TAPGB - Chapter 7

TAPGB - Chapter 7

The Abandoned Prince's Ghost Bride

Sniff, sniff.

Lucian seemed to have stopped crying a little, but his eyes turned bright red and he continued to sniffle. So why is he crying so sadly?

I can't leave because it makes him feel uncomfortable. Thinking that this was enough to calm him down, I got up. 

"Uh, where are you going?"

At that time, Lucian stretched out his hand. But his hands passed through my body. Lucian stared at his hand, which was holding nothing.

[Are you trying to catch me when you clearly know I am a ghost?]

"... Without even realizing it."

[Have you stopped crying?] 

"Yes."

I sighed and wiped his face with a clean napkin. Lucian blinked his golden eyes and couldn't take his eyes off me.

[And then my face gets pierced.]

"Hey, benefactor."

[Don't call me a benefactor.]

"Well, then what should I say?"

[Well. Ghost? Priest? Or a ghost bride?]

Judging by the way he got tired of being called a priest, he really was an easy guy to make fun of.

 "See, call you bride is a bit uncomfortable. Please tell me your name." 

I paused. Name... 

[Sorry. I don't have a name.]

"Yes?"

[No name. So call me whatever you want,  Instead of being a benefactor.]

I have no name. To be precise, I don't know what kind of life I lived, so I don't know anything about myself. Including my name, age, and face. There is no inconvenience in not having a name. Because there is no one who will call my name anyway.

Oh, there is one guy. He ended up just calling me a ghost.

"Then I will call you priest."

[Sure.]

"So, Priest."

[Why, little groom?]

"I'm not a kid......."

Lucian's expression became distressed as if he didn't want to be called a kid. But for a moment, he asked the question he wanted to ask.

 "If you're a ghost, how do you catch things?"

Bright golden eyes turned to my hand holding the napkin. Then Lucian cautiously extended his hand to me. His hands still passed through my body.

"I can't catch anything, so I wonder what you do." 

[At first, I couldn't catch it either.?]

"Yes? But......"

I immediately released the mana around my hands. Then the napkin that was floating in the air fell down.

"Uh, how...'

[You know it's mana? How about magic?]

"I know."

[I can use magic. So roughly, if I wrap mana around my hand, it looks like this..!]

Lucian exclaimed as he lifted the napkin again.

"Great! They say that only great people can do magic...!"

[Eh, ahem! I guess I'm kind of amazing. After living for about 300 years, things worked out somehow.]

"Hi! 300 years? How many years is 300 years? Because I'm 8 years old....."

Lucian wiggled his hands and tried to calculate, but his eyes were rolling as if he were having trouble.

[Huh? for a moment. Are you 8 years old?]

"yes.  They thought I was 7. Am I a bit small for an 8-year-old?"

Lucian seemed to have sensed what I was thinking and puffed out his cheeks.

"I'm not that young! I mean, 8 years old!"

[At best, it's only one year older, so why are you so temperamental?]

"There's a difference between a 7-year-old and an 8-year-old!"

[What's so different?]

"Uh..."

 Therefore Lucian could not find any answer and rolled his eyes. He must have felt unfair that he had lost, so he glared at me with his triangle eyes.

[Ugh, I get it. You are an 8-year-old adult.]

For a long time. I wondered what I was going to do with this little boy, so I got up from my seat.

 [Looking at it, a lot of good ingredients came in this time. I will cook you a lot of delicious food from now on.]

"Are you going to continue cooking for me from now on?"

[...]

So, why do you want me to cook for you? Now that we can communicate, all we have to do is let him cook and eat on his own.

As I was struggling to find an answer, rather than making any excuses, I spoke out my true feelings. 

[I just want to do that.]

Although the gaze staring at me was extremely burdensome, I continued speaking. 

[I have lived here for over 300 years, but you are the first person to see me.]

"Uh? Really?"

[Okay. Talking to someone for the first time... Not bad.]

In the meantime, several people stayed and left this mansion, and I naturally mingled with them. However, although I was with them, I was not together, and no matter how much I said, there was no one I could sympathize with or talk to.

[And do you know how to cook?]

Lucian shrugged his shoulders.

[Last time I saw you, you were trying to burn down the kitchen.] 

"Well, did you see that?" 

[Then of course. This is my mansion. I've seen you since the moment you first came.] 

"You saw it from the beginning.."

[Honestly, you were abandoned.]

Lucian, who was mesmerized for a moment, stiffened his face at my continued words. 

[No matter how hard you try to find someone, it's no use. There really is no one here other than you.]

 "Since when?"

 [From the moment you came here.]

Lucian pursed his lips and lowered his head.

[I tried not to get involved as much as possible, but I had to turn off my attention to turn it off.]

At my words, Lucian immediately raised his head. The eyes were full of anticipation. For some reason, his eyes were sad, so I brought him to eye level.

[If things continued like this, I thought I would make a Jibakryeong(?)]

Just like mine, so I started cooking in secret. 

[Was the oatmeal too salty at first? I couldn't check the seasoning, so I added a lot of salt without realizing it.]

Lucian's golden eyes flickered. He looked like he was about to burst into tears, but Lucian pressed the corners of his eyes and smiled brightly as if he had never done that before.

'No! It was super delicious! It was the best food I've ever had!"

[ Boy. You don't have to flatter me like that. I will cook for you every day.]

"It's not like that, it's true."

[Kid.]

"Yes?"

[You are still young. If you want to make a fool of someone, you can do so. Because you are at an age where you need to be looked after. Of course, there is no one to fool around with. If you don't mind being with a ghost, do whatever suits you.]

"Really?"

[Okay. I'm going to stay here until you grow up anyway, so shouldn't we get along?] 

"B-but that would be rude to the priest. I don't know how to do anything..."

What on earth did he hear me say?

[You're still young, kid. What are you trying to do if you can't even do laundry properly?]

"Still"

(Then, help me next time I cook from now on. I can't check the seasoning, so you can taste it next to me and adjust the seasoning.]

'Oh! I can do that well! I will work hard from now on!"

[Yes, yes.]

"Is there anything else I can do besides that?" 

[What are you going to do? Hmm.. Last time I saw you, it seemed like you didn't have any talent for housework.]

No. Isn't it natural that he is not good at it because he didn't learn it properly? But before that, this kid lacks education in many ways. 

[Can you read?]

 Lucian trembled, thought for a moment, and then shook his head. 

"Well, I can still read it sporadically!"

[Huh?]

"Sometimes I see adults writing." 

A duck or a dog. Lucian was scribbling on the table with his finger and I noticed that this was the right letter. Is it true that he didn't learn writing formally, but learned it from a sideways glance?

Now that I think about it, despite not being able to read, his vocabulary is quite excellent. If so, then it means that he is inherently intelligent. 

[Are you not interested in learning how to write?]

"Me?"

[Okay. I will teach you.] 

Lucian's face brightened. No, he seemed more than happy. He asked, stamping his feet. 

"Can you really point it out?" 

[Teaching, not pointing.]

"Aren't they the same thing?"

The words may be similar, but the meaning is different. When I looked worried for a moment, he quickly started to fidget. 

[Now that we have come to this, let's start studying other things besides writing.]

Lucian tilted his head, asking what that meant. I grinned and took him to the library. 

(Do you know what I did the most during my 300 years here?]

"No."

[It's reading.]

There have been a few times when I've lived with people in the mansion, but most of the time I've been alone. As someone who couldn't leave the mansion, reading was the only way to shake off boredom.

[There are as many as 10,000 books in this library alone, and none of them are from fairy tales to old books.]

What this means is that there are more than enough materials that can be used as educational materials for Lucian.

In addition, sometimes lizards come and leave new books behind, and a blackboard is provided to communicate with them, making it perfect for teaching writing.

[I will teach you everything from now on!]

I was excited without even realizing it, and the wind blew around me.

[I have 300 years of knowledge. Do you know that opportunities like this are common?]

To be honest, it is entirely for my own sake rather than for Lucian's education.

Boring days of repeating the same routine every day for 300 years. The thing that changed my daily life and saved me was none other than this little boy.

I can have a conversation without a stone tablet, make eye contact, and share knowledge without adding or subtracting.

How much I had hoped for this, For a long time. I thought that I was not lonely and that it was enough to not have anyone to talk to, but when I actually talked to Lucian, I realized that I was just trying to shake off loneliness by brainwashing myself, in fact, I was really lonely. I have no choice but to be Lucian now. 

Lucian stared at my outstretched hand. He bit his lip and stretched out his hand as if he had made a firm decision.

I quickly wrapped Mana in my hand and shook his hand.

Lucian once again reminded himself that the person in front of him was really a ghost bride, not because of her warm body temperature, but because he felt as if he were grasping the air.

"Please take care of me in the future, Priest."

[Let's get along well from now on, little groom.] 

And so began my newlywed life with Lucian and I taking care of that children.

***

The dawn began to rise. I turned back to see the sky slowly turning orange.

Colorful.

A soft breathing sound was heard. Lucian was still in dreamland. I read three children's books to him last night, and he went to bed later than usual.

[Wake up quickly, kid.] 

Even though I couldn't wake him up, I pretended to touch his disheveled white hair.

Honestly. I'm anxious. 

I wonder if it was just a coincidence that Lucian saw me yesterday. I'm afraid he won't see me again when he opens his eyes in the morning. If I discovered the joy of talking to people and then lost it overnight. 

I don't think words could describe the feeling of loss. That's why I waited desperately for Lucian to wake up.

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