Please Be A Traitor - Chapter 51

I explained to Thalia what I had heard from the Empress at Clara’s debutante banquet.

The story of Duke Ceres’s daughter, who was betrothed to the former Marquis Zelude, and the present Marchioness Zelude.

Because I didn’t know much, it didn’t take long for me to explain everything.

Thalia sat quietly listening to my story till the end. Then, after the story was through, she just laughed hopelessly.

“Thanks for informing me. I suppose it’s a story that can’t be conveyed lightly.”

“Well, that’s right.”

Thalia was already aware that her mother had been abandoned by her lover.

And she learned from the story I just told her that her mother was abandoned not only by her lover, but also by her family.

“I think that’s why my aunt always addressed my mother ‘Lady’ when she was anxious. Now that I think about it, it was quite unusual.”

As expected, her aunt must be a maid of Duke Ceres’ family who accompanied Lady Ceres.

“Please accept my apologies. I guess this kind of story is just too heavy to discuss over breakfast.”

“No, Ina-nim, not at all. I just can’t believe that my mother was a lady from a duke family……”

Talia gazed at me with a slight tilt of her head.

Maybe she was comparing me to her mother. But what is there to compare? I haven’t grown up yet.

Thalia looked to be at a loss for what to compare, so she shook her head and attempted to change the conversation.

“By the way, thank you for the books you sent me, Ina-nim. I enjoyed them.”

“Did you request it in order to prepare for the class?”

“Yes. I wasn’t sure I could teach because I had never encountered ancient language again while working as a maid. But even if I start the lesson right immediately, I don’t think I’ll have any problem with the Empire language.”

“Then I will introduce you at the tea party on saturday.”

“How great is the person I’m teaching?”

“I have Shabelle’s invitation, which I will show you later. And I requested that my father invite Marquis Zelude to the mansion. But the priest advised I should prioritize your recovery, so what do you think?”

“Ah…… whatever you believe is best for me, I will accept it all.” Nonetheless, given my physical condition, I don’t believe it’s essential to postpone it. I mean, I may merely say a few words to him.”

“Is that so? Then I will let you know when the date is set.”

“Yes.”

I walked to my study room after sending the letter Shabelle had written to Thalia.

Because I had previously made Salik wait a long time, I intended to go first this time and prepare the tea.

In the meantime, the outlook inside of the study room had changed a little.

First and foremost, the desk grew in size to the point that I could climb and sleep on it.

On one side, there was a large white board.

We could write something on that whiteboard with a crayon-like magic pen in a variety of colors. And it could be easily removed by brushing our hands over it.

I was already aware of the invention since I used to write down schedules and menus like a pop art sign board during the tea party I hosted.

I’ve heard that many people use the whiteboard extensively when taking classes together. However, because I take lessons on my own, I had never used it in class before.

Even if Karpel were present, I would be the only one paying attention to the classes, so I didn’t understand why the whiteboard was placed here today.

At the lesson I took last time, I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all at having no whiteboard.

‘Why did they put that whiteboard in this study room?’

I was looking around the study area aimlessly when I heard a soft knock behind my back.

I then looked back casually, but I was surprised.

Because there stood a man in a birch-colored robe that was properly wrapped all the way to the top of his head.

The appearance looked as if a log was standing still.

“Uh……? Sa-salik-nim?”

“Greetings, Lady Inaila.”

“Yes, Salik-nim, welcome.”

Despite accepting my welcome, Salik did not remove his robe or make eye contact with me.

I felt he was acting awkwardly, even within the study room, which he should be familiar with, so I asked him.

“Is that customary attire for forest elves?”

“…… this is not customary attire for elves, but it may nevertheless create such an impression.”

His response to my query was very peculiar.

I chose not to press him more because it appeared like he was experiencing troubles answering me.

“Aren’t you stuffy, Salik-nim?”

“Everything is fine.”

Was he implying he should wear it even though he was feeling stuffy?

As I scanned for Salik’s pretty face under his robe, I was startled to hear a harsh voice.

“Aren’t you going in?”

It was Karpel.

He first glanced at Salik then went into the study room with a satisfied look on his face. I also went in and sat down, greeting Karpel.

“Hello Karpel. Good morning.”

Karpel gave me a grimace and turned his head away.

I had already told Karpel that Krenberia was also the Emperor’s target so it was no use for him to try to push me away, but the way Karpel treated me was no different than before.

I wasn’t sure if he was still acting this way because he was still sorting his thoughts or because he was looking for confirmation that the Emperor was after Krenberia.

And there’s no way I could know that after organizing his thoughts, he decided to keep his distance from me.

I believed that Karpel did not despise me.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized I must have seen something wrong that day.

I was gazing at him intently when he returned my gaze.

“What?”

Then, as if to evade his gaze, I hastily turned my head to face Salik.

‘Still, I don’t believe it’s wise to avoid him in this way.’

As I pondered, I returned my gaze to Karpel and spoke to him.

“Do not frown excessively. You’ll grow wrinkles on your forehead faster this way.”

“……”

“Do you want to be a grandpa quickly?”

Karpel let out a heavy breath and turned to face Salik.

“Won’t you start the lesson?”

“…… I’ll start the lesson.”

‘Wh… why is he pressuring the teacher? It’s not like he would listen to the lesson……’

It was cheating to summon the teacher when our conversation hadn’t even finished.

Still, I had no option but to listen to the lessons, so I concentrated my focus on Salik.

Salik was standing near the whiteboard, far away from me.

Salik then took out the magical pen. His hands emerged from the robe, wrapped in white gloves, and opened the book.

‘Hold on… gloves……?’

As I looked at his hands wrapped by the gloves reminded me of the incident where I almost grabbed his hand by mistake last time.

Perhaps that’s why Salik came with that type of outfit wrapped around his body.

‘Did he come here like that because he was terrified I’d touch his hand? But he was the one who started flirting with me!’

I felt betrayed.

Salik coughed as he scrawled letters on the whiteboard, as if he noticed my unfair gaze.

There’s no need for me to teach you basic elf language because Inaila understands it well. So, starting today, I’ll teach you the phrases derived from the plant language that Inaila is interested in.”

One of Salik’s letters was so beautiful that it looked like a painting.

” This one is spelled Rapanu. It refers to a kind of grass with long leaves.”

Perhaps since I’d read about the plant in the book, Salik’s illustration felt familiar.

The leaves are said to be edible, but the roots are spicy. That was the description I remembered most vividly.

“The roots of Rapanu from Elysium are generally red. This is how it is written. This character represents the root. Rapanu varieties are often written with a lengthy character for the leaves followed by a character for the root, which can be bulb roots or fine roots. And the root character can be interpreted as saroot, aroot, or just root. As a result, it is read and written as rapanoot when combined with the character for rapanu and the root.”

Salik made notes on the plant’s derivative terms and pronunciations in the Imperial language as he drew the illustration.

Salik was an excellent illustrator, probably due to his years of expertise.

In addition, Rapanu is a plant with several stems raised from one root and one leaf attached to one stem, which felt familiar to me no matter how much I looked at it.

“This kind of Rapanu, which grows in the south, has white roots and resembles……”

I sprang out of my seat and pointed my finger at the illustration that Salik had drawn.

“Radish! That’s a radish!”

The plant was a radish.

The radish that tastes great whether seasoned, pickled, or just boiled down.

The radish which is rich in leaves.

I didn’t realize the plant was radish since the root depicted in the book was slightly different, looking like baby radish. However, after seeing Salik’s illustration, I was certain that the plant was radish.

As described in the book, raw radish indeed tastes a little spicy and pungent.

I haven’t had a taste of radish since I was reborn. But, because radish has a distinct flavor, I could never forget it.

“Where does that grow?”

The taste varies depending on the variety of radish, but I am desperate for the taste and am willing to try them all.

Even with only radish, there were endless recipes for wonderful dishes that could be made, such as radish salad, radish side dish, radish kimchi, braised radish, or even radish noodles.

“There is no location that grows rapanu as an agricultural commodity. But I’ve seen villagers in the south harvesting wild rapanu and cooking it for meals.”

“Ooohhh!”

“There are also many different types of rapanu that grow in Elysium, however most of them have little roots.”

It was evident from what Salik illustrated this time that what grows in Elysium also radishes.

Salik stated that even if the rapanu grows big, the root is just the size of two fingers. It appeared that growth was restricted since the land of Elysium is barren or had little nutrients.

“Don’t the elves in Elysium eat radish?”

“Some of us harvest wild rapanu and eat it like salad. But it was not a popular dish in Elysium.”

“What exactly do the elves of Elysium eat? I don’t believe there are many fruit trees in Elysium.”

“We’ve been eating acorns and chestnuts as staples since ancient times.”

I thought they’d only eat grass, but acorns and chestnuts…

“Are you eating acorns the way they are?”

“We steamed it and ate it with a powder.”

Is it the same sense as when you eat rice cake?

People in the Empire never eat acorns.

In my previous life, acorns tasted bitter and pungent, and they were fruits which squirrels ate.

Acorns, on the other hand, were edible for humans after being soaked in water in order to remove the bitter and pungent flavors.

Acorns may also be edible after being dried and converted to starch. If the acorn starch strained and boiled, it would make acorn jelly.

I remembered the acorn jelly tasting chewy with sauces on top.

“Do you also eat acorn jelly?”

“What exactly is acorn jelly?”

Acorn jelly is, as the name implies, jelly made from acorns.

But it seems that Salik was unaware of this.

How do I explain it to him?

“Uhm…… like acorn pudding?”

“Can you make pudding from acorns?”

Salik sounded bewildered, as if he could never imagine pudding made from acorns.

Well, acorn jelly and acorn pudding seemed to be different, but I couldn’t think of another way to explain it.

“Well, I could make it but…… the flavor wouldn’t be sweet. Anyway, I thought Elysium was a mountainous land. Don’t you eat anything else, such as leaves, buds, or even flowers?”