He chuckled as if he understood my meaning. After gathering all the books, he placed them on the table.

“As if you’ve never done that before.”

“That’s right. Somehow, the situation of His Highness the Crown Prince kneeling at my feet to pick up books felt strangely familiar.”

“It’s not unfamiliar to me either.”

We made eye contact and burst into laughter at the same time. We laughed for quite a while.

“That’s why I got scolded so much by Head Steward Simons at first. He said I was making the Crown Prince run errands.”

“Simons scolded Jane?”

He asked with a serious expression, looking like he was about to summon Simons and give him a piece of his mind.

“No, that’s not the part you should be reacting to. You should be thinking about why you find it natural to be ordered around by me. I’ve been casually asking His Highness the Crown Prince to do this and that.”

“Jane has never ordered me to do anything. I offered to help on my own.”

I nodded at his words.

“That’s true too. Anyway, because of that, I got scolded a lot by Head Steward Simons.”

Come to think of it, I hadn’t particularly asked for anything. Ian just naturally did this and that for me. When we were young, the fact that he was the Crown Prince didn’t really register, so Ian’s actions didn’t seem like a big deal.

By the time I grew up enough to understand, it had already become a habit and wasn’t easy to change. As a result, Head Steward Simons, who had to watch this behavior, was the only one who got frustrated.

“Did you get scolded a lot?”

He pulled up a chair, sat close beside me, rested his chin on his hand, and asked. I opened a book and answered while looking for information.

“There was a lot of nagging, but you know the Head Steward’s personality. He was probably more frustrated. Moreover, I was going through puberty at the time, so I was quite on edge, and the tension between the Head Steward and me was no joke. Though I was the one unilaterally grating on the Head Steward’s nerves.”

“I thought you two got along well. I was even jealous because you two seemed close with each other.”

“We are close. Don’t you remember? Head Steward Simons developed a stomach illness because of me. I felt so sorry at that time. He was rolling on the floor clutching his stomach… The Head Steward’s joint problems probably started from bumping into something while rolling on the floor then.”

Ian laughed out loud at my words.

“But we became close later. Did you know? Head Steward Simons is surprisingly talkative. He would come to get medicine and chat with me for ages before leaving. Thanks to that, I could hear about rumors circulating among the royal family and nobles faster than anyone else.”

While talking about Ian and Simons, I was also diligently searching for information. However, due to the vast amount of material, it wasn’t easy.

The large desk was cluttered with documents we had been looking through.

Even after examining such an enormous amount of material, I couldn’t find the record I wanted. I thought it would be easy to find someone with the same symptoms since her condition was so rare, but that wasn’t the case.

Still, if it wasn’t in the materials I had looked at, it might be in what Ian had seen. Not wanting to give up on that small hope, I asked him.

“Did you find anything?”

“I investigated the causes of death for all the people in that tomb, but I don’t see any cases like the gravekeeper’s daughter. Some died from excessive bleeding after being stabbed during duels between nobles, but most deaths were due to old age.”

My small hope was in vain. The materials Ian found weren’t much different from mine.

“It’s the same with what I found. Almost all causes of death were old age.”

The nobles, living in safe places and eating well, mostly lived healthily until old age.

Perhaps because their living environment was clean, even during times of epidemics, the damage to nobles wasn’t severe. Of course, there were records of strange diseases spreading only among nobles during certain periods.

Due to the nature of the gravekeeper’s flower, although it absorbs diseases from corpses, it’s impossible for it to transfer old age or external injuries. Therefore, the probability that the disease the corpse’s owner had in life was transferred to her due to the flower’s characteristics became low.

If we had to look for another cause, the gravekeeper’s flower kept coming to mind. It was because it was such a rare flower, and its characteristics were so intense.

My mind was racing, but time was passing too quickly. I had intended to return home early today, but I couldn’t easily leave my seat because I was worried about the gravekeeper’s daughter, whose condition was critical day by day. Ian said to me,

“It’s getting very late, shouldn’t you be heading back?”

“Aren’t you going to tell me to sleep here today?”

His eyes widened at my question. He didn’t seem to have expected me to say such a thing at all.

“Why are you so surprised? You always spout nonsense about living here or staying overnight every time we part.”

“So you’re going to?”

His face flushed with expectation. Seeing his expression, I felt like teasing him and said with a voice tinged with laughter,

“Of course not. I just said it because it was different from usual.”

At my words, his face fell.

How could he always have the same reaction even though he knew he’d be rejected every time? I chuckled because his expression was so cute.

“Then I’ll take you home.”

“Not now. I think I might find something if I look a little longer.”

There was no way I could easily fall asleep without finding an answer while the patient was in critical condition. It was better to take more time to find a definite answer.

“Did you find a clue?”

“As the gravekeeper’s flower ages, the vessel that holds its components also grows. So it might not have been influenced by just one corpse. Also, since the severity of an illness can vary depending on the patient’s physical strength and constitution, we might find a clue if we look more closely.”

I asked Ian to send someone to inform the mansion that I would be late. Ileana would be waiting and worrying, so I needed to let her know in advance.

The table where I was working was a mess of pens, papers, and documents. Ian helped me by searching for materials, bringing snacks and drinks to my side, and massaging my stiff shoulders and neck.

Thanks to that, I seemed to feel less tired than usual. Of course, it might be that I wasn’t feeling the pain because I was concentrating on finding a solution.

“Gravekeeper’s flower…”

I muttered the characteristics of the gravekeeper’s flower once again. I felt like I was missing something.

If I could just find a tiny, small clue, it seemed like I could solve something… As I was struggling with frustration, the librarian of the Imperial Library announced that a visitor had arrived.

Before Ian could tell them to come in, a large man appeared behind the librarian.

I opened my eyes wide in surprise.

The bear-like figure who entered following the librarian was someone I knew.

“Claire. I was worried.”

It was Claire’s brother, Count McCain.

“How did you…”

“When I finished my night shift and went home, Ileana was worried because you hadn’t returned from the palace yet. If I had known you were here…”

“I’m sorry. There was an important matter, and I thought I’d just take care of it quickly before leaving, but I didn’t realize so much time had passed.”

At my words, he made a very disappointed face and said,

“It feels awkward when you use formal speech.”

“I’m sorr… I mean, yeah. Sorry.”

“You used to speak casually and call me ‘elder brother’ before…”

When the bear-like man looked at me with pitiful eyes, I felt sorry and didn’t know what to do. In the end, I said what he wanted to hear.

“Alright, elder brother.”

Really, having never had an elder brother in my life, it felt even more awkward. But I didn’t dislike it, so I smiled at him. It was a natural smile without any trace of awkwardness.

Count McCain’s, no, Shuri’s hand rose above my head.

He had a habit of ruffling his younger sister’s hair when he found her cute, and although I flinched slightly at first when the large man raised his big hand, I was now somewhat used to it and didn’t show any disturbance.

At first, I had such a surprised look on my face that the man, who was quite timid and sensitive despite his size, got hurt.

Thud!

When I didn’t feel his touch that should have landed on my head, I looked up and saw Ian holding Shuri’s wrist. Ian and Shuri were staring at each other, and both their expressions were quite hostile.

For a long while, the two of them remained frozen, exchanging sharp glances without saying a word. I also kept my mouth shut, feeling awkward.

“I didn’t know Your Highness the Crown Prince would be here.”

“It doesn’t matter where I am in the palace. More importantly, shouldn’t you greet me first when you see me?”

“I’ll greet you, so please let go of my arm. I can’t shake off the Crown Prince’s hand, after all.”

“I was startled because I thought you were going to hit Lady Jane… I mean, Lady Claire’s head.”

At Ian’s words, Shuri’s expression became even more fierce.

He had intended to put his hand on my head, but it wasn’t threatening at all, just a gesture to show affection for a beloved sister. But Ian had misunderstood like that, so it was understandable that Shuri would be upset.