Chapter 6 Becoming a Teacher

 

It had never crossed Jacob’s mind that his escape to this island would lead him to a new experience, becoming a private tutor to a sixteen-year-old girl. His original intention had been simple: to distance himself from a world filled with painful memories after losing the woman he loved. However, fate had other plans and brought him together with Luna.

“Wrong again. Do it another way!” Jacob’s voice echoed through the room, accompanied by a loud bang as he slammed his hand against the table. Luna flinched, her eyes widening as the man’s sternness nearly crushed her courage.

Jacob studied Luna carefully, more carefully than usual. In his twenty-five years of life, he had never met anyone who, in his opinion, struggled so much to understand the simplest things. Even basic calculations proved to be a major challenge for Luna.

“What on earth is going on inside that head of yours?” he muttered, pressing a fifty-centimeter wooden stick against Luna’s forehead.

Luna looked at him innocently, without a trace of guilt. “My head is obviously meant to store memories,” she replied casually, as though it were the most logical fact in the world.

Jacob let out a long sigh, struggling to contain his frustration, which had already reached its boiling point. “If your brain is meant to store memories, then why can’t you remember the lessons I teach you? I’ve made everything as simple as possible, Luna. You’re just...”

Luna pouted. “I haven’t studied math in three years,” she said in a quiet voice. “All I’ve read are the books in the reading room since I came to live here.”

Jacob rubbed his face, trying to ease his frustration. “From now on, you’re going to study a lot more. I won’t let you rest until you understand what I teach you!”

“That’s forcing me!” Luna protested, her eyes blazing with defiance because, no matter how hard she tried, everything she did seemed wrong in Jacob’s eyes.

Jacob stood up with a snort. “I’d rather force you than let you grow up to be a stupid woman! Now get out and bring me some water. Teaching you all day has made me thirsty!”

Annoyed, Luna got up and headed for the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water while glancing at Maci, the maid she had come to regard as a mother figure.

“Is the young master bothering you?” Maci asked, noticing the anger written all over Luna’s face.

“Bothering me? It’s worse than that! He suddenly offered to be my teacher, but all he does is get angry and call me stupid!” Luna complained.

Maci smiled faintly, her expression understanding. “You should be grateful, Luna. Not everyone is willing to teach you voluntarily. Young Master Jacob graduated at the top of his class. It’s only natural that he wants you to learn more.”

“Why are you taking his side, too?!” Luna stomped her foot against the floor. “If he weren’t part of the family that owns this island, I might have already become his enemy!”

Maci merely smiled at Luna’s unusual grumbling. Then the girl spoke again.

“Being around someone like him, doesn’t that count as bullying?” she muttered, letting out a long sigh.

Eventually, she returned to the study with the glass in her hand. Despite her irritation, she knew that getting angry was not the best way to deal with Jacob.

**

Two months passed, and Jacob continued teaching Luna one lesson after another. Although his patience was often tested, he refused to give up. He spent every afternoon tutoring the girl, nearly always accompanied by long sighs at how slowly Luna grasped the material.

However, that afternoon was different. Jacob decided to relax in the garden, allowing his thoughts to wander. The scent of the sea mingled with the gentle breeze, soothing his troubled heart. Although nearly three months had passed, the memory of Anastasya still lingered in every corner of his mind.

“You and our child must be watching me from up there,” he murmured, gazing at the cloudy sky.

His longing ran so deep that it gripped his heart until it ached. Memories of Anastasya’s smile haunted him, bringing back a pain that refused to fade because they should have been living happily together after their wedding.

As he lost himself in his thoughts, a light drizzle began to fall. Jacob stood up, allowing the raindrops to dampen his shoulders before finally heading back inside the mansion. He wandered without any particular destination until he found himself standing in front of Luna’s open bedroom door.

From where he stood, he saw Maci cutting Luna’s hair. The girl’s hair was now short again, just as it had been when he first met her. Jacob knocked on the door before entering without waiting for an invitation.

“Young Master, do you need anything?” Maci asked politely.

Jacob glanced at Luna, who was staring back at him with a sharp gaze this time, as though she were challenging him.

“What are you doing?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer.

“Cutting her hair,” Maci replied briefly before returning to the final touches.

Jacob studied Luna for a moment. With her hair cut short again, she looked different. Even so, he imagined that Luna would be prettier if she let her hair grow longer and wore it loose.

However, he pushed the thought aside and shook his head. “Why should I care about other people’s business?” he murmured before leaving the room.