Trapped in His Own Luna's Trap

Episode 9:

Overjoyed, I exclaimed, “Teacher!””

Gregory seemed startled and asked, “What do you call me?”

His question made me flustered, and after a while, I replied, “Teacher...” Both Chloe and Victoria called him “teacher,” so did I think wrong?

“Teacher?” He whispered, as if adapting to this way of addressing him. I chuckled silently; the joy in my heart had already dispelled the physical pain. Finally, someone will teach me!

I really wanted to shout out loud, but I hesitated because Gregory was in the room.

Gregory calmly said, “In the future, when you come here, you must come alone. Otherwise, I won’t teach you anything.”

Hearing that, I asked again, “Does the teacher also avoid the rain?”

I didn’t know why I asked that because from everything in this room and from his words; I knew he didn’t come to avoid the rain, but I still asked.

“No,” he replied decisively, slowly turning around, his voice still very gentle. “Perhaps... I’m waiting for you...”

“Teacher...” I laughed.

I thought he meant fate, not knowing it was because of that...

Suddenly, he said, “No more questions.”

Just that sentence made the words on the tip of my tongue swallow back down. After a moment of silence, I looked at him and asked, “If I don’t have questions, do you still need to teach me?”

I was afraid that my words would anger him, but unexpectedly, he laughed and said softly, “No more asking about my affairs.”

I felt surprised and nodded.

By then, the thunder had stopped for a long time, and even the rain had subsided. The wet shoes I brought into the room were slowly drying, but I still didn’t want to leave.

I tried to find something to ask. “You said my name was nice just now. Why is it nice?”

I had always felt my name was hard to listen to, always feeling inferior to Chloe and Victoria. This was the first time someone said my name was nice, and of course, I was thrilled.

Gregory raised his hand to open the window; outside, the rain had stopped, and in the air, the wind carried a dampness, feeling cool. I wanted to stop him; he was sick, so why did he want to open the window! It was strange that the words were on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t say them.

“Amelia, it’s definitely the crystallization of a beautiful love.”

Hearing the two words “beautiful love,” I couldn’t help but laugh sarcastically. Did my parents have love? Huh, Amelia, could she be the crystallization of love? This was too ridiculous!

Gregory coughed a few times, looked up at me, and asked with a smile, “So, isn’t that a nice name?”

I didn’t answer; whether or not it was a nice name, I didn’t know. I just knew that I could feel endless sympathy in his words, making people feel uncomfortable.

That feeling was not something I liked.

I deliberately laughed for a while and then said, “Teacher, I still have one question.”

“Ask away!”

Gregory didn’t ask why I kept laughing. He just said, “It’s late at night, go home! I’m tired too!”

The command to leave was straightforward. At that moment, I thought he was so indifferent; he could reach the highest level even when dismissing guests.

I pursed my lips, stood up, bowed to him, and jokingly said, “Teacher, rest well. I’m leaving!” After all, the thunder had stopped, and the rain had stopped too.

Turning around, just as I opened the door, I heard him say, “Amelia, remember what I said.”

Amelia...

Until then, I didn’t know that someone could call me by such a pleasant name.

I nodded.

Actually, I didn’t know what he meant, because tonight he said a lot to me... but none of it was important...

In just one night; I regained my courage. I knew it was all thanks to Gregory.

The next day, I didn’t go to see him, nor did I bid farewell to the priest in the temple, because I had to hurry back to the Martinez family. I hoped that my absence wouldn’t anger my father. I knew that the Phoenix’s destiny came from the Martinez family; if I wanted to show up, I would have to endure silently for a few more years.

Returning straight to the Martinez family, I found I had worried too much. It turned out that no one knew I wasn’t in the mansion all night, and no one had ever cared about me.

As I walked through the long corridor, seeing Chloe and Victoria approaching from a distance, I didn’t turn back, smiled, and walked ahead.

“Hey!” Chloe deliberately called out loudly. “Amelia, yesterday, my mother’s discipline didn’t hurt you much. You still look fine!”

I laughed and said, “Luna Abigail’s teaching. I will definitely remember deeply!”

“You!” Chloe glared angrily at me, coldly snorted, and then walked past me.

Victoria didn’t follow immediately. She hesitated, looking at me, and softly said, “Amelia, I’m sorry, it’s because Lyly forgot where she put the clothes...”

“It’s okay!” I interrupted her, walking ahead, leaving behind the words, “I forgot already!”

Whether someone forgot the clothes or whatever happened, there was no need to pursue it anymore. The beating was done. Now I knew, just observing words, facial expressions of others, silently enduring, had no effect.

What they had today, I would have later. My mother gave me the status of being a daughter of the Martinez family, so I couldn’t waste it.

Perhaps Victoria didn’t expect me to say that. She was stunned. I walked away, still hearing Chloe angry, crying her name.

After that day, there was nothing different in the Martinez family, just that I left the mansion more often. Fortunately, no one in the Martinez family had cared about my affairs.

When Jeremy came again, he brought me many beautiful clothes. I said nothing, just quietly hid them away, not wearing them anymore. I didn’t want them to hurt me again. After all, I still could not resist.

Contacting Gregory more made me even more shaken. Everything, astronomy, geography, there was nothing he wasn’t knowledgeable about.

Many times, I really wanted to ask what kind of person he really was, but then I remembered I had agreed not to ask about his affairs. I vaguely heard the priest and the abbot in the temple say that Gregory was a descendant of a prestigious family, but later his family’s situation declined, and he stayed in the temple for a while.

But his cough had not decreased since the first time I met him until now. At first, I thought a cold caused it, but now it didn’t seem like it. Regarding this matter, he calmly stated that a high fever during his youth had damaged his lungs.

I thought, was it because of this that no one pampered him at home? Every time I thought like that, I felt closer to him.

But he still didn’t let me lift the curtain.

If I had that thought, the gentle smile on his face would disappear, replaced by a cold and silent demeanor.

After the day he explained the meaning of my name, it seemed like I no longer blamed my mother, but only deeply felt sympathy. My mother was a pitiful woman.

When I was in the Martinez family, the number of times Jeremy came to find me increased. Along with that change was my father’s attitude towards me.

That day, coincidentally meeting me on the road, he smiled and said, “Try to stay close to young master Jeremy. If one day you get married into the William family, even as a concubine, it’s still your luck.”