“Did I do something wrong?”

“No. Rather, why did you come?”

“Why, you ask? I’ve been waiting all day, my neck stretched out, wondering when Miss Ael would arrive!”

Ino said that and then pulled out a sheet of paper from the envelope he was holding.

“This is the quiz for the week after next! I brought it to try and entrust it to you.”

“Ah.”

At the mention of the quiz, Kalon’s hand, which was about to secretly poke Ino in the side, stopped.

Though they had momentarily set it aside upon finally finding someone skilled in ancient languages, Ash Company’s expectations of Ael were not limited to just one thing.

‘To think she’d have a talent for code-breaking as well.’

In fact, many codes are based on mathematics. So they thought that if Ael, who was good with numbers, knew the method, she could do better than an average person.

But Ael showed even more than that.

While Nisha and Ino were simply amazed, Kalon shrugged his shoulders, thinking it was only natural.

As if Ael’s abilities were his own.

“Miss Ael, would you try solving this once?”

Ael looked at the quiz Ino handed over. The quiz was composed of quite unique problems this time as well. But it wasn’t something she couldn’t solve.

As soon as Ael received the quiz, she concentrated. So much so that she even forgot the itchiness that had touched her forehead just moments ago.

Watching Ael instantly immerse herself in her own world, Kalon checked the time. Ino also quietly waited beside him for Ael to finish.

And so, after 12 minutes and 21 seconds had passed.

“I’m done.”

Ael held out the completed quiz.

“12 minutes and 21 seconds. What did the head office say was the expected time?”

“They said to contact them immediately if there was anyone who could do it in less than an hour.”

“And yet it’s 12 minutes.”

“Indeed.”

Ino’s mouth rose so high it seemed like it might reach his ears. Kalon could tell what Ino was thinking just by looking at his eyes.

“Miss Ael is the best. Now I’ll hand over both ancient languages and code-breaking to Miss Ael and clock out! …Is that what you’re thinking?”

“No, how did you…”

“It’s obvious. Don’t think silly thoughts, there’s plenty of other work, so go pick a room for overtime.”

At Kalon’s words, Ino’s face became like someone who had just seen the sky fall.

Ael tilted her head, listening to the conversation between the two.

“I forgot to ask last time… Why do you keep entrusting me with this quiz solving? Surely the person who made this would have sent the answers, so it doesn’t seem necessary for me to find the answers separately.”

“That’s…”

Kalon thought for a moment before answering.

“It’s to decode the ciphers of the southern kingdoms.”

“…!”

At his answer, Ino jumped up in surprise beside him.

Too dumbfounded to say anything other than “uh, uh,” Ino’s eyes were screaming, ‘Are you crazy? How can you just say that outright?’

“…Pardon?”

Ael’s face became not much different from Ino’s.

An hour later. Kalon was in a carriage heading towards the Academy library with Ael, whose expression had turned solemn.

On the way there, Ael’s expression still showed a small wrinkle between her brows, which was regrettable.

“You don’t need to be so tense.”

“…How could I not be?”

Ael answered with a long sigh. It was still hard to believe.

To think that the quiz she had been solving for fun was actually a basic problem for code decryption. And that war might break out in the southern part of the continent.

‘And if I solve it quickly, it can be prevented…?’

She was still in a small country in the northeast of the continent, yet from here she could prevent a war far away in the south.

Did she have such ambitions? But everything was too vivid to be a dream.

“Don’t feel too burdened.”

“But…”

She had thought decoding ancient documents was a burdensome task, but now it seemed like such an easy thing in comparison.

“We’re not asking you to do it right away. You only need to help when the head office requests cooperation. The issue is solving it as quickly as possible…”

“But even if the head office sends a letter to Denertem, it would take at least a few weeks at the fastest. Isn’t that pointless?”

“That’s…”

Kalon bit his lip. When an urgent cipher comes in, the head office uses the Golden Rule to contact each branch.

Of course, this is done with the help of the Emperor.

‘I can’t tell her that.’

That information is known only to those closest to the Emperor, and those in Ash Company who have passed all tests with the determination to bury their bones here for life.

If someone unrelated learns this fact, they will be under surveillance by the Emperor and Ash Company for life.

Depending on the situation, they might even lose their life.

Kalon didn’t want to draw Ael into such a world.

‘I can’t look after her for the rest of my life.’

He could keep an eye on her while in Denertem, but once the work here is done, he will return to the Empire or go to another kingdom.

It’s impossible to look after Ael beyond that. And above all, would Ael herself accept such a life?

‘If she wants to get a job at Ash Company and leave here… I can promise her work within the company at least.’

That seemed to be the best option.

‘Then I should show her only the good points of the company while she’s working.’

It wasn’t a difficult task. The working environment at Ash Company would be better than anywhere else in Denertem. Especially for women.

While the two were lost in their thoughts, the carriage arrived at the library.

As Ael entered the entrance, she looked at the bookshelves of the archive visible inside. At that moment, something sparkled where her gaze fell.

“…!”

In that instant, Ael remembered. The light that had sparkled when she reached out her hand and a gust of wind blew.

It was the light she had seen from a certain book on the shelf when she came to the library before.

As she recalled where she had seen the light, her heart suddenly started beating fast. Ael remembered the title of that book clearly.

The Inheritors of the Golden Rule

‘Could it be?’

Ael cautiously reached out her hand. Of course, nothing happened.

“Miss Ael?”

As Ael was reaching her hand towards the sky alone, Kalon called out to her.

At his voice, Ael quickly lowered her hand.

The people passing by must have seen Ael’s action too, as snickering laughter could be heard.

Embarrassed, Ael lowered her head. She felt infinitely ashamed of her actions.

‘I still haven’t let go of my lingering attachment.’

It seems there was still lingering attachment to the Golden Rule inside her. As soon as she recalled that book, she harbored vain hopes.

Getting a library ID didn’t take very long.

Recently, all foreign publications coming into the library were practically donated by Ash Company, as they only charged minimal transportation fees.

For the Academy library, which wanted to acquire more high-quality foreign prints, Ash Company was the most important sponsor.

As soon as the employee saw Kalon bring Ash Company’s letter of authorization, without further questioning, they went inside and immediately handed over an ID card with Ash Company’s name on it.

“Here, carry this with you. It would be good to write your name at the bottom. That way, even if it gets mixed up, you’ll know whose it is.”

At those words, Ael quietly wrote her name on it. Worried about including the name Aradis, she only wrote the name Aelphrida.

Perhaps she didn’t want to include it.

Soon after, Ael received her library ID card with her name on it.

With an expression of ecstasy, her sparkling eyes scanned her name written on the ID card over and over again.

Just a few days ago, she thought it was something she would never have in her lifetime, and now it was hard to believe it was in her hands.

At the same time, she realized how terrifyingly powerful Ash Company was.

Even though it’s not a company belonging to this country, it so easily ignores Denertem’s long-standing customs.

Even though it’s under Ash Company’s name, for her, a woman, to receive an Academy library ID card.

Apart from the queens and princesses of the past who received it symbolically, how many women would have received an ID card from this place?

Although it would be recorded as a sponsor’s ID card in the library’s documents, clearly the ID card in her hand now prominently displayed the name Aelphrida, which she had written herself.

Who else but Ash Company could give such an ID card to a woman?

Ael tried to recall the highest-ranking woman she had met.

Riena from the Viscount’s family, whom she had met recently, came to mind immediately.

Even she, the daughter of a Viscount, wouldn’t be able to receive this ID card. Even if she married a Grand Duke and became a Grand Duchess.

“Shall we go find the books we need now? And the employee just told me earlier…”

Kalon leaned down and whispered in Ael’s ear as if telling a secret.

“With a sponsor’s ID card, you can borrow up to thirty books at once.”

“…!”