Second Step To The End I

Three days had passed since Laura left the Ferguson estate. She had been recovering from the injury and has been well. She was still waiting for the letter of Viscountess Andrea and hoped that she had not forgotten about what she said.

Since then, she also had not heard anything from Erwin. No matter how hard Laura had tried to get rid of the shameful thought, she just couldn't get it out of her head.

Especially those times when she wipes her mouth with a napkin. She couldn't help but think about what had happened. When Mary and Lester heard that she was in the duke's house, they were both concerned and were curious to know why the duke had saved Laura.

Laura asked the two if they had seen the duke before, and none of them had an idea of how he looked liked except the back. It seems like it wasn't only Laura who didn't know what the duke had looked like. It was no wonder she couldn't recognize him.

Mary had persistently asked Laura how he looked, but she thought to herself that it was for the best if she had kept his appearance a secret. Lester knocked before coming into the room holding two envelopes.

He handed the envelopes to Laura, who has been waiting for a response from Viscountess Andrea. And to her surprise it was, and it made her excited to know her response.

As she was about to open it, she then noticed that there was another envelope, that one didn't have an emblem.

Seeing the one without the emblem, she didn't really want to open and read the letter because she didn't know who sent it and that the person might keep sending letters. But she couldn't just not reply to a royal family.

Lester handed a letter opener to Laura, and she opened the one from Viscountess Andrea first. Upon reading the letter, Laura was seen smiling ear to ear and anyone could see that she felt overjoyed, and she was the reason being that Viscountess Andrea had accepted her request agreed to teach her.

Now she was ready for the second step. Lester had asked if something exceptional had happened, and Laura nodded her head, told Lester about what was written in the letter. Even Lester was envious of Laura because he had always admired Viscountess Andrea since he was a child.

Mary, who had no clue who Viscountess Andrea was, had gone off to her own world.

Lester and Laura were both complimenting the viscountess, and suddenly Laura remembered that there is another letter and so she looked at the other envelope intently before opening it. She opened the letter which was from the duke and laughed softly while reading.

It was written:

"To: Laura Alvarado, Excellent day! I hope you are feeling better. I'm sorry I wasn't able to see you off, but I think we are now equal. Do not worry about repaying me for what had happened. Think of it as a small gift for our first memorable meeting. I hope to see you soon and have a pleasant day. P.S. you need not write back because I know you don't want to. From: Erwin Charles Ferguson"

Laura folded the letter back into the envelope and had asked Lester to keep it. Mary's eyes were sparkling as she saw Laura reading Erwin's letter to her.

Mary had to compose herself, otherwise Laura would get annoyed. In the kitchen, Helga had heard from the other maids that Laura had received a letter from Viscountess Andrea and another one whom they did not recognize.

It was news that Helga knew she should tell Tine. And so upon hearing about it Helga immediately walked to Tine's room and knocked before entering. Tine was by the dressing table and was looking at her pieces of jewelry.

Tine, who was facing the mirror, turned to look at Helga. Helga knew that Tine's mood wasn't at her best since. That was because Laura had been a huge topic discussed among the nobles. First, they had talked about her dress.

Second, they talked about how she protected the emperor. Tine didn't know why she felt irritated after Laura had become the center of attention. Her nails had digged into her skin and yet she did not feel any pain due to the anger she felt inside.

Helga couldn't do anything but to watch Tine.

"Why is it her again?"

"Miss Tine, please calm down. Your skin is bleeding."

Tine glared at Helga, making her startled. Helga knew that Tine had a temper, but she did not know that it turned out worse throughout the years. Helga got a letter out of her apron and handed a letter to the young lady.

Tine's mood quickly changed when she saw a letter from the second prince. She hurriedly asked Helga to get a letter opener as she stared at the envelope, feeling excited to open it. She opened the letter and was filled with the biggest smile.

Helga had quietly thanked the second prince for writing this girl a letter, if not she wouldn't know what to do about her. Helga had hesitated to tell Tine about what she had heard from the other maids, but with her good mood now she had thought it would be for the best if she did not say a word.

Tine closed her jewelry box and went to sit on the couch. She hummed as she read the lengthy letter Winston had written to her. Tine was really in love with Winston and if she wanted to eliminate the person she liked.

Then she must marry him.

"Helga where is Laura?"

"She's in her room resting."

"Then I should invite myself in."

Tine walked out of her room and was happy to brag about the letter the prince had given her. She continued walking to her room not until she heard the maids talking about Viscountess Andrea.

Tine continued and wondered, 'what about her?' She wanted to know more about it and had asked Helga. Helga looked hesitant to tell her the truth, but she knew she had no choice but to. Because she did not want to hide anything.

"It seems like miss Laura had received a letter from Viscountess Andrea. It said that she will become her tutor."

"WHAT?"

Tine stomped her foot, and her heels had echoed the hallway. The maids who had heard her shout had stopped working and looked at her. Her face turned red, and she clenched her fist. But at that moment she had forgotten about being in the front door of Laura's room.

And so they were surprised to see Mary suddenly opening the door. Mary had heard the loud voice outside and opened the door to see what was happening, and to her surprise, she saw Tine and Helga.

Tine immediately regained her form and slowly entered the room, as if nothing had happened. Laura took a sip of her tea and had noticed Tine walking into her room. She gave her a smile and welcomed Tine.

Tine sat in front of Laura smiling, but to Laura, it was obvious that she wanted to ask something.

"How are you feeling sister?"

"I'm doing well. The wound doesn't hurt anymore, but the doctor had told me not to move that much."

"It's great to see you become well again. Only if I were with you that day."

Laura continued to give a plastic smile and knew what she was here for. Laura had thought about it earlier. She intentionally had Mary speak out loud for the others to hear her. It was very fortunate that it had reached Tine's ears just in a quick time.

She knew that Tine would ask how she had become a student of Viscountess Andrea as hundreds of nobles have been trying to get her as their tutor, but failed.

"Sister, I heard that you became Viscountess Andrea's student?"

"Indeed, I did. I was lucky enough to get a response from her. I had sent this letter a long time ago, but it was only now that she had replied to me."

"Is that so? Is miss Edith not good enough? She would be heartbroken if she had heard this."

In fact, it was the opposite. If Edith had heard about this, she would range how she'll lose so much money. Laura chuckled and placed her cup down.

"I don't think so. Miss Edith doesn't really like me."

"Oh, my... have you done something wrong?"

Laura flinched and wanted to say many awful things about Edith. She had never done something in her class and was always punished by the whip when she had spaced out.

She calmly said, "I've never done something wrong in her class. In fact, I get bored with her lessons."

"I understand you. Miss Edith isn't really an outstanding teacher, and I had planned to change teachers. But I don't really know who to ask."

"Hmm... why don't you try asking viscountess Andrea? Though I reckon she wouldn't accept you."

"Why wouldn't she accept?"

"That's because she told me that she'll be accepting only one student." Tine bit her lips, looking low at Laura who seemed to be enjoying the situation.

Tine had to somewhat catch Viscountess Andrea's attention before asking her to become her tutor.

"Even if. I'll try my best to be the ONE student."

"I never expected you to become my rival."

"I can't let you take the trophy all the time."

Laura held her laughter because she had known that Viscountess Andrea would never give a chance to Tine. After all, she's not the type of person who you should mess with.

'Making drama once in a while wouldn't be that bad.'

The air between Laura and Tine had stiffened as their conversation prolonged. Laura couldn't believe it was that easy for Tine to fall into her trap. She had thought Tine was smarter.

In Tine's head, she knew that she'll be able to win against Laura. She thinks beauty and fame can solve all things. But she was wrong.