NOVEL WEB Chapter 9: If This Goes Well
The moment Lucia stepped into the study, the warm scent of books greeted her. Closing her eyes and immersing herself in the ambiance, her once-heated face cooled.
“Good.”
Lucia calmly looked around the study.
Among the many castles of Prient, the Dawn Castle, being the family’s first castle, held symbolic significance and was quite large.
The same went for the library. Given that it had kept scrolls and books for over 500 years, one could naturally infer its grand scale.
Lucia treaded carefully inside its walls.
Even though it was a private space, only occupied by the maid guarding the library and Shiron, who arrived before Lucia, she remembered the advice her friends once gave her.
“It’s common sense to be quiet in a library.”
“Why?”
“Well… to put it simply, people who love books don’t like disturbances. You’d hate it if someone interrupted your training, right?”“…I think I understand.”
Her comrades had taught Kyrie, who knew nothing but fighting, many things. Although they sometimes teased her as a barbarian, they patiently answered her questions, and Kyrie quickly learned.
She vividly remembered their conversation, which wasn’t the talks they had on the brink of death but much earlier in their travels. It was fascinating.
Sobbing-
Perhaps because she was recalling old memories, Lucia’s eyes teared up.
“…Ugh.”
Wiping away her tears with her sleeve, Lucia lowered her head, fearing that someone might see, and bit her lip.
‘I wonder how everyone fared after my death. They were all resourceful; they must’ve thrived. The empire wouldn’t neglect them after all the struggles, right?’
She occasionally had such thoughts. The fact that the horned Yuma was alive breathed hope into Lucia. If Yuma, who was gravely injured in the battle 500 years ago, survived, wouldn’t the others be alive, too? It was hard to let go of that hope.
“Seira’s an elf, but Cheor… let’s stop.”
Slap-
Lucia slapped her cheeks with both hands, trying to gather herself.
It wasn’t two hundred or three hundred, but a whopping five hundred years since she died.
She couldn’t be entangled in the past forever. Now she had to find the book she hadn’t finished.
Delving between the bookshelves, Lucia searched for the book she was reading yesterday.
[Silleya-Imperial Language Dictionary]
In her hand were a thick dictionary and a fairy tale book that seemed relatively easy to read. It was thin, with illustrations, likely intended for children.
Silleya was the name of the ethnic group that defined Kyrie’s identity before she was chosen by the Holy Sword. There was no way to know whether they were extinct or what became of them. With her current inability to even read a fairy tale, researching history was too challenging.
Everything had its order.
Her immediate goal was to properly read the fairy tale book.
Having chosen a book to read, she now needed a quiet place to focus.
Fortunately, she had a spot in mind.
It was Lucia’s designated seat that she had claimed over the past week in the library.
It was located next to a window with sunlight pouring in, which made one naturally happy…
Whispers-
Whispers-
“…”
Sadly, it was already occupied.
“… That’s, that’s my spot.”
Lucia clenched her book tightly.
Shiron had already occupied the spot Lucia had been sitting in until yesterday.
She had assumed that he would’ve settled somewhere since Shiron was in the library before her. She never dreamt it’d be her favorite spot.
“That guy has a good eye for spots.”
Lucia tried to resign herself, but her eyes didn’t move easily from the seat.
It wasn’t just about the spot. Several thick books and elegant writing tools mesmerizingly captivated Lucia’s gaze.
Astonished by the incredible sight, Lucia’s eyes widened.
“He’s not planning to read all of that, is he?”
One, two, three… nine, ten, eleven. A pile of books, totaling eleven, was stacked like a tower on the desk. Common sense would tell you that reading all of them in a day was impossible.
But contrary to Lucia’s worry, Shiron spread one of the books in front of him and lazily turned the pages.
Had he noticed the gaze that had been watching him for a while? Shiron slightly lifted his head, glanced at Lucia, chuckled softly, then returned to his reading.
“!”
Lucia quickly hid the Imperial Language dictionary and storybook she was holding behind her.
Her face turned red in embarrassment.
There was a two-year age difference between them… but still, the books Shiron was reading looked incredibly difficult at first glance.
The luxurious leather-bound covers, the bookmarks made of woven silk, and the titles impressively embossed in gold ink…
Compared to Lucia’s storybook, the quality seemed as different as night and day.
Comparing their respective books, Lucia hung her head low.
‘Well, there are plenty of other seats, right? It’s not like I reserved this spot…’
Lucia closed her eyes tightly, trying to shake off the regret.
It wasn’t by accident that Lucia’s “usual spot” was taken.
Upon hearing about Lucia’s whereabouts from Yuma, Shiron, abandoning his daily training routine, had even gone to the lengths of asking the maid in charge of the library about Lucia’s regular seat at the crack of dawn. Of course, his intention wasn’t solely to tease her.
Although he was determined to learn a new language with all his might, there seemed to be no significant issue in reading the characters, perhaps due to some memories from before his reincarnation.
Having lost his initial enthusiasm and purpose, he thought, ‘This is becoming more fun.’
Shiron concealed his smile behind the book. He did find Lucia’s reaction amusing, but when he saw the title of the book she was holding, he had a hard time suppressing his laughter.
[The Magnificent Savior, the Eternal Chronicles of the Magnificent Kyrie]
The adjective “magnificent” appeared twice, hinting at its fanatical content.
‘Does she even know what that book is about?’
Shiron paused his reading and observed Lucia. Sitting quite a distance from him, she continued to frown and struggle.
‘Let’s let it be. It’s not like I have any right to judge.’
Shiron understood how Lucia felt. In his past life, he had similar experiences, so he decided to kindly pretend not to notice.
‘Besides, If I heard that my own gameplay montage was released… Might be interesting to watch how she reacts.’
He had some exceptional plays in the game, and he’d even meticulously edited and uploaded them online.
Watching an impressive montage from his previous life… seemed a reasonable comparison.
‘If I laughed at that, I’d probably get punched and faint again. Yeah, definitely.’
Shiron chuckled to himself and continued with his work, dipping the pen into the ink.
“Ugh… ugh.”
Lucia groaned.
The reason was obvious. For several hours, even as dusk approached, she had made no progress with the book.
Why was the Imperial Language so difficult?
She realized a few things after looking up words in the dictionary for the past few days. There were separate male and female verb endings. This was somewhat manageable, but that wasn’t the only issue.
There were no rules for singular and plural forms.
There were too many conjunctions to remember.
There were six different tenses, with a mix of irregular and regular forms.
There were numerous idioms. Instead of simply saying, “The sunlight is strong”, they used a mix of flowery expressions.
Every time a new word appeared, she had to search in the dictionary. And just when she thought she found it, another word troubled her.
Lucia thumped her head on the desk.
“I really… I can’t do this.”
“Is there something wrong? Can I help you?”
She looked up at the sound and saw Shiron’s smiling face. Lucia pretended to be fine and avoided eye contact.
She didn’t want to be treated like a child who couldn’t read a storybook by herself.
“It’s…….”
“Okay, then I’ll go. Have fun.”
Without another thought, Shiron turned away.
Lucia watched his back as he walked further and further away.
There was a certain air of intelligence about Shiron as he piled up the books he’d already read and carried them back to their proper place.
‘So. You mean you want to be a teacher?’
Lucia watched for a long time, and many thoughts passed through her mind.
And when Shiron began to organize his writing utensils.
“Hey…….”
“Huh? What, do you need help?”
“……Yes.”
Lucia nodded, her face grim.
It hurt her pride, but she couldn’t help it.
She was being taught something by a ten-year-old… The thought of Shiron as an educated nobleman’s child had lowered her standards.
Besides,
She was even more reluctant to ask Yuma or any of the other maids. She refused to learn from the demons she had fought her entire life. That was her last shred of pride.
Even as Lucia bared her neck to their attentions, the barriers she had built up over a lifetime were not easily broken.
Shiron sat down next to Lucia and spoke in a gentle voice.
“What’s wrong?”
“Everything… It’s all…”
“All of it? So you don’t know what it’s all about, and you picked up this book?”
“……Yes.”
Shiron threw back his head in disbelief. Lucia could only blink at the behavior.
She still had no idea what the book she’d chosen was about to cause such a reaction.
Shiron wiped his face once, then slowly opened his mouth.
“Listen.”
“Yes.”
Shiron pushed the dictionary away from Lucia’s view and pointed his finger at the words on the cover. Lucia focused on the movement of his fingers and the sound of his voice, determined not to miss a word.
“The Magnificent Savior.”
“The Magnificent Savior?”
“The Eternal Chronicles of the Magnificent Kyrie.”
“The Magnificent… Kyrie’s?”
Lucia had a momentary flash of foreboding, but Shiron’s mouth didn’t stop.
“The Magnificent Kyrie, the great savior, immortalized for all eternity… But you are a curiosity, too.”
“…….”
“I’ve listened to my ancestor’s hymns until my ears scab over, and yet this is the one you picked and chose.”
“…….”
“Honestly, this book is too pretentious even for me. I’m going to have to skip it. Tsk tsk.”
Shiron chuckled in amusement as if to say it was a tale where a single sword could slice through mountains, shred clouds, and walk on water, huh?
“Sorry. I’m not feeling well.”
She couldn’t take it anymore. Her face was so hot she could barely breathe.
Lucia cut Shiron off before he could say more, scrambled to her feet, and headed for the doorway.
“Uh, yeah. Take care.”
Shiron watched Lucia’s back as she ran out the door, head down,
The shape of Shiron’s mouth, which Lucia hadn’t seen because she was too busy shaking with self-pity, was something she would never know for the rest of her life.