~Chapter 130~
Licht pretended not to hear and looked down at Khalid. He looked even more annoying now that he had grown up.
“Hello?”
“Does this look like a time to say hello?”
“Hmm, kind of. Anyway… Rubian is at the Academy, right?”
“I don’t have any reason to answer—”
“You do.”
The prince’s curved eyes were really irritating.
Khalid gave a short, mocking laugh and tried to turn his head—just to lock eyes with Liam, who was squatting beside him.
‘Darn it.’
He turned the other way, and this time made eye contact with Void…
“Ah, so annoying!”
And right in front was Licht!
These guys were the real problem!
Khalid grabbed his head in frustration (with his invisible hand).
“Hurry and answer. Why hasn’t the leader of Team Zebbert shown up?”
Liam spoke in a strict voice.
Khalid had no choice but to explain what happened to the three of them.
“Oh, so that’s it,” Licht finally stepped back, muttering.
“Hmm, guess I can go back to the palace now.”
It looked like he had only stopped by to check on Rubian.
“She’s hiding her identity to get used to things? Oh, Ruby really… She’s too timid.”
Void shook his head as he listened.
“As her big brother, I guess I have to stick close to her all day, watch over her, help her, and take care of her…”
“Don’t rush, Void.”
Liam lightly scolded him.
“We should also respect our fairy’s opinion. She needs to feel comfortable here… so she’ll want to enroll next year, right?”
“Oh… that’s true.”
Liam pushed up his glasses and added sharply,
“For now, it’s better if we just watch over her quietly. Anyway, on the last day, our parents will come for the presentation, and she’ll be found out then.”
“Wait, isn’t Father not in the capital? Didn’t you get a letter from the townhouse?”
“Ah, right.”
Liam turned to Void.
“Come to think of it, I think there was a short parent-child dance at the presentation…”
Will Father make it back in time?
Void added with a frown,
“If the Duke isn’t there… then who will Ruby dance with?”
As soon as Khalid asked that, there was a short silence.
“Of course—”
‘Me.’
‘Of course it’s me.’
‘Looks like I’ll have to do it.’
‘Well, I guess I can do it too.’
All the boys had the same thought at once.
Liam cleared his throat loudly.
“Anyway, let’s not bother our fairy and just help her quietly if she needs it. Got it?”
“You do it, big brother.”
“I always do it well.”
So they all silently agreed to keep Rubian’s secret.
Step, step.
Little footsteps echoed in the dark library.
After dinner, I pretended to sleep, then snuck out of the dorm.
‘I need to check the magic lock again, and look inside the old book storage.’
The library looked totally different at night. It was so dark and unfamiliar.
Walking down the long hallway, I looked around nervously. I couldn’t stand it and stuck close behind the person in front of me.
“The library at night is really scary.”
I whispered softly.
Khalid glanced back at me. He looked a bit grumpy, probably because he’d been kicked out of the nurse’s office earlier.
“Be careful. It’s dark.”
Even when annoyed, he checked on me carefully.
When I looked up, I met the eyes of the squirrel sitting on his head, sniffing the air.
‘So cute…’
My shoulders relaxed a bit.
‘But is it getting fat?’
Its cheeks were rounder than before.
‘Maybe I gave it too many acorns…’
But autumn is the season for getting chubby…
I even gave it an emergency acorn from my pocket.
Khalid, walking in front, grumbled,
“I really don’t know where the key is.”
“Huh? The storage room key?”
“Yeah. I searched the manager’s office, but…”
He glanced at the squirrel.
“There was so much random stuff. I couldn’t find it. Sleeping bags, tables, armchairs… If I searched everything, it’d take a month.”
“Wow… That’s kind of messy for a manager. Why bring so much stuff into the library?”
“My point exactly.”
I shook my head, thinking there are some really strange people in the world.
“But it doesn’t matter if we don’t have the key.”
Because I’m a magician!
Whoooosh.
Just then, a cold wind blew through the half-open window. The shadow of a bare tree branch stretched across the floor like a demon’s claw.
“But the library at night is really, really scary…”
I muttered,
“Do you think there are ghosts here?”
“Some say there’s the ghost of a student who died studying too hard.”
“What? Really?”
A shiver ran down my neck.
“Yeah. They say it’s in the biology building… Ruby?”
“…”
“Are you cold?”
Khalid gently held my shoulder. I jumped and answered quickly,
“N-no?”
“…”
“Haha, I’m not scared at all. Because there’s no such thing as ghosts!”
“There are, here.”
“No way!”
“There—”
“You go home!”
I pushed Khalid’s arm and hugged myself tight.
Invisible things are even scarier. The spooky mood made it worse!
I’d rather face a monster with magic than deal with this.
“Alright, alright. I’ll stop.”
Khalid gave a small smile and held out his hand.
“Hmm?”
I looked at his pale hand in the moonlight.
“If you’re scared, do you want to hold my hand?”
Again?
“…There’s no manager here right now.”
“Who knows? Maybe there’s a ghost…”
Just then, the window banged loudly!
“Ahh!”
Before I knew it, I grabbed Khalid’s hand. I tried to let go, but his grip was too strong.
“So you’re a scaredy-cat.”
Khalid laughed quietly and started walking again.
As I watched his back, I felt a strange happiness.
I pressed down on my pounding heart.
‘Why do I keep feeling awkward…?’
It was weird. The more time I spent with Khalid, the more nervous and awkward I felt.
‘…Is something wrong with me?’
I bit my lip, feeling lost.
“We’re here.”
Khalid stopped walking.
I quickly let go of his hand and shook my head.
‘I’ll think about it later. Now’s not the time!’
“I’ll check it.”
I reached out and touched the lock—it felt cold.
Suddenly, the magic circle’s structure came to my mind. Normally, a magician would have a hard time with it.
‘This one will use up a lot of magic power…’
I glanced at the spinning hands on my wristwatch.
I poured power into the unlocking spell. Click! The lock opened.
My legs felt weak.
“Ruby!”
Khalid quickly caught me from behind.
“Really… this kind of awful magic… It’s been so long…”
I fought off the dizzy feeling as magic rushed in.
Then—
“Huh?”
A warm, gentle energy filled my weak body.
As the lock clicked and the door opened slowly, it happened.
I got up and pushed the door a little.
The old book storage, locked tight until now, was open…
“Stay back.”
Khalid instinctively stood in front of me.
But I could tell.
This warm, familiar energy.
“It’s magic.”
Inside the storage room, there was a lot of unfamiliar magic.
“No way…”
I slowly took off my bracelet.
Babilon’s capital is a place where magic is weak.
So, if I don’t wear this bracelet, I run out of magic power quickly and get exhausted.
“There’s so much magic gathered here.”
But here, even without my bracelet, I was fine. The air was full of magic.
“…How is this possible?”
Khalid and I looked at each other.
We slowly searched the dark room. I brought a lamp and lit it with magic.
The storage room was bigger than I thought.
Big bookshelves were packed with books, but they were set up in a messy, maze-like way.
“Why are the desks arranged like a maze?”
Khalid frowned.
“There’s only one reason to make a maze at the entrance.”
I murmured,
“To keep people from getting to the center easily.”
