“Otōshama, I want to read that!”

“Which one?”

Aria-chan and I sit neatly on chairs we can’t even reach properly, leaving everything to our fathers and pointing to what we want.

And the one I point to is—“Let’s see… The History of the Paunrondo Kingdom? Are you sure about this?”

“That one!”

This is probably the history of this country, right?

I didn’t like history class at school, but I ended up choosing it because I wanted to at least take a peek.

“Hahaha! What a diligent child, how wonderful! You’ll learn history eventually. Aria, you should read it together too.”

“Yes! I’ll read it with Hikari-chan and my father!”

I wonder where Aria-chan’s desire to teach letters went.

It looks like we’re completely shifting into reading mode.

My father places the book in front of us and opens a page.

“Paunrondo… Otōsama, how do you read this?”

“It’s the ‘History’ of the Paunrondo ‘Kingdom’.”

“That’s hard…”

Aria-chan frowns slightly and groans.

“Otōshama, what about this?”

I point to letters I should be able to read and look at my father.

“This?”

“This is the name of the first king.”

“How do you read it?”

I try to read it myself too, but what is this strange feeling?

“It’s read as King Rondo. And this one is Queen Paun.”

“So, did those two create the country?”

“That’s right! Hikari, you’re so smart!”

“Hikari-chan is amazing!”

“Hehe!”

I understood that part easily, but what is this… why can’t I read this?

“Aria-chan, what about this?”

“This is, um… Paunrondo’s… history?”

“That’s correct, Aria! You’re amazing!”

Even though she’s unsure, she recalls the words she learned and what she just heard, and arrives at the answer.

And her father praises her excessively.

“Aria-chan is amazing!”

“Hehe!”

And at the same time, I finally realize the source of this strange feeling.

Because I have memories from my previous life, I can understand what’s being said, but my brain in this life hasn’t learned the characters yet, so I can’t read them.

Even though it should be the same Japanese, I couldn’t read “Paunrondo Kingdom”.

“Otōshama, I want to be able to read! I want to read with Aria-chan!”

“Hikari-chan…”

“That’s true. It’s a year early, but should we hire a tutor?”

“Yay!”

It feels like if I say it out loud, all my wishes might come true, but for now, securing a tutor!

I hated studying in my previous life, but now I can’t wait.

I don’t even feel discouraged about ‘not being able to read what I once could’.

This is the curiosity of a four-year-old.

I wish I could give this motivation to my high school self.

After that, with the help of Aria-chan and our two fathers, we slowly read about five pages of “The History of the Paunrondo Kingdom”.

It looks like it’ll still take quite a while before I properly learn about this world.

* * *

“Thank you very much for today!”

“Thank you very much!”

Aria-chan and I complete our imitation greeting.

“Duke, thank you for today! It was a very enjoyable time!”

“No, the pleasure is mine, Count! I was able to spend time leisurely with my daughter for the first time in a while! Please do come visit our home next time.”

“Are you sure!?”

“Of course! You’re most welcome!”

'Wow… I’ve never seen father smile like that before.'

It’s different from the affectionate look he gives me and mother, it’s the look of someone who has found a good friend.

“Otōsama is smiling!”

“That’s right. It’s thanks to the Count, Aria, and Hikari-chan.”

The duke kneels on one knee in front of me and gently takes my hand.

“Thank you for today, Lady Hikari. Thanks to you, I had a very meaningful time.”

“Meaningful? Does that mean it was fun?”

“You are very clever. That’s exactly right.”

“I’m glad!”

The duke shows the kindest smile of the day.

This person is definitely a good husband.

“Alright Aria, shall we buy a souvenir for your mother on the way back?”

“Yes! We’ll make mother happy!”

“Let’s do that! Well then, Count, we’ll take our leave here.”

“Please do visit again. Myuze, our important guests are leaving. See them off.”

“Understood.”

“Bye-bye, Hikari-chan!”

“Yeah! Bye-bye!”

We wave to each other, and they leave the room guided by Myuze.

“Otōshama.”

“What is it, Hikari?”

“It was really fun!”

“I see, it was for me too.”

And just like that, my time with Aria Cellite, the duke’s daughter, came to an end.