It had already been a month since I’d been clinging to Liliana, the flower of society.
I thought I had flawlessly become close with Liliana, but I guess I’d accumulated just as much fatigue.
Even though I already woke up late than my wake-up time, my closed eyes couldn’t open easily.
‘I don’t want to do anything. I don’t want to move.’
I was fidgeting on the bed, unable to overcome my desire to sleep in, when I heard someone come in.
“Daisy, are you still sleeping?”
It was Liliana’s voice.
“Sister… What are doing so early in the morning?”
I struggled to open my closed eyes and tried to get up, but she put me back on the bed.
“If you’re tired, you can sleep more.”
“But then I can’t go out with Sister…”
Liliana laughed lightly as if she found it funny that my words were slurred because of my sleepy voice.
She closed my eyes, covered me with a blanket, and whispered softly.
“Sorry, Daisy. I’m here to tell you that I won’t be able to hang out with you for a while.”
Liliana’s words opened my eyes wide.
“Why?”
I almost fell asleep drowsily, but at her words, all my sleepiness was gone.
I got up from my seat and made eye contact with Liliana, wondering whether I had done something wrong or if I’d become a nuisance.
“Oh, my.”
Liliana blinked in surprise and explained.
“I am sorry. I want to spend time with Daisy too, but I have something to do.”
“Something to do?”
At my question, Liliana smiled quietly and nodded.
However, unlike that kind smile, the expression that followed immediately was very fierce.
“I’ll let you know when it’s confirmed later.”
Liliana gently stroked my cheek and soon put me back on the bed.
“So our Daisy, sleep a little longer. You look very tired!”
“I-I’m fine! I’ll go as well…!”
“No, it’s boring so it won’t be fun.”
Liliana patted me a few times and then went out with a stiff expression on her face.
‘W-What’s this?’
I blinked my eyes wide open as I lay on the bed.
‘What’s happening?’
The news that Liliana was suddenly going out alone was quite a shock to me.
‘Are you hiding something?’
I had a reasonable suspicion that she might be going to meet the first prince.
“I can’t stay still like this.”
I jumped out of my seat and immediately called Isabel.
“Yes, Miss. Did you call me?”
At Isabel’s voice, I made sure that there were no people around and closed the door immediately.
Isabel looked at me with a confused expression, so I cleared my throat and asked.
“Do you know where Sister Liliana is going?”
“Miss Lilliana? I didn’t hear it in detail, but it seemed she is going to the Imperial family.”
“I-Imperial family?”
At those words, my eyes trembled violently.
‘Oh, my gosh. She’s going to see the First Prince!’
I guessed the story I saw in my dream was about to begin.
‘Is she going to the Imperial palace, meet the First Prince, and fall in love with him?’
That shouldn’t happen.
Absolutely not!
I turned to Isabel with a determined expression and said.
“I have to go to the Imperial palace.”
“To the Imperial palace? Do you have something to do?”
“…I want to go out to the library.”
Isabel’s eyes sparkled at the useless excuse.
“Oh, my gosh! Are you going out to the Imperial palace alone? Don’t worry! I’ll help you get ready perfectly!”
Isabel quickly ran out of the room humming.
Hearing that she would make me ready soon, I gulped as I looked in the mirror.
‘I-It will be fine, right?’
The fear of heading to an unfamiliar place alone was rising, but since I already said it, there was no turning back.
✲ ✲ ✲
It was surprisingly easy to keep track of Liliana’s movements.
Liliana, who always drew attention, always had her surrounding filled with people.
‘I didn’t expect her to come to the library though.’
I lied to Isabel about going to the Imperial library, but I never imagined that her destination would be the library.
I hid behind the bookshelf and sneaked a peek at Liliana.
I looked suspicious, but no one seemed to care much, probably because there were already a lot of people like that around.
I held up a book I hadn’t read to cover my face and peeked my head out.
Liliana was reading a stack of books I had never seen before, and she seemed so focused that she didn’t notice the stares around her.
‘What book are you reading?’
I didn’t want to be caught, so I stood a little far away and couldn’t see the title of the book properly.
‘Mmm.’
I opened my eyes and tried to find out as much as I could, but failed.
I might get caught if I act a little more suspiciously, and I didn’t want to get caught up in such an awkward situation, so I put the book back up and covered my face.
‘Can’t we come read a book together?’
Although it was different from the usual social gatherings, we often had book club meetings, so I couldn’t understand this situation.
‘Studying? But is there a reason to study? She already graduated from the academy.’
The graduation exam wasn’t even here yet, so I couldn’t figure out what Liliana was thinking.
‘Study? Book? A meeting with the First Prince? Love?’
Since I couldn’t find anything related to the words that come to mind, only questions piled up and no clear answer came out.
As I tried to organize my thoughts as neatly as possible, shaking my throbbing head, I saw Liliana rise from her seat.
‘Gasp. People have gathered like this before I knew it.’
There were twice as many people around as before.
People were approaching Liliana with good feelings, but it seemed that the small sounds gradually gathered and became quite noisy.
Liliana frowned, closed her book, and rose from her seat.
Then, before someone could talk to me, I quickly borrowed a book and left the library.
‘Huh? Huh?’
It happened so suddenly that I hurriedly tried to follow her.
However, the problem was that I wasn’t the only one who tried to do so.
People began to move in a hurry to follow Lilliana, and then someone was pushed roughly.
The man, who was quite large, fell helplessly and violently pushed the bookshelf next to him.
The problem was, he wasn’t the only one who fell down, putting great force on the bookshelf, and the bookshelf began to tilt to one side beyond the shaking.
And under the tilting bookshelf, a man stood and was absorbed in reading a book, unaware that the bookshelf was tipping over.
“Get out of there!”
Someone was shouting, but the person was so engrossed that he couldn’t hear it.
Everyone was taken aback and just stood still, staring at the sudden situation.
‘W-Wouldn’t it be possible to rescue them if we move quickly?’
Fortunately, the falling bookshelf was right next to me, so I thought if I pushed him away and got out, both of us would be safe.
The moment I thought of that, my body started to move.
When I suddenly jumped out, someone screamed louder, but now I couldn’t hear that scream.
I roughly pushed the person reading the book, and because of my momentum, the man was pushed out.
I lost my balance and fell, but I was certain I could slip out of the bookcase.
I breathed a sigh of relief and immediately tried to run out too.
“Kyaaak!”
“What should I do!”
“It’s dangerous!”
At that moment, when I slowly raised my head to the screams of people, the bookcase was already heavily tilted.
My body froze as I looked at the bookshelf that was right in front of my eyes.
The thought of running away at once and the fear of the impending pain made me unable to move and close my eyes tightly.
Clatter-.
The sound of the books falling to the floor filled my ears.
I closed my eyes tightly at the tremendous sound, but instead of the pain I should have felt, I felt a strong force pulling me.
“Gasp!”
Even after a while, I didn’t feel any pain.
Only the sound of my heart beating wildly filled my entire body.
I breathed out heavily and opened my eyes slowly, and I could see someone standing right in front of me.
Huge shoulders were carrying bookshelves on their backs, and all the books on the bookshelf were lying on the floor.
The man was raising his arm awkwardly over my head, but it seemed to have prevented me from being hit by a falling book.
I slowly lifted my eyes, leaving the sight full of a wide chest behind.
A familiar neckline appeared, followed by black hair fluttering violently.
The lustrous hair distracted me for a moment, but when I raised my head again, what I saw were clear blue eyes.
“How can you suddenly jump into danger?”
“…”
“You almost got hurt.”
The voice that criticized me was full of worries rather than reproaches.
He asked cautiously as he blinked with his eyes wide open, not knowing what to say.
“Ah, this isn’t it. Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
A light of savior seemed to emanate from behind him.
Is it really an illusion that my heart trembles at the warm voice?
“A-Adelio.”
The fact that voice my voice trembles now certainly isn’t.
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