Bibliophile Princess: Volume 1 Page 5

  It was only then that I realized the two of them had been absent from the dramatic theater moments before. Perhaps they were concerned that their collective presence, as people intimately close with the prince, might make the whole event look staged. It was a shame; in the book my aunt had forced me to read to her, all of the pivotal characters had appeared on stage together.

  But wait a moment... Just when had the curtain even raised on this play? And just what kind of script had been arranged for it? Had I not been cast as the Bibliophile Princess after all? Had I misread the script somehow at some point? My head spun in circles, soaring to the peak of confusion.

  After Prince Theodore received the book from His Highness (the same one I’d intended to return to the archives), he suddenly peered at me anxiously and asked, “Eli? Are you all right?” His ultramarine eyes, a shade darker than the prince’s, watched me in earnest. “My apologies. I am sure Chris has said as much already, but you were in danger. That’s why we couldn’t allow you near the archives. It was also out of concern for your well-being that the personnel there tried to keep you from the books. They were all worried they might have hurt your feelings as a result. But please, worry no longer. You’re welcome to use the archives again, as you always have.”

  This was the Prince Theodore I knew—the same one I always discussed books with. I felt my shoulders relax and breathed a sigh of relief. “...Of course.”

  Prince Theodore suddenly gave a small, mischievous grin. “That said, you did better than I thought you would, Chris—manipulating the situation to push talk of your marriage forward.” He must’ve watched it all unfold.

  The prince looked disgruntled, but he quickly flipped it around and flashed a vibrant smile back at his uncle. “The one who makes the first move claims victory. I even took down the last barrier I had in front of me, Earl Casull. Now the older Marquess Bernstein should have nothing to fuss over.”

  I jerked my head up instinctively at the sudden mention of my grandfather’s name.

  Prince Theodore had a malicious grin on his face. “I figured the finale was approaching. You’d best thank me for calling Eli here. Of course, it’d suit me just as well if things had gone sour for you instead.”

  The prince suddenly bristled back. “I do believe I’ve already asked you numerous times to please cease your illicit solicitations toward my—your nephew’s—fiancée. Besides, aren’t you a little old for her?”

  I was pretty sure I caught His Highness whispering at the end, “You damn pedo,” under his breath, or something equally unbefitting of his stature. Surely it was just my imagination.

  “Age gaps are common among married nobles,” said Prince Theodore. “Plus, I am the most compatible with Eli. Although, a certain someone keeps glowering and has been for a long while now. And quite ferociously at that, I might add.”

  “You act far too intimate with her! And while we’re on the topic, stop casually calling her by her nickname over and over again!”

  ...Where was the prince from a few moments ago who had so level-headedly exposed the viscount (and his daughter) for their crimes?

  As I watched the exchange, blinking in surprise, a cold voice cut in, oozing with displeasure. “Please cease with the teasing. We have a mountain of work now, both in dealing with the aftermath of this case and the prince’s announcement.” Lord Glen hung his head and expelled a ragged breath, worn thin from exhaustion.

  “Seriously... I mean it, enough is enough. I don’t care how pressed for time you were or how much you were being pressured, you didn’t give the rest of us any warning before dragging us into this mess. Did you mean to drive us into an early grave with all that work? Giving us only three days to pull together evidence for a case we’d been privately investigating for a month. I’ll curse you for the rest of my life if I get hit with multiple transfer requests from my squad after this.”

  “Well said,” agreed Lord Alexei, not even trying to mask his irritation. “After generations of absence, we finally pulled Sauslind’s Brain back onto the political center stage, and you nearly drove them back into isolation. Four whole years you had, and what on earth were you doing that whole time, oh ‘handsome prince’?” His words dripped thick with sarcasm.

  The prince had a bitter look on his face. “I didn’t choose Eli as my partner because she’s from the Bernstein family.”

  “I’m aware. Please reserve your love confessions and the like for when the two of you are alone together. I can’t tolerate the stupidity of it.” Lord Alexei was indifferent as ever, flipping through a stack of papers.

  A new cast member made an entrance, their voice bright and cheerful. “You sure said it. No one would ever guess the ‘handsome prince’ is, in truth, a helpless weakling. If she’d known, Lady Irene might’ve been able to take a different approach at winning him over.” It was Lord Alan, the golden-haired master court musician, with a mischievous grin on his face.

  Slipping past the others, he approached and swiftly took one of my hands in his, planting a kiss on the back of it. I found myself reflected in his cunning emerald green eyes. “Allow me to reintroduce myself, Lady Elianna Bernstein. I am Alan Ferrera, and it was I who spread the nickname ‘Fairy Princess’ for you. I hope you can be as open with me as you are with Alex and the rest.”

  Fairy Princess? I blinked and inwardly dismissed it. What kind of joke was that?

  To be honest, back when I lived in our territory, there was one other name I was known by—the “Library Ghost.” My hair was a faded blonde with tight curls, something I’d inherited from my late mother, and it hung loose and unrestrained down my back. Apparently that made it stand out in poorly-lit areas. On top of that, since I spent all my time inside reading, my skin was a pale snow white, and since books were my only companions, my face lacked much expression. Those qualities just further contributed to my image as a “ghost.”

  One time the children of the region challenged each other to a test of courage to see who was brave enough to approach the library’s ghost. Another time when the weather was poor and the sun was setting, one of the new handmaids discovered me among the dark stacks and fled screaming, “Th-The ghost appeared!”

  ...Did I truly resemble a spirit that much? If my options were such that I could choose between being compared to something inhuman and being called Bibliophile Princess, the latter was clearly the better choice. In fact, such a nickname would be a badge of honor among the Bernsteins. After all, “biblio-” meant book and “-phile” meant lover, so a lover of books.

  As I inwardly rejected the unbefitting nickname of “Fairy Princess,” Prince Christopher promptly slapped Lord Alan’s hand away with an audible clap. “Why didn’t you stop things before they got that far?” His Highness demanded. “Everything turned out reasonably well, but now that you have outed yourself publicly, it will make your role difficult in the future.”

  Lord Alan scoffed and launched into a rebuttal, not looking the least bit guilty for what he’d done. “You’re the one who called the viscount there to finish him off, no? I didn’t think we would be able to relieve Lady Elianna of her misunderstandings about the situation without doing the same to her as well. Plus, it annoyed me that we couldn’t land a decisive blow against her because you drove Lady Elianna from the palace. Thus, things ended the way they did.”

  The way he spoke was light-hearted and forthcoming, but there was a twinge of mocking there on his lips. “Plus, it’s high time you revealed the truth about me anyways. It’s already common knowledge among clever noblewomen, as well as the queen and her entourage. In fact, every time I’m with Lady Elianna it just reinforces how overprotective and head-over-heels you—”

  The prince slapped a hand over his mouth, muffling the words. My eyes had been on him even before that, blinking in confusion.

  “Um...” I began. Though his sentence hung incomplete, part of what he said captured my attention, and I first apologized to Lord Alan. As the prince’s confidant and someone who had k
ept an eye out for me, albeit from the shadows, he surely deserved gratitude. “Please accept my apology for not noticing you until now. I appreciate you looking out for me all this time, Maestro.”

  “...It’s Alan.” His eyes turned vacant as if he’d lost all confidence as he mumbled, “So you really never did notice me... Not even once these past four years. And here I’m supposed to be just as popular among women as His Highness and yet... Hahaha...”

  I felt most apologetic about that. This was one of the reasons high society and I didn’t see eye to eye; I had difficulty remembering people’s faces. Yet when it came to books, I could memorize a vast array of different topics.

  Lord Alan’s expression soured when the prince snorted in laughter. His half-lidded eyes glowered unreservedly back. “Well, at least I’m not like the helpless, weakling prince. I didn’t ask for her aunt’s help to drive her from the palace, only to cause a misunderstanding and provoke Lady Elianna’s disgust. Don’t you remember? When she shoved that book at you, you looked as white as a blank sheet of paper—no, more appropriately, ash from a cold fireplace.”

  The prince froze instantly, and Lord Theodore amusedly interjected, “You had a Bernstein shove a book back at you? That’s almost as unheard of as...as the sun rising from the west.”

  Lord Glen spoke up in a thin, weak voice. “Guys...cut it out, please. That was what started this whole nightmare, what brought it out.” He mumbled, “The prince’s real form...” Now it was his turn to look vacant, tears beading in his eyes. He must’ve really been run ragged from this incident.

  I inwardly reflected on my actions, feeling both sympathy and compassion for him. Now I understood that what I’d done back then had been very immature. Ultimately it had been false assumptions and misunderstandings on my part. I surely couldn’t blame Lady Irene either.

  Just then, a voice called to me from behind and I looked back. “Eli!” My brother, Alfred, came dashing toward me, prompting me to hurry to meet him. Seeing the face of a family member seemed to release all the pent-up tension in my body I didn’t even realize was there.

  “Dear Alfred!”

  He studied my face once I was close, eyes—the same ashen gray as my father’s—flickering with emotion. “I heard about the commotion... Are you all right?” Alfred worriedly swept my bangs back. It was the same habit he’d had since we were kids; his way of checking my complexion.

  It made me smile. “Yes, I am.”

  I had complex feelings about Lady Irene already, but if things had gone her way, I would’ve caused enormous trouble for my brother and father. The warmth of his hand was a sharp reminder that this was not a stage. This was reality.

  “Well, with Prince Christopher here, I don’t expect anything would happen to you,” my brother said, lifting his eyes to meet the prince who had strode over.

  The prince had reclaimed his dazzling smile. “Please inform your grandfather and Marquess Bernstein that I’ve met every single one of their conditions. I would appreciate it if they would overlook the fact that I exceeded their time limit.”

  Alfred slipped a bittersweet smile and nodded. “I’ll be sure to do that.” Then sharply corrected his tone to say, “However...if I ever see my sister look so heartbroken again, even if it means mobilizing all of the brainpower at the Bernsteins’ disposal, I will make sure you don’t get away with it. So keep that in mind.”

  The prince’s face gave a small twitch. “I will take that to heart,” he replied, voice stiff.

  Lord Alexei cut in with a long sigh, passing several documents over to my brother. Then he added, “As for the holiday you requested, if we were to grant you that time off, the prime minister would collapse from overwork in three days. The Ministry of Finance as well. In Marquess Bernstein’s absence, confusion and chaos would reign, and the national treasure’s recovery would be in vain and begin its decline once more. Therefore, under the authority of His Majesty, you have been denied.”

  “Well, I figured that would be the case,” said Alfred in defeat. The two were already close, given that they were both civil officials.

  Judging by the way his shoulders sank as he looked at the documents, he must’ve felt the same as my father, wanting to break away to read to his heart’s content. I felt bad knowing I was the only one in such a fortunate position.

  Lord Alexei’s icy blue eyes turned sharp, having seen straight through my brother’s heart. “Besides, you Bernsteins,” he began to say, only for my brother to cut him off in a panic.

  “Uhh, umm, Your Highness! And Eli too. His Majesty and the prime minister would like to see you two. They requested that you ‘report in detail.’”

  This time it was Prince Christopher’s turn to act flustered as he drew me close to him. “Tell them we have an urgent matter and will require a bit of extra time. A most important affair, one that’s life or death to the royal family. Uncle, Alex, I will be entrusting you with delivering my message.” He blurted that out quickly, then dragged me along with him and fled the room.

  The people we left behind watched us with exasperated looks, and once again I had a question mark floating inside my head.

  A matter of life or death to the royal family...?

  ~.~.~.~

  He dragged me the rest of the way to his office. After having the staff pour us some tea, he quickly shooed everyone else away until it was just the two of us.

  There was one thing I wanted to ask—had to ask—first, before anything else.

  ...Why are you here right now with me, Your Highness?

  For someone who had spoken of an “urgent matter, one of life or death to the royal family,” he sure enjoyed drinking his tea leisurely. Plus, the way he sighed with his whole body sounded as if he were utterly relieved.

  Then he faced me and slowly outstretched his hands. One hand lingered at the cusp of my cheek, just close enough to touch but far enough not to, the tip of his finger brushing against my ear and tangling inside the fluffy locks of my hair.

  “I’ve finally caught you,” he said.

  The smile on his face was far sweeter than any I’d seen before, and my cheeks instantly burned red, all the way to the tops of my ears. His lips spread even wider, his sunny blue eyes softening.

  “I’m sorry, Eli, for causing so many misunderstandings and so much anxiety for you.”

  I nearly tilted my head in confusion, but froze when I remembered doing so would mean touching his hand.

  The prince chuckled mischievously as he continued. “Actually, four years ago...no, in reality it started almost ten years ago... Well, I digress, your grandfather and Marquess Bernstein said they would accept our marriage if I fulfilled certain conditions.”

  “What conditions?” I asked.

  “Well, the first one was to make the nobles agree to our marriage without using the Bernsteins’ hidden name. The second was for you to be more interested in me than you are in books.”

  I was at a loss for words.

  His Highness chuckled, lightly tracing his hand across my cheek before drawing it away. “The time limit was four years, until your eighteenth birthday. If I couldn’t meet their conditions before then, our engagement would be annulled and you, Alfred, and the marquess would all leave the palace to hole up in your territory.”

  “Goodness...”

  I hadn’t known any of this. In fact, this was entirely different from what I’d heard at the beginning.

  The prince gave a small sigh. “That’s why I wasn’t able to force our marriage along, not even after I became of age. I’m sorry for worrying you.” He looked me right in the eye as he delivered his apology.

  I recoiled a bit, trying desperately to tamp down my hammering heart. “If you’d only told me from the start,” I said.

  “Indeed.” His blue eyes grew distant, as if staring vacantly. “If I’d told you back then, the absolute first thing you would’ve said is, ‘You needn’t go to such trouble. Please just arrange for a different bride.’”

 
“...”

  I had nothing to say in my defense. I must admit, it was true that back then I was lured in by access to the royal archive. Even so, if he would have explained the situation to me, I was sure I would have accepted it and—oh, who am I kidding? If he’d told me that I could choose to keep my current (free) lifestyle or live as the crown prince’s betrothed, I would’ve chosen the former without a doubt. I wouldn’t budge on sacrificing precious reading time.

  “...I’m sorry,” I said at last.

  “It makes things awkward for me if you apologize about that. But well, at least in the end you finally showed more interest in me than books, didn’t you?” Then he added, “Although the way you did it was a bit...a lot different than what I’d envisioned.” For a moment it seemed as if his face had grown stiff, but then he flashed me a smile.

  He was talking about how I shoved that book he’d given me back at him. It was true; in that moment, all books seemed valueless to me—me, the Bibliophile Princess.

  “Your Highness,” I began to say but hesitated.

  I understood that what had happened was a misunderstanding with false assumptions on my part. Even so, my emotions hadn’t quite processed all of that. Up until this morning, I’d thought that our annulment was just a matter of time and that His Highness and Lady Irene had feelings for one another.

  “Yes?” His Highness responded gently, as if unraveling the tangle of my emotions. He casually, and yet firmly, clasped my hand as it rested on my lap. “I made you even more anxious with everything that happened with Lady Irene. I truly am sorry. I’ve been watching her ever since the commotion over Zelger being a fake.

  “At first she was just spreading incoherent rumors so I let her be, but I couldn’t after she began aiming for your life. Whether that was because she was instigated by her father or because she sought to take advantage of the situation, I wasn’t sure. Either way, as soon as I knew you were in danger, I wanted to clap her in chains.”