Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Blankets, candlesticks, and ink as well as a pen.
Then what is this medicine box?
No one dared to step their feet into the library at night.
The knights had protected the place from outside, and there was even magic that prevented him from coming out.
“If his hand was burnt… He must have tried to get out.”
A few years ago, his Majesty’s whole body had burned out because of his other side at night.
He wasn’t sure if the Emperor was trying to kill himself or get out of the library.
And after that, His Majesty had to receive treatment for the whole day.
And he went back to the library….
Ever since then, the man had been quiet. He didn’t try to open the door again or try to kill himself.
But then he suddenly tried to open the door again after a few years had passed.
Using these meaningless things.
“Who the hell entered the library…?”
Right at that moment, the bathroom door opened as if the Emperor’s bath had come to an end.
The foggy steam began to waft through the door, and the Emperor came out with just a towel draped around his important part.
The Emperor’s black hair was dripping down to the floor.
Viester bowed his head deeply because he couldn’t bear to see the Emperor’s naked body.
There was a rustling sound, and the Emperor showed up after dressing himself properly. His hair was still left.
Due to the wetness, his hair that took the light of the chandelier was shining like the stars, his wide forehead and dark eyebrows which made him look aggressive.
If he were to include the Emperor’s pointed nose and red lips, even though Viester was a man, he stopped in his tracks.
“You have to dry your hair first.”
“No need.”
The Emperor shook his head in annoyance.
He took a big stride, as if he had something to do with the things found in the library.
His eyes landed on the things placed on the table. He carefully examined the shirt in particular.
It was his first time seeing this writing.
He thought that a different spirit might have entered was a total opposite with the fact that the handwriting looked so similar.
No, it looked exactly the same.
The Emperor rubbed his forehead in frustration as he looked at the shirt.
He wondered how he was supposed to solve the problem with this person?
The Emperor held up the pen after contemplating for a while. And this time, he wrote down his words on the paper, not on his shirt.
[Where did you get a pen?]
***
The other side of the Emperor opened his eyes slowly and sat on the sofa.
The weird feeling that always appeared whenever he opened his eyes, washed over him again.
At the same place and time. But there was something different.
There was a pen, ink, and next to them was a piece of paper which was placed neatly on the table.
[Where did you get a pen?]
“Ha…!”
Right after he read the words written on the paper, he bursted into laughter.
Was this all?
This is ridiculous. Just ridiculous.
They didn’t answer his question. The man slammed his hands against the table with all his strength out of anger.
The table was split in half, but the man’s anger didn’t stop there.
He was so irritated to the point that he went crazy.
He was wearing clean clothes, and his hands had returned to normal.
Did this person treat him again?
Did he do some sort of magic or something? Was that the reason why they were able to set up a shield at the library and treat him?
Numerous question marks flashed across the man’s head.
“Just why…?”
He was asking why they locked him up in this place.
The man shot a murderous look to his surroundings.
The man had grown up during ten years of being trapped in the library.
It wasn’t just his body.
His swordsmanship, which was awkward at first, has been improving significantly.
Maybe it would be enough to break the shield.
The man slowly picked up the paper that had fallen to the floor.
[Where did you get a pen?]
Were they looking for that woman?
Everything she left here last night had disappeared.
Maybe they took it along with them.
“Oh, no…..”
The man let out a groan, his mind was flooded with worry. She might be in danger because of him.
‘She might be in danger….’
He was locked up by the Emperor, so he could not ensure the woman’s life. Because he asked about the person who gave him a pen, he probably hasn’t found out about her just yet.
Looking around the cluttered library quickly, the man then headed straight for the window.
The night has come, so if he were to wait for a little bit, a woman would come.
He should tell her not to come to the library for a while.
‘I have to tell her when she comes here today.’
The man just waited unconditionally for her until he forgot what made him so upset.
“Hurry and come.”
The full moon rose above his head. It was already late at night, and he assumed that she might come much later than usual.
The man stared intently through the window to check the numbers of knights outside the wall were increasing today.
“D**n….”
Then it would be difficult for the woman to sneak in. If she happened to get caught while sneaking in….
The man paced around near the window while biting his nails, feeling impatient on his own.
And the time passed again.
The woman came really late. After an hour or two, the man’s mind was split into two thoughts.
The relief when knowing the woman was safe because she didn’t come, the fear that she might get involved in some sort of trouble, and next he was angry at the Emperor because he had already taken action about this.
And the last, a fear that she might have abandoned him.
Eventually, the woman didn’t come to the library that day.
***
Helen, who had been getting up late these few days, woke up in a hurry today.
‘I… I can’t sleep.’
She had been anxious ever since she saw his handwriting last night.
How could two different people have similar handwriting?
It was strange if he thought rationally about it. Each person has a distinctive handwriting. Obviously, it was different for everyone, but how could their handwriting resemble each other so much….
The man didn’t seem to notice it.
She was right when thinking that the man didn’t find it strange.
“Yeah… The man doesn’t know either.”
The twins wouldn’t even resemble each other that much, but Helen could barely squeeze her anxiousness into the back of her mind.
“Huft….”
She took a deep breath to regain her composure.
But instead of calming down, she could hear her heart beating more precipitously than before.
“I-I guess I should read a book….”
Strangely, she started to feel uneasy ever since last night. She thought it was because of his handwriting, but she didn’t know why.
Helen took out a book to soothe herself.
She took out a book named ‘The History of Idelberg II’ without even looking at the title beforehand.
It was a book that recorded the year and what happened in that year tediously, but Helen thought it was enough to calm her mind.
/In 563, Idelberg was founded. The Empire was named after Cavond de Idelberg, the First Emperor.
/In 564, …./
The more Helen turned the pages, she felt even calmer.
“That’s why I love books so much….”
Helen buried her face in the books and took a deep breath without reading it.
The good thing about living in Idelberg was that she could read books as much as she wanted.
When she was busy sniffing and smelling it, Ellie entered the room to bring lunch for her.
“Uh….”
Ellie was embarrassed and couldn’t let out any words for a moment. When Ellie entered, she didn’t expect to see Helen, who was very happy on her own while burying her face in the book.
Oops, she got caught.
She caught the sight of Helen smelling the book for sure.
Helen was ashamed, her cheeks turned red.
“A-ah, you’re here?”
She knew Her Highness was fond of books, but she didn’t expect to find out her master loved books that much.
“Your highness, are you reading a book again?”
She asked while staring at the books piled up like a mountain beside her bed.
“Why…?”
Ellie asked purely out of curiosity, but Helen began to feel uncomfortable hearing her maid’s question.
‘Is it weird that I… read a book?’
Helen only had a few books back when she was in Cordelia. The number of books she had was less than the number of her fingers.
Most of the books even came off and really worn-out, Edith would also occasionally throw a few books to her, as if sharing it with her.
-How would you read a book if it wasn’t because of me? Be grateful to me!-
On the day she couldn’t hide the book when her father came for a visit, he used to be angry and tore it into pieces, even though that was the only thing she could do.
‘Perhaps she noticed that a princess like me is not supposed to read a book….’
She recalled herself feeling as if she had found the most mysterious treasure in the world when she began to read a book, as if to satisfy her hunger.
When Helen’s face slowly became nervous, Ellie hastily made an excuse out of confusion.
“I’m just saying that because it looks like you are reading a book! I didn’t mean to say it in a sarcastic way or in a negative way.”
“Y-yeah….”
However, Helen’s discouraged face didn’t easily return to normal.
Ellie looked at Helen’s surroundings while feeling bad at her master, not knowing what to do.
She felt like she would’ve rolled over on the bare floor if her master promised her to smile again.
“Are you telling the truth….”
“Yes.”
“If you are, please don’t be impassive…. I feel so guilty….”
“Yeah. I’m sorry.”
There was no way Ellie would’ve said it in a negative way.
Ellie’s heart felt a bit relieved when Helen reluctantly raised the corner of her mouth and smiled.
“Please eat this meal.”
She set up the meal in front of Helen. Each concubine was provided with a settled budget and it was reduced gradually until the last concubine.
Because Helen occupied the last turn, she was provided with less money than the average budget for the youngest member of the Knightage.
Even though she was titled as a concubine, actually she felt more like a prisoner here.
Other concubines seemed to have an abundance of money sent from their respective countries, but the Princess somehow had no funt sent to her.
Ellie noticed it secretly. Helen had been abandoned by her homeland.
In order to save their money, Ellie often pocketed the things used by the maids.
Because it was free.
The food was plain, but Helen was always grateful for that.
“Thank you, I will enjoy the food.”
“Sure, Your Highness.”
Helen picked up the spoon delightedly.
The food today was so delicious.
“Compared to Cordelia….”
Back when she was trapped in the castle, meals didn’t come in regularly.
The maids often forgot to do that countless times, and the meal that was occasionally delivered to her was hard bread, red rice, or fruits that were about to rot.
Compared to that, the meal that had been prepared by Ellie was already splendid.
Ellie, who usually served meals and cleaned up the surroundings after Helen finished her meal, was still contemplating beside her, as if she wanted to inform something to her master.
“Do you want to talk about something….?”
Ellie answered hesitatingly.
“Your Highness, a letter has arrived from Cordelia.”
“Oh.”
Helen let out a loud scream.
Ellie’s expression also became serious seeing the panic expression on her master’s face.
“P-please open the letter.”
She was going crazy inside, but she couldn’t let Ellie get suspicious so she pretended like it was nothing and received the letter.
She couldn’t open the letter because her hands were trembling so much.
‘I think I’ll read it later after Ellie leaves the room.’
Putting back the letter on the table, she continued to scoop up the soup again, and swallowed it. The soup, which tasted sweet earlier, didn’t taste like anything this time. Instead, she was anxious and didn’t feel like eating anymore.
“I’ll be leaving now. Your Highness. If there’s anything I can do for you, please ring the bell.”
Ellie clasped her hands at the sight of Helen’s figure with the letter she had received just now.
She was convinced that her master had a past which was unknown to her. After that, Ellie bowed her head before walking out of the room.
Helen carefully opened the letter after Ellie left.
While holding a letter with Cordelia’s seal embedded on it, she controlled her breathing to soothe herself beforehand.
She could feel her heart begin to race wildly again.
She finally figured out the reason she felt very anxious ever since this morning.
The handwriting? It wasn’t because of that. It was just a sign before receiving this letter.
Badump badump.
She held into her pounding heart. She almost broke into a cold sweat.
When she opened the letter, she was greeted by the beautiful handwriting on the high-quality paper, which indicated that my father had written it with his own hands.