“Hehehe. Which book should I read first?”
I gathered cleaning tools and headed towards the library located on the far right of the main building on the third floor, humming a tune.
“Should I start with something about magic, as expected?”
Since I still didn’t know the reason for the sudden increase in mana.
Or perhaps a book about the history of the empire would be good too. It piqued my curiosity as I watched Diana studying from the corner of my eye.
As someone who never received proper education, everything I learned was picked up haphazardly during my guild life.
“Oh! A map.”
It would be good to double-check the location of the mine I planned to earn money from later.
And while I’m at it, I could learn about the Kingdom of Belus.
“Who knows, I might go on a trip later.”
I heard it was a beautiful coastal nation, and Bianca’s letter made me even more curious.
I could ask Bianca directly through a reply I haven’t written yet, but she’s the commander of the Kingdom’s knights. How busy must she be?
“I can’t bother her.”
Nodding my head, I walked with an excited heart for quite a while, and before I knew it, I was in front of the library.
As I pushed open the grand door with force, the well-maintained door opened smoothly.
Inside the library, it was pitch dark without a single light.
Blinking my eyes to adjust to the darkness, I began to vaguely see bookshelves.
I walked straight past the sofa and table in the center, heading towards the window.
Creak!
As I pulled the curtains, bright sunlight poured in, instantly illuminating the once-dark space.
After opening the window wide for ventilation and taking in a deep breath of fresh air, I turned around to prepare for thorough cleaning.
“…!”
I froze in place. I was so shocked that I couldn’t even scream.
Disheveled silver hair, a loosely unbuttoned shirt, books scattered on the floor.
The usual chilly atmosphere had vanished, and there was a man sleeping on the sofa with a strange face…
It was none other than Lucio.
‘Am I going crazy? Why is he here?’
Technically, it was Lucio’s house, so he was free to be wherever he wanted. But I was too shocked, and proper thoughts couldn’t form in my mind.
I pressed my chest to calm my trembling heart.
However, I still couldn’t believe my eyes.
I definitely checked for his presence out of habit when I entered, but I didn’t feel anything.
‘What, what is this! Why is he hiding his presence and sleeping!’
I was so excited that I thought I might have missed something, so I checked again, but it wasn’t the case.
His serene sleeping figure, as if deliberately concealing his presence, was bewildering.
‘Yet, to be so disheveled.’
The Lucio I had seen from the past until now always had neatly arranged clothes without a single wrinkle, and his hair was impeccably groomed. Like a perfectly crafted piece of art without a hint of error.
‘It’s probably because it’s his house.’
That’s why he could sleep in such a comfortable manner.
I realized that I was disturbing his private time, but as if possessed, I approached him stealthily.
My heart raced even more, as if I was doing something naughty.
When I reached near the sofa, I cautiously picked up the books he had dropped.
‘I’ll just put these back and close the curtains again. I can clean later.’
I repeated this in my head and absentmindedly glanced at the cover of one of the books.
How to Befriend Fearful Animals
“….?”
Forgetting the seriousness of the situation, I tilted my head and blinked.
The open part was explaining how to feed dogs.
‘Oh, so that’s his preference… dogs.’
I prefer cats.
Cats with an aloof and playful personality like Diana.
I thought it was an unexpected preference and carefully placed the book on the table.
Despite his seemingly tidy personality, the table he wrote on was piled with newspapers and specialized books that seemed to cover a month’s worth of reading. There were also scattered papers, a fountain pen, ink, and even popular romance novels that didn’t seem to match him at all.
“….”
Although I had met him only a few times, the time I had known Lucio was quite long, so arrogantly, I thought I knew him a little.
But in just a brief moment of peeking into his personal space, everything turned out to be unexpected.
With a slight embarrassment for no reason, I turned my head and looked at Lucio again.
‘So, this man does sleep.’
It was a moment when even the obvious felt new again.
His hair, reflecting the sunlight coming through the window, sparkled like jewels, and his silver eyelashes fluttered.
I impulsively wanted to touch those disheveled strands of hair.
‘I wonder if they’re as thin and soft as Diana’s hair, which I comb every day.’
Come to think of it, Lucio’s neat and delicate facial features with closed eyes looked familiar to me.
Usually, I didn’t notice it because of his cold atmosphere, but now I saw a resemblance to Diana’s gentle face when she was asleep.
And that was when I found myself mesmerized, feeling a strange, fuzzy sensation.
Lucio squinted his eyes against the sun’s warmth.
Without thinking, I raised my hand to shield the sunlight from his face.
But because my hand was so small, the sunlight didn’t cover well.
Feeling a bit disheartened by my uselessness in not being able to shield even a small ray of sunlight, my heart became anxious.
I felt like I should hurry and go to the window, close the curtains, and disappear.
Feeling a tingling sensation in my palm for some reason, I cautiously lowered my hand.
“…Huh?”
I exerted all my strength not to scream and tightly sealed my mouth shut.
Lucio, whom I thought was fast asleep, opened his eyes slightly and was looking at me.
His gaze was as chilly as ice.
“I-I was just… no, I’m sorry…”
Words came out in a jumble, even though they were supposed to be spoken by my mouth.
In my confusion, I stumbled backward.
At that moment, Lucio’s pupils dilated, and he reached out his hand towards me.
Thunk!
With fluttering papers, everything that was on the table fell messily to the floor.
It was because I accidentally grabbed the table while stumbling, causing it to shake.
‘This is the worst.’
I really, sincerely wanted to cry.
I couldn’t understand why I always looked so foolish in front of Lucio.
“I’m sorry.”
I quickly bowed down and picked up the fallen newspapers, books, and papers.
Although the papers he had been writing on were mixed up haphazardly, fortunately, I had briefly glanced at them as I passed by earlier, so I vaguely remembered the rough order.
I didn’t purposely try to remember, but it was a kind of professional habit.
“I thought your major was political science, but it seems you’re also taking law classes.”
As I quickly skimmed through the papers, I found that they contained summaries of past murder cases, possibly for an assignment.
“Here… I’m sorry.”
I swallowed my rising questions and neatly placed the books and papers I had organized on the table.
Lucciolo, who had been observing my actions in silence, took the paper and glanced through it.
“Why are you here?”
“I-I came to clean.”
Upon hearing my words, Lucciolo lowered the paper and scanned the cleaning tools and the open window that I had arranged near the entrance.
“Who told you to clean?”
“Huh? Well, naturally…”
As I was about to say that I was an upper-level maid who assigned tasks, the faces of the maids accompanying her flashed through my mind.
“So you knew. That Lucciolo was here in the library.”
Considering that he was even sleeping here, it was undoubtedly a comfortable place for him.
Despite realizing this, I didn’t feel surprised or betrayed.
Even though we had fought and argued, I had always trusted my comrade without a shred of doubt.
“Probably just lies from the maids who hated me all along.”
I lowered my head and spoke to Lucciolo, who was looking at me intently.
“I didn’t know you were here, my lord. I was about to leave…”
“You didn’t leave immediately after seeing me.”
“…”
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
‘Right, I stumbled right in front of you, fell to the ground, and caused a commotion.’
Sighing deeply, I reluctantly responded.
“I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“For sneaking a peek at you, my lord.”
At that moment, his proud and beautiful face burst into laughter.
‘Are you teasing me now?’
Seems like he has a mischievous side more than I expected.
Feeling a slight sense of embarrassment, I planned to say that I would leave now.
“You know how to read.”
He turned his gaze back to the paper he was holding.
“You seem to know many difficult words. How far did you understand?”
I couldn’t grasp the intention behind his question.
‘Could it be something I shouldn’t know?’
I simply thought it was just an assignment.
My mind became confused in an instant.
“Just a little, honestly, I don’t know much.”
I decided to evade the question for now.
As I bowed my head and prepared to leave quietly, he grabbed me again, as if trying to stop me.
“So you’re running away.”
He opened his mouth again.
“From whom?”
“…”
I didn’t know what to answer, and my mouth went dry. He let out a weak sigh.
Without realizing it, my shoulders twitched.
‘Is he angry, by any chance?’
Finally, I realized that the maids didn’t send me here for no reason.
Throughout the time, the Duke of Elad and his family treated me so well that I unknowingly considered Lucciolo to be a forgiving superior as well.
When I looked at him, trying to read his reaction, his usually cold expression seemed a bit gloomy.
Startled by my ridiculous thought, I raised my head, but Lucciolo shook the bell on the table.
‘Oh… He must be calling someone to scold and chase me away.’
Feeling dizzy, I tightly closed my eyes.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
This chapter was translated by Bree.
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