"Ahem"

"..."

"Madam"

"..."

"Madam!"

"Wha..." I jolted, startled by the voice.

Nathaniel was standing in front of me with hands behind his back. I quickly closed the book in my hand and looked at him.

"Ahem... It's time for dinner" He said, taking a glance at the pile of books surrounding me.

I was sitting on the window sill surrounded by you-know-what books. There were ten to twelve books in the least.

Dinner?

I looked out the window. It was completely dark outside. I was so engrossed in reading that I didn't notice the time fly by.

Makes sense though, there's not a single clock in this mansion.

Can't believe I skipped lunch and snack time.

Now that I think about it, I'm starting to feel a teeny bit hungry.

Then I realized something.

How long has Nathaniel been standing here? Did he see the books?

I didn't notice him at all. I tend to forget about the materialistic world when I start reading BL. I should be concentrating as to not let down my guard. But I couldn't help myself and started mowing down the books when I saw them.

I got down feeling embarrassed. It felt like I got caught red-handed for sneaking out. But the most agonizing thing was that there was no change in Nathaniel's expression.

I started arranging the scattered books while hoping that I wasn't found out.

"You can leave that to the library staff"

There's a library staff?

Behind Nathaniel, there was a young man, about the same age as him. He came forward and bowed before me. He looked like a quiet and docile person.

A perfect match for our sadistic butler.

'In the deepest darkest corner of the library, were a secret pair of lovers. They were desperately holding onto each other. Only whispers were heard in between their....'

Noooooo....... stop thinking like that!

I bit my lips trying to hold it in. I dashed towards the opposite shelf and pulled out two books in random.

'Holy thoughts. Holy thoughts'

Good thing is that the butler didn't seem to have noticed the particular genre I was interested in. Let's just walk out like there wasn't any weird stuff going on.

The best way to avoid suspicion is to 'walk out like you own the place' and not acknowledge anything. This is a technique that I have mastered even in my previous life.

I walked past the duo while trying to keep my imagination under control.

The books I chose were 'The Animal kingdom in Velven' and 'Species of birds in Velven'. They sure have a lot of books regarding the Velven Empire. Then again, this library has literally everything.

" *cough* Bring dinner to my room. I would like to continue my reading there"

"Yes madam" He paused

"I will have an assortment of books sent to your room, Madam" He continued, eyeing the assortment of books by the window.

I clenched the books in my hand.

He definitely saw it.

I could feel my face getting flushed from the embarrassment.

"Please do so"

I answered in a dignified voice, but internally I was screaming.

"How long were you standing there Nathaniel?"

"Long enough" Nathaniel smiled so wide that the corners of his eyes creased.

First, it was the incident in the bedroom, and now this. I swear this man always catches me in my most embarrassing moments.

I huffed and stormed towards my room without looking back.









After the fiasco in the library, I didn't have the appetite to eat. And I didn't want to check each and every dish for possible poisoning. So I only ate a quarter of which I usually do.

After dinner, I took a bath and crashed on the bed.

I felt refreshed from the relaxing bath. If only it weren't for these nightgowns. It's no different from a bath towel.

Then I remember the butler telling me about the things that arrived for me. I got up and walked towards the boxes piled near the door.

I told Nathaniel to 'drop them by the door'. But I didn't expect him to follow it in a literal sense. They are not even sorted.

When I went through the stuff that came for me, I once again realized that my brother is an A-grade idiot. Not a single useful thing was among the pile.

The various boxes contained dresses, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, etc,.

Then I noticed the jewelry box being a little heavier than it was supposed to. I emptied the contents of the box and checked its bottom for a switch.

*click*

As expected, there was a secret compartment hidden in its base. Inside was a book I could easily recognize even in my sleep.

"Ah hah. Maybe you're not a complete idiot, dear brother"

It was the latest edition of 'The Adventures Of The Witty Mr.Knox'. It was my favorite book since childhood.

I have to applaud him for smuggling these through the customs office without getting caught.

Then again he did manage to smuggle out a living person. I guess all those Alchemy lessons didn't go to waste.

Inside the book was another hidden compartment unit.

It contained a dagger with an eagle emblem on its hilt and a letter. The dagger was gifted to me by my grandma on my seventeenth birthday. It was something that I always had on me regardless of the place or time.

I put the dagger down and picked up the letter inside the box. Surprisingly it was six pages long which was not Clive's style of writing.

I sat on the floor and started reading it. My facial expressions were on a roller coaster ride as I flipped through the pages. It was not what I was expecting. But it still doesn't justify what that was done to me.

"Haaah" I sighed as I got to my feet.

I dragged myself to the bed book in hand. I dropped on the bed like a puppet without strings.

"Damn it"

My emotions were a mess.

I slowly turned towards my right.

Edward was sleeping without a care in the world. Then I looked towards the ceiling and sighed again.

Maybe I should cheer myself up with some reading.

True to his words, the butler had a dozen books sent to the room.

I wonder what the librarian's expressions were when he picked these. He was a goofy-looking guy.

But I'm not in the mood for BL now. I want something that can be exciting and relaxing at the same time.

I reached out my hand and picked up the book that I recently got. I put the dagger under my pillow for safekeeping and started reading.

At that moment it hit me. I was reading a bedtime story and there was a sleeping person beside me on the bed.

I rolled towards Edward till I was right next to him.

"Do you wanna hear a bedtime story Mr.Husband?" I whispered in his ear.

"Yes I do, my dear wife"

I replied to myself dubbing a deep voice. It was Edward's imaginary voice that I created.

"It's not like you have a choice anyway.....hehe"

I placed the book on the pillow and started reading at a slow pace with my legs flapping behind me.

It was a long night for both of us.