Year 352 - Late Fall - Royal Palace: Tercel, Kingdom of Laurel

I met several more nobles in the afternoon. The matters I discussed with the nobles earlier were simply repeated. The usual greetings, the status of my fief and the number of demi-humans living within it, the research and the products produced in my fief, and lastly my marriage candidate. That was all to it if I were asked.

The meetings ended late in the afternoon as I expected. I have Erina to thank for the schedule and the arrangements. Nevertheless, I was not completely freed from my duties on that day… quite unexpectedly so.

“Ah, Lia.” A blonde man, a head taller than me, appeared from the coroner of the hallway during my walk towards my room. 

“It’s nice to see you at this hour.” The man smiled as he approached. Upon reaching a distance of two steps away from me, he placed his right fist to his left chest and made a slight bow. “Although it really hasn’t been long since we last met.”

I pinched the sides of my dress in response and curtsied. “Yes, it hasn’t,” I replied with a strained smile. “However, I was not expecting to meet you here, especially with the current affairs in Brent. And mind you, Prince Maxwell, we are currently not in Academia.”

Maxwell sighed as he scratched the side of his cheek. “We are not, true enough. But we are no strangers. We used to be—”

“We used to be, Prince Maxwell.” I kept a smile as I responded. “Let us leave it at that.”

“...” Maxwell kept his silence as he looked to the side. “I may have said this multiple times, but I’m sorry for what happened back then.”

“...” I looked beyond the window of the corridor as I tried to recall the events from five years back. “It was not your fault to begin with. Neither was it Brent’s. At least, that is what I think and feel.”

“Pardon for my rudeness, Prince Maxwell,” Erina voiced from behind. “Her Highness has finished her tasks for the day and I believe a rest is due.”

“Ah! You are correct, Erina. Thank you.” Maxwell smiled and looked at Erina, expressing gratitude. “Although one last thing, does Lia have a free slot in her schedule?”

“Aren’t you supposed to ask me instead?” I asked.

“Please forgive me, Prince Maxwell, but Her Highness’s schedule is mostly unpredictable as Her Highness remains in Tercel.”

“I see… It’s unfortunate.” Maxwell awkwardly smiled. “Well, then, I’ll see you again.”

“... Yes. I’ll see you.” I replied as Maxwell passed by.

A moment of silence passed by after Maxwell’s footsteps vanished from the hallway.

“Are you okay, Amelia?” Erina whispered.

“I didn’t expect to see Maxwell here in Tercel of all places.” I sighed.

“Your coming of age is near. It’s the least you can expect.”

“Erina, we both know that some nobles still blame Brent on what happened. Majority are somewhat neutral. However, those who see them in a positive light are few.” I took a glance at Erina and muttered, “After all, our engagement would not have been called off due to the circumstances. And the likelihood of re-establishing the engagement is slim.”

“...” Erina kept her silence.

“In any case, let us return.”

I walked down the hallway after erasing any vestige of emotion I had felt during the encounter. I kept a straight face as I usually do. However, after several steps, I felt a sudden pang in my head.

“Urgh...”

I place my fingers on my forehead in response.

“Are you okay?” Erina asked. Her tone hinted warriness.

“Yeah, just a passing pain.” I shook my head and turned my sight back to the hallway. At that, I faint glowing orbs at around the size of marbles. Not too few, not too many. They seemed to flutter like fireflies and moved towards the adjacent pathway.

“Amelia?” Erina asked. “Is something the matter?”

I turned to Erina and said “Did you see some lights?”

“Lights?” Erina knitted her brow.

“Ahh...” I looked at the trail left by the glowing orbs and said, “I have to check something.”

I hastened my pace and followed the trail. 

“Amelia? Where are you going?” Erina asked as she kept up with my pace.

“I remembered something, but I can’t tell.”

“You are supposed to take a rest. Now is not the time to play around.”

“I’m not playing around.” I said as I took another turn to the left. After a few more steps, the trail of light ended in front of a large double door.

The Royal Library? I muttered in thought.  I wonder why the light stopped here… What even was it? I’m pretty sure Erina couldn’t see it.

I took a deep breath and opened the door to the Royal Library.

“It’s as musty as always,” I muttered as the air from inside the library gushed out. 

The door lightly creaked as I pushed it further. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the dark library, I found a familiar figure at the raised platform deep in the library.

“Mother?” I asked myself as I knitted my brows and tilted my head.

I walked towards Mother and passed by several shelves, each reaching up to 3 meters high.

Mother may be sly, but she was never the type who’s good with magic, much less a magic that can only be seen by a select few…

“Mother, it’s been a while.” I mentioned as I curtsied after reaching the top of the platform.

“My, Amelia, what a surprise.” Mother responded. She gestured towards the seat beside her and said, “Come, take a seat.”

I glanced at Erina. She remained at the foot of the platform and kept her face down.

It’s been years… but Mother still hasn't forgiven her entirely…

I sighed and sat at the offered seat.

“I will let that slide,” Mother muttered.

“I am grateful, Mother.” 

Ahh… the pressure…

Mother looked at my eyes directly with her beautiful yet pressure inducing smile.

“It’s rare to see Mother with her hair down. Has something occurred lately?” I asked.

“Oh, indeed, it’s quite rare for you and Argent to see me like this.” Mother placed her fingers over her red lips and chuckled. She then combed her straight hazel-brown hair resting on her right shoulder to her back. “Now, whether something has occurred or not, I believe you have the resources to find out.”

“Yes.” I nodded. “I look into it.”

“That’s good.” Mother smiled in response.

Back then, Mother provided hints to train me and Argent to manage our resources and build up our own way of handling things. However, it was never easy. She usually left Argent and I to scramble for ourselves and piece one information over the other to get a better view of the situation. Borrowing the words from a Hero in the history of mankind, it was spartan. Quite frankly, there was no end to it. This matter was simply one of those tests.

“But Mother, what are you doing here in the library? It’s quite rare for you to visit yourself rather than order a servant for the book you need.”

“There are some books that are best not seen by servants, Amelia. This is one of those cases.”

I nodded. “I see. One of the sealed books.”

“Indeed.”

I trained my eyes over the book on the table. However, I could not see any form of title. At the least, the cover was made from some sort of leather. Probably leather of a beast I have not encountered before.

“What book was that about?”

Mother’s slender fingers caressed the edge of the book. “It’s Laurel’s oldest book.”

“Oldest?” I tilted my head as I asked. “It… doesn’t look like it’s old. And if it’s the oldest… it should be around 250 years old, right? But… it doesn’t look old in any way...”

I expected the book to have some sort of damage or wear. However, I could not see any form of damage whatsoever.

“It’s a special book, you see. We hired a well-known mage once, but even he could not figure out why such a book has sustained it’s appearance over the years.”

“That’s… unexpected.”

If it was a book from at least 250 years back, the existence of magic preservation techniques should have been ruled out. However, despite that, the book is undamaged.

“I understand what you are thinking, Amelia. I had the same thoughts when the book was first shown to me by the Late Queen.”

“Yes, it’s hardly reasonable. However, it might be an outlier case, or at least it should be since I don’t think we can explain the reason behind it.”

“Indeed. Despite that level of preservation, the content of the book is hardly critical for Laurel.”

“What?” I muttered unexpectedly. I quickly covered my mouth in response. “Apologies.”

“I’ll let that slide as well. It’s a fair reaction, after all.”

I leaned slightly forward and said, “Could I see the content?”

“Might as well. You may say it’s related to you more than me.” Mother handed me the book. “After all, it’s the diary of your ancestor. The first silver-haired human.”