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When Lord Lee Beom Sook returned to the sitting room, he looked at Ni Na as he queried, “Are you prepared to begin classes tomorrow?”

She frowned.  “I think that we should take a day for the children to acclimate to living in a house again.  We should familiarize them with this house.  Where they can do their laundry.  And take their baths.  They should draw and heat their own water.  And they should each be given chores. 

“This is to be their community.  Each of them should take turns working in the kitchens preparing meals.  Also helping to clean the house, launder the sheets, that sort of thing.  We need to establish their daily routine.  I will sit down tonight and write out a schedule of chore sharing.  After I learn all their names, that is.  And then – in a couple days – we can add classes to the schedule.  Besides, I will need a day to collect all the necessary supplies.”

He quirked a handsome eyebrow at her.  “Do you require any help, my dear?” he asked in amusement.

Ae Ri watched this little tête-à-tête with interest.  It seemed to her that the young lord’s fondness for her best friend grew with each passing day.  But as she glanced at Ni Na, she realized that her friend was still clueless.

“Perhaps,” Ni Na responded teasingly.  “I need to collect several scrolls of parchment and many quill pens and ink blocks.  Just for starters.”

“Oh, yes,” he bobbed his head knowingly.  “Just for starters.”  A smile was threatening the corners of his mouth.

She chuckled suddenly.  “There are several lessons which I would like to borrow from Kim Jung Sook.”

“Don’t you need to assess each child’s level of learning first?”

She nodded her head.  “Good point.  Perhaps I can wait a few days to visit my teacher.”

“You’re not going to explain to her why you won’t be joining her class anymore?”

“I will.  When I visit her.  In the meantime, Ae Ri can fill her in on the details of my absence.”

“Ni Na.”  His voice was suddenly serious.

“What?”

He was gazing down at her in concern.  “Are you sure that you wish to give up your own education to give all these children one of their own?”

The man was so sweet.  Always thinking of her.

“Honestly, Beom Sook, I do most of my work on my own.  I can continue to do that.”

“What she’s too humble to admit is that she was very nearly done with the prescribed course of study anyway,” Ae Ri added.

His eyebrows rose slightly.  “Is this true?”

Ni Na nodded.  “I had about a month to go.”

“Perhaps we should postpone classes for a month then,” he murmured as his eyes studied her.

“Or Ni Na could just work on her classwork while her students complete their individual assignments,” Ae Ri suggested.

“Do you think Kim Jung Sook would agree to that?”

“Undoubtedly,” Ni Na replied to him.

“Excellent,” he beamed.  “Then the servants and I will instruct the children in their household duties tomorrow while you visit Kim Jung Sook to explain your needs and gather your assignments.  And anything she wants to give you for our school.”

She glared at him.  “My lord, are you telling me what to do?” she responded coldly.

“You are standing in my house, you know,” he pointed out cheerfully.

She sighed deeply.  “All right,” she responded grudgingly, “I will do as you suggest.”

“Ni Na, I don’t want to see you lose out on something you love in your quest to help these children.”  As she bristled, he continued, “Not when it can easily be achieved with some slight adjustments on your part.”

“Don’t you think they’re worth the sacrifice?” she retorted.

“Absolutely.  But I don’t think that particular sacrifice is necessary,” he pointed out kindly.

She inhaled sharply.  “You are right, of course.”

“Yes, he is.  You can easily teach those girls what you know while finishing your studies,” Ae Ri chimed in.  Then her face lit up.  “Maybe Kim Jung Sook would let me come here in the afternoons to help you.”

Ni Na giggled.  “I’m sorry, Ae Ri, but I think you should continue learning all you can from her directly.”

Her friend scowled at her.  “You are, of course, correct.  But I don’t have to be happy about it,” she grumbled.  “And now I’m losing both of my brilliant math tutors too!”

“Ae Ri, you’re welcome to come here after school if you want to help the little girls with their studies.”

Ae Ri’s face lit up.  “Really?”

“Absolutely.  But…I thought you’d already had your fill of younger girls with your sisters.”

“Eh, sisters are one thing.  Other people’s girls are something else entirely.”

Ni Na’s lips flipped upwards as she chuckled again.  “I see.”

“Do you?  You’ve never had any siblings.”

“No, but I can imagine.  I have watched you and your sisters go round and round for years.  And been another victim of their pranks several times.”

Ae Ri sighed.  “Too true.”

“It sounds to me like we have a plan, ladies.  Now we just need to find some chaperones for the night shifts.”

Ae Ri cleared her throat.

Both Beom Sook and Ni Na looked at her.

“I think that you two might be overlooking something.”

“What’s that?” Ni Na queried.

Her friend stared pointedly at her.  “Are you truly planning to spend every day here with Lord Lee…unchaperoned?”

“Unchaperoned?” Ni Na chortled.  “We’re going to be chaperoned by twenty-four children and a houseful of servants.  “I don’t think there will be any room for gossip to circulate.”

“Oh, you are so wrong.  You clearly do not understand the nature of gossip if you think that opening an orphanage with Lord Lee isn’t going to generate a massive amount of rumor and innuendo.”

Ni Na glanced at him in alarm as he turned wide eyes on her.  “Sung Ae Ri is, of course, correct in her assertions,” he frowned.

But then his expression lightened as he hit upon just the solution.  “Don’t you two worry about a thing.  I will ensure that Ni Na’s reputation remains intact.  Even as we teach in adjoining rooms.”

The girls looked at each other.  And wondered what solution the young lord had found.