Chapter 38
It was too quiet to assume the children were simply playing.
They were deeply engrossed in something.
Joanna, who was watching along with Erika, shook her head, unsure.
“Well, I can’t really tell just by looking from here.”
“Hey, then… can I go take a look?”
Joanna hesitated for a moment.
Although Sebastian and Milord had stepped away, a guard knight was still keeping close watch over the two of them.
The place that had caught Erika’s interest was also on the main street, and aside from the children, there wasn’t anyone suspicious in sight.
Seems fine.
Joanna nodded with a bright smile, trying not to worry Erika.
“Yes, young lady. Shall I come with you for a bit?”
“Okay!”
Erika beamed and nodded vigorously.
Hand in hand, the two approached the group of children huddled together.
The children were so focused they didn’t even notice strangers approaching.
About ten steps away, Erika turned to Joanna and said,
“Joanna, wait here.”
She didn’t want the children to get scared by seeing an adult.
Joanna nodded obediently and stopped walking, still within easy reach if anything happened.
With her heart pounding, Erika approached the children alone.
There were about six or seven kids, each holding a twig and drawing something on the ground.
“It looked like this.”
“Are you sure? Come on, that just looks like a worm.”
“I told you it is!”
Snippets of a small argument reached her ears.
Unable to resist her curiosity, Erika asked,
“Hey… what are you guys doing?”
Only then did the children realize Erika was there.
“Whoa, you scared me!”
“Who are you?”
Their eyes quickly filled with suspicion.
Erika had tried to peek at what was drawn on the ground, but when she noticed their wary expressions, she straightened up and awkwardly introduced herself.
“Me? I’m Erika.”
She deliberately left out her surname.
Her clean, proper appearance would already hint at her high status, but she didn’t want to create more distance by giving her full name.
But the children, already familiar with one another, remained cautious toward the unfamiliar girl.
“Who asked your name?!”
Erika tilted her head.
“Then what should I tell you instead? My age? I’m ten. Do you want to know anything else? Just ask. I’ll tell you.”
The boy who had raised his voice earlier flinched slightly at Erika’s open attitude.
His face seemed to say, What kind of person is this?
But as he struggled to come up with a reply, only his lips moved like a fish out of water.
Erika looked back down.
Did they find a kitten or something?
She was curious what had made the children focus so intently on the ground.
“What were you doing?”
But all she could see were squiggly lines.
It didn’t look like a drawing.
“What’s this?”
When Erika asked again, the oldest-looking boy turned his head shyly and grumbled,
“…A name.”
“A name?”
“Yeah. I was writing my name.”
“Oh… I see.”
Erika’s gaze shifted from his face to the squiggles again.
It didn’t really look like a name.
So they want to learn how to write…
In the Angelica Empire, illiteracy among commoners was high.
The imperial language was difficult, and most families were too poor to send their children to school.
Still, those who learned to read and write could earn much more than others, but that required family sacrifice or financial support—not easy to come by.
From what Erika had heard, literacy rates were highest in the capital and the Grand Duchy of Acliff.
But even there, it was still a small fraction.
I didn’t know how to read either until recently.
Erika took a small breath.
She had only learned in order to live as the Marchioness of Blanche’s daughter.
She could still vividly remember the joy and pride she’d felt the first time she wrote her name.
I want to share that feeling with these kids.
Her eyes sparkled with determination.
She carefully adjusted her fluttering skirt and squatted down.
“Can I borrow a twig?”
The boy handed it over, startled.
When Erika smiled and thanked him, his face turned red like it had caught fire.
“What’s your name?”
“J-Jack.”
“Jack is written like this.”
Erika carefully wrote his name on the ground.
Instantly, the children gathered around her.
Gasps of awe burst out from all directions.
“Wow! You can write?”
“Hmm? Oh, a little.”
“Then write my name too! I’m Thompson!”
“And mine! I’m Daniella!”
“Can you write my family’s names too? My mom, dad, little brother, and me! I want to show them when I get home!”
Erika had suddenly become the center of attention.
“This letter goes like this. You have to curve it upward at the end—if you go down, it changes the meaning.”
“Ooh, I get it now!”
She wrote even more clearly and boldly than usual so the kids could copy easily.
Her hand clenched the twig tightly, turning her small hand red, but she didn’t even notice the pain—too focused on teaching them.
She was so excited.
The joy of being helpful, of bonding with others—it was overwhelming.
“Hey, little teacher!”
“…Teacher?”
At the sudden nickname, Erika blinked.
Then Jack rubbed his nose with the back of his hand and said,
“You’re teaching us letters, so you’re a teacher—but you’re little, so you’re the little teacher!”
“That’s true!”
“Yeah!”
The other kids burst into laughter and agreed.
Erika ducked her head shyly, but couldn’t hide the smile spreading across her face.
“Little teacher, can you teach us again next time?”
“…Again?”
“Yeah! Again! Oh, wait… can’t you?”
The youngest girl looked up at Erika, nearly in tears.
“There’s still letters I wanna learn…”
She began folding her fingers one by one like maple leaves.
“My house address, the name of my calf Henrietta from the ranch, and… and…”
She seemed sad to part ways already.
But Erika didn’t respond right away.
This was her first outing.
Will I be able to come again?
She couldn’t be sure.
Then Sebastian’s voice echoed in her memory:
“If there’s anything you want to do—just do it.”
Whatever it is. Take your time. I’ll support you no matter what.
His firm voice had given her courage.
Jack asked again,
“When can we see you again? Are you not coming back?”
“Uh… um… well…”
As Erika hesitated, she impulsively replied,
“No, I’ll come again. Maybe next week?”
“Really?”
She nodded seriously.
“Yeah. Even if I can’t, I’ll send someone. But I’ll try my best to come myself.”
Jack and the other children nodded in understanding.
They looked like they believed her.
“Alright, then let’s stop for today. Bye!”
“See you again, little teacher!”
As she watched the children disappear down the road, Erika waved with all her strength.
For some reason, the excitement in her chest wouldn’t settle down.
* * *
Joanna had been busily buying food at the market like a mother bird feeding her chicks.
“It’s delicious.”
Erika’s legs dangled in the air—too short to reach the ground.
She sat on a bench in front of the clock tower, nibbling on fruit candies and sipping juice.
Soon, Sebastian and Milord returned.
“Did you wait long?”
“Nope.”
Erika quickly brushed sugar off her lips and answered.
Sebastian’s red eyes scanned Erika and their surroundings.
“Looks like you had fun. You’ve got quite the snack pile going here.”
His gaze swept over the mountain of snacks on the bench, making Erika’s face turn red.
She suddenly worried she had eaten too much on her own.
“You should have some too, my lord!”
Sebastian smirked.
“I’m good. You eat.”
“There’s plenty. I bought it to share with you…”
Sebastian plopped down beside her and turned his head.
The girl smelled sweet somehow.
He didn’t usually like sweets, but strangely, her scent didn’t bother him.
As he quietly gazed at Erika, his hand slipped into his pocket.
The object he kept touching with his fingers stirred a growing sense of urgency.
