Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: A Peculiar History Lesson
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Lianus's usually vibrant voice had quieted down, clearly upset at seeing his friend disrespected right in front of him.
"But, Your Highness. You must observe proper hierarchy...!"
"Madam. I am far more mindful of hierarchy than you might think. And if my friend had known I was a prince and fawned over me, he would never have become my friend in the first place. True friendship is a bond between equals, is it not? Even if he is a commoner, His Majesty has permitted his entry to the palace, and he resides here as both my friend and a guest. It is unacceptable for you to treat him with such open disdain. If his behavior as a student was lacking, you should have corrected him during class. But you did not treat my friend as a student at all, did you? Though he has little interest in learning and did not protest, if his attitude displeased you, I would appreciate it if you treated him as a student and disciplined him properly from now on."
Listening from the side, the straw doll blinked in surprise. It was surprisingly logical and firm. Nihil, impressed by Lianus, instinctively raised a hand to pat his head but slyly lowered it again.
"...I was short-sighted. My apologies, Your Highness."
"I would like an apology to my friend as well."
The countess, who had been feigning composure, furrowed her brow slightly. She clearly had no desire to apologize to a commoner.
Watching the exchange indifferently, the straw doll tightly gripped Lianus's hand and shook his head. It meant to drop it.
"Rian, you don't need to defend me. I don't have the confidence to sit up straight every class anyway."
His friend, who had just been insulted as an uneducated commoner right to his face, remained impassive. But Lianus was not appeased.
The sulky prince grumbled.
"Nil, anyone hearing that would think you were dozing off or lying down during class."
"If I'm going to be treated the same either way, lying down might not be so bad."
Oh, that's actually a good idea!
Lianus's eyes lit up with a bright grin, as if his displeasure had never existed.
"Shall I have a bed brought in then?"
"......No."
Nihil couldn't even jokingly agree. He knew Lianus was serious. The moment he did, a bed would appear in this drawing room.
They say you can't even have cold water around kids, but why does my kid keep tempting me with water?
Knowing Lianus had no such intentions, Nihil simply covered his face with a sigh and hauled his limp body upright. He then locked eyes with the countess, who watched in shock.
Nihil shot her a look that said, Since my kid's this obsessed with me, let's just gloss over this to avoid hassle. Whether she understood or simply glanced at the prince—who was still fixated only on his friend—the countess cleared her throat and regained her composure.
"Ahem, ahem. I apologize."
Nihil gave a slight nod without replying. The countess frowned again at his insolence but, unwilling to engage further, bowed to Lianus and hastily departed.
Nihil stared at the countess's retreating figure with feigned indifference that bordered on obsession.
Rumors of the insolent commoner the prince had picked up would spread quickly. And that the prince was fiercely protective of him.
If the rumors didn't spread, pulling her into Lianus's circle wouldn't be a bad idea either.
"Nil, you must have been startled by the sudden start of class today. Sorry about that."
Lianus apologized again for the lunch incident. He had actually been a bit anxious that Nihil might refuse to attend classes with him.
"It's fine. Still, it's good to learn about the teachers in advance. What's the history teacher like?"
"The history teacher is my favorite! I'm sure you'll like him too."
Excited to have something to share with his friend, Lianus began chattering away.
The history teacher's name was Carus Francesca. At just twenty years old, he had inherited his family at fifteen and was known as the young Marquis of Francesca.
He served as the princes' history tutor, but his main role was as a professor at the academy, teaching ancient languages and others.
His specialty was languages, not history, but he was so brilliant that his linguistic research naturally led to profound historical knowledge.
He left estate management mostly to his siblings to focus on language studies, spending more time at the academy than anywhere else.
The reason he took on the princes' lessons? He eagerly accepted the king's offer of access to the restricted royal library section.
The Francesca family didn't strictly prefer political neutrality, but the current marquis's aversion to politics had turned his domain into one of the kingdom's prime neutral territories.
"...And the marquis has pale turquoise hair. At our first meeting, he said it was the first time he'd seen another green-toned hair outside his family, so he was thrilled and told me to call him by name casually."
Finishing his explanation, Lianus beamed.
At that smile, Nihil— who had been impassively absorbing info on the marquis—bumped his mental rating up a notch.
To 2 out of 5.
Starting from zero, that was generous by Nihil's standards.
The history class began much like etiquette: Lianus playing the diligent student, Nihil the faithful straw doll.
But as time passed, casual chit-chat crept in—how great separate classes were, how uncomfortable the 1st Prince was, if he could relax a bit more, telling the prince's friend to focus...
The history teacher was far freer-spirited than expected. And a bit odd.
No, very odd.
He didn't scold Nihil for leaning back comfortably, but if he slouched too far or tried to slump over, he'd trot over, hoist him up for some fresh air, then plop him back down.
After several hoistings, Nihil went from startled to adapted, eventually mastering the art of slouching just shy of pickup threshold.
Lianus's eyes widened at the teacher's bizarre antics, but seeing Nihil dangling limply, he giggled delightedly. That innocent laugh probably earned extra lifts.
About an hour in, the teacher called for a break and pulled a cookie packet from his bag, handing them to his cute students.
"A gift! My adorable little sister baked these herself. I just wanted to brag."
"Thank you, Teacher!"
Lianus accepted the cookies with a bright smile. The sprawled Nihil merely eyed his share as it landed on the desk.
Pale golden cookies, baked to a crisp, had a few chocolate-hued ones mixed in.
The little sister must be young; the shapes looked a bit crude.
A rustle sounded as the packet opened, and a cookie was thrust under Nihil's nose. He glanced at the waiting Lianus, then took a bite.
"......"
Why did it taste burnt and bitter?
Nihil twitched an eyebrow and sat up straight. Chewing silently, wondering if this was normal, the teacher spoke.
"Oh, my sister said she didn't add chocolate, but weirdly, some turned out chocolate-like! My sister's a genius for sure!"
It's just burnt!
Nihil forced down the ashy cookie without spitting it out. Glancing aside, he saw Lianus reaching for a charcoaled one.
He quickly called out.
"Rian."
"Yeah?"
"...Can you tell me where the Harpen Kingdom is...?"
Scanning around swiftly, Nihil drew Lianus's gaze to the open world map on the desk.
With the history teacher watching eagerly, he couldn't outright say not to eat it.
Thrilled to teach his friend something, Lianus scooted right up beside Nihil, eyes sparkling.
"Nil, the Harpen Kingdom is here! Our kingdom has very little coastline. It's sandwiched between the Empire and the Verlem Kingdom on both sides."
"What's this?"
Nihil pointed to a small island near Harpen. The Lepne Duchy: a crescent-shaped large isle and a round small one.
"That's the Lepne Duchy. The moon-shaped island is Nemea, and the round one next to it is Margarita. That's the grand duke's territory who gave us the elixir. But the map location isn't precise. You can't get there without a portal. They say the grand duke hid the entire island with magic. Coordinates change daily, so you need the duchy to provide them."
Nihil nodded along to Lianus's explanation. So the grand duke, being a demonkin, wielded wide-area magic.
"Rumor has it the Lepne Duchy has lots of demonkin, making it dangerous for humans. That's why the grand duke warded it—to keep curious humans away."
"Have you been?"
"No. The grand duke avoids contact outside work and never invites outsiders unless necessary—he comes to you. But I am a bit curious about the Lepne Duchy."
"Me too!"
The history teacher shot his hand up, jumping into the conversation.
"Demonkin have inherently long lifespans, so their history must be vast and unique. I'd love to study their language! They probably know many lost dead tongues too. I even begged the grand duke once, but he refused."
"......"
"Haha, my wrist nearly flew off back then."
"......"
The teacher scratched his head sheepishly. Nihil narrowed his eyes in disbelief before ignoring him and returning to the world map.
There, he spotted a scribble in the corner.
Skimming it, it looked like a recipe for some seafood stew crammed with random ingredients.
Lianus didn't seem the type to doodle on maps, but maybe he craved it that badly. Nihil asked if he liked seafood.
"Seafood? I like shrimp. But it's rare here, so we don't have it often. Why the sudden question? Craving seafood?"
"This scribble......"
Nihil trailed off, pausing. Now that he looked, the script resembled the continent's system but pronounced entirely differently.
What language is this...?