Having a powerful lord as a father figure, what's wrong with just wanting to draw cards?

Connor arrived at the castle gate carrying his large suitcase. The gate was much smaller, and it looked like it was meant for people to walk through.

A large suitcase, a long journey, brown hair, an elderly man in his seventies or eighties… all the characteristics matched. The maid sweeping at the door immediately recognized him, put down her broom, and hurried to greet him.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Connor Reeves?"

Connor nodded. "It's me."

After receiving an affirmative answer, the maid took Connor's suitcase and warmly greeted him:

"Welcome to Bloomfield Castle. Please rest in the lobby for a moment while I go and inform the master."

The maid led him to the sofa area in the lobby, poured him a cup of black tea and served him some pastries before leaving.

He picked up his teacup, took a few sips, and looked around.

Many details in the lobby reveal their wealth, such as the giant dragon head on the fireplace, the carpet made of high-quality animal fur, and children's doodles on the coffee table...

Hmm? Graffiti?

It seems the maid hadn't had time to tidy it up; it's still quite warm.

He picked them up and examined them closely; each of the three paintings had its own merits.

The painting depicts a turbulent sea and a large ship sailing against the wind. A boy with golden hair, wearing a pirate hat bigger than himself, stands at the bow of the ship, his half-moon shaped smiling face endearingly innocent.

The painting was made with several colors of paint and contained a bunch of abstract patterns. Although they were a bit abstract, Connor was still able to recognize them using his stream-of-consciousness identification method. These were actually magical patterns that existed in nature.

For example, red clumps represent the fire element, and yellow clods of earth represent the earth element...

It looks like drawing, but it's actually more like memorizing knowledge about how many magic systems there are in total.

The last one left Connor a bit puzzled; it was an outfit he had never seen before.

A plaid skirt that barely reaches the upper thigh, paired with a preppy shirt and jacket, all very fitted... and two letters—"JK"—are written in the bottom right corner.

"JK? ​​Is that the name of this outfit?" Unlike the previous two drawings, this one is a pencil sketch.

"A child can draw at this level? Didn't Carlos say they didn't train them before the age of seven?"

He couldn't believe that a seven-year-old child already had such drawing skills.

Could it be Argyle?

According to Carlos's letter, it seems that only Argyle is a possibility, while Edward is as mischievous as a little explorer, and his relationship with Dominic is only briefly mentioned.

His thinking is understandable.

Just as he was speculating, he heard children talking coming from the stairs leading to the lobby:

"I heard our teacher seems to have arrived."

"Whether you're here or not, keep your mouths shut later, don't embarrass our family."

“Don’t worry, don’t worry~”

"Wait! My doodles seem to still be on the table!"

Edward's words helped the other two remember as well.

"Oh no!" Domi thought to himself, things were in trouble. His new teacher might have seen his JK (high school girl) design!

In today's relatively conservative society, clothing as revealing as JK uniforms would definitely be met with resistance from most people.

That would be considered a synonym for "temptation," "immorality," and "lewdness"!

If the teacher thinks he's a lecher, his first impression will be at its lowest, which would be a big problem. He still wants to learn more about the world through his tutor.

He unconsciously quickened his pace, and in the end, he almost ran towards the lobby. Not only him, Edward followed closely behind him, muttering, "The great adventurer's plan cannot be exposed!"

But when they arrived at the lobby, they found an old man already sitting there, holding the graffiti they had created.

Edward's face turned ashen: "It's over... My dream of sailing... is shattered, but the treasure is still waiting for me..."

Domi is about the same.

After all, this was a little punishment he had prepared for Kal'tsit!

If Connor gives this painting to Carlos or Greta, then he can forget about getting Kelsey to wear a schoolgirl uniform for him...

"Hiss..." Seeing his two younger brothers looking like Sima, Argyle felt a headache coming on: "I told you not to embarrass yourself."

He sighed. There was nothing he could do; his cousin was too disappointing, so he had to take over himself.

Recalling the etiquette tips Greta had taught them, Argyle straightened her back and walked towards Connor with measured steps, offering him a greeting:

"Greetings from Argyle Bloomfield."

Connor put down his drawing paper and looked at the child in front of him who was wearing a small vest but trying to look like an adult.

Argyle, Argyle, oh! Isn't that Carlos's eldest son?

He examined him carefully again and found that, as the letter had described, he was indeed handsome, precocious, and quite polite.

Seeing their elder brother's attitude, Edward and Domi dared not be negligent.

Edward didn't know how to bow, and he had never even thought that he would one day bow. He didn't have a process in mind, so he could only imitate what others did. In the end, the way he did it was incredibly awkward, which made Connor both laugh and cry.

But when he arrived at Domi's place, he was truly amazed.

That was almost the most standard imperial etiquette he had ever seen.

He believes that if a ruler existed, it would be a standard accurate to the nanometer level.

Stand with your feet together without any gap, your straight back tilts slightly with the movement of your waist, your left hand behind your lower back and your right hand on your chest, and your head tilts slightly upward. If possible, look confidently at the person who is bowing to you.

That's the look that's most popular.

Imagine if the eyes of someone bowing to you were filled with timidity; you would feel uncomfortable seeing that, under normal circumstances.

Domi, with his maxed-out [Lionheart Empire Etiquette], perfectly achieved all of the above points.

With his high, gray ponytail and such a confident, aloof face, Connor couldn't imagine what a scourge of the nation such a child would become when he grew up.

"He's even more handsome than his dad..."

Connor exclaimed from the bottom of his heart.

He had never been to Bloomfield Territory, but Carlos had been to the capital, where they had met. He was certain that Domi would grow up to be much better looking than his father.

Wait a minute, it seems like we're getting off track...

Just then, he seemed to realize that something was wrong.

The first child is confirmed to be Argyle, and the blond one must be Edward. So, could the last one be Carlos's third son, Dominic Bloomfield, whom he only mentioned briefly?!

With striking eyebrows and bright eyes, extraordinary confidence, and perhaps a willpower that surpasses most people.

Without willpower, how could someone at the age of seven possibly learn etiquette that would normally require at least five or six years of practice?

How could such a child be ordinary? We'd be too happy to keep her hidden away.

Yup!

Connor suddenly realized.

People from powerful families like Carlos's are bound to say something, and you can't believe them completely. Maybe Dominic is the real genius!

Fine, if he doesn't want him to pay attention to Domi, then he'll see what Domi is hiding and what Carlos is up to!

Chapter 20, Part 20: No Prize Quiz

In his internal struggle, Connor had unknowingly forgotten that Domi had drawn JK sketches.

Rather than relying solely on doodles that offer only a glimpse into the bigger picture, he believes that as the future teacher of these three children, it is necessary for him to get to know them before formally beginning his teaching and, incidentally, to build a relationship with them.

After all, this tutor has been teaching for six years.

Connor revealed his identity and had Domi and the other two sit opposite him.

“Your father hired me to teach you, but I know nothing about you yet. So, in order to better teach you according to your individual needs, I will ask you a few questions. If you can answer them, then answer them. If you can't answer them, that's okay. I will teach you later.”

The three nodded like chickens pecking at rice, none of them wanting to embarrass themselves in front of their "homeroom teacher" for the next six years.

"Cough cough~"

After clearing his throat, Connor asked the first question:

"If three people use three buckets of water in three days, how many buckets of water will nine people use in nine days?"

Very good, this is a math problem.

The test likely assessed basic mental arithmetic skills and the ability to make logical deductions.

Domi, having been through similar experiences, quickly came up with the answer, but he didn't rush to reply. Instead, he observed Edward and Argyle for a while.

He didn't want to leave a bad impression on Connor, but he also didn't want Connor to pay special attention to him, as that would make it difficult for him to secretly swindle him out of a sum of money.

Therefore, he can answer questions quickly, but he can't steal too many opportunities.

However, it would be better for him to take the first one, since neither of his older brothers seemed to be very good at math.

Edward, in particular, wanted to use his toes after he had used his fingers.

It would be even worse if all three of them were looked down upon by Connor.

With that in mind, he immediately raised his hand and shouted, "Twenty-seven barrels!"

Connor gave him an approving look: "Correct answer..."

This is actually a somewhat imprecise question, but no matter how you look at it, the answer is always twenty-seven.

The problem can be understood as:

One person uses one bucket of water every three days

Three people use one bucket of water per day

Or perhaps one person uses one-third of a bucket of water per day.

If you fall into a cognitive bias, it's really hard to calculate.

Such a question might be a bit difficult for a college student, but it's just right for a preschool child.

I mentally made a note of Dominic's mistake, and then came the next question: