Diane and Clemens’ first meeting quickly came to an end.

The Duke, who had intended to have tea time after the meal, immediately left his seat due to Philen’s urgent call.

“Then we shall…”

“I-I just remembered something I have to do!”

Diane interrupted, hastily rising from her seat.

It was a chair she couldn’t climb up on her own, so when she tried to get down, I moved to help her, but the child was in such a hurry that she jumped down on her own with a thud.

“Then I’ll be going too!”

Before Clemens could catch her, Diane disappeared like an arrow. Clemens unconsciously followed the child’s retreating figure with a regretful gaze.

‘Is she shy?’

Very suspicious and cautious.

It was certainly different from other children.

Seeing her run away made him even more determined. Clemens unintentionally kept thinking about the newcomer.

‘It won’t be easy to become friends.’

Though it was a short time, after observing Diane, Clemens concluded that he would need to use a different approach to befriend her.

‘She doesn’t seem to like running around and playing like the twins.’

It was a sudden problem. Moreover, it seemed it wouldn’t be easy to solve. Clemens’ worries only deepened.

What should he do? How to become friends with that lovely child who is shy and suspicious.

* * *

Fortunately, breakfast ended safely.

‘There was actually a crisis, but.’

Like the incident of flinging a rice ball at the Duke’s face…

As that scene vividly came to mind again, a chill ran down my spine.

‘It’s fortunate the Duke didn’t get angry, though.’

Although his expressionless face as he fed me seemed like a silent threat.

‘…Well, as long as it passed without incident, it’s fine!’

Let’s think positively. I decided not to dwell on it too deeply. There were plenty of other things to worry about anyway.

[You’re back.]

The silver snake, which occupied the largest share of those worries, slithered out of the bag and spoke.

I crouched down and stared silently at the silver snake, who then asked sulkily.

[What?]

“What are you going to do if I never make the contract with you?”

[You will make the contract.]

“I’m telling you I won’t.”

[You will, eventually.]

“I said I won’t.”

It seemed to have grown accustomed to my refusals. The silver snake, undeterred by my answer, swished its tail and slipped under the bed.

[Other humans are coming.]

No sooner had it finished speaking than the door swung open wide.

“Young miss! Have you already finished your meal?”

Sophia asked with a surprised expression. Beside her was Delma, entering with her hands full of books.

“Yes, I ate everything properly.”

“Oh my, is that so?”

While Delma patted me on the head, praising me, Sophia expressed her doubt.

“Why did it end so soon? Didn’t you have tea time?”

“The Duke was busy, so Philen took him away.”

“But the young master shouldn’t have any schedule yet.”

‘Ah, about that…’

I rolled my eyes, unable to answer.

As it was, I had quickly called out that I was coming to my room because Clemens was trying to keep me there.

“Hmm, is it because the young master isn’t used to it yet?”

Sophia said gently, stroking my head. When I nodded, Sophia let out a short sigh.

“Yes, I suppose it will take some time. Though it was clear the young master wanted to become friends with you quickly.”

‘Clemens did?’

I couldn’t agree with Sophia’s words. Unable to respond, I just rolled my eyes ambiguously and then shifted my gaze to the books Delma was holding in both hands.

“By the way, what are all these books Delma brought?”

“Oh, these?”

Delma smiled brightly and laid out the books she had brought in front of me.

“These are new fairy tale books that just arrived in the library. It seems the duke’s mansion is getting these kinds of books now that you’re here.”

Books were already one of the things I liked, so I became very interested.

“Come to think of it, when will the young miss be assigned a home tutor?”

“I asked about that too, but it seems that still…”

While Sophia and Delma were chatting, a book with a particularly plain cover caught my eye.

‘This one looks different from the others.’

I thought Delma might have accidentally brought it along with the various fairy tale books.

The book had a light gray cover that didn’t stand out much. Because of that, it was more noticeable among the colorful fairy tale books.

The title of the book was written inside the cover. And when I saw it, I couldn’t help but open my eyes wide.

‘On Legendary Animals, Concerning Dragons…?’

I glanced furtively at Sophia and Delma.

They were still engrossed in a heated discussion about me, so they didn’t seem to notice what I was doing.

I quietly turned around and opened the book.

Inside, legends about dragons were organized in order.

‘A mysterious being passed down from ancient times…’

With a form like a huge snake, it was a higher-dimensional animal than humans, wise and transcendent, having comprehended all the principles of the world.

‘Originally they were called divine beasts, but people in the old days called them dragons.’

Now, as in the past, only a very few people actually saw the divine beasts called dragons.

Because of this, quite a few people dismissed divine beasts as merely legendary creatures.

But I had known about the existence of divine beasts from the beginning.

Of course, I didn’t know it would appear right in front of my eyes like this.

‘What a troublesome snake.’

I turned the pages back again. Anyway, seeing that the author of this book called divine beasts ‘dragons’, it seemed to be quite an old book.

As the silver snake said, not many people had directly seen the true form of a divine beast, so it looked a bit different.

‘The origin of dragons, history, related records, why do people think there are no transcendent beings…’

As I read through the table of contents, I suddenly thought that the author of this book probably hadn’t seen a divine beast directly.

That’s because,

‘He’s explaining very hard that dragons exist.’

While saying he hadn’t seen one himself, he was eagerly listing evidence believing that dragons exist.

‘I know they exist.’

It’s with me every day.

Rather, there was other information I was looking for. I searched through the table of contents earnestly and finally found information similar to what I was looking for near the end.

‘Testimony of one who saw a sealed dragon.’

As soon as I saw the word ‘sealed’, I felt guilty and abruptly closed the book.

‘To think that divine beasts can be sealed.’

I swallowed hard. If they could be sealed, it meant I wouldn’t have to listen to that silver snake’s constant talk of contracts anymore.

‘I wouldn’t have to worry about others discovering the silver snake.’

Though I call it a silver snake every day, its essence was a divine beast.

Moreover, it had come to find me first, breaking through the strict barriers of this duke’s mansion.

I wanted to chase it out of the duke’s mansion several times, but since the divine beast came to find me first, it wouldn’t be so easy to send it away.

So I tried to persuade the silver snake to leave on its own several times.

But that stubborn silver snake mercilessly dismissed my opinion every time.

[Don’t you dare order me around, you insignificant creature!]

Shouting things like that.

‘If only it could be sealed, there would be nothing to worry about.’

Maybe after sealing the divine beast, I could safely deliver it to the male lead, who should be the real contract partner.

The divine beast might change its mind after seeing the male lead in person.

So this is all for the sake of both the divine beast and the male lead.

The word ‘sealing’ bothered me somehow, but couldn’t I just seal it temporarily and then release it?

‘I don’t even know if it’s possible anyway.’

If the sealing method is difficult, I might not be able to do it.

I turned the pages at once to the chapter about sealed dragons, which was the last item in the table of contents.

‘Is this it?’

I held the open book steady with one hand and slowly read each sentence with the other.

The content was written in an interview format between the witness and the author.

‘Is it true that you saw a sealed dragon?’

‘Yes, that’s right. Actually, when I first saw it, it was really hard to believe. If it weren’t for the high-grade protective magic hood I bought with my entire fortune, I would have been mercilessly crushed by the surging magical power.’

‘How did you know the dragon was sealed?’

‘Powerful magical energy was swirling around. Being there felt like being in the middle of a deep sea. The dense magical energy around seemed to be putting the dragon to sleep.’

‘So you’re saying the method of sealing the dragon was magical energy?’

‘That’s probably not it. The magical energy only makes the dragon sleep more deeply, the sealing method is…’

Soon, as I turned to the next page, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

‘Why is the content cut off?!’

The last page of the chapter was torn off as if someone had forcibly ripped it out. I shook the book in vain.

‘Who on earth tore this book like this!’

Exactly all the pages starting from the chapter titled “Testimony of One Who Saw a Sealed Dragon” were torn out.

I sighed deeply and started to examine the book carefully from the beginning.

‘Wait, maybe this isn’t the end of the book.’

I carefully read the front part of the book again.

“Of course, there are more volumes!”

It was very welcome news.

According to the author’s note written in this book, this book was planned as a total of three volumes, and readers interested in dragons were encouraged to read all the way to the end.

“Young miss, what are you doing?”

Just then, Delma peeked her head in from the side, which really startled me. I quickly pointed to the book I was holding and said,

“Th-this is boring!”

“Oh, I must have brought the wrong book. Let me take that.”

Delma took the book back. I picked up another fairy tale book and trotted over to Delma.

“By the way, Delma, where did you get all these books from?”

“I brought them from the library.”

“The Duke’s library?”

“Hehe, no. The Master has his own private library, and there’s a separate large central library where books are managed for the entire duke’s mansion.”

It was fortunate for me. If it had been the Duke’s library, I wouldn’t have been able to go in and look for books on my own.

“Then where is the central library?”

“It’s on the first floor of the east annex. Would you like to go to the library yourself next time and choose books?”

East annex, first floor. I decided to remember that well. Seeing my interest in the library, Delma enthusiastically explained about it.

“When you go there, there are so many books. There’s a section with fairy tales that you like, and there’s also a space where you can read books. The twin young masters don’t like that place very much, but young master Clemens often goes there.”

The twins didn’t seem like the type to be close to books.

It’s not surprising that Clemens seems like the type to be close to books.

“Yes, next time I want to go with Delma and Sophia.”

While saying that, I thought to myself.

‘I should go during nap time later.’

Planning secretly in my mind to go alone.