CH 271.2

‘Did it work? Have I done it right?’

Eugene raised her eyes from her palm to Sang-je. However, she found no significant change in his expression as his eyes remained closely shut like before.

“Should I give it another try, Your Holiness?”

– There’s no need to. Congratulations, Anika Jin. You have now become a true Anika.

“Thank you, Your Holiness.”

Eugene grinned as she felt a sense of pride inside her.

– You may take your leave for today.

“Your Holiness, I am thinking of visiting the library before I leave,” said Eugene while thinking that Sang-je’s attitude had turned somewhat cold towards her all so suddenly.

– You have my permission.

“Thank you, Your Holiness.”

– Anika Jin.

“Yes, Your Holiness.”

– What is your itinerary henceforth?

“I think I’ll be attending a banquet. My family is hosting a welcoming banquet to celebrate my return for the first time in a long while. And I must say I’m very much looking forward to it as it’s going to be a grand party.”

Eugene seemed truly overjoyed as she told him of her plans. However, she looked no more than Jin to Sang-je’s eyes, as he strongly remembered her as someone who never seemed to miss a single banquet that was held in the city.

– Inform me at once if you sense any changes to your lucid dream.

“As you will, Your Holiness.”

Creases were formed between his eyebrows once Eugene took her leave.

‘What happened? A lake? Does that mean Jin’s Ramita is just about the same as Flora’s?’

Since the grade of Jin’s Ramita as measured by the transparent seed was very much similar to Flora’s, Jin wouldn’t have been lying after all.

However, as such a level of Ramita wasn’t nearly enough for him, his disappointment was close to despair. He clearly had hoped for more than that.

‘What could then have possibly caused the changes to the lucid dreams of other Anikas? Are they irrelevant to Jin?’

As Sang-je opened his eyes, a fierce spark flashed across his crimson pupils.

‘Alber. Was it all a lie?’

With his teeth clenched, the outline of Sang-je’s body slowly faded before he eventually vanished into thin air.

***

The library was located on the utmost floor of the main palace where the prayer room was situated as well. Eugene could feel that the place was under tight security as she had walked past many knights on sentry duty as she headed to the library.

A priest, who was sitting at the desk next to the entrance as soon as she pushed opened the door to the library, came up to her at once while he lowered his head before her.

“Welcome back, Anika Jin.”

A memory then hit her she watched the priest greet her.

[Welcome, Anika Jin. I had the book ready as you had requested.]

Eugene suspected her imposter had been a frequent visitor to the library judging from the way the man had treated her as he handed the book.

“It’s been such a long while. I just thought of dropping by for old times’ sake. I wonder if there have been some changes here since my last visit.”

“There had been minor rearrangements but the section where you frequented should be the same as before.”

“Truly? It does seem a little different from how I remember.”

As Eugene kept looking around her surroundings without making any move, the shrewd priest quickly took the hint and said as he took the lead, “I believe it’s just because you haven’t come for a visit in a long time. Please come this way.”

The priest showed Eugene the way into the library and only stopped when he reached in front of a certain bookshelf.

“Shall I bring you your writing supplies?”

“There’s no need to.”

The priest’s hospitality was somewhat excessive to think that he was offering himself out of the kindness of his heart. Eugene couldn’t help but to wonder what her imposter must have offered him in return for his hospitality.

“Wait.”

“Yes, Anika Jin.”

Although it happened in just a split second, Eugene had clearly seen his eyes glittering in greed when he turned around at her call. Without any hesitation, Eugene took off her necklace and handed it over to the priest standing before her.

“I have almost forgotten, as this was an unplanned visit.”

“You really don’t have to bother, Anika Jin. I can’t accept this.”

The priest had indeed made quite a fuss as he declined her gift, but Eugene stuffed the necklace into the pocket of his robe anyway.

“No one is going to criticize when I’m giving a gift of gratitude to someone who has been so much of help to me at all times.”

“But this is too excessive…”

Despite his words, the priest didn’t return the necklace to her. Eugene let out a small chuckle as she watched his back growing smaller by the distance.

‘I guess there’s nothing money can’t buy no matter which world you live in.’

Eugene went closer to the bookshelf after running her eyes up and down to take an overall look. She hoped she would be able to find some leads although she suspected there would be limits to the variety of resources being stored in an open library.