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Serina casting a suggestion on Mirabilis didn’t change her daily life. Serina was still a court lady of the Rose Palace, so she had to serve Mirabilis during the day and sleep in her room at night. The small, solitary room where Serina slept alone was almost unchanged from when she first entered the palace three years ago.

The small stone space had a small window, a bed made of straw and grass, and a meager wooden chair placed neatly. The smell of straw that greeted her nose when she opened the door was still the same. The only changes were that the court lady uniform had been worn for the past three years and had become well-worn, and that a book by Bingalsa had been brought in.

‘Because of this book…’

Serina picked up the book. She had held and read it every day for the past few months, and somehow the cover had become a little worn. No matter what happened to her fate in the future, she couldn’t deny that meeting the magic book was a crucial turning point in her life.

Her mindset had also changed. As Serina’s mind, which had been confined, worn down, and turned gray within the limited space of the Rose Palace, gained composure and confidence, a slight color returned. Although it was a dark reddish color mixed with a considerable amount of malice, she felt an ecstatic joy that she had never experienced in her life.

A twist that suddenly intervened in Serina’s life, which had not been able to escape the range that could be predicted by the wisdom of ordinary people. If this was called ‘deviation,’ then deviation may have already been determined from the moment Serina first picked up Bingalsa’s book.

‘Let’s put it back.’

She had also considered sending the book to her family home or burning it. But she was worried that even Bingalsa, who probably died decades ago, might be exhumed and decapitated if things went wrong. Therefore, Serina had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

If Serina carelessly sent Bingalsa’s book, which was also evidence that she had learned hypnosis magic, to her family home, she might ruin her family. But she couldn’t bring herself to burn it because it was too precious.

The next day, Serina took some time off and entered the Rose Palace’s library. It was a facility that originated from the books personally collected by the previous owner of the Rose Palace, separate from the huge imperial library built by imperial order. Although it could not be compared to the grand scale of the imperial library, the Rose Palace library, which started as the imperial family’s private library, was not small either, so a librarian was appointed to manage it separately.

In the Rose Palace, located in a corner of the deep palace, the most monotonous job, the one least related to success, and the one with the fewest opportunities to meet high-ranking people was the librarian. A person who couldn’t achieve success but also wouldn’t incur anger.

The current librarian of the Rose Palace, Iverenos-ssi, raised his half-gray head and looked at Serina, lifting his monocle made of carved crystal. He was a person from whom the smell of the library seemed to emanate even from his breath. His firmly closed, thick lips revealed the stubbornness and loneliness of a man who had no choice but to live among books rather than people for the past few decades.

“It’s been a while, Court Lady-yang. Your impression has changed a lot in the meantime.”

“I often relied on you before, Librarian-nim, even though I didn’t read the books properly.”

The librarian snorted and smiled with the corners of his eyes.

“Didn’t you rely more on the wall inside than on me? So, are you here to read a book?”

Something Serina wanted to ask suddenly came to her mind.

“Librarian-nim, how long have you been working at the Rose Palace?”

“Me? It’s already been 30 years… I was able to enter at a young age thanks to the connections of the previous librarian. Mullaba-ssi also entered the palace around that time.”

The lonely librarian’s gaze seemed to chase the past towards the other side of the sky. Serina’s gaze followed him for a moment, but there was nothing there.

“Do you happen to know the librarian who worked here 70 years ago?”

“70 years ago? Then it would be around the time of my predecessor, or my predecessor’s predecessor… Why are you asking about that?”

Iverenos-ssi tilted his head, facing a strange question he had never received in his life. Serina couldn’t possibly say that she had stolen a book from a librarian who used to work at the Rose Palace and came to return it, so she made up a story on the spot.

“Before I entered the palace as a court lady, I met a little kid. He told me that his grandfather or great-grandfather was originally a wizard but worked as a librarian at the Rose Palace. He said that he was a descendant of a palace person, you know. So I was just curious.”

The librarian laughed heartily, deepening the wrinkles on his middle-aged skin. Serina wondered, ‘Is this funny?’

“Why would a wizard become a librarian at the Rose Palace? It’s like putting a golden lock on a pigsty. I’ve never heard of a wizard being a librarian until today.”

“Well… he was so poor as a wizard that he couldn’t make a living and was starving, so he became a librarian by chance.”

Hearing Serina’s words, the ghost of the library snapped his fingers. The sound echoed through the quiet library. Ttak.

“Ah, is it that person?”

Serina was curious, thinking that Bingalsa’s identity was being revealed like this. She brought a chair and sat down nearby to listen, but Iverenos-ssi’s words were different from what she expected.

“There was someone who the predecessor’s predecessor librarian brought with him. He did some librarian work, but he wasn’t a formal librarian. In those days, a lot of books were coming into the Rose Palace library, and the building was being renovated, so there was a lot of work to do, and one librarian couldn’t handle it all, so he brought someone from somewhere to use as an assistant.”

That person was smart and greatly contributed to establishing the structure of the library and creating rules for classifying books. The predecessor’s predecessor librarian originally intended to use him only for a short time, but because of his usefulness, he taught him librarian work and made him an assistant librarian. Nevertheless, he was not a formal palace person of the Rose Palace.

“Court Lady-yang, this library is… like a place of exile in the palace, like a desolate place. There was no one who came to the Rose Palace librarian without a story. To enter the palace only to become a librarian!”

Iverenos-ssi’s voice gradually gained strength. It was an explanation to the court lady in front of him, and also a lament full of resentment that he had never told anyone else. Serina couldn’t dare to say anything and listened quietly.

“A librarian is someone who does the same routine of managing books until it’s ingrained in their bones. From the day you become a librarian, wealth and glory are nothing more than illusions. Even if it’s cheap alcohol, it’s better than water, but Court Lady-yang, how can you not have resentment in your heart when you come and go to the palace every day and see and hear things?”

Iverenos-ssi unknowingly pounded his chest with his fist and stopped talking for a moment. Realizing that he was lamenting his situation in front of a court lady he barely knew, who was much younger than him, the old librarian swallowed his sorrow along with his saliva. Serina couldn’t laugh at such a sight because Bingalsa and the old librarian were somewhat similar types.

“So the management was a bit lax for generations, and thanks to that, there was an assistant librarian for a short time. It was a ghost-like position that was created by the librarian’s discretion and never officially existed.”

The librarian corrected the topic and continued to speak.

“No matter how unrelated a librarian is to success, he is still someone who has formally entered the palace. If you properly consider the person who worked as an assistant librarian, he was no different from a handyman who worked at the Rose Palace for a short time. That ‘short time’ was quite long though… No one remembers his name, and there are no documents. The predecessor librarian would have known his name, but he’s already passed away. The assistant librarian probably lied to his children that he had formally entered the palace.”

“I see…”

Serina’s body lost strength for no reason. After all, a person who hid his real name and worried about being exhumed and decapitated would not have made it so easy to find out his identity.

“If a wizard came to the Rose Palace library, that person’s life must have been quite unfortunate.”

The librarian’s eyes after finishing speaking seemed to be mocking himself. Serina couldn’t dare to say anything more to Iverenos-ssi and quietly put Bingalsa’s book back in its original place and returned. When Bingalsa’s book was placed on the shelf, it turned back into a blank page and fell asleep, just like when Serina first saw it.

After hearing his words, the stories of Bingalsa and the old librarian did not disappear from Serina’s mind for several days.

****************

Padrentia always enjoyed tea. Although her half-sister Mirabilis didn’t leave the Rose Palace’s territory often, Padrentia often had her court lady pack tea sets and set up a table in a quiet and scenic place in the palace to drink tea when the weather was nice and she didn’t have any appointments to meet other guests. She usually did this in the Chrysanthemum Palace’s garden, but sometimes she left the Chrysanthemum Palace and drank tea in the main palace’s garden or backyard.

Padrentia cherished Supanita among the court ladies under her. He had become familiar with the palace enough to shed the ‘newcomer’ label, and he liked to befriend people to the point of being absurd. Among the court ladies under Padrentia, his family was of low status, but there were few people who could speak ill of him.

It wasn’t just because he was a noble. The court ladies under Padrentia were all daughters of families with considerable power, so it was difficult to exert power over someone like Supanita.

His real weapon was his sociability. Because of his personality that brushed off even considerable malice and approached without hesitation, even if someone treated him hostilely once or twice, they would gradually allow him to approach with a feeling that they couldn’t spit on a smiling face, and before they knew it, Supanita was standing next to them.

Even if they tried to argue with him intentionally, their malice would subside when they saw his face smiling brightly and apologizing after listening to everything they had to say.

Padrentia liked his personality very much, not only as a human Padrentia but also as Princess Padrentia.

But sometimes even Padrentia wanted to push him away and be alone. Padrentia called him, told him to pack the tea sets, went to the main palace’s backyard to set up the table, and told him to go somewhere else to rest and come when she called him because she wanted to be alone. He didn’t find it particularly strange because his master did that sometimes, and he retreated as he was told.

The main palace’s backyard. A place prepared where the Emperor handles state affairs, and it is difficult for anyone other than direct imperial family members or nobles who are greatly trusted to enter. Padrentia quietly drank tea in the shade of the main palace, avoiding the sunlight.

A dragonfly gently landed on the table where Padrentia was sitting and lowered its wings. The princess’s eyes scanned the small flying insect in front of her with interest. The dragonfly was an insect that was quite like a fierce beast among the flying creatures, not just flying animals.

She was curious about the insect’s net-like wings, surprisingly rough legs, and sleek body in front of her. Just as she was about to reach out her finger with the curiosity of whether it would lend her its wings, the dragonfly moved its head full of compound eyes, shook its wings, and flew away with a whoosh.

Padrentia stopped her finger in the air and followed the insect with her eyes as if she was disappointed. The movements of the flying insect drawing dotted trajectories in the blue sky remained like afterimages.

It was always like that. Like the dragonfly that flew away just now, many people found it difficult to approach him and quickly left when he tried to approach them. There are always many people around Princess Awimika, but how many of them truly like the human Padrentia?

Padrentia could only think of Amitale-ssi as such a person. If she could meet a man she could love, like in the novels circulating in the world, would she be able to alleviate this loneliness? Padrentia smiled bitterly at the girlish thought that briefly crossed her mind.

If possible, she wanted Supanita to become the second person she could open her heart to. But if she had to use him, she would use him without hesitation. Padrentia was a princess of the empire, and she was deeply proud of herself.

A thud sound near Padrentia’s feet broke her reverie. When she turned her gaze downwards, she saw a stone with a piece of paper tied to it. It seemed to have been thrown towards him from the other side of the backyard, but Padrentia didn’t care and reached out to pick up the stone.

The paper had a single line: “We have secured the candidates as you ordered.” The handwriting was crooked and the lines were uneven as if it was written with the left hand to hide the handwriting, but there was no problem reading it.

Padrentia nodded and tore the paper into pieces with both hands. She tore it into small pieces that were difficult to read two, three, four times, then got up from her seat and threw some of them in the corner of the backyard and let some of them fly away in the wind.