Dry Drowning

Chapter 23

They couldn’t even think of stopping him because it happened in an instant, or maybe they didn’t even think of that, but anyway, everyone looked at Ian with surprise. It was unbelievable that he suddenly grabbed Kyle’s hair while sitting gracefully with his back straight.

Even the person caught by the hair blinked puzzledly at the strength that was transmitted through his scalp!

He screamed and opened his mouth.

“What is this? Prince, do you want to play with me?”

Looking at the way he spoke, it was a nuance to grab each other’s hair and have a dog fight. Compared to Kyle, Ian, who had long hair, was at a much more disadvantage. However, the threat did not work, and Kyle did not reach out to Ian’s hair.

“Okay, okay. Don’t touch it please? My prince doesn’t even know what he’s thinking, it’s all my fault. I know. Argh. It really hurts.”

Instead, he raised both hands as if admitting his mistakes. Squinting at Kyle, who was in a surrendered posture, Ian slowly relaxed the strength in his hand which was holding Kyle’s hair. Instead of hitting the chin, Ian chose a little less violent method, which seemed to work more.

Kyle, who ghostly noticed that Ian had lost his strength, quickly stepped back. Several strands of purple hair fell to the floor.

“I thought I was going to go bald!”

Only this much does not make the entire scalp clean. Ian, who shook his hand off, did not pretend to have heard it, but turned his body forward and even heard a cry.

How can you do this to me? Where did the friendship we’ve built over the past few weeks go? *

[*T/N: Kyle is saying this while so called crying.]

It seemed that his brain was pulled out along with his hair.

“…….”

There was a moment of silence in the room.

Schwartz had an expression that seemed like he didn’t know whether to praise or criticize, while Claude was speechless at Ian’s disrespectful behaviour.

Ailee, the only one to keep her composure, was lost in thoughts while looking alternatingly between Ian and Kyle. She thought it was nonsense, but she also thought maybe that this would be the best thing to do.

“Look, you’re so picky. Who else is going to do it besides me. What if you grab the other knights’ hair? I think I forgot for a moment when our prince killed three people*. Next time, I might pull out my own hair.”

[*T/N: Talking about that time when the assassins attacked.]

“…….”

Humans usually don’t have the grip strength to pull out their own hair.

To Kyle, who was talking nonsense with only one grab on his hair, Ian responded by keeping his mouth shut.

Ailee looked at Ian’s expression once more while that dog* kept on barking, smiled and opened her mouth.

[*T/N: Talking about Kyle (≧▽≦)]

“Then should I leave it to Kyle?”

“Ailee…”

“You can’t.”

“Actually, that makes sense, too. Who else in this mansion would treat Ian like that? Learning is a method of increasing efficiency only when appropriate kindness is accompanied.”

Ian didn’t know where Kyle’s favour was found. Ian frowned as if he had heard something strange, but the conversation continued regardless.

“The expedition has been set in a month, so we’ll be busy again. It is inefficient for the general manager or vice-chief to make time separately. Rather than that, Kyle, who skips training like he eats rice, is better. You don’t even need fancy vocabulary.”

What Ian needed right away was a daily conversation. When she smiled brightly emphasizing that point, Schwartz and Claude seemed to have found nothing to refute.

Also, the one who has that high spirit cannot be tied up.*

[*T/N: Probably talking about Kyle.]

Ailee muttered to herself as she counted all the accidents Kyle has caused. It was that b*st*rd who caused the problem, but there was someone else who actually took care of it, so it was more convenient to lock him in the room for even a little bit.

Ailee stopped thinking if Ian could handle it, but now that she looked at it, it didn’t seem necessary.

Most of them tended to think of Ian as slender because they were deceived by his pale and fine appearance, but in fact, if it were to list the appearances seen so far, Ian never had a good personality.

“Then, it’s been decided, right?”

When Ailee, who finalised the matter by clapping her hands, asked, a shaky nod followed. Kyle, who had recovered his mood as if he had been pretending to cry, came to Ian’s side, raising the corners of his mouth.

“Hey, I always keep an eye on whoever I teach.”

Unexpectedly, Ian, who was in a position to really learn to write from Kyle, opened his mouth to refute something.

Unfortunately, however, he couldn’t speak.

F*ck

Contrary to Ian’s thought, whether he was serious or not, Ailee was really serious.

When Kyle arrived at the training ground the next day, he brought a paper full of letters that Ian had never seen before, and he was dragged to the table in the corner before he could even blink.

It was only after seeing Kyle’s action of pointing to the letters on the paper one by one with his fingertips that Ian realized what they were doing.

Do they really want me to learn from him? I thought it would be better to get tutoring from Ed.

“Listen to my pronunciation first.”

However, there was no option in the first place.

Soon after, Ian, who accepted that Kyle in front of him would not disappear even if he denied it, sighed and picked up the fountain pen lying there. It was natural that the knights’ attention was drawn to the beginner academy that was opened right next to the training ground.

“What are you doing?”

“Well…”

It was a table made for ornamental purposes in the corner of the training ground. The chairs were just for a break, but there was no crazy man who ran 30 laps and walked there gracefully to rest.

It was an even more bizarre combination because Ian was sitting in such a place and jotting down something, as well as Kyle, who was sitting in front of him.

What kind of accident is he going to make?*

[*T/N: The knights who are watching them is thinking this.]

The knights couldn’t dare to get close, so they just glanced away, but soon, the question was resolved by someone who peeped and saw that what Ian was writing poorly was Shetier’s basic spelling.

“He understands what we are saying, but he can’t write?”

Daniel muttered when he secretly heard the knights talking next to him, and Fred, who had not even glanced at him on purpose, laughed. As a matter of fact, the general returned, and everyone was in a state of high spirits. The general was not called out separately, but looking at the atmosphere around them, he must have understood everything.

If not, there was no reason to run 50 laps alone!

“Why is that b*st*rd teaching that? Yesterday, he went around cheaply saying something about our prince. What’s wrong with him?”

“I know. Did they find any weakness?”

He wouldn’t have been just being kind for no reason. They’ve seen Kyle by his side for a long time, so they knew Kyle’s personality better than anyone else. His hobby was to do what he wants to do and not do what he doesn’t want to. And to overturn others’ minds with jokes.

Nevertheless, the reason why his neck did not escape so far was purely because of his ability. He was the only human being who talked nonsense to the Archduke, but he handled one task neatly.

The number of people who died in that hand was well over three digits. Including everything, it might be close to four digits. There were rumors that he was a sadist who liked to see blood, but he giggled and didn’t even deny it so he was even more creepy.

“Hmm, is it hard? Do you want me to say it again?”

However, no matter what they say behind him, Kyle was only looking at Ian’s expression. Contrary to Ian’s expectation that he would teach roughly and only play tricks, he looked quite serious.

His voice was calmer than usual, pointing out one by one with the fingertips, telling the pronunciation, and explaining the basic word order. Even if Ian’s fountain pen hesitated a little, it repeated the ghostly confusing part.

“Oh, our prince is good at learning languages.”

Fortunately, the word order was similar to Korean.

Contrary to Ailee’s words which scared him, saying it was difficult for foreigners to learn, Ian was already familiar with this grammar. When Kyle, who generously praised Ian for understanding the explanation immediately, moved on to the next explanation, the rate of progress moved forward like flowing water.

The loud noises and gaze were felt explicitly, but Ian did not care about other people’s gazes. This was the place where Kyle negotiated due to Claude, who opposed learning to read in the room, saying he didn’t know what he was going to do.

They would have an expedition together and would meet again, so they had to remember each other’s faces, but Ian had no intention of being grateful.

Soon Schwartz and Claude entered the training ground, and morning training began only after glancing at Kyle and Ian in the corner.

“Sort! one!”

A spirit followed by a roar of cheers.

The training ground behind the mansion was huge to match the large site. Even just one lap was a bit far-fetched, but there was a good reason to make them run dozens of laps every day.

Even though the shouts heard from all over the place could have been distracting, Ian did not get distracted at all. Kyle, who had finished all the basic explanations, bent his lips.

“Did you understand up to here?”

It was a possible super-speed core summary lecture because all additional explanations such as etymology and history were omitted. Ian, who put down his fountain pen, nodded at Kyle’s explanation, which was a bit sheepish of the instructor for the first shot.

It wasn’t just an affirmation, it was true. Ian thought it would be easier to understand by giving examples step by step from the basics, and he looked at Kyle, who was smirking in front of him.

I didn’t trust him, but he’s pretty good.

“Then shall we memorize 500 words a day?”

….He isn’t.

[T/N: Now Ian thinks he isn’t good(≧▽≦)]

Memorize it yourself, you crazy b*st*rd.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ