IDIBC Chapter 26

The Ending Must Be the Emperor Ending

I looked around, imagining the library that must be in the main building. Somehow, it didn’t seem like it would be much different in atmosphere from this place. The central ceiling of the library was domed, so it didn’t feel stuffy, and the arched staircase led up to the second floor. The bookshelves were packed tight up there as well.

The books filling the library were as diverse in genre as they were vast in scale. Politics, economics, history—naturally, there was also the literature genre that I mainly read.

However, I didn’t think the light romance novels I enjoyed would exist in such a grand library.

“Even if I read all day, every day, I wouldn’t be able to finish them all before I died.”

The selection was so vast that I couldn’t get a sense of where or how to start. As I stood in the very center of the library, looking around in bewilderment, Angela leaned slightly toward me.

“You should go to the second floor.”

“The second floor?”

She nodded slightly as if conveying secret information.

“How was the book you read last time?”

“Which book?”

“Flowers at Twilight.”

As soon as I heard the title, I shook my head in admiration.

“Ah, it was a masterpiece. Really the best.”

“Right?”

“Yes, they said it was the most popular book these days, and it really was interesting.”

I went up to the second floor and looked around as I spoke.

Flowers at Twilight was a progressive novel about three daughters of a fallen noble family pursuing their dreams. The plot development was tense and the writing style elegant, making it the most popular book these days, they said.

“I enjoyed reading it, but somehow it doesn’t seem quite fitting for such a grand library. Are there really books of that kind here?”

“Don’t worry about that. The Rochester ducal family purchases almost all the books that come out on the market. And I heard they review all those books. To prevent forbidden books or books containing seditious ideas from entering the library.”

As if to prove her words, the second-floor bookshelves were also full of books.

“Also, I heard that anything too… sensational gets excluded.”

“Ah…”

That’s a bit disappointing.

“The Duchess once said something. That some books don’t receive recognition in their time. So one shouldn’t view any writing with prejudice. The Duchess is truly a wonderful person.”

Though I hadn’t spent long at the ducal estate, from what I’d seen so far, the servants here all believed in and served their masters without exception. With genuine respect.

It wasn’t an easy thing to achieve.

When Count Fennel was alive, until his final moment, he insisted that Duke Rochester had abandoned Ricardo. I didn’t believe everything he said to save his life, but I did think it was true that the ducal couple had failed to protect him safely.

However, when I saw people’s attitudes toward the ducal couple like this, it was hard to believe that they had left Ricardo in danger for so long.

“So how was that book?”

At Angela’s whispered words, I emerged from my thoughts. Even though it was clearly empty, we lowered our voices as if by agreement, simply because we were in a library.

“Which book?”

“Flowers on the Cliff.”

“Ah, that was entertaining too, but I… didn’t really like the ending.”

“Why not?”

“Because the protagonist doesn’t become emperor.”

“That’s right.”

Not just Angela but another maid also nodded and giggled. Saying that tastes must be respected.

“The ending must absolutely have the emperor. The ending is the emperor ending. I absolutely love emperor endings.”

“Me too!”

Even the young maid who had been quiet until now chimed in with my words. As I said that, it occurred to me that perhaps the book I couldn’t afford to buy before might be here.

‘The male protagonist was the emperor’s eighth prince who becomes emperor with the help of the female protagonist…’

The books were well arranged alphabetically, so if that book was here, finding it wouldn’t seem difficult.

‘It was somewhat… sensational, so maybe it’s not here?’

I focused on finding the book, pointing at letters with my finger.

‘It’s here!’

The book was in an awkwardly high place. I stood on my tiptoes and stretched my arm as far as it would go, but I almost reached it but not quite. Since the maids were all shorter than me, it seemed difficult for them to pull out the book too.

“Angela, sorry, but could you bring me a ladder? I don’t know where it is.”

I concentrated all my attention on getting the book out. Just a little more, if I could stretch just a little more… The book had just touched my hand and I’d pulled it forward slightly when I felt something heavy approaching from behind. Immediately, a low, humid voice rolled into my ear.

“Is it this one?”

“Hup.”

So startled that I made an unseemly sound, I whirled around to the side. Then I came face to face with the black eyes of the man looking down at me. My movements and breath stopped involuntarily. Between his lips and mine, there was only enough distance for one hardcover book of moderate thickness.

As Ricardo blinked briefly, I came to my senses as if I’d been frozen and thawed. I lowered my gaze under his arm and scanned the surroundings, but the maids weren’t anywhere nearby—they weren’t even on the second floor.

When on earth did they disappear so quickly?

Feeling slightly betrayed, I put my gaze back to the front. Then Ricardo casually pulled out the book I’d been trying to get and read the title quietly.

“How to Make Your Kind Savior an Emperor?”

Even though I wasn’t the one who made the male protagonist an emperor, my face suddenly flushed red.

“Gi-give it to me.”

I reached out to take the book from him, but somehow the book kept getting farther from me. I straightened my body rigidly, trying not to touch his chest, making my movements unnatural.

“I don’t want to…”

“Then just move aside a little.”

Despite my request, Ricardo pressed his body even closer instead. As if to crush me to death between the bookshelves.

“I don’t want that either.”

Ha, a sigh escaped involuntarily.

“I’m not asking you to get engaged to me or to give me a share of the ducal family’s fortune, so why won’t you even do that?”

“Yeah, I don’t want to.”

He said he didn’t want to while handing me the book with a courteous attitude. I let out a small laugh at his childlike appearance beneath the veneer of a gentleman.

“You really haven’t changed.”

When I mentioned the past, his chest seemed to stiffen for a moment, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping standing close behind me. Rather, it was better this way. It was preferable to looking at his eyes.

“What have you been doing?”

“Are you asking about the time since you met the Crown Princess?”

“….”

“I’ve been waiting, wondering if I’d die today or tomorrow. What else can I do here?”

I felt him laugh softly behind me. He must be receiving all the reports anyway, so he probably wasn’t truly curious about what I’d been doing.

“I heard your food intake decreased. Is the food not to your taste?”

“When labor decreases, it’s natural for food intake to decrease.”

That wasn’t actually true. The dinners I ate at Blue Hill—I always finished everything that was my portion. It was just that everything about this luxurious mansion didn’t suit me well. Even the dining utensils.

“But why do you keep standing behind me?”

“Because this way I don’t have to see the face that wants to run away.”

I had nothing to say, so I closed my mouth. It was true that even now I wanted to run away because he made me uncomfortable.

Why didn’t Ricardo want to see that face of mine? I both wanted to ask and never wanted to know.

“How long have you been here?”

“Since last night…”

Surprised, I tried to look at him, but I still could only see his thick forearm.

“Why?”

“Because I… couldn’t sleep.”

Even though there was no way that could be true, somehow it sounded like he was whining. Just like the nameless boy from the East Wing in childhood.

“Have you eaten?”

“No.”

I moved slowly to turn around to face him. As I moved, Ricardo made a little space so I could turn around comfortably.

I kept my gaze on his cheek and forehead, trying not to meet his eyes. Was his jaw looking sharper than a few days ago because he was sulking right now?

“Shall I stay beside you?”

“Why?”

“You said looking at me makes you hungry.”

Ricardo, who laughed softly, slowly leaned his forehead on my shoulder. At that natural action, my breath stopped involuntarily.

Contrary to my stopped breathing, my heart beat helplessly. All I could do was hope that he couldn’t feel my frivolous heartbeat through his forehead touching my shoulder.

“Sleep.”

“Pardon?”

“Right now, sleep is more urgent.”

“Ah…”

“I was resting for the first time in a week, and you have an uncanny talent for disrupting my rest.”

With his eyes, he indicated where he had been lying. The second floor was a bit darker than the first, so I hadn’t noticed the long sofa in the corner with its back to the bookshelf.

Suddenly, I felt urgent.

I hastily grabbed his wrist. It was an instinctive thought—wanting to take this large man who was smiling faintly as if he might collapse at any moment to the sofa and put him to sleep.

But was it because I was too hasty? As I grabbed his arm and stepped forward, I stumbled.

“Ah!”