My good mood plummeted to the ground in an instant.
Click.
After Lucia left, Rigrin stared at the closed door like a frozen statue for a long time.
How much time had passed?
"Hoo..."
He sighed deeply and lowered his gaze.
The perfect score test paper came into view.
"Just what..."
His deep green eyes were filled with complicated emotions.
"Why did I do that?"
His voice scattered helplessly.
Looking at the ridiculously easy questions, Rigrin recalled the moment he was creating the test questions.
At that time, Rigrin was determined to win this contest no matter what.
The method was very simple.
After all, Lucia is an uneducated child.
Even if he presented questions at the level of those given to Banshees, she would surely not solve a single problem and give up.
Just as he was about to set the questions, his hand stopped abruptly.
Lucia's words came to mind.
'But that's just because you're treating me according to the Duke's orders, out of obligation. I don't like that.'
'If I pass the test, I want to continue receiving lessons from Head Butler in the future.'
'Because what I wanted was the recognition of Rigrin Pedlan, Head Butler.'
Her clear and bright red eyes, as if she didn't care about his sarcasm, were vivid in his mind.
Funnily enough, the emotion Rigrin felt at that moment was shame.
At her suggestion, Rigrin pushed Lucia by invoking duty and obligation.
But what came back was the child's pure emotion.
'How can she do that?'
He couldn't understand at all.
Rigrin was a colder bystander to Lucia than anyone else.
Even when she was being bullied, when she was standing far away looking at her family's backs, when she was crouching in a shady corner, he was just a bystander watching.
If he were Lucia, he would have hated himself, so how could she say that she wanted to be recognized by him?
He was ashamed of himself for coldly pushing Lucia away.
But at the same time, he became convinced once again.
Lucia still doesn't belong in Rodbel.
So it was right to cut off her eccentric behavior at this point.
Thinking so, he picked up his pen again.
He intended to kill Lucia's spirit by making the first question difficult.
But...
'Should I let her solve at least one question?'
Rigrin's hand, which seemed ready to fill all 10 questions with difficult problems, kept hesitating.
'Since she has to get more than 8 questions right anyway.'
It seemed okay to let her solve one question.
Her efforts to strategize were admirable.
It wouldn't be bad to give her one question as charity.
Thinking so, he lowered the difficulty drastically.
It was at a level that anyone who could read could answer correctly.
After setting the question, he felt strangely proud.
'I can give her one more question.'
Since there are still eight questions left anyway. Two questions were enough.
He filled the 2nd question with an easy question and was about to set a really difficult question...
He recalled Lucia's visit to the library and was suddenly curious.
What is Lucia's level really like?
'Can she solve this too?'
It's a difficult level for a 10-year-old child to solve, but it's not an impossible problem.
So he made it easier than he thought again.
'Since there are still five questions left...'
But... Can she solve this too?
This too?
This would be difficult, right?
He didn't realize it himself, but Rigrin was already enjoying setting Lucia's questions.
Estimating Lucia's limits and purely wondering what level of difficulty she could solve while creating the questions.
It was a curiosity and joy that he had never felt while teaching the direct line of Rodbel.
When he came to his senses... all nine questions were already filled.
Questions that were difficult for Lucia's level but not impossible to solve, completely different from his original plan.
Rigrin felt somehow empty and looked at the nine questions before shaking his head.
'No, no.'
Rigrin recalled what Lucia had said.
She said that what she wanted was not obligatory lessons but his recognition.
'The above nine questions are traps.'
He decided to make the last question really difficult.
If Lucia, who had been winning until the ninth question, became careless and gave up on the last question.
Her will was ultimately only up to that point, and she would not be able to obtain the recognition from him that she truly wanted.
So the last question itself is the real test that hides the intention of the questioner.
To do that, the last question had to be so difficult that Lucia couldn't even think of solving it.
It would be at the level of an academy graduation exam.
He wondered how Lucia, who had been doing well up to the 9th question, would react when she faced the real test, the 10th question.
Would she despair? Or would she still try to solve it?
Then what kind of question would be good?
He pondered in his head.
At that moment, one person came to mind.
A scholar of ancient times and the person who advocated the 'Theory of Soul Transmission' against the temple.
'Lucia.'
Excluding professional scholars, there were very few people who knew the person 'Lucia'.
It had become much more difficult than the academy graduation exam level he had thought of.
He wanted to set the last question as a problem of Lucia, who has a similar name to Lucia.
'Since she won't be able to solve it anyway.'
Like an Easter egg.
Of course, the original Rigrin would never have done such a thing, but he didn't even realize it.
Rigrin looked at the completed test of ten questions with complicated eyes.
The disorganized test, which was completely far from the original purpose, was just like his current state.
Anyway, he presented the test to Lucia.
Lucia, who had scanned the entire test with her eyes, soon looked at him with surprised eyes.
It must be because the questions were easier than expected.
Even though he had decided that the easy questions were traps for the 10th question, he felt somehow embarrassed.
So he recited the remaining time in a more rigid voice.
There was no hesitation in Lucia's attitude as she solved the questions.
Rigrin watched the scene with interest.
'She's pretty good.'
Even if he made it easier than he thought, these are difficult questions for Lucia.
'I underestimated her too much.'
And he admitted his mistake.
Lucia was much smarter and more intelligent than he thought.
The price of his mistake was becoming her educational teacher.
It's a promise, so it can't be helped.
But.
'She won't realize the true meaning of this test.'
The fact that the real test is the most difficult 10th question.
Rigrin rather hoped that Lucia would quickly give up on the 10th question.
That way, he could only treat her as an obligation without any random thoughts.
He also wanted her not to know that the answer to the 10th question was a name similar to hers.
Finally, Lucia's gaze reached the 10th question.
At that moment, Rigrin watched Lucia without blinking.
'Give up.'
Anyway, this bet is your victory.
There's no need to cling to a difficult problem.
'Give up.'
So disappoint me quickly.
So that I don't have any more expectations, thinking that's how it is.
But.
'Give up...'
...She doesn't give up.
No matter how long he waited, Lucia did not put down her pen.
She was frowning deeply and glaring at the 10th question.
As if fighting the problem.
Strange.
Why doesn't she give up?
Anyway, she will never be able to solve that problem no matter how hard she tries.
She has already passed the test.
Does she really think she can solve a problem that even an academy graduate can't solve?
Is she that dull?
'No, let's not judge hastily.'
Didn't he just confirm it?
The fact that Lucia is smarter and more intelligent than her age.
So if he waits a little longer, she will soon realize that it is an unsolvable problem and give up.
But this time too, Rigrin was wrong.
Even though there was only 1 minute left, Lucia did not give up on the 10th question.
In Rigrin's eyes, that appearance looked like meaningless stubbornness.
The appearance of clinging to the Duke who didn't look at her and begging for affection until the end overlapped with the appearance of clinging to the 10th question.
Pathetic and pathetic.
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