The urgent voices of the attendants echoed through the corridor.

“What, what did we just see?”

Starting with Sharon’s concern,

“Do we need to chase them too?”

Sullye’s excited voice and unnecessarily serious Teresa.

At first, they were all surprised and murmuring, but their voices gradually changed to ones of interest.

“What if our Empress is caught? Won’t she be displeased? She won’t stay quiet, right?”

“Oh my, who knows? I have no idea!”

“It seems like both of you have caught fire in your feet. You’re too passionate.”

“Shouldn’t we grab a pillow and run with them?”

Even the head attendant Stian started discussing the situation with the ladies.

“Why a pillow?”

“Regardless of the outcome, it seems like they won’t come straight back to the bedroom.”

“Really? Should I bring it? Then maybe we should take blankets too?”

Sharon’s voice, usually well-prepared, was the last one heard.

The attendants playfully nudged each other and made a fuss.

However, among them, no one would be able to catch up with our two.

And so, the chase between Lionel and me began in the middle of the night.

It would have been better if I were wearing pants instead of a dress, but even in the light dress, running wasn’t much of a hindrance.

If it were a formal dress, I would have been caught and still remained.

By the time my breath was catching up, the end of the corridor came into view.

However, that end was just a corner turning into another path.

“Whoa…”

Unable to overcome my running speed, I grabbed a pillar at the point where I turned the corner and changed directions into another corridor.

Once again, a long and endless corridor unfolded.

Now it’s time to show barefoot determination.

Although I was wearing low-heeled shoes, I took them off to increase my speed.

The feeling of my bare feet sticking to the cold marble floor wasn’t bad.

On one side of the wall, famous paintings were lined up, while the opposite side had long arched windows.

While running through the corridor, I turned my head to look out the window.

The crescent moon and stars were following Lionel and me.

“Heuk, heuk, huk, huk…”

How far did I run?

Slowly, the corridor on the bedroom floor was coming to an end.

At the end of the corridor, stairs mostly used by attendants were visible.

Without hesitation, I sat on the stair railing, slid down, and descended to the lower floor as if sliding straight down.

My plan was to enter any room to evade him and then return to the bedroom floor.

I walked past several rooms, then stopped at the door of a room that looked different from the others.

Carefully pulling the door open, I entered.

“This is also a library?”

The palace library was on the second floor, where Lionel’s office was.

The third-floor library here was only half the size of the second-floor library.

Seeing that it was smaller than the second-floor library, it seemed that this might be Lionel’s personal library.
The scale was different, but like the second-floor library, this place was filled with books up to the ceiling.

After casually looking around the library, I leaned against the bookshelf next to the fireplace and took a moment to catch my breath.

Although out of breath and sweating, my body felt refreshed.

I bent at the waist, rested against the bookshelf, and then straightened my upper body.

Suddenly, with a sound like a swish behind me, the bookshelf shifted to the side.

“What, what’s this place…?”

Surprised, I quickly moved away from the bookshelf and turned towards the wall.

As the bookshelf moved sideways along with the wall, a dark space appeared.

I was inexplicably drawn to step inside by a strange force.

Upon entering, my foot sank deeply beneath.

“Oh, this below seems to be a staircase?”

Why would there be such a place under Lionel’s personal library?

Carefully descending one more step, a chilly breeze hit my face from somewhere.

It felt like entering a cave in the dead of winter.

“Why is there such a cold wind under the stairs?”

It might be somewhat dangerous, but curiosity kept pulling at my ankles to explore.

However, at that moment, I heard the sound of the library door opening.

It must be Lionel.

Quickly, I ascended the stairs again and exited that space.

As the bookshelf automatically slid back into place with a swish, returning to its original state, I rapidly memorized which compartment I had touched with my hand, and even the titles of the books on that shelf.

There might not be a reason to find this place again, but still, it seemed essential to remember the location where the bookshelf had moved.

Feeling a sense of unease about standing in front of this bookshelf, I hastily moved to another bookshelf to hide.

“Rabbit, it seems you’re trapped inside us!”

Lionel’s voice predicting victory echoed not far away.

I lowered my body as if passing through a maze, moving between the bookshelves, heading towards the library door.

“Gasp! When did he put that there…”

Arriving near the library door and straightening my waist, I found a mahogany desk blocking the way.