“Welcome, Jaha.”

As I greeted Jaha first as he was led in by Tambor, he smiled faintly and nodded at Tambor.

“Thank you, Lady.”

“I’ll get you some tea. Would black tea be all right?”

“Yes.”

“And what would you like, Miss?”

Hmm, the weather was getting warmer, making me crave something cold. A chilled herbal tea… What would be good?

“I really want something very cold.”

“Very cold…?”

“Yes!”

Still, did they have ice this season? With magic, there might be ice, though I wasn’t sure enough to specify. It would be nice if they had iced tea.

“We have some frozen melon. Would you like it crushed?”

“Melon?”

“Sometimes I have it as a snack, and it’s delicious. If you chop up melon and freeze it with milk, then mix it, the ice crunches so satisfyingly.”

Oh, that sounded delicious just hearing about it.

“Sounds good.”

“What about snacks?”

“I think just the frozen melon for me. What about you, Jaha?”

“That’s fine for me too.”

“All right, I’ll bring that over. Please wait a moment.”

Tambor glanced at Jaha and me alternately before bowing politely and leaving. After listening to her departing footsteps and checking the door, I sat opposite Jaha.

“Did you bring it?”

“Yes. It’s a bit old since I used it before…”

“You used it? You studied with this?”

“Yes.”

The picture cards Jaha pulled from his bag clearly showed their age. The edges were yellowed and frayed.

Still, the apple picture on top was still quite vivid.

“I wondered if I should buy new ones… However, the recent materials focus mostly on letters, making them hard to learn. These types of picture cards are almost impossible to find now.”

“I prefer this kind as well.”

It was the same when I learned Hangul.

In kindergarten, they gave us Hangul consonant and vowel charts, but honestly, they were hard to memorize. It was easier and more fun to learn words as whole images, almost like drawing pictures. Or maybe it was more enjoyable.

The letter shapes were complicated, and it already gave me a headache. If they had started with complex letter shapes, I might have been annoyed.

“Moreover, it seems like it was very well preserved. The drawings are still so vivid.”

Smiling at him, I made that comment, and Jaha nodded with a smile.

“Commoners rarely have the chance to learn to read and write. Even this kind of paper is actually expensive and not easily accessible. My parents remembered my careless wish to learn and managed to secretly collect these discarded picture cards from the school for me.”

…They must be wonderful parents, I thought.

Just like my parents, who could provide financially but couldn’t offer much else, there were parents like Jaha’s who, despite their poverty, strived to provide in other ways.

But as for me…

Honestly, I envy those who didn’t have. Jaha might scoff at such a statement, though.

“Your parents sound wonderful.”

“Yes. My motivation to study hard was to ensure their comfort. Now, I’m fairly satisfied. Although they worry about me not marrying since I focused too much on my studies.”

Ah, this seemed to lead into that typical narrative. Usually, in these stories, the female lead’s maid and Jaha might be in a relationship, oh?

Maids were typically noble ladies, so Jaha, lacking a wealthy family background, would complement the maid’s shortcomings, forming a sweet side-couple narrative. Nonetheless, Tambor and Jaha seem to have too much of an age gap.

If they genuinely liked each other, it might be fine… Uung, I should check if Tambor was married or not.

“What type of woman do you like, Jaha?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t really thought about it.”

“Is it rude to ask your age?”

“Not at all. I’m thirty this year.”

Wow.

Wasn’t it typical in romance fantasy worlds for characters to be engaged in their teens or marry as soon as they become adults?

Well, what did the era or world matter?

If you wanted to marry, you married. Some people were too busy to even think about it.

“With Jaha being such a good person, I’m sure a wonderful partner will appear soon.”

He was capable, handsome, tall, and had a great personality. There was nothing lacking, so surely a good person would come along soon.

“Do you think so?”

“Absolutely.”

Across all times and worlds, it’s said that good people are surrounded by other good people. Reality might differ, but in narratives, it had always been the case.

What he needed to be careful of was…

“Just make sure not to meddle too much.”

“Meddle?”

“Yes.”

It was a bit odd to say after asking for help, but anyway… Just because I asked for help with learning letters didn’t mean Enfrise would do anything to him.

“Just avoid getting involved in any big trouble trying to save someone.”

“Big trouble?”

“If you steer clear of that, you’re definitely going to be fine. You’ll lead a long, happy life surrounded by a loving family.”

That was mostly why good side characters ended up dying. They try to help the lead in danger and end up paying with their lives or dying as the plot demands. If this was just a novel, I might have thought Jaha was clearly a character doomed to die later but I met him.

I entered the world of the book. I couldn’t just keep silent about what might happen behind him, especially since he was helping me.

“…Chaperil, you’re quite the unique person. Have you, by any chance, gained the ability to foresee the future after losing your memory?”

“No way. It’s just… you know, those feelings you get sometimes.”

“Is that so?”

“Hmm. So, it’s not a certainty that such events will happen, but it’s just a precaution.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Jaha gave me a small smile and handed me a picture card. When I checked the back of the apple card, there were squiggly letters that I couldn’t understand at all.

Maybe an alphabet-like structure?

“The consonants and vowels together make up a total of 40 characters. You combine these to form various letters.”

Huh? That sounds like the number of Korean consonants and vowels.

“How many consonants and vowels are there?”

“There are a total of nineteen consonants and twenty vowels. The basic set includes fourteen consonants and ten vowels, and the rest are derivatives, so it’s not too difficult once you get the hang of it.”

Oh, it seems to have a structure similar to Korean.

Now, I just hoped these letters were distinguishable enough to be easily memorized.

I didn’t take too long to learn Hangul even when I was seven, so it shouldn’t be too hard now, right? After all, I am an adult!

“Thank you, Jaha. I’ll give it my best shot.”

“Let me know if you have any questions when I come back next time. Now, let’s try painting on the canvas we applied gesso to last time.”

Jaha rummaged through his bag, pulling out various shaped new brushes, a wooden palette, a small wooden bucket, several sizes of painting knives, and a container filled with a flowing liquid.

“Wow, you brought a lot of supplies.”

“Well, we need fabric too, but Lady Tambor said she would prepare it, so before that, let me explain about the brushes and tools. This brush is…”

So, I listened to Jaha’s explanation until Tambor arrived.

* * *

“Uwaaaahhh, Friii!”

“Ppi-!?”

Today, unusually, I rushed to Frii who was on the bed. Startled at first, Frii flew away, but when I flopped down on the bed, it cautiously circled back. When I slightly held out my hand, it landed on my hand.

“Frii. Why did I have such arrogant thoughts?”

“Ppi—?”

I had thought it nonsensical when people said children’s brains are more flexible or that English should be taught early. I believed adults, who understood the structure of language through Hangul, would learn better!

Indeed, in my case, starting English or Chinese in elementary school wasn’t too hard.

However, I was wrong. It was only easier then because I was young enough to memorize grammar and vocabulary well. Now, my brain was utterly useless!

“Frii, I’m really having a hard time.”

Was this why grandma always called me an empty-headed or stupid girl?

Where was the fiery enthusiasm for studying that I had as a response to her words? Was I the only one who was unable to memorize merely forty characters?

These d*mn letters were complicated to the extreme, making it hard even to find where they broke apart. It was supposed to be made easier with children’s picture cards. Was I the fool for not figuring it out?

Was I the fool here?!

“I’m an idiot!”

“Ppi—! Kkiyuu, kkiyuu?”

As I kicked my feet in frustration, Frii stepped back and then approached again, sniffing around as if on guard. Lately, my time with Frii has been limited to cuddling in bed, brushing its fur, or simply playing together.

“Come to think of it, do they have toys for pets here?”

It dawned on me that I didn’t necessarily have to play only with Enfrise. Playing with Frii could be fun, too! Perhaps we could enjoy some simple games together? Or maybe there was something like those fishing rod toys for cats or dogs? It would be a good exercise for me as well.

“And I forgot to ask for self-defense lessons.”

Hmm.

It had been over a week since the intruder incident, and it had been five days since Enfrise and I became somewhat distant.

We kept talking, though it felt like we were only having formal conversations. Did he sense something off about me? Or was he avoiding me because the wounds he received were more severe than I thought?

“Frii.”

“Kkiyuu?”

“I want to be able to talk comfortably with Enfrise again.”

I wished I could get used to him quickly.

This morning, while he was reading a book to me, I managed to stay awake through Enfrise’s recitation for the first time, probably because I was too tense.

Despite my efforts not to look, my gaze kept drifting to Enfrise, and my heart would flutter weakly at his voice. But I couldn’t just cover my ears, so I had to endure, clenching my fists tightly.

And as soon as it was over before I could accidentally say something like his voice was too beautiful and I couldn’t grasp the content, or I was too fluttered to remember which poem he recited, I sent him away.

Ugh. Not only did I need to get used to Enfrise quickly, but I also needed to learn the letters quickly.

“Fffrrriiiii!”

“Ppi—!”

I called out to Frii loudly, attempting to hug it tightly. However, Frii, regrettably, sprang up and scurried under the bed.

And so, I found myself alone on the bed, flailing for a while longer.

__