“It made for an enjoyable visit, thanks to him.”

Jeanne nodded with a soft ‘hmm’ and a smile.

A librarian guided Jeanne and me to the rare book room.

“Ah, here it is.”

As they wandered around the shelves with the librarian, she pointed to a mythology collection tucked in one corner of the bookshelf. Despite being an old book, the gilded letters shimmered faintly on the spine that looked as though it was freshly painted.

The librarian carefully turned the pages with white-gloved hands after taking out the book. I carefully searched for the content and read it.

「The last dragon said.」

“When the world shakes, the god will betray you. Then, only we will save you.”

It was a serious and solemn line. No wonder they kept it a secret from the world.

“…It’s blasphemous.”

“Isn’t it?”

Jeanne agreed with the words I had carefully chosen, considering what a noble of this country should say.

It feels like I’ve learned a secret I shouldn’t have known. To show such content just because I was curious. It also seems like those who should know probably already do.

‘Well, it’s a story from legend.’

Jeanne and I, having finished our business, left the rare book room. She led me to the bookshelves, saying she would recommend books she liked. I was worried she might suggest difficult books, but surprisingly, she pointed out soft and interesting ones first.

Among them, one book caught my eye.

《Pedro and Inês》. That name sounds familiar.

“This book looks interesting too.”

I took out the book and carefully examined its contents.

「…The Prince of Portugal, Pedro, fell in love with Inês, a lady-in-waiting to the princess.

When the princess gave birth to a child and died after a lingering illness, the king sent assassins to kill Inês. This was because if Inês became the new princess, it would create succession issues.

When Inês died, her tears flowed into the river, becoming the fountain of tears at the villa, and the seaweed stained with her blood grew red.

Pedro, learning of his lover’s death, rebelled against his father, and a few years later, when his father died, he ascended to the throne.

Pedro, now king, carried out revenge for his lover.

He captured the assassins and killed them himself. He cut out the heart from one’s chest, and from another’s back, to appease Inês’s vengeful spirit.

“My heart died like this too!”

After completing his revenge, Pedro dressed the corpse of Inês in the queen’s clothes and crowned her.

“Behold, the Queen of Portugal! Pay your respects to the Queen!”

Pedro carried Inês’s corpse out and ordered all his subjects to pay their respects to the queen.

He lived the rest of his life longing for Inês.

As his death approached, Pedro ordered two tombs to be built in the temple. He commanded that his coffin and Inês’s coffin be placed facing each other.

So that when the day of judgment comes, when all the dead are resurrected, the two of them, awakening from their long sleep, could see each other first….」

With each turn of the page, it felt like heavy stones were falling one by one onto my chest. After reading the last sentence, my hands were trembling.

This can’t be. What is this? What does this mean? Portugal, Pedro, Inês? Are these the names I know? Really?

“Lady Penvernon?”

Jeanne’s voice pulled me back to reality. No, is this really my reality? My mind was in chaos.

“Your Highness, this is….”

Jeanne glanced at the cover of the book I was holding.

“It’s a romantic novel that was popular in the past. Did you find it interesting too, Madam?”

“A novel….”

“I don’t like it much because it’s too tragic.”

I’ve seen this story before. It was an anecdote titled ‘The Romeo and Juliet of Portugal’ in a general knowledge book I had read casually.

I remember briefly pondering whether Pedro’s feelings should be considered true love, or just lingering attachment with only his obsession remaining. I also recall seeing photos of the tomb, now a tourist attraction, on the internet.

‘That was definitely real.’

Although I didn’t see, hear, or experience it directly, history and place prove it.

But here, it’s a novel?

I was confused. Was this a setting planted by the author of 《Unavoidable Fate》? It seemed too detailed for that, and there was no particular reason for such a setting to exist.

I stared endlessly at the letters with a bewildered feeling. Perhaps from staring too intently, the black letters seemed to dance and disappear at will. The letters escaping from the paper as they pleased were frustrating.

‘Huh?’

I opened my eyes wide and looked at the open page again. It wasn’t an illusion. The letters were actually disappearing!

“Kyaa!”

I was startled and dropped the book. At the same time, a long worm sprang out and sucked up the letters written in the book. The letters helplessly slid into the worm’s mouth. The papers that lost their letters crumbled like dust.

Hearing my scream, Jeanne hurriedly looked for a librarian.

“Catch that! Librarian, librarian! Where are you!”

At Jeanne’s cry, other librarians came running.

“It’s a demonic beast! A bookworm has appeared!”

“Bring the hunting sword! Call a mage!”

The librarians who saw the worm caused an uproar. But the worm’s actions were faster. The small worm that had instantly devoured all the letters from the book I was holding quickly moved its slender body and escaped through the window.

I lost strength in my legs and sat down right there. The book that contained the story of Pedro and Inês now only had its cover left. The papers that were slightly faded from human handling disappeared like burnt ashes.

“What… was that?”

I said, breathing heavily. Jeanne pulled my arm to help me stand up.

“It’s a bookworm. A demonic beast that damages books. But a bookworm in the Imperial Library! How are they managing this place?”

Jeanne shouted irritably at the librarians.

“We’re sorry, Your Highness!”

The librarians shuffled their feet at her rebuke.

“Do you think it makes sense for a demonic beast to break through the palace’s barrier? What is the responsible mage doing? Are you properly guarding the place on a regular basis?”

Jeanne, who only seemed gentle before, scolded the librarians with a frightening expression. If it had been me who was hurt, I would have said it was okay and not to worry. But since it was the book that was damaged, I had nothing to say.

“Usually, demonic beasts can’t appear in the palace where magical control is strong. This is really strange. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again, so don’t worry and please visit us again, Lady Penvernon.”

Jeanne looked embarrassed. Although the library is located towards the outskirts, it’s still clearly within the palace walls. It was extremely rare for demonic beasts to set foot in places like the palace where magical control is strong.

‘Come to think of it, they said demonic beasts have been appearing a lot lately.’

I recalled Rashid’s words about his visit to the territory. I also remembered the demonic beast’s horn that was said to be displayed in the square. What if demonic beasts start swarming all over the empire?

Just then.

“It’s noisy. What’s going on?”

A familiar voice was heard. A voice I knew too well. And a voice of someone who shouldn’t be here.

The owner of that voice was, of course, Rashid Penvernon.

What? Why is he here?

Although he’s my husband, I frowned and turned around, surprised by his sudden appearance.

“So you were here, wife. And Your Highness.”

Rashid bowed his head to Jeanne in greeting. Unlike when she was with me, Jeanne immediately hardened her expression. It was a face befitting the dignity of an imperial princess.

“It’s been a while, Duke Penvernon. What brings you here?”

“I came to pick up my wife.”

“Pick up…?”

Jeanne looked at me and Rashid alternately with round eyes. Then she nodded and smiled brightly.

「Jeanne thought it was unexpected.」

A sentence fitting her expression floated up. It was easy to guess what she found unexpected without hearing it.

Jeanne said,

“I must have kept your wife for too long. I enjoyed our time today, Madam. Let’s meet again, definitely.”

* * *

In the deepest part of the Grand Temple, a spring flows.

The water, said to have been first created by the God Morea, was the source of all life and the substance in the human world closest to the divine. Being close to the divine, the water had the power to cleanse impurities and was used as baptismal water. The priests poured the spring water over people’s heads to convey Morea’s blessings.