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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Exploring the Imperial Archives! Chosen One, Awaken Your Power
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I quickly rounded the disconnected bookshelf in the center and began to inspect the bottom of the opposite shelf.
Waddling like a duck, I checked each section one by one until I found a corner on the very bottom shelf that was completely empty, with no books at all.
This meant I could go straight through to where Ruspe was, the spot we had just come from.
The compartments on each bookshelf were so large and tall that it looked like I could pass through the space if I crouched down.
Wanting to give Ruspe a surprise, I got on my knees and slowly crawled through the opening.
This is so easy!
“Ruspe!”
I called out to him softly.
And when I popped my head out, Ruspe was gone.
“Where did he go? Ruspe, are you behind me?”
I crawled backward and came out again.
I’d planned to surprise him, but it seemed he had followed me back in the meantime.
But when I stood up and looked, Ruspe wasn’t on this side either.
“Huh?”
I ran around the bookshelf again, looking for Ruspe.
“Ruspe?”
I moved over one aisle at a time, but he wasn’t there either.
Where did Ruspe go all of a sudden?
Come to think of it, I could hear Kamaye and Zenda’s voices from here earlier, but now it was strangely quiet.
* * *
Meanwhile, Ruspe sat quietly and waited for Aika, just as she had told him to.
She had said she was going to pick out a book, but a long time passed with no sign of her.
“Aika?”
Ruspe stood up again, went around the bookshelf, and peeked out.
But Aika wasn’t there.
“Where did she go?”
Aika might return while he was off searching for her, so Ruspe decided to sit quietly and wait in the spot she had told him to.
Then, he thoughtfully mulled over what had happened earlier.
From the moment he could remember, Ruspe had been burdened with great expectations.
He didn’t know why.
His family members simply told him in unison that, barring any major unforeseen event for his father, he would inherit the position of Crown Prince.
His father said there was no need to rush, but the rest of the family felt differently.
They always wanted Ruspe to be the best and tolerated no flaws.
“How about we have Ruspe officially adopted by His Majesty the Emperor?”
Ruspe knew what the word “adoption” meant.
It was a word he had seen in a book he’d studied recently.
He hadn’t meant to listen, but he had unintentionally overheard it while passing through the hallway.
Did that mean he had to be even more flawless than he already was?
Would he no longer be his father and mother’s child?
Until now, Ruspe had grown up without even knowing what he liked.
He never had the time.
Even if he tried to like something, he had to be mindful of others, and if his hobbies or actions didn’t meet their expectations, he would receive disapproving glares.
When he was slow to make a choice, it was only because he was being careful, but they called him frustrating.
He was taught not to hurt others’ feelings, so when he chose his words carefully, they called him timid.
He was just being cautious and deliberate, but everyone told him it was wrong.
Eventually, he came to hate his own personality.
“Aika…”
The one and only thing Ruspe liked.
Was going to the Imperial Palace.
Because His Majesty the Emperor, who was always on his side, was there, and he could be free, even if only for a short while.
But he had heard that even that could become fodder for gossip if he went too often, so he had just resolved to go less.
“Ruspe, welcome. Come and greet each other.”
His Majesty the Emperor had called for him, and when he went, there was a very, very pretty girl there.
Her black hair sparkled like the night sky.
Her cheeks were like perfectly round snowballs, with a touch of pink that made her look just like a doll.
Her name was Aika de Valliat.
She was the niece of Marquis Leguire, who was a friend of his uncle, His Majesty the Emperor.
Marquis Leguire was someone Ruspe also admired.
Because he was a strong person who feared nothing.
He himself had been thinking that he wanted to be like Marquis Cassel de Leguire when he grew up.
“Hi, nice to meet you! I’m Aika.”
“…I’m Ruspe.”
“Who did you come with? I came with my uncle. This place is huge, isn’t it?”
“I… I came alone. Oh, with an attendant.”
At that, Aika’s eyes went wide.
He thought she had a pretty voice, too.
It was like a canary singing.
“You’re so amazing.”
“…Not really.”
Was that something to be praised for?
If he said he was going to the Imperial Palace, people would start nagging him to do this and that, which was why he only ever came with Kamaye.
But hearing a pretty girl call him amazing made him feel a little proud.
“Hey, Ruspe. Do you come here often?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“We’re friends now. Let’s play more next time!”
“Next time…?”
“Yeah, next time. Well, bye for real now!”
He hadn’t even gotten to ask Aika if she would be his friend, and they had already become friends.
It was the first time he had ever wanted to be someone’s friend, and it had already been decided.
He wondered if it was okay, but they had already become the kind of friends who promised to meet again after ten nights.
They were close enough that he received all the candy from her bag.
That day, Ruspe stored the candy in a small jar decorated with a ribbon Kamaye had gotten for him, and he hadn’t taken a single piece out to eat yet.
And today, when they met again, Aika had protected him.
From the adult he disliked and wanted to avoid the most.
“Stop bothering Ruspe, mister!”
“Ruspe is my friend! You’re a mean old man.”
Hearing those words, he looked at Aika, and her back was shimmering brightly.
A rainbow-colored light. No, a light even prettier than that.
She was radiating the most beautiful light in the world, and without thinking, Ruspe hugged her tightly, as if she were a doll.
“Ruspe?”
“Aika, thank you.”
For calling me kind, for calling me amazing.
And for protecting me from the person I hate.
And also for being my friend.
So Ruspe decided that he, too, would become Aika’s most amazing and best friend.
For the first time, he had something he wanted to do for himself.
…But why isn’t Aika back yet?
Ruspe finally stood up again.
I guess I have to go find my friend, Aika.
#5. Exploring the Imperial Archives! Chosen One, Awaken Your Power
Is Ruspe playing the same prank on me?
I tiptoed around and checked all eight bookshelves, but I couldn’t find Ruspe anywhere.
And Zenda and Kamaye were nowhere to be seen either.
The door has been closed this whole time…?
A jolt of fear ran through me.
I hurried toward the door.
I didn’t know what kind of prank this was, but it was starting to get scary.
Just as I was about to run to the door, a small rabbit suddenly appeared in front of me.
“…A rabbit?”
But it wasn’t just any rabbit; its body was translucent, and I could see through it to the other side.
What in the world is that?
The rabbit nonchalantly hopped around, passing right through the bookshelves.
I stood mesmerized, watching the rabbit as it darted back and forth between the shelves.
“I must be seeing things. What is that?”
Then, the rabbit stopped mid-hop and stared intently at me.
After a moment, it took a single hop toward me.
Startled, I took a step back.
No matter how cute it looked, it could be a terrifying ghost.
A translucent rabbit couldn’t possibly exist.
“Who are you?”
“Gasp…”
It’s asking who I am? Did that weird rabbit just talk?
It must be a ghost.
“W-who are you?”
“I asked you first. Who are you? How did you get in?”
“Who are *you*? Why are you a transparent rabbit?”
“Is there a problem with being transparent? I asked who you are.”
“Are you a ghost? You tell me first.”
“I asked first.”
“If you want to know someone’s name, you’re supposed to say yours first.”
I argued with the rabbit for a while.
Convinced the rabbit was a ghost, I refused to tell it my name.
The rabbit didn’t answer my question either.
What kind of rabbit is this?
I backed away each time the rabbit hopped.
Before I knew it, my back hit a bookshelf laden with books.
The rabbit reached my feet.
I felt hot, and a cold sweat broke out.
Did I suddenly fall asleep and start dreaming?
What if it’s like one of those monsters from my nightmares?
All sorts of thoughts raced through my mind, like what if it had thorny teeth in its tiny mouth.
*Sniff, sniff.*
The rabbit, now right in front of me, sniffed at my feet.
Suddenly, its droopy ears perked straight up.
“Don’t tell me… you know Ceria?”
Ceria?
That’s my mother’s name.
