“Did you call him over just now?”

“Excuse me, but who are you…?”

Matthias asked with a puzzled expression. Although Matthias himself was not short, Carl’s stature was not something one usually comes across.

With the giant and unfriendly-looking man standing firm, Matthias seemed a bit intimidated. Already a man who evoked protective instincts, he now looked even more like a rabbit.

Yet, he still protectively pulled me behind him.

He must have instinctively felt the man was dangerous despite knowing we were acquainted. Carl’s eyebrows rose disapprovingly as he looked down on us.

I waved my hand between the two men, trying to ease the tension.

“Matthias, this man is the owner of this bookstore.”

“What? Oh!”

Upon my introduction, Matthias’s guarded expression instantly relaxed.

“I’ve never had the chance to meet you, but I’m grateful for all the help I’ve received from your store.”

Carl just stared at the hand Matthias offered, then sharply turned his head towards me. I swallowed a laugh.

‘Why be so childish?’

“Let’s continue our conversation then. I’m quite interested in magic and fairies myself. They’re such romantic beings, aren’t they?”

Carl spoke of romance with a dry expression.

“Ah, about fairies using magic on humans…”

Matthias, embarrassed from being openly ignored for a handshake, began to speak.

Before he could finish, I hastily grabbed his hand, causing him to flinch in surprise. I had impulsively grabbed his hand to stop him from speaking further, but now I felt embarrassed by his startled reaction.

“It was nothing important.”

I didn’t want Floria’s servant, a person in her close circle, to hear even a whisper about magic.

And then I remembered, amidst the rushed conversation, that this place was Carl’s domain. I scolded myself internally for being careless, as Carl’s expression turned colder.

“What was that ‘nothing important’ about?”

Carl’s gaze was fixed on the hands Matthias and I were still holding.

“So, I’m the only one getting the cold hand treatment.”

“What?”

I realized Carl was referring to the incident at the prince’s victory banquet in the garden. I had argued with him for quite a while when he insisted on giving me a bracelet.

Wondering why he was bringing that up now, I felt Matthias beside me growing increasingly uncomfortable. Turning to him, I saw his face was deeply flushed.

‘Is he really this shy just from holding hands?’

Maybe it’s because he’s a nobleman, or perhaps he’s just naturally timid. He was intriguing and somewhat adorable to watch, but then,

“How long will you keep this up?”

Carl tilted his head and spoke in an annoyed tone. Though I couldn’t fathom why he would be upset, I let go of Matthias’s hand.

“Sorry for grabbing you all of a sudden.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay.”

Matthias covered his mouth with the back of his hand, too embarrassed to raise his head. I couldn’t help but worry about how he would survive in this harsh world.

“Hey.”

At Carl’s low voice, I turned to see him frowning. He seemed irritated by my refusal to answer his question. I decided to play dumb until the end.

“We were just talking about books.”

Carl crossed his arms, looking down at me.

“Books, huh? As the owner of the bookstore, I know quite a bit about them too.”

“Let’s have a deeper conversation next time. I really need to get back to the palace now.”

Pointing to a nonexistent watch on my wrist, I excused myself.

Carl’s eyebrows twitched in annoyance. Regardless, I quickly left the bookstore with Matthias, feeling his gaze on us through the glass window.

Once we were far enough from the bookstore, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Are you two close?”

Matthias, who had quietly followed me, asked cautiously.

“Me? Oh, no, not really.”
“It seemed like you two were quite close. I apologize if my question made you uncomfortable.”

Close? The atmosphere earlier seemed like he was about to devour me. I firmly shook my head.

“No, not at all. We’ve just met a few times by chance.”

“Is that so?”

Matthias seemed somewhat pleased by my response.

“About the topic we were discussing earlier.”

“Oh, right.”

I focused on Matthias’s words, recalling the most crucial part of our conversation that was interrupted by Carl’s sudden intrusion.

“There must be a related book. I’ll look it up for you.”

“Really? Are you sure you’re not too busy?”

“You’ve helped me several times. Spending all day in the library, it’s no trouble at all.”

“I’d be really grateful if you could!”

What luck! The thought of not having to read all 7,000 books myself made me feel ecstatic.

I wanted to hug Matthias and jump for joy, but his face looked like it might explode with embarrassment. In my original world, such gestures were no big deal, but here, they meant something different. I had to be careful.

Instead, I smiled at him as brightly as I could. Matthias gazed at me blankly, then shyly returned the smile.