Chapter 50

50 Smell of Books

Back in the Kilerth castle, as ordered by Caspian, the head of the servants personally came to escort Anastasia to the library after she finished her breakfast.

Anastasia’s maids, Martha and Holly, also followed the Queen to keep her company and tend to fulfill her needs while she was in the library.

The head servant took the three ladies outside of the central wing of the castle. There was a separate building on the east side of the castle compound that was dedicated to the library.

“Is that the library?” Anastasia asked the head servant when they walked closer and closer to a small one-roomed building.

The head servant politely replied, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Anastasia glanced at the building again and pursed her lips.

When Caspian had mentioned that there was a library in the castle, Anastasia had thought that it would be a huge one since Caspian had lived long enough. She had thought that in the course of hundreds of years, he would have gathered quite a lot of books.

But she wasn’t quite impressed with the little building which could pass as a hut.

‘But then again, it’s not like I will need hundreds of books. I won’t have time to read them all anyway. A few books shall suffice,’ Anastasia thought to herself as she stood in front of the hut, no, library.

.....

The head servant pushed the door open and informed Anastasia, “Your Highness, please wait here for a while. I will quickly light up the library. It’s really dark inside.”

He ran inside after getting a nod of approval from Anastasia.

Anastasia waited at the doorstep of the library. The head servant was taking his time. So she slowly stepped inside, wondering why he was taking so long to light just a lantern.

When she stepped inside, she didn’t see any books in that windowless room. Rather a few decorative arts and a huge full-body portrait of Caspian were hung on the wall.

Anastasia smiled after looking at her husband’s painting and then looked around. At the end of the room, she noticed stairs that led to the underground floor. She could see faint lights coming from below.

‘Oh, so the library is underground,’ she thought to herself.

She turned around to see that Martha and Holly were hesitating to step inside the room. So she called them, “Why are you two standing there? I am planning to find and read something, so you two better come in if you don’t want to get sunburn.”

The two of them reluctantly stepped inside.

And Anastasia asked them, “Come. Follow me.”

“B-But the head servant told us to wait,” Holly stuttered while looking around at the cold and dark room without any windows.

“It’s okay. Come.” Anastasia gathered her gown and started jumping down the stairs.

She was too excited to see the library and check out the book collections.

“W-Wait for us, Your Majesty,” Martha also ran after the Queen, fearing she might trip. They had seen their King’s rage yesterday night. She definitely didn’t want her heart ripped out of her body if the Queen hurt herself.

When Anastasia reached the end of the stairs, the yellow lights from the beautiful chandelier hung in the middle of the library were being reflected on her face. Several lanterns were also hung all around the different corners of the library.

“Wow!” Anastasia was awe-struck.

The library wasn’t just huge. It was massive. It was round in shape and had two stories. In the story that she was in, she could walk around in circles and look for books. She could further go down and look for other vast collections of books. And there, she could also sit on the round table that was kept right under the chandelier.

She was amazed to see thousands of books and scrolls neatly stacked on the shelves. And she also loved the scent of the books lingering in the air.

“Your Majesty,” the head servant came and stood in front of Anastasia. And he informed her, “The books are arranged according to their genres and in alphabetical order.”

He specifically pointed at one corner of the shelves and said, “You may find adventure fiction in that corner.”

Anastasia felt her heart skipping a beat when she heard that. The corner of her lips curved up a little when she thought, ‘Caspian remembered?’

The head servant then bowed to take his leave, “Your Majesty, I hope you enjoy your time here. If you need any assistance, then you may ask one of your personal maids to find me.”

“I will,” Anastasia smiled and then asked him, “And what do I call you?”

“I’m Percy, Your Majesty.”

Anastasia smiled again and said in a polite voice, “Percy, I really appreciate you taking your time to light so many lanterns and candles. I will make good use of them.”

The cold and unchanging expression on his face suddenly brightened. He smiled and bowed to the Queen. And he left the library for the Queen to enjoy.

“Alright!” Anastasia rubbed her palms together with excitement.

And she ran to the corner where Percy had said that she could find adventure novels.

“Your Majesty, you shouldn’t run.” Holly ran after the Queen as if she was running after a toddler who had just learned to run.

Anastasia looked at all the books, old and new, in awe. After going through some of the titles, she picked out a book with a grim-looking castle on the cover. It was titled ‘The Castle of Montiro’. For some reason, she felt like giving it a read even though it was a horror fantasy.

She went downstairs and took a seat. She looked at her maids and asked, “Why don’t you two also pick some books and sit down?”

Martha politely bowed and replied, “I don’t know how to read, Your Majesty.”

“And neither do I. We come from a poor family,” Holly also added.

Anastasia then enthusiastically asked, “Shall I read this to you both then?”

“If you wish to read it to us, then we won’t deny it,” Martha replied. She didn’t sound too excited though.

“Sit down. I will read it,” Anastasia ordered and began the story.

As Anastasia kept on delving deeper into the chapters of the book, the maids’ interest in hearing the story peaked.

The story was about a Princess who had run away from her soon-to-be husband’s castle. The King pursued her. But she was able to escape from his clutch, thanks to a young man who helped her hide in a church.

The story was really interesting and attention-grabbing.

Martha and Holly had been getting nightmares even with their eyes open after seeing Olive getting murdered yesterday. They were haunted by the image of her body with a hole in her chest. They were also haunted by Caspian’s blood-smeared mouth and Olive’s blood-covered heart in his hand.

But thanks to Anastasia, they were able to forget those images, at least for a while.

“Your Majesty, shall we bring your lunch here?” Martha asked when she heard Anastasia’s stomach grumble.

Anastasia pressed her stomach and nodded with a stupid grin on her face. “I would appreciate that. But come fast. I will hold the story until you return. And bring your lunches along with mine.”

Martha was touched by Anastasia’s gesture. However, she drew the line, “We will quickly have our lunch while the chef prepares yours. And Your Majesty may enjoy the story while we are gone. You don’t have to wait for us.”

Anastasia frowned and complained like a baby, “Come one! That’s no fun. I will read another novel until you two arrive. I am reading this book with both of you.”

Both Martha and Holly were happy because they really wanted to further know what happened in the story. They had stopped the story at a cliffhanger where the Princess was about to be captured by a mysterious knight.

They both bowed to the Queen and were ready to leave the library.

But Anastasia suddenly asked them, “Oh, and who is serving Tilla?”

“Tilla?” Martha subconsciously repeated the Queen’s last word.

“Yes, my handmaid who is ill.” Several frown lines appeared on Anastasia’s face when she mumbled, “I don’t think that the maid who served her before is still available... after she tried to poison me yesterday. She must have been imprisoned.”

Anastasia saw both Martha and Holly’s faces drop all of a sudden.

Holly’s hands were trembling even when she had clutched her gown tightly. She looked terribly scared.

And so did Martha.

Anastasia felt that something was seriously wrong, so she asked in a serious tone, “What is it? Why do the two of you look so scared?”