|| Chapter 8 ||

“Mmm…”

It took another hour and a half before Lucian finally let out a sleepy groan and woke up.

“W-Whoa!”

Still half-asleep, Lucian opened his eyes—and immediately screamed when he found my face inches from his own.

He immediately started grumbling about how I shouldn’t suddenly shove my face so close to his.

[It’s already eight o’clock, you little brat! I told you several times to go to bed early yesterday, didn’t I?]

Lucian glanced at me nervously and pouted.

“I-It’s okay to sleep in sometimes!”

[Sure, sleepy little groom. Now hurry up, wash your face, and let’s make breakfast.]

“Make breakfast?”

[You promised to help me cook from now on. Go wash up and come downstairs. I’ll prepare the ingredients first.]

I practically shoved the sluggish Lucian into the bathroom before heading down to the kitchen.

[Hehe… Ahem!]

Without realizing it, I had started grinning to myself, so I quickly cleared my throat.

Finding out that Lucian could still see me made me so happy that I’d ended up nagging him.

The truth was…

I was simply excited.

I forced myself to stop smiling and looked around the kitchen.

[How about pancakes and bacon?]

Since this would be the first time Lucian and I cooked together, I chose something simple.

By the time I had gathered all the ingredients, Lucian came downstairs.

[Did you wash up properly?]

“Yes!”

[Good. Come here. Today we’re making pancakes.]

Lucian hurried over and looked up at me with sparkling eyes.

[Since this is your first time, we’re starting with the absolute basics. Eventually, you’ll be able to cook on your own, so watch carefully.]

I patiently showed him how to make pancake batter while we prepared everything together.

After finishing the preparations, we walked over to the stove.

The moment we did, Lucian’s body visibly stiffened.

Guessing that it was because of his past kitchen accident, I began teaching him how to safely use the stove.

[Remember when you tried cooking before and failed? That’s because you used the wrong cookware. Bowls are only for serving food. If you use one over the fire… boom! It’ll explode.]

“Huh? So that’s why…”

[Exactly. That’s why the fire started last time. This time we’ll use a frying pan.]

I also made sure to warn him not to touch the stove or cooking utensils carelessly.

After cooking all the pancakes, I brought out the bacon.

[Want to try this part yourself?]

“Me?”

[Yep. It’s easy. Once the bacon starts shrinking, flip it over.]

Lucian hesitated before finally doing as I said.

At first, he jumped when hot bacon grease splattered everywhere, but he soon got used to it and cooked the bacon perfectly.

His eyes sparkled as he looked proudly at the finished bacon.

After pouring milk, drizzling honey over the pancakes, and setting everything on the table…

Breakfast was ready.

“Wow! We made it so quickly!”

[It’s a simple meal. Congratulations. This is the first food you’ve ever cooked. It wasn’t that scary, was it?]

Lucian had been happily bouncing in place, but after hearing my words, he blinked.

He looked back and forth between the finished meal and the stove before smiling brightly.

“Yes! I’m not scared anymore!”

[Good. I’m glad.]

Lucian began eating.

I sat across from him and quietly watched.

For both of us…

It was the first breakfast we’d ever shared with someone.

* * *

As soon as breakfast was over, we headed to the desk in one corner of the library.

[Alright. Shall we begin our first lesson?]

“Bride, I have a question!”

[Go ahead.]

“Your clothes changed. How did you do that?”

At his words, I glanced down at myself.

Normally, I wandered around wearing a simple dress with my hair hanging loose.

But today…

Since I was going to teach, I thought I should look a little more scholarly.

[I told you I can use magic. Changing clothes like this is easy.]

I casually waved the stick I was holding.

My outfit instantly changed.

A formal dress.

Training clothes.

A maid’s uniform.

Several different outfits appeared one after another.

Lucian’s eyes shone brighter with each one.

[Well? Which one looks best?]

After changing back into my teacher-like outfit, Lucian nodded enthusiastically.

“It suits you really well! You’re beautiful!”

[Ahem! Really? That’s… good to hear.]

The corners of my lips twitched at being called beautiful.

“Will I be able to use magic like you someday?”

His sudden question made me pause.

Watching me freely use magic had clearly fascinated him.

Unfortunately…

Magic wasn’t something anyone could simply learn because they wanted to.

If it were, everyone would become a mage.

[There are many requirements for becoming a mage. Talent and aptitude come first. But before any of that… there’s something you have to master.]

“What is it?”

[Learning to read. If you want to read magic books someday, shouldn’t you know how to read first?]

“Oh!”

[It’s too early to learn magic. We have plenty of time, so let’s start with reading and learn step by step.]

“If I can read… does that mean I’ll be able to read all the books here?”

[Of course.]

“Wow! I want to read books by myself! Please teach me quickly!”

Thankfully, Lucian dropped the subject of magic after that.

We started with the alphabet.

At first he stumbled over the letters.

But he quickly became familiar with them and began reciting them in order.

Maybe it was because he was already eight.

Or perhaps…

He was simply smart.

Then again, I’d never really interacted with children before, so I had no comparison.

Still…

The fact that he could recite the alphabet perfectly after just one hour without looking at the board was impressive.

“Hehe! I’m doing well, right?”

Even Lucian seemed to realize he was doing well, and he began puffing himself up proudly.

[You’re not that good. We’ve only just started.]

His face instantly fell.

I felt a little guilty…

But I couldn’t spoil him.

[Alright. You’ve memorized everything now, right?]

“Huh?”

[You said you’re doing well. Then you must know them all. Let’s have a little test.]

Lucian’s golden eyes shook like there was an earthquake.

Ignoring his panic, I hid both the notebook he’d been using and the chalkboard.

[Write the letters I call out. Uppercase and lowercase both count, so pay attention. Ready? Begin.]

Lucian hurriedly grabbed his pen.

I gave him ten questions before grading them immediately afterward.

[You got two wrong.]

Considering he’d only been studying for one hour…

Missing only two was an excellent result.

But Lucian looked completely devastated.

“Why are these wrong?”

[This one’s lowercase d. You wrote b. And this one is V, not W.]

He had simply mixed up letters that looked alike.

Honestly…

It was practically an eighty that deserved a hundred.

I was about to praise him—

When Lucian suddenly burst into tears.

He desperately tried to hold them back, but tears still rolled down his cheeks.

[W-Why are you crying?! You did great! You did amazingly! Everything else was correct!]

“B-But… I still got them wrong… I’m stupid… I can’t even do something this simple…”

Just moments ago he’d been so proud.

Now he looked ready to dig himself into the ground.

I really couldn’t keep up with his emotions.

Sighing deeply, I sat beside him.

[Lucian. Look at me.]

It was the first time I’d called him by his name.

Lucian immediately looked up.

His tear-filled golden eyes met mine.

[You’re only eight years old. You still have mountains of things to learn. You’ll make mistakes like this many more times. Every time you do, are you going to cry and tell yourself you’re hopeless?]

“…No.”

[People learn by making mistakes. By getting things wrong. Honestly, you’re already much smarter than most children your age.]

“But… earlier you said I wasn’t good enough…”

[When did I ever say that? I said you weren’t that good yet!]

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

[Not at all. And look at these mistakes. Both letters look similar. That’s why you mixed them up.]

Lucian looked back at his paper.

[I’ll count this as a perfect score. So cheer up. When I learned a new language, I was much worse than you.]

“Really?”

[Really. If you hate making mistakes, then all you can do is keep practicing. If you work hard, you’ll probably get them all right tomorrow. Don’t you think?]

My encouragement seemed to lift his confidence back up.

His tears stopped.

He quietly wiped his eyes.

[We shouldn’t study too much on the first day, so we’ll stop here. But I do have homework for you.]

“Homework?”

[Yep. By tomorrow, I want you to write your name correctly.]

I wrote Lucian’s name on the chalkboard.

At first, I only intended to write Lucian.

Then I remembered the family name that the priest had added during the spirit marriage ceremony.

[It’s the Imperial family’s surname though…]

Would it really be alright to write it?

I glanced at Lucian for a moment before deciding…

Whatever.

I wrote the full name.

Lucian Odelion

“…That’s my name?”

[Yes. We’ve only learned the alphabet today, so reading it will still be difficult.]

Even so…

Lucian walked closer to the board and slowly sounded out the letters of his own name.

He couldn’t take his eyes off it.

Watching him, I smiled bitterly.

He loved learning so much.

Just seeing his own name written made him this happy.

Yet until now…

He’d never even been given the chance to learn something so basic.

At the same time…

I became increasingly curious about who he really was.

Hadn’t those people called him an orphan dressed up like royalty?

But after watching him for so long…

Lucian possessed far too many traits unique to the Imperial Family.

There were countless things I wanted to ask him.

But…

It was still too soon.

I’d wait until we became even closer.

Leaving him to continue studying quietly, I slipped away.

* * *

One week had passed since I started teaching Lucian.

It had only been seven days…

Yet his progress was astonishing.

[Correct…]

“Yay! I got everything right again!”

He mastered the alphabet in just two days.

After that, we immediately moved on to vocabulary.

Like a sponge soaking up water…

He absorbed everything I taught him.

At this rate…

He’d probably be reading fairy tales very soon.

Actually…

Whenever I read to him at night and he recognized a word, he’d excitedly shout it out.

Maybe he’d start reading even sooner than I expected.

“Hehe! Did I do well?”

The corners of his mouth were practically reaching his ears.

I couldn’t help smiling.

[You did well. Tomorrow we can probably move on to something a little harder.]

“Ahem! Leave it to me!”

Puffing out his chest proudly, Lucian returned to his desk and immediately began reviewing everything we’d learned.

No one had ever told him to do that.

Yet he always reviewed his lessons thoroughly.

Despite never having received an education before, he adapted incredibly well.

He really did seem naturally gifted at studying.

[Maybe it’s time to teach him something else.]

Until now, we couldn’t move on because he couldn’t read.

But soon…

He’d be able to.

I could simply explain unfamiliar words as they came up.

Maybe it was time to prepare other lessons too.

As I wondered what to teach next, I looked over at Lucian, who was diligently studying.

[Little groom.]

“Yes, Bride?”

[Is there anything you’d like to learn?]

“Something I’d like to learn?”

[Yeah. Anything. There must’ve been something you’ve always wanted to try. Swordsmanship, painting, music, pottery, horseback riding… anything.]

Hmm.

Maybe horseback riding wasn’t possible since there weren’t any horses around.

Still…

[Whatever interests you, tell me. I’ll teach you anything I can.]

“Then… magic!”

[Rejected.]

“W-Why?!”

[I’ll teach you magic after you can comfortably read books and write proper sentences. You only just learned a few words. How could I possibly teach you magic already?]

I looked Lucian over.

After feeding him balanced meals these past few days, he had already gained some healthy weight.

He even seemed a little taller.

But…

He was still rather frail.

Well…

He was at the age when children should be running around and playing.

Instead, he had no friends.

The only exercise he got was walking around the mansion or helping me cook.

[Alright. Then we’ll try everything one by one. But there’s one thing you’ll definitely learn, whether you like it or not—swordsmanship. So no complaining, even if it’s hard.]

“…? Okay.”

Completely unaware of what the future held for him…

Lucian happily accepted my decision.