CH 12

After being shaken by his foreign beauty for a moment, she quickly came back to her senses and answered calmly.

“I’m Livia Pellington, Master Vincent’s tutor.”

“Ah! You’re a residential tutor.”

He smiled, pleased.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Raymon, the administrator and librarian of the Mercedes Library.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Raymon.”

Livia reached out her hand to shake hands with him.

But Raymon looked at the outstretched hand for a moment, then lowered his head and kissed the back of her hand.

“……….”

She looked at Raymon with an embarrassed look on her face.

‘Now, what are you doing?’

Of course, kissing the back of a lady’s hand was a gentlemanly way of greeting, but it was only used in social venues like balls and banquets.

It was not a way to share greetings in a library like this. Especially as a librarian and a tutor.

Of course, exceptions do exist.

‘When you seduce someone.’

Rather than a greeting that was specific to the location and situation, it was a declaration of war, tantamount to: “I will seduce you from now on”.

……It couldn’t be.

Livia shook her head.

Besides, why would he seduce her?

They met for the first time today, and he was a librarian and she was a tutor.

There was absolutely no reason for him to deliberately send her a sign of seduction.

‘I must have learned it wrong.’

It was impossible for aristocrats who value formality and etiquette, but exceptions exist everywhere. Like her, who had memories of her previous life.

Thinking about it, it wasn’t something to be embarrassed about. She didn’t want to embarrass him by pointing it out.

She put my hand away and spoke to him with a nonchalant expression.

“I want to find reference materials for my class.”

At that moment, it seemed that a strange color was hidden in Raymon’s pale-yellow eyes. But as if it were an illusion, he returned to his original eyes and smiled as he said, “I see. As you can see, the scale of this place is very large, and it’s almost impossible to find the book you want without my help. If you tell me the type and the title of the book, I will find it for you.”

Raymon was very kind.

Livia, who was already pressed with worries about finding the books, welcomed it and held out a memo pad where she had written the titles of the books beforehand.

Raymon looked carefully at the notepad.

“<History of the Empire and Changes in Temples>, <Technology and Development of the Ancient Empire>, <Footsteps of the Philosophers of the Century>, and <The Basics of Mana, Volume 1>.”

Livia nodded.

According to Winston, Vincent did not receive proper academy lessons.

‘I’ll have to figure out his level first.’

The above books were the standard and basics of each field.

“If you wait a moment, I’ll bring you the books.”

Livia nodded again and took a seat at the huge table in the lobby on the first floor. And she took out the notebook and pen that she brought.

It would be difficult to take all the books with her at once, so she would start by organizing the contents for tomorrow’s class.

Raymon quickly brought the books she asked for.

She looked at him with surprised eyes, because even though he was a librarian, he was much faster than expected. 

Raymon, noticing her surprise, said with a smile, “I have a good memory.”

Even if he had a good memory, she couldn’t believe he found the books so quickly in this library where millions of books are stored.

As expected, the librarians of the Duke of Mercedes were also different.

With admiration, Livia began to organize the contents of the books in her notebook.

Scribble.

The sound of a sharp pen nib sweeping across the paper echoed through the library.

Every time she turned a page, she smelled the paper of an old book.

It was nice. Livia especially liked this moment. It was quiet and cozy. 

Even when she went to the academy, she lived only in the library. There were no stares following her in the library and no sneering laughs.

At first it was a place she chose as a refuge, but later she really liked the place.

She wondered if she ever was so enthusiastic about taking notes.

Suddenly, she noticed a hand tapping on the desk, so she looked up.

A beautiful Raymon, holding used books, smiled at her.

“I have to move these books to the warehouse, so I think I’ll have to leave for a while.”

“Ah.”

She was so absorbed that she lost track of time.

She was contemplating if she should get up or not, but he said, “Don’t worry about me, you can stay.”

At that Livia let out a sigh of relief because there was still a little bit of writing left.

“Ah, come to think of it.”

“…….?”

“If you are interested in books, take a look at that room.”

He pointed to the door in the corner.

The color was the same as the wall, so one wouldn’t notice the door unless they looked closely.

Almost like it was disguised.

“There are many rare books in that room. Originally, outsiders would be prohibited from entering the place, but…..”

Raymon, who turned to me again, winked and smiled with his eyes as he said, “In particular I will grant permission only to Miss Livia.”

“Huh?”

When Livia heard that only she was allowed to enter the room, she felt more puzzled than joy.

‘Why do you believe in me?’

It had only been about three hours since they got to know each other, and he knew she was Vincent’s tutor. There were about ten tutors who had passed so far. Did Raymon allow all of them to enter that room?

Then it couldn’t be considered off limits to outsiders, could it?

Raymon whispered quietly in Livia’s ear, whether he had noticed her unspoken question or not.

“You never know. You may find something very valuable in that room.”

“……?”

“Then, bye.”

Leaving only meaningful words behind, Raymond left the library.

Really, what was that about?

As much as Livia appreciated his mysterious appearance, he was a person whose thoughts were unknown.

She soon lost interest in Raymon and continued taking notes.

When the sun went down, and the sunset was shining through the library, Livia whispered to herself.

“…..I’m done.”

When she had finally finished taking notes, she stretched out. After concentrating for a long time, her whole body felt sore.

“Mr. Raymon hasn’t returned yet.”

Wanting to borrow more books before leaving, she decided to look inside the library until Raymon returned.

Then it caught her eye.

The room Raymon said outsiders are not allowed to enter.

“A valuable book……”

Livia didn’t think much of it, but honestly, it was true that she was curious.

“Maybe I’ll find a good book.”

She had received permission, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take a look at it because it was a rare opportunity.

It could be rather good.

‘All right’ she mentally decided, ‘let’s go.’

Having made up her mind, she approached the gray stone wall which was deeply marked by the passage of time. She really couldn’t even recognize that it was a door without the handle. 

The handle was also delicately embossed with the evening primrose, the symbol of the Duke of Mercedes.

When she turned the handle, the door opened with a click. It was like the whole wall had been torn apart.

Livia cautiously went inside and closed the door.

Soon after, she burst into exclamation once again at the appearance of the room.

“Wow…..”

It was more like the secret room of a wealthy man than a library.

The floor was covered with a dark purple carpet, and the bookshelves on the wall were filled with books. But it did not feel as crowded as the open hall.

On the other side was a fireplace, and in front of it was a long, fluffy-looking bed.

It was like a private room.

(E/N: Girl, aren’t you supposed to be super smart?! This is clearly a trap!)

Livia thought it would be perfect to sit on the sofa and read a book. It seemed like a space prepared for that.

She approached the front of the bookshelf.

“Wow, you even have this book?”

Books that were said to be out of print and never to be found again could easily be found here.

“Oh, this book is…..”

In the meantime, Livia found a book.

<Twelve Stories for You Who Can’t Sleep>

“Wow, I can’t believe this book is here…..”

With pleasure, Livia picked out <Twelve Stories for You Who Can’t Sleep>.

The book, which was not very thick, was a collection of fairy tales that her father read to her before going to bed when she was a child.

It was a book that her father accidentally bought in a foreign country, so she couldn’t get it even if she tried to get it in the Ragranasia Empire where she lived. 

She had been very depressed when this book was taken away.

The debt collectors did not leave out a single book while robbing the house.

She asked them to leave just that one book, but they didn’t listen to her request.

It was only natural. 

A bitter laugh leaked out of Livia’s lips.

Her father was silently watching her then, devastated. What did her father think at that time?

But, it was done. In the past.

She shook her head and let go of her gloomy thoughts.

‘Should I take a look at it while I’m here?’

She was going to just look around and go out, but she changed her mind when she saw this book.

She grabbed the book and approached the fireplace.

And at the moment that she was about to sit on the sofa.

“……?!”

Only then did she realize that there was another person in this room besides her.

“Car….dien?”