The Northern Duke’s Eldest Son’s Tutor

Kyle followed my lessons better than I expected.
Of course, it was natural since the lesson content wasn’t that difficult to begin with.
“Young Master, I told you not to hunch your back like that during meals.”
“Ah.”
Of course, since he was still a child, there were naturally mistakes.
But there was no need to scold him for mistakes.
He’s a child, after all.
I placed my hand on Kyle’s back and pressed it.
“Like this. Straighten your back as much as possible, then bring the fork closer.”
“Y-Yes!”
The most important issue is how can he properly speak in society when he’s startled just by me getting this close.
This is relatively mild because I’m a woman; if a well-built adult man had done this, he would have certainly screamed.
If he continues with such a timid personality, I wonder if he might get ostracized later.
In truth, Kyle had a background where he couldn’t afford to be timid.
The fact that he was timid even before last year’s incident means it’s innate.
Kyle’s background was almost perfect for not being timid due to environmental factors.
The only son and heir of the Eristirol domain in the Dextrin Empire.
Since his younger sister is still young, his position as heir is also firm.
And his appearance makes me think that not only ordinary women but even those with high standards might be attracted to him.
His mystical-looking white hair and matching blue eyes were particularly charming.
He has an appearance that would certainly make a name for himself once he enters society.
“Miss Sofia… why are you looking at me like that…? Did I make another mistake…?”
“Not at all. I was just looking at the Young Master for a moment.”
Even now, he shrinks because I was looking at him for a moment.
He listens well and follows the education well.
If only that personality could be fixed, it would be fine.
I felt like sighing but held back.
If I sighed, he would obviously be startled and shrink again.

“Young Master, do you have any hobbies?”
“Hobbies?”
“Yes.”
The reason I’m asking about Kyle’s hobbies is simple.
It’s to somehow boost Kyle’s self-esteem.
“Hobbies… I like… horseback riding.”
“Horseback riding, you say?”
I’m relieved that Kyle’s hobby isn’t something strange.
I’m truly glad that Kyle’s hobby isn’t something like collecting bugs or fishing.
If it’s horseback riding, it’s a really good hobby for boosting Kyle’s confidence.
If he gets a bit good at horseback riding, I can just say, “You’re so cool, Young Master~” and that’s it.
“Then let’s go horseback riding during your leisure time from now on. I’ll arrange it.”
“Yes.”
Is it because he can now enjoy his occasional hobby regularly?
A slight smile appeared on Kyle’s face.
Kyle doesn’t have any official schedule anyway.
The time left after sleep, meals, and education is essentially leisure time.
I wonder if it’s normal to have more scheduled activities, but the head butler said there were no more scheduled events.
I thought that maybe external schedules were suspended after that incident last year.
And the next day, as usual, the class time ended.
As always, thanks to Kyle who listened to me well, it ended even faster.
“Young Master, shall we move to the stables?”
“Is there no more class for today…?”
“Yes, the Young Master followed the lessons so well that we finished early. So now it’s your leisure time. Shall we go straight to the stables?”
“…Yes.”
Obviously, since the horses were in the stables, we moved to the stables.
We didn’t engage in much conversation on the way.
Even when I wanted to talk, I felt sorry to initiate because he would be startled every time I suddenly spoke.
Maybe it’ll get better when we become closer.
Still, we’ll be seeing each other for years, and I didn’t like the idea of just having rigid lessons and strictly vertical conversations.
“Young Master, do you have a horse you usually ride? If so, I’ll have that horse brought out.”
Kyle silently entered the stables and pointed to a horse with impressive black fur.
That horse is probably the one Kyle has been riding before.
I brought a rope, attached it to the horse, and slowly led the horse out of the stable.
Then I brushed the horse a few times and wrapped the padding.
It was a familiar task since I had ridden horses several times while working as an adventurer.
As expected of a horse ridden by nobles, unlike the fierce horses seen in villages, it followed well even to the hands of someone it was meeting for the first time.
“Young Master, shall you ride right away?”
“..Yes.”
After completing all the remaining preparations, including the saddle, I asked Kyle.
Kyle looked at me and the horse alternately with a slightly tense expression.
Is he nervous about horseback riding while I, his tutor, am watching?
“Young Master, it’s alright. It’s okay if you make mistakes. I’ll help you from the side.”
I went next to Kyle who was standing beside me, put my hands under his armpits, and lifted him up.
“Huh?!”
Kyle was a bit surprised and turned his head to look at me.
But I had no choice but to lift Kyle.
Since Kyle’s height was shorter than his horse, this method was the most effective.
Of course, since I wasn’t exceptionally tall either, Kyle had to mount by himself after I lifted him.
As I lifted Kyle and approached the horse, Kyle seemed to understand and placed his leg over the horse, sitting on the saddle.
Now the preparations were complete.
“Young Master, you must hold the reins.”
Since it had been a while since he rode a horse, he wasn’t even holding the reins, so I told him.
It’s unlikely, but if the horse suddenly acted strange and started running, he would need to hold the reins to control it.
Then I slowly led the horse carrying Kyle out of the stables.
The horse obediently followed my lead, despite having Kyle on top and meeting me for the first time.
After leaving the stables, I encountered one problem.
It was good up to the point where I took the horse out of the stable, mounted Kyle, and came out.
But what should I do now?
In any case, this place is not suitable for horseback riding.
If we continued riding here, it wouldn’t be fun, and since it wasn’t a proper path, there was a risk of injury.
“Young Master, shall we go to where the knights train? I think riding a horse here might be a bit dangerous.”
I asked Kyle directly.
After all, I’m in a position to follow what Kyle decides.
If Kyle says he doesn’t want to be near the knights and wants to ride here, I just need to help from the side to make sure Kyle doesn’t get hurt.
“Is it… okay to go there…? What if we become a nuisance…”
“It’s fine. The knights won’t be uncomfortable or angry just because you go there, Young Master.”
To begin with, if someone were to complain about the employer’s son wanting to ride a horse, they couldn’t remain a knight in the domain.
They would have their heads cut off by the Duke right away.
“..Then… let’s go..”
After Kyle accepted moving to the knights’ training ground, I led the horse, and together with Kyle, we arrived at the knights’ training ground.
Upon arrival, we saw the knights of the Eristirol domain training.
It had been a while since I saw real knights, not just simple town guards.
We moved to the real course where one could ride a horse.
Well-maintained grass and ground to prevent the horses from getting hurt.
Since Kyle had already experienced horseback riding, there was no need to keep holding on here.
I released my hand from the horse’s reins and told Kyle to enjoy himself.
“This looks fun..”
Seeing Kyle riding the horse alone with a smile made me want to ride too.
Should I have brought two horses from the beginning?
And it seemed that his hobby of horseback riding was really genuine, as he was smiling.
I thought it was the first time I had seen Kyle smiling like that since arriving at the Eristirol castle.
That’s probably his true self.
Not the image of always being startled and shrinking whenever I speak to him, or the image of being cautious when other male servants pass by, but that smiling image is probably the real Kyle.
The road ahead seems longer than I thought.
Classes are important, but narrowing the distance with Kyle seems more important.

Today, too, I was waiting outside Kyle’s room until the wake-up time.
When the wake-up time came, I quietly entered the room where Kyle was sleeping.
I drew the curtains that were blocking the sunlight and stood beside Kyle’s bed.
“Young Master, it’s morning.”
Neither my past life self nor my pre-boarding school self was someone who easily woke up in the morning.
I was always the type to wake up late in the morning and be tardy.
“Mmmmm……”
In that aspect, Kyle was a diligent child.
He was already waking up even though I had only said one word.
He’ll probably be able to wake up without me having to wake him after just one more year.
“Miss Sofia.. please give me water..”
But a child is still a child, so Kyle asked me for water with his eyes still closed.
I put the water glass I had prepared for him into his hand.
Kyle drinking water with his eyes closed, gulp, gulp.
If I had a younger brother, would he have looked like this?
Of course, the hair color and eye color would be different, but it felt like raising a younger brother.
“Young Master, will you have breakfast right away? Or would you like to wash up first, or…”
“Or…?”
“Would you like to sleep more?”
I said with a smile.
Although there was a set wake-up time, it’s not like Kyle had a pile of things to do from the morning, so he could sleep more if he wanted to.
“…Then… I want to sleep more..”
Unlike his occasionally passive appearance, he was asserting himself normally.
I would be grateful if he could always be at least this much.