Chapter 5: The Former Fiancé’s Inspection, and My Unshaken “Cold Response”
Peace is a fragile thing.
Like freshly baked pie crust, it shatters into pieces with the slightest impact.
That day, I was in a very good mood.
My morning duties, reshelving returned books, were finished in thirty minutes, and after that I was sipping tea by the window while thinking up a new knitting pattern.
“…If I knit it like this here, would it turn into a coaster?”
Silence.
Birdsong.
Mr. Bear, Claude-sama, seems to be busy with official duties today and has not come.
Which means complete freedom.
Ten minutes until lunch break.
Today’s lunch is a special sandwich Mina packed for me.
I did not miss the thick-cut bacon sticking out of the bread.
I want to eat it quickly.
Yes, it was just as I was staring at the clock hands.
Bang!!
The violent sound of a door slamming open tears through the silence.
I flinch and almost drop my knitting needles.
“So this is the place!
The one rumored to house the ‘hidden sage’!”
The one who entered is a blond young man far too familiar.
A lavish military uniform and an unnecessarily long cape.
My former fiancé, Crown Prince Kyle.
And clinging to his arm is a cute pink-blonde young lady.
The baron’s daughter, Marielle, the cause of the broken engagement.
“…Hah.”
Before I realize it, a deeply annoyed sigh slips out.
My pre-lunch excitement is completely ruined.
Kyle surveys the room, spots me, and snorts triumphantly.
“So it was you after all, Eliana.
I came because there were rumors of a ‘sage,’ and to think you’ve fallen so far as to become the caretaker of this dusty tower.”
He strides over and plants himself in front of my desk.
“It’s been a while.
I thought you might look more haggard, but… what is that expression?”
“Welcome, Prince Kyle.
Lady Marielle.”
Remaining seated, I bow my head with a businesslike blank expression.
Stand up and curtsey?
I am on duty, and this is my castle.
Besides, I am not wearing heels, my feet are comfortable, and I do not want to stand.
“Are you using the library today?
Do you have a lending card?”
“Hah?
…Do you have any idea who I am?”
“You are the crown prince.
However, those are the rules.
Without a card, reading only.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!
I am here on an inspection!”
Kyle slams his hand down on the desk.
I swiftly move the documents out of harm’s way.
Do not touch them with dirty hands.
Those are lists I spent three hours organizing.
“An inspection, is it.
Thank you for your efforts.”
I reply flatly.
Kyle’s eyebrow twitches.
“…What is that attitude.
This is disrespect toward royalty.”
“My apologies.
This is a place devoted to silence, so please refrain from raising your voice.”
“Gh…!”
Kyle’s face flushes red.
He was probably expecting the old me to argue emotionally.
The me who desperately protested, saying, “Your Highness, that will not do.”
So that he could shout me down and bask in his sense of superiority.
Unfortunately for him, I no longer have the energy for that.
“Look at this, Marielle.
This is the end of a woman who has lost her ambition.”
Kyle shifts targets and seeks agreement from the girl beside him.
“Spending her life buried in moldy books in a dim room, never speaking to anyone.
Do you not find it pitiful?”
“Eh, ah… y-yes… I suppose?”
Lady Marielle nods vaguely.
However, her gaze is not on Kyle.
It is fixed on the bookshelf behind me.
(…Hm?)
She looks around restlessly, as if probing something.
Then, hesitantly, she runs her finger along a nearby shelf.
“…There’s none.”
I do not miss her small murmur.
There is no dust.
That is what she said.
This library may look like an old tower on the outside, but inside it is maintained at a near-sterile level by my 《Clean》 magic.
Lady Marielle comes from a baron’s household.
She has likely cleaned with her own hands before.
She seems to have noticed how unnatural it is for a room of this size to be completely dust-free, down to the window frames.
She looks at me with a pale face.
I place my index finger to my lips, wink, and go, “Shh.”
She gasps and hides behind Kyle.
Oh dear, did I scare her?
“Hey, are you listening, Eliana!”
Kyle shouts again.
Apparently he said something while I was exchanging eye contact with Lady Marielle.
“Yes, I am listening.
You were talking about how ‘pitiful’ I am, correct?”
“That’s right!
It’s not too late even now.
If you cry and beg, I might hire you as a palace latrine cleaner!”
Latrine cleaning.
The work content might indeed be similar.
Both involve removing filth.
However, that job lacks both privacy and leaving work on time.
“I must respectfully decline.”
“W-why!
Don’t you want to return to the palace!?
You must miss the glamorous world!”
“No.
This place is wonderful.”
I smile from the bottom of my heart.
Not an act.
A truly sincere, benevolent smile, like that of a holy mother.
“No one interferes with me, I drink tea whenever I like, and I can sit all day long.
When I was assisting Your Highness, I did not even have time to go to the restroom.”
“Ugh…”
Kyle falters.
He must have noticed my healthy complexion.
The dark circles under my eyes are gone, my hair has a sheen, and above all, the sharp, hostile aura I once had has vanished.
“You… are you really saying that after leaving my side… you feel relieved?”
“Perish the thought.
Such an audacious statement.”
I glance at the clock.
Exactly twelve.
The cuckoo clock goes poppoo.
“Oh, it is time.”
“Hah?
Time for what?”
I pull out a sign from under the desk and place it firmly on the counter.
[On Break]
“It is lunch break.
In accordance with labor law, I will now be taking my one-hour break.”
“A b-break!?
In the middle of speaking with me!?”
“Even Your Highness is not permitted to infringe upon a worker’s rights.
…And I get very cranky when I am hungry.”
I pull a basket out of the drawer.
A wonderful bacon aroma wafts through the air.
While Kyle stands there dumbfounded, I take a big bite of my sandwich.
Crunch, snap.
The crisp lettuce and the juicy richness of the fat.
“Mmmmmm!”
Delicious.
I am happy.
As my mouth fills with bliss, my cheeks relax.
At that moment, something in Kyle seems to snap.
“D-don’t mock meeeee!!”
He shouts, his face beet red.
“I came here to condemn you!
And you dare chew on bread—!”
“Munch munch.
(It’s really good, you know?)”
“Don’t offer it!
…Enough!
Let’s go, Marielle!
Dealing with this lunatic woman is a waste of time!”
Kyle whips his cape around and storms toward the exit.
A complete parting shot.
It must have frustrated him that everything ended on my terms.
Lady Marielle is dragged along, then turns back just once.
She bows deeply to me.
“…S-sorry for the disturbance…”
Her eyes are filled with awe and curiosity, as if asking, ‘How did you even clean this place…?’
She might actually be a decent girl.
Bang!
The door slams shut again.
The storm has passed.
“Fuu…”
I swallow my sandwich and wash it down with tea.
“What a noisy set of patrons.”
But I won.
I defended my peace and my lunch break.
I pick up my second sandwich and look out the window.
I can see their carriage leaving in a cloud of dust.
At that rate, things will be rough once they return to the palace.
Now that I am gone, his office must be buried under an avalanche of paperwork.
If ‘ambition’ alone could clear that mountain, no one would ever struggle.
“…Now then, shall I take a little nap this afternoon?”
I lie down on the sofa and hug a cushion.
If Mr. Bear comes, I will share half of it with him.
The remaining sandwich.
As I drift off thinking that, a distant bell reaches my ears.
It is the emergency summons bell that signals the end of peaceful daily life.
To think I would be dragged into a national crisis before even savoring my sandwich aftertaste.
…I take it back.
Peace truly is a fragile thing.