Cui Ciyou did his best to maintain the same calm expression he always wore.
But only he knew how violently his emotions churned beneath that placid exterior.
They said a man whose heart thundered while his face remained as still as a lake was fit to command an army.
Now, Cui Ciyou understood that saying all too well.
I didn't ask you to stay... didn't ask you to stay so you could work yourself this hard!
"Actually..."
Cui Ciyou accepted the thick notebook. Looking at the unmistakable exhaustion in Roxy's eyes, he carefully considered his words before speaking.
"Miss Roxy, you really don't have to go this far..."
"What I mean is, I don't want my studies to interfere too much with your rest."
Meeting Roxy's slightly surprised gaze, Cui Ciyou unconsciously turned his head aside, avoiding direct eye contact.
He continued in a tone that sounded rather at odds with his true feelings.
"And I'm... I'm actually not that smart. Especially when it comes to learning languages. I might not have much talent for it."
"So I might learn very, very slowly."
"That's why you really don't need to work so hard writing study materials for me every day. We can... take our time. There's no rush."
Even Cui Ciyou himself could hardly believe such a clumsy lie.
After all, when he had first crossed into this world and encountered Carl's caravan-
Cui Ciyou had taken only three months to acquire a basic command of spoken Human Common Tongue, demonstrating an astonishing gift for languages.
He had even learned quite a few commonly used characters in Human Common Tongue with nothing but a sand tray, despite having neither paper nor books.
Roxy froze for a moment at his words.
She watched Cui Ciyou quietly, a clear flicker of surprise