“Look, if you put the words together….”
I quickly combined the word cards: cat, moose, sail, apple... to form words.
“If we do that, Cesar's name will come out.”
But he still didn't care, just looked down at the ground, shuffling the cards.
“Isn't that nice?”
But I did not give up. Pick up the set of cards again, this time combine the words squid, lemon, bird's nest, egg... into words.
"This is Irenea. It's my name."
Looking at Cesar, I realized he was more focused than before. Even though he didn't react when it came to his name, he now paid attention to my name.
And something even more unexpected happened: Cesar used his index finger to pick out a few cards.
"Lace."
With just three cards, he matched my nickname. I couldn't help but be surprised.
“Eh, how do you know?”
The feeling of surprise gradually turned into joy and happiness, my heart was pounding.
“That's great, is there anything else you can do?”
He began to add a few other words: girl, beautiful, wedding, cake... and even created complete sentences. I have to admit: I underestimated Cesar.
“Ah, so you're bored because it's too easy, right?”
But the educational path is like climbing a high and dangerous mountain. Just knowing a few words doesn't necessarily mean you can apply them right away.
“Then let's continue making progress.”
This time I decided to teach handwriting. Taking the textbook as a model, I took the brush and slid it across the paper, writing each word clearly.
Then give Cesar an iron pen and a wax board, tools for children just learning to read: when using the pen to engrave on wax, the words will be printed on the board, which can be erased and reused many times.
He observed, sighed and then imitated writing. It was awkward at first, but quickly became proficient.
“Wow.”
I could only exclaim in surprise. He is truly proficient, not at all like someone who is meeting him for the first time.
“Want to try it on real paper?”
I gave him the pen.
“Hold the pen like this, tilt the pen a little so the ink doesn't splash…”
I placed my hand on Cesar's right hand. Warm feeling. Our hands raised together, the pen touched the paper, curled and the words appeared.
“It's great…”
Even though it had been a long time since he had picked up a pen, he wrote very firmly, his writing was fast and elegant, worthy of being a model for the textbook.
Looking at the results, my heart was both choked and emotional. That majestic handwriting... made my heart ache.
I suddenly realized the traces of education in each handwriting. That's right, Cesar is a prince and has certainly received a formal education since childhood. Not only learning royal power but also many other things.
Even though his intelligence is now blurred by the curse, traces of his childhood education are still intact in his soul.
It was as if I had just glimpsed a completely different Cesar, one I had never known before, and the feeling of the distance between us suddenly growing wider made me shiver.
With just one stroke, I realized: Cesar, who seemed to be just a cursed prince, was actually a truly noble prince.
This makes my heart ache even more. I realized that he should not be treated so poorly. Perhaps I also unconsciously despised him.
But Cesar was still the next prince in this empire, and that fact never changed.
“Cesar.”
I couldn't hold back and hugged him. Cesar just smiled, his eyes clear, not understanding what was going on.
In my heart, a determination blossomed: no matter what happens, I will find a way to be recognized by the Queen. As long as Cesar feels more secure, I will do anything.
And a question suddenly appeared:
“What exactly is the curse?”
“Curse?”
Cesar raised his head from my lap, his back slightly arched, his fingers deformed like reptiles appeared. Too strange to be considered just a strange disease.
What a scary one-word curse. An evil act that wishes misfortune on others. Although rare, for Cesar, calling it a curse is not wrong.
Ordinary people probably never think about this. What's more, a noble prince must suffer a curse. Who could have imagined such evil?
“Curse of the Mad Dragon…”
Before marrying Cesar, I only vaguely felt that the situation was too sudden and unclear.
So I haven't had time to think about why Cesar was cursed, what the nature of the curse is, or how it works.
We only know that the curse was placed on the Asetria royal family by a crazy dragon who wanted to destroy the world hundreds of years ago.
It is the legend of the Dragon Tiegrosh rising, and the First Emperor, Arcanzel, defeating it. The poisonous dragon could not win, so he passed on the curse.
It is said that the curse was passed down through many generations of the royal family. However, I just consider it an old story.
“That evil dragon died hundreds of years ago.”
If Cesar was the one who cut the dragon, it would be understandable, but it's not. Everything happened before he was born. Thinking about the hatred lasting hundreds of years feels strange.
That dragon is really bad to the point of being annoying. It would be better for Cesar to make a mistake than to be pitiful, over here...
“Is that curse because of such terrible hatred that it still lasts until now?”
Actually, no one knows if dragons really exist. I've never seen anyone witness a dragon.
The story is just a founding legend, which is often exaggerated. The first emperor, dragons, and what have to do with each other... are just legends.
“The nasty dragon.”
I couldn't help but scold Dragon Tiegrosh. Truly worthy of the name of the poisonous dragon, holding grudges for hundreds of years. More stubborn than an iron chain, certainly difficult to swallow, like a stubborn villain.
"EH?"
When I grumbled, Cesar worriedly pulled my sleeve. That childish action made my heart ache.
“No, it's okay.”
I smiled, stroked his hair, then took the comic book prepared by Delfina.
This is a book that every child in the empire has read, perhaps Cesar also knows.
“I will read it to you, then you can read along.”
"YES."
Listening to me read, Cesar showed great interest. Seeing that, I found it cute, so I burst out laughing. The book I chose is
Ugly duck
, the illustrations are very cute, very suitable for Cesar.
I cleared my throat and opened the book.
“Once upon a time, there was a pair of ducks living happily by the lake…”
“Once upon a time?”
“I mean a long time ago.”
A time long ago, like the time when the Mad Dragon was rampant. Anyway, back to the story.
"They gave birth to many eggs through love. One particularly large and ugly egg worried the duck couple, but they still raised it carefully, thinking it was just a bigger egg than usual."
"Egg?"
“Yes, it is the result of love.”
“The result of love…”