Chapter 44

***

“Lady, what are you doing here?”

Karen asked in a mischievous voice.

“It’s about what you said earlier. I’m here to confirm it.” (Evelyn)

“What are you talking about?”

“Debutante partner. Okay good! Sir Karen is amazing!” (Evelyn)

“What?”

Karen hesitated a little.

“That broad grace and generosity of yours. Well, I’m willing to accept your offer. What do you think?” (Evelyn)

“Uh…that’s….” (Karen)

Karen stepped back a little. I approached him closer.

“I’m sorry, lady. Time is up.” (Karen)

“What?” (Evelyn)

My words came out hoarsely.

“I’m very sorry, but I’ve suddenly become very busy with work. Didn’t you see it just now?” (Karen’

“The knights…..?” (Evelyn)

“Yes. I have a lot of other things to do as well. I’m going to be scolded if they think I’m playing with the Lady.” (Karen)

I finally noticed the vague resentment in Karen’s eyes. It was like the eyes back then. Those resentful eyes at the time when I escaped the Grand Duchy and did everything by myself.

I was the one who retreated this time.

“If the Lady tells His Highness well, it may be possible. But the Lady’s gracefulness is apparently not as broad as mine, judging from the fact that she ignored me earlier. Isn’t that right?”

The edge of his mouth was up, but the glint in his eyes was smoldering.

I finally realized that he had been being sarcastic all along. ‘Hahaha,’ I laughed awkwardly.

“Work hard…….”

I lightly tapped him on the shoulder of his thick armor and left as if to flee.

I failed.

If I knew this was going to happen, I would have agreed when he offered to be my partner when we met in the hallway earlier.

Then, I opened my eyes wide.

Yes, if Karen didn’t make it, then Pelos was next. Honestly, they were all the men I knew in this palace.

I was walking fast and stopped standing tall.

When I looked back, I saw the dedicated maid who had been quietly following me.

“….you.”

“Yes, Grand Duchess.”

When I first saw the maid, I thought she looked familiar.

She was the maid whom Pelos flirted with when he infiltrated the imperial palace wearing armor

She was the very one who had held his hand.

“A few days ago, a handsome guy talked to you.”

“What?”

She blinked as if embarrassed.

“Yes, in the palace. He had light brown hair. No, it’s blond hair.”

“The knight?”

Knight? I barely held back laughter without realizing it.

“Yes, that knight.”

“Why is he?”

“Do you know where he belongs, by any chance?”

The maid looked at me strangely.

“Because I need to leave something with him. He’s actually an acquaintance of mine.”

“Hmm ……. I don’t know either. He just said that he was from the Webow family. Isn’t the Webow family famous for producing outstanding knights for generations?”

“Webow?”

The name sounded somewhat familiar.

I turned around and looked at the performance hall again. I saw Karen wielding a sword, looking quite knightly.

Karen Webow. Webow was his last name.

Pelos had impersonated Karen.

Well, he had infiltrated the palace wearing armor from the start, so of course he wouldn’t use his own name.

If he impersonated Webow, there was nothing more to see. Pelos left no trace anywhere.

I walked away, lifeless.

“Grand Duchess?”

I waved my hands at the maid who called me with a curious expression.

There was no way that the maidservant, who didn’t even know his identity could know where he was now. Now I really had no choice but to look for him myself.

Debutante partner.

I clenched my fist tightly. I felt a strong desire to win.

***

The Imperial Palace Library was gorgeous.

There were spiral staircases going up all around the large hall, and the entire wall was filled with books.

I looked around in a daze. The scenery was almost overwhelming.

The most books I’ve ever seen in my life were here.

It was beyond amazing that such a thing could be found in the Imperial Palace.

I toured around the Imperial Palace in search of a debutante partner. This was the place I finally arrived at.

Come to think of it, wasn’t the purpose of coming to the capital to investigate about black magic in the first place? To use the large library that was not available in the Grand Duchy.

I reminded myself of that fact now.

At the bottom of the spiral staircase, sat a rather elegantly dressed librarian.

Each staircase had a different area, and it seemed that identification was required to enter that area.

Identification.

I knew I had the right idea. The Imperial Library was the perfect place.

I might be able to find out about black magic and at the same time find a man of suitable status as a debutante partner.

I swallowed hard and walked over to the librarian in the center of the room.

She had a monocle on one of her eyes and was flipping through a stack of papers with a hard expression.

“Excuse me……”

I spoke cautiously, and she made eye contact with me.

Her short gray hair flickered over her brow.

“What can I do for you?”

“I’m here to read books…”

I flinched a little at her clerical attitude, which was somewhat intimidating.

“It‘s my first time seeing you. Do you have any proof of your identity?”

I turned around and looked at the maid.

The maid deftly pulled out a sheaf of papers from her pocket.The librarian’s face instantly brightened when she saw it.

“Oh, you are a guest of Her Imperial Highness the Crown Princess.”

What the maid took out was a document stamped with Astrilla’s seal.

It was something she had prepared for me, as I had not yet made my official debut in the social world.

“What kind of books do you need?”

“Magic.”

“There are various kinds of magic, such as magic power, magic stones, basic magic that even children can learn, and defense magic that can kill people. There are also other types of magic that are useful in daily life, and there are also healing magic that can rival divine power. What kind of books would you like?”

The librarian was more verbal than I expected.

However, after being told one thing after another like that, no black magic came out in the end. As she was waiting for a reply, I slowly spoke up.

“I would like to see a book on black magic.”

I said, and for a moment, the large Imperial Library turned cold.

To the average person, black magic meant making a pact with the devil.

In a world where God’s authority stretched far and wide, a demon was as evil as the word.

Very few people knew that it was not actually magic, but some other ability from the beginning. Even for those like Devan, who did not believe in demons, the impression of black magic was not good, so it was clear how much more to those who were believers.

“That……lady.”

The librarian seemed to be a bit confused about what to call me, and eventually decided on Lady.

“Are you sure you know exactly what black magic is?”

“I don’t know, and that’s why I want to read the books.”

She fell silent, as if couldn’t find the words to reply.

“Show me the way. I’ll be the judge of that.”

The librarian still seemed hesitant, but she couldn’t seem to ignore the Crown Princess’s seal.

She gave a low sigh and took the lead.

I thought the books would be separated by a spiral staircase, but that wasn’t all. The librarian took me to a door that was hidden behind the stairs. The door opened to reveal a long corridor with another gate on either side of it.

“Where am I?”

“Only the royal family and a few important nobles are allowed in here. Military secrets, geography, economics… that must not be handed over to other empires……….And we keep various books that are not supposed to be spread even within the Empire.”

She looked at me as if she didn’t like it. She would have kicked me out at any moment if it hadn’t been the Crown Princess who had proved my identity.

The more I thought about it, the more proud I felt.

The more she hesitated and disapproved about it, the more I thought that what was in it was valuable information.

Finally, the librarian opened the door at the far end of the hallway.

The rattling door certainly looked old, as if it had never been touched by human hands.

Kakkk!

I coughed, frowning at the rising dust, and the librarian gave me an annoyed look.

“You can look at it from here. When you’re done, be sure to ring the doorbell outside.”

It was not until I received a firm reminder that the librarian left the room.

Soon I was the only one in the room.

My heart began to beat wildly at the thought of finally getting some information about black magic.

The room was deep and caved in, and much larger than it seemed from the outside.

There were quite a few books in there, but not so many that they were crammed together. Each of the books was in a glass display cabinet.

They look precious, can I touch them recklessly?

Hesitated, I opened the glass door, dust flew in all directions with a squeaky sound.

From the state of care, I had a feeling that it wasn’t important and that they had just shoved it in. I waved my hand to blow the dust away and finally took the book inside it.

“The Theory and Reality of Black Magic.”

It was a title that naturally made me raise an eyebrow.

No matter how boring life was, you would never find anything interesting in a book with such a title.

After a quick look through the book, it was as I expected.

There was not a single illustration, and the book was filled densely with letters. Just looking at it made my eyes hurt.

After dusting off the book, I opened the other glass doors and took out several similar books.

“The Source of Black Magic” and “The beginning of Black Magic.”

Holding the books in my hands, I went to the far end, where I found chairs and tables.

They were both made of wood and looked stiff, but in this case, it was rather fortunate. There was a table cloth but all covered with dust.

This wasn’t secret or confidential, it was just neglect. I covered my mouth with one hand and dusted off the chair in frustration.