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Chapter 45
Secret Rendezvous (2)
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“Why have you come today?”
“The Empress’s attendant stopped by, didn’t they?”
“You hear things quickly, don’t you.”
Kaiden glanced at the glass of water Berenice handed him, then sat down heavily in the same seat he had taken before, pulling down the hood covering his head.
Watching his oddly natural movements, Berenice took the seat across from him.
“With how conspicuously you move around, I couldn’t exactly pretend not to notice, could I?”
Kaiden idly tapped the glass with his fingertip and fell silent.
Berenice wanted to ask What are you thinking so hard about?—but she couldn’t.
A shadow had crossed his face, darkening for a moment.
So she asked something else instead.
“That’s not the only reason you came to see me, is it?”
“As expected, you’re sharp.”
Kaiden gave a faint laugh, set his glass down on the table, and leaned back against the sofa, crossing one leg over the other.
“I got a message from the White Raven.”
“…What?”
“The cipher’s been decoded.”
“…I beg your pardon, Your Highness, but why would the White Raven contact you directly?”
After agreeing to cooperate, it had been Berenice who told Kaiden how to reach the White Raven’s nest.
To be exact, she had given him one of her silver coins and explained how to use it.
The flower shop she had first used as an entrance had vanished without a trace at dawn the next day, leaving behind an empty building.
So the new entrance she told Kaiden about was an old bookstore in the capital.
I only told him how to get there. But why would Bronwen contact him personally? Even for the White Raven, sneaking into the Imperial Palace should be nearly impossible…
While Berenice pondered that, her amber eyes full of unspoken questions met Kaiden’s.
He seemed to read her thoughts as he spoke again.
“I thought I’d better hear it from them first—since who knows what you’ll decide to keep from me next.”
“…Excuse me?”
“There’s plenty you’ve kept from me. For example, your reason for secretly investigating the truth behind your eldest brother’s death, without letting your family know.”
“……”
“So why are you hiding it? Working together with your family would make gathering information—and avoiding unwanted attention—a lot easier, wouldn’t it?”
Berenice bit her lower lip under his searching gaze.
Telling him it was to protect her family would sound like an excuse.
But she also couldn’t reveal that she had returned from the past.
Because she still wasn’t sure she could trust Kaiden as an ally.
She kept her mouth shut, glaring at him as he tried to read her reaction.
“There’s something else you’re keeping from me too, isn’t there?”
“…Didn’t we agree to trust each other’s circumstances, not each other?”
“We did.”
“Then why are you asking me this?”
“I got curious.”
“…Pardon?”
“I started to wonder what kind of person you really are.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because I want to trust you, not just the situation.”
Why would you want to trust me?
The question rose to her lips but refused to come out.
Berenice lowered her gaze, unable to meet the pair of crimson eyes that seemed to capture her reflection too clearly.
Kaiden watched her for a moment, then leaned back again and spoke more lightly.
“Anyway, putting that curiosity aside for now—the message from the White Raven was… troublesome.”
“…May I ask what it said?”
Freed from the strange pressure in his voice, Berenice looked up at him again.
Perhaps amused by the way she faced him so directly, Kaiden’s lips curved faintly as he answered.
“It was a reference number for a bookshelf in the Imperial Library.”
“The Imperial Library?”
“This one.”
A23.802.27–D23
Berenice tilted her head after reading the note he handed her.
Not because the number itself was strange, but because she didn’t understand why Bleddyn had hidden such a thing behind a cipher.
“Did you check what book it referred to?”
“No.”
“What?”
“It wasn’t there.”
Berenice frowned.
The book was gone? Did someone else get to it first?
As if reading her thoughts again, Kaiden continued.
“No one can take books out of the Imperial Library. The moment you try to leave with one, the magical wards activate.”
“Then…”
“Then it must be hidden somewhere inside.”
And the one who hid it was almost certainly Bleddyn.
“There’s a bigger problem, though.”
“What is it?”
“It’s not just one missing book. The entire shelf was empty.”
And no one knew how many books had originally been there.
Which meant—
“We’ll have to search the entire library.”
Brother Bleddyn… I’m sorry, but I really want to hit you just once.
Berenice groaned under her breath, imagining her brother smiling proudly and saying How’s that for thorough work?
He had probably hidden the book to protect it from whoever was following him—but still…
“I heard he was quite the prankster as a child.”
“Not just as a child, it seems.”
“……”
He was still her favorite brother in the world, but…
Starting with that diary, her respect for him was beginning to erode little by little.
Well… at least he’s still not as bad as Lowell.
Berenice sighed, hoping her eldest brother wouldn’t fall to Lowell’s level, and turned toward Kaiden, who looked just as exasperated.
“Still, since we know the shelf number, we can at least guess what kind of books were there, right?”
“Right.”
“And?”
“Fairy tales.”
“…What?”
“That section held children’s storybooks for the imperial heirs.”
…So they’d have to search the Imperial Library for fairy tales.
At least those had obvious covers and titles—that was something.
As Berenice silently debated whether to consider that a blessing or a curse, Kaiden spoke again.
“My aide is working hard on it already. Just wait a bit.”
“No, I’ll help.”
At her firm reply, Kaiden shook his head.
The Imperial Library was restricted to members of the royal family. No outsiders were allowed inside.
Even if Berenice wanted to help, she couldn’t even get through the door.
“Don’t worry. I have a way.”
“What kind of way?”
“I just need a royal’s permission, don’t I?”
“Don’t look at me. I can’t.”
“I know.”
After that first dance they had shared at the Spring Banquet, they had already drawn enough attention.
Any further public closeness between them would only complicate future plans.
Berenice understood that perfectly and nodded.
“I’ll get permission from the Empress.”
As luck would have it—or perhaps by fate—Berenice was already scheduled to visit the Imperial Palace two days later for the Empress’s tea time.
Kaiden tapped the armrest of the sofa lightly, thinking.
“Do you have an excuse prepared?”
“Yes.”
“You’re confident about everything, aren’t you?”
“There’s no reason not to be.”
She had a solid pretext and a clear plan—why hesitate?
Kaiden chuckled softly and rose to his feet, shaking his head in disbelief.
With that much confidence, he couldn’t help but trust her a little.
“My aide will keep searching. Join in when you can.”
“If you find it first, please let me know right away.”
“I will.”
Having said all he needed to say, Kaiden turned toward the window, preparing to leave the same way he came.
But just before he climbed out, he paused with one foot on the sill and looked back at her.
Berenice, who had risen to see him off, tilted her head at his sudden hesitation.
“What is it?”
“There’s one more thing I wanted to ask.”
“…Go ahead.”
Was he returning to that earlier, uncomfortable topic?
Berenice tensed, waiting for his question.
“So… what do you really think of Ashard?”
“…Excuse me?”
“The Empress seems quite fond of him. Why not consider a younger fiancé while you’re at it?”
“…You’re standing in a very dangerous spot to be asking that.”
“Are you threatening to push me out the window?”
“I have no desire to be arrested for harming a royal. But—”
“But?”
“If there are no witnesses… it might be worth trying.”
Kaiden swallowed hard.
It was the first time he’d felt this kind of pressure since the day, as a mischievous child, he’d been caught and scolded by his elder brother.
