Chapter 24: Karus Francesca

Nihil was lost in thought, pondering the origin of the script, when the history teacher interjected.

“That is an archaic language believed to have been used about 500 years ago.”

“…Archaic language?”

The teacher pushed up his large, round glasses and continued speaking. His cyan-colored eyes, matching his hair, sparkled as they caught the light.

“It’s thought to be the language of a now-destroyed Kingdom that was once part of the Kingdom of Harpens. After the Heavenly Demon War, everything became chaotic, so the exact location of that nation is unclear. But the map known as the first World Map was found in the Wind Forest to the west. Ah, the Wind Forest is right next to our Marquisate! It’s truly a beautiful place—shall we go on a picnic together someday?”

“Nonsense…”

“…Picnic?”

Nihil had been about to tell him to stop with the nonsense and just continue the explanation, but closed his mouth when he saw Lianus’s eyes light up at the word “picnic.”

The Francesca Marquis smiled gently at Nihil and went on.

“Oh, but there are rumors that ghosts appear in that forest! That’s why it’s also called the Forest of Ghosts, and after some of my family were injured there a few times, we don’t go anymore.

Still, it’s so beautiful—you should at least admire it from afar!”

At the mention of the Forest of Ghosts, Lianus visibly drooped. There was no way they could go on a picnic to a place like that.

Seeing Lianus’s disappointment, Nihil thought that he should take the kid out for a picnic sometime. Just not to a place with ghosts.

“Haha, anyway, nowadays the borders of each Kingdom are clearly marked on maps, but the original World Map, when it was discovered, had no borders at all—it was just a literal depiction of the land. They say the note was written by the map’s creator, and it’s assumed to be in the language of the creator’s homeland, but…”

As he listened to the explanation, Nihil tilted his head slightly. Even after hearing it, the script didn’t seem related at all.

With the source of the characters just out of reach in his memory, Nihil frowned a little.

“Yes, but strangely, that language on the map hasn’t been found anywhere else. So it still hasn’t been deciphered, and as a symbol, it’s printed on every map.”

“…So it wasn’t just scribbles.”

“Huh? I don’t scribble in books.”

“That’s why I thought it was odd. But your explanation has too many contradictions.”

“Pardon?”

The turquoise eyes behind the big, round glasses went wide in surprise.

Then, perhaps driven by curiosity, the teacher’s eyes flashed as he crouched down in front of Nihil and rested his chin on the desk.

With the teacher suddenly so close, Nihil leaned his upper body back a little and continued.

“This isn’t a language used by any Kingdom. It doesn’t matter what country the mapmaker was from. The premise is wrong. Even if a nation was destroyed, it’s impossible for its language to disappear without a trace, leaving only a few sentences on a map. More likely, this language wasn’t widely used even back then, or it was a cipher to keep secrets. Or else…”

“…Or else?”

“It was a language passed down only among certain people.”

As Nihil explained, he found it odd himself.

Because he knew this language.

If it was a cipher or something passed down only to certain people, there’s no way he should know it.

But no matter how much he thought, he had never ‘seen’ this language system. He’d only ever ‘heard’ it.

‘…Where on earth…’

Nihil repeated the letters in his mind, tapping his pen on the desk without thinking.

“Well… certain people…”

“Oh. I remember now.”

“Pardon?”

The Marquis, who was about to ask who those certain people might be, stood up abruptly at Nihil’s words.

But Nihil hesitated, unsure whether to share what he’d remembered or to keep it secret.

It wasn’t something he could share carelessly.

As Nihil kept silent, a long silence filled the drawing room.

Lianus, beside him, called out to Nihil softly, but Nihil continued to brood as if he hadn’t heard.

Eventually, the Marquis, who had been pacing around Nihil impatiently, lost patience and shook Nihil’s shoulder to snap him out of his thoughts.

“What did you remember? Please, tell us!”

“No.”

“How can you say that!”

Sensing that he’d be up all night until the next history class if he left like this, the Francesca Marquis slammed the desk.

Nihil no longer responded and just lowered his gaze. But the Francesca Marquis, deeply invested in language research, was more persistent than expected. Still, Nihil thought that if he kept refusing, the Marquis would eventually give up.

But Nihil had to change his mind before long.

This guy’s nickname was definitely ‘Lunatic.’

***

“Please, tell us!”

In fact, the young Marquis, whom the students quietly called Professor Lunatic, was living up to his nickname.

It had already been an hour.

Ignoring the lesson, the young Marquis kept throwing a tantrum, and Nihil was at a loss for words.

In fact, the class had ended long ago.

Lianus, unable to handle the unfamiliar side of the Marquis, ended up just picking up the youngest sibling Pyo Cookie the Marquis had gifted him, and watched the scene unfold.

At that moment, a brown cookie disguised as chocolate flavor entered Nihil’s mouth.

When Lianus tried to eat the completely burnt cookie, Nihil snatched it out of his hand and ate it himself, which made Lianus think Nihil liked the taste and kept feeding him the burnt cookies.

Nihil didn’t bother to correct the misunderstanding, and Lianus, convinced his best friend loved chocolate cookies, picked out all the brown ones and offered them to Nihil.

Though the burnt taste lingered in his mouth, Nihil just chewed the cookies Lianus fed him without batting an eye.

“Teacher. This is complete dereliction of duty. If you just goof around here and only work hard when teaching the First Prince, it’ll be a problem.”

“I won’t teach until you tell me!”

“You’ll get fired at this rate.”

“That’s fine, just tell me!”

It was a ridiculous sight, a Marquis sitting a commoner child in front of him and acting like this, but the Francesca Marquis didn’t seem to care.

Despite all his effort, Nihil revealed nothing.

He seemed obsessed with his research, and though it probably wouldn’t hurt Lianus, the Marquis was hiding something and clinging to it more than necessary.

As long as Nihil didn’t know what that secret was, he couldn’t trust the Marquis.

“Teacher.”

“Yes! Will you tell me?”

“You’re the one who needs to talk. Come back when you’re ready.”

“…….”

The Francesca Marquis fell silent for a moment. Not because he didn’t understand, but because he’d been caught hiding something.

Another cookie entered Nihil’s mouth.

He felt like he’d eaten a lot, but somehow the brown cookies seemed to multiply, more than he expected.

The dry, crumbly cookies were starting to choke him, but if he didn’t eat them, the rest would probably go into Lianus’s mouth.

Seeing Nihil slow down eating, Lianus called a maid to bring tea.

Lianus was incredibly naïve, but he was surprisingly sensitive to changes in Nihil’s condition.

“Um, if I tell you, will the Prince’s friend tell me too?”

The Francesca Marquis spoke hesitantly.

“I’ll decide after I hear it.”

“How can you say that!”

“You’re the one who wants something, not me.”

“You’re so cruel!”

Muttering about how heartless Nihil was, the Marquis spun around the drawing room.

After about three laps, the Marquis suddenly sat down heavily next to Nihil and let out a deep sigh.

The maid, carrying in the tea, was startled at the sight, but Lianus quickly sent her away, so there was no big fuss.

In truth, Nihil was just as reluctant.

The Marquis’s status would surely be useful.

He claimed to prefer political neutrality, but Lianus seemed to like the Marquis as well, so if Nihil could use this script as bait to draw the Marquis to Lianus’s side, it would be helpful.

But the Marquis, who knew nothing of Nihil’s thoughts, just hung his head, looking noticeably dejected.

Watching this, Lianus poured tea into the cups.

“Karus, I don’t know what’s going on, but calm down and have some tea.”

“Ah, then I’ll have milk tea, please! About five sugar cubes!”

At that, Nihil frowned slightly, trying not to show it. The thought of five sugar cubes in milk tea was enough to make his stomach churn.

Lianus, who put seven sugar cubes in his milk tea, smiled brightly, apparently happy to meet someone with similar tastes, and dropped the cubes in with a plop, plop.

“Nil, what about you?”

“…Just black tea is fine for me.”

Black tea was poured into the cup.

Thanks to Lianus’s steady supply of cookies, Nihil’s throat was parched, so as soon as the tea was poured, he drank it without waiting.

“Nil, you know about this archaic language, don’t you?”

“I just skimmed it. It’s not even really an archaic language.”

At Lianus’s words, the Francesca Marquis glanced up, pretending not to listen but trying to glean even a bit more information.

He looked ridiculous, sitting on the floor sipping milk tea, but no one paid him any mind.

“So Nil, that archaic language…”

Lianus glanced at Nihil, gauging his mood.

He figured there must be a reason his best friend wasn’t speaking, but he wanted to help Karus, even just a little.

But Nihil wasn’t about to miss that intention.

“Lian, do you like that teacher?”

“Uh, uh… y-yeah…”

At the blunt question, Lianus blushed and glanced around nervously, then nodded shyly.

The Marquis, hearing that Lianus liked him, grinned broadly but quickly shut his mouth at Nihil’s look.

Watching this, Nihil let out a deep sigh and spoke.

“That language is not something that should be spread carelessly. That’s why there’s no information left about it.”

“But, it’s printed on all the maps…”

“The sentences on the map are just meaningless Recipe instructions. Even those are nothing but pronunciation guides.”

“That’s a Recipe?!”

The Marquis, who had been listening from the floor, was so surprised by the answer that he jumped to his feet.

If he’d overlooked anything, it was that he still held his teacup.

“…!”

The tea sloshed violently and then, with heroic force, splashed out.

Splash—!

Karus reached out too late, and Sugar Cube No. 5, failing its emergency landing, crashed into the eternal snows and met its end.

“…….”

“…….”

A heavy silence filled the drawing room.

Lianus rolled his eyes and quietly spoke up.

“Nil, are you okay…?”

The remains of Sugar Cube No. 5, which had barely clung to Nihil’s long, pale lashes, dropped off with a blink.