BTVF 23

Chapter 23

At that moment, a man hurriedly scrambled and quickly picked up the scattered documents.

So desperate that he even kneeled to the ground, forgetting his noble composure.

“Ah, where are you looking… huh, miss!”

The man knew Aria, but she didn’t recognize him.

“Are you alright? Did you get hurt anywhere…?”

[Who is this?]

Aria cut him off and handed him a card.

He looked slightly annoyed but soon softened his expression into a faint, condescending sympathy as he politely explained:

“I am Lucen Stewart.”

Baron Stewart.

One of the secretaries of the Valentine family.

Aria had only heard of him in passing.

She briefly scanned him up and down, assessing him.

[Why is a secretary here?]

“To organize the documents recorded by the secretaries,” he explained.

‘Ah.’

Aria remembered that, apart from the Valentine family bloodline, only secretaries were allowed to enter the library.

‘Then there’s nothing unusual.’

Aria subtly stepped aside, as if signaling him to pass.

The secretary felt uncomfortable at her behavior.

‘What’s with that look? Why is she staring at me like that?’

It was strange that she didn’t even ask why he had come to the library.

He suspected she might have some hidden motive.

[Could it be she saw the contents of the documents…?]

No, that was impossible.

How could she have read the text in less than thirty seconds? And from such a distance?

The secretary judged that her behavior was just rude because she hadn’t been properly educated.

‘Hmph, even if she wanders around the Grand Prince’s castle now, she’ll be kicked out soon enough.’

There were rumors about the volatile Grand Prince, but how long could they last?

The secretary knew that no matter how cute the girl was, she would eventually be expelled.

‘All the fickle attention of the Grand Prince and the favor of the servants are useless.’

Even if, miraculously, the Grand Prince took an interest in her, it would be useless.

‘The day the Grand Prince’s wife dies will be the day you’re kicked out of here.’

He pitied the girl who unknowingly wandered through her own world.

‘Soon enough.’

But the secretary wasn’t foolish enough to say that out loud.

He had heard what had happened to the second son of the Beaufort family who had spoken carelessly.

‘The stable assistant or something like that.’

Recently, the Beaufort Count had been gloomy every time they met.

He had barely managed to make his somewhat incompetent son a knight, only for his title to be stripped overnight.

There was no humiliation worse than this.

‘It would have been better to act like he didn’t exist at all.’

He didn’t want to end up in such a situation himself.

“Um, well, I have urgent matters, so I’ll take my leave.”

Whatever he thought inwardly, outwardly he bowed politely and withdrew.

Something felt off.

Aria recalled the documents she had just read and the law books Vincent had been reading since returning from the academy.

Why were they so focused on law?

‘Could it be that what they’re after is…’

Lost in thought for a moment, Aria stood in the corridor and looked out the window.

The secretary clutched the documents to his chest and hurried along.

Aria formed a circle with her thumb and index finger and whistled sharply.

“Gugu!”

Several carrier pigeons sliced through the sky at high speed.

Without hesitation, she pointed her fingers at the secretary.

At the same time, the pigeons dove at Lucen like soldiers carrying out orders.

“What… what is this! Aahhh!”

Perhaps this bought her a little time.

The Baron, frantically trying to catch the pigeons while being bombed with bird droppings on his head, was now a helpless spectacle.

Aria watched quietly and closed the window.

She really had to meet that person as soon as possible.

There was no time to search.

Aria immediately headed to the wolf enclosure.

As soon as she opened the door, a wolf shot out like an arrow.

“Hello, Silver. Long time no see.”

“Arf!”

Among the other wolves, this one’s fur had a noticeable silver sheen—hence the simple name, Silver.

But the wolf seemed happy that someone remembered its name, wagging its tail frantically.

The Grand Prince wasn’t meticulous enough to name each wolf and call them individually.

Aria patted Silver’s head a few times and asked:

“Who’s the strongest after your leader?”

“Eeee?”

“Not Lloyd. Who’s next?”

The wolf tilted its head, then nudged her with its nose.

“Hmm… me, next.”

“Awwooo!”

It seemed to understand.

Aria climbed onto Silver’s back, and the wolf sprinted like lightning.

‘The tower.’

The Grand Prince’s castle had two towers.

The west tower and the east tower.

Silver headed for the east tower, climbing the spiral staircase at full speed.

Before long, they reached the top floor.

Aria got off Silver’s back and knocked firmly on the closed door.

No response came from inside.

‘I’m sure someone’s in there.’

She sensed a presence.

The door seemed to hear the knock, momentarily freezing the occupant in place.

‘So they’re ignoring uninvited guests.’

Aria grasped the doorknob and tried to turn it.

It seemed to be locked.

After rattling the door several times, she sighed and looked at Silver.

The wolf charged, as if on cue.

BANG—

The door shattered, a cloud of dust rising, revealing a purple-haired man staring at Aria in astonishment.

‘What a shame.’

Aria gave a slight apologetic smile.

Usually, she would have just left it for another time.

But now, she had no patience. Time was too short.

She hugged the charging wolf and stood in front of the man.

“Damn it…”

Did she just curse?

He ruffled his curly hair in frustration and cursed out loud.

“Destroying the door just because I pretended not to be in the lab… must be the company you keep.”

The purple-haired man sarcastically clapped his hands.

“Welcome to Valentine.”

From his tone, it seemed he had encountered this kind of thing before.

‘Could he be the Grand Prince or the heir?’

Aria thought maybe it could be both.

She rummaged through her old bag and pulled out a new card.

[Sorry, I really wanted to meet you.]

“Ah, yes. As expected.”

He responded perfunctorily, clicking his tongue and reluctantly introducing himself.

“I am the castle’s sorcerer, Carlin.”

Sorcerer?

Aria’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit.

The source of sorcery is mana, which was illegal to use.

She hadn’t expected it, but it really was mana.

‘So Valentine is truly above the law.’

A lawbreaker occupying an entire tower freely. Perfectly fitting for a demon’s castle.

Aria stared, and Carlin waved her away, thinking her a nuisance.

‘Annoying little brat.’

He had expected that simply locking the door would make her give up.

Children were a nuisance.

‘Ignorant people equating sorcerers with magicians.’

Magicians were idols to children.

In fairy tales and history, magicians were always the king’s aides and spiritual guides.

Carlin assumed Aria had come to talk about magicians.

“This is not a playground. I am not a magician who can meet your expectations. As you can see, I am too busy to entertain you.”

Breathing while speaking?

Aria, full of words, looked up at the man and pulled out another card.

[I want to learn how to use energy.]

Carlin raised and lowered his eyebrows.

She seemed unusual for her age; most children would say, “Wow, magic is amazing! Teach me magic!”

“Then you understand the concept of energy.”

Energy referred to all mystical forces: mana, divine power, magical power, spiritual energy, etc.

All humans had energy.

Using and developing it depended on individual talent.

‘So she can at least distinguish between sorcerers and magicians.’

And she also understood that people were born with different types of energy.

Carlin’s mood remained irritable, but his tone softened slightly.

“Energy isn’t something anyone can use. If your core doesn’t have enough, you’ll die the moment it flows out.”

Core.

Aria’s eyes sparkled at this new concept.

The following words barely registered.

“Don’t be discouraged. Those who can manipulate energy are one in a million; those who can manifest it in a new form are one in ten million; and I am a genius who appears once in a century…”

Aria ignored his self-praise, tugged on the hem of his black robe, and handed him a card.

[How long does it usually take to freely manipulate energy from the core?]

“Normally, at least five or six years.”

That long?

Aria realized that reaching that level in four years put her ahead of most, but still felt disappointed.

Then perhaps…

[Can you forcibly break open my core?]

“Are you insane?”

Carlin was shocked.