Bibliophile Princess: Volume 4: Awaiting and Wishing Read online

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Color Illustration

  Character Profiles

  Arc 1: Waiting for Spring, An Amber Wish Chapter 1: The Palace’s Three Wise Men

  Chapter 2: Battle God of the East

  Chapter 3: Seeds of Anxiety

  Chapter 4: Waiting for Spring

  Chapter 5: Princess Training on the Road

  Chapter 6: The Royal Family’s Ill Connection

  Chapter 7: The Royal Family’s Secret

  Chapter 8: At the Bottom of the Lake

  Chapter 9: The Bernsteins’ Hidden Name

  Chapter 10: The Heart Which Believes

  Arc 2: The Phantom’s Serenade Verse 1: Secret Girl Talk

  Verse 2: Waltz With the Phantom

  Verse 3: The Garden’s Overture

  Finale: The Phantom’s Endless Love

  Afterword

  Bonus Textless Illustration

  Bonus Short Stories

  About J-Novel Club

  Copyright

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  Arc 1: Waiting for Spring, An Amber Wish

  Chapter 1: The Palace’s Three Wise Men

  In the wake of the new year, the royal palace was abuzz with activity. It was here that I, Elianna Bernstein, found myself sipping on some uniquely flavored herbal tea as I blinked in surprise at the question I’d just been asked.

  We were in a remote part of the palace known as the Pharmacy Lab. A peculiar odor permeated the air, one that would ward off anyone unaccustomed to visiting the area. Some of the researchers were brewing medicine, and the resulting smoke stung my ashen gray eyes, forcing me to shutter them.

  My maid always detested how the scents from this room seeped into her hair and clothes, so whenever I visited, she was quick to retreat elsewhere. Being a frequent visitor, I was desensitized to the smell and gently returned my tea cup after taking a drink.

  The herbal tea they served here had such a bizarre flavor that many hesitated to take a second sip after trying the first. Worse yet, the researchers would leer at anyone who drank their concoctions as if monitoring the person for possible side effects. It was little wonder rumors circulated that they were using their tea to test new medicines. Though, it didn’t seem the researchers were satisfied by whatever results they had observed thus far.

  As I drank said experimental mixture, I echoed the question I’d just received moments prior. “You’re asking what book I want to read the most in the world?”

  I had never really given such a thing much thought. By the time I was old enough to grasp what was happening around me, I was already surrounded by a plethora of books. I could get my hands on most anything I wanted to read by using my house’s connections. But he wasn’t simply asking what books I wanted to read; he wanted me to pick a single one. That required careful contemplation.

  Sitting with me were three elderly men referred to as the “three wise men.” One of them hummed in amusement before throwing in his own answer ahead of my own. “If it were me, I’d pick the medical journal, The Snake’s Circle, written by Askleia. Only gods possess the medical secrets and knowledge said to be contained within its pages. Anyone interested in medicine would be remiss to overlook such invaluable wisdom.”

  This man was the chief court physician, Doctor Harvey. He looked well past his prime, with slicked back silvery gray hair and wrinkles around his gentle eyes. Even at his old age, he was diligent about shaving his facial hair.

  “Hohoho,” another voice joined in, his laughter sounding much like an owl’s hooting. “Come now, Harvey, the book you truly wish to read is one you’ve long been searching for. The Luna red light district’s Ten Stories from Famous Courtesans - Limited Edition, right?”

  His teasing tone prompted Doctor Harvey to chuckle in response. “It’s difficult for me to answer that. There’s another that caught my eye, a book that came out during the red light district’s golden age under King Rudolph’s reign, called The Palace of Nectar: Ten Erotic Nights. It’s said to contain some of the seduction techniques used by prostitutes, but it’s so rare people question whether it exists or not. If you asked me to choose between those two and The Snake’s Circle, it would certainly be a tough decision.”

  Should it really be that difficult to decide? I wondered.

  Doctor Harvey spoke solemnly, seeming entirely serious despite the amused twinkle in his eyes as he turned to the elderly man addressing him. “Orphen, you seem quite perceptive when it comes to guessing what other people would select, but what about you? Would you choose Record of a Thousand Steps? Or Praya’s Scroll, which verifies the existence of the lost continent of Atlus?”

  “Hohoho,” Orphen chortled again in genuine amusement. This man had a long white beard, framing his warm and cheerful face. “You know me all too well. Both of those tomes are mere legend, and yet those in pursuit of knowledge speak with conviction that they truly do exist somewhere out there. It’d be a dilemma indeed to pick between the two.”

  Orphen’s eyes shone like a child receiving a new present as he leaned forward. “Besides,” he said, launching into a passionate speech, “it’s said the content of Praya’s Scroll was copied by a priest who stumbled upon a tablet in some old temple ruins, but even that story lacks credibility. Personally, I’m a fan of the theory that it was a message written in the stars. But first, I want to hear Lady Elianna’s opinion on the scroll. There’s no better time than now to discuss it.”

  People might find it hard to believe that this man was one of the people in charge of the crown prince’s education.

  I sat there watching with a blank look on my face as Doctor Harvey gave his usual sigh. “If you don’t rein in those delusions about ancient civilizations, people are going to think you’re just a senile old codger soon enough.”

  “Hohoho, not very convincing coming from a pervert like you. I believe that’s the ‘pot calling the kettle black.’”

  “What are you talking about, Orphen?” Doctor Harvey shook his head. “Do you even know what kind of image your Ancient Cultural Research Society has? People think they’re a new religious cult. The meteorologists have been grumbling about them, saying, ‘It’s absurd! People shouldn’t be stargazing in hopes of receiving mystical messages from the stars!’”

  “What a sad world we live in when people don’t believe in the sacred mysteries contained in distant stars,” Orphen lamented. “However, Harvey, I heard the maids in the palace have been avoiding your apprentices. Apparently they ‘wanted to know how patients feel when being examined,’ so they were asking the maids for their clothes. I hear all the women ran from them.”

  “That was for one of our performances at the new year’s banquet. Honestly, I’m ashamed of how inexperienced they are, not being able to strip such clothes off by themselves. Seems they’ll require more training.”

  Their conversation had taken off in a completely different direction. I continued to sit there, blinking in confusion. Most of my time was spent in the royal archives, so perhaps that was why I was so unfamiliar with the goings-on in the other parts of the palace. Well, to be frank, I was already well aware of these men’s interests and proclivities before this conversation even began.

  As the two of them continued to fuss at each other, the third man sitting amongst them ignored his peers in favor of turning his attention to me. “Heh, heh, heh... Well, my lady, have you come to a decision as to which book it is you want to read most in the world?”

  He was the last member of their group of three, Chief Herbalist Nigel, and the one who had originally asked that question to begi
n with. His hair was disheveled and unkempt, as if an experiment had exploded in his face and left it thus. He looked like a child in the way that his eyes shone with unadulterated curiosity. At a glance, his odd appearance might be intimidating to some, but he was the foremost member of the Royal Pharmacy. He’d also been my herbology teacher for the past four years.

  I briefly contemplated his question but soon returned my perplexed gaze to him after finding it too difficult to answer. “I’m afraid I can’t think of one right off the top of my head.”

  The mischievous old man arched a teasing brow at me, as if to say, “You? The Bibliophile Princess?”

  True, I was a lover of books—a devourer, a bibliophage—hence the epithet, but there were so many tomes in the world whose pages I’d yet to flip through. There were books about mythology, books questioning the veracity of certain legends and illusions, books about prophecy that tried to spell out the future for us, books lost in war that our ancestors had intended to leave for us. I was sure many more such volumes were still to be written.

  The more I mulled over his query, the more the possibilities seemed endless. There were still so many books I had yet to have the pleasure of perusing. I had only been alive a mere eighteen years, after all. If he restricted me to picking only one, I knew the second I had it in my hands, I would be thirsting after the next. Personally, as an avid reader, I found the question to be almost impossible to answer.

  While I puzzled over how best to reply, Doctor Harvey glanced over at me with a smirk on his face. “Lady Elianna, isn’t the book you want to read most Knowledge for a Bride?”

  I felt my cheeks heat up at the mention.

  “Oh come now,” Orphen interrupted jovially, “wouldn’t she be better reading A New Wife’s Guide to Controlling Her Husband? Although she seems to have him pretty much under her thumb already.”

  “Indeed,” Doctor Harvey said, nodding. “Though I suspect if we hand her books on intercourse before their wedding, His Highness will be cross with us. Ah, what about Ten Ways to Know if Your Husband’s Cheating? Mothers often give that as a gift when their daughters are about to get married. I would be happy to secure a copy.”

  I recoiled, overwhelmed by their energetic proposals.

  Now that the new year had begun, the kingdom was at last making preparations for my wedding with the crown prince in the spring. High society had been dormant over the winter, but as soon as the new year began, they were all eagerly clamoring together with anticipation. In the wake of the Holy Night’s Banquet, many nobles had announced their engagements. The entire kingdom was restless with excitement. I’d even heard that merchants who’d gathered in the capital were selling marriage talismans.

  I could tell, based on all of this, how much the people were looking forward to our wedding. As the prince’s betrothed, I spent my days busily making preparations as well. However, at the moment, I had more urgent duties requiring my consideration and other anxieties that kept my mind too preoccupied to think of our impending ceremony. Having these elders call my attention back to our wedding made me feel embarrassed.

  “Honestly, you two,” Chief Herbalist Nigel remarked in exasperation. “Thanks to you, our conversation has gone completely off topic.”

  Doctor Harvey grunted back at him. “The only reason you’re asking her what book she wants to read is because you’re hoping to get a leg up on what gift to offer her at the wedding. I hear you already have a present prepared in that lab of yours. A medicine that can lower a man’s libido, is it? Terrifying, indeed.”

  My manservant was seated nearby, sipping on some of the herbal tea one of the researchers had provided. Upon hearing those ominous words, however, he immediately spewed his drink. Afterward, he began choking and gagging. “Water please,” he croaked out, stumbling.

  Orphen merely chuckled, unbothered by the revelation. Instead, he seemed invested in the turn of our conversation. “A medicine with the opposite effect has been passed down from ancient times, one using ingredients such as sea lion or deer antlers. But you’re concocting a mixture which decreases libido? You’re encroaching on forbidden territory, Nigel.” His eyes gleamed with curiosity about the unknown, contradicting his cautionary words.

  I thought Nigel might sigh in response, but instead he chuckled. “Forbidden territory indeed, Orphen.” When he noticed the confused look I was giving him, he turned to me and used the same form of address that he’d used these past four years. “Milady, speaking of taboos, do you know of the forbidden tome on herbology?”

  My heart hammered with surprise, bringing me crashing back to reality. I suppressed my reaction and answered him as coolly as I could. “Might you be referring to Furya’s Jar?”

  Furya was the daughter of the god of medicine, Askleia. Depictions of Furya always showed her with a jar balanced on her shoulder. It was said that this jar harbored secrets on cure-all medicines that could remedy all the diseases and sicknesses in the world. There was also talk it contained the much sought after elixir of immortality, which many an authority figure had dreamed of acquiring. For that reason, she was hailed as a goddess of herbology and medicine, while at the same time she was viewed as a deity of the forbidden. Furya’s Jar was yet another tome that touched upon secrets of medicine, much like the other book of legend, The Snake’s Circle.

  I first heard about the book over ten years ago, when the Ashen Nightmare began sweeping over Sauslind. No one knew of a cure for the plague, but at the time, I was certain one had to exist somewhere. I suspected Furya’s Jar would have the answers I sought.

  The Bernsteins were known as book aficionados, and our house was swimming with a vast number of books. When I was still too young to know any better, I found it bizarre that we didn’t possess a copy of Furya’s Jar, so I demanded my father tell me why he hadn’t procured one. There had been pain in his eyes as he stroked the top of my head and gently reprimanded me for my ignorance.

  I could still recall that conversation in vivid detail. Likewise, now that I was older and wiser, I understood the meaning of his words better. Yet I had to ask myself: would I still seek answers from Furya’s Jar to cure the world’s problems, just as I had when I was younger?

  The chief herbalist seemed to read my expression as if I were an open book. “If Furya’s Jar really did exist, what would you do?”

  I swallowed hard, unnerved by the earnestness in his eyes as he surveyed my reaction. If someone had asked me the same question when I was a child, I would have surely jumped at the opportunity. The world was overflowing with people who were suffering. Not a day went by when someone didn’t grieve or lament some loss. One of the people I loved most had died from the plague back then. What was there to hesitate over? If it meant saving someone I love, I should have no reason to second guess.

  And yet...

  My hands tightened into fists in my lap, clutching tightly at the fabric of my dress.

  Orphen chimed in with his light-hearted, owl-like laughter, “You’re being too hard on her, Nigel.”

  “Indeed,” Doctor Harvey agreed with a firm nod. “Anyone—even I—would jump at the opportunity to read Furya’s Jar if it truly did exist. Have you found some evidence to suggest it does?”

  Nigel’s lips quirked into a smile as the other two elders eyed him inquisitively, and he turned his gaze away from me.

  I felt more comfortable now, like this was just another one of the many lectures he’d given over the past four years. I steadied my breathing and articulated my answer. “I would like to read it. Even if you told me it was the last book I would ever read in my life as you set it down in front of me, I think I would still tell you the same thing.”

  The way I answered without a hint of hesitation took both Doctor Harvey and Orphen by surprise, as evidenced by the way their eyes widened.

  Without wavering, I continued, “However, there is also another ancient medical text called Ryza’s Guide. My father handed me a copy of it when I was younger and asked him why we didn
’t have Furya’s Jar in our library. It’s a medical journal written by a doctor from the empire. Newer medical journals are in print and being distributed now, so lack of demand for Ryza’s Guide means everyone has all but forgotten its existence.”

  When my father first gave it to me, I knew nothing about the world or the basics of medicine. He handed me what he had on hand instead—a book he thought I’d be able to understand. I innocently combed its pages for the answers I sought. I was certain he’d given it to me because it contained a hint as to how we might cure my mother’s illness.

  Alas, that was not the case.

  “I couldn’t comprehend why he’d given me such a thing. I wanted to read a book filled with miracle cures, not some outdated medical journal. Why in the world had he foisted a book with antiquated knowledge on me? And yet, as I compared what was written there to the most current medical texts of our time, I realized something.”

  It was a rather simple and obvious realization.

  “The doctor who penned Ryza’s Guide was monotheistic, but he still recorded as much medical knowledge and folk remedies from other cultures and countries as he could without violating his own beliefs. I believe he did this hoping it would spur further medical discoveries and improvements in the future. There were surely illnesses and diseases during his time that they didn’t have a cure for, and yet he created that book in hopes that one day we would find one. Reading his book, I could feel all the emotion he poured into it—the sincere wish that his efforts might help future generations.”

  Normally when we spoke about medical journals, Doctor Harvey had a perverted aura about him, but it was subdued right now as he quietly watched and listened.

  Although I knew the chief herbalist would disagree with my answer, I continued without pause. “The same can be said of herbology and other fields. People long for knowledge and texts that have all the answers. That desire exists within all of us. So yes, if that book did exist, I would want to read it. However, I don’t think it would invalidate all the medical knowledge we have accumulated over the years. The people who wrote those books dedicated themselves to studying and chose that path in the pursuit of something greater than they were.”