Guide to the Education and Training of Girls with Mentally Abnormalities

Chapter 18 Misunderstanding!

Edmund looked at Esther with gentle eyes. In the warm sunlight, Edith could actually read feelings of "gentleness" and "compassion" on his angular face.

"Miss Edith, would you like to hear a story?"

Edith's lips twitched slightly.

"story?"

"That's right."

"Let me guess, what happened to her? Did the princess meet a handsome and brave adventurer during her ordeal, fall in love, and elope with him?"

Edith pretended not to care and summoned the [Gala Wood Simulation Strategy System] to quickly search for all save files and story characters in the simulation.

But strangely enough...

Even in a system that can find information about passersby on unknown streets, no information about the girl in front of him could be found.

"Or is it that, for some inescapable reason, like the stories told in epics, a once handsome and valiant adventurer, bound by a past promise, is forced to wander the vast world with a pampered child in tow, and in order to give her a stable life, you have to give up your adventurous career and become an ordinary, unremarkable person in the city?"

As soon as the words were spoken, Willow and Edmund both showed the same look of surprise.

Edith's tone was as if someone had knocked over the spice jars in the kitchen, a jumbled mess of bitter, spicy, salty, and sour smells.

Is the new landlord jealous of his tenant's female companion?

This doesn't make sense, does it?

As if realizing that her tone had become strange, she coughed to clear her throat.

"Could you tell me this story, Mr. Clemens?"

Edmund continued his eloquent speech, recounting the origins of his "tailor-made" story for Esther, telling this long tale already well-known to the neighbors on Green Oak Street with the dramatic intonation of a street bard.

As Edmund continued his narration, Edith's expression became increasingly unpredictable.

When Edmund mentions that Esther is a noblewoman like her.

The girl felt inexplicably irritated.

When it is mentioned that Esther was "forced" to come to the city of Karenbel to seek Edmund's refuge.

She then felt a sudden, tearing pain in her chest.

When Edmund mentions that Esther is "capable enough to take care of herself and knowledgeable enough to decide her own fate," he will leave the decision of whether to stay to Esther.

Jealousy and envy had rendered Edith unable to hear what Edmund was saying as he opened and closed his mouth.

What does it mean to say, "I will set her free when she is able to decide her own fate"?

Can she choose to stay with Edmund?

Edith clutched her chest, her surging emotions rising and falling violently with her forced, suppressed breathing and resentment.

"Miss Edith, you look a little tired." Edmund noticed Edith's unusual appearance and thoughtfully brought her a chair, then hurried to the kitchen to brew her a steaming cup of black tea.

"Thank you." Edith took the teacup, smiled weakly, and sat down in the chair.

Esther remained quietly seated on the sofa, staring blankly at the fireplace. Her azure eyes beneath her silver hair were like icebergs on a frozen sea reflecting the ethereal color of the sky. Her expressionless face conveyed to anyone the melancholy and sorrow of being "far from home."

Edith was somewhat discouraged again.

Compared to myself, whose emotions fluctuate wildly in just half an hour.

She felt that the nonchalant Estée seemed more like the protagonist than herself.

The aggressive girl resembled a cat that had been splashed with water, her fluffy, bristling fur clinging messily to her thin body.

She stared at Esther, her eyes filled with doubt and jealousy.

Just who is this guy?

Edith wasn't the only one puzzled at that moment.

Willow looked at Edith, then at Edmund.

What is the story between the second young lady and this man?

"Mr. Clemens, we've never met before, have we?" Willow looked at Edmund warily, searching her memories of the past decade or so for any information that might be related to Edmund.

"No." Edmund shrugged, recalling the [Tracking Tutorial] notification from the system earlier, and added, "Probably not."

Probably not.

He can't even remember if he's ever met me before.

Edith suddenly missed her warm little bed in her Enfield mansion room.

The "Edmund" on the bed was so simple; it was just a pillow, yet it contained everything about her.

It was just a pillow, yet it embraced Edith's desires and longings on countless nights.

Edmund before me was so vivid, yet so unfamiliar, so unfamiliar that even whether I had ever met him before was not something worth remembering.

I want to be the protagonist.

I won't let anyone take you away from the "True Ending".

Edith gripped the teacup tightly; the scalding pain mirrored the intense love between the two in the simulation.

She drank the warm, still slightly hot tea in one gulp.

"It's a truly epic and thrilling story, just like the adventures you've described before."

The surging heat traveled down her throat, and Edith smiled again. She sat in her chair and looked up at Edmund, her relaxed posture like that of a lion lazily sunbathing after surveying its territory.

"That's enough small talk, let's talk about the future."

"About Mr. Clemens, and the person beside you."

Edmund immediately dropped the exuberance he had displayed while recounting his adventures and looked at Edith with a serious expression.

"The previous landlord spoke highly of you both. He said that when he rented the house to you, it was empty and desolate, but now, with your decoration and furnishing, it has the warm feeling that a home should have." Edith said slowly and deliberately, naturally crossing her legs and gently swinging her toes.

"But as the new owner of this house, Mr. Clemons, I think you should also understand from what I said earlier."

"I am an outcast from my family, and this is my only place to stay, so..." Edith deliberately dragged out her words, looking at Edmund and imagining that the young man in front of her would sincerely beg her to let him and Esther continue to rent the place, as if grasping at a straw.

Edmund spoke slowly, just as she had expected.

“Miss Edith, I understand what you mean. Rest assured, I will find a new place to stay as soon as possible.” He then looked at the furnishings on the wall. “If you agree, may I take these trophies, which bear witness to my long journey, with me when I leave?”

"Eh?"

"Indeed, it would be a better choice to have them accompany a nobleman like you than to live a life of hardship with me." Edmund misunderstood, shrugged, and gazed longingly at the decorations and swords on the wall.

"I understand that I'm sorry that you had to meet two unfriendly strangers on your first day in your warm new home, and that we brought back unpleasant family memories."

Edmund looked disappointed.

"If you could give me some time to pack, Esther and I would be extremely grateful for your generosity."

Don't go.

I did not mean that.

Don't go...!

A flicker of panic crossed the girl's eyes. She instinctively reached out and grabbed Edmund, who was about to turn and leave.