Guide to the Education and Training of Girls with Mentally Abnormalities

Chapter 25 Sweet Dates

"As the heir to the Enfield family, I sincerely thank all the guests for being here today..."

The brilliant lights made Alicia, dressed in her finest attire, look dazzling and radiant.

The hawk-like, sharp-witted duke had now toned down his authority as a ruler, and instead stood in the shadows like an old butler, watching his daughter under the lamplight with a slight smile.

At a round table not far from the podium, Edmund listened with great interest to the banquet speeches.

This made him suddenly miss the company's annual meeting before he traveled back in time, and the year-end bonus a few days later.

Willow sat ramrod straight in her chair, expressionless. Her life as a maid in the Enfield family had long since instilled in her a conditioned reflex of respect and submission when those in power gave speeches.

However, Edith, who was standing next to her, didn't seem so happy.

"She really is glamorous."

Edith muttered something in an annoyed tone.

The conversation between Alicia and Edmund before Alicia went on stage kept replaying in her mind.

"Edmund, can we still be friends?"

"?"

After a long silence, Edmund uttered a sentence that even he himself found difficult to contain.

"Miss Alicia, what do you mean by asking that?"

"I know I've graduated from your class, and you have your own life now..." The girl lowered her cheeks slightly, but her eyes darted up at Edmund. "Can I still be considered your friend?"

"Oh, Holy Light, how many vintage wines would it take to bring out of the elven wineries to make me so drunk that I dream of a ducal heir who wants to get a promise from me that proves my friendship with her."

"Of course you're my friend," Edmund said, extending his hand in a friendly gesture; his motto was always to have as many friends as possible. "Always."

Alicia's somewhat dim eyes gradually brightened.

She reached out her hands to hold Edmund's, but he only shook her hand symbolically, his gaze drifting to a corner behind her.

It always has been, tsk tsk tsk.

Edith rested her chin on her hand, poking at a piece of apple on her plate with her fork. The white flesh had turned slightly yellow in the air, and the sweet juice flowed into the plate through the hole left by the fork, forming a small puddle.

Who would have thought that Edmund's first words to him after that were to tell him to stop letting the maids play those little tricks?

It's just that Willow didn't tell Esther that she had cream on her face.

Is it really necessary to make such a big fuss?

I am clearly his landlord.

Edith stared at the apple on the plate, as if Edmund in her heart should also be at her mercy like this apple, tormented like a puppet, riddled with holes and full of juice.

"Are you angry?" Edmund glanced at Edith, whose emotions were practically written all over her face, and refilled her glass with juice.

"Hmph, no."

The girl, who said one thing but did another, turned her face away from Edmund, but held the porcelain cup filled with cold juice in both hands.

"Mutual respect is the first lesson of independent living, and the Duke of Enfield must have said something similar to you many times in the past."

"Oh? Mr. Edmund means I'm just your landlord, but you want to be my father?"

"In this respect, you are clearly superior to your sister. In her words, my becoming her teacher was a long-term scheme to secure a place by your side, part of her plan; but in your words, becoming your teacher is going a step further, making me a traitor who is about to commit the heinous crime of usurpation."

"Miss Edith." Edmund filled his glass with juice and took a sip. Although the wine was full-bodied, he still didn't quite like the slightly bitter taste of alcohol mixed with the fruity aroma. "Then, as an accomplice who provides shelter and funds to the traitors, prepare to share my fate."

"But I still suggest that you plead with the Duke after things are exposed. Maybe he can spare my life for the sake of his daughter."

"However, if you have no say, then I will have no choice but to take Esther and fly away."

Edmund said half-jokingly, shrugging his shoulders.

"Anyway, I don't own any real estate in Karenbel."

Edith, feeling foolish, snorted and continued to vent her frustration on the apple on her plate.

It's not fun at all.

Edmund in the simulation is not like this.

In the simulation, Edmund would respond to whatever I said, giving me the answer I wanted to hear.

You can see his favorability rating and mood by getting close to him.

Comfort him when he's sad, share his joy when he's happy, and invite him out for a meal when nothing's wrong, or go for a walk in the grasslands outside the city. In spring, frolic in the fields full of daisies, and in winter, build snowmen and have snowball fights in the snow.

You can confide in him freely, because he will also share the good things with you without reservation.

Instead of what it is like now...

He should only have eyes for me.

Ok?

Suddenly, I felt a gentle touch, as if the hair beside my ear was being stirred by the wind.

She turned her head to the side.

"Miss Edith, you need to grow up."

"Perhaps I can tolerate your willfulness, but now you no longer have the Enfield family backing you up."

"Perhaps there will be a day in the distant future when I leave you, but until then, you, Esther, Willow, and I, we have a long time to spend together."

"Just as your family is dominated by the Duke's will, in your heart, there isn't such a strict hierarchy between us."

"But I still hope that people living under the same roof will not be isolated from each other like enemies."

"So, please don't say things that hurt me and Esther like you did before."

Edmund finally smoothed the slightly messy strands of hair at her temples and quietly put his hand back where it was.

Most of the guests in the banquet hall looked up toward Alicia as they listened to the future Duke of Enfield deliver his speech.

Estée held the bowl containing two scoops of ice cream, enjoying its cool and sweet taste.

Willow, on the other side of the table, still stood with her back straight.

"I understand, Edmund."

"But Esther... I still think she's so stupid..."

"You didn't hear Willow say that when Willow took her to eat snacks at the banquet hall, she looked at the ice cream and almost asked the waiters, 'Why does this stuff melt into water?'"

The girl grumbled softly about the rival who had stolen Edmund's attention, her tone gentle as if it were a whisper between best friends.

Edmund listened in silence.

To make someone who has never seen ice cream in their entire life realize that the magical snack is related to ice, and this person is a silly little girl like Esther.

"Um, Edmund."

"If I listen to you."

"Could you do that again? I grant you the right to pat my head anytime."

[Edith's "The Adult World" prologue "Learning to Grow Up" progress +1, course points have been issued.]

The cold system voice softened the young man's gaze. He patted the girl's head and stroked her soft black hair like he was scratching a cat.

No one paid attention to the incident during the banquet.

Except for the one under the stage lights in the center.

Except for the one who holds an ice cream in their hands but can only watch it melt.