IFLDMHF | Chapter 97

Episode 97

One day, Delano said he had a bit of free time and told Euclid to take a break with me.

And then.

— Delano, have you finished the Seprique Mountain Range report I requested two days ago?

— Ah… I’ll wrap it up right away and submit it.

Euclid made a perfectly legitimate work request that wasn’t easy to dismiss, effectively shutting him up.

As this situation repeated itself, Delano seemed to sense that something was off.

Whenever I visited, he would quietly roll his eyes, gauging the atmosphere, and before I knew it, he started pretending not to notice me.

At this point, I couldn’t help but feel it clearly.

The fact that Euclid was keeping his distance from me.

‘This just makes me visit Anne more and more.’

While it was partly to spend time together, ultimately, it was for Euclid’s sake.

If both Delano and I noticed it, there was no way Anne—who was sensitive to matters concerning me—wouldn’t notice as well.

If word spread to Gold or Black through Anne, those overly loyal to me might start looking at Euclid with suspicion.

So today, I deliberately didn’t go to see Euclid.

It was to avoid making Anne think he was constantly pulling me away.

‘Honestly, I was feeling a bit discouraged, too.’

If it were someone else, I wouldn’t care, but being repeatedly rejected by my kind and affectionate favorite hit harder than I expected.

Anyway, I also felt the need to read, so I planned to spend time in the library.

But when the children heard I was going, they asked if they could come along.

Of course, I had no reason to refuse.

Just as we were about to arrive at the library—

“No, I’m right!”

“Dior! Why are you being so stubborn?”

“Sniff, you’re the fool, Sister!”

I heard the voices of the children who had arrived earlier than expected.

Wait… were they fighting?

I widened my eyes in surprise.

Marianne and Dior were as close as siblings could be—almost ideal, in my opinion.

‘Maybe it’s just because I’ve seen the typical bad sibling relationships at Basilian Duchy.’

Regardless, it was rare for Marianne and Dior to argue so heatedly, so I hurriedly opened the library door.

“Hic!”

“A-Aunt? You’re here already?”

The children, who had been bickering loudly just moments ago, were startled at the sight of me and immediately watched my reaction.

I stiffened for a moment.

‘Wait… I thought you liked me?’

I had believed I had grown quite close to the children.

It had even been a comforting balm to the wound from Euclid.

But now, the kids who used to smile brightly whenever they saw me suddenly looked awkward and tense.

I wasn’t sure if I felt betrayed or just disappointed, but the shock was real.

Still, as an adult, I couldn’t just pettily ask why they were acting like this, nor could I immediately change my expression and demand to know what they were fighting about.

“…Alright. Let’s all read our books.”

So, I pretended to know nothing and spoke indifferently, as if telling them not to bother worrying about me.

Meanwhile, I racked my brain, trying to figure out why the children were suddenly keeping their distance.

Had Euclid said something to them?

Then, a possible reason for their argument crossed my mind.

— Dior, promise your uncle. From now on, unless it’s an emergency, don’t use the secret passage.

Once Dior learned about the existence of the secret passage, his curiosity got the better of him, and he started exploring the ducal castle every day.

But no one knew what kinds of mechanisms were hidden inside, and there was always the risk of him getting lost outside the castle if he took a wrong turn.

Not to mention, the servants couldn’t track his movements properly, wasting their efforts, and worst of all, there was a chance that the existence of the secret passage could be exposed.

Most importantly, the Rudion Duchy, which had always remained closed off, had recently opened its doors due to Gold’s visit.

‘Honestly, that was because of me.’

I had ordered Gold to replace all the castle’s interior decorations, bedding, and clothing according to the changing seasons.

The servants, who had initially worried about wasting money as the weather turned cold again, were now pledging their loyalty while enjoying the comfort of new, lightweight garments instead of quilted clothes.

‘Of course, the children, who were naturally resistant to the cold, were also very pleased.’

Besides the merchants I had summoned, there had been a wave of external visitors due to ongoing castle renovations and the rebuilding of the knight order.

From Euclid’s perspective, it was only natural that he had to stop Dior.

Forced to end his adventures, Dior was so dejected that he even stopped visiting the library.

Perhaps returning today had stirred up his emotions again.

Maybe Marianne scolded him for holding onto his regrets, and that’s how their fight started.

Thinking along those lines, I wondered if the children saw me as the reason for their discomfort today.

‘But they were the ones who wanted to come with me!’

While I was feeling unjustly wronged, Marianne awkwardly asked,

“Aunt, what book are you going to read?”

“Hmm? I was just about to pick one.”

Recalling my reason for coming to the library belatedly, I quickly picked up my pace.

Although I had somehow adapted well to life after transmigrating, a lingering sense of unease remained in the back of my mind due to my lack of basic knowledge about the empire’s common sense or history.

Especially now that the credibility of the original story had started to falter, relying solely on it could lead to a serious mistake in the future.

So, I headed straight to the bookshelves categorized under the continent’s history and mythology.

Wherever you go, mythology and history are always the foundation.

Perhaps even the issue of the abnormal climate could have a precedent hidden within history.

Suppressing my anticipation, I diligently browsed through the books when I suddenly felt sparkling gazes from both sides.

I had even moved away to let them read comfortably, so why were they following me?

‘Children really are difficult to understand.’

As I pretended to be unfazed and continued scanning the books, I noticed something odd.

The Rudion Ducal Library, being large in scale, had an extensive collection of historical books, but strangely enough, there were barely any books on the founding period of the Elios Empire.

This was the family of the founding wizard who had aided the first emperor, no less.

‘I thought they would have at least dozens of biographies featuring the first family head as the protagonist, but this is strange.’

Could they have been collected separately, like a dedicated archive?

Tilting my head in curiosity, I searched the shelves further and finally found a single book that appeared to be for children.

Then, I gathered numerous history books covering both the pre- and post-founding periods and returned to my desk.

As expected, the children who had followed me sat down but didn’t read their own books. Instead, they kept staring at me intently.

‘They’re even sneaking glances at the titles of my books, so maybe they’re just curious about what I’m reading?’

Concerned that they might feel uncomfortable, I quietly spread out the books I had brought on the desk instead of saying anything.

As expected, their bright eyes immediately showed interest.

Just as I was taking my time, pretending to contemplate which book to start with so the children could browse comfortably—

“Oh! I’ve read this before!”

Dior excitedly pointed at one of the books and exclaimed.

As I had expected, it was the children’s book I had barely managed to find—The Founding of Elios.

“This book is really fun! Right, Nuna?”

At Dior’s question, Marianne nodded. Then, feigning indifference but with a subtle hint of pride, she added,

“Well, of course. It was written by the first family head. Obviously, it’s interesting.”

Huh? The first family head wrote this book?

And it’s a magic book?

Startled, I checked the cover, and sure enough, the author was Garcia Rudion, the first Duke of Rudion.

Blinking in surprise at the unexpected discovery, I suddenly noticed something written on the front cover that hadn’t been on the book’s spine.

I looked at the title once again.

The Founding of Elios—for Rudion