Betrothed to My Sister's Ex

"Marie. It's been a while!"

Lady Ryuu-Ryuu, the beautiful duchess of the Granado Family and mother of Lord Cyrus, looked up at me and smiled brightly.

"But I remembered your name. How could I forget the name of my child's fiancée? What I was hazy about was the person behind you—let me see—Sebastian, right?"

"My name is Wolfgang Stroheim."

"Ah yes, Wolfgang. Haha, sorry about that. You know, the names in the kingdom are quite different from those in Ipsandros; they're hard to remember."

I felt that she was mistaken about the name, but since Wolfgang sounded somewhat like 'Sebastian,' I said nothing.

"What are you two doing here? Researching something at this hour?"

"Yes. There's no rush, but I wanted to repair a book of mine that got damaged..."

"Hmm? Well, standing and talking isn't ideal. Please come in."

She beckoned, and Wolfgang and I entered through the door.

In the library, Lady Ryuu-Ryuu had already placed a candelabrum. Yet, since it was underground at night, the whole room couldn't be brightly lit.

A part of the desk and the surrounding bookshelves were dimly illuminated. Still, I gasped with excitement.

"Wow... amazing!"

The place was much larger than I had imagined. Though the door was underground, the ceiling was incredibly high, probably a five-story atrium. The walls themselves were bookshelves. A spiral staircase, with a delicate railing, was so narrow it was better than a ladder. The candelabra on the first floor couldn't light the upper areas.

Moreover, it was vast. I couldn't see everything due to the limited lighting, but perhaps the whole round tower was a library.

Just imagining it made my head spin. It was truly a magnificent library.

There was a relaxation room with bookshelves too, but the collection was tens of times larger. Yet, the tables and chairs were very simple.

This was really a library—a place to store books.

"Amazing. Wow, is this an encyclopedia? The shelf here is all novels. Wait, these are catalogs from the kingdom art museum. This is an art collection, wow, wow..."

I was so caught up in excitement, forgetting my purpose, and Lady Ryuu-Ryuu laughed heartily.

"It's amazing, right? The number of books here is arguably the largest in the kingdom. Though a bit specialized."

"This place was built two hundred years ago as a fortress at the border, right? How come it has so many books..."

"Exactly because of that. 'Information is a weapon'—before the kingdom library was attacked, they brought everything they could to the strongest fortress at the time and hid it here. And the war lasted for 150 years, you know? During that time, the descendants of the Granado family, knights, and even common soldiers lived here. All sorts of books, even scandalous ones, are included."

"May I... just take a quick look inside?"

"Of course. The military secrets have been returned to the country, so most of the books are just for education and entertainment."

"...It feels like a dream."

I sighed.

It was truly amazing. Holding the candelabrum with trembling hands, I quietly, yet with the delight of a child, roamed among the bookshelves.

There were many illustrated encyclopedias and even foreign novels... unbelievable.

At first, I hesitated and stood reading gently, but soon I couldn't hold back and piled a heap on the table. I started reading from the top, about the traditional instruments of the Eastern Central Continent—

I heard a chuckle.

"Marie, you like books? I don't get it, but you look happy, so that's good."

"Y-Yes... By the way, Lady Ryuu-Ryuu, why are you here?"

I asked, and she shrugged. Flicking through a stack of papers on the table with her finger, she said,

"Of course, research. I haven't mastered the kingdom language yet—not just names but overall. Speaking is fine, but spelling in letters worries me."

"Letters...?"

Looking closer, the papers were stationery and envelopes, with a list of names and addresses. The open book appeared to be a kingdom language dictionary.

"Can't you ask someone to write for you?"

I glanced at Wolfgang standing behind. The obedient butler shook his head.