Chapter 119
* * *
“I hope I can do well and pass until the end.”
If that happens, everyone lody likes will be happy together. Above all…
“I’ll be happy.”
Because it would an she had accomplished sothing great.
Thinking about a positive future, she found herself smiling more and more.
“I must not let my guard down just yet!”
lody quickly consoled herself, trying to regain her composure.
Soon, the officials said, “We’ll see you tomorrow morning,” and left the conference room. The maids started to guide the candidates to their assigned archives.
lody quickly grabbed her bag and followed a maid.
Passing through the corridors and stepping outside, she saw several small buildings spaced evenly apart. They all looked the sa and had no signs in front of them.
It seed like a person visiting for the first ti could easily get lost since there were no landmarks.
This was probably done intentionally to make it difficult for anyone other than the staff to find a specific archive, preventing unauthorized access.
lody closed the gap between her and the maid a bit more.
It would be a big problem if she got lost while gawking around.
The maid stopped in front of one of the archives, which seed to be the place assigned to lody.
“Then.”
She bowed slightly and handed over a large key.
“Please take good care until tomorrow morning.”
“Am I allowed to take this key?”
“Yes. You should return it to the official who cos tomorrow morning. And until then, you are strictly forbidden from going far from the archive.”
lody had heard that she would be in charge of an archive, but she hadn’t thought she would be given a key as well.
The archive contained the history of the country, its very essence.
lody bowed slightly and extended her hands respectfully.
“It’s an honor.”
The heavy key made a jingling sound as it was handed over to lody.
The cold touch of the key sohow gave her goosebumps.
After the maid left, lody stood in front of the firmly closed door and nodded slightly, saying, “Okay.”
She inserted the key and turned it, unlocking the door without much difficulty. However, it took quite a bit of effort to pull the large door open.
Struggling, she finally opened it enough to enter.
A chill wind, uncharacteristic of sumr, blew through the gap.
Sowhere dry…
Since it felt similar to the sensation she had experienced in Jeremiah’s room, lody thought this was the work of magic.
And soon, she could sll the dense fragrance of books. The unique scent emanating from paper filled with ti.
lody loved this sll very much, so she slightly lifted her nose to deeply inhale it into her heart.
‘I shouldn’t leave the door open for too long.’
lody quickly entered and firmly closed the door, making sure not to forget to lock it completely.
‘This seems like it could be fun.’
She also had a good feeling about it.
She turned around and looked at the nurous bookshelves lined up side by side, feeling a ticklish sensation in her heart.
And her nose felt ticklish too.
“…?”
Why does my nose feel ticklish? she wondered. Just then,
“Achoo!”
She sneezed loudly.
Feeling a runny nose, she blew her nose into a handkerchief and looked around again.
‘This place is…’
lody finally realized one important fact.
“…It’s covered in dust!”
After complaining, another big sneeze followed.
It was because the magical wind carrying dust leisurely passed by her side.
* * *
In reality, the archive wasn’t very dirty. It was just that dust accumulated quickly because there were many books.
Fortunately, cleaning supplies were prepared, so lody started cleaning right away.
First, she climbed up a large bookshelf one by one on a ladder, wiping off the dust from each section.
It wasn’t too difficult since it seed it hadn’t been long since the last cleaning, with only a little white dust coming off.
However,
‘There are too many bookshelves.’
lody sighed lightly as she dragged the heavy ladder around.
Now she understood why this test was until tomorrow.
It seed like a kind of consideration, giving ample ti because there was a lot to clean.
While she was busily working, she heard a knock from outside the archive.
Could it be the officials coming for an inspection? lody quickly climbed down from the ladder and struggled to open the door again.
There was no one outside. Instead, a neatly prepared al was placed on a trolley.
Looking up after a long ti…
There was a red sunset descending in the sky.
‘It’s already evening.’
I haven’t done anything but clean.
I didn’t even properly check what books are in this archive.
lody brought the trolley inside and then firmly locked the door again.
She cleaned her hands and face with the warm wet towel provided, and picked up a sandwich filled with ham and vegetables.
‘Maybe I’ll eat while looking around.’
Walking around with food wasn’t really suitable for a lady from a noble family. But since there was no one here, it should be fine, right?
Moreover, observing the archive a bit more could be advantageous for the exam.
lody held the sandwich in both hands and slowly walked between the bookshelves.
Crumbs might fall on the floor, but since she would clean the floor later anyway, she wasn’t particularly worried.
“Hmm, all these books were written in the sa year.”
It might have been a coincidence, but they were all records from the year lody was born.
Even though it was just a small commonality, it instantly made lody feel good.
Each bookshelf was essentially organized by region, and each section was arranged in chronological order.
‘They’ve organized it very ticulously.’
After all, all these records will be sealed for 100 years and passed down to future generations.
With such a volu, neatly organizing everything was essential.
After quickly finishing one side of the sandwich, lody went back to the entrance. She was still hungry and thought she should eat the other half as well.
“Huh?”
But the sandwich she had definitely left on the plate was nowhere to be seen.
‘Did I make a mistake?’
No, even if she was hungry, lody wouldn’t have miscounted her food.
Everyone from the Higgins family must consider their als important and make sure to eat well, as per their rule.
‘Did the wind blow it away?’
It seed unlikely that the gently blowing wind could do such a thing…
Still, just in case, lody checked around the trolley.
Of course, nothing had fallen.
As if the magically clever wind felt wronged, it playfully tousled lody’s hair as it passed by.
‘Could there be mice?’
No, that absolutely couldn’t be the case.
If there were mice in such a precious archive, it would be a disaster.
“Then what could it be?”
At that mont, lody felt a chill run down her back.
Just then, the red sunset began to fall through the bars of the high windows, turning blood-red.
It was a beautiful sight, but perhaps because she was seized by a strange fear, it seed frightening.
It felt as if… there was another presence in the bookshelves besides herself.
“Miss lody, have you heard? They say there are a great many ghosts in the palace. The resentful spirits of loyal subjects and royals who died unjustly are said to linger.”
One rainy night.
The story Claude had told ca to mind.
At the ti, she had scoffed, saying, “That’s ridiculous,” but now, it seed very credible.
Isn’t it clear from the history she had learned?
There have always been those who t untily, unjust deaths.
Especially the year lody was born, sothing trendous had happened.
It was the spring day when her mother struggled to find a place to give birth, moving from house to house.
The Emperor’s half-brother, Prince Samuel, had gone down to his maternal family’s estate, the Earl of Gris.
And when he arrived safely…
An incident occurred where Prince Samuel’s mother, the Dowager Empress, and the Earl of Gris conspired to assassinate the Emperor.
Because of this, the earldom was stripped of all titles and honors, and those directly involved were executed on the spot.
If it had ended there, it might have been sowhat bearable.
Enraged at being betrayed by his most beloved brother, the Emperor slaughtered the entire household and all the servants in the palace who had been attending to Prince Samuel.
All these deaths unfolded before Prince Samuel’s eyes.
Seized with fear, Prince Samuel insisted until the end, “I knew nothing,” shedding tears, but the Emperor did not believe him.
Instead, unable to kill his brother whom he had cherished since childhood, he sent him to the barren lands of the North, “Kristonson.”
Prince Samuel was sentenced to live without any contact with others, except for a minimal retinue for his upkeep.
He would have no friends or neighbors, and even marriage would be forbidden for life.
Anyway, that sumr, anyone found to have even the slightest connection to Prince Samuel was put to death.
“And here…”
The records of those horrific deaths must be full.
With that thought, the pleasant feeling lody had from being born in that year vanished.
“…No, it’s okay.”
lody clutched her pocket watch tightly, consoling herself not to be seized by deep fear.
And soon, she realized her father’s words were true.
That the old watch would be of great help to her.
Relying on it, her fear subsided, and a calm mind returned.
lody gripped the rag she had been using to wipe the bookshelves monts ago.
She intended to continue cleaning, but then she rembered sothing important.
The sunset was falling, which ant that deep darkness would soon arrive.
‘Since I’m to stay here until tomorrow morning, there must be sothing to light up the place sowhere around here.’
lody looked around for a mont. Then, she spotted a desk placed in the deepest part of the area beyond the bookshelves.
At a glance, seeing that there were writing tools, it seed likely there would be tools to light a fire as well.
lody walked towards it, still holding the rag.
Creak, creak.
With every step, an unpleasant noise ca from the wooden floor.
Perhaps it had been there since she first entered, but it seed lody only now realized it.
She tried her best to ignore it, but…
Creeeak.
The continuing noise inevitably caught her attention.
Creak, creak, creak, creak.
Moreover, it seed…
As if it were coming from a slightly distant place as well.
As though another presence was moving around in the archive.
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