Reason #25: it would be the beginning to my doom (3)

Releasing My Pressure

At The Library

"Ahh... this is nice."

Said the girl who laid lazily on the sofa with a cookie in her mouth, a bookstand on her side, and many failed incomplete scarfs and knitting yarns around her.

I haven't been able to catch my breath ever since they put me to work. I've accidentally entered myself in a slave contract, and I'm just about to kill the master myself if I continue working like this.

Thank god for this place. If not, I would have given a good hand chop over that smiling face of his.

Then while she is taking a moment indulging in her thoughts of hitting the Prince's head, when she saw the badly knitted scarf in her hands, it leads her to sigh again.

"——Sigh, I only got about an hour every day at lunchtime. So I thought I use this time to knit his scarf for him, but..."

She looks over at the small hill of ugly knitted scarfs on the table, some filled with holes in between, some with knots and untangled strings, and some that even look disfigured like an unknown entity.

Looking at her own senselessness also made her feel like pitying her own teachers for teaching her all these years.

<I'm sorry teachers, you must have an awful time teaching me.> *sobs*

Then she let out a sigh and raise the red scarf she has been carefully knitting in her hands.

"I've been trying hard, and this is the best one so far. If my child wants a scarf, I'll give him a scarf!"

(Author: Ivy has turned back into her mother mode again because she thought the Prince wanted a hand-knitted scarf as he had no mother to make it for him.)

I remember in my past life. My mother uses to make a scarf for me and wrap around me when winter comes. I can still remember that it felt thick, soft, and warm with her smell.

Thinking about her mother made Ivy cry a little and made her think about the duchess.

"Mother... I miss you."

"Are you ok? Young lady?"

Suddenly a voice reaches out to her from behind, and it was that crazy old man she met that day.

His sudden appearance startled her that she immediately wipes her tears and stop crying.

"Uhh, yes. It's nothing. I just remembered something sad, that's all."

Then while she was busying wiping off her tears, the old man notices a large number of open books at the side, her shoes on the ground, and the knitting mess on the table.

"Hmm..." he pulled his beard a little " I see you've accustomed yourself quite well in this place."

Then as Ivy turns and looks at all the unsightly mess she made, she immediately rushes over to clean it.

"Ah, I'm so sorry. I got too comfortable. I forgot it's a public area, after all. I'll clean this up right away. It won't happen again."

"Haha, it's ok. It's not like many people are coming up here anyway. You can use it as you pleased."

Then his words made Ivy curious and ask.

"Huh, but why? Why aren't there any people visiting the library? It's such an amazing place."

"Oh?" He raises a brow, "you didn't know?"

"Huh? Know what?"

"Hmm..." he closed his eyes and pulled his beard again, thinking on whether he should tell her.

Ivy is a smart girl. She read enough fantasy books to see where is this leading to, so she made her guess and said

"It can't be because there is a ghost. Haha," she let out a small laugh.

But then the old man said, "oh, so you knew."

"Ack!" She flinched that her hunch was right, after all.

"Would that be a concern to you? Now that you know it's haunted."

Then Ivy look at him with a straight face and said

"No, no. Not even the very least. I don't believe in ghosts, after all."

"Hoho," he widens his eyes, "you must be a brave girl."

"Uhm, not really. Rather than saying I don't believe them, I haven't seen one myself, so I don't think they will harm us even if they are there."

"Hmm, on what basis you think they won't harm you? You never know if they would act differently in the future." He gave her a shaken look.

"Hmm... that's a good question." She casually answered while she picks up the books around her.

"I guess it's because I have no reason to be afraid.

I'm kind of a boring person since I was a child. When the kids ran away from ghosts, I would always feel puzzled about why they acted that way since nobody ever saw one. Then I started to wonder, was it because they could see it and I can't ?"

Suddenly, she chuckled as she remembered the past, and he asked, "what's so funny?"

"Ah, I just remember how silly I was back then. Because I thought everyone could see ghosts, and only I can't, I was afraid I'd be lonely since they had so much fun screaming together.

Then I researched how ghosts look so that I could join them, but when I found out how scary they were, I was so frightened that I couldn't leave my bed or walk around thinking when they would pop out.

But then, when my grandpa found out, he struck me on the head and said

*You silly girl, do you really got a brain in there or what? Use that head of yours and think about it. There is a reason why we can't see a ghost.*

Then Ivy started laughing out loud and surprised the old man

"Oh? What was it that makes you laugh so hard."

"Haha, it's just that when I remembered what my grandpa said, it made me laugh cause back then, I honestly thought he was going to say something scientific to calm me down, but instead, he passionately told me that.

*Our ancestor's ghost is protecting you from them. That's why you can't see the ghost!*

Haha, isn't that funny? He told me that there are ghosts around me protecting me from other ghosts, so that's why I can't see them. Don't you think it's a traumatic thing to say to a small child?

Ivy continued to laugh, but the old man was puzzled by her story.

"But you don't look like you were scared even after he says so. Why?"

"Ahh, after a while. When he passed, I thought about what he said again. I think he meant the people that loved you are still around you even when they have passed on, and they will always protect you even when you can't see them.

But they will know that you think about them, and even if you can't touch them, you'll know that they are smiling at you."

Then she turned at the old man and smiled brightly at him.

"That's why I have no reason to be afraid because I'm surrounded by ghosts that love me very much."

The old man's eyes widen with astonishment. Never had he heard of such a reply from a young child like her.

"What an interesting story." He said, "I've never thought of it that way."

"Please don't mind me; it's just my silly way of thinking. Of course, it still doesn't prove whether if ghosts exist or if they will hurt you or not.

I just really like the idea that they are there to protect us and not hurt us instead. I don't think it would be reasonable for them to stay behind in this world just to hurt people; instead, I like to think that maybe they stayed a little while longer so that they could see their loved ones' faces.

It gives me peace of mind when I think that way."

He smiled and chuckled, " Yes, it really does."

Then as Ivy was about to pack and go, he asked her.

"Young lady, what's your name?"

Ivy took a minute and paused to think

<hmm..... should I give him my name? Urgh, but low profile strategy failed anyway, so he'll find out who am sooner or later. still don't know he is, from the way looks, probably is librarian caretaker of this place. So get along with since I'll be coming here more often.>

"My name is Ivy. You can just call me that. I'm sorry for making a mess of your place."

"It's ok, and it's good to have some human presence here. Since we are on a first-name basis, then you can call me Humphrey."

"Hmm, Humphrey. That's a really nice name. I like it. Sorry again, Humphrey, for the mess. I shall take my leave now."

Then as Ivy was about to take off and run down the stairs, he stops her and said

"Will you be back here again?"

She turned around and said, "Yes, for the next couple of days."

"I see, perhaps I'll prepare some tea for us then."

Just then, Ivy thought, what a kind man for doing something like that for her even after she messed up the room and gave him more work to clean up.

So she answered

"I come here every day at 1215 sharp. I'll bring some delicious cookies and cakes with me as well. See you tomorrow then."Then she ran out with a smile.

After that, he stares blankly into space and said

"Are you still smiling at me now? Izzy?"

***************

Pressure Bomb

"Huh?! Why?! How can this happen?!"

When Ivy returns to the office to see three men with troubled faces, she already knew that she had to prepare her heart for some terrible news.

"What's wrong? all three of you don't look too well." She slowly enters the room and closes the door behind her.

Sir Gregory then walked up to her and showed her the telegram that they just received.

When Ivy saw the telegram, she read.

~Urgent: All three Kings, north, west, and the south, have decided to grace their presence along with their families, starting from Prince Leon Lambert's Ceremonial of Manhood till the Royal Ball. Please kindly make immediate preparations for their arrival.~

"Huh??!!!!!!!"

(Author: and so back to the very beginning... )

"Huh?! Why?! How can this happen?!" Ivy looks at the telegram closely, word by word, to make sure that this is real.

"I thought that they are only going to send a representative? Not the whole royal family! That's more than one person! They'll probably bring an entire nation of people behind them too! Will we even have enough to cater to them at this short amount of time?"

Her hand began to shiver as she holds the paper tightly to her face and not believing what she sees right now.

Then the Prince held her arms and said, "Don't worry, this is not the first time they've done this."

He smiled and reassured her.

Sir Gregory just sighed and said

"They always do this, and it just causes us more work, that's all."

While Sir Jacob sarcastically smiled back at Sir Gregory and said

"Well, we would've been even more prepared if you and your highness didn't go on a holiday with the Duke's family."

Both of the men flinch at Sir Jacob's remark, and the three-man started bickering like this was just another day at work while they left Ivy daze at the side.

So Ivy asked them

"So, this is not the first time? You mean they do this frequently?"

All three of them look at the ground and sigh in sync.

Then Sir Gregory began to explain, "Even though the west kingdom is the official ruler of the whole empire, the three other kingdoms have always felt discontent with the results, and for many years, they have been looking for an opportunity to put us into shame and the Kings will always fight against each other to see who is the best to be the ultimate ruler. Even this time, they'll probably ..."

Before Sir Gregory could finish, the Prince stop him and said

"Not another word, Gregory."

The Prince gave Sir Gregory a menacing gaze, warning him not to step over his boundaries.

"Ye. Yes. My apologies, your highness. I've over spoken."

Sir Gregory and Sir Jacob immediately kneeled to show the Prince their respects.

Then the prince turned around and held Ivy firmly by the shoulders.

"There is nothing for you to worry about. We have been through this many times, and we will be able to handle it."

When he smiled at her, hoping to calm her, he was surprised that he got a different reaction instead.

As Ivy brushes off his hands from her shoulders, she got a little piss off and said

"Don't do that."

"Huh?" The Prince was taken back "what do you mean?"

"I hate that. Don't show me that face like everything is fine when it's not."

While she gazes at him seriously, his eyes widen in surprise with her reply.

"Did you not just hire me with 100 gold bars? I'm not that weak-hearted. I won't cry on the side and let all of you carry this weight on your own. I'm going to do my worth of the pay as well!"

She scolded at him loudly while he froze there and let out a small laugh.

"Haha, ok, I'm sorry. I forgot."

"Huh? Forgot what?" She stared at him with her hands on her hips

"I forgot how unladylike you were."

He charmingly smiled at her.

"Huh?! Are you insulting me?"

Ivy's face was turning red, feeling tick off with that remark that she hates the most.

But before she could fight back, he leaned closer towards her face and said, "well then, shall we make full use of that 100 gold bar like you mention?"

He gave her a cunning smile, and she immediately took a few steps back away, reacting like an automated defense in her system.

"Why are you so far away from me again?" he said to her with an irritated tone.

"haha," she laughs awkwardly," sorry, it somehow became a force of habit."

While the Prince was still feeling irritated from her remark, she gains back her composure and said

"Ok, please tell me what I need to do, and I will do my best."

***********