Chapter 02

Time passed slowly.

Lord Costance was still sitting in the same place.

Whenever I felt Lord Costance’s gaze on me, I would get up under the excuse of going to the bathroom. I would sit on the toilet for as long as possible and wash my hands thoroughly, even cleaning every little corner.

“Haah…….”

By now, the director and my seniors were probably looking at my empty seat and saying, “Vivy looks like she wouldn’t have any problems, but apparently she has terrible constipation.”

But I had a much bigger problem.

……Did Lord Costance know my true identity?

‘No.’

If that were the case, he would have immediately grabbed me and handed me over to the authorities. Lord Costance didn’t know who I really was. He probably didn’t even know my real name.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

I had changed my hair color. My face had also changed because I had grown up. My personality was different, too. On top of that, I had worked very hard to hide my past self.

‘Stay calm.’

Before leaving the bathroom, I took a deep breath.

Calmly. Stay calm……

“Look, he’s over there!”

My shoulders flinched at the loud voice. Sure enough, several women had gathered in front of the reading room.

“It really is Lord Costance, isn’t it?”

“I told you! Should we casually sit beside him?”

“Someone else is already here. Look! Even the owner of the Salon on Third Street is here!”

So word about Lord Costance’s whereabouts had spread.

Making a commotion in the sacred library was unacceptable, but for me, this was actually a good thing.

If more young ladies came looking for him because they were interested in him, wouldn’t Lord Costance move to a corner seat? Then there would be no chance of our eyes meeting……

If the rumor continued to spread, Lord Costance might become conscious of people’s attention and stop coming to the library altogether.

I cautiously entered the reading room.

Several ladies had already taken seats close to Lord Costance. Strangely, however, none of them had taken the seat directly beside him.

“You’re finally back, Vivy.”

As soon as I sat down, Julia spoke to me as if she had been waiting for me.

“I’m sorry. I was away from my seat for a long time, wasn’t I?”

“That isn’t the problem. The real problem is those women who came to the library to flirt.”

“I don’t think you’re in a position to say that, Julia……”

She clenched her molars at my reply.

“Mine is just simple curiosity. I’m different from them. They’re purely here for romance, aren’t they?”

Julia began pouring out her complaints.

Just as she said, the other ladies weren’t looking at their books at all. Their eyes were focused on only one person.

Lord Costance!

“But Lord Costance isn’t exactly easy either, is he?”

Julia whispered.

“Not easy?”

“Look. You’d think he’d at least glance at the women, but he’s just looking at his book.”

“Th-that’s true.”

“The person who can take the seat next to Lord Costance should be the lady whose eyes meet his first. But no one has made eye contact with him yet.”

……So that’s what the atmosphere was like.

I stole a glance at Lord Costance. He hadn’t taken his eyes off his book. He seemed determined not to look at anyone.

That was how extreme it was.

The ladies waiting eventually became tired and left.

……What a stubborn man.

〈Isn’t the Director really something? He hasn’t moved his butt for seventeen hours. Even you can tell, can’t you, little lady? He hasn’t said a single word this whole time.〉

A memory from the research institute.

The girl looked at the young researcher who was quietly whispering beside her. Then she shifted her gaze back to her father.

His eyes were sunken and his face was dark. Since he hadn’t been able to wash properly, his hair was split and messy, but there was still life in his eyes.

〈Tiago.〉

〈Ah, I’m sorry. That was careless of me. Forget what I said. How about we go play cards now, little lady?〉

Even after fourteen years, that image of her father vividly surfaced in the girl’s mind.

“……Vivy.”

“…….”

“Vivy!”

“Ah…… yes! Yes.”

My mind suddenly snapped back to reality. Julia was holding my shoulder.

“It’s lunchtime. Aren’t you going to eat?”

“I-I am.”

After tidying my desk, I stood up.

Up ahead, I saw Lord Costance closing his book.

He’s finally leaving!

At that moment, our eyes met.

‘……!’

I instinctively looked away.

And immediately regretted it.

Lord Costance wouldn’t think I was strange, would he?

But when I nervously raised my head again, I saw a small smile on his face.

‘Is he smiling?’

What was this?

Why was he smiling?

“You got an eyeful today.”

Julia lightly tapped my back.

“An eyeful?”

“You saw him smile.”

What was so great about that?

“My heart nearly stopped.”

“You were pretending not to be interested. Well, how could anyone not be interested in a handsome face like that?”

“Stop saying useless things.”

“Enough. Let’s go eat lunch together, okay?”

She showed me the lunchbox she had brought from home and smiled softly.

“But Lord Costance won’t come again tomorrow, will he?”

“What? Are you really interested in him?”

“No. I’m not interested.”

Then why was it that I could enjoy such an eyeful the next day and the day after that?

Lord Costance came to the library every single day without missing even one.

And as always, he chose a seat where he had a clear view of the librarians’ desks.

Why?

〈Please! I haven’t done anything wrong!〉

I remembered the dream I’d had that night.

Hadn’t I dreamed that Lord Costance had caught me and dragged me away to the authorities?

〈I don’t know anything. Please. Please……〉

No matter how much I begged, that ice-cold man silently pushed me into the institution.

What if this continued until I couldn’t live my normal life anymore?

There was another problem.

The village girls who had come to see Lord Costance until a few days ago had greatly decreased in number.

It was because of Lord Costance’s impenetrable wall.

He was much more stubborn and rigid than I had expected.

Lord Costance destroyed all the efforts of the ladies who dressed up beautifully and occupied seats in the library with a single sentence.

〈I’m sorry, Lady. This is a library, so please be quiet.〉

He repeated those exact words without changing even a single syllable.

Was Lord Costance a machine?

Because of that, the women eventually gave up and left. Even my senior librarians quickly abandoned their attempts to get close to Lord Costance.

“As expected of a nobleman, he’s really aloof.”

Interest in Lord Costance didn’t decrease.

If anything, it seemed to grow even more.

“Even the second son of a baron from the provinces doesn’t bother looking at ordinary women because they’re too boring. That’s how men are. They look for a partner who matches them. How else could the old royals have ended up marrying each other because they couldn’t find suitable partners?”

At my senior’s words, Julia nodded several times in agreement.

“The man I met last time was like that, too. He looked down on me because he was proud that his mother’s family came from nobility. Even though he’s just an ordinary citizen like me.”

“You should never meet a man like that. Vivy, you’re listening too, right? You’re especially pretty, so men are going to swarm around you.”

She even went out of her way to give me advice.

“Then shall I make sure you don’t attract any men?”

An angry voice came from behind us.

The seniors’ bodies instantly stiffened.

“D-Director.”

“If you work at the library all day, you won’t even have time to meet men. If you really don’t want that, then get to work right now! Stop talking nonsense!”

Frightened by his terrifying expression, we immediately focused on our work.

Worried that the anger might somehow spill over onto me, I also picked up my pen.

“Vivy.”

The director called me.

“Yes, yes!”

“Take this box to the storage room.”

So carrying heavy boxes to the storage room was my responsibility as the youngest employee.

After assigning me the hard work, the director quickly disappeared into his office.

‘Hang in there, Vivy!’

‘You can do it!’

When I stood up, my seniors silently cheered me on.

Instead of cheering, they could’ve helped me.

I picked up the box sitting against the wall.

This library was the third-largest national library in the country, after all.

The storage room was quite far away.

I carried the box out of the reading room. The box was loose and kept shifting, making me afraid it would collapse.

Just as I was feeling anxious, the books inside the box fell onto the floor.

“Ah!”

I stood there blankly, staring at the books scattered across the floor.

Ugh!

Nothing was going right for me.

To be precise, ever since Costance Orsy started coming here!

Costance Orsy……

Costance Orsy!

“Are you all right?”

“Eek!”

Costance!

“Vivy?”

“Ah, I-I’m fine.”

“I’ll help you pick them up.”

Lord Costance’s large hand grabbed several books.

“Do you always carry heavy boxes like this yourself?”

“……Pardon?”

“I’ve noticed there are men among the librarians as well. Have them do it from now on. It’s too dangerous for you to carry them. If you were to get hurt……”

He was making a small complaint right in front of me.

Lord Costance and I met each other’s eyes.

He looked straight at me with an unwavering gaze.

“I think I’d get angry.”