Bibliophile Princess: Volume 1 Page 7

  The prince gazed at me softly. “Ever since that incident, you’ve been popular with the military housewives and mothers. No one wants to send their husband or son off to a battlefield.”

  “...Nonetheless, that wasn’t something I achieved on my own.”

  There were those that had been opposed to my proposal, of course. But His Highness and some other key figures who supported the proposal suppressed the opposition, thereby indebting the Maldurans to us while also displaying Sauslind’s humanitarianism to surrounding countries. Our accomplishment was also thanks in part to the meteorologists and others who cooperated to see it through, as well as the memorandum and book upon which our prediction of the climate disaster had been based.

  “You’re the one who started it all,” the prince said in a voice as quiet as the winds that buffet the base of Mt. Jifu (a simile I read in The Travels of Parco Molo).

  Somehow I managed to think up a rebuttal. “But spreading the Suiran weave among high society was not my work.”

  “But you are the one who began its resurgence.”

  I was at a loss for words. After the climate incident, I read an old account of a traveling tradesman which had a rare mention of a now-forgotten textile. He spoke of how long ago, paper wasn’t as widely used as it is today, so there was a custom of recording current events at the time onto fabrics. Curious as to what kind of fabric this could be, I used my connections and put in a request with an artisan after speaking with them about the details of the technique. The end result of this venture was the Suiran weave.

  Still, the one who—

  “Well, admittedly the true source for its renewed popularity was Countess Storrev and her daughters,” the prince spoke amusedly, making my expression all the more pitiful for it.

  My deceased mother was from the Storrev family. Her younger sister, my aunt, had taken a groom who then succeeded the family title in place of the eldest son who had died young. This was the same aunt who had injured her hip a few days prior and forced me to read romance novels at length for her.

  My aunt had three daughters that were all very rambunctious—or rather, to put it politely, very lively and heavily into fashion. My luck ran out the moment they spotted the completed Suiran weave I had delivered. They swiped it out of my hands before I could say anything with strange proclamations of, “We’ll spread this among the nobles!” Then in the blink of an eye, its popularity soared, which later resulted in written protests mixed with despair from the weavers in the marquess’s territory.

  The prince chuckled teasingly. “Your family is just protecting you. They’re making sure no harm comes to your good reputation among the nobles.”

  I fell silent for a moment. It was true that my aunt and cousins had fussed over me since my mother passed away when I was young. “At any rate...” I continued, “The accomplishment of seeing through the Zelger counterfeit belongs to my brother, not me.”

  Once again I tried to rebut the prince’s argument, but as usual he simply smiled and said, “But it was you who first noticed something was strange about it.”

  This all happened about a month ago.

  I had just come from the archives and entered His Highness’s office to discover the prince and Lord Alexei with subdued looks on their faces as they stood around a piece of porcelain. Soon I, too, found myself staring at it.

  When His Highness noticed my presence, he was gracious enough to explain, “It appears Zelger has been found.” Zelger was a rare piece of porcelain, said to be the royal family’s hidden treasure.

  I regarded it at length with curiosity. “Hmm,” I whispered to myself as I tilted my head to the side. “Has it already been appraised?”

  “Yes, the appraisal report was included with it,” answered Lord Alexei. “Is there something amiss?”

  I furrowed my brow at his reply. There was something off about it, but surely if the appraisal report had been included with it, there could be no mistake about its authenticity. Still, somehow I just couldn’t shake my suspicions.

  “Elianna?”

  At Prince Christopher’s prompting, I glanced back into his blue eyes, and it was as if my doubts solidified. “I believe it’s a counterfeit,” I said, then stepped toward the two surprised men and bent down to inspect the item in question. I held my hand—the one that wasn’t currently holding books—up over the porcelain to cast a shadow against it, confirming what I already suspected.

  “The reason Zelger is regarded as the royal family’s hidden treasure,” I explained, “is because, according to an artbook, it boasts a color known as ‘Zelger Blue,’ a hue born from a unique mixture of colors and minerals no longer present in the modern era. ‘Zelger’ itself is an ancient word meaning ‘dawn.’ In other words, ‘Zelger Blue’ refers to the azure color of the sky at dawn... By all appearances, this one here looks like a simple, flat shade of blue.”

  “You’re certain?” Lord Alexei asked, the tension visible on his face.

  I shrank back, unconfident. “My knowledge on artifacts and antiques is limited, so I cannot guarantee... My brother might be able to make a more definitive assessment.”

  Alfred was quite knowledgeable when it came to fine arts (or rather, its literature). So I told them he might be more knowledgeable about Zelger than me. They immediately called him in to examine the item, and the first thing to come out of his mouth was—

  “It’s a counterfeit.” He spoke without a shadow of a doubt. Alfred pointed out clearly (and in more detail than I had) exactly what was off about the piece, such as the design.

  His Highness slumped back in his chair. With a hand on his forehead and a face taut with a mix of emotions, he sighed. “It’s a blessing that we discovered it before it was publicly appraised by the royal treasury’s inspector. Otherwise Earl Casull would have taken the fall for it.”

  Alfred’s brow quirked in response, but the prince cut the conversation short by saying, “Please keep this under wraps for now.” After that, Lord Glen was brought in and they proceeded to talk in private with heavy looks on their faces, so I wasn’t involved any further. And for some reason that conversation was what led to the whole incident with the viscount and his daughter.

  Final Act: And Then There Were Two

  My expression had remained miserable the entire time, and His Highness gave a puzzling laugh. “I, myself, was agonizing over how I could possibly get these nobles—ones who were only interested in outward appearances, who were too preoccupied with political power struggles to think of anything else—to accept you,” he said with a great big grin on his face that (pardon me for saying so) gave no indication he’d felt distressed at all.

  “After all,” he continued, “you Bernsteins were content with your weakened status, as always, and completely indifferent to the politically ambitious houses looking down on you. How was I supposed to suddenly change people’s opinion? But then you demonstrated your worth all by yourself. There wasn’t even any need for me to weave together any elaborate plans.”

  What on earth was he talking about...?

  His Highness also tilted his head slightly. “We just talked about it, didn’t we? You silenced all of them—the court nobility, the government officials, the ladies of high society—all with your own power. And you went even further. You raised your reputation as the Bibliophile Princess to soaring heights among Sauslind’s citizens.” He went on, “Now you’re known as a princess with foresight, for your ability to avoid war and produce fashion, and also as an affectionate noble with keen insight into the common people’s daily lives.”

  ...Your Highness, of whom do you speak? Affectionate, me? The woman referred to as the “Library Ghost”? And keen insight? Are you referring to my gluttonous interest in sami cuisine?

  There must be some mistake here, I thought, drawing away from him.

  His Highness merely smiled and closed the gap between us. “I never dreamed you’d solidify your position all by yourself. That made me happy, Eli. It meant you wanted to
stand beside me as well.”

  “Pardon...?!” My true feelings slipped out. I panicked, flustered, but the prince’s dazzling smile closed in, and it was then that the realization hit me. “Your Highness.” I gazed back firmly into those blue eyes of his, prepared for our heads to bump if he dared encroach any further. “Please stop obfuscating the matter.”

  “...Tsk.” I could hear the click of his tongue, even as he averted his eyes. Something was different about him today. I felt as if I were seeing a completely new side of him.

  Once I thought it over, I realized something was afoot. I’d certainly given advice and accomplished a number of things, but for word to spread at such a grand scale, and for it to become so exaggerated that people mistook those events as my personal achievements, required information manipulation. The matter with Earl Casull was a good example. It was also clear from the course of our conversation that only one person stood to benefit from instigating it.

  His Highness ran a hand through his dazzling blond hair, expelling a quiet sigh. “Very well, I will admit to sticking my hand in to improve your reputation a bit. But even without my help, you were doing enough on your own to earn the people’s approval. Or do you doubt that?”

  I lost my ground when he turned his eyes straight back at me. “Your Highness... Why would you go to such lengths?”

  The name “Sauslind’s Brain” still weighed heavily upon me. Had the prince accepted such troublesome conditions just so he could obtain me for that name? Feeling gloomy, I cast my eyes down, but His Highness put a hand to my cheek and lifted my face back up. His fingers pressed firmly against my skin, his gaze intense.

  “Eli, I already told you, didn’t I? I didn’t pick you because of the Bernsteins’ hidden name.”

  I saw my own eyes reflected in his—saw them waver, hesitating.

  The prince’s sigh, though soft, seemed to drown out my anxiety. “Then again...I already know you don’t remember.”

  My head filled with doubt, but the prince kindly smiled as he explained that the two of us had met once before, almost ten years ago.

  ~.~.~.~

  The prince had been raised with special care as the heir to Sauslind, and thanks to being naturally gifted as well, he was the picture of a conceited, domineering prepubescent. One day, he was in the royal library and in a foul mood, so he began taking out his anger on the books. He punched them, kicked them, and used them as target practice—

  “Eli! Don’t get angry at me again. You already scolded me plenty back then!”

  Come now, Your Highness. You needn’t get so flustered. If you have seen your ways, that’s enough for me. Oh dear, what are you breaking into a cold sweat for? No need to act so dramatic.

  “Anyways...”

  Back then, a girl younger than His Highness had slapped him across the face.

  Well, that certainly does require some courage, but how disrespectful, I thought.

  The girl was possessed with such intensity that even His Highness was speechless as she admonished him. “Apologize to the books!” Somehow he managed to regain his composure, but the moment he tried to object, she said, “It matters not who you are or where you’re from. These are the books of our ancestors, of people who can no longer speak to us anymore. Were you not taught that it’s inappropriate to commit injustice against those without a voice?”

  “Y-You’re being way too dramatic,” the young prince said. “They’re just books.”

  After a pause, the girl asked, “How old are you?”

  “What? I-I’m twelve.”

  “These books you were punching are history books written a hundred or more years ago, yet even now they continue to be reprinted. Before these ancient tomes, your twelve years makes you nothing more than an infant in diapers—a freshly hatched chick that still hasn’t fully escaped its shell. Now apologize to our great ancestors!”

  Those words, coming from a girl who was younger than him, overwhelmed His Highness. His pride, ballooned from years of baseless praise on his wit and intelligence, crumbled, and he expressed remorse for his actions and apologized.

  He became interested in the girl after that and started visiting the royal library to hear her talk about books. The content she shared from the tomes she read differed completely from what his instructor had taught him. It didn’t take long for the boy’s heart to flutter with joy, not for the books but for the girl who spoke of them. That was why, after looking into the girl’s background, he went to consult his father and the prime minister, wanting to keep the girl at his side.

  “Father and the prime minister suddenly started panicking,” the prince shared, staring vacantly into the distance for some reason.

  I had to ask. “Was she that esteemed of a person? Had the princess of another kingdom somehow snuck into our own?”

  “Eli.” The prince’s gaze was lukewarm for some reason. “I’m talking about our past together right now.”

  I blinked in surprise.

  Oh... Don’t tell me that girl was actually me?

  The prince let out an audible, breathy sigh. His blue eyes lacked their usual intensity. “I can’t believe I have shared this much and you still don’t remember... Well, no. I must have left an absolutely awful impression, so maybe I should count my blessings that you don’t recall.”

  Please, Your Highness, don’t lose heart. After all, I have the memory of a goldfish when it comes to people.

  His Highness massaged his temples, as if smoothing out the wrinkle between his brows, and continued the story.

  That was the first time he learned of the hidden Sauslind name associated with the Bernsteins (and by extension, me). He was then warned by His Majesty and the prime minister that it would be difficult to draw me into the royal family, given that the Bernsteins weren’t swayed by power. Moreover, because of our hidden name, they advised him to avoid making any demands that might upset our family.

  The prince refused to heed their warnings and tried to approach my father, the marquess, indirectly. But the very next day, I was sent back to our territory where my grandfather had holed himself up.

  “Oh goodness...”

  That was enough to finally stir my recollection. I remembered now that after my father lost my mother, he fell so deep into depression that he completely ignored books and refused to let my brother or I leave his side. That was why I had memories of spending my youth in the capital before suddenly being sent back to our territory, alongside my brother, when I was nine. I didn’t step foot inside the capital again until my societal debut when I was fourteen.

  The prince smiled bitterly, though I wasn’t sure why. “I really wish I could kick my younger self in the back of the head for being so foolish back then.”

  Pardon, Your Highness, but I’m fairly certain that’s physically impossible.

  “Well, anyhow, I appealed to the marquess and your grandfather numerous times only to be rebuffed. By the time you finally made your societal debut, you’d grown ridiculously cute, but you didn’t even remember me, and you were oblivious when other men tried to approach you!”

  You’re scaring me, Your Highness. Please calm down. Also, you have heard of the sayings, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” and, “Love is blind,” right? Not that I have a hobby of denigrating myself, and I do realize that sounds terribly disrespectful to the prince, but still I thought he was exaggerating.

  Feeling even more restless than I did a moment ago, I drew away once more, but the prince captured me again in his steady blue eyes.

  “I mean it, you lack any self-awareness whatsoever. There was one time an ambassador from another country tried to persuade you to go back with him to his country, but you were completely clueless. Do you know how mad you drove me with worry...?! Please, be a little more conscious of the fact that your appearance draws people’s interest.”

  “Um... Are you trying to tell me that—and I’m not sure I believe you—I, the Library Ghost, am actually quite popular with people?”

/>   His blue eyes, deep with emotion, darkened. I felt a tremor run through me. “Eli, whether you’re a library ghost or as dense as those books you love to read, my feelings for you won’t change. But maybe I need to drive the point home. After almost ten years of waiting, I’ve finally caught you. After all of that, no matter what happens now, I’m not going to let go of you. Okay?”

  I flushed red and tried to pull away, but since my hand was still trapped in his, I could only arch back. His explanation was so frank and candid that even someone as thick-headed as me understood now that it was me he truly desired, not the hidden name of the Bernsteins. And yet, even so...

  “B-But, Your Highness, I haven’t undertaken the necessary princess training.”

  He stared blankly, blinking, his face screwed up as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. Beneath his breath he murmured, “I never would have guessed you would worry about that type of thing.”

  You might want to speak a bit more softly if you don’t want me to hear, Your Highness.

  “You haven’t taken the training,” he agreed, “but you have passed the exam. Thus it was decided you don’t require the training.”

  Excuse me, what now...?

  “When you first became my fiancée, you attended a tea party with my mother and the court ladies and underwent their interrogation, remember? That’s where they confirmed that your knowledge, education, manners and...well, social skills we’ll leave aside...but they found nothing wrong with your appearance or disposition.”

  “I-I’ve never heard anything of this...”

  “Yeah, because I didn’t say anything.” And then he added, “I figured you would run off if I did.”

  I realized then that the dazzling smile on his face was actually a devil’s smile. And as he approached, I wondered if there was any way for me to escape.

  “I’m not exactly skilled at navigating high society,” I said. That was an absolute necessity for a queen.

  Also, Your Highness, please stop kissing my hand. When you do, my heart pounds so hard it feels as if it might burst right out of my chest.