Bibliophile Princess: Volume 5, page 9
“Goodness.” I blinked at it. Heat stones could be mined from the mountains here in Ralshen, and they differed from normal rocks because once heated, they maintained that temperature for far longer—almost an entire day. They could be used as an energy source, and in fact, I’d heard that they had been applying them to naval technology lately. It was surprising to hear that this new stone was even more powerful.
Beside me, Mabel gradually swallowed down her food, brows drawn in suspicion. “And what has that got to do with Sauslind?”
“No, hold on a moment,” I said.
He mentioned “overseas.” That word weighed on me. Sauslind had yet to hear about this new ore, and yet Prince Irvin claimed they could get a whole mountain of gold from the other continent by trading it. As I contemplated the implications of this, I finally understood.
It can’t be...
I glanced up at Prince Irvin, who was smirking in amusement. “So the reason I am being targeted isn’t because of my position as the prince’s betrothed, but because whoever is doing it wants to stop us from forming diplomatic relations with Maldura?”
“What?” Surprised, Mabel jerked her head up, peering over at me.
It was possible they were targeting me politically because of my position. However, if there was anything to be gained by removing me from my current seat, it would be...
“The sea is Maldura’s weakness. Everyone knows that. They don’t engage in much ocean trade. Whatever partner Maldura is trading with in the west—no, it’s not them. They must have someone in Sauslind smuggling it for them. That’s why they don’t want Sauslind and Maldura to form diplomatic ties. Because they could make an official deal and put tariffs on it. Then there would be no benefit to smuggling it anymore.”
An ironic grin stretched across Prince Irvin’s face. “That’s why I said, if someone were to assassinate you right now, the government here would pin the blame on us. At the very least, diplomatic relations would be off the table. That much is clear.”
Mabel placed a hand over her chest, trying to stifle her surprise. As she recalled the terror she felt when we were attacked, she cautiously surveyed our surroundings.
I fell into silent thought again. As Prince Irvin continued his explanations, I wondered why there was such a sarcastic tone in his voice—why everything he said seemed twisted and barbed.
“Well, whether you’re the one who starts it or the kingdom does it on its own, if our countries go to war, Maldura has no chance of winning. Most of our people are sick with the Ashen Nightmare. Maybe that’s the mastermind’s aim—to corner us and take control of our mines so they can keep all the profit for themselves.” Prince Irvin spun the rock around on his fingertips, taking a drink from his cup with his other hand. His servant gave him an admonishing glare.
“That’s not it,” I said. “If that were the case, then there would be no point in you coming here. Most likely, whoever is responsible doesn’t care whether war happens or not. They simply don’t want our countries to ally with one another.” I stared straight into his black eyes as I continued. “There is a pipeline for smuggling it overseas, and just as someone is reaping the benefits in Sauslind, someone in Maldura is profiting as well. The reason you came here was to investigate that, no?”
After a short pause, his lips quirked up. There was a glint in his eyes, dubious yet inviting. “Can’t say for sure. What if I told you I wasn’t actually lying when I said I came here to kidnap you?”
Mabel launched herself up from her chair. Its legs scraped noisily against the floor. I had to jerk around to stop her. Lord Alan’s singing was drawing all of the attention to himself right now, but if she caused a scene, their eyes would be on us in seconds.
“You are hopeless,” spat Prince Irvin’s servant. “This happens every time. You need to fix that awful habit you have of wanting women who are already taken.”
“Oh dear,” I mumbled. Both Mabel and I stared at him coldly.
Prince Irvin put a hand to his chest. “You wound me. Do you really think I would try something with a foreign girl merely for the fun of it? Especially considering how absolutely terrifying that fiancé of hers is?”
“Isn’t the danger exactly what excites you?”
“Well, you do have a point, but even I have enough discretion to know who I can and can’t play such games with.”
My gaze and Mabel’s only grew colder the deeper he dug his grave. Not that Prince Irvin seemed the least bit concerned with our reactions.
His servant sighed again, turning his attention back to me. “At any rate, there’s another more probable reason for you being targeted that has to do with who you are.”
Everyone turned their eyes toward me, but I merely tilted my head, clueless as to what he meant. Other than being the prince’s betrothed and the one responsible for advocating peace with Maldura, what else could there be?
Exasperated, the servant blurted out, “There’s a good chance you could be carrying the next heir to the throne inside you.”
“What?!” Mabel and Jean cried in unison.
Prince Irvin’s eyes gleamed silently. “So he’s already made a move on her, hm?”
Is this the part where I’m supposed to maintain my dignity as a noble lady and insist on my own purity?
Prince Irvin’s servant looked entirely unperturbed, as if he saw nothing wrong with his statement. Perhaps it was a cultural difference?
“It’s quite common in Maldura,” he said, “for the date of the wedding and the birth of the child to not match up. Sauslind seems to emphasize traditional customs, but... I’m sure those sorts of accidents still happen, no?”
Mabel glanced over at me with a look of realization on her face. “On the road, I remember that topic coming up. Now it makes sense why someone like me from a line of midwives was chosen as your maid...”
You’re completely misunderstanding the situation, Mabel.
Jean gave a dry chuckle. “Nah, it’s not possible. Not even a little bit. The day someone with negative sex appeal like the miss crosses that line with the demon lord will be the day all the beefy miners out here wind up pregnant from immaculate conception.”
I don’t even know where to begin to comment on that, but what you’re saying makes absolutely no sense, Jean.
While I was inwardly fretting over how best to defend my purity, Jean was already doing my job for me.
“Give me a break. That’s like countin’ all your tanuki hides before you’ve caught the darn beasts. Except in this case, the tanuki would be the one skinnin’ me alive. Besides, the miss spends all her time in the royal archives. She’s not got the time to be messin’ around with the prince like that. Her lack of sex appeal makes that pretty obvious, doesn’t it? And it’s not like something coulda happened because I was busy takin’ an afternoon nap and just didn’t notice. Nope, definitely not that.”
It sounded more like he was already formulating an excuse in case he was wrong and I really was pregnant. Regardless, it peeved me enough that I flagged down the innkeeper and secretly requested that Jean’s next plate be extra spicy.
“Ahem,” I said, clearing my throat in an attempt to dispel the awkward atmosphere that had settled over us. “At any rate, that is yet another possible reason they could be targeting me. I’ll keep that in mind. Being in such a position, it’s only natural for people to come after me. The more pressing issue is that we need to quickly get a message to Lord Alexei.”
There was still so much we had to do: quell the revolts, tend to the infected, and confirm the size of the spread.
“Most importantly,” Mabel interjected, having regained her composure. Her voice was tinged with distrust. “It’s clear we should be concerning ourselves with whoever is behind all of this. And on that note, I think the people we should be most suspicious of are right here with us.”
Surprised, I lifted my gaze to see her pinning Prince Irvin with a glare.
“Eli—or El, rather—is too trusting of other people. Considering who these men really are, it’s perfectly possible they want to take you as a hostage to use in negotiations with His Highness,” she said.
My shoulders jumped as I realized she could well be right. After all, the pro-war faction had taken the Malduran delegation captive, and their representative was Prince Irvin’s elder brother. My apprehension spiked as I second-guessed myself.
Prince Irvin grinned in amusement. “Yeah, there is that possibility.” His tone was too vague for me to suss out whether he was being playful or serious.
His servant gave another sigh and voiced the same skepticism toward Mabel’s claim that I was feeling. “You’re free to doubt us if you wish, but it only benefits the enemy if we don’t cooperate.”
Mabel silently pinched her brows together.
Now it was my turn to sigh. This was a grim reminder of how difficult the prince’s job was. He also had to examine every issue from multiple angles.
Prince Irvin chuckled quietly, tucking the small stone away before he lightly commented, “If that’s the game you want to play, we have cause to be suspicious of you, too. If you’re truly thinking about El’s well-being, then you should take him back to the earl’s estate. Or at least to a city with some militia to protect him. Instead, you had him hide his identity and come all the way here. Why is that?”
Mabel flinched, unnerved by his question, and her loss of composure rubbed off on me. The person who’d led us away from our pursuers and suggested I disguise myself until we got to safety—the person who’d brought us here was...
“Hm. Is it just me or does the air over here feel kinda heavy?” Lord Alan appeared behind me, snatching up the pitcher on the table to refill his glass. Despite his comment, he didn’t seem bothered by the atmosphere. He threw his head back and downed the whole cup. Apparently his song was finished and he was coming over here to take a break.
When I motioned for him to sit, he happily plopped himself down.
“Ah, I’m starving. The way El proposed they make their food looks really interesting, and it seems to be a hit with the other patrons. The innkeeper said he’ll give us one additional serving of fried bread on the house, but it’ll cost extra to put cheese on it. He really is a businessman.” As he spoke cheerfully, someone brought over his order, and Lord Alan immediately dug in.
Seeming to sense that we were all staring at him, he chuckled in the same innocent, carefree way he always did. “What, are you all feeling suspicious of me because I led us to this town?” His shoulders vibrated with laughter. “I’m not the traitor you’re after. Though I do admit there’s been a number of anomalies this time. But I only guided you here because a certain someone ordered me to do so.” Lord Alan was quick to acknowledge our doubts as he pulled out a letter from his pocket and held it out toward me. The handwriting on it was familiar.
In that moment, it was like a dam broke and all the emotions I had been holding back welled up inside me. My hands trembled as I reached out and took it, tracing my fingers over the writing on the envelope. It read: To Elianna. It was like the prince was calling out to me from miles away, giving me the answer I sought.
~.~.~.~
To my dearest Elianna...
Almost as soon as I started writing the opening words for my letter, my hand paused.
With my official marriage to Elianna looming just months away, the dawn of the new year brought anxious anticipation. The excitement, however, was disrupted by a monumental announcement; Maldura would be sending a delegation here. We recalled the Black Wing Knights to the capital so they could escort Elianna on her trip to visit my great uncle. Only two days remained until she set off and embarked on her journey to Ralshen. She and others were busy preparing for the trip.
The thought of her made me turn my gaze to the spot where she usually sat in my office. Since she began visiting the palace after our initial engagement, she spent over half of her time here reading books.
A long time ago, I wrote, although my thoughts were still stuck in the present. But as my pen continued moving, my mind turned back to the past.
A long time ago, back when we first met, I used to fancy myself some kind of adventurer as I searched for signs of her amid the bookshelves. Saoura’s royal library was so expansive that a child could easily get lost inside. Although the two of us made no promises to meet, nor did she ever tell me which aisle she would be occupying next, I always enjoyed trying to guess where I would find her.
As the only direct heir to the throne, I had a very limited amount of free time despite my young age. That meant I had only a short time to navigate this enormous library and sniff her out. At first, I did it because I found it entertaining. It gave me the same thrill as outwitting my professors when they gave me a difficult problem to solve. Many of said professors were deeply devoted to the royal family, and when they realized I was more intelligent than them despite being a child, they got the idea in their head that they needed to show me how cruel the world could really be. I derived the most enjoyment out of besting those types.
I felt the same way when I first met Eli. She had no compunction about raising a hand at me and scolding me despite my superior status. The fact that she frequented the royal library indicated she was a part of noble society as well. I remember thinking she was an eccentric young girl. She surely understood her place in the social hierarchy, yet she made no attempts to restrain her anger toward me.
Maybe she understands logically, but she’s too ignorant of the world and its rules? I thought to myself.
At any rate, while I was shocked at her behavior, I also felt embarrassed for my own immaturity and for taking out my anger in such a destructive way. I tried having a conversation with the odd girl, but unsurprisingly, it didn’t work out very well. Once she started reading, it didn’t matter how much I tried to chat with her; she wouldn’t even give me a glance. Me, the crown prince!
Naturally, I tried to get in her good graces through the normal means, by using things most girls her age liked: sweets, cute flowers, and popular gossip around the kingdom. Once she finished her book and flipped the cover shut, she relaxed her guard enough to accept one of the sweets I offered without blinking an eye at it. A moment later, her lips puckered in surprise and disgust. It made me wonder if there was some kind of mistake—if the sweets I’d selected were sour somehow.
That can’t be. The cooks in the palace made these personally, I told myself. Weird. I didn’t know girls twisted their faces like that.
As I stood there frozen, my longtime chamberlain retrieved some water for her to wash it down. All I could do was watch.
After gulping down the contents of the cup, she finally sighed and said, “I dislike sweet things.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled, but she’d already put her guard back up.
You don’t have to be so wary of me...
Next, I asked the royal gardener to prepare her a bouquet. As you might imagine, she wasn’t the least bit interested in it. She instead started explaining to me the medicinal properties of the flowers I’d picked.
Then she told me to take it home with me, even though I meant it for her as a gift.
She didn’t hold any interest in popular palace gossip, either. What really pulled her attention and made her eyes shine with curiosity were unpublished treatises written by historians—something only a select group of researchers would have any inclination to read.
What kind of alternate reality am I living in here?
My chamberlain tried to stifle his laughter numerous times as he stood behind me and watched all this play out, but I was digging myself deeper and deeper, going past the point of no return. She was like a riddle—intensely difficult to solve.
Fine. Bring it on.
At first, it was mere curiosity. She entertained me.
Yesterday, she was reading through texts on medicine and anatomy. Would I find her in the same section today? No, perhaps it only looked like she was interested in anatomy. Maybe I would find her in the fine arts section, sifting through tomes depicting the human shape. As I navigated the library floor, I used my powers of deduction to locate her. I eventually found her in the mystery section, of all places.
How in the world does her brain work?
She was seated on a chair by the window, scanning through a book. It was an unusual sight, namely because I rarely saw her on the ground. Normally, she was perched at the top of a ladder propped up against one of the shelves. I had to crane my neck to see the title on the cover. Since she was a girl, I wondered if these kinds of texts didn’t frighten her at all.
A grasshopper suddenly sprang through the window, landing directly on top of her head as if intending to rest its wings there.
Should I be a gentleman here and get rid of it for her?
I didn’t have long to contemplate because it hopped down onto the opened pages of her book.
Okay, girls absolutely hate insects, so this is my chance. Once she screams, I’ll swoop in and—
The young Elianna snatched the grasshopper up in her hand and released it out the window. She then promptly returned to her reading as if nothing had happened. It was over in the blink of an eye. I didn’t even get a chance to save her.
Behind me, my chamberlain was struggling desperately to hold in his laughter after watching me fail spectacularly.
How annoying. As if anyone could have anticipated the way she handled that.
As I sulked, I tried to puzzle out why she was reading such a book. It was written for children, but the contents were hair-raisingly scary.
Wait, but I’m pretty sure the author was involved in medicine in his past. That must be why she’s reading it.
I nodded to myself, pleased with the answer I’d produced.
No, wait a minute.
What was wrong with me? Did I fancy myself some kind of boy detective, feeling some kind of achievement from working out this girl’s mysteries? My real objective in the beginning was to solve the enigma that was Elianna Bernstein. But I suddenly started questioning myself. Why did I feel such a desire to do that in the first place? I’d met plenty of other eccentric people before. There were others with odd personalities that piqued my interest—people of all ages and genders. What made this girl so special? Was it because she came up with the idea of wanting a library made of doctors? Or was it because she helped close the rift between my mother and me? Or was it because she had such a drastically different point of view and taught me so much?
