“Welcome.”
“……”
What is this situation?
Grace blinked, trying to hide her confusion.
The one who had come looking for her was the Empress’s lady-in-waiting.
When Grace asked what the matter was, the maid didn’t answer—she only told her to follow.
She led the way with an arrogant attitude, as if there were no need to explain the reason.
Since it was the Empress’s maid, Grace naturally thought it must be the Empress who had summoned her.
But when she followed the maid into the spacious drawing room, the Empress was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, Eleanor Grikel, the Grand Duchess, welcomed Grace along with several others.
“Hello, Your Grace.”
Grace greeted her calmly.
She couldn’t grasp the full picture of the situation, but she had a rough idea.
So it wasn’t the Empress—it was the Grand Duchess who had called her.
Was she planning to question her about yesterday in front of others?
“I didn’t think many people would come to the library this early. I hope I didn’t call you away while you were busy?”
“Not at all.”
“Then that’s good.”
Eleanor elegantly lifted her teacup.
“Don’t just stand there—sit down. There are plenty of empty seats.”
At her words, a quick-witted maid gestured toward a vacant spot on the long sofa.
When Grace sat down, the young ladies and noblewomen nearby smiled faintly.
Their lips curved into lovely, painted-on smiles, but their eyes did not.
They were sharp, probing, curious, and wary—gazes that lingered on Grace’s face for a long moment.
Grace accepted those stares calmly.
It didn’t particularly bother her.
It wasn’t her first time being treated as an outsider or sitting among people she didn’t usually mix with.
Still, she felt uneasy.
Why had Eleanor Grikel summoned her? What did she intend to say?
Grace couldn’t guess.
She sipped her tea and turned toward Eleanor—
But Eleanor spoke first.
“I just thought I’d invite you for a cup of tea.”
“……?”
“I was on my way back from visiting my mother, and you suddenly came to mind.”
Came to mind?
Grace found that hard to believe.
And there was no way this was just about tea.
She feigned understanding and nodded.
“I see.”
“Oh, right—should I be calling you librarian instead?”
Eleanor looked around as though she had slipped up.
Light giggles rippled through the room, clear and bright.
The young ladies and noblewomen covered their mouths, but their laughter lingered.
“My apologies.”
“……”
“This is the first time I’ve been in this kind of situation, so I don’t know what to call you……”
The ridicule and mockery were all too familiar by now.
A count’s daughter working as a lowly librarian—without honor or dignity.
They whispered slyly and glanced sidelong at her with raised chins.
“Call me however you wish.”
Grace was utterly unfazed.
“Since Lady Macbury introduced you as Librarian Blodin, I’ll call you that as well—Librarian Blodin.”
Eleanor gave a small, refined smile.
Seeing that polished noblewoman’s smile, Grace also smiled faintly in return.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
“……That is all, Your Highness.”
At the same time, Aide Meldier finished his report and handed over the folder of documents.
Karl received it and carefully reviewed the contents again.
“What was said to be the cause of the sudden increase in the Grikel family’s fortune?”
His eyes remained on the papers as he asked.
“They receive monthly donations from various houses.”
“That’s legal, so we can’t use it against them.”
“Correct, Your Highness. And the donations themselves don’t amount to very much.”
The Grikel family now possessed the greatest wealth after the Imperial Household itself.
But they had not always been rich.
Not until the Grand Duke of Grikel married Princess Eleanor.
Before that, they had been nothing more than a respected knightly family from the south.
But once they welcomed Princess Eleanor into their family, they were suddenly elevated to a grand ducal house—
All because Emperor Alexander had cherished his daughter Eleanor dearly.
Their rank rose, and so did their wealth.
The problem was how abnormally fast and vast that wealth had grown.
Noble fortunes normally followed cycles of great increase followed by great decrease.
But the Grikel family’s wealth only grew—it never diminished.
Their extravagance grew and grew, yet there was never a downturn.
It was difficult to accept.
Even if Eleanor Grikel had taken on important roles for the Empire and the Imperial family—
“With such abnormal growth, there must be many methods at play—illegal dealings, unlawful developments, illicit investments—things we haven’t uncovered yet.”
Meldier replied smoothly.
“Most likely.”
“We’re investigating every possible method, based on suspicions raised by the Macbury family.”
“How much longer will it take?”
Karl’s sharp gaze and tone made Meldier lower his head slightly.
“It’s not easy to approach House Macbury, but within three months it should be possible.”
“If they were easier to approach, it would be sooner.”
“Yes. Then we’d be able to learn whether they’re helping the Grikels through other means beyond donations.”
“Three months……”
Karl tapped his fingers on the desk.
Not too fast, not too slow.
Meldier watched him tensely.
Just as Karl was about to speak, a knock sounded and a chamberlain entered.
“Do you have urgent news to report?”
“Yes, Aide.”
The chamberlain’s voice was rushed, without composure.
“You instructed us to report immediately if there were any suspicious movements among the clerks……”
Karl’s hand, flipping through the documents, froze.
At Meldier’s prompting glance, the chamberlain nervously spoke.
“Librarian Grace Blodin was seen heading to the East Wing with Her Majesty the Empress’s maid.”
“Her Majesty the Empress……?”
Meldier blinked in shock and turned to Karl.
Karl’s normally expressionless face was now cold as ice.
“Your Highness, what should we do?”
Karl closed the folder and set it on the desk.
There was no way his mother would summon Grace.
Someone who could command and use the Empress’s lady-in-waiting, despite not being the Empress herself…
“Find out if the Grand Duchess Grikel is in the Trion Palace.”
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
“……Is it true, Librarian Blodin?”
“Pardon?”
The introductions of noble families were finally over.
The talk had drifted toward the upcoming ball.
Glittering dresses, fragrant tea, desserts that looked too sweet even at a glance.
Conversations full of pomp, empty of substance, just displays of power.
Grace was getting weary.
She forced her lips into a polite smile, but she was nearing her limit.
She began regretting coming here at all, wondering how much longer she had to endure this—
And then an unexpected question flew her way.
“Have you known His Highness the Crown Prince for some time?”
“…What?”
She had only let her mind wander for a brief moment—how had the conversation suddenly turned here?
“No. Not at all.”
Grace quickly denied it, forcing down any sign of fluster.
The young lady who asked glanced toward Eleanor Grikel.
Was this question planted by her?
Grace turned to look at Eleanor.
Fanned by her attendants, she raised her teacup with elegant composure, pretending ignorance with practiced ease.
As the teacup clicked softly back onto the table, Eleanor’s gaze fell upon Grace.
When their eyes met, Eleanor smiled faintly.
Why is she smiling?
Grace sensed an ulterior motive.
She set down her own cup and stared directly at Eleanor.
“Still, isn’t it because of Karl that you suddenly went from a trainee librarian at the Imperial Library to a clerk at the Secretariat?”
At those words, the young ladies all turned their heads toward Grace.
Curiosity, jealousy, suspicion—all flickered in their eyes.
“He was also the one who invited you to this tea party.”
“……”
“So yes, it’s all thanks to Karl.”
At last, Grace realized Eleanor’s intention.
She was trying to cast suspicion on Grace’s relationship with the Crown Prince, to damage his reputation.
The young ladies gasped softly.
“Then you weren’t acquaintances before……”
“Is His Highness favoring her especially……?”
They were already caught up in Eleanor’s scheme.
The idea that the Crown Prince would show special regard for a mere librarian?
If that rumor spread, it could only harm Karl.
In noble society, reputation was power.
“Of course not. Absolutely not.”
Grace denied it at once.
“The Imperial Library and the Secretariat both fall under His Highness the Crown Prince’s oversight.”
Normally, she would have stopped there, cool and detached.
Whatever happened to Karl’s reputation had nothing to do with her.
But this time was different.
She had made a contract with him—and she wanted to keep it.
For the sake of her lifelong dream and goal that awaited after that contract ended.
She couldn’t allow such a misunderstanding now.
“His Highness loves books, so he takes special care of the librarians and Baron Aster, the Library Director.”
She had to push back firmly.
“He even invites librarians to tea parties and events.”
“He’s invited other librarians?”
“Yes. Just like at the recent Secretariat banquet.”
“……”
Eleanor stayed silent, her gaze fixed on Grace.
Grace smiled brightly and went on.
“There have been other occasions where librarians were invited to Imperial teas and banquets—or even had private audiences.”
“……”
“Thanks to His Highness, not only myself but the other librarians as well have had the honor of dining with esteemed guests like Your Grace.”
“An honor, is it……”
Eleanor echoed the word with a faint laugh.
But her smile was tinged with bitterness.
“I didn’t know Karl valued the Imperial Library staff so highly. Thanks to you, Librarian Blodin, I’ve learned something new about him.”
“……”
“If you continue as a Secretariat librarian, you’ll be the one among us who knows Karl best.”
The young ladies and noblewomen looked around restlessly, unsettled.
But Grace kept her posture steady, smiling politely.
“At least when it comes to His Highness’s reading preferences, yes. I am a librarian, after all.”
“Yes… because you’re a librarian.”
Eleanor repeated the words and erased her smile completely.
The young ladies and noblewomen bowed their heads, sipping at tea that had long since gone cold.
All of them thought the same thing in that moment:
For a mere librarian to silence the Grand Duchess herself… she’s no ordinary woman.
Only the sound of sipping tea lingered in the drawing room.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
“Phew……”
Grace let out a deep breath.
Even within the same Trion Palace, the air felt completely different.
The moment she stepped into the Secretariat’s corridor, her chest felt lighter.
“Only about two hours left now.”
She had wasted her time in that place, but at least it meant the end of her shift was closer.
Grace walked with lighter steps and opened the library door.
“Oh?”
The library was dim, with little sunlight even at midday.
A tall silhouette leaned against the window.
“Who… are you?”
Translated by: fatma♡
Only on nove novels !
