Chapter 68
“…There are quite a few.”
Alice had actually thought the bookshop alley would be a small street with only five or six bookshops clustered together.
After all, this was Rocfen, a commoners’ residential area.
But the scale was enormous.
There seemed to be over 20 bookshops tightly packed along the long street at a glance.
Hearing Alice’s quiet murmur, Sienna spoke:
“It was Emperor Herman, the 5th Emperor, who created this bookshop alley in Rocfen. Emperor Herman built this place saying that the empire’s citizens also had the right to receive higher education. He also said there should be no lack in learning and personally supported tens of thousands of books through the imperial family.”
As Alice turned around, intrigued by this new information, Sienna hesitated and made an awkward expression.
“Ah. You probably already knew all this… I must have sounded like a know-it-all.”
“No, I didn’t know that story. I’ve never properly learned the empire’s history. As you know, the Fordley Earldom wasn’t very wealthy.”
“…Oh.”
Sienna’s green eyes trembled slightly, as if flustered.
Alice hadn’t meant for her to feel sorry.
Although Alice had spoken without much thought, Sienna seemed apologetic, her lips quivering.
She probably thought there would have been a teacher even if they were poor.
But Earl Fordley truly hadn’t provided Alice with a tutor.
It was partly because money was tight, but he also didn’t invest in teaching Alice at all, saying she was a daughter who would be married off.
He only provided a teacher for that damned brother of hers.
So Alice really hadn’t received history education.
She hadn’t expected Sienna to feel this sorry about it.
Seeing her at a loss for how to respond, Alice quickly said:
“It’s alright. I can learn from now on.”
At Alice’s response indicating she wasn’t hurt, Sienna’s face, which had been stiff with embarrassment, quickly relaxed.
“That’s right. You can learn from now on! Um, since we’re here, it would be good to buy some history books… and various other books! There is a library in the duchy, but there probably aren’t many basic books.”
Sienna suddenly seemed to be burning with enthusiasm for Alice’s studies.
Well… this wasn’t quite the response she had hoped for.
Sienna looked around the bookshops with sparkling eyes that held the color of fresh greenery.
“I wonder where they sell basic textbooks… Shall we start over there?”
Before Alice could say anything, Sienna pointed to a nearby bookshop.
[Breath of Knowledge]
Alice’s head turned towards the bookshop, following Sienna.
And the moment she saw the bookshop’s sign, Alice snapped back to her senses.
This wasn’t the time for this.
She remembered the most important thing she had to do today.
Finding the Third Prince.
Alice scanned the bookshop alley with a sharp gaze, different from before.
In the book, there was a specific bookshop the Third Prince always went to.
[Garden of Knowledge]
There was a reason he only went there.
Because if you went through the back alley of that bookshop, there was a shortcut to the imperial palace.
“Oh, rather than there…”
Alice trailed off, scanning the long row of bookshops.
Where is it, where is it.
But there were more similar signs than she expected, and it wasn’t immediately visible.
Plus, they were so tightly packed that trying to read the letters quickly made her eyes dizzy.
“Is there a specific place you’re looking for?”
As Alice craned her neck looking at the bookshops, Sienna tilted her head.
“Well…”
It would be strange to say she was looking for a specific bookshop in a place she was visiting for the first time.
Alice was trailing off awkwardly when she caught sight of something.
A head of curly blonde hair.
[He draped the dark blue robe with frayed edges over his body and secretly slipped out of the imperial palace today as well. Familiar streets, familiar smells and sounds. As he entered Rocfen Street, a warmth he never felt in the palace enveloped his lonely body.
He roughly brushed back his curly golden hair and hurried his steps to fill his hungry stomach.]
Alice recalled an unforgettable scene from the book.
It was the scene where the Third Prince first appeared.
She might not remember everything else, but she remembered the male lead’s first appearance exactly.
And the description of the male lead that appeared there.
The only one in the imperial family with curly hair among those with smooth straight hair. And the old dark blue robe received from a maid.
Alice lowered her gaze to the clothes of the man with curly blonde hair.
She could clearly see the dark blue robe with frayed hems.
Even if she closed her eyes and opened them again, it was still a dark blue robe.
Could it be.
As if enchanted, Alice ran towards the man and called out.
“Excuse me!”
“My Lady!”
“My Lady.”
Surprised by Alice’s sudden solo action, Sienna and Ruyd followed closely.
“You there, blonde man!”
When she called out again, the man finally stopped walking.
And slowly turned around. As the man turned, Sienna reflexively stepped in front of Alice as if to protect her.
But Alice’s gaze was focused solely on the man.
“Ah.”
Light eyebrows under wavy hair, a straight nose bridge, and slightly pale lips.
He was a man with handsome features that didn’t match his worn robe.
But chillingly bright red eyes were staring directly at her.
Red eyes…
[“Thank you.”]
He drew a gentle smile, but anyone who saw his eyes flinched and hurriedly lowered their gaze.
Red eyes, considered unlucky.
People didn’t want to meet these eyes.
One might have felt intimidated by people gradually avoiding him, but he showed no sign of wavering.
No, rather, he seemed satisfied.
He had deliberately disguised his eyes as red to avoid people’s attention.
The red eyes were something he had changed with his special ability to hide his identity.
Even if everyone had forgotten, opal-colored eyes were the symbol of the imperial family.
That’s right.
His true identity was none other than Alvin Pentium, the abandoned Third Prince of the Pentaum Empire.
Found him.
Just as Alice’s golden eyes sparkled, the man raised one eyebrow and opened his mouth.
“Who are you?”
The moment the man’s voice softly rang out, Alice felt a shiver run through her entire body.
To find him so quickly.
Alice slightly lowered the corners of her eyes and said to the man:
“Oh my, I thought you were someone I knew… I must have been mistaken. I’m sorry.”
“…It’s alright.”
The man, who had slightly furrowed his brow, soon turned away as if nothing had happened and went on his way.
Alice watched his retreating figure with intense eyes before turning to Sienna and Ruyd who had followed her.
“He looked so much like a friend I knew back home… I made a mistake. Sorry for suddenly running off, you must have been surprised.”
She was speaking naturally, pretending it was a simple misunderstanding, but Alice’s heart was filled with joy.
Because that man was indeed the person she had been looking for.
To meet him right away like this.
She had thought they might not meet today, but she was really lucky.
She felt like grabbing Sienna’s hand and jumping up and down saying she had found her man, but she couldn’t show it to anyone.
Right now, Alice was the only one here who knew that man was the Third Prince.
Moreover, only she knew that Sienna and the Third Prince were destined to become lovers.
If she didn’t want to become a crazy woman in an instant, she had to move calmly.
And now wasn’t the time to be simply happy.
The part Alice had been worried about had become reality.
When Alice had just called out to the Third Prince, Sienna and the Third Prince’s eyes had met exactly.
But nothing had happened.
The Third Prince had glanced at Sienna briefly and then focused on Alice.
No emotion was visible in Alvin’s red eyes.
And it wasn’t just Alvin, Sienna was the same.
Far from showing interest, she had been wary of Alvin.
Damn it.
As expected, a dramatic meeting is needed.
And the dramatic meeting hadn’t happened yet.
Their fate would begin only when she perfectly carried out her mission.
She had barely buttoned the first button, it wasn’t time to be happy.
At that moment, Sienna spoke:
“A person with red eyes… it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen one.”
Sienna was now looking at Alvin’s retreating figure, which had become quite distant, rather than at Alice.
Alice’s eyes widened at the sight.
Is she unconsciously becoming interested?
“It was my first time seeing one too. But he was really… handsome, wasn’t he?”
It would be a good thing if either of them had felt a fateful attraction.
Just as expectation was heavily frosting Alice’s golden eyes, Sienna turned her head towards her.
“I’m not sure… I was just intrigued because it’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone with red eyes, I don’t know about anything else.”
Sienna said indifferently.
Moreover,
“But do you like men who look like that, My Lady? Hmm, even objectively speaking, I think my brother is more handsome…”
Sienna tilted her head as if surprised by Alice’s aesthetic sense.
And Alice couldn’t bring herself to deny Sienna’s words.
“Of course… the Duke is more handsome.”
While Alvin’s appearance was quite handsome, it was true that Kylus was superior.
Plus, Alvin still had traces of boyishness.
In comparison, Kylus exuded the aura of a perfect man, like a sleek wolf… if you compared the two, Kylus would inevitably win by a landslide.
No, why is the supporting character more handsome than the male protagonist in the first place?
This must be a setting error.
“I see you think so too, My Lady. I’ve never seen a man more handsome than my brother.”
Me neither.
“…Yes.”
A subtle pride could be felt from Sienna as she praised Kylus’s appearance.
While it was quite cute, Alice couldn’t just laugh.
It seemed that because of Kylus, Sienna’s standards had become quite high.
To the point where the Third Prince didn’t even catch her eye.
No, we can’t give up hope yet.
The meeting between the two hasn’t even started.
I just need to do well.
Alice nodded vaguely at Sienna’s words and steeled her resolve.
Then she pointed to the bookshop the Third Prince was about to enter.
“There, how about that bookshop? The name is pretty, and there’s even a cat in front of the door!”
Fearing that Sienna might say she disliked the Third Prince, Alice hurriedly pointed to the yellow cat sitting in front of the bookshop.
“Oh my, there really is a cat.”
And the effect was immediate.
Sienna was so busy looking at the cat grooming itself that she didn’t notice the Third Prince entering the bookshop.
As expected, beautiful people do like cats.
Alice quickly linked arms with Sienna before she could change her mind.
“Come on, let’s go. Sienna.”
With a bright smile to prevent Sienna from thinking of anything else.
Alice hurried her steps towards the fateful place.
