Chapter 15
The maid showed me the way in an enthusiastic mood.
We went towards the main stairs at the Main Hal through the long corridor and, unexpectedly, stopped at the dead centre.
The Main Hall's stairs disposition was like this:
From the front, on the first floor, wide stairs spread until arriving at the second floor as an arrow, a little further inside, at the centre where we stood, a big door made of glass can be seen, with the form of a half pointy arch. The distance between the end of the wide stairs and that door disguised as a window made space for a broad hall that spread in both directions, left and right. In this case, My room could be found further inside to the right corridor and Paul's would be to the left.
However, to the sides of the glass door, there were two additional stairs, a third of the width of the main stairs. Those stairs were connected to the third floor, which I still haven't visited, so, I don't really know what hides up there.
'Are we going to go there?' — I thought as I gave a glance at the stairs, a little thrilled to know how the third floor was.
Though, I was wrong. The maid opened the big glass door instead of going to the side stairs, killing my expectations.
Since a lot of light entered through the glass door, I had thought of it as a mere decoration. But, surprisingly, after opening the door, a corridor that connected to another building behind the main castle appeared in my sights.
I was actually walking outside now.
A sweet breeze caressed my face. My loose long hair fluttered a little with the wind. I'm not someone who likes to go outside... But this feeling is so nice. The air is much more clearer than in my past life. It wasn't stuffy.
We walked a distance of about thirty meters. The building at the end was very prominent. Looking up to its peak, I got excited, things were turning interesting. If this whole building was the library... just how many books did the Dukedom have? I would read them all just out of curiosity to know the kind of books kept here.
Once we reached the end of the corridor, a big door of a material I couldn't recognize appeared. Antique letters and hands were engraved in it. It was literally a work of art in its entirety.
The maid turned to me, clearly excited.
"Miss Marianne, we have arrived." — Announcing our arrival, she nodded to the side. I wondered why she did that, and then, a man who seemed to be a guard came into sight.
'..! Was he always there???'
The man bowed to me as a greeting and moved to open the enormous door immediately after. The view I got to see as the insides of the building peeked from the opening entrance gave me a ticklish sensation. Crossing into the building, I raised my head to observe the ceiling. The entire roof had the form of a dome and was made of coloured glass, in other words, the ceiling was a skylight.
The coloured light that came through, made the place magical, mystical, with its mixed colours. Three floors could be seen upwards, with walls full of books. As my gaze came down, two more floors were below my sight. On the lower floor, several tables could be seen, and in the centre, a desk and a chair. The librarian or the Duchy's scholar must have his workstation there since a pile of books were drowning the desk all over the place.
"...My Lady..?"
Oh, I must have stared too much. The maid with a cautious expression ended my amazement with her soft voice.
I closed my eyelids slowly and to that, the maid answered as I wanted.
"I will wait for you outside, My Lady. Please do take your time." — A pleased smile was shown. The maid must be attached to Anne, seeing how well she's been treating me.
I began searching through the books in a carefree shopping style. I was looking for something interesting, anything that picked my interest was welcomed, it didn't matter the subject. I can always come back and pick any other book. However, I couldn't guess what the books were about from just the titles.
'There must be a list of the books somewhere or a more effective way to find something I would like to read...'
While thinking this, I heard someone approaching, mumbling, behind me. I turned my head in the direction I heard the almost grumbling voice.
Five steps away, there stood a tall man. He was wearing a white shirt that covered him till the neck with puffy sleeves and black pants. Thick glasses hid his eyes. His hair was purple black and blue strands of hair were visible here and there, He had his hair half tied, it wasn't long enough to tie it all... So... it looked quite messy...
He was mumbling something while holding books and papers that could easily fall from his arms at any moment.
I stared at him while he mumbled, trying to figure out if he was talking to me or to himself. There are people like that after all.
A while later, silence fell.
I kept staring at him, intently. He quickly grew nervous and began fidgeting in place.
Heh... Such an interesting fellow...
Due to his attitude, I decided to approach him slowly. He flinched in surprise at my actions, but I kept getting closer. Once there was an acceptable distance between us, I reached my hand to a book he was holding and lightly tapped it.
The man raised his eyebrows. He was confused.
I looked down at my hand, aware that making gestures was my only option for communication right now. I gestured imitating the writing action, but he didn't seem to completely get it, therefore, I extended my hand as if I was asking for something.
That's when he got it.
"... Oh!"
He quickly placed the books and papers on the floor. Took an empty paper from those he carried, and from his ear picked a pencil I did not notice before. He gave them to me, and from the books on the floor, he picked a random one and handed it to me too. It was so I could place the paper on top of it and make it easier for me to write. He is the considerate type.
I wrote everything I wanted to say without losing time.
[1. Hello, I am Marianne Sylfinnier. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. May I please know your name?
2. This is my first time in the library, I wish I had visited sooner.
3. You seem to know your way here. Or at least, have knowledge about books. Could you recommend me some? I want to read something to pass time, I would appreciate it if you could introduce a book that you might think could be interesting to me.]
Writing the final punctuation, I immediately showed him the paper.
Not even two seconds passed and an exclamation came out from him.
"Marianne... Sylfinnier!? Th-The?...The Duke's daughter?!" — His jaw almost dropped looking at me. How funny, HaHah.
I just blinked at him, as a means to tell him to brush that off and continue reading.
As he kept reading, he answered to my words one by one, pushing up his glasses from the side. His voice was low and gentle as he spoke.
"L-Lady Marianne, the pleasure is all mine. I am a new scholar sent from the Royal Palace to serve the Duke. The name is Theodore.
... I see... it is your first time here. This library is indeed splendid..... Ah! I arrived here a month ago so there are still things I have yet to know... however I can indeed help you choose a few books..."
I lightly nodded my head in acceptance. However, he kept glancing at me with a curious face. And, apparently, his curiosity won, because his next words expressed what he was curious about.
"... Excuse me, My Lady. I do not mean to be rude with this question, but... do you... have some kind of... condition..?"
"..."
'Heh. At least you know you're being rude...'