Chapter 3

The old man’s gray eyes gleamed sharply as he busily scanned his surroundings.

“I thought I heard a sound from here, surely…….”

At the old man’s muttering, Vivian found herself unconsciously swallowing dryly.

“Perhaps you have seen a boy with a height like this, black hair shining, or even dazzling golden eyes? His face, how beautiful it is, if you accidentally meet his gaze, you’d lose your mind. Have you not seen the owner of such an appearance hiding among those bookshelves?”

Vivian shook her head vigorously at the mention of a boy hiding in the bookshelves.

“Oh… Where on earth did he run off to? Oh dear. It seems I’ve taken up too much of the young lady’s time. Well then, I’ll be off…”

With that, the old man with the white hair disappeared, tirelessly speaking only his own words. As his voice, muttering about where Louis had gone, grew quieter and then faded away, Louis stealthily emerged from outside.

“Damn old man. He talks so much.”

Louis, who had been crouched for a long time, stretched his body here and there, extending himself fully as he emerged from between the bookshelves.

“You!”

He called out to Vivian, who was staring blankly at him.

“Not many people are allowed to come here, so how are you here?”

“Well, um…”

“Whatever. Never mind! You must be related to some official, and you came in following them.”

After asking and answering to himself, Louis looked Vivian up and down slowly.

Vivian’s shoulders hunched as she caught the intimidation in his eyes.

“That book. Are you really reading it?”

Vivian gave a small nod.

“You’re not as stupid as you look.”

Stupid.

A word she heard for the first time, momentarily bewildering.

“Do you want me to recommend something other than that book?”

Louis tilted his chin up thoughtfully, one corner of his mouth curving up into a smooth smile that glinted in the sunlight pouring into the library.

Pretty.

Vivian hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand. Her inner thoughts almost slipped out.

As Vivian nodded, Louis, satisfied, began to lead the way, not hesitating in his steps, as if he knew this place like the back of his hand.

“Is there a book you wanted to read? Or something you’re interested in?”

“Um… I’d like Kyle’s ‘The Psychology of Crowds’ or Tolong’s ‘The Utilization of Magic’…”

“Hmm. Yeah. Those are good books, too.”

Louis’s steps, as if he knew this place well, showed no hesitation.

“Kyle’s ‘The Psychology of Crowds’ goes beyond explaining the stupidity of imperial subjects explosively. Ah, in that aspect, I’d also recommend Carson’s ‘The Protagonist.'”

Vivian followed him with her short legs. With each brief explanation and recommendation of books, a book piled up in Vivian’s arms.

When four thick books were placed in Vivian’s hands, she trembled as she barely held them and asked, 

“I……. Do you think I can read all of these books?”

“Huh?”

“Well, I’m not staying in the capital…….”

“Oh. Is that so?”

Nodding in agreement, Louis swiftly turned around, passing by Vivian and briskly walking towards a sunlit desk.

“Come this way.”

Although she had expected Louis to hold the books for her, Vivian was left with her mouth slightly open as he simply flitted past her, thankfully, she was obscured by the books.

Struggling, Vivian managed to place the books on the desk where Louis was sitting and tapped her trembling arms.

“By the way, are you sure you can read these books?”

As Louis looked at the books Vivian had placed down, he finally realized that the books he had chosen were complex and difficult to read.

Nine years old? Or younger? Seems smart though…

Still, he wondered if he had recommended books that were too difficult for her, so he asked.

“Yes.”

Vivian replied softly, then sat down in the seat in front of him, lowered her head, and began to flick through the books, until she lifted her gaze to her tingling head and saw Louis staring impassively at her, his chin in his hands.

“Why…?”

“You. How old are you?”

“I’m 10.”

“The same age as that kid.”

“What?”

“You don’t need to know.”

After asking and then responding like that, Vivian gave up on saying anything more, seeing Louis’s indifferent attitude. She turns her attention back to the book, but Louis’s voice catches her attention.

“You’re a noble’s daughter, aren’t you? You’ll be engaged and married one day, right?”

Vivian silently stared at Louis. It was their first meeting. Seeing him explain books she hadn’t read yet without hesitation, he seemed quite intelligent. Plus, he was good-looking. Despite his slight arrogance, he didn’t seem off-putting.

Louis, on the other hand, was frowning hard at what he didn’t like.

“Are you getting married?”

“No!”

Louis retorted sharply. Fortunately, there was no one around, he seemed to have forgotten that this was a library.

“Marriage… I would never… never marry that kid.”

His perfectly clean forehead wrinkled. Vivian, thinking that he must dislike his marriage prospect greatly, asked.

“Why not?”

Louis, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, thought for a moment, then spoke.

“She’s ugly.”

“What?”

When Vivian asked again, Louis raised an eyebrow and said.

“It seems your hearing isn’t so good.”

Vivian’s mouth opened slightly at the unexpected answer.

This person sitting in front of me have a talent for leaving people speechless.

“Is it just… because she’s ugly, that you don’t like her?”

“I prefer pretty things.”

Is there really someone who dislikes pretty things?

Vivian’s expression stiffened slightly.

As intelligent as she was, Vivian was also astute to people’s words about her. 

Born between the perfect Duke and Duchess, there had been no child after their union. After five difficult years of marriage, they finally had a child. That child was Vivian Dinever.

As a noble lady born between the renowned Duke and Duchess, people had high expectations of her.

However, apart from the Duke’s brown hair and the Duchess’s peridot eyes, Vivian looked nothing like them.

Some people couldn’t hide their disappointment upon seeing Vivian’s appearance.

When she was young, Vivian didn’t understand those looks, but as she grew older, she began to discern the sinister thoughts hidden behind people’s hypocritical smiles.

“It’s not a sin to be ugly.”

“No, it’s not.”

Louis released the hand clasped around his chin and took the book in front of Vivian, flicking through the pages roughly.

“But, I would like the person who becomes my wife to be beautiful. Like my mother.”

At Louis’s firm words, Vivian’s eyes narrowed sharply. She didn’t know why his words hurt so much, even though they weren’t directed at her.

Tears began to betray Vivian’s resolve and filled her eyes.

“Huh?”

Casually flipping through the book, Louis suddenly raised his head, surprised.

“Are you… crying?”

A child he had just met today. A child no older than him, like a little sister, choosing difficult books. Out of curiosity, he even personally recommended several books to her.

He wondered if he had made a mistake, but he couldn’t think of anything.

Vivian, quietly shedding tears, looked up at Louis.

“Why… why are you crying?”

Perplexed, Louis stood up and approached Vivian.

“What… what did I… Why… Why are you crying?”

Struggling to hold back her tears and swallow her sobs, Vivian’s tears flowed uncontrollably again at Louis’s awkward attempt to comfort her.

“Ugly… *sniff* *sob*.”

“What? No, what are you saying?”

Seeing Vivian cry even harder after trying to console her, Louis took out a handkerchief from his pocket.

“Use this to wipe your tears.”

Vivian took the handkerchief from Louis and wiped away the tears that were still flowing uncontrollably.

“Are you feeling better now? Why on earth are you crying?”

“Be… because,”

“What?”

“Because you said I’m ugly…….”

Louis furrowed his brow at Vivian’s words and ruffled his hair.

“I didn’t call you ugly, I said……. Right. Of course, you’re not exactly pretty either, but… no. Well. Hmm. Anyway! I didn’t mean it to you, so why the hell were you crying?”

Louis sighed heavily at the sight of Vivian, whose tears had stopped, but who was still sobbing. Judging by the way her jaw was still twitching, it looked like she would burst into tears again at any moment if he said another word.

I should apologize, but why should I?

With an inexplicable sense of remorse, Louis wanted to apologize, but he didn’t even know what he was apologizing for, so he clenched his jaw shut.

He sighed softly as he watched the child he had met for the first time today wipe her tears away with the handkerchief he held out to her.

“Sympathise. To empathize with your people, to be willing to reach out to them, to share their sorrows, their joys, and their pain, is what will make you a great emperor.”

That’s what his grandfather had said while sitting Louis on his lap and handing him a piece of chocolate.

Yes, the girl in front of me is also one of my future subjects to rule.

As Louis was about to say something to Vivian, an elderly man appeared.

“Louis, there you are! Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you, huh?”

His face looked even more wrinkled than before.

“Well, of all times to show up.”

Louis muttered with irritation, turning his head sharply. The grey-haired old man’s mouth dropped open in shock at Louis’ words.

“All right, all right. I’m going! Sheesh!”

With that, Louis turned and started to leave the library, but stopped and looked back. Watery, peridot-coloured eyes stared up at him.

“Don’t cry. You’ll look even uglier when you cry. And…”

Pausing for a moment and gazing at Vivian who was silently wiping her tears, Louis spoke again.

“You’re not that ugly, so don’t be so heartbroken.”

Watching Louis leave with those ambiguous words of comfort, Vivian wiped the moisture still remaining in the corners of her eyes.

“Was that supposed to be comforting?”

Vivian muttered timidly and wiped the tears that still lingered in the corners of her eyes with her sleeve. The library was unusually quiet now that she was alone.

Louis left the library and headed to the classroom where he was being tutored. After a round of scolding, Hugo began the lesson.

“Louis, you already know how to utilize the properties of a magic stone with magical symbols drawn on it, so let’s talk about the limits and boundaries of magic symbols…”

Hugo stopped his explanation, noticing his only student today wasn’t paying attention. However, Louis didn’t realize that his teacher was looking at him with narrowed eyes, nor did he notice that the class had paused. He was lost in his own thoughts.

Why?

From the moment Louis was dragged by Hugo to the classroom, the question “Why?” and the image of the brown-haired girl crying had been alternately occupying his mind.

For a moment, he wondered if the girl was Vivian Dinever, but then he remembered how she had smiled shyly at him, blushing from ear to ear, and shook his head.

“That can’t be.”

Muttering to himself, Louis nodded as he engraved the word “empathy” in his mind.