Still, the reason he couldn’t write was because this world’s language boasted a level of difficulty akin to absolute hell, not because he was simply stupid.
While he was reminiscing fondly about King Sejong the Great, who created the Korean alphabet, Callix stepped up and volunteered to tutor his younger brother personally.
Shushu wasn’t the only one who found it unexpected. Even the Duke couldn’t hide his astonishment, letting out a “You?”
“We’ve been separated for a long time, so we haven’t had the chance to get close. I want to use this opportunity to grow closer.”
“Ah, go right ahead.”
Once the meal concluded, the Duke departed for his office to receive reports on castle affairs that had been neglected for a long time.
Having nothing to do and feeling drowsy from eating his fill, Shushu decided to take a nap.
However, Callix trotted along right behind him.
Wondering if they happened to be heading in the same direction, Shushu stopped in his walking to let him pass first.
Callix stopped right alongside him, as if to prove his previous thought wasn’t a misunderstanding.
“Why are we goin’ to-gether?” (Baby talk)
“Didn’t I say I was going to teach you how to speak?”
“Now it’s time for nappy-time.” (Baby talk)
Shushu crossed both hands and mimed using a pillow.
Callix looked down at Shushu with a fascinated expression.
“You just woke up, and you’re sleepy already?”
Gazing down at him quietly, Callix said, “Alright, then let’s meet after you take a nap,” and walked away.
Returning to his bedroom alone, Shushu climbed onto the bed and pulled the blanket all the way up to his chest.
Only when morning arrived did the closet door swing open.
A rich scent of soap wafted from his exhausted mother.
Shushu wrapped both arms around her in a tight hug.
[It was stifling, wasn’t it?]
[No, Shushu slept like a log.]
Her expression, which normally should have looked weary and sorrowful, was unusually bright.
His mother dressed Shushu tightly in a warm coat.
[Let’s go pick wild berries.]
Even though his stomach had been rumbling with hunger all through dawn, Shushu didn’t have the energy to climb a mountain, but wanting to earn money even a little faster, he followed along after his mother.
However, his mother gathered up a money pouch she had buried beneath a tree and headed toward a restaurant.
Tilting his head at a schedule different from usual—yet welcoming it since he was hungry—Shushu went along.
As always, Shushu picked the cheapest potato soup from the menu.
Instead of the 1-shilling potato soup Shushu picked, his mother ordered two servings of mushroom soup, which was 2 shillings more expensive.
The waiter, who had been looking at them with eyes that seemed to ask if those beggar rats were back again, asked with a smile.
[Is there anything else you need?]
[……Please bring bread too. For two people.]
Anxious because of his mother suddenly spending money so lavishly, Shushu jumped up and blocked the path of the waiter heading toward the kitchen.
[No!]
[Sweetheart, what did you say?]
[Cancel! Cancel it! Not eatin’.]
His mother pulled Shushu away from the waiter and scooped him up into her arms.
[I’m sorry. Please bring the food.]
[No! No!]
[Shushu, it’s alright. Even after eating this, we can still buy our house.]
Honestly, Shushu had thought his mother was going to feed him his fill and then abandon him.
Yet she was saying they had finally saved enough money to buy a house.
Could you really make that much money overnight?
He felt dubious, but her expression remained bright.
Terrified of being abandoned, Shushu obediently returned to his table and waited with fluttering anticipation for the food to arrive.
Warm mushroom soup and bread were served.
Whereas he usually ate only a little because he wanted to save food for his mother, this time Shushu wolfed down a whole bowl of soup and even devoured a loaf of bread the size of his own face.
Realizing only then that the child had been holding back for her sake, his mother’s eyes grew red and watery.
[Yawn~.]
Filled to the brim, Shushu yawned.
He couldn’t remember the last time he felt this full.
Because he had spent all dawn hungry, anxious, and terrified without sleeping properly, sleepiness washed over him in a massive wave now that his stomach was full.
Even the warm glow of the restaurant’s fireplace beckoned to Shushu, telling him to hurry up and sleep.
As Shushu nodded off in sleep, his mother scooped him up into her arms.
Snug and cozy, he drifted off to sleep cradled against her.
Shushu decided that even if he woke up to find himself abandoned once again, he wouldn’t resent his mother.
After all, she had endured far more hardship than she ever should have because of him.
Yet when he opened his eyes again, contrary to his expectations, Shushu found himself resting with his head pillowed on his mother’s lap.
Every time the carriage wheels rolled, the carriage bounced repeatedly, jolting over small pebbles.
Checking the people inside the carriage, Shushu hid his face against his mother’s chest.
[Did you sleep well?]
[Where are we going, Mom?]
[We’re going to a good place.]
Overwhelmed with emotion, Shushu’s heart swelled with the realization that he had finally escaped alongside his mother.
Though the Gems were pushed around by Kevin’s tyranny, none of them ever thought of escaping from that place.
After all, having nowhere to stay in the freezing North meant freezing to death on the streets before long.
Hence, penniless as they were, they couldn’t easily run away, and Kevin also permitted the Gems to go out to a certain extent anyway.
Where else could you possibly go anyway? that was his attitude.
Yet his mother had relentlessly scraped together money in that hellish place and ultimately pulled off an escape.
It must have been terribly difficult for a lone woman traveling with a child, and the fact that she hadn’t abandoned him made him profoundly grateful.
Shushu hugged his mother tight.
[Love you, Mom.]
[Mom loves Shushu too.]
As Shushu smiled, closing his eyes at his mother’s soft touch as she stroked his hair, a woman sitting in the same carriage looked over at him with an expression that screamed she found Shushu’s cuteness unbearable.
[The baby is so adorable. How old are you?]
[Shushu is sheven.] (Seven)
Fearing that his inaccurate pronunciation might mean he wouldn’t be understood, he held out all seven of his fingers.
The middle-aged woman handed Shushu a piece of bread.
[Little one, would you like to eat this?]
[Thang you.] (Thank you)
A grandmother watching them also encouraged Shushu, offering him a boiled potato wrapped in cloth.
Shushu took only the tiniest nibble of it and told his mother that he was full.
The passengers watching the scene couldn’t praise him enough, remarking how wonderfully well-behaved the child was.
[Baby’s mom, eat some of this. Aren’t you hungry?]
[Thank you.]
Seeing his mother accept the potato, Shushu finally opened his mouth wide and took a giant bite, going ‘Nom-nom!’
True to the saying that hunger is the best side dish, a bland-tasting potato had never tasted so magnificent.
The carriage finally came to a stop upon arriving at the village.
Cramped and uncomfortable after sitting hunched over inside the crude carriage, the passengers straightened their backs and stepped out.
Shushu waved goodbye to the passengers who had shown him kindness.
[Byebye.]
His mother switched to another carriage heading toward a new village, repeating the process by changing carriages yet again.
