Chapter 26
“Elver oppa, I have two favors to ask!”
“Sure, what are they?”
“First, I want you to teach me how to read and write.”
“Got it! That should be quick—well, maybe not quick, but even if it takes a while, I’ll teach you diligently!”
You look like you’re hoping it’ll take a while.
Well, it won’t be easy. But who knows how my life will turn out, so at the very least, I need to learn how to read and write.
And the second favor.
“Can you help me write a letter?”
“A letter? To whom?”
“A friend I made at the banquet! We promised to exchange letters. Can you write them for me until I learn how?”
Even if I learn quickly, it’ll still be a while before I can write letters fluently.
Plus, these are letters between noble children.
Hello. I ate. The meat was tasty. The weather is cold. Bye.
I can’t exactly send letters like that!
At first, I’ll have Elver write polite greetings for me, and once I get the hang of it, I’ll start writing them myself.
Elver nodded.
“Of course! No problem at all!”
“Wow, thanks!”
“No, thank you—I’m honored you trust me with something important.”
“And keep it a secret that I can’t write yet. Especially from Dad! He thinks I can write my own letters.”
“Wait, really?”
Elver’s eyes widened.
“Then Linda and your older brother don’t know either? It’s just our secret?”
“Yup.”
“…All right! I won’t tell a single soul!”
Elver grinned brightly.
I can trust him, right?
As soon as I finished speaking, Elver ran off somewhere and soon came back holding a stack of papers and some worn-out books in his arms.
“These are writing primers I used as a kid!”
“I’m surprised you still had them.”
“When new servants come in who can’t read, we use these to teach them. Let’s start with the alphabet.”
The writing system here looks like a mix between English letters and Chinese characters. Fortunately, pronunciation and word order are similar to English.
<Ranked 99th> Thank goodness the author wasn’t dedicated enough to make a whole new writing system…
“Sol, you’re doing really well! If this keeps up, you might even write your first letter on your own!”
Thanks for the compliment. But even I could see my practice letter was awful.
Hello, I am Sol. The weather is nice.
What noble lady writes a letter like that? Even a Mc*Donald’s kiosk could do better!
“Ugh, still, can’t you write the first letter for me? My handwriting is all crooked.”
“No problem. What’s your friend’s name?”
“Kai. Full name’s Alkaios Lafrande.”
“Oh, from the Marquis Lafrande’s family…”
Elver’s pen, gliding across the paper, suddenly stopped. What now?
“…Wait, that blond boy, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re writing letters with a boy?”
A deep crease formed on Elver’s forehead. Now what is it?
“Why? Even Dad approved of my pen-pal exchange with Kai and the marquis. He said it would help with my lady’s education.”
“…”
Your lips are pouting very obviously, Elver. What’s the problem? It’s all for educational purposes. Don’t tell me you’re backing out now?
“Oppa… what’s wrong? You’re still going to help, right?”
“…Yeah, yeah. What should I write?”
“Um, ‘To Alkaios. Hello, I’m Sol Schlaeger. I had a great time at the banquet in the Godell territory.’”
“…”
Elver frowned but began writing a long sentence.
Hmm… isn’t this a bit wordy? Is he only writing what I said? But since I can’t read it, I can’t complain.
After filling half the page, Elver said:
“All done. What’s next?”
“Uh, next…”
What do I write? It’s been so long since I wrote a letter—I can’t think of anything.
Elver grinned.
“Should we wrap it up here? Just add ‘bye-bye’ and be done.”
“No way!”
“You said you had nothing else to write.”
“But that sounds so insincere.”
“You don’t know, do you? A lady simply sending a letter is already a great act of sincerity. It’s a noble tradition.”
“…You’re lying, right?”
“Pfft, didn’t fall for it.”
“Elver oppa!”
While we were squabbling uselessly, someone knocked at the door. It wasn’t a maid.
“Elver, don’t you have riding lessons now?”
…The one who stepped inside was none other than Viscountess Gracia. Elver’s face stiffened slightly.
“Madam Gracia. I was just doing something urgent with my sister…”
“More important than a prior appointment with your riding instructor? If you can’t tell priorities, I’ll gladly teach you again.”
Elver’s expression darkened even further at the mention of “teaching again.”
Suddenly, I remembered the look Elver and Benen made when the duke mentioned bringing Viscountess Gracia as an etiquette teacher.
She was rude even with me around. She probably drilled them under the guise of education when they were young, too.
I gave Elver a gentle push on the back.
“Go on, Oppa.”
“But…”
“I’m really fine. Madam Gracia is so kind when we’re alone together.”
That made her flinch. But I had to say something like that to get Elver to leave.
He hesitated, but in the end, left the room, practically pushed out by me. Now it was just me and Madam Gracia.
“I’m sorry. I’ll head to the classroom right away.”
“No need. Lady Sol’s fundamentals need reworking anyway. We’ll do it here.”
She entered the room with elegant steps. To the eye, a dignified lady—but to me, she just looked like a territorial senior employee at a part-time job.
Her sharp gaze scanned me from head to toe, clearly looking for something to criticize. Too bad for you—I’m not moving an inch.
…And then.
“Oh my, what’s this?”
“Ah!”
Gracia reached out and snatched the half-written letter from the desk.
Hey! That’s seriously rude!
“Give it back! That’s my personal letter!”
“Recipient: Alkaios Lafrande? That’s the heir of the Lafrande marquisate. I need to check that nothing inappropriate is being exchanged.”
“I was reviewing it with my brother! And Father already gave his approval!”
But Gracia didn’t stop. She began reading my letter.
“‘I’m Sol of the Schlaeger dukedom. Do you remember me? I had fun at the recent banquet. I’m writing this letter with my brothers—one very scary, one very kind.’”
…Elverrrr! Why would you write something so weird?! Who cares whether I have brothers or not in a pen-pal letter?!
And Gracia, you! That’s totally bad manners!
“Give it back! There’s nothing inappropriate! It’s just for social exchange!”
“Well… that may be. But did you write this yourself?”
“What?”
“It looks like young master Elver’s handwriting. I helped correct his penmanship before, so I know it well.”
“…”
“Surely…”
Gracia finally put the letter down. Her eyes gleamed with the satisfaction of finding a new flaw.
“Sol, do you not know how to write?”
“Well, that’s…”
“You’re ten, aren’t you? Even servant children can write at that age! I’m not accusing you, of course.”
Despite saying that, she placed a notebook and pen in front of me with a smug smile.
“Here you go. Write: ‘I am Sol Schlaeger. I hope you’ve been well.’”
“…Are you testing me?”
“Testing? Oh no! Who would imagine the duke’s daughter couldn’t write? I just want to see if I need to correct your handwriting.”
“…”
Damn it.
With slightly trembling hands, I gripped the pen. I had managed to write simple sentences earlier with Elver watching, but now I couldn’t recall the shapes of the letters.
While I was digging through my memory, Gracia taunted me from the side.
“It would be so scandalous if people found out the duke’s daughter can’t write. His Grace allowed her to attend a noble banquet exchange—what a farce!”
“…”
“Even if you speak well, not knowing how to write is worse. You sound more like a street merchant who learned to talk people into buying than a noble lady. No elegance at all!”
“…”
Listening to her cutting words, I barely managed to write my name. Crooked and shaky. More scribbles than letters. I didn’t even finish writing ‘hope you’ve been well.’
Gracia placed her hands on her hips and feigned anger, but her eyes were glinting with malicious satisfaction.
“You really can’t write, huh?”
“…I was never taught.”
“Do you know how important literacy is? Have you told your father?”
“Well—”
“No, of course you haven’t! If he knew, would he have allowed the pen-pal exchange? You must have pretended you could write!”
“…”
“I must report this to His Grace immediately. Do you know how liars are dealt with in this household?”
It wasn’t even a big lie!
…Will the Duke be furious?
Damn it, considering how the original story goes, it wouldn’t be surprising if he hung a liar upside down from the tower…!
Swallowing nervously, I felt her grow bolder.
“Ha! Trying to come up with an excuse now?”
“Well…”
“Oh, he’ll be furious. So betrayed. How will you explain it to him?”
Looking at her gleefully watching me, I could tell she wanted me to beg: “Please don’t tell my father!”
The problem was—I wanted to beg.
I’m not really the Duke’s daughter. Just his business partner.
If he finds out I lied, even about something small, trust could break early in our arrangement. What should I do…?
“Madam Gracia…”
“Yes? You’d better explain yourself properly!”
Just then, someone knocked.
“All this noise… What’s going on in there?”
…It was Benen.
