History at the Library

Chapter 24

“Oh, yes, I understand what you mean. That was why I worked hard to be assigned to the library when I first came into the Royal Palace.

The library at the Royal Palace was so big that it easily became laborious to find the books that one wanted. However, the charm laid precisely in its grand size. The feeling of having coincidentally found a jewel after Vivian wandered around. The feeling of going on an adventure made her heart flutter in excitement.

For her, books were guides that transported her into a new world that she would have been unable to experience in her current one.

“Indeed, you know quite a bit.”

She knew that their hobby of wandering about the library for new books would be similar. Vivian grew excited at the thought that she had found something in common with Ray.

“To be honest, my dream is to travel to every corner of the Empire looking for books that are out of print. Well……, since I understand very well that I’m unable to leave the Royal Palace, I’m fulfilling my satisfaction with what I have.”

She couldn’t help but to end the sentence that way and grow depressed. Vivian opened her mouth to refresh the atmosphere that had started to droop.

“Is that fun? It’s philosophy, isn’t it?”

It was a remark that blatantly showed that philosophy was not of her preference. At that, Ray replied expertly as he flipped the page. “I don’t have a clear preference for books. I’m the kind of reader that desires a diverse set of knowledge and opinions.”

“Wow……. At this rate, you’ll end up reading all of the books in the library.”

“I’ve read the vast majority of them.”

“……Excuse me?”

Vivian responded with a question as if she found his words hard to believe and looked around the library. The library was filled with hundreds, thousands, ten thousands of books that made it hard to look at them all in a single glance. In order to read all the books in the library, it seemed like even 200 years would not be enough.

Vivian who had roughly completed the calculations in her head looked at Ray as if she looked at a picky child and replied with a smile, “It seems like you have a preference.”

For the first time since he had sat down, his gaze looked straight towards her.

“Then may I introduce a book that might add to Ray’s knowledge and insight?”

Vivian was filled with the resolve of a librarian to introduce an interesting book to him. It might be a chance to earn points from the stern and disinterested scholar.

“Then, praysay.”

Maybe his reaction came from the curiosity that was peaked at the words of a ‘new book’. Ray willingly put down the book he was reading and turned his attention to her.

“Last time, you had borrowed a romance novel. If you enjoyed reading it, then I would like to recommend this book as well.”

Vivian wasn’t only skilled at giving advice to other’s love lives, but also at book recommendations. As she introduced a new romance novel to Ray, she sought to bring to life the desire for romance in his life that he, himself, didn’t know he had.

“Though it’s the same romance novel, the genre is a little different. In other words, this novel features the combination of two souls one of which is the protagonist who is pure like a flower that blooms even in despair, while the other is…… Oh, oh?”

Vivian was in the middle of her explanation of the plotline of a girl’s suffering and how she handles her first love. However, she felt a sudden chill of a misfortune soon to come.

The cover of the book and the book she was explained to Ray didn’t match.

The sudden instinctive anxiety that told her something definitely went wrong overwhelmed her. Her mouth which had excitedly explained shut closed immediately.

Wait. The cover of the book I’m holding right now looks rather familiar.

The colors that seemed to passionately burn! The moment Vivian had come to a realization, she flinched in surprise and checked the title of the book.

As she started to read the title with a stutter, Ray’s smooth voice could be heard clearly from the other of the table.