Chapter 3 – Part 5

Early afternoon, in the Crown Prince’s office.

The Crown Prince suddenly paused his busy work to scribble something in a notebook.

Derek asked, “Your Highness, what are you doing?”

The Crown Prince replied, “I’m conversing with my friend.”

Derek didn’t know that the diary was a rare magical item occasionally found across the empire and promptly stored in the palace treasury, never to be released into the public.

‘So, the friend His Highness mentioned was that diary. It was an imaginary friend….’

Derek misunderstood Adrian, but there was no one to correct his misconception.

‘It’s alright, Your Highness. I respect you even for that!’

* * *

I was still sprawled in the second tea house at the fountain square.

I managed to calm my mind, disappointed from my misguided expectation of possibly meeting my diary friend.

Then, I asked the tea house staff for some paper suitable for a letter and wrote a short note.

[Today, I thought of you and bought this handkerchief.]

I decided not to mention that my eye color matched the olive embroidery on the handkerchief.

‘I’m afraid my diary friend might get scared and run away.’

I continued writing the letter.

[Also, I had a cake from a bakery near the square, and it was really delicious. This is a pearl that was on top of the cake. Isn’t it huge? I’m giving this to you too.]

I was happy to share pieces of my daily life with my diary friend like this.

Although I wanted someone who I could go out, eat, and drink tea with, that might just be my selfish desire.

After finishing the letter, I followed the map drawn by my diary friend. Indeed, there was a blue door in the alley indicated on the map.

Next to the door, there was a slightly protruding brick, just as my diary friend described.

I looked around to ensure no one was watching. There were no windows facing this alley.

I pressed the protruding brick as instructed.

‘The brick is heavier than I thought.’

The brick was heavy but slid smoothly as if lubricated. When pressed all the way, I heard a small click.

Following the instructions, I waited a moment after pressing it three times, then pressed it twice more. The blue door opened silently.

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

I had never seen anything like this.

Beyond the door was a dark corridor with no lighting, filled with the stale smell of long-stagnant air.

I placed the small gift and the letter I had prepared for my diary friend just inside the door and closed it.

When I pulled on the handle, the door was already locked, as my diary friend mentioned. It seemed to have an automatic locking mechanism.

A merchant group with such a serious secret passage near the bustling capital…

‘Is my diary friend’s merchant group even more impressive than I thought…?’

As an heir to such a merchant group, it must indeed be difficult to make friends. They mentioned being surrounded by subordinates and having no siblings.

Finding a peer for equal interaction must be challenging.

I felt a renewed understanding of the sense of liberation my diary friend might have felt when they began exchanging diaries with someone who didn’t know their identity.

It made sense that they might not want to give up the freedom anonymity provided.

“If he doesn’t want to meet me, well, I can’t help it!”

That didn’t mean we weren’t friends, after all.

I tried to shake off my disappointment.

My hunger had subsided after walking around, so I returned to the bakery I had visited earlier. I craved something sweet.

I devoured the tres leches cake I had been eyeing and wandered around here and there.

After what felt like a busy time, the sky was still bright.

‘It’s still a long way until sunset.’

Feeling elated at the thought of enjoying a holiday while everyone else was working, I decided to enjoy this day off even more.

What should I do next?

“Should I go back to the shopping district?”

I made a round trip back to the shopping area.

A sign and door of a shop appeared on a wall that had previously been empty.

The name on the sign was “Noah’s Square Ark.”

Doesn’t it look familiar?

It was the magic shop where I had bought the enchanted exchange diary.

I had hoped to find it again someday.

‘But now that it’s here, I’m bewildered.’

I approached the door and touched it. Cool, solid wood met my fingertips.

The door looked as if it had always been there. It reminded me of the writing that appeared in my diary from my diary friend.

I hesitated.

‘Should I go in or not?’

Last time, I walked in without knowing anything, chatted a lot with the owner, became friends, and bought a diary.

‘I thought he was just a wizard-themed shopkeeper back then!’

Knowing he was a real wizard made me more cautious.

How long had I been hesitating?

Hearing a click from inside, I took a step back as the door opened by itself.

It must be an invitation to come in.

I gathered my courage, stepped inside, and called out to the shop owner.

“Noah?”

A man appeared from the back of the shop.

A slender man with thin silver-rimmed glasses, long, light-colored hair loosely tied to one side.

“Nice to see you again, Erica.”

Hearing his voice reminded me of the relaxed conversation we had in the shop last time, easing my tension.

Noah looked exactly the same as before. Sitting leisurely in an armchair amidst various knickknacks under the shop’s soft lighting.

“Noah, have you been well?”

“I’m always about the same. How about you, Erica?”

Had I been well?

I was away from my family for the first time, working as a lady-in-waiting at the palace, dealing with the Crown Prince’s whims daily, but it wasn’t all bad.

“I guess I’ve been well. I’ve been using the diary I bought here a lot.”

Noah smiled gently at my response.

“I’m glad to hear that. I put a lot of effort into making it.”

Noah exuded a soft, harmless aura, just like the first time we met.

“I thought it was just a diary, but I was surprised to find it was an exchange diary.”

Noah looked genuinely surprised.

“An exchange diary?”

“It seems like what I write appears in the diary of the person who bought the matching diary, and what they write appears in mine.”

“I never added such a communication function.”

“What? Really?”

“Besides, the last person to buy that special diary was you, Erica.”

So it wasn’t supposed to be an exchange diary?

Then, who is my diary friend?

‘Is my friend a chatbot created by Noah’s magic?’

I slumped into the nearby chair, which looked like a display item, but I didn’t care.

Seeing my confusion, Noah explained calmly.

“It’s truly a lucky charm diary. How the luck manifests depends on its use. So, as you described, it might have taken the form of communication magic.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

I was relieved it wasn’t a chatbot I had fallen for.

I sighed with relief.

Noah continued.

“I don’t remember the last time I sold this lucky diary.”

“Roughly when was it?”

“About 150 years ago.”

“What?!”

So, my diary friend is someone from 150 years ago?

I know this plot. I’ve seen a movie with a similar story.

Two people exchanging letters across a significant time gap, only to never meet despite their connection.

So, did the protagonist eventually trap and kill the love interest?

Or did one of them die in an accident trying to do something?

‘What was the plot?’

I couldn’t quite remember. There seemed to be more than a few movies like that. My mind was a jumble.

But Noah said he sold a similar diary 150 years ago.

He only looked to be in his twenties.

“Noah, how old are you?”

“That’s a secret.”

Noah smiled softly as he looked at my expression.

With his slender face and thin silver-rimmed glasses, he could look cold when expressionless.

Approaching him then would feel like he might push me away.

But when he smiled like that, his expression softened, like a flower bud blooming, and I felt everything would be okay.

But his true identity was that of a wizard over 150 years old.

‘Is it okay for him to tell me all this?’

He seemed almost too eager to reveal his mysteriousness.

I recalled what my diary friend had told me.

Sometimes there were people with abilities and knowledge from outside this world. People like me.

‘I’d bet Noah is the same case as me.’

My diary friend had said such identities should be kept secret as they could be dangerous if revealed.

So why was Noah acting like he couldn’t wait to be found out by me?

‘Did he sense I was the same as him?’

After thinking for a moment, I cautiously spoke.

“Noah, you said you’re a wizard, right?”

“Yes.”

Noah smiled with his eyes, seeming to expect my next question.

Gathering courage, I hesitated before asking my next question.

“Wh-where did you learn magic?”

Noah’s smile deepened.

“Where do you think?”

Answering a question with another question, how unfair!

Noah watched me struggle before laughing.

“There’s no magic in this world, so it’s understandable you’d be curious.”

I widened my eyes.

Noah had just said “this world” as if there were others.

I couldn’t hold back and asked directly.

“Are you from another world?”

“Yes.”