Guide to the Education and Training of Girls with Mentally Abnormalities

Chapter 11 The True Self That Should Not Be Lost

"Wake up."

Esther felt herself being shaken, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Edmund's handsome face.

"I'm sorry..." She rubbed her slightly moist eyes. The brief sleep on the carriage had brought her back to the past, back to a year ago when she said goodbye to her adoptive parents, the old nuns and priests in the remote rural monastery.

"Esti, you will meet many people in the future. Some are vicious, some are cunning, some are kind, some are honest, and some are hypocritical... But I hope that you can stay true to yourself on this long journey and not easily lose those purest and most beautiful things."

The old pastor, trembling, took Esther's hand. Esther was an abandoned baby he had found by chance on a snowy night several years ago, and he had adopted the child out of compassion.

Now, the graceful young woman before him is the most important and precious person in the old pastor's heart.

"Don't worry, Grandpa and Grandma, I will find news of Mom and Dad and bring them back to see you. I will tell you many, many adventure stories then." The girl, dressed in her travel clothes and carrying a bag and a long sword, smiled at the old nun and priest who were watching her go. Their figures turned into silhouettes, just like the bright morning light that day, and just like memories that gradually faded with the passage of time, making it difficult to even recall the faces of familiar people.

One by one, the companions met on the journey died in the dungeon. The adventures gained through sacrifice could not even be properly buried. The newcomers who took over the group and the wandering after leaving the adventure group, the loneliness of having nowhere to go on a winter night, the panic when Edmund found them, the despair when the sword was close to their necks...

She rubbed her eyes and looked out the carriage window at the bustling streets filled with elegantly dressed gentlemen and ladies. Everything seemed so beautiful and vibrant, as if everything she had experienced was just a dream.

She looked down at herself again; she was still wearing the oversized robe with an undergarment that Edmund had lent her.

Edmund took in the undisguised emotions on the girl's face.

The notification regarding the rebate on teaching points has not yet appeared.

It will be a long process to teach a kind and innocent person like Esther to be indifferent and aloof, to accept the way of the "aristocratic class" and to become the "lady" image she envisioned.

The longer the process, the greater the reward.

He pinched Esther's cheek as a reminder, and the girl snapped out of her daze, awkwardly adopting the haughty and arrogant demeanor expected of a noblewoman.

"Your Excellency, and this beautiful lady beside you, may the sunshine today brighten your generous and kind hearts." The coachman accepted a few coins with a tip from Edmund's hand, his smile amiable and ingratiating. "This is the largest and most bustling commercial pedestrian street in the entire city of Karenbel. The carriage cannot go in. I will wait for you both on the other side of the pedestrian street as you requested. I hope you enjoy your shopping."

Having said that, he drove the carriage around the bend and quickly disappeared into the shadow of the stable at the street corner.

"Come on, Esther." Edmund squeezed Esther's hand, bringing the girl back from her reverie. "A lady shouldn't and can't always wear other people's clothes, even if that person is a gentleman. I'll take you to have a formal gown made for a banquet and a casual outfit for everyday wear."

"But..." Esther whispered. "Things here...things are very expensive..."

"Expensive is fine, that's exactly what I want."

"Your Excellency, the lady beside you is truly beautiful. Please come to our shop and take a look. We have the latest fashionable styles from the capital, styles that even the royal princess adores..."

"Oh my goodness, such a dashing jazzman is accompanied by an equally outstanding and beautiful lady. Coincidentally, our store has just launched a brand new design with a retro art style, which will absolutely make your wife look like a goddess from an epic story, captivating and enchanting."

Upon seeing the impeccably dressed Edmund and Esther beside him in a simple robe, the shop assistants of the luxury store tactfully greeted them. Even as Edmund continued walking, they followed in his footsteps, their faces bearing their signature smiles as they introduced the new products displayed in the shop window.

Edmund walked on, oblivious to the shop assistants' invitations and displays. Seeing that Edmund was unmoved, the shop assistants circled around Esther, sometimes holding up a necklace in front of her neck and praising it in an exaggerated way, and sometimes holding up a long dress and exclaiming in an overly dramatic way, "How beautiful you would look in that dress!"

When they ask, "It's so pretty, aren't you sure you're not going to buy it?", Esther will look at Edmund, who is standing ahead shaking his head, and then shake her head in his manner before quickly following after him.

Edmund spoke up, half-jokingly, only after they had left the area where the stores were promoting their products.

"Look, just a moment ago she was being cursed as a devil, and now she's being treated as an angel descended from heaven. The lovely and innocent Miss Esther actually thinks, like an angel, that their eagerness and flattery come without any cost."

He glanced back at the salesmen who were leaving dejectedly.

"If you ask me, they're probably gossiping about you behind your back, saying you're a guy who's not very skilled but has incredibly good luck. He clearly doesn't know anything, but he managed to hook up with a 'rich guy' like me, not to mention getting his 'rich husband' to spend more money on you."

Esther blinked, not understanding what Edmund meant at first, until the word "husband" came out and her face turned bright red.

"So, sir, you weren't unmoved by my body after all?"

"If I really desired your body, do you think you could have stayed by my side unharmed until today?"

"Sir..." Esther's eyes and expression turned strange. She pursed her lips and tilted her head to look at Edmund. "You're not attracted to my body? Don't you like girls...?"

I laughed in exasperation.

Edmund really wanted to see what was going on in Esther's head.

He poked Esther's head impatiently, then grabbed her ahoge (cowlick) and yanked it upwards like pulling weeds, only stopping when the girl cried out in pain.

"If I didn't like girls, what makes you so confident that I'd tolerate you staying by my side? You don't really think it's because you're cute, do you? Wouldn't it be better if I used you as fertilizer to bury some of my favorite flowers and do some gardening?"

"But all the pretty ladies at the clothing store said I was pretty and cute," Estée said, mimicking a cat scratching its paw. "Look, sir."

"My goodness, Esther, what did I just tell you? I told you to put away your naivety, vulnerability, and foolish pity, not so you could gloat and act cute in front of me! They praised you so I'd buy you those silks and fabrics! They're after my money, not you, you stupid fool!"

The girl, however, was staring at Edmund.

"But sir, you're blushing."

"You're the one who made me angry."

Esther lowered her head in disappointment.

"I'm sorry, I thought I was very attractive to you, sir, that's why..."

"If thinking like this makes you feel better, then so be it."

"All right……"

Edmund suddenly stopped in his tracks.

The height difference between the two made Esther have to tilt her head up slightly to meet the young man's gaze, but she didn't dare to look directly into Edmund's sun-like, fiery eyes, so she could only focus her gaze on the tip of his nose.

"I've said it before, I'm more interested in your inner self than your body, especially the process of transforming your inner self with things that only I know."

"So, sir, you're not uninterested in me." Esther was inexplicably happy.

"A true lady, when praised and pursued by a man, should either be shy and gentle, or politely refuse. She can't just laugh like an idiot and nod like that, understand? I won't say anything when you're with me in public, because people will only see it as a couple being affectionate."

"If I'm not by your side one day, you can't do something so foolish."

"I understand, Mr. Clemons."

Esther's "Social Skills" course progress +1, 1 course point gained.

[Edith's "Reconnaissance and Counter-Reconnaissance" course "Tracking and Surveillance" practice progress +1, 1 course point earned]

Currently, there are no points unlocking features; points have been replaced with corresponding cash payments.

Stalking and surveillance? Practice?

Is someone following me?

Edith?

And who is that?

Edmund squeezed the extra coins in his purse.

If someone learns something from me, even if I'm unaware of it, the teaching system will still attribute it to my teaching contribution, just like it did before.

In other words, under certain special circumstances, the system can also serve as an early warning system?

"What's wrong, sir?" Esther followed Edmund's gaze toward the entrance to the pedestrian street.

Bright sunlight pierced through thin clouds and fell on the magnificent pedestrian street of Karenbel, where cars and people bustled about.

"It's nothing." He looked away. "Let's go."

"Um."