“Lady Kristrad.”

Laila’s eyes flickered with a startled light.

The person standing behind her was Baso, who closely assisted King Ord. To Laila, who had not heard the sound of the door opening and closing at all, he seemed to have sprung up from the floor.

A moment later, she collected herself and turned to face Baso squarely. As she held the position of the official consort of Prince Eustar in the royal palace, displaying an appropriately dignified attitude was one of her duties.

“I apologize for the late greeting. I didn’t hear you come in.”

Baso showed a faint smile at Laila’s words. It was a very thin smile, barely visible like the translucent tail of a fish.

“Not at all, Your Highness.”

He looked at the book in Laila’s hand and the cloak she had carefully wrapped around herself to protect from the cold, then said,

“Do you come to the library often, Lady Kristrad?”

Laila slightly lowered her chin as she looked up at Baso.

“I do, somewhat frequently.”

“What kind of book are you looking for? I’d be happy to assist you.”

Laila slightly lowered her hand holding the book and shook her head.

“No, it’s fine. I’m sufficient on my own, so you should attend to your own duties.”

Baso’s gaze turned to the book Laila was holding. His eyes curved gently, and a gentler expression appeared on his face.

“There’s no need to be wary of me.”

However, Laila’s attitude remained unchanged. Rather, openly saying such things only fueled her distrust even more.

While Baso had not done anything particularly suspicious, Laila did not trust King Ord. Eustar said that he cared for her deeply, but she was suspicious enough to wonder if even he had been brainwashed.

Baso broke the silence and spoke.

“I knew it already, but Lady Kristrad, you are quite sensitive. I understand why His Majesty chose you as the consort for the Prince.”

Laila’s eyebrows slightly furrowed in the middle.

“What do you mean?”

Baso looked at Laila with a seemingly thoughtful gaze, then stepped slightly aside towards the bookshelf so as not to make her uncomfortable.

“His Highness the Prince is someone who has survived dangerous crises that others don’t know about.”

His gaze stared intently at Laila. His eye sockets were so deep, like sunken pools, that even without any particular expression, he looked very melancholic.

As if wondering whether she would understand what he was saying, Baso just looked at Laila for a while without saying anything.

A strange silence descended again. Laila knew that in Baso’s gaze upon her, there was a mixture of vagueness and certainty.

The certainty that Eustar had confided his past to her, but the vagueness of whether she had understood it… It was a complex gaze.

“Are you referring to the incident from Eustar’s childhood… involving the late king and queen?”

“So you do know.”

Baso’s eyes slowly scanned the library.

When his gaze returned to Laila, she thought that he seemed to have drawn in a little of the darkness pooled in every corner of the library. The color of his pupils seemed a bit deeper and darker than what she had seen just moments ago.

“His Highness the Prince is different from ordinary people. I am among the most ordinary of those ordinary people, so I’m not sure how to express it well, but let’s say… he has ‘thin walls’.”

“Thin walls?”

Baso nodded.

“I mean boundaries. The boundary between the world of the living and the world that is not. That boundary, which is very clear to other people, seems faint to His Highness the Prince. It might just be my feeling. That’s why I think someone as sensitive as Lady Kristrad needs to be by His Highness the Prince’s side.”

Laila realized what Baso was trying to say. She looked up at him silently for a moment before speaking.

“You mean there needs to be someone to protect Eustar from things that break through that faint boundary and attack him.”

After a brief pause, Laila added with a hint of mockery,

“Like a hunting dog, you mean.”

For a moment, a look of embarrassment flashed across Baso’s face. He smiled again, a smile so thin it seemed it would blow away, and slightly bowed his head.

“That’s right.”

Laila asked,

“How do you know this, Baso?”

Baso said, “I was serving His Majesty, the current king, even back then.” His solemn face was tinged with something akin to pride. “Of course, he was the Crown Prince at the time.”

Laila waited quietly for his next words, her mouth closed. A sudden chill crept under the cloak covering her shoulders. She always felt that way when she thought of Ord’s gaunt, dark face.

Baso continued,

“When the late king and queen passed away due to an unfortunate incident, His Majesty was a fourteen-year-old boy. But despite his young age, he was very intelligent and insightful. That day, he sensed that something would happen to the newborn Prince. And he went into that horrific scene covered in blood and came out carrying the swaddled Prince in his arms.”

Fourteen years old. Laila knew how young that age was, and couldn’t fully comprehend how much courage a boy of that age would need to muster to accept such a terrible reality.

And on the other hand, it was almost unbelievably surprising.

Considering King Ord’s current appearance, it was hard to imagine that he had such a brave and intelligent childhood.

“It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?”

Baso said, as if he had seen right through Laila’s mind.

“To be honest, it is.”

Laila agreed with his words without evasion. Baso nodded in understanding, but still defended Ord.

“His Majesty cares about His Highness the Prince more than anyone else. Even now, while he’s ill. Although his prolonged illness sometimes dulls his intelligence, he is inherently a kind person.”

Laila’s head tilted slightly.

“Are you saying this because you want me to open my heart to His Majesty the King?”

She continued slowly and quietly, exhaling,

“Or is it because you want something even more, for example, for me to love His Majesty as family?”

Baso burst into a low laugh.

“You are indeed a very honest person. Rare to see in Sierow Palace.”

In fact, it wouldn’t be easy to meet someone like Laila in any royal palace of any country. Baso was not unaware of this.

He said,

“His Majesty the King is not someone who would harm His Highness the Prince. Just believe that much. And… if the reason Lady Kristrad comes to the library is perhaps for His Highness the Prince, I think I might be able to help.”

Laila looked at him as if to ask what he meant. Baso groaned softly and turned his body as he spoke.

“It would be faster to show you directly.”

He moved past the bookshelves, then turned to look at Laila. It was a gesture with his eyes meaning for her to come this way, and she hesitated for a moment but followed, tightly gripping the book in her hand.

“Actually, the palace library is not just this space.”

Even if it’s not a palace, any decent noble would have one or two secret spaces in their mansion, but Laila wasn’t very interested in interior structures. At least until now…

The moment Baso lightly touched the frame of an inconspicuous painting hanging on the bookshelf wall, Laila suddenly realized that she had only been seeing the surface of Sierow Palace all this time.

“Watch carefully, Lady Kristrad. Push the bottom right corner of this three times to the left. Then push the top left corner of this painting next to it down once, and then here…”

Baso bent down and felt along the bottom of the wall. It was dark and the wallpaper pattern made it almost impossible to see anything, but suddenly there was a clicking sound.

“There’s a lever. Pull it down once, and then once more.”

There was another clicking sound, this time a bit stiffer. Laila’s eyes widened. The wall where the painting had been hung turned inward as if folding, revealing a new circular space.

It was even brighter than the spacious library, due to a lamp emitting a soft light attached to the hemispherical ceiling.

“I had no idea such a place existed.”

As Laila exclaimed in surprise, Baso said,

“There are many such secret spaces inside the palace. They’re for contingencies. It would be good for Lady Kristrad to know about one or two as well.”

“If I ask Eustar, will he tell me?”

“Of course. But please keep this library space a secret from His Highness the Prince.”

Laila, who had been staring intently at the space illuminated by a soft amber light, whipped her head around.

“Why should it be hidden?”

Baso stepped back slightly with his hands behind his back, maintaining a respectful posture. He was making way for Laila to enter.

He said,

“This place is unknown to His Highness Eustar. His Majesty intentionally didn’t inform him. All the books in here were collections of the late king and queen, and this is the only area that wasn’t disposed of after their passing.”

“I heard from Eustar. That the current king got rid of everything related to those two… to them.”

Baso nodded.

“That’s right. It was a precaution, not knowing what wicked people might have done. But the books in here, it’s hard for me to explain… His Majesty ordered them to be kept. He must have his reasons.”

He must. Laila thought. She didn’t believe Ord was kind, but she acknowledged that he was clever to the point of being cunning.

Even amidst the pain of his illness causing his mind to waver, he never made choices disadvantageous to himself. Even his sudden outbursts of anger sometimes seemed ingeniously calculated.

Laila shook her head briefly. It wasn’t the time to be thinking about Ord.

She quickly scanned the books filling the circular wall with her eyes. Even at a glance, there seemed to be many more nutritious ones than those she could find sporadically outside.

Baso said,

“This door will close automatically after a while. When you want to come out again, pull out the red book on the fifth row from the top of the first bookshelf on the right side of the door.”

Laila looked at the bookshelf next to the door. Counting down from the top, she indeed saw a red book spine. There was only one red hardcover in that section, so it wasn’t difficult to find.

“You mean this one?”

“That’s right. When you pull that book, the door will open again. The air doesn’t circulate well in here, so you shouldn’t stay too long. If you feel dizzy, come out immediately.”

“What about taking books from inside to the outside?”

Baso shook his head.

“That is absolutely not allowed.”