CH 115

When the door of the carriage was opened, the prince stared at me.

“Should I get off first, Your Highness?”

“Can we just get off now?”

After he was criticized once just before going out, his behavior became even more cautious.

“Mhm. We just need to enter the store naturally.”

He sticked close behind me, trying hard to not show his nervousness, then we entered the bookstore.

“Welcome.”

“Are there any illustrated books on plants that contain as many species as possible?”

The old owner looked at the prince who kept following behind me.

Even though he was using ordinary clothes, the prince kept emanating his elegant aura.

That was inevitable since he had been living as a member of the imperial family.

“Illustrated books, huh . . .”

“If possible, it would be better if the characteristics of the plant were well expressed.”

“Who will read the book?”

The prince confidently raised his hand at the owner’s question.

Looking at the boy, the store owner blinked his eyes.

“It would be better if the book can be easily understood by young kids.”

The plant illustrated books were mostly published for experts, not for kids to understand.

As he was considering the age of the prince, he scratched his head and disappeared into a corner full of books.

While the prince was chasing after him, I, who was left alone, looked at the pile of books.

A bundle covered in dust as if rarely touched by humans piqued my interest.

Legends.

Fables.

Folk tales.

They were mainly fairy tale books containing stories from numerous regions.

Amongst the untidied protruding books, I saw familiar patterns.

As I blew off the dust, the crest of the House of Miller came into view.

Also the crests of the other duke families next to it.

The House of Bolton.

The House of Miller.

The House of Hastings.

The moment I put my finger on the top of the blue crest, suddenly someone’s voice rang from behind.

“You choose an interesting book, My Lady.”

When I turned my head, my eyes met with Sir Rune’s who was already standing behind me.

His gaze was fixed on the book in my hand.

“It’s probably about the myth of the founding of the empire.”

“Have you read this?”

“It’s obvious when those three families come out.”

Taking the book from my hand without skipping a beat, he skipped the opening chapter.

Even though I had dusted it off, my eyes tingled every time the page of the book was flipped.

“There were times when I only read books related to the myth of the founding of the empire, but this is my first time seeing this book. The author is also unfamiliar.”

“Is that so?”

On the back of the cover, only the name ‘Mikel Jayhorn’.

There was no career record or any information about the author.

“If you want, I can recommend some books related to myths.”

“No, it’s fine.”

After putting down the book, I changed my mind and took it into my arms.

Come to think of it, I did learn about the history, but I never properly read about the myth of the founding of the empire.

“It’s a bit unexpected that you like the myth of the founding of the empire, sir.”

“It’s intriguing.”

When I looked at him at his words, he shrugged.

“Don’t you find it fascinating? The main protagonist of the story about the founding of a country normally is the first king who found the country. But if you look at the myth of the founding of this empire, the three duke families are the protagonists of the story, as well the ones who led the people.”

“That . . .”

Since it was a part that I never thought of, my head was tangled for a moment.

Is that so?

While I blinked my eyes, the prince who had chosen his book, was looking up at me.

Only then did I regain my mind back, and I took a look at the book he chose.

There were two volumes.

The title of the thin book he brought along with a thick plant illustrated book was peculiar.

The title written in a messy cursive, as though the someone who had written it was quite unique.

I stared at the books in the prince’s arms with complicated feelings.

“Are you okay with that book?”

“Yes, I’m not an idiot anyway. I think I’ll be able to do it.”

“. . .”

Erm.

I’m glad you’re not offended when you look at the book’s title.

Just looking at the title, I hesitated because the author’s personality seemed to be unordinary.

Should I let him read something like this?

However, I was not the one in charge of his upbringing.

If I dare to say, the one who could be called as his teacher is Orion.

I didn’t think he would care about this in detail.

“I hope the book is useful for you.”

Then, right at the moment we just left the store after paying for the book,

I saw people gathered and whispered in front of the parked carriage.

“Are you saying you won’t move away?!”

“We’re the first to park here, so how can you suddenly tell us to move away? This is not even private land, is this?”

“Do you even know who owns this carriage? In addition, this is a carriage boarded by the son of Viscount Philip!”

I saw a high-spirited man pointing to the coachman.

The prince who sticked out his head from behind me, asked.

“What’s going on?”

“I think it’s because of the place we parked the carriage.”

There was a famous salon across from the bookstore, and it seemed like there was a son of an aristocrat family visiting that place.

There was a boy with a crumpled face seen through the opened window of the carriage.

Since it wasn’t my taste to cause an uproar for trivial things, I advised Sir Rune.

“Let’s move the carriage because we have finished our business in the bookstore. I think that is better than making an uproar.”

Even if we got into a quarrel here, it was impossible they would meekly admit their fault.

Still, if we exposed that it was a carriage from the duchy, the fuss would double.

I don’t even want to expose the prince for a trivial matter.