chapter 18
A cold, indifferent gaze fixed itself on Teresia. She couldn’t even open her mouth and froze in place.
Ah, time hadn’t simply passed. After losing everything overnight, Aaron hadn’t wasted a single day.
He couldn’t have. Revenge tends to feed on anger and hatred, growing stronger with every bit of fuel it consumes.
Teresia had known he was preparing for rebellion, but she had thought that by guiding her outside the castle to confront the Northerners, he only sought to torment her.
But that wasn’t all. The castle itself was a fortress, meaning that everyone inside it…
Teresia recalled the people she had met and stopped at Sophia and Anna. She didn’t have the strength to think any further.
“If you wish to do something for your true lord…”
Cecile, who had been silently observing her, spoke up.
“Perhaps you could investigate the illness. That seems like something only you, and not anyone else, could handle.”
Cecile added this advice with a gentle tone, then glanced at the sky before suggesting it was time to return. Teresia followed him back toward the training ground entrance, watching for a moment as Cecile now commanded the knights.
Anna quietly came to her side.
“Did you have a good conversation?”
“…Let’s just go back.”
Teresia subtly avoided answering the question and turned first. She felt Anna hesitate for a moment but didn’t care.
A few steps ahead, she suddenly stopped. Without looking back at Anna, she said:
“Ah, about that library on the second floor…”
“Yes.”
“Can I use it too? I’m rather bored with nothing to do.”
“Yes, it’s immediately available. There is no place inside Paleon Castle that Teresia cannot access.”
“Alright… understood.”
Teresia silently nodded and resumed walking, followed by Anna.
Having never been to the library before, she couldn’t gauge its size, but Sophia had told her it was essentially the largest library in the North.
She intended to use it to study the founding of the empire in detail. Since the Blood Pact began at that time, perhaps even the key to Aaron’s vampirism could be found there.
The sound of pages turning echoed quietly throughout the library. The scent of the paper resembled the last days of winter.
Teresia, alone in Aiden’s library with no Sophia or Anna, stacked several books around her and immersed herself in reading.
While everyone in the castle—or rather the entire North—was busy preparing for the festival, she sought to uncover the dealings between Astrid and Greer. She had spent entire days in the library for several days, only leaving to eat or sleep.
Though called a library, the space was large, comparable to a true library, and filled with numerous books.
“The empire built on blood… the beginning of Greer.”
Teresia first pulled out every book related to imperial history and began reading. As she closed one book and opened another, scanning the table of contents, a chapter in particular caught her eye unconsciously.
It covered massacres and conspiracies committed during the founding of the Greer Empire. Unlike the lessons she had learned as a child, it seemed to describe events more objectively, which piqued her interest.
Under the philosophy of the previous emperor—that education should never be biased—Teresia and her siblings were taught by two teachers for each subject: one loyal to the imperial family, one opposed.
When the two teachers disagreed, everyone would gather for heated debates.
Teresia didn’t like to participate in discussions, but she enjoyed solitary reflection. Before befriending Azer, her only friends were the countless books stacked in the imperial library.
However, the book she had just opened proved disappointing despite its intriguing title.
Aside from a few lines of meaningless mythology familiar to any imperial citizen, it praised the last half-century of history, providing no real insight.
So, how the empire was “built on blood” remained a mystery.
“Sigh…”
Teresia pressed her hand to her forehead and sighed deeply. Even after reviewing ten books since coming here, she had found nothing noteworthy.
“It’s clear that vampirism is connected to the imperial family…”
Which was why she had sought information from the very beginning of the imperial lineage.
Of course, she hadn’t expected to find detailed records easily, and she couldn’t use the previously accessible secret imperial library either, leaving her feeling helpless.
Teresia calmly reviewed what she already knew while recalling the moment Aiden had taken her blood.
According to the Blood Pact between the imperial family and the dukes, the dukes must produce one sacrifice every three generations.
This time, the sacrifice is Aaron Astrid.
The ring is proof of this.
It is also a leash to control the sacrifice easily.
Teresia, tapping her desk with her fingers, tilted her head in thought.
Officially, Aaron had reported Astrid’s rebellion. He had betrayed his family for the Greer Empire but, consumed by guilt, had burned down the manor, ending the Astrid lineage’s half-century history since the empire’s founding… or so it was said. In reality, it had all been Azer’s plan.
Azer had used Teresia’s ring to give Aaron an order he couldn’t refuse, easily obtaining what he wanted.
From this, she could infer a key assumption: the leash can only be placed on a sacrifice that has absorbed royal blood, but even if the donor and commander are different, as long as they are of royal blood, the pact is valid.
The royal who gave blood to Aaron was likely Teresia herself, and the one enforcing the pact was Azer, making this a nearly certain hypothesis.
Teresia tapped her desk with her index finger, lost in thought.
She was glad she had stolen the ring when she left. With Aaron now beside the emperor as Aiden, her identity might have been inadvertently exposed.
Of course, she still had no idea how to break the curse, but she had no choice. She would have to use whatever power she had.
For a moment, she considered sending letters to her siblings, who might harbor resentment toward Azer, to gain access to the imperial library, but she quickly dismissed the idea. They would despise not only Azer but also Teresia herself.
With a small sigh, she picked up another book from the stacked pile. It had a red cloth cover. As she prepared to check the title, her eyes widened.
“No title?”
No text appeared on either side of the cover. Opening it, she found only blank pages.
“…Hah.”
She laughed aloud. Not only the cover but also the interior contained no writing—it was just a thick notebook. She flipped through to the back, only to find the same emptiness.
Thud.
Teresia closed the book. She had far too many pressing matters to waste time on an unreadable book. As she rose to return it to its place, a thought froze her.
What if this was a forbidden book?
What if someone had sealed it intentionally to prevent reading?
Her eyes darted back and forth as her heart began to race. Where had Aiden obtained this forbidden book, and why was it in the library?
She felt she needed to find out. Moving the book, she hid it in a corner of the library rather than returning it to its original spot.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Twice. Teresia froze and turned toward it.
Who could it be? Had Aiden arrived already?
In the silence, her sharp golden eyes gleamed. Then a familiar voice called from outside.
“Teresia, are you here?”
A bright, gentle, and familiar voice.
“…Sophia?”
As soon as she answered softly, the door opened. As expected, Sophia stepped lightly into the library.
Meeting Sophia after such a long time, Teresia felt momentarily stunned.
“You’re here! I heard you’ve been living in the library recently, so I thought I’d come by.”
“…Oh? Everything alright?”
“Yes! I just wanted to ask you to come for a walk!”
“No, I’m fine. Enjoy yourself.”
“You can’t just keep reading all the time. You need to clear your head and refresh yourself! Besides, there’s something I really want to show you…”
Teresia watched Sophia mumble, her small lips pursed, and frowned. Seeing the lively expression disappear from Sophia’s gentle face made her feel like she had been mean.
Finally, she sighed deeply and nodded.
“Alright, let’s go. I want to see what’s got you so insistent.”
