Chapter 11
11
Why was that?
If it were the old me, I would have been simply afraid of Anna, who was no different from a trauma, and wanted to avoid her.
‘Rather, it’s a relief that the tutor in the original story is Anna.’
I knew Anna better than anyone.
Her actions were predictable.
Because I had experienced them before.
Thinking that way, even a relaxed smile leaked out.
Anna seemed to have taken it differently.
“You, you dare laugh at me? Livia Plington, of all people?”
As if feeling humiliated, Anna’s body was trembling.
“Anyway, I only have one thing to say. Let’s not make things difficult for each other. No matter how you see me, you are no longer anything to me.”
“You, someone like you…! Do you think you’ll get away with this?!”
“You seem to be mistaken about something, Anna Lever.”
I lowered my head and whispered softly into Anna’s ear.
“I’m no longer the child of a debtor to the Lever Family. Here, I’m an equal tutor. So, would you stop with the vulgar expressions?”
“Eeeek!!”
Her pretty face contorted horribly.
Feeling no need to deal with her any further, I ignored Anna and moved on.
“Where are you going! Livia! I’m not finished talking!”
Anna screamed desperately from behind, but I simply ignored her.
* * *
After Livia left, Anna clenched her fists tightly.
Her nails dug into her skin as if to pierce it, but she didn’t care.
The only things that surfaced on Anna’s face were anger and shame towards Livia.
Gritting…
Her teeth ground together, making a chilling sound.
“…Livia.”
Soon, an ominous smile formed on her lips.
Anna’s gaze turned towards the direction Livia had disappeared.
“I won’t let it go.”
Her low, sunken voice spread out ominously.
* * *
Returning to my room, I collapsed in my seat, my composed expression crumbling the moment I closed the door.
Thump, thump.
My heart beat anxiously, reflecting my psychology.
‘I guess I can’t be completely okay.’
Shortly after hearing the rumors and confronting Anna.
What came into my eyes when I returned home was a house in shambles.
According to the servant who remained at the time, the Count Lever Family had sent people to make a mess.
Moreover, they had laid hands on my father as well. My father, with a broken arm, only smiled and said he was okay.
Until now, they had only sent letters urging us to repay the debt quickly, but this was the first time they had used physical violence.
I instinctively realized that it was because I had gone to Anna to confront her.
After that, I could no longer stand up to Anna.
The fear and helplessness of that time resurfaced as I faced Anna again.
‘I endured it well.’
I stroked my chest and calmed myself.
For some reason, I felt a sense of accomplishment, as if I had broken down a wall that had been blocking my path.
“Good.”
I immediately got up from my seat.
“Instead of this, let’s start making Vincent’s lesson materials.”
I sat down at my desk triumphantly, but soon faced a difficulty.
‘There are no reference books…’
Because I had sold all my books when repaying the debt, there were no reference books to refer to when creating the materials.
‘What should I do?’
I could create lesson materials even without books, but that would reduce the credibility of the class and make it difficult to grasp the progress.
‘Come to think of it, I heard that the Mercedes Ducal Family’s library is very magnificent.’
So much so that the saying ‘If you can’t find the book you want, go to the Mercedes library, not the Imperial Library’ was circulating within the Academy.
‘Of course, it was a saying that satirized the Imperial Library, which was poorer than the Mercedes Manor’s library, because not just anyone could enter.’
I could find reference books at this library.
I immediately got up from my seat and headed to Winston’s room.
This was because I needed Winston’s permission as the head butler to enter the library.
“The library, you say?”
Fortunately, Winston was in his room.
“Yes, I thought the materials I have would be too poor to create the materials.”
I couldn’t bring myself to say that I had nothing, so I made up an excuse.
Winston nodded.
“Of course, since it’s for the class.”
Soon, he took something out of the drawer and handed it to me.
It was a large key with a purple amethyst embedded in it.
“This is a library access and rental pass. If you show this to the librarian, you will be able to borrow the books you want.”
At Winston’s words, I admired inwardly and examined the key.
‘How can a rental pass be so fancy?’
The key with a high-purity amethyst embedded in it was clearly made of gold.
It looked like a treasure of some family, not a rental pass.
I carefully tucked it into my bosom, lest I lose it, and bowed to Winston.
“Thank you.”
“The library is across the garden, heading to the west annex. There will be a sign, so you will be able to recognize it immediately.”
“Yes.”
After bowing once more, I left Winston’s room and headed to the west annex he had mentioned.
* * *
Across the garden, to the east annex.
I diligently moved as Winston had told me.
The Mercedes Manor, which I encountered on a clear day, was also very beautiful.
I could feel that the gardener had put his heart and soul into every single branch.
After walking through the garden as if taking a stroll, there was indeed a sign that read <Library>.
That place, which was adjacent to the end of the garden, was like a promenade leading into the mountains.
On both sides of the wide-open road, trees with fruits hanging in abundance were placed at regular intervals.
Such a road inside the mansion.
‘As expected of the Mercedes Ducal Family.’
As I walked along the promenade, an old and dilapidated building appeared.
Four pointed spiers soaring sharply, arched and huge windows filled with stained glass, and even the Mercedes Ducal Family’s insignia embossed all over the outer walls.
It looked more like a cathedral than a library.
Gulp.
Feeling unnecessarily pressured by the majesty, I put strength into my shoulders and stepped forward.
The entrance to the cathedral… no, the library, was guarded by a single knight.
As I approached, he blocked my path with his scabbard.
“You cannot enter this place without permission.”
He seemed to have mistaken me for an external noble.
Instead of explaining, I took out the pass that Winston had given me from my bosom.
“Here.”
The knight stared at me with surprised eyes for a moment, then carefully examined the pass.
Soon, after confirming that it was genuine, he returned the pass to me and removed the scabbard.
“You may enter.”
“Thank you.”
The huge gate opened, and I walked inside.
The first thing I saw as soon as I entered was,
“Wow…”
Truly a feast of books.
The ceiling was so high that it was impossible to reach even if I tilted my head all the way back, and it was filled with books.
To take out those books, I had no choice but to use the spiral staircase.
Moreover, the bookshelves were so huge that I felt like the protagonist who had fallen into Wonderland and shrunk.
In addition, the sight of the sunlight coming through the colorful stained glass that filled the walls instead of the windows, coloring the library, was like a painting by a master painter.
As I was admiring the inside with a dazed expression, I suddenly heard someone’s voice.
“Who is it?”
Soon, the owner of the low, sweet voice revealed himself from the inside.
The moment I saw him for the first time, I was momentarily lost in thought.
‘An elf?’
A man with a monocle, long platinum blonde hair tied back,
If it weren’t for his tall height, broad shoulders, low voice, and Adam’s apple, he was so androgynous that I would have doubted his gender.
Like his platinum blonde hair, his eyes were also lemon-colored, and the clothes he was wearing were also white, so he looked like an elf or an angel who had just descended under the stained-glass light.
I, who had been fascinated by his appearance, quickly came to my senses and held out the access and rental pass to him, who had already approached.
The man’s lemon-colored eyes flickered when he discovered it.
“This pass is, the head butler’s. Excuse me, but may I ask what your relationship is?”
Indeed, as much as his elfin appearance, his voice was as soft and sweet as whipped cream.
