The Prince’s Suspicion

In the S-class classroom, the setting sun cast long shadows from the desks and chairs. I awoke from a short nap to find the room completely empty. I had to admit, perhaps a great weight had been lifted from my mind after dispatching those two troublesome books. I had actually slept until after school.

Rubbing my stiff neck, I unhurriedly packed my satchel. Now that I was awake, it was time to return to my dorm and resume my research.

Before that, however, I ought to check on the status of ‘Orlando’s Ancestral Travelogue’. After all, it was a unique copy. If that reckless protagonist lost or even creased it, I would likely be heartbroken for days, unable to sleep.

Lifting my skirt, I gracefully exited the classroom.

As I passed the corridor leading to the courtyard, a dispute carried on the wind reached my ears. One of the voices was intimately familiar: Ella Smith’s.

Her voice sounded urgent, as if she were desperately trying to defend something. The other voice, however, possessed an inherent arrogance and elegance, a quality unique to those long accustomed to high positions.

It was Alexis von Lumiere.

The First Prince of this kingdom, and the original game’s primary male lead.

I halted, my body instinctively wanting to retreat. According to my original ‘potted plant’ plan, I should absolutely turn and leave, pretending I’d heard nothing. After all, the entanglement between the prince and the ‘Cinderella’ character was a core plot minefield.

But the next second, I heard a word I couldn’t ignore.

“…that book.”

Alexis’s voice had sharpened considerably.

‘That’s my book.’

I sighed, the helplessness in my heart outweighing my fear of the plot. If I didn’t intervene, and that prince, whose mind seemed to contain nothing but political machinations, confiscated or damaged my precious tome, that would be a true disaster.

I adjusted my breathing, shedding the languid expression of someone freshly awakened, and donned once more the cold, aloof mask of the villainess.

Unhurriedly, I rounded the corner. The scene before me confirmed my suspicions.

In the courtyard corridor, bathed in the setting sun, the golden-haired prince stood blocking Ella’s path. One of his hands gripped Ella’s wrist, his brow deeply furrowed. His usually gentle and refined face was now etched with seriousness and suspicion.

Ella, meanwhile, clutched ‘Orlando’s Ancestral Travelogue’ tightly to her chest, much like a mother protecting her child.

“Let go! Your Highness, you’re hurting me!”

Ella’s voice held a hint of a sob, yet her gaze was unexpectedly defiant.

“I merely wish to confirm something, Miss Smith.”

Alexis’s tone was icy.

“This ‘Orlando’s Ancestral Travelogue’ is a treasured heirloom of the Eckhart Ducal House, a volume even the Royal Library cannot acquire. Why is it in your possession? Lilliana… what exactly is that woman making you do with this forbidden book?”

‘That woman?’ I sneered inwardly. It seemed my image in the Prince’s mind was indeed that of a treacherous and malicious woman.

In his mind, brimming with schemes and political maneuvering, my act of lending the book to Ella… had likely been twisted into some sinister plot to win favor or perhaps even use a forbidden text to curse a commoner.

“No, it’s not! Lady Lilliana lent it to me!”

Ella retorted loudly.

“She saw I was struggling with my studies, and out of kindness…”

“Kindness? That Lilliana?”

Alexis sounded as if he had just heard a preposterous joke.

“Don’t be naive. She is the daughter of a ducal house; every action she takes has a political agenda. This book might have been enchanted with some form of mind-control magic, or perhaps…”

“Please retract that statement!”

Ella abruptly wrenched her hand free from Alexis’s grasp. She stepped back, her emerald eyes blazing with a fury I had never witnessed before.

In that instant, Alexis froze.

I froze too.

In the original game, when faced with the Prince’s questioning, Ella would typically only weep aggrievedly, awaiting his protection. Yet now, to defend me, she had bared her claws at the heir to the throne, like a startled kitten.

‘This little kitten seems to have grown a bit too bold under my care.’

‘I can’t just stand by and watch this…’

“…To forcibly demand an item when the lady in question is unwilling to surrender it, that hardly seems in line with chivalry, Your Highness.”

I stepped forward, my heels clicking against the marble floor with a crisp, rhythmic sound. Alexis and Ella simultaneously turned their heads.

Ella’s eyes immediately lit up, as if she had spotted a savior. Alexis’s expression, however, immediately darkened, a flash of wariness appearing in his eyes.

“Lilliana.”

He spoke my name, his voice low.

“Good day, Your Highness.”

I slightly lifted my skirt, performing a curtsy that was flawlessly standard, yet imbued with a subtle hint of perfunctoriness. “I am curious how an item of mine could possibly have offended Your Highness to such an extent that you would trouble an innocent classmate after school hours?”

I intentionally emphasized the words “an item of mine,” and my gaze fell directly upon the hand he had used to grip Ella’s wrist moments before.

Alexis frowned, then adjusted his cuff, regaining that unique royal composure. “I am merely fulfilling my duty of oversight as a member of the royal family.”

He looked at me, his gaze sharp. “This travelogue delves into the secrets of ancient magic, classifying it as dangerous, regulated knowledge. To entrust it to a commoner with no background, Lilliana, what exactly are you plotting?”

‘Plotting again.’ ‘Can their minds hold nothing but schemes and intrigues? What about academia, history, or a simple thirst for knowledge?’

A profound weariness and ennui washed over me. I did not answer his question, instead walking directly to Ella.

Ella watched me nervously, clutching the book tightly with both hands, as if fearing I might reclaim it due to the Prince’s pressure. I extended a hand and gently, almost imperceptibly, smoothed her collar, which had become slightly disheveled from her struggle.

My fingertips brushed her warm neck inadvertently. She flinched slightly, yet did not pull away… Instead, she meekly lowered her gaze, a blush rising to her cheeks.

This sight only deepened the gloom in Alexis’s eyes. Only after completing this did I turn to face the Prince, meeting his eyes directly.

“Your Highness, what, in your opinion, is the purpose of a book’s existence?”

I asked calmly. Alexis paused, clearly unprepared for such a philosophical inquiry.

“Books are vessels of knowledge, the heritage of civilization… and, of course, for certain rare editions, they are also symbols of power and prestige.”

He delivered a very standard, almost textbook-royal response. “Power? Prestige?”

I let out a soft laugh. In that laugh, there was no mockery, only a pity akin to one gazing down upon ants from a higher plane of existence.

“In your eyes, this ‘Orlando’s Ancestral Travelogue’ might be a means for the Eckhart family to flaunt its legacy, a treasure gathering dust, locked away in a vault.”

I extended my hand to Ella. She hesitated for a moment, then dutifully handed the book to me. I cradled the thick volume in one hand, my fingertips tracing its worn cover.

“But in my eyes, it is merely a travelogue. The thoughts and observations recorded by a person on a long journey.”

I lifted my head. My red eyes, devoid of their usual pretense, now held only the pure dedication of a librarian to knowledge.

“Books are not written to be locked away in dark cabinets, left to mold. They are meant to be read, to be understood, to be debated.”

“Only when fingertips turn pages, when eyes scan words, when minds clash with authors’ thoughts… only then is a book truly alive.”

I looked at Alexis, my tone indifferent. “In my family’s treasury, it would merely be a pile of expensive dead objects. But in Miss Smith’s hands, it can inspire new ideas, answer unknown questions. She can understand it, she needs it. Therefore, I lent it to her.”

“That is the reason. No conspiracy, no plotting; simply because… I wished for this book to live. Is that so difficult to comprehend, Your Highness?”

Having spoken, I gently, yet undeniably, placed the book back into Ella’s arms. “Hold it carefully. Remember what I said: return it to me in three days. If you accidentally crease a corner…”

I narrowed my eyes slightly, revealing a hint of a dangerous smile. “You know the consequences.”

“Y-yes! I’ll protect it with my life!”

Ella hugged the book even tighter, the adoration in her eyes practically overflowing.

Alexis remained rooted to the spot, silent for a long moment. At that moment, the lingering rays of the setting sun fell upon me, stretching both his shadow and mine long across the ground.

He looked at me, and for the first time, a flicker of doubt appeared in his blue eyes, which were usually filled with suspicion and calculation.

His entire education had been about weighing pros and cons, about controlling resources. No one had ever told him that lending a national treasure, a forbidden book, to a commoner could be simply because one wished for the book to live.

‘Such a reason… Absurd, naive, yet… so noble it made him feel utterly inadequate.’

He gazed at me as if truly seeing Lilliana von Eckhart for the very first time. ‘This woman, perhaps she isn’t a malicious schemer after all. She might just be… a peculiar being, standing above the clouds, observing this world with a pure gaze he could not comprehend… A freak. And also… a mystery that made his heart, long accustomed to pretense, inexplicably skip a beat.’

“…Let us go, Miss Smith.”

I paid no further mind to the contemplative prince, turning and leading Ella away from the corridor. It wasn’t until we were well away that I quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

‘That was close… I almost couldn’t keep up the act. Fortunately, I’d read similar lines in the library before. They proved quite effective for maintaining the air of a reclusive sage.’

I, of course, had no idea that my heartfelt pronouncements had just planted a seed of curiosity in the heart of the male lead, who was originally the least likely to be ‘conquered’.

For Ella, by my side, that scene was undoubtedly the most significant moment of her life. ‘…Lady Lilliana, for my sake, had directly rebuffed His Royal Highness. And she had spoken such cool, such gentle words!’

‘A book lives because it is read…’

Ella silently repeated the phrase in her mind, gazing at the serene profile of the young woman beside her… She felt the emotion named ‘liking’ in her chest threatening to overflow, transforming into something far heavier and more viscous.

“Lady Lilliana…”

She called out softly.

“Yes?”

“I… I want to become a book that you will always read.”

“…Huh?”

I stopped, looking at her with a bewildered expression. “What nonsense are you spouting? Books don’t talk.”

“Hehe, nothing!”

Ella chuckled foolishly, then quickly caught up, her fingers, still clutching the book, subtly and somewhat possessively hooked onto a corner of my skirt.

‘Just like this is fine. As long as I can remain on your bookshelf, even if it’s just in a corner… I will be content.’