/
“It’s fortunate that there were no casualties.”
“If it wasn’t for Duchess Cardiago, something terrible would have befallen the Imperial Conference.”
But then the people in the hallway suddenly stopped talking. Roiqan could feel their pointed stares at his back, and so he walked faster.
Two days had passed since the monster and noxious vapor incident, and it had a huge downward impact on his reputation. The more rumors there were about how Isabelle saved everyone using her magnificent divine power, the more people doubted Roiqan’s own capabilities.
And it was embarrassing how he could not refute anything. Far from saving anyone from the noxious vapor, Roiqan himself took one whiff at it and promptly fainted.
Isabelle’s existence was a threat to him, especially since he was seeking to claim the throne as the next emperor. However, she revealed to everyone that she had powers that she gained with the blessing of Isis. It was like a direct challenge to him, who was from the indirect lineage.
“…Shit.”
In the deserted hallway, Roiqan muttered to himself. It was then that a brooding voice came out from the pendant dangling on his neck.
「 Roiqan, you must be anxious. Indeed, instead of successfully taking that woman who’s from the direct bloodline for yourself, she became a formidable threat. 」
“……”
「 And it seems you can’t even take the Empress’ key which you’ve been trying to obtain all this time. 」
It was just as the voice in the pendant mentioned. Roiqan needed to get Isabelle on his side. She was the tool—the stepping stone—that he needed who would make up for all his faults.
He needed to approach her as though he was walking on thin ice. If the ice were to crack, then he would need to patiently wait until the water had frozen over again.
However, everything was slipping through the cracks. The reality he was facing right now was that her existence itself, as someone from the direct lineage, was making him nothing but antsy and nervous. And on top of that, he couldn’t even sleep properly at night.
He couldn’t leave this Imperial Conference without any gains. As if reading his mind, the pendant reacted once more.
「 Roiqan. I will give you an opportunity. 」
“I wonder what kind of opportunity a spirit in a pendant could give me.”
「 In the library that’s exclusive to Cardiago’s successor, there is a magic tool that distorts space. It has the appearance of a ring. 」
“Magic tool?”
「 It will allow you to bypass the reapers’ barriers, so you’ll be able to talk to the woman of direct descent alone. 」
Brooding over these words for a moment, Roiqan eventually agreed that the most urgent thing he must do now was to meet Isabelle Pilsburg alone.
Once they could meet, the next thing he needed to do was easily. Telling her about Ephelix Cardiago’s past would be enough to estrange her from him.
‘While Duke Cardiago is dealing with the aftermath of the monsters, now is the best time to tell her about his past.’
Just as the pendant instructed, Roiqan went to the library.
* * *
Meanwhile, Isabelle and Lizzie were having teatime. The official schedule had been postponed for a while until all the people who had been affected by the noxious vapor had woken up completely.
“I thought it would be fun since the schedule has been halted, but there’s not really much to do.”
Isabelle let out a wistful sigh. All of the people who were poisoned had already woken up, but there were still some who were being observed because of their condition.
In such a situation, if Duchess Cardiago were to be seen having a leisurely time, she would only be criticized.
Of course, her reason for not being more active was not only because of her title as the duchess.
‘Some people who were awake earlier must have seen the blue butterflies.’
Blue butterflies were by no means a manifestation of Cardiago’s power of the underworld. By now, there must be rumors spreading amongst the attendees that Isabelle had Pilsburg blood in her.
‘I’ll need to keep an eye out on those rumors.’
That’s why all Isabelle and Lizzie could do in this situation was to sit quietly in a drawing room and do some embroidery just like the other women.
The result was, to put it bluntly, disastrous. Their needles pricked their fingers and the resulting trickles of blood were all splattered on the cloth inside the embroidery hoop. So, it was impossible to distinguish whether the cloth had been originally dyed like that or whether it really was all just blood.
Today then, the two women decided to spend a pious time with only reading as their main activity. Lizzie mentioned that it’s her first time entering the library of Duke Cardiago.
“I’ve heard many things about the valuable books gathered here that were from all over the Empire. Is it true that most of the books ever published are here?”
“You must really like books, huh, Lizzie?”
“Oh my. Your Grace, really…”
Lizzie looked over towards Isabelle with a shy smile. Isabelle was momentarily speechless because of the warlike atmosphere that Lizzie gave off from that shy smile, but she soon noticed the true meaning of her words later.
“Yes, there are many kinds of novels here, too. We can find some to suit our tastes later.”
Isabelle’s eyes curved up along with the devious smile on her lips. Lizzie also covered the corners of her lips with a fan.
“I’ve memorized the titles of the books that are famous among the ladies these days.”
“Oh, since I am the lady of House Cardiago, it would be better for me to acclimatize with the tastes of the ladies in this domain.”
The two soon snuck out of the drawing room, which had only a few servants stationed there, and headed towards the library. There was a sneaky smile on her face as she thought of a few red books that would fluster even the goddess Isis herself.
The library wasn’t open to guests, so there would be no one there who’d see them.
Isabelle and Lizzie turned a corner and went to the section of the library where all the literary books were shelved. She learned about this section the other day.
Lizzie looked through the book titles with admiration.
“Oh my word… All the famous books in the Duchy are here. As expected, Cardiago’s library is surely different.”
“Lizzie, out of all these masterpieces, please pick out the best one.”
“Please give me a moment. The one that has gotten the hottest response from the ladies was published in the capital, so I think I’ll need a little time going through these.”
“What’s the title? I’ll look for it with you.”
“It’s a book called 〈 Every Night, She is Happy 〉. The writing is so detailed as the female lead secretly goes through the men one at a time doing some kama sutra.”
“Oh my…”
Isabelle personally wanted to read that book ever since she arrived at Cardiago. As they were trying to hasten the search, Isabelle naturally headed the opposite way Lizzie went, touching the spines of the books as she walked along.
However, even when she looked at all the shelves with books from the capital, she couldn’t find that particular book anywhere. According to the records, that book should definitely be somewhere here, but why wasn’t it.
‘Ah, right.’
Isabelle thought of the possibilities. Books brought over from the capital were usually placed here, but there might be exceptions.
For some reason, books from the Pilsburg capital were sometimes stored elsewhere here in the successor’s bookshelves. Perhaps those were the books that Riggs personally handpicked.
‘Though Riggs… I don’t think he’d be interested in them since he does have that lower body problem.’
Briefly recalling her childhood friend’s faults, Isabelle put on a grim expression. Just imagining Riggs reading a book like that despite his lower body was just so sad.
The fact that the successor’s bookshelves could only be accessed by the family head might be a preventative measure so that he wouldn’t be ashamed. Isabelle approached that section with excitement.
She hoped that the heir’s bookshelves would be available for access just like last time, when she went there luckily. If not, then it couldn’t be helped—she’d just go back.
‘Huh?’
However, the restricted area that only the successor could access was already clearly open.
Isabelle was at a loss for words. She could evidently see someone moving inside. She could feel a huge underworld power coming from there, and it was nothing like Riggs’ power.
‘Kiel should be by Riggs’ side though… Huh?’
Through the space between the books, Isabelle saw the intruder’s face. It was the snooping Roiqan Pilsburg, who also froze the moment he was found.
Isabelle instinctively sensed that this was a dangerous situation, and so she called Lizzie to her side. Roiqan’s eyes moved quickly to look at the two women’s maids the moment he was caught here in the act.
“Lord Pilsburg. Fancy meeting you here.”
Isabelle was the first who spoke.
“I’m glad to see that you’re well, Duchess Cardiago.”
“Thank you for your concern. I didn’t hear any notice that this library was opened to outsiders, but what brings you here?”
Roiqan could say nothing in return. The section he was standing in was supposed to be open to only the duchy’s successor, not just any section. In this situation, it’s best to pretend not to know.
“I was bored so I’m here to look for a book to read, and I came here by chance. Curiosity is human nature.”
He had a smile on as he pulled out a book, as if to prove his harmlessness.
〈 Every Night, She is Happy 〉
“……”
Isabelle and Lizzie both balked at the man as they saw the title of the book he was holding.
Roiqan wondered why Isabelle and Lizzie reacted like that as they slowly retreated. Then, he looked at the title of the book he took out from the shelf.
〈 Every Night, She is Happy 〉
He had picked out whatever book he could reach, but of all titles, why was it like this? Rather than lowering the suspicion being cast upon him, it only added to the tension in the air.
Apart from just walking into a restricted area, the duchess might shout for help also because he was caught reading such a questionable book.