“Now give it to me.”

As I reached out to Karl, who even brought the sponsorship from the Outer Palace, he willingly handed over the envelope. He seemed quite pleased for some reason.

“Isn’t the treatment of the client too poor?”

“This is quite generous treatment; you’re just being sulky.”

Really. Snorting in disdain, I quickly skimmed through the paper I pulled out of the envelope. Then, my face crinkled in disbelief.

“…Is this a joke?”

“I don’t know why you think that, but it’s not randomly written.”

“Wait, what’s with the first line, ‘dislikes carrots’?”

The First Prince is a picky eater?

I tried to imagine the masked First Prince whining about disliking carrots, but I couldn’t picture it at all.

“Wait a moment, didn’t that guild fail even in delivering free catalogs?”

As I expressed doubt about the credibility of the paper I was holding, Karl raised an eyebrow, not hiding his annoyance.

“What’s with that look?”

“Did you just randomly jot down information on this?”

“I can guarantee the accuracy of the information written here.”

Karl asserted confidently. Even though he was so sure, I couldn’t dispel the suspicion in my eyes. When I kept reading the paper, he reached out with an irritated expression.

“If you can’t trust it, give it here.”

“…No, it’s not that I can’t trust it completely.”

I quickly guarded the paper in case he tried to snatch it away. Well, he’s making such a bold claim; he must be confident. As I resumed reading the paper, he spoke up.

“Oh, and the First Prince’s taste in women is simple, so I don’t need to write it separately.”

Karl made a fist, looked down at me, and stretched one corner of his mouth. His face looked oddly uncomfortable.

“Hmm. Regardless of my personality, I might as well do it since my life is at stake.”

Lately, I had gained confidence in acting, so I nodded my head.

“What about appearance?”

“Don’t care.”

That was fortunate.

I thought I should go back to my room and read it more carefully, so I put the paper in my apron pocket.

“Thank you. Oh, I’ll return this.”

As I tried to take out the bracelet instead of the commission fee, Karl shook his head.

“Keep it.”

“What? You said it was expensive.”

Is he giving something that expensive just like that? I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

“…Is this fake?”

Did he cheat me? Sending a scrutinizing look, Karl gave a wry smile.

“I’ve given you something good. Consider it a return for picking out a nice item.”

“…Well, this is…”

He lifted his right sleeve.

“A token of appreciation for choosing a good item.”

“Uh, that’s…”

A bracelet I had chosen was hanging on his wrist. As if asking why he was doing this instead of his younger sibling, I looked at him, and he casually explained.

“I liked it. I got something else for my younger sibling.”

No, if you were going to do that, why did you ask me to choose from the beginning?

Anyway, I didn’t have to return it if I didn’t want to.
“I’ll have to go out to the capital and sell it soon. Huge profit.”

“I’ll go first.”

As I happily turned away, thinking the business was over and I had earned some money, Karl added a meaningful comment.

“Then, I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“Huh? What? What should I look forward to?”

Without answering, Karl just grinned. I felt an unknown uneasiness in that smile.

‘What’s going on?’

Lately, whenever I see that man, I get a strangely ominous feeling. What is it? … What is this uncomfortable feeling?

Carrying the strange feeling I couldn’t decipher, I returned to the library, and Matthias was wandering between the tables.

With an anxious expression, he met my eyes, visibly relieved when he saw me. I tightly closed my eyes at Matthias’s relaxed face.

He likes me, right?

Matthias, who ran up like a puppy, spoke in a cheerful voice.

“You came back faster than I thought.”

Matthias couldn’t hide his joy that I returned quickly. I couldn’t look straight at his face.

“Were you waiting?”

With a slightly puzzled expression, Matthias turned his head and, after a moment, looked at me.

“But why did the owner of Carrot Carrot Carrot Bookstore come here for some reason?”

“Oh, I brought the requested book.”

How does Karl, an ordinary bookstore owner, have access to the royal palace library?

How did he know I was here? What’s the deal with the paper they were fighting over?

And where is the requested book, for that matter?

There were so many questions in Matthias’s expression, which seemed to contain a lot of suspicion, but instead of asking, Matthias smiled gently.

“I see.”

It was awkward to respond, but Matthias’s pretending not to notice made me feel relieved.

‘Slightly delicate, but really a nice person.’

Returning to the room, I put down the baggage I was carrying on the desk.

Matthias had organized documents about the origin of fairies and related books. As I looked down at them, I suddenly frowned.

“Oh, strangely, it bothers me.”

The face of Karl, who had been smiling meaningfully and saying he looked forward to it, kept coming to mind.