As Ael was lost in thought, the carriage, which had just broken free from the gridlock, began to move. Thanks to this, Ael awoke from her reverie and could once again ponder the conversation she had heard moments ago.

‘That person said they don’t reveal where they are.’

People expected him to be staying in the Empire, where the headquarters of Ash Trading Company was located.

It was natural to assume that a person who needs to manage ships and goods traveling across the continent and oversee business would be in the Empire.

However, he had never disclosed where he was or where he was going. So people who wanted to meet him couldn’t know where to go.

‘They said the biggest secret of Ash Trading Company was his identity and whereabouts.’

To think such a person was coming to Denertum.

‘This will be an incredible opportunity for Denertum.’

Economic indicators from the continent that Ael had seen in a magazine she borrowed a month ago flashed through her mind.

Ash Trading Company was said to have brought tremendous economic effects, to the extent that it raised the standards of every country it entered.

‘He’s not just coming here for leisure… Is he coming to scout for more investments?’

Though she didn’t know what aspect of this country had piqued his interest, she hoped he would find a reason to stay here for a long time.

‘Since it’s known as the quietest country on the continent… Maybe he’s coming here to rest. If he has a family, would he come to live with them?’

As Ael was excitedly lost in various thoughts, the coachman’s voice was heard.

“We have arrived.”

Startled, Ael looked outside to find the entrance of the Academy library right in front of her.

Hurriedly disembarking and finishing payment, Ael rushed into the library.

She had already lost considerable time due to the congestion in the central square. If she didn’t hurry, her parents would discover this outing.

Ael headed to the reference room, almost running. Perhaps disturbed by her loud footsteps, a library staff member looked at her with disapproving eyes.

Ael covered her face with her hat and presented what she had secretly taken from her father’s study.

It was an identity card with her father’s name engraved on it.

To be precise, it was an identity card that allowed access to the Academy library.

Even though the entire continent was swept up in winds of change, Denertum remained a conservative country.

While in some republics, commoners directly elected representatives and women were given equal voting rights, such things were far from reality in Denertum.

Here, women couldn’t even read books freely.

According to Denertum’s mythology, women were beings created from the leftovers after God made men.

Therefore, they were always considered lacking.

This belief was so firm that the people of Denertum regarded women as physically inferior to men and also intellectually deficient, believing them to be foolish beings incapable of properly receiving teachings even when given.

For this reason, even noble women were still not permitted to enroll in Denertum’s Academy.

Thus, they couldn’t use the Academy library either.

The only time women could enter the library was when they were sent on errands.

The staff member checked the identity card and, looking at Ael’s attire, asked:

“Are you a home tutor? Have you come on an errand for your employer?”

“Yes. I was told to borrow books for the young lady’s education.”

The lie flowed smoothly in response to the familiar question. In fact, it wasn’t even a lie. After all, she would end up reading all the books she borrowed today. So, weren’t they truly for her own education?

The staff member checked the identity card once more before granting entry.

Her steps led her familiarly to the reference room. Soon, the shelves with newly arrived books appeared.

“Ah…”

Eyes filled with emotion scanned the books on the shelves. It had already been three months since she last came here.

Ael’s father had received a membership card for the Academy library for show, but he had never used it.

So he had thrown it somewhere in his study and forgotten about its existence. Ael had discovered it while cleaning the study.

Normally, she would have just placed it on the desk, but she had happened to see an article in the newspaper her father had read and tossed aside the day before, mentioning that a large number of books from the Empire had arrived at the Academy library.

After fiddling with her father’s identity card for a long time, Ael finally headed to the Academy library the next day, secretly taking it with her.

Her heart felt like it would jump out of her chest, fearing that her father might chase after her at any moment and grab her, demanding to know what insolent act she was committing, but curiosity about seeing the Empire’s books drove Ael forward.

When she first came, she didn’t know where to go or how to borrow books, and there were several times when she almost got into danger, but fortunately, she was able to borrow books.

How her heart had pounded that night as she read the Empire’s book written in the continental common language alone in her room.

Of course, there were books at home too. Her father’s study was full of them. But they were all old ones.

Books that raised dust and emitted a musty smell when opened, made more for display to beautify the studies of nobles rather than for reading.

These were also the books that Ael had read all by herself, shut away when she was young.

Apart from those books, Ael couldn’t read any others. Because her father no longer bought new books. Also, her father didn’t like Ael reading books.

He didn’t want his daughter to become smart. While it might be different for Elize, the second daughter, for Ael, the firstborn, learning more would be of no use to him.

It had been years since she was unable to enter society, so how could there be any marriage proposals?

But if she said that, she would be lucky if she didn’t get hit.

In any case, he was a man who showed not even a bit of generosity to Ael.

That’s why when Ael wanted to read new books, she had to secretly borrow them from the library like this, avoiding her father’s eyes.

But as the saying goes, if the tail is long, it gets stepped on. Half a year ago, she was finally caught. That day, Ael was slapped. Her father ordered Ael not to take a single step outside the mansion for a month.

Of course, he didn’t allow even a single sheet of paper, let alone books.

How painful that time had been.

Unable to bear the boredom, she repeatedly wrote and erased formulas with her finger on the steamed-up window.

Even that became difficult later, so she had to do everything in her head.

Although she was allowed out of her room a bit earlier due to a shortage of hands, she didn’t even think about going out with the identity card again.

‘I know it’s wrong. But…’

Ael looked at the new books with an overwhelmed face. Just looking at them made her body tremble with joy.

In Denertum, especially for her who always had to stay cooped up in the mansion, this was the only time she could peek at the world.

Ael ran her trembling hand over the spines of the newly arrived books. That’s when it happened.

“Huh?”

Something caught Ael’s eye.

There was something shining among the new books.

At first, she thought it was sunlight coming in. But the Academy’s bookshelves were designed so that light wouldn’t directly enter.

‘What is it?’

As she turned her gaze to where she had seen the light, there was a book sitting alone, separated from the others.

As soon as she saw its form, Ael realized it was a book from the Empire.

Unlike Denertum’s books, which were covered with expensive leather, the Empire’s books used cloth for their covers.

While the nobles sneered at even the books as vulgar, Ael preferred the Empire’s books.

Because it seemed like anyone, not just permitted male nobles, could read them comfortably with a joyful heart.

As Ael reached out to properly stand up that book, its title became visible.

The Inheritors of the Golden Rule

The moment she saw that title, Ael paused her hand, then soon gave a bitter smile.

She remembered what someone had said about her at a banquet once.

That person had called Ael ‘a failed inheritor’.

‘Even calling me a failed inheritor is too much.’

Because she wasn’t even born as an inheritor of the Golden Rule to begin with.

The Golden Rule. It was a term referring to the power that people living on the continent in ancient times possessed.

People believed that there were laws that constituted everything in the world.

The people of long ago, who perfectly understood these primordial laws, called them the golden rules and used them to wield astonishing powers.

Powers like moving house-sized boulders with a single touch or making water spring forth from barren land.

And those who possessed this power were called the inheritors of the Golden Rule.