Great, I’ve caught you.

Although I was excited inside, I pretended to be surprised and grabbed Sek’s sleeve tightly.

“Then is it someone’s belongings? Oh no! We should find the owner even more quickly!”

“Don’t do that. This item has no owner. Strictly speaking, the owner is His Highness and the Beltraum Research Institute.”

Seemingly quite flustered, Sek blurted out his words without using his characteristic drawling manner of speech.

Then he sighed, adjusting his glasses with a reddened face.

“I’m worried I’ll get scolded by the director if I say this… but since you’re now a member of this institute, Shuria, you should know.”

It seems he’s finally in the mood to tell me something.

I quietly sat down next to Sek. Sek also sluggishly straightened his posture.

“This book, and the forbidden books behind that curtain, were written by the deposed king and his scholars.”

“By the deposed king, do you mean that Ke-”

“Shh, don’t say it.”

Sek covered my mouth with his hand. I blinked my eyes. Why can’t I say Keimelroim’s name?

‘Is he Vold*mort?’

But even as time passed, Sek didn’t remove his hand. What’s this about?

I lightly tapped his arm. Then Sek clutched his arm and collapsed on the floor.

“That hurts!”

“As if. Don’t act like a self-harm extortionist.”

“Self-harm extortionist…?”

Sek sniffled as he got up. Then he finished his words.

“Anyway, this book is just institute property, so there’s no need to find its owner. Just forget that such a book even exists~.”

“I understand. But I have one more question.”

“Shuria, you’re so curious~. It’s a virtue of a researcher.”

For a moment I thought he was being sarcastic, but I let it slide. I leaned towards Sek and asked seriously.

“Why are you keeping that Ke-”

“Ahem.”

“No, why are you keeping the deposed king’s books at the institute? Even books that can’t be read. The books behind that curtain are also under a spell, right?”

“Hmm~.”

Sek scratched his cheek. Only after some time passed did he answer.

“If we could read the deposed king’s books, it would be a great help to our research.”

“What?”

“Oh my, look at the time~. Shuria, I must be going now.”

Sek suddenly got up hurriedly. I tried to grab him, but he was so fast that I couldn’t believe he was the same person as that sloth-like researcher from before.

I stood alone in the library, rubbing the back of my head.

“In the end, he ran away without answering.”

I wanted to hear about Keimelroim. Oh well. I’ll have to think of another way.

The other method I came up with was to look for books in the royal palace library.

‘I’m not sure if there will be records about the previous king, especially one who was beheaded in a coup.’

But there’s no choice. If I ask someone else, they’ll probably run away like Sek did.

“I wonder if it’ll be in the history section.”

I wandered between the bookshelves with my arms crossed seriously. Perhaps taking pity on me, one of the librarians approached.

“If you’re looking for a book, I can help you.”

“Ah.”

I rolled my eyes once. Should I say it?

Oh, just say it.

“I’m looking for a book about a certain person.”

“About whom…?”

“Um, Keimel-”

“Gasp!”

The librarian was startled and covered my mouth.

My mouth was covered again. What, is Keimelroim really like Vold*mort?

I stared at the librarian who was still covering my mouth. She quickly removed her hand and apologized.

“I’m sorry. And, there are no books about that, um, deposed… king here.”

“I see…”

What should I do now?

As I was lost in thought, staring into space, a familiar voice came from behind.

“Miss Shuria?”

When I turned around, as expected, there stood Rumel, the ‘conscience’ among Aspeiran’s three closest aides.

“Rumel!”

I hopped over to Rumel and greeted him cheerfully.

“Hello, Rumel! It’s the first time I’ve seen you here.”

“Yes, it is.”

Rumel smiled gently. Then he looked around once and whispered.

“Miss Shuria. Are you done with your business?”

“My business?”

Well, it’s kind of over since there are no books about Keimelroim here.

When I nodded, Rumel extended his hand as if pleased.

“Then shall we go back together? On the way…”

Rumel took a small breath for a moment. And the words that followed were enough to surprise me.

“I’ll explain what you’re curious about, Miss Shuria.”

That is, about the deposed king.

“It’s been a while since I’ve ridden a two-seater unmanned carriage.”

Rumel took the lead and started the unmanned carriage. I stood awkwardly beside him.

Seeing me like that, Rumel chuckled softly.

“You don’t have to be so nervous, Miss Shuria.”

“Is it really okay for me to hear that story?”

“Of course. You’re now a citizen of Roakin, after all.”

“But whenever the Ke-, I mean, the deposed king is mentioned, everyone seems uncomfortable.”

“It’s been seven years since His Highness ascended to the throne. That means it’s been only seven years since Roakin broke free from the deposed king’s control. That’s why.”

Because the deposed king still remains as a deep-seated fear in people’s hearts.

I felt as if all the blood in my body turned cold at those words. I had been asking around too insensitively. I was reckless.

I drooped my shoulders and muttered dejectedly.

“I made a mistake…”

“Don’t blame yourself too much. You couldn’t have known.”

Rumel comforted me kindly. Meanwhile, the unmanned carriage started rolling. Rumel skillfully controlled the carriage.

“But why are you suddenly curious about the deposed king?”

“Ah, well.”

I hesitated a little. Should I tell him? Rumel is Aspeiran’s closest aide, so it should be okay, right?

Eventually, the events of yesterday and today flowed smoothly from my mouth. The spell-bound book I accidentally obtained at the institute, the countless books of the deposed king piled up, and Sek’s reaction.

Of course, I omitted the fact that I could read the spell-bound book.

After hearing the whole story, Rumel nodded.

“I see. But Miss Shuria, it would be better not to tell others about the deposed king’s books being piled up in the institute.”

“I only told you because it’s you, Rumel. Because it’s a secret of the institute, right?”

“That’s one reason. But the reason I told you not to is… just as people are reluctant to even mention the deposed king’s name, they also consider anything he touched as cursed and horrible objects.”

Rumel moistened his lips with his tongue before continuing.

“Moreover, if it’s the Beltraum Research Institute that has the deposed king’s books, people will find it even more unsettling. The already unstable position of the institute would be greatly shaken.”

The institute’s position would be shaken because of the deposed king’s books?

“Why is that?”

“That… You’ll understand after hearing the story of the deposed king I’m about to tell you. Um, shall I take you to the breeding ground?”

“Ah, yes! Thank you.”

Rumel gently turned towards the breeding ground. As we drove along a quiet road where no one was passing by, Rumel’s long story began.

“They say the deposed king had an outstanding intellect and magical skills from a young age. So much so that the master of the top magic tower at the time personally took him as a disciple.”

Everyone at the time expected Keimelroim to become a transcendent being like Nix Roakin, the founder of Roakin. That’s how overwhelming his talent was.

But no one knew. That he lacked a part that every human should have in their heart.

“The most important thing to the deposed king was his desire to know new knowledge. For that, he considered other people’s lives and dignity all worthless.”

“That’s…”

“Perhaps the people around him had noticed to some extent. But in the end, no one managed to correct him in time.”

Maintaining his selfishness, arrogance, and unethical nature, Keimelroim became an adult. Around that time, he was interested in Beltraum, an unknown world.

However, Princess Yulianea, who managed all the doors leading to Beltraum, was wary of Keimelroim’s nature and strictly prohibited him from approaching Beltraum.

So Keimelroim thought.

If I eliminate all the obstacles and take over this country, I could satisfy all these boiling desires.

“It started with Lady Yulianea.”

One day, Princess Yulianea suddenly disappeared. And from then on, the numerous members of the Roakin royal family began to die one by one.

When the reigning monarch finally lost his life, Keimelroim was the only royal left in Belloy Castle.

There was still one princess named Failia, but she too had disappeared around the time Yulianea went missing, so she couldn’t stop Keimelroim.

That’s how Keimelroim became the master of Roakin.

“After he ascended to the throne, Roakin fell into being an experimental ground to fulfill the deposed king’s desires. The people of Roakin were nothing more than the deposed king’s test subjects.”

Many magicians and scholars lost their lives opposing Keimelroim. Some of the survivors became Keimelroim’s faithful followers, while the rest held their breath to wait for the right time.

And finally, he appeared. The other Roakin that the rebel army had been desperately waiting for, the son of the missing Princess Failia, Aspeiran Roakin.

“…During the 16 years of the deposed king’s rule, Roakin was no different from hell. That period of suffering was ended by our current monarch, Aspeiran.”

That’s how Rumel’s story ended. And I got the answers to all the questions I had.

‘So that’s why there are so few researchers at the Beltraum Research Institute.’

Because most of the magicians and scholars died because of Keimelroim.

Also, even among the survivors, very few would want to research Beltraum. After all, wouldn’t it seem like continuing Keimelroim’s legacy?

‘That’s why Rumel told me not to go around saying that the institute is keeping Keimelroim’s books.’

The Beltraum Research Institute already doesn’t have a good reputation.

If it becomes known that they’re keeping Keimelroim’s research materials, the researchers would undoubtedly be treated as the deposed king’s remnants.

‘It would also be troublesome for As, who created the Beltraum Research Institute.’

I really need to be careful with my words from now on. I shouldn’t carelessly bring up Keimelroim either.

Having made up my mind, I turned my head to thank Rumel for telling me the story.

But Rumel, sitting next to me, had noticeably paled.

“Rumel! Are you okay?”

I hurriedly grabbed his hand. His hand was ice-cold.

As I held both of his hands, Rumel smiled faintly.

“I’m alright. Recalling that time was still… difficult for me, it seems.”

“Rumel…”

“Don’t feel sorry. I think of this as practice for facing a painful past.”

Rumel straightened his back and sat upright. His sunken brown eyes gazed beyond the castle walls.

“Avoiding pain just because it hurts will only make the wound fester. Only when we can face the past squarely can we move forward.”

Rumel’s voice was low. I silently held Rumel’s hand firmly.

Even after arriving at the breeding ground, we sat like that in the carriage for a long time.