“Why on earth do we have to serve Aodin’s people?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, why don’t I just serve them alone?”

Jena’s eyes, looking towards the restaurant where Ibnel was, were filled with a strong light of contempt.

They strongly objected, asking why they had to serve them, but Emil firmly said it was the Emperor’s order, so they couldn’t dare to disobey.

It was perhaps a natural course for that resentment to be directed at Ibnel.

They simply hated her very existence. Being in the same space, breathing the same air.

“Isn’t she utterly shameless? She should be on her knees, yet she’s holding her head high.”

“Of course, she’s from Aodin. That blood doesn’t change. And she’s from the Istella ducal family at that.”

“If it weren’t for the Head Maid’s order, I would have cursed at her face.”

Jena couldn’t accept the fact that she had to bow her head to Ibnel. It literally hurt her pride.

She wanted to pour out this resentment right away.

Just then, her eyes caught sight of someone. The person Emil entrusted to inform her of work, and also someone from Aodin, like Ibnel.

‘I think her name was Lia.’

Of course, no one would accept Lia as a fellow colleague. As soon as she passed by, they were already busy gossiping.

So it was natural for the hostility towards Ibnel to be directed at Lia as well.

“Then shall we teach her a proper lesson this time?”

At Jena’s chin gesture, the other maids also spotted Lia, and they smiled as if on cue. Soon, Jena took the lead and called out to her.

“Wait a moment.”

Lia, who was about to go to Ibnel, approached Jena and her group at the beckoning hand gesture.

“Did you call me?”

“Follow me. There’s work to be done.”

Following them without a word, there was a huge pile of laundry in a remote corner of the palace.

“Take care of all this.”

“Me, alone?”

Even at a glance, it was not an amount that one person could handle in a short time.

As Lia gave off the nuance that she couldn’t do it, the expressions of Jena and the maids turned fierce.

“What, are you saying you don’t want to do it now?”

“No, that’s not it…”

“You just became a maid by chance. And you can’t even do this much?”

They had pride in working as maids in the Imperial Palace. But Lia, who was from Aodin and unqualified, came in as a colleague, so there was no way they would like it.

“If you can’t even do this much, you can’t stay here. Don’t tell me you’re doing this trusting your master?”

When they mentioned Ibnel, Lia desperately shook her head.

“No. That’s not it.”

“Then do as I say. Remember? The Head Maid told you to learn work from me.”

When Jena said that much, she had no choice but to nod.

Besides, she wasn’t unaware of the current situation surrounding Ibnel. She didn’t want to be a hindrance, let alone be of strength to her.

“Yes, I’ll get it done as you said.”

“Good. Ah, come straight back when you’re done. There’s a pile of other work to do besides this.”

With that, the maids left the work to Lia. As soon as she was out of sight, they burst into laughter they had been holding back.

“Such lowly work is just right for her level. Not all maids are the same, you know.”

They forcibly pushed off work that wasn’t originally a maid’s job. Her hands would surely not only blister, but be left with nothing.

Meanwhile, Lia, left alone, rolled up her sleeves with feigned energy.

‘Alright, let’s do this.’

Actually, since guarding Ibnel’s side at the Istella ducal residence, such incidents had been quite frequent. Her colleagues despised and ridiculed her just for serving Ibnel.

“So this much is nothing.”

She was fired up with determination. If they thought she would run away from just this level of work, they were mistaken.

The place Ibnel headed to after finishing her meal was the Imperial Library within the palace that Emil had mentioned. She planned to take a light look around before going to archery training in the afternoon.

‘I suppose it would be more comfortable with fewer prying eyes.’

Arriving at the library Emil had informed her about, it was filled with books, enough to be called a small library. On top of that, the lighting was good and the ventilation was excellent, giving it a cozy feeling.

It was far from the overall bleakness felt in the Imperial Palace.

“So there was a place like this.”

Ibnel carefully looked around the bookshelves.

Among various topics such as politics, economics, and geography, her feet stopped at the place where books related to the history of Caries were gathered.

‘History, huh.’

She ran her fingers over the covers and then pulled out one of the books. The countless reproachful and resentful gazes she had received from many people, including Shuher, came to mind.

However, she hesitated to open the book. She could roughly guess what kind of contents would be written inside.

“It might be more beneficial for me to not see it.”

They say ignorance is bliss, after all.

But the moment Shuher’s black eyes, which showed strong anger, came to mind, her hand ended up turning to the first page of the book.

Ibnel calmly read through the contents inside.

The birth and development of Caries, as well as the first appearance of magical beasts and being granted powers, were described in detail.

And when the story of Aodin and Caries’ relationship starting to go awry came up, unlike before, the hand turning the pages faltered.

But showing a slight tremor, she turned to the next page.

How much time had passed? Ibnel, who closed the book she had finished reading, picked up another book as if possessed.

She sat down leaning against the bookshelf and started reading. During that time, she didn’t take her eyes off the book or utter a single word.

As if time had stopped only in this library, the only sound was the rustling of papers being turned.

Before she knew it, even when the sun had set and night had fallen, Ibnel focused only on the books in the same posture. The books she had read were scattered haphazardly around her.

Perhaps like her heart.

Only after closing the last book did her mouth open.

“What is this…”

What followed was a laugh filled with despair. But that too faded away powerlessly before long.

“I never had the right to be angry in the first place.”

The reason Ibnel decided to stay in Caries was partly because she felt righteous. Even though such things happened in the past, she herself hadn’t done anything wrong directly.

She was also angry at being the target of criticism just for being from Aodin.

But the history between Caries and Aodin was more horrendous than she had thought. To the point where one could say what she knew was only the tip of the iceberg.

Just reading the text describing the situation at that time made her heart race like this, so the reality must have been even more terrible.

How many people died due to Aodin’s betrayal, how much damage they suffered, and even how Aodin was despicable until the end.

It hit her more vividly because it was written from the perspective of the Caries Empire.

The bloodbath that Shuher had mentioned before was also described in detail. It was as if their screams were ringing in her ears.

‘I knew it would be like this.’

Ibnel’s intuition that there would be nothing good to see was spot on. This was a Pandora’s box. One that should never be opened.

“I shouldn’t have looked.”

But even so, she couldn’t stop reading halfway through. Ironically, it was also something she had to know in order to stay in Caries.

‘Can I really endure being here?’

She had a weak thought, unlike herself. If she had known this cruel truth in advance, she would have escaped this place even if it meant risking her life.

To all the people of Caries, she was no different from an enemy. No, even that word was insufficient. Because they lost their families, friends, colleagues, lovers, and even their homeland due to Aodin’s greed and betrayal.

She had no choice but to accept even their cries for her to die.

‘If it were the same situation, I might have done the same.’

Just then, black dress shoes entered the sight of Ibnel, who was deep in thought. Slowly raising her head, Shuher was looking down at her, as if he had been there for a while.

“Lady Ibnel.”

As soon as Shuher returned to the palace, he asked Emil about Ibnel’s whereabouts first. She was practically Ibnel’s watchdog, after all.

“About that, she has been in the library since the afternoon.”

“The library? All day long?”

“Yes, she said she didn’t need meals either.”

Going in and out of the library wasn’t particularly a problem. It was just puzzling as to why she went there.

Shuher was about to return to his room when he spotted light leaking through a door slit in the distance. It seemed she was still in the library, as Emil said.

He turned his steps and headed to the library. And he could immediately spot Ibnel sitting against the bookshelf.

But she was just sitting there blankly, as if she didn’t even notice him entering. As if her soul had left her body.

As Shuher approached closer, Ibnel, belatedly realizing his presence, got up from her spot.

“Your Majesty, why are you here?”

“I think that’s what I should be asking. Why are you here like this until this late hour?”

“Pardon?”

At those words, Ibnel, checking outside the window, was surprised to see that it had already become night. Unlike herself, she had even forgotten about archery training.

“The time has already gotten so late.”

Shuher instantly detected the change in atmosphere from the morning.

“Emil said you weren’t eating either.”

“Me? I’m fine.”

Ibnel didn’t remember at all that Emil had spoken to her or that she had answered, as she was too focused on the books. Of course, she had lost her appetite.

After reading texts drenched in blood, she didn’t have the strong stomach to eat meals nonchalantly.

Soon, Shuher’s gaze turned to the books placed haphazardly at her feet. He picked one up and checked the title.

“These are…”

Checking the others, they were all books related to the history of Caries.

‘So that’s why she’s reacting like this.’

From his standpoint, it was simply ridiculous. It wasn’t as if she had newly learned something she didn’t know.

“Why are you suddenly reading these?”

“No reason…”

Ibnel couldn’t answer any other way.

Her head was also filled with various thoughts, and on top of that, she wasn’t sure what to say to him, the Emperor of Caries.

Seeing the answer clearly filled with confusion, Shuher didn’t hide his cynical expression.

“Judging by your expression, it seems you were quite shocked.”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen it written so… explicitly.”

“Well, that makes sense. In Aodin, they must have been busy hiding their own shames and boasting about how great their abilities were.”

If she had only been exposed to history written from Aodin’s perspective until now, it was not unreasonable for her to be so surprised.

“I’m curious about your thoughts. You must have directly faced the deeds your family and country committed.”

Ibnel had no answer other than tightly clenching her hands.