so I should be patient. Not everything will go the way I want.”

“Oi Paul, isn’t she too different from the way you described her?”

“Be polite.” Paul glared at the man. 

It was quite fun to see Paul’s reactions towards his brother. After all, his face always had more dignified and subdued expressions ‘befitting of a Duke’s employee’. 

Rosette found herself sneakingly smile at Paul’s face.

“With that said, Mr. Hugo… This all depends on your agreement. Are you willing to become my teacher?”

“What?! My lady, the moment he was dragged here, it’s decided he’s your teacher - forced or not.”

“Hahahah Paul, you can’t do that. It’s important he agrees.”

Hugo silently stared at the friendly interaction between the girl and his brother.

“I was reluctant to come but this might not be bad at all.” Hugo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I have my own terms.”

“That’s okay, it’s only normal." Rosette nodded understandingly. "Paul, will you give us some private teacher-student time?”

“My lady, you can’t do that! You’ll never know what absurd terms he’ll come up with-”

“Paul.” Rosette repeated more heavily, a smile spreading thin on her lips.

“Yes, my lady.” With a heavy sigh, Paul retreated out of the room.

><><><><><

Hugo has always been told his face was scary, even as a child. His facial features made it so that his expressions looked constantly annoyed and angry without intending. When he smiled, it looked nothing but menacing. Children cried upon seeing his face, people ran away when he walked near their vicinity and small pet animals fear his large figure. People always cowered when looking into his eyes.

While carrying an escort mission from Koran Empire to Alban Kingdom, he received a letter from his brother.

His eldest brother Paul, who rarely contacted him outside emergencies.

Wondering if there was any urgent family matter, he opened the letter only to see his brother request him to teach a noble child he worked for.

‘What a pain’

Hugo did not like nobles who sit on a high horse looking down on commoners. He had met a dime a dozen of them while working as an adventurer, most of them being the worst scum of scum. Wondering in and out of the ‘black alleyways’ of the city, he’d learn more on what nobles pay to achieve - assassination, kidnapping, raping, the list goes on.

When receiving official guild requests from the nobles, he dealt with them as professionally possible, but he did not want to interact with them more than necessary.

Yet now his brother was requesting, or rather, low-key threatening him to work for his employer. Hugo re-read the paragraph describing the girl.

‘A seven-year-old girl, usually mature and refined… sudden interest in magic.’

This must all be a whim.

Noble girls are usually spoiled and ill-mannered, gaining and losing interests quicker than a snap of a finger. However, when they are interested in something, they must get what they want.

This was the stereotypical image that played in Hugo’s head.

Current mission his party undertook involved escorting the second prince from Koran Empire to the Alban Kingdom. Their duty is over once he successfully escorts the prince and his entourage to Yttrea Duchy (the Duchy shares border with Koran Empire in the East) and hands the duty over to the more established knight order to continue escorting the prince to the capital.

“It won’t hurt meeting my brother once in a while.”

Such were his trail of thoughts before entering Duke Yttrea’s mansion.

He was surprised by the girl whose flaring eyes determinedly glared back at him. A small girl stood still with her red curls descending proudly down her shoulders, her neck craning to even see his face.

‘Oh?’

After Paul left, the two left sitting opposite each other with a small round coffee table in between. She wasn’t offended by his rude remarks, which already had Hugo inwardly nodding in approval. He couldn’t imagine changing his way of speaking - being submissive, using titles and honorifics. It’d kill Hugo faster than any dangerous mission would.

“My terms are simple. I won’t allow my student to disobey me.”

“As long as you’re reasonable with your commands I’ll have no complaints.”

“Boarding and meal must be supplied, fees - 5 gold coins a month.”

(Reminder: 3 gold coins can supply a 4-member commoner household for a year)

“Alright.” Rosette grinned. “But teacher will have to work the 5 gold coin worth.”

“You’ll have to treat me like a teacher, not your employee.”

She nodded.  “That’s only natural.”

“…”

“Anything more?”

“No.”

“Good. I’ll be under your care, teacher Hugo. Please call me Rosette.”