Chapter 19

“Vivi. Thank you for today.”

It was after playing with the children for a while. The sun was setting outside. The nun saw her off as she was about to head home.

“Thank you too, Sister. You will bring the children during the competition, right?”

“Of course. The children are very enthusiastic.”

“You can see me off just until here. I’ll be going now.”

After saying goodbye to the nun, she walked down the corridor. The statue of the goddess, standing firmly in its place, awaited her. And in front of it…

“Sir?”

Sir Costance was standing idly in front of the cathedral.

“Are you going back now?”

“Why are you here…? Didn’t you return to the base?”

“I only work on weekends when I’m on duty.”

She approached him. 

Surely, he hadn’t been waiting for me all this time?

“I’ll escort you. It will soon be dark.”

“To the library?”

“…Yes.”

He reluctantly nodded. He didn’t seem too happy about it, but he didn’t insist on asking for her home address. Sir Costance knew it would be rude and inappropriate.

It was a dangerous world. Giving out the address of a house where one lived alone was risky.

“…The place I live is straight down the road opposite ‘Atlantis.'”

He flinched at her words.

“What?”

“The coat. I want to give it back today. The coat you lent me last time, Sir.”

“…”

“So, would you see me off to my house to receive your coat?”

As soon as she finished speaking, he smiled slightly. He nodded, trying hard to suppress his joy.

“I will do my utmost to ensure your safety, more than any other man could…”

* * *

Monday, the day she wished would never come, had arrived. She tightly gripped the strap of her bag and looked at the national library in front of her.

The door was open, indicating that the person on duty had arrived. As far as she knew, Julia was on duty today.

‘I’m doomed.’

She hadn’t thought of any promotion or anything.

〈…Here it is.〉

Sir Costance now knew where she lived. He stared intently at the shabby building, his mouth firmly shut.

She thought it was a decent place to live. But when it came to showing it to Sir Costance, it seemed shabby and run-down. He might have felt the same way.

In the end, she stood him in front of the house. She hurriedly fetched the coat and handed it to him.

〈Ahem, thank you for seeing me off, Sir.〉

As far as she knew, the Orsi mansion was said to have a large garden and even an airfield. They even had their own aircraft, so that said it all.

〈I’ll be going now.〉

〈…〉

〈Good night, Vivi.〉

She had thought of offering him a cup of coffee if he asked. But Sir Costance left without any request. She blankly watched his retreating figure.

Did he really just see me off purely? Wouldn’t most men want to go inside when they came in front of the house of a woman they liked?

Since moving to this village, there had been more than one man who clung to her.

Some had even followed her after waiting until the library closed. They had confessed their feelings or blatantly talked about spending the night together.

But… he was different. He just left.

Was the house too small for him to want to come in? Did he dislike me because of the cramped house?

〈…!〉

〈…〉

At that moment, Sir Costance turned his head. When he met her eyes, he seemed surprised that she was still standing there.

His steps were heavy. They seemed filled with reluctance. At the same time, his neck was vividly flushed red. Sir Costance was… forcing himself to walk away.

That’s why she had forgotten about the publicity, the model, and the contest.

“…What should I do?”

What should I tell Julia?

“Hey, Vivi. What are you doing standing there?”

A senior’s voice came from the side window.

“Oh, senior…”

“You came early today too?”

“You came early too, senior?”

“I have duty today.”

The senior let out a deep sigh.

“What? Wasn’t Julia on duty today?”

“Seems she caught a cold. She said she was stopping by the hospital.”

“Oh…”

“We have to sort the new books today, so come on in.”

At the senior’s gesture, she hurried inside. 

Julia caught a cold, huh.

‘I need to think of a solution before Julia comes.’

* * *

She was busy with no time to think.

There were more new books today than usual. Also, there was a problem with a program targeting the elderly, which needed to be handled. Meanwhile, the number of entries for the writing section increased.

“The number of participants in the writing and drawing sections is too different. That’s a big problem. The director will have something to say.”

“Right?”

“At times like this, it’s good to disclose the number of participants in each section.”

It was hard to manage alone, so she asked for help from her seniors. She tried some good suggestions from them, but the gap didn’t narrow much.

“Hang in there, Vivi. I handle administrative work, so I’m not sure.”

Even during lunch, she had to eat in the library’s break room because it was so busy.

The break room was packed with library staff. They all held sandwiches and juice in their hands.

“Our library holds too many events, don’t you think?”

“It’s a national library, after all.”

Even though she was busy managing the reading room, it seemed other departments were having a hard time too.

“The administration department is especially chaotic.”

She heard they were busy trying to acquire the ‘Golden Apple’ collection by Kimon, an author from Canary Village. Originally, the Canary National Library had the largest collection of those books.

But other regional libraries started collecting the collection like crazy for promotion and attraction purposes, and as a result, the title of the library with the most ‘Golden Apple’ collections was taken from them.

“It’s not easy to get the limited edition published in ’56.”

Katrina, a senior from the administration department, said.

“Does that title have any meaning?”

“What are you talking about, Vivi?”

“The library’s duty is to provide free education. If we spend too much money acquiring collections, we have to give up providing books people want.”

At her words, Katrina shook her head.

“Of course, but we can’t lose the history and glory of our library like this.”

The senior stuffed the remaining sandwich into her mouth.

The ingredients that couldn’t fit in her mouth fell out. The senior frowned at the tomato that fell on her thigh.

“Vivi, could you get me some tissues?”

“Oh… yes!”

She got up to grab the tissues on the table.

“Oh my, everyone was here?”

A familiar voice came from behind. Turning around, she saw Julia with a very healthy-looking face.

Didn’t she say she was sick?

“Oh my, Julia? You said you caught a cold.”

The other seniors asked, seeing Julia’s surprisingly healthy state.

“I was really sick in the morning. But after going to the hospital and taking medicine, I got better.”

“Good thing you’re back, it’s busy. Vivi was struggling to do your share of work too.”

“Really?”

Julia looked at her. Under her gaze, she awkwardly smiled.

Vivi was doomed. She hadn’t thought of the promotion…

“Yeah. Especially because of the competition, Vivi…”

“Senior, here are the tissues.”

“Oh, thank you, Vivi. But didn’t you get too many tissues?”

“The tomato spill was big. I need to visit the restroom before starting work. Then…”

“Vivi.”

Ah. Julia caught her. Her steps to the restroom were halted.

“…Hello? Julia.”

“Hello.”

“Are you feeling better? I was really worried.”

“Thanks. I’m very healthy now, thanks to you.”

Julia smiled and approached her.

“Still, shouldn’t you rest if you’re sick?”

“How can I leave when it’s busy? And it’s overwhelming for you to prepare for the event alone.”

“…”

“You disclosed the number of participants in the writing and drawing sections?”

“Th-that had an effect.”

“How many people submitted applications in total?”

“Twelve.”

“How many applied for the drawing section?”

“…Two, I think?”

Silence followed. Julia and she exchanged glances and smiled silently. Though their lips stretched sideways, it wasn’t fun at all.

“Yeah. Originally, only one was going to apply, but two did, so it increased.”

“Right?”

“…Vivi.”

Julia suddenly called her.

“I thought about it, and when you first came to the library, didn’t many boys come to see you?”

“Did they?”

“Yes. Your face is really pretty and beautiful.”

“…”

“So if you become the model, boys will apply for the drawing section.”

What she feared was happening. Julia grabbed her arm.

“Ju-Julia.”

“Vivi. Think about it. This is an opportunity. A brilliant film director might see your promotion and cast you.”

“That’s nonsense!”

“Why is it nonsense?”

This was hell.

“Vivi, please. I hate getting scolded by the director.”

“Julia!”

At this rate, she would really be photographed. Then, instead of a film director, men in dark uniforms would come looking for her!

“What’s going on?”

A heavy voice came from above. She and Julia froze.

“…”

“…Huh?”

Sir Costance, who hadn’t visited the library for a while, was there. In his military uniform.