Chapter 9

Busy... busy

That day, I was invited for tea by the princes near the royal library.

I understood that they were concerned about me, a voiceless and pitiful little girl, but I wanted to read my book right away.

As I was thinking about how to escape from the situation, Sir Sijal, the chief librarian, appeared.

He casually approached us and seemed to remember the advice I had asked for earlier about a gift for the head chef, and he stood next to me, giving me some useful advice.

I quickly took out my notebook and wrote, "The princes are blocking my way to the library. Please help me," and handed it to Sir Sijal.

Sir Sijal looked at the note and seemed a bit surprised.

"Is it homemade? Yes, that's right. Let's gather the necessary books."

While saying something not written in the note, Sir Sijal pointed at the notebook, and the words "I will escort you" appeared in rainbow-colored, sparkling letters as his finger moved.

Magic! The letters are beautiful!

I couldn't help but get excited.

To ease the tension, I wrote a note to my brother, telling him that I had become friends with Sir Sijal, and handed it to him. My brother looked a bit complicated.

However, Sir Sijal elegantly persuaded my brother and escorted me into the library.

It was so impressive that I was surprised.

"Then, I will gather the books you want. Please come to my office. Good morning, Enjuri. Please take Lady Alteina to the back and serve her tea. She was just persistently invited for tea by some men. It's pitiful, so let her rest in the back."

Sir Sijal said this to the female librarian sitting at the checkout counter.

"Good morning, Sir Sijal. Understood. Lady Alteina, that's terrible! Please come this way."

The female librarian led me to Sir Sijal's office, which was the room at the very back.

"Lady Alteina is so beautiful! Unscrupulous men must be attracted to her. How pitiful."

The female librarian placed a cute cat-shaped mug filled with coffee in front of me. The handle was shaped like a cat's tail, which was adorable!

After placing sugar and milk on the table, the female librarian sat next to me.

"If you have any problems, you should consult Sir Sijal! He may look weak, but he's incredibly strong! You know, librarians are mostly women, and he casts detection spells to protect us from dangerous situations... Oh, the fact that Sir Sijal can use magic is a secret!"

"Enjuri, is it okay to leave your work?"

"Sir Sijal! I'll go back to the counter!"

When Sir Sijal returned with a few books, the female librarian hurriedly went back to the counter.

"I brought books on how to make homemade hand cream and how to make tea for camouflage."

I hadn't read these books before, and they were interesting.

"These books were added three days ago. Lady Alteina reads books of all genres, doesn't she?"

"Yes."

Sir Sijal passed by me and went to the desk at the very back.

"If there's anything you don't like, I can prepare different books for you."

"No, I'll read these books."

Sir Sijal smiled and sat in the chair attached to the desk, starting his paperwork.

I put two sugar cubes and plenty of milk into the mug of coffee.

The sweet milk coffee made me feel happy.

"These cups are so cute."

Without hesitation, Sir Sijal said,

"I fell in love with them at first sight. Cute things should be used by cute people."

This person seems popular.

He might be good with women.

My two sisters would probably squeal with delight.

I forgot about my thoughts and got absorbed in the books I was given.

After finishing the two books, the remaining milk coffee had cooled down.

"Excuse me, I would like to read these two books a bit more. Is it okay to borrow them?"

"Of course."

By the time I asked, Sir Sijal had finished his paperwork and was reading a book. He placed a bookmark in it.

"I think I'll go look at other books."

"I was just about to switch shifts with Enjuri at the counter."

As we left the office, we saw three librarians in the break room between the office and the counter. Two were older women, and one was a man.

"Chief Librarian, I've finished arranging the returned books..."

The male librarian started his report but stopped when he saw my face behind Sir Sijal. The two female librarians also had wide eyes.

Sir Sijal turned to me without any concern.

"By the way, a new romance novel arrived yesterday. Would you like to read it?"

I nodded, and Sir Sijal smiled.

"No, no, no, no, Chief Librarian! Don't ignore us! Why are you and the Jewel Princess coming out of the office together!"

"Huh? Oh!"

Sir Sijal clapped his hands and said to me,

"In the library, Lady Alteina is called the Jewel Princess because she is as beautiful as a jewel."

"Chief Librarian!! Don't ignore us!"

Sir Sijal smiled and said to the male librarian,

"We were just reading books."

"Lie! There's no way nothing happened with such an angelic Jewel Princess! The Chief Librarian... indecent!"

"I see that Migel's mind is indecent. Don't approach Lady Alteina."

Sir Sijal subtly moved me towards the female librarians and said,

"Also, to avoid any misunderstandings, I helped Lady Alteina when she was being persistently invited for tea outside the library. Enjuri made coffee to help her calm down, and we got so absorbed in our books that it became this late."

Most of it is true.

I was impressed that the impression could change so much just by not mentioning who invited her for tea.

"Well, it's rare to see the Chief Librarian acting like a knight!"

"Did you say, 'Don't touch my woman!'?"

Seeing the female librarians squeal, Sir Sijal smiled wryly.

"I didn't say that. The ones who invited her were Lord Rias and Lord Fal."

"??!!"

The three of them let out a silent scream.

"You all have such funny faces."

"No, no, no, no, this isn't funny! You'll lose your job!"

The male librarian, with tears in his eyes, hugged Sir Sijal.

"Is it really okay? My father and brother are doing important work defending against monsters at the border. Even if they are royalty, they wouldn't upset a family like that."

I learned for the first time that the border baron's family has such a role.

It might be fun to research the border baron.

Thinking about it, there are so many things in the world that I don't know! So, I'll read books!

I listened to the ongoing conversation between Sir Sijal and the male librarian while thinking about this.

Thank you for reading!