Chapter 13
Letier took out a book with a red cover and held it up as if possessed.
On the cover of the thick book there was a very large picture of a skull that looked spooky just by looking at it.
It couldn’t have been a truly intuitive sign.
Letier slowly flipped through the cover and skimmed through the table of contents.
“Hmm…?”
It was a more useful book than I expected.
Not only the type and discovery of poison, but also symptoms, structure, and treatment, everything related to poison was described in detail.
‘Are there toxic ingredients that I didn’t know about? It’s a very small amount, so I almost didn’t know and almost used it for cosmetic development.’
Letier fell in love with the book in an instant.
She stood still and continued to turn the pages, not knowing that her legs were hurting.
‘It would be great if Reuter read this book.’
Letier unconsciously thought of the man.
I don’t know why, but he seemed quite interested in poison.
Finally, after skimming through the contents of the book, Letier quietly closed the thick cover.
“Oh right! I was looking for an encyclopedia!”
After belatedly recalling the reason for her visit to the library, Letier resumed her pace and started looking for an encyclopedia of raw materials.
Thinking of Lucy, who would be waiting outside for a long time at a later time than expected, made my heart rush.
It must be here…
She quickly searched through the last pages of the Ingredients category, but the encyclopedia she was looking for was nowhere to be found.
While going back the way she had come, intending to start looking again, Letier turned around carelessly and bumped into the person standing right behind her.
“Ouch.”
“Are you okay, young lady?”
The person who had bumped into Letier quickly caught her as she stumbled backwards.
It didn’t hurt that much, but I felt ashamed of myself for not being careful in the Imperial library.
“Ah, I’m okay, thank you…”
Letier, who raised her head to thank that person, stopped her mouth.
Uh…?
It was a face she had never seen before, but she seemed to know who it was.
Blue eyes looking at herself, silver hair neatly tied back and beautiful features.
A face that resembled Her Majesty the Empress whom she met a few days ago.
“His Highness the Crown Prince…?”
I wonder why I’m bumping into Princes lately.
Letier rolled her eyes in a slightly self-deprecating thought.
“Be careful, young lady.”
The man smiled softly and removed his hand from Letier’s arm.
Turning to face him, he recognized the man as the Crown Prince, Aiden Loxate.
“Th-thank you, Your Highness.”
Letier bowed her head and was polite to Aiden.
It was a fatal damage to the image of the Lenever family and the Lenever cosmetics store to show Your Highness a bad side.
“You seem to be interested in toxicology?”
“Yes?”
Raising her head at Aiden’s question, Letier followed his gaze as he was looking at her right arm.
<Human Toxicology>
The book she had picked up from the previous bookshelf was still in her arm.
“Ah…! I am interested in various raw materials within the Empire, not just toxicology.”
“I see. You seem to have quite an unusual hobby.”
Hobby?
Could a business be a hobby?
After thinking for a while, Letier opened her eyes wide when she saw the book in Aiden’s arm.
“Huh?”
Like Letier, Aiden followed her gaze and checked the book he was holding and smiled.
He asked, glancing at the book.
“Did you happen to need this book?”
<Encyclopedia of Raw Materials>
The book she was looking for was right in the Prince’s arm.
In a very short period of time, Letier pondered about ten times whether it was okay to ask for the book His Highness had chosen.
“You look as if you’re thinking carefully about whether you can borrow this book from me.”
“Ah.”
How did you know?
Letier felt embarrassed and nodded slowly.
“… Before asking for the book, let me introduce myself for a moment. I’m Letier of the Lenever family who came to help Prince Dante treatment. Before going to see the Prince today, I stopped by the Imperial library to find an encyclopedia in case I wanted to study some raw materials.”
“Are you Princess Letier?”
At her words, Aiden’s expression subtly changed.
He stared intently at Letier’s face, lost in thought, and soon his eyes shone with interest.
“Aha… This time, Princess Letier was in charge of treating my older brother, right? If that’s the case, I can’t help but let you borrow this book. Now, take it.”
“Are you sure you can lend it to me?”
“Of course.”
Aiden readily held out the encyclopedia he was holding.
His sleeves, long enough to cover the backs of her hands, brushed against hers.
Letier took the encyclopedia with both hands.
The heavy weight settled pleasantly on her hands.
“Thank you, Your Highness. I will repay this favor by treating Prince Dante’s skin.”
“It’s nice to see your confidence. By the way, what kind of skill did Princess Letier bring to the imperial palace?”
“I am in charge of the cosmetics business. From manufacturing to sales, I do it with my own hands.”
“A cosmetics business?”
Letier nodded her head up and down.
“I’m going to find raw materials that will help the Prince’s skin, make them into products, and then apply them.”
“Did you check the condition of his skin with your own two eyes?”
“No. I’m going to go check it out today.”
“You’re going to go check it out today…”
Aiden slowly ran his chin down and carefully scanned Letier’s face.
A white, small face.
It was a face that gave off a comfortable impression for some reason.
Aiden tapped the cover of the raw material encyclopedia that Letier was holding with his index finger.
“Hopefully, it will be of great help in my brother’s treatment.”
“Yes. Thank you again, Your Highness.”
Aiden rolled his eyes, smiled kindly, and walked past Letier.
Letier waited until the prince had completely left and then took a hasty step towards the entrance.
“Lucy!”
After leaving the library, Letier looked around and found Lucy.
“Princess!”
Lucy, who was sitting on a long chair in front of the library entrance, jumped up and approached Letier.
“Lucy, I’m sorry. Have you waited long? Finding the book took longer than I thought.”
“It’s okay, Princess! By the way, the time is a little late, It’s past lunch time… What if Prince Dante finds us while we go to the dining room?”
“I know… There will be no time to study.”
How much time has already passed
Letier turned her head to look at the clock erected in the center of the library building.
If she went to the dining room to eat like this, she might not have heard Prince Dante’s call.
“I can’t help it… Let’s go back to the room for now.”
“Yes!”
Letier and Lucy hurriedly entered the building with rooms.
Just in time, I saw Roizen’s back as he climbed the stairs.
“Mr. Roizen!”
“… What? yes That’s me.”
Reuter looked back with a bewildered expression.
“Were you on your way to call me?”
“That’s right, Princess. Are you okay now?”
“Yes, I will go right away.”
“But Princess, the meal….”
Lucy muttered in a worried voice, but Letier covered her mouth with a wink.
Lucy looked at Reuter and Letier alternately, then lowered her head as if she couldn’t help it.
“I’ll just go back to my room, then.”
“Okay.”
“For the Princess, go this way.”
Reuter turned around and began guiding Letier to the drawing room on the third floor.
Letier followed Reuter and turned her head, and Lucy gave a hand signal with a smile.
‘When you come back, I’ll prepare food for you to eat right away!’
Letier nodded her head.
*****
After a while, Letier followed Reuter into the drawing room on the third floor.
I could see Prince Dante, still wearing a black mask and thoroughly covering his body, leaning on the sofa with his legs crossed.
Letier bowed politely and walked to the chair opposite.
“Princess Letier. What is that book?”
Dante opened his mouth as he watched her walk away.
Letier sat down with the book in her hands on the table.
“It is an encyclopedia of raw materials. I brought it separately for reference when I heard about the Prince’s symptoms today.”
Dante raised his upper body from leaning on the sofa.
He stretched out one hand on the table, picked up the thick book at once, and flipped the cover insincerely.
As soon as he turned one cover, his large hand stopped.
The name of the owner of the book written on the front page caught his attention.
‘It must have been a book that was always stuck in his office.’
How Letier got the book from Aiden was unknown, but the fact was enough to ruin his mood.
Dante nervously put down the encyclopedia.
Right next to where he put down the encyclopedia, the cover of another book caught Dante’s eyes.
Human toxicology?
“What is this…”
“Oh, this…! I personally brought it because I was curious, but you don’t have to worry about it.”
Letier quickly raised her hand and put the book away.
Dante’s hand, which had reached out to grab the book, stopped awkwardly.
“… But you brought it all the way here, so you should show me.”
“Ah, if you’re curious… here.”
Letier dragged the book again.
I couldn’t believe I brought a book with a spooky skull on it… Toxicology is suspicious to anyone!
I wished I’d just handed it to Lucy earlier.
Dante, who had been flipping through the pages as casually as before, spoke up again.
“Why are you suddenly interested in this book?”
“Someone I know seems to be very interested in poisons, and I thought I’d do some research for him and teach him a little something…”
“Who?”
“A friend of mine.”
At Letier’s unhesitant answer, the corners of Dante’s mouth went up smoothly.
