TAPGB - Chapter 8
The Abandoned Prince's Ghost Bride
"Umm.."
An hour and a half later. Lucian woke up groaning.
"Wow, I'm surprised...!"
Lucian opened his eyes from a dream and screamed when he saw my face right in front of him.
There was continued grumbling about what would happen if someone suddenly got in my face.
It's already 8 o'clock, you idiot! So, how many times did I tell you to go to bed early yesterday, didn't I?
Lucian looked at me and grunted.
"Well, I might wake up late!"
[Yes, sleepy groom. Let's quickly wash your faces and prepare breakfast.]
"Are you ready for breakfast?"
[You agreed to help with cooking from now on. Quickly wash up and come down, I'll be preparing the ingredients first.]
I put the rambunctious Lucian in the bathroom and came down to the kitchen.
[Heh, heh, heh]
Without realizing it, a hearty laugh escaped me and I cleared my throat. Knowing that Lucian could still see me, made me nag with excitement. Actually, it's because I'm happy.
I held my face, which kept trying to relax, and looked around the kitchen.
[Should I have pancakes and bacon?]
Since this was my first time cooking with Lucian, I chose a relatively simple dish. As we prepared the ingredients for cooking, Lucian came down.
[Did you wash it cleanly?]
"Yes!"
[Then come here. I'm going to make pancakes today.]
Lucian hurriedly came next to me and looked at me with bright eyes.
[Today is your first time doing it, so I'm going to do the basics of the basics. I'll make it possible for you to do it on your own later, so watch carefully, got it?]
I calmly prepared the dish with Lucian. starting with making the pancake batter.
After completing all preparations, I went straight to the fire pit. Then Lucian's body became noticeably stiff.
I guessed that it was because of the trauma from the fire accident, so I taught him how to use a fire pit.
[You tried to cook last time and failed, right? That's because you used the wrong device. A bowl is only for storing finished food, so if you use it for something like this, boom! And it explodes.]
"Uh? Then last time?
[Yes, that's why there was a fire last time. This time I will use this frying pan.]
I also did not forget to be careful not to touch the stove or cooking utensils carelessly. I baked all the pancakes and brought out the bacon.
[Do you want to try it this time?]
"Me?"
[This is easy. If you feel like the bacon is shrinking, just flip it over.]
Lucian thought about it and eventually followed my words. At first, he was scared when the bacon grease splattered everywhere, but he quickly got used to it and cooked the bacon well.
Lucian's eyes began to shine when he saw the bacon in the bowl.
After preparing milk to go with the pancakes and bacon and adding honey, breakfast was complete.
"Wow! I made it so quickly!"
[Well, it's a simple dish. Congratulations. Is this your first food? It's not that scary, right?]
Lucian, who was stomping his feet excitedly, blinked at my words. He looked at the finished food and the cooking utensils for a moment and then grinned.
"Yes! It's okay now!"
[Yes, fortunately.]
Lucian started eating. I sat across from him and watched him eat. It was the first morning with someone for both Lucian and me.
***
As soon as he ate breakfast, we went to the desk set up on one side of the library.
[Now then, shall we start the first class?]
"Priest, I have a question!"
[Okay, what is it?]
"Your clothes changed, how did you do it?"
At his words, I glanced down at my body. I usually walked around in a monotonous dress and with my hair down. But today, I felt like I needed to be an intellectual person due to the atmosphere, so I changed my style a bit.
[I told you I can use magic. This is a piece of cake.]
When I swung the stick I was holding, my clothes changed again. Lucian's eyes shined brightly as I showed off various outfits, including dresses, training uniforms, and maid uniforms.
[How is it? Matches well?]
Lucian nodded as I changed back to my intelligent form.
"It suits you so well! You are pretty! Great!
[Huh! okay? That's a good thing.]
The corner of my mouth twitched for no reason when I was told that I was pretty.
"Can I use magic like you?"
I looked at Lucian for a moment at the sudden words. It seems that he was interested in my free use of magic. But magic is not something you can say you want to do. If that were the case, both dogs and cows would have been wizards.
[To become a wizard, several conditions are required. Qualities and talents are the top priority, but before that, there is something you must master first.]
"What is that?"
[You have to take off the text first. Don't you need to know how to read magic books?]
"Ah!"
[It's still too early to learn magic. Since we have a lot of time, let's start with the text and learn step by step.]
"If I know how to read, can I read all the books here?"
[Then, of course.]
"Wow! I want to read a book by myself! Please tell me the text quickly!"
Fortunately, Lucian didn't talk about magic anymore.
First, we started with the basic alphabet. He was a bit stuttering at first, but he quickly got used to it and started reciting the alphabet in order.
Perhaps because he was 8 years old, he learned faster than expected.
No, is he just smart? I have to have seen children before to compare.
Still, it was unusual to see him memorize the alphabet in just one hour without looking at the blackboard.
"Hehehe... I'm good at it, right?"
Lucian, who had been memorizing it diligently, began to feel proud as if he knew what he was good at.
[You are good at it, I haven't even started yet.]
I'm bothered by his sullen face, but I can't raise him.
[Now, have you memorized everything?!]
"Yes?"
[You said you seemed to be doing well. Then you must have memorized it all. Shall we take a test?]
Lucian's golden eyes shook as if there had been an earthquake. I didn't care and hid the note he was scribbling on and the blackboard from view.
[You are writing the alphabet as I call it. We're going to distinguish between lowercase and uppercase letters, so keep your wits about you. Then let's begin.]
Lucian was in a hurry and quickly grabbed a pen. He gave ten questions and graded them right away.
[You got two wrong.]
Even though he took the test just an hour after class, he made only two mistakes, which was a significant achievement. However, Lucian looked at the two checked questions with a shocked expression, as if he did not like them at all.
"Why is this wrong?"
[This is a lowercase d. What you wrote is b. And this one is also V., not W.]
He got confused with the alphabet that looked so similar, so he got 80 points, which is like 100 points. I thought about praising him, but Lucian suddenly started crying.
He desperately tried to hold back his tears and let them tears fall, to the point that everyone who saw him felt sad.
[Why, why are you crying! Good job! You did a great job! Everything else was correct!]
"Ha, but I was wrong in the end. I'm a fool... This is also wrong..."
A little while ago he was proud, but now he was so depressed that he seemed ready to sink into the ground, and it was hard to control his mind.
I sighed and sat down next to him.
[Lucian, look at me.]
Lucian responded when his name was called for the first time. Golden eyes sparkling with water turned to me.
[You are only 8 years old. There are a lot of things to learn in the future, and there will be times when you make mistakes like today. Are you going to cry like you do now and say no every time?]
"No,"
[People learn by making mistakes. You are much smarter than other kids.]
"But I couldn't do it a little while ago..."
[When did I tell you, you couldn't do it! I said you weren't good at it!]
"That's it."
This guy. Is it completely different? And look, you got this wrong. He was confused because they both have similar shapes. Lucian confirmed that he was wrong.
[I'll give you 100 points. So cheer up. I was even worse than you at learning a new language.]
"Really?"
[Yes, really. If you don't like being wrong, you have no choice but to keep repeating it. If you work hard, you can get it all right tomorrow, right?]
Thanks to the encouragement, his self-esteem, which had been sinking, seemed to have gone up. Before he knew it, the tears were welling up, and Lucian wiped his eyes.
[We can't have a long class from the first day, so let's stop here for today. Instead, I will give you homework.]
"Homework?"
[Okay. I will write your name correctly by tomorrow.]
I wrote Lucian's name on the blackboard. At first, I was just going to use 'Lucian', but then I remembered the last name that the priest added at the end of the soul wedding.
It's an imperial family castle. But can I put it on Lucian? I looked at Lucian for a moment and then added his last name, thinking I had no idea what was going on.
Lucian Odelion.
"Is this my name?"
[Okay. Today we only learn the alphabet, so it will be a little difficult to read.]
Nevertheless, Lucian approached the blackboard and stuttered to read his name. I smiled bitterly when I saw him unable to take his eyes off the name for a long time.
This is a child who enjoys learning and is happy just to see his own name, but it was a pity that he had not been exposed to even such basic learning.
And on the other hand. I became curious about the child's identity.
Didn't the humans say that?
He was an orphan dressed up like royalty. However, Lucian, whom I watched for a long time, had distinct characteristics of the royal family.
There were many things I wanted to ask him, but it was still too early. I promised myself that I would ask Lucian after I got to know him a little better, and quietly left the room so that he could continue studying.
***
It's been a week since I taught Lucian. Although it was only a week, he showed great results.
"Wow! I got it right this time too!"
He learned the alphabet in two days and started memorizing words right away, and he made everything I taught him into his own like a sponge absorbing water.
At this level, I think he will soon be able to read a children's book. No, even now, when I read a storybook at night and a word I know comes up, he makes a lot of noise, so it might be a little earlier than I thought.
"Hehe, did I do well?"
It made me laugh so much that the corners of my mouth were trying to ascend.
[Okay, good job. Can we do something a little more difficult tomorrow?]
"Ahem! Please leave it to me any time!"
Lucian, proudly puffing out his chest returned to his desk and began to organize what he had learned today.
Lucian reviewed it thoroughly even without anyone telling him to. Although he may not be used to studying because he hasn't studied before, it seems like he has a natural talent for studying, as he keeps up with it well.
[I'm going to teach you something else soon.]
Because he couldn't read the text himself, I couldn't start another class.
But I think I'll stop writing after a while. I think it would be a good idea to prepare for other classes because he can teach words he doesn't know at the right time.
I stopped worrying about what would be best for a moment and looked at Lucian who was studying hard.
[Little groom.]
"Why, Priest?"
[Is there anything you want to learn?]
"Is this something I want to learn?"
[Okay. Anything is fine. Isn't there something you've been wanting to do for a while? Well, swordsmanship is good, painting is good, music, pottery, horseback riding. etc.]
Oh, I can't go horseback riding because I don't have a horse? Anyway...
[Tell me anything you want to do or are interested in. I will teach you as much as possible.]
"Then I want magic!"
[Dismissed.]
"Why!"
[I will teach you magic when you can read books and write sentences smoothly. How can a child who can only use a few words learn magic?]
I looked at Lucian. I've been feeding him a balanced diet for the past few days, and he seems to have gained weight and height compared to when I first came here. But the lack of substance still remained.
Well, he was at an age when he was playing around, but since he didn't have anyone to play with, he would have had nowhere to release his accumulated energy. The most he can do is move around the mansion or help me cook.
[Good. Then, let's do them all one by one. Instead, we will make it mandatory to learn swordsmanship. So there is no complaining even if it is difficult.]
"Yes, I like it."
Lucian, who did not know his future, simply accepted my words willingly.
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