Mom's Possessed - Chapter 59

‘You can’t solve the problem behind that?’

Is that… possible?

Hindley carefully examined the child’s face, wondering if Bonita might be teasing him.

But looking at her gloomy expression, it didn’t seem like an act no matter how he thought about it.

If that was acting…… it would be more impressive than mathematical talent.

“Wait, just a moment. Miss Bonita.”

Hindley opened the page again.

This time it was a different problem.

78.

Thomas and Cedric are standing 100m apart.

If Thomas walks towards Cedric at a speed of 7m/s, and Cedric walks towards Thomas at 3m/s, how many seconds will it take for them to meet?

The calculation itself was much easier than calculating money.

So Bonita couldn’t solve this problem.

Hindley turned the page again.

79.

There is 640mL of juice in a bottle.

If Thomas drank 320mL of this juice, how many mL of juice are left in the bottle?

“How about this one?”

Bonita shook her head.

‘Wait, could it be?’

At that moment, an assumption flashed through Hindley’s mind.

So…

101.

Christopher bought 17 strawberries for 30 krone each and 21 bananas for 40 krone each.

Then he bought five watermelons for 50 krone each with the remaining money, leaving no change.

How much money did Christopher have initially?

“1600 krone.”

Bonita answered easily.

“But the prices seem a bit strange. Watermelons aren’t that cheap.”

Hindley made a subtle expression.

“Miss Bonita.”

“Yes?”

“What is 500 times 3?”

“Um, well…?”

He slightly changed the question.

“Then if Miss Bonita has three 500 krone coins, how much is that?”

“1500 krone.”

“Hmm, then…”

Hindley was now curious to see how far Bonita could go.

He made up a problem with very complicated numbers.

“If you buy 144 bags costing 308,210 krone each, what’s the total?”

“44,382,240 krone.”

Hearing that answer, he scribbled the numbers on paper.

It was correct again.

Hindley stared at Bonita.

“How did you do that?”

“Pardon?”

“How did you derive the answer?”

“Derive?”

As Bonita tilted her head, Hindley explained.

“It means how you came up with the answer.”

“Oh… well.”

After hesitating for a moment, Bonita answered again.

“I used to go shopping a lot until I was five. Ah, of course, I’ve always stayed at home since I got a bit older… Sir, why are you looking at me like that?”

“No…”

He said, scratching his head.

“I just feel like Miss Bonita might be a student worth teaching.”

Slam.

Luke, who had been pacing anxiously outside the door, quickly put on a solemn expression and composed himself as soon as the door opened.

It was to appear as if he had ‘coincidentally’ been passing by just as the lesson ended.

“Your Grace!”

Bonita, spotting Luke, ran over with a bright expression.

Though the title remained the same, compared to the beginning, it was a remarkable expression of familiarity. Luke felt proud as he gently patted Bonita’s head.

“Was the lesson manageable?”

“Umm…”

Bonita swallowed her words.

‘Eek!’

Hindley shuddered as he received Luke’s intense gaze.

“It was fine! I learned letters too.”

“Really? Do you want to keep going from now on?”

“Yes. But not every day.”

Bonita smiled broadly.

Her cheeks, which had become quite plump lately, puffed out slightly. Luke looked at Bonita with an expression that showed he didn’t know what to do with how cute it was.

Hindley, observing the father and daughter, carefully opened his mouth.

“Um, Your Grace?”

“What is it?”

“I have something to say about Miss Bonita… Could you spare a moment?”

“Alright.”

It was natural for parents and teachers to consult after lessons ended.

Luke nodded and spoke kindly to Bonita.

“Now go to your room and play with Miss Hilton. I’ll be there soon.”

“Okay!”

Bonita answered energetically and scampered off in the opposite direction.

Meanwhile, a glint appeared in Hindley’s brown eyes.

‘Miss Hilton?’

That was the name of the woman Oliver had told him to keep an eye on.

He thought he’d missed her since he hadn’t seen her at all since entering the mansion, but the topic came up at just the right moment.

Hindley asked in a casual tone, as if it were nothing.

“Miss Hilton, is she the one who brought Miss Bonita to the mansion?”

Luke gave an affirmative look.

“Is she very close with Miss Bonita?”

“Why do you ask that?”

This time the response was quite sharp.

Hindley hurriedly made an excuse.

“Ah, haha. Isn’t it very important to know what kind of environment a child is in and what their tendencies are when teaching them? I’m just asking as part of that.”

“Hmm… You’re not wrong.”

Nothing is more important than understanding the child you’re guiding.

Luke answered simply.

“Bonita follows Miss Hilton like a mother.”

“Ah, then perhaps the person who raised Miss Bonita before she came to the duke’s residence…?”

Hindley couldn’t finish his question. Luke was looking down at him with chilling eyes.

“Have a seat. Ah, you there.”

Luke, who had called him to the reception room, gestured to a maid standing nearby.

“Bring some light refreshments. Hot tea would be good.”

She bowed like a professional and soon disappeared from view.

She was a maid of a level rarely seen in ordinary noble houses. Hindley followed her retreating figure with slightly curious eyes, but soon tensed up at Luke’s call.

“How was my daughter?”

“Ah, well.”

Luke’s eyes were clearly sparkling with expectation and excitement. To Hindley, it just looked terrifying.

Fortunately, unlike when he went to other houses, Hindley didn’t need to shower praise he didn’t mean.

“First, regarding letters, we need to start by teaching the alphabet one by one. However, being seven years old, she’ll be able to catch up to her peers much faster than younger children.”

“How long do you think it will take for her to be able to read? In your opinion.”

“Reading itself shouldn’t take long since it’s her native language. Even children Bonita’s age have difficulty reading or writing difficult words, so there’s no need to be too hasty.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“For now, we plan to use this textbook. Would you like to take a look?”

“Let me see it.”

Luke took the children’s word learning worksheet from Hindley and examined the textbook with a serious expression.

There was a terrible sense of incongruity seeing the large, fierce-looking man holding a tiny ABC word book.

“At what age do children usually start with books like this?”

“As early as two years old, or at the latest around three or four.”

“Hmm…”

“But there’s no absolute early or late when it comes to children’s learning.”

He hurriedly added an explanation.

Although Hindley was feeling frustrated with teaching children, he had a personality where he couldn’t help but do things properly when there was work to be done, even while chanting that he should quit.

Especially the mindset of trying to discipline children based on misconceptions – which most parents had – was something he simply couldn’t tolerate. It was his own sense of professional pride.

“If Miss Bonita were in her mid to late teens it would definitely be a problem, but she’s only seven, isn’t she? By the time she becomes an adult, it won’t even be noticeable.”

“…I wasn’t particularly worried.”

“I see.”

Hindley agreed in a tone that showed he didn’t believe it at all.

Luke felt slightly annoyed. However, he didn’t particularly object.

“And regarding mathematics…”

“How is it?”

Though he asked, Luke didn’t have high expectations for this part.

Unlike reading, it wouldn’t be a big problem if she was a bit weak in math. If Bonita wanted to enter the academy, they could teach her then.

“She’s a genius…? I think.”

“I see, as expected of my daughter… Wait. What did you say? A genius?”

Luke’s hand stopped as he was answering with a calm face. It was then that the maid entered between the two with a tray.

She set out the refreshments beautifully in an instant, with a surprisingly quiet and fast speed. And then she disappeared like an assassin.

Hindley was lost in an irrelevant thought, wondering if the duke’s household employed assassins as maids – but soon returned to the main topic.

“For now, she can easily do single-digit addition and subtraction. She seems to struggle a bit when the sum goes beyond what can be counted on fingers.”

He explained in a calm tone to the duke who was blinking his eyes.

“Usually, seven-year-old children can do multi-digit addition and subtraction, but since it’s still spring, her level isn’t far from average. However, um…”

Hindley gripped and released the textbook, unsure how to explain what he had just seen.

Feeling frustrated, Luke urged him on.

“Then what did you mean earlier? If it was just something you said casually, I might get a bit angry.”

“Not at all! I’m someone who doesn’t speak empty words, at least when I’m working.”

Although his grades in school were just average, he had a talent for teaching children at their level in an easy-to-understand way.

Hindley waved his hands in denial and adjusted his glasses that had slipped down. The thin wire-frame glasses settled neatly on the bridge of his nose.

“Your Grace, please take a look at this.”

“Isn’t this a children’s textbook?”

The duke put down the letter workbook and picked up the math textbook.

When the textbook with cute illustrations was in the duke’s hands, it looked like a toy book. He really was a terrifyingly large person.

“Please look at page 115 there.”

Luke opened the book as instructed.

Unlike the empty front pages, from page 115 to the end of the book, all the answers were filled in. There were no solution steps.

Luke furrowed his brow.

“What’s this supposed to mean?”

“All those problems, Miss Bonita solved them. Mentally.”

“…What?”