Chapter 3

When I first came to the Royal Library, my overanxious brother was by my side.

To be precise, my brother is one of the candidates for the prince's close aides, so he has a job as a civil servant and only escorted me to the entrance.

By the way, there are three princes in this country.

The eldest son, Dylandal, is from a concubine, the second son, Rias, is from the queen, and the third son, Fal.

According to rumors, they are all excellent.

If I had continued to be engaged to the second son, Rias, I might have been caught up in a family dispute.

I'm glad the engagement talk is over.

“I’ll come to pick you up at noon. Let’s have lunch together.”

My brother patted my head and disappeared into the castle.

I slowly opened the door of the Royal Library, which is relatively close to the entrance of the castle.

To be honest, isn’t this place heaven?

There are many books lined up to a height several times my own, and the books on the upper shelves can be reached by climbing a movable ladder attached to the bookshelf.

I can’t decide which book to read.

I pulled out an illustrated guide to plants that was conveniently at hand and flipped through it while standing.

“Miss, an illustrated guide is too heavy to read standing there. Why don’t you sit over here?”

A man with a cheerful smile called out to me. I took out my notebook from my bag, opened the page where I had already written “Thank you,” and bowed.

I sat down at a seat, leaving two spaces between me and the man, who looked surprised, and continued flipping through the guide.

When it was noon, I thought my brother would come to pick me up soon, so I put the book back on the shelf.

It seemed that I, a stranger, was being curiously observed by the people passing by.

“Hey, miss. How about having a meal with me?”

The cheerful man who had offered me a seat earlier stood in front of me.

I wrote on the notebook page, “My brother is coming to pick me up, so I’m sorry,” and showed it to him.

While I was writing, he was smiling and looking at me.

“My sister? Myurral?”

“Huh? Your Highness Yuen? What? Sister?”

My brother appeared.

When the cheerful man saw my brother’s face, he turned pale.

Moreover, since they were calling each other by name, I understood that they knew each other.

*Brother, this person was kind to me.*

I wrote this simply and showed it to my brother, who looked at the cheerful man with a twitching mouth.

“Ah!”

“What did you do to my sister?”

“I just offered her a seat.”

“Alteina, is that true?”

I nodded.

“Alteina, there are many men in this world who look cheerful but only think about dirty things. You mustn’t approach them easily.”

What? Is that true? Is the cheerful man, who was shaking his head behind my brother, a dangerous person?

“Do you understand? Will you promise me not to approach men easily?”

I know that denying it here would be troublesome later, so I nodded to show that I understood.

“Good girl.”

My brother made a soft smile, which he often does lately.

“Who is that?”

I heard a small whisper from the cheerful man but pretended not to hear it as my brother put his arm around my shoulder and we left the scene.