Episode 14. Writing Study (2)

Our daughter Monica was still pretty smart.

“Keung…”

Unlike her, Edward was struggling with a picture book in front of Vera. I taught him how to write ‘Edward’, but I couldn’t tell if he was writing or drawing…

“Kkul…”

Now he’s just nodding off.

“Wake up, Edward-haksaeng.”

“…Eum. Ah. I’m sorry.”

In Vera’s memory, this book was a textbook Monica used when she was ten. Judging by the way he speaks, he doesn’t seem stupid, but why can’t he concentrate?

“You seem too tired. Shall we stop here for now?”

At the words signaling the end of the lesson, Edward’s eyes changed. It seemed like all the remaining drowsiness had vanished. As if afraid the words would change, Edward quickly greeted her and left the room. Seeing how quick he was, he must have really hated studying.

“What should I do…”

Vera pondered over the new task she had after a long time. What could she do to get Edward to concentrate on studying? Monica was easy to teach because she was smart, so she would have to come up with a new method to teach someone like Edward.

‘For concentration, there needs to be a goal and a reward…’

That evening, Vera and I were having a simple dinner in the dining room.

“Edward-gyeong, what do you have in your room?”

“My room, you say?”

Why that all of a sudden while eating? What was in there…

“A bed, a candlestick, a wardrobe…”

“Is there anything special besides that?”

“Um, nothing really comes to mind.”

I haven’t even used that room for very long in the first place. I’ve spent more nights outside on expeditions than in that room. And the room I used before the regression is completely different.

“Then it would be better for me to go see for myself. Can I go take a look after dinner?”

“Yes, but what for…”

“I’ll tell you when we get there.”

Vera and I quickly finished dinner and went up to my room. Vera was holding a small notebook and a pen in her hand. More studying?

Vera looked around my room, quickly writing something in her notebook. There was so much to write, the notebook flipped quickly. Then she put down the pen and started tearing pages from the notebook, placing the papers here and there in my room. Is this that thing?

“Okay, now it will be much easier to learn.”

“Are these the talismans that witches write?”

“It’s not that.”

Seeing the letters already attacking my head everywhere, it must be a curse talisman.

“Writing is ultimately easier to learn by writing and seeing it a lot. If you write words on everything you see like this…”

Vera took out another piece of paper, wrote something on it, and pinned it to the front of her chest. I feel like she could just leave it there without a pin.

“What does that say?”

“My name. It says ‘Vera’.”

“Oho.”

I roughly get it. So the paper on the bed says ‘bed’, and the paper on the book says ‘book’.

“I’ve written the names on noticeable objects. This way, it’s easy to know how to pronounce and write them, right?”

“Ah, I’m tired…”

“I know you took a shower and napped before dinner.”

It’s true that if I keep looking at it like this, I’ll naturally remember it. I’ll take it slow.

“And since you’ll probably just sleep if I tell you to memorize it, I’ll give you a reward if you memorize everything.”

“A reward?”

Now we’re talking.

“Do you like snacks?”

Vera took out a cookie from the cookie jar. Ugh, there are too many raisins in it.

“No, I don’t really like raisins…”

Odok-

“It’s delicious… Should we do something else then?”

“How about granting a wish?”

“A wish? Isn’t that too big?”

“Hey, would I ask for something that unreasonable? And it’s not like you have to grant it. You can listen and grant it if you think it’s doable.”

“…Nothing lewd. And you have to memorize it tonight to get it granted.”

No matter what, I’m going to do it tonight.

“No way…”

Judging by what he was doing earlier, it didn’t seem possible to do it tonight. But when a reward was on the line, Edward started memorizing words at a terrifying speed. It only took thirty minutes to memorize twenty words. The test was conducted by collecting and shuffling the papers, then randomly picking one to ask a question, and Edward succeeded in reading them all without missing a single one.

“Were you deliberately not memorizing them hard enough?”

“Hey, no. I’m just working harder now.”

Vera felt like she had been completely fooled by Edward. If she had known, she would have given him a lot more problems.

“But I made a promise to the student, so I have to keep it… What’s your wish?”

Vera’s mind became complicated. What is a wish? He must have brought it up because he wanted something. Money? Power? If he wanted those things, he would have told Monica, not her.

‘Or is he going to make me do something lewd again?’

I told him nothing lewd, but Vera thought that Edward, who was stubborn, might still ask for it. Vera’s thoughts became more certain as she thought that he must have built up his sexual desire from going on expeditions. What will he ask for? With his hands? With his chest like last time? Or will he ask to put it in…?

While Vera’s imagination was running wild, Edward got up from his seat. He smelled good as he slowly approached. A strange smell mixed with body odor and herbs. As Edward put his arm on the chair, trapping her, Vera couldn’t help but ask in a trembling voice.

“Wh, what kind of reward do you want?”

“Vera. Kiss me.”

“A kiss?”

It felt a little anticlimactic. She had done so much more than that, so she thought he would ask for something more direct, but just a kiss. Vera felt that her head, which had been so heated, had cooled down a little.

“I said nothing lewd.”

“What’s lewd about a kiss?”

“It’s lewd. And since when do you call your teacher by their name? Quickly tell me your wish properly.”

“Teacher. Please kiss me.”

“What’s not allowed is not allowed. If you don’t change your wish, there will be no wish.”

“Ah, I understand, Teacher.”

Edward fell into thought. After a short silence, the words that came out of Edward’s mouth were very unexpected for Vera.

“Teacher. Can I postpone making a wish?”

“Not now?”

Like a horse with food dangling in front of its head, Edward’s abilities increased dramatically when a reward was given. He’s going to postpone the reward that is the driving force himself?

“I feel like I can study well right now, wouldn’t it be a shame if the momentum was broken while asking for a wish to be granted?”

“Hmm…”

Vera didn’t think Edward was the type to sit still for long. It’s best to help him by taking breaks regularly and studying in between.

“Are you protesting because I didn’t give you a kiss just now?”

“That’s not the reason. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have that in mind, though.”

“Okay. If the student is going to study hard on their own, the teacher shouldn’t stop them. Then I should increase the reward as the difficulty increases, right? I’ll think about granting an even bigger wish if you study without resting.”

At the words that she would increase the size of the wish, Edward silently began to study hard. How big of a wish does he want to ask for that he’s memorizing so hard? Vera, who had expected him to get tired and give up after memorizing a reasonable amount, began to feel uneasy as Edward memorized two or three more sets of words.

How big of a request is he going to make?

‘Could it be that he wants my body this time?’

Edward and Vera had only repeated sexual acts without penetration so far. And since the last time was before the expedition, if he hadn’t taken care of it himself, his sexual desire would have built up again and he would have asked Vera to take care of it. He might want to have a definite relationship by making a wish to relieve his sexual desire. She had said that lewd things were absolutely not allowed, but didn’t he shamelessly ask for a kiss just now?

But could she resolutely reject Edward? Because of the nights she had spent alone during the expedition, Vera couldn’t answer that question confidently. When she thought about whether she could cut off the young man who was so eager with the sole intention of taking her body, the thought that he had studied so hard, so this much was okay, popped up in one corner of her heart.

In Vera’s eyes, who was having all sorts of thoughts, she saw Edward, who had been stuck in one place for several minutes and couldn’t continue studying.

“That’s it~”

“Ah…”

Edward showed a hint of regret.

“Rest is also part of studying. Doesn’t your head feel like it’s about to break right now?”

“It’s a little like that.”

“It’s because you studied too hard without resting.”

“But the wish…”

“I’ll grant you most things even if you make it now. Don’t worry.”

It has already been proven that he has studied hard to the limit.

“It’s not just most things.”

“Still, you have to tell me what it is to know. Tell me quickly.”

“Th, can’t you cancel the marriage with Monica?”