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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: The First Lesson
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"Ugh..."
An hour and a half later, Lucian stirred awake with a groan.
"Ah, you scared me...!"
Still half-asleep, Lucian opened his eyes and shrieked at the sight of my face right in front of his.
He grumbled about how I shouldn't just shove my face in his like that.
[It's already eight o'clock, you little rascal! I told you so many times to go to bed early yesterday, didn't I?]
Lucian grumbled, glancing warily at me.
"I-I'm allowed to wake up late!"
[Alright, sleepyhead groom. Hurry and wash up so we can prepare breakfast.]
"Prepare breakfast?"
[You promised you'd be my cooking assistant from now on. Wash up and come down. I'll start getting the ingredients ready.]
I ushered the shuffling Lucian into the bathroom and went down to the kitchen.
[Heh, heheh... Ahem!]
A silly laugh escaped me, and I had to clear my throat.
Finding out that Lucian could still see me had gotten me so worked up that I ended up nagging him. In truth, I was just happy.
I composed my features, which kept trying to break into a smile, and surveyed the kitchen.
[Pancakes and bacon, perhaps?]
Since this was the first time I'd be cooking with Lucian, I chose a relatively simple dish. Just as I finished preparing the ingredients, Lucian came downstairs.
[All clean?]
"Yup!"
[Then come here. We're making pancakes today.]
Lucian scurried over to my side and looked up at me with sparkling eyes.
[Since it's your first time, we'll stick to the absolute basics. I'm going to teach you so you can do it on your own later, so pay close attention. Got it?]
I calmly started by showing him how to make the pancake batter, preparing the meal together with Lucian.
Once everything was ready, I moved toward the stove. Lucian's body immediately tensed up.
Guessing it was due to the trauma from the fire, I explained how to use the stove.
[You tried cooking before and failed, right? That's because you used the wrong equipment. Bowls are for holding finished food; if you use them on a stove, they'll go 'pop!' and shatter.]
"Oh? Then last time...?"
[Yes, that's why the fire started. This time, we're going to use this frying pan.]
I also didn't forget to warn him not to touch the stove or cooking utensils carelessly.
After I finished cooking all the pancakes, I brought out the bacon.
[Want to try this part?]
"Me?"
[Mhm. This is easy. Just flip the bacon when it starts to shrink.]
Lucian hesitated before finally doing as I said. At first, he was scared when the bacon grease splattered everywhere, but he quickly got the hang of it and cooked the bacon perfectly.
Seeing the bacon on the plate, Lucian's eyes began to shine.
I prepared milk to go with the pancakes and bacon and drizzled some honey over top, and breakfast was ready.
"Wow! We made it so fast!"
[That's because it's a simple dish. Congratulations. It's the first food you've ever made, isn't it? It wasn't too scary, was it?]
Lucian, who had been bouncing on his feet with excitement, blinked at my words. He glanced between the finished meal and the stove for a moment, then broke into a wide grin.
"Yes! I'm okay now!"
[Good, I'm glad.]
Lucian began to eat. I sat across from him, watching him.
For both Lucian and me, it was our first breakfast with someone else.
* * *
Right after breakfast, we went to a desk we had set up in a corner of the library.
[Alright, shall we begin our first lesson?]
"Bride, I have a question!"
[Yes, what is it?]
"Your clothes changed. How did you do that?"
At his words, I glanced down at myself.
I usually wandered around in a simple dress with my hair down. But today, I felt I needed a more intellectual look for the occasion, so I changed my style a bit.
[I told you I can use magic, didn't I? Something like this is a piece of cake.]
I flicked the stick I was holding, and my outfit changed again. I cycled through several looks—a dress, a training uniform, a maid's outfit—and Lucian's eyes sparkled.
[So? Does it suit me?]
When I changed back to the intellectual look, Lucian nodded.
"It suits you perfectly! You're pretty!"
[Ahem! Ahem! Is that so? Well, that's a relief.]
The corners of my mouth twitched at being called pretty.
"Can I use magic like you, Bride?"
His sudden question made me pause and look at him. It seemed my free use of magic had piqued his interest. But magic wasn't something you could learn just because you wanted to.
If it were, every Tom, Dick, and Harry would be a mage.
[There are several requirements to become a mage. Aptitude and talent are the most important, but there's something you need to master before all that.]
"What is it?"
[You have to learn to read first. You need to know how to read to understand magic books, don't you think?]
"Oh!"
[It's still too early for you to learn magic. We have plenty of time, so let's start with reading and learn step by step.]
"If I learn to read, can I read all the books in here?"
[Of course.]
"Wow! I want to read a book by myself! Please teach me the letters quickly!"
Fortunately, Lucian didn't bring up magic again.
We started with the basic alphabet. He stumbled at first but quickly got the hang of it and began reciting the letters in order.
Perhaps because he was eight, he learned much faster than I expected.
Or was he just naturally smart? I'd never been around children, so I had no one to compare him to.
Still, the fact that he could recite the alphabet fluently without looking at the board after just an hour was remarkable.
"Hehe! I'm good at this, right?"
Lucian, who had been memorizing diligently, seemed to realize how well he was doing and started to get cocky.
[Good? We haven't even really started yet.]
His crestfallen face tugged at my heart, but I couldn't afford to coddle him.
[Alright, you've memorized it all now, right?]
"Huh?"
[You said you were good at it. That must mean you've memorized everything. Shall we have a little test?]
Lucian's golden eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck. I paid him no mind and hid his scribbled notes and the board from his view.
[You're going to write the letters as I call them out. I'll be specifying lowercase and uppercase, so pay attention. Let's begin.]
Lucian fumbled for a moment before hastily grabbing his pen. I gave him ten questions and graded them immediately.
[You got two wrong.]
To have only missed two after just an hour of studying was quite an achievement.
But Lucian seemed completely dissatisfied, staring at the two marked problems with a shocked expression.
"Why is this wrong?"
[This is a lowercase 'd'. You wrote 'b'. And this one is a 'V', not a 'W'.]
He had just confused letters that looked very similar, so it was an 80 that was as good as a 100. I was about to praise him, but Lucian suddenly burst into tears.
He tried desperately to hold back his sobs, fat tears rolling down his cheeks in a way that would make any onlooker's heart ache.
[Why—why are you crying! You did well! You did a great job! You got all the others right!]
"B-but I still got them wrong. I'm an idiot... getting something like this wrong..."
One moment he was puffed up with pride, and the next he was so dejected he looked ready to dig a hole and crawl into it. I couldn't quite get a handle on his moods.
I let out a deep sigh and sat down beside him.
[Lucian, look at me.]
Lucian reacted to hearing his name for the first time. His shimmering, tear-filled golden eyes turned to me.
[You're only eight years old. You have a mountain of things to learn, and there will be many more times you make mistakes and get things wrong, just like today. Are you going to cry and say you can't do it every single time?]
"...No."
[People learn by making mistakes and getting things wrong. For your age, you're much smarter than other kids.]
"But a moment ago, you said I wasn't good..."
[When did I say you were bad at it! I said it was too early to say you were good!]
"That's the same thing."
[Hey now. It's completely different, you know? And look at the ones you got wrong. You just mixed them up because they look similar.]
Lucian looked at his mistakes again.
[I'll count it as a 100. So cheer up. When I was learning a new language, I was much worse than you.]
"Really?"
[Yes, really. If you hate getting things wrong, the only way is to keep practicing. If you work hard, you'll get them all right tomorrow, won't you?]
My encouragement seemed to lift his self-esteem back from the floor. His tears had already stopped, and Lucian wiped his eyes.
[We can't have a long lesson on the very first day, so let's stop here. I'll give you some homework instead.]
"Homework?"
[That's right. By tomorrow, I want you to write your name correctly.]
I wrote Lucian's name on the board. At first, I was just going to write 'Lucian,' but then I remembered the surname that damn priest had added during the spirit wedding.
[It's the imperial family's surname, though...]
Was it okay to give it to Lucian? I glanced at him for a moment, then thought, 'to hell with it,' and added the surname.
Lucian Odelion
"...Is that my name?"
[Yes. It might be a little hard to read since you've only learned the alphabet today.]
Despite that, Lucian approached the board and haltingly read his name. Watching him unable to tear his eyes away from it, I gave a bittersweet smile.
It was heartbreaking to think that this child, who loved learning so much and was overjoyed just to see his own name, had been denied even this basic education until now.
At the same time, I grew curious about his identity. Hadn't the humans said he was just an orphan dressed up like royalty? But from what I'd observed, Lucian clearly possessed the distinctive traits of the imperial family.
There was so much I wanted to ask him, but the time wasn't right.
I resolved to ask him after we became a little closer and quietly stepped aside so he could continue studying.
* * *
A week had passed since I started teaching Lucian. Though it was only a short time, he had shown remarkable progress.
[Th-that's correct...]
"Yay! I got them all right again!"
He mastered the alphabet in two days, and we immediately moved on to memorizing words. He absorbed everything I taught him like a sponge.
At this rate, I thought he'd be able to read a picture book soon. No, considering how he already chatters away whenever he recognizes a word while I read to him at night, it might be even sooner than I think...
"Hehe, did I do well?"
I had to laugh; his grin was so wide it nearly reached his ears.
[Yes, you did great. I think we can move on to something a little more difficult tomorrow.]
"Ahem! Leave it to me!"
Puffing out his chest proudly, Lucian returned to his desk and began to review what he had learned that day.
Lucian was diligent about reviewing, even without being told.
Considering how well he was keeping up, despite being unaccustomed to studying due to his lack of education, it seemed he had a natural talent for it.
[Maybe I should start teaching him other things, too.]
I hadn't been able to start any other lessons because he couldn't read.
But it looked like he'd master reading soon. I could teach him new words as they came up, so it would be good to prepare other lessons.
I pondered what would be best for a moment, then looked over at Lucian, who was busy reviewing.
[Hey, little groom.]
"Yes, Bride?"
[Is there anything you want to learn?]
"Something I want to learn?"
[Yes. Anything's fine. There must be something you've wanted to do. Swordsmanship, painting, music, pottery, horseback riding, and so on.]
Ah, but we don't have a horse, so maybe not horseback riding? Anyway.
[If there's anything you've wanted to do or found interesting, just tell me. I'll teach you whatever I can.]
"Then I want to learn magic!"
[Denied.]
"Aww... why!"
[I'll teach you magic when you can read books and write smooth sentences. How can a kid who can barely write a few words learn magic?]
I studied Lucian. After a few days of eating balanced meals, he'd put on some weight compared to when he first arrived, and he seemed to have grown a bit taller, too.
But he was still frail.
Well, he was at an age where he should be running around, but with no one to play with, he had no outlet for his pent-up energy. The most exercise he got was wandering around the mansion or helping me cook.
[Alright. Then let's try everything one by one. But swordsmanship will be mandatory, so no complaining even if it's hard.]
"...? Yes, okay."
Unaware of his future, Lucian simply agreed readily.
