Bibliophile Princess: Volume 4: Awaiting and Wishing, page 4
This was a shock to me. Not once since I had come to the capital had I noticed the general supporting me in the background. At the same time, it made a certain amount of sense. The Bernsteins were known for little else other than their love of books and didn’t have a very strong position at court. I didn’t believe what His Highness had said about selecting me as a way to balance warring political factions had been a complete lie, though. Nonetheless, Sauslind was relatively stable compared to the other countries on the continent. A recommendation from a prominent figure would be essential for convincing the other senior statesmen that I was a safe choice.
I stood there, feeling a bit lost.
The general’s expression soured as he spat indignantly, “Back then, some emerging noble from the capital came to see me, acting dismissive of the Bernsteins. He asked, ‘Do you know Elianna Bernstein?’ Sounded so high-handed and pompous that I told him, ‘I, Theoden Bakula, can vouch for her character.’ I had no idea he was there doing a background check on her to see if she was qualified to marry the prince.”
Oh goodness... The surprises never ceased. I cupped a hand over my mouth.
Apparently he’d been very worried about me when I debuted into society. He’d feared, seeing as how oblivious I was of the ways of the world and noble society, that I might land myself in trouble. Given how unambitious the Bernsteins were, there were many greedy nobles who saw us as eyesores, making us an easy target.
“Grandpa Teddy,” I murmured quietly.
It was little wonder why then, after being visited by an uppity noble, the elderly general had responded emotionally without thinking the situation through.
He was trying to protect me?
A warmth welled up in my chest. I tried to approach him again, but a hand around my waist stopped me.
The prince had his usual business-like smile on, but there was nothing friendly in his voice as he spoke. “Persistence must be a characteristic unique to the elderly. I even willingly agreed to all of the conditions set before me and never once used your name or the hidden name of the Bernsteins. Eli and I worked together, using our own strengths to gain her acceptance and acknowledgment from the people. Although, I suppose having obstacles to stand in our way has only helped our love grow even stronger. Right, Eli?” He kept me in his embrace as he leaned forward, peeking into my face.
The close proximity had me flustered. “Uh, um...”
The elderly general in front of us, who had more or less been called a hindrance just now, groused, “Orphen! What kind of education have you been giving your pupil?!”
“Hohoho,” the wise man chuckled. “What can I say? He came to me this way.”
Grandpa Teddy shook his head. “Hmph. That merciless, underhanded approach seems too similar to be a coincidence.”
“Merciless? Whatever do you mean?” The two seemed to be old acquaintances and quickly launched into a casual back-and-forth.
Meanwhile, as if to add more fuel to the fire, the prince innocently asked me, “Eli, do you know what the saying is for these kinds of people?”
I blinked back at him.
A grin spread on his lips. “‘The devil’s children have the devil’s luck.’ In other words, bad people tend to thrive the most.”
The three elderly men turned their gazes back to the prince.
Nearby, we could hear the echo of Earl Eisenach as he berated the guards he’d gathered up. “The only person besides Glen to win two bouts was the prince? This is unacceptable!” He scowled at them. “The imperial guard’s duty, its very existence is for the purpose of protecting the capital and the royal family. Maldura’s delegation is on their way. Do you really think we can welcome our archenemies here with you in this state? You lack motivation!”
My heart thudded, though this time for a very different reason. This was why the Black Wing Knights had come to the capital. This was why the prince had taken the initiative to show his prowess at the sword when he normally abstained.
I could hear the footsteps of dread and anxiety creeping up behind me, but they were drowned out by the passion in Earl Eisenach’s voice. “Second division, you lot are attached to the prince and will have the most interaction with Maldura’s delegation. You lack determination, grit, and motivation! I want you outside running laps. On the double!”
A panicked voice of protest rang out instantly—the ginger-haired knight, Lord Glen. “Father! Uh, sorry, I mean, General! While I understand where you’re coming from, you’re asking the impossible. Do you want to have men sent to the infirmary with frostbite?!”
“See, it’s exactly that naive attitude of yours that caused your men to lose. The Black Wing Knights traveled through that blizzard to get here. Don’t get weak at the knees over a bit of snow! You need motivation! And guts!”
“Since when did you start buying into the ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’ nonsense?!”
The two launched into what was essentially a family quarrel as the rest of the knights stood around and watched. Vice Commander Zack, who had come to retrieve me earlier, lamented to himself, “Nothing I did mattered...”
As the prince continued bantering with the three elderly men, I gently slipped my hand over the one he had around me. It was almost as if I was unconsciously clinging to him, hoping to borrow from that steadfast confidence he displayed.
Chapter 3: Seeds of Anxiety
After everyone left, I decided to head to my usual spot, traversing the corridors with my manservant close behind me. Grandpa Teddy and the Black Wing Knights had left to meet with the king and queen, who hadn’t been able to receive them personally since they’d arrived ahead of schedule. A chamberlain had come to fetch the prince, urging him along to change out of his sweat-soaked garments.
Now that it was only me and Jean, I found myself steeped in thought. Suddenly, a suspicion occurred to me, and I turned to my manservant and asked, “Do you not like Grandpa Teddy?”
“Huh? What’re you on about this time?”
“I’ve noticed this for a while now, but every time he comes to visit, you disappear off somewhere,” I said. “Did he say some harsh things to you before?”
“Ah.” My tall, gangly manservant paused to scratch the top of his head. His drowsy eyes narrowed as he looked at me. “He probably figured I wasn’t suited to work at the Bernstein estate. Started drillin’ me about my work history n’stuff.”
“Your work history?” I echoed, eyes widening.
“Yep,” he said, sounding bored with the conversation already.
I eyed him curiously. “But Jean...I thought you came to us through Earl Grantham’s recommendation, from the region right beside us? Isn’t that where you’re from?”
“Yep.”
The lack of interest he displayed only served to pique mine, especially for how long we had known each other.
As my mind landed on one possibility, my feet froze in place. I rounded on my heel to face him, expression turning serious as I addressed him. “Jean...”
The moment he saw me scrutinizing him, he steeled himself as he always did, suspicious of what I would say next.
I decided to get right to the heart of the matter of why he had really come to the Bernsteins’ region. “Did you eat at a sweets store then run out without paying your bill?”
“What?!” His voice almost sounded hysterical as he shrieked at me.
I remained matter-of-fact as I pressed further. “There must have been a reason why Grandpa Teddy was asking you about your history. Did you do something to get you driven out of the Grantham’s region? It’s not too late to confess, Jean. I promise, I will go with you and we can apologize to the owner together.”
“Why does him questionin’ me automatically make you assume I’m some kinda criminal who eats without payin’?!”
“Because,” I deadpanned, “you love sweets.”
For a long time now, Jean would polish off any sweets I received when I attended tea parties. Each time, he gave the curious pretext that he was “testing them for poison,” though I hardly believed him.
“Or perhaps...” I decided to test the next possibility I had considered. “Did someone catch you taking a nap on the job and fire you?”
He started massaging his temples, giving me the same expression Lord Alexei did when he was battling a migraine. “So the possibilities are I either ate and ran or got fired? That’s it? ’Sides, I don’t think you should be the one nosin’ around in other people’s history, m’lady. I remember, you know. Back when we lived in your family’s region, you kept goin’ to this bookstore religiously after you mistook it for a library. You read every single book they had on their shelves. I heard rumors that because of you, that place closed down.”
“Goodness,” I gasped. Of course, I couldn’t let that misconception continue. “Mister Sebas’s shop closed because there was no one who could inherit it. I purchased every volume he had for our library. Such a shame, though; bookstores like his that deal largely with antiquated literature are rare.”
“And you’re the one who sat around in his store all day readin’ for hours on end.”
My cheeks heated at his accusation, and I leveled a glare at him. I knew bookstores existed back then, but the place had been so desolate. I never spotted any other customers inside. Naturally, I assumed his store was an annex of our library that dealt with ancient tomes. The old man who owned the place was so kind that he let me spend however long I wanted there. In retrospect, I realized that was probably because I was the regional lord’s daughter, and the man was probably only showing deference because of my status.
Jean snorted in derision and I huffed back at him. “If I recall correctly, Head Maid Selma caught you sneaking food and raked you over the coals for it.”
He stared back at me, dumbfounded for a moment, before he barked back (more angrily than I’d anticipated), “What’re you talkin’ about! That all happened because you and Lord Alfred did that old timey food experiment! And who was the only victim of that incident? Me! Because of you two, Miss Selma called me an absolute fool!”
“I would never ‘experiment’ with food. My brother and I simply asked the head chef to try recreating ancient cuisine. You were the only one who ended up with a stomachache, Jean.”
“That’s ’cause I was the only one who made the mistake of eatin’ some of it! Besides, Miss Selma chewed you out, too. She forbade you from ever recreatin’ that old timey food again!”
Feeling indignant, I went silent.
My manservant was panting at this point from all the arguing, a menacing look on his face. The moment I went quiet, he let out an exhausted sigh. “Those old timey people you read about don’t have the same stomachs as those of us livin’ in the present, so just keep that in mind.”
He then launched into a long lament. “Tellin’ me this and that’s similar to acorns and flour and whatnot... Similar my arse.” All I really understood from it was this: Jean was intensely finicky when it came to food.
Once again, Jean let out a deep sigh, as if spilling out all the air his lungs could contain. “I’ll be frank...instead of worryin’ about my history, you should expend all that energy on a certain someone close to you. The world would be a lot more peaceful and happy that way. Besides...” As he mumbled to himself, his drowsy eyes narrowed, a malicious glint hidden deep within. “He’s the one closest to you, and yet he’s the only one who never suffers. Seems odd to me. Misfortune should be split between all of mankind equally. I’m not lyin’ back while they use me as a human experiment. That demon lord’s gonna have to get a taste of my pain. Like having a stomachache so bad that you can’t even eat your favorite food when it’s set in front of you. That grief, that sorrow... Nothing else compares...”
I stared at my manservant as he continued his bizarre mumbling, and suddenly the way I looked at him changed. Had he perhaps received some kind of divine revelation from the heavens while hanging around Orphen’s research society? Or perhaps was the medicine they’d casually slipped into the sweets and tea at the lab starting to show its effects?
As I continued gazing at Jean, I thought to myself, I must inform Orphen about this.
~.~.~.~
The moment I entered the archives, the scent of books teased my nose and tempted my feet to travel further in. Behind me, Jean yawned and wandered off to look for a place to take his afternoon nap.
The same routine as always, I thought to myself as I began searching for the book I desired, navigating the sea of tomes around me that were brimming with knowledge from our forebears. A calm silence had settled over this ocean of shelves, each volume just waiting for me to unseal it and discover the secrets contained within. Among them might lurk a tempestuous whirlpool that could swallow the whole world up in its surging waves. The very thought caused my heart to stutter as I gently glided through the archives’ waters. Around me, the books sang their siren’s song, beckoning me to reach for them. I had to resist the temptation as my lips naturally curled into a smile.
Around the corner of one of the shelves, I caught a voice whispering. “...like that too?”
The hushed question earned a nod from the girl to whom it was spoken. “Yes,” she murmured. I recognized both of their voices. “I could feel the tension in my father’s letter. Our spies’ reports weren’t very promising, and he told me to stay in the capital. For him to say that... Don’t you think it must mean my region’s in danger?”
A gentle voice answered her anxious query, trying to comfort her. “Lady Anna...” Anyone with a discerning enough ear could hear the affection in his voice. He continued, trying to appeal to her sense of reason, “The delegation from Maldura plans to travel the bay and enter the country through Kelk Harbor. I understand why the people of the Edea Domain feel so alarmed, but there’s no need to be so nervous.”
Another low voice joined in to say, “The delegation’s whole motivation for coming is to seek a way to foster good relations between us. I suspect the reason the earl asked you to stay here is because he wants you to watch how things play out for yourself.”
At their reassurance, the woman’s voice sounded more resolved and less panicked than it had moments before. “Yes, you’re right. I apologize for causing such a fuss over something so silly.”
“Not at all. I understand there are many like you at the palace who are feeling tense and uneasy. The only time a delegation from Maldura comes to Sauslind is when they need to clean up after one of the wars they’ve launched on us.” The second man’s calm voice continued, sharing information that almost sounded like it was for my benefit. “Actually, they began approaching us about this visit before the Holy Night’s Banquet. Most likely—and keep in mind this is supposition—after they sounded us out during the Autumn Hunting Festival, they probably decided it’d be wise to make an official visit before the spring.”
“Indeed,” the other man’s gentle voice agreed. “It makes sense. If they plan to attend the prince and Eli’s wedding, it would help if they already have a link here. Though I can’t deny the feeling that we’re being conveniently swept along by their ulterior motives.”
The other man chuckled, his voice low as he cleverly quipped, “Well, that’s why you and the prime minister are formulating a way to bargain an advantageous treaty for us, right? The Financial Affairs Office is also keeping an eye out to see what concessions are made so they can siphon as much money as possible to—oh, how rude of me. I simply heard the head accountant there has been staring at numbers all day, trying to figure out how they might raise tariffs. We have some eccentric people here at the palace. And so...” He turned, directing his words straight at me. “You need only focus on your own duties, Lady Elianna.”
I shrank back in surprise as their attention turned my way. Feeling awkward, I took a few steps forward to reveal myself fully. When I stepped out from the corner, I saw the exact three people I’d expected.
“Eli,” my brother said, extending his arms as he approached.
Lady Anna Hayden also gave a warm nod in my direction, not seeming the least bit upset that I’d rudely eavesdropped on their conversation.
The last of the three was the curator of the archives, Prince Theodore. His eyes looked like ultramarines and his hair had a deep, golden color to it. Part of his allure was his deceptively relaxed disposition which belied his true playful nature. He was also very popular among the women at court.
I shuffled closer and apologized for not announcing myself sooner, but Prince Theodore only smiled and shook his head. “No, I was the one who started this conversation where others might overhear it. I don’t mind.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “The fact that someone dragged you out of the Pharmacy Lab must mean General Bakula arrived, I assume?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting,” he hummed under his breath, contemplating something.
Before I could voice the niggling suspicion I had in my head, my brother offered me a gentle smile as he said, “Prince Christopher certainly does have a talent for pulling out his trump card at the perfect moment.”
As I stared back at him, his ashen eyes softened.
“Those in the military don’t think too fondly of Father,” he explained. “Hearing that Maldura was sending a delegation here only gave their faction more momentum. Some may have planned to use this opportunity to overthrow him. Perhaps they even intended to drive you out. But by revealing that one of their most influential figures is backing you...”
“Now it’s tough for them to make a move,” Lady Anna finished for him, impressed as she nodded to herself. “My father also made it clear he intends to attend your wedding. The military in the east and west have your back, and you have the support of the people as well. Yes, indeed, the prince has set up a solid foundation for you.” Perhaps the reason she was able to make such a calm analysis was also why she was working in the Department of History Compilation. However, it also seemed the presence of those armed forces were part of what had allayed the fears she’d displayed earlier.
