The duke left Heitzrind early for business, and the duchess took a sedative for a headache and did not leave her bed all day.

Master Karl was said to be out hunting in the forest behind the manor for the past few days, so a quick trip to the library would mean running into no one.

“All right. Let’s go quickly now. Gather all the books you borrowed last time.”

“Yes!”

Adele hopped along cheerfully after Bailey.

The library was on the third floor, and they crossed paths with no one on the way.

Since the young master’s return, everyone was busy with their own work, and no one looked at Adele with the same hostility as when she first arrived.

Adele kept to her room and was rarely seen, and she neither bothered the Heitzrind servants nor expected to be treated as a guest, so they came to regard her as unremarkably as a piece of furniture in the manor.

The library, seen again after a while, was still magnificent.

The red mahogany shelves caught the morning sunlight and gleamed all the more.

They carried the polished sheen of long years of care.

The countless volumes waited endlessly for someone to come for them, and Adele was happy the moment she opened the library door and breathed in the heavy scent of books.

“Miss Adele. Put the borrowed books back on the shelf where they belong. You remember, yes?”

Adele nodded.

“Good. I need to go meet with the head butler for a moment. Miss Adele, gather the books you want to borrow and head back to your room. You cannot stay long, so go back in about fifteen minutes.”

Bailey needed to see Norman about Adele’s school enrollment and had several things to buy in preparation, so she was in a hurry.

No one was encountered on the way to the library, and the manor was quiet, so fifteen minutes should be fine.

Bailey reminded Adele one more time, firmly, never to go down the central staircase on the second floor.

There was always the chance of running into the duchess or her loyal shadow.

The moment Bailey left through the library door, Adele quickly returned the borrowed books to their shelves.

Time was short, and the list of books she wanted to look at was long.

She thought of the ones she wanted to borrow last time but couldn’t carry.

She glanced at the grandfather clock and quickly pulled out the books she was eager to read. The satisfying weight of the thick bindings felt good in her hands.

Adele lingered in the literature section she loved, then turned her feet toward history.

‘Since I’ll be starting a new school in September, it wouldn’t hurt to study ahead a little.’

Adele pulled out a history book on the western continent where Erwin was located. She considered adding an arithmetic or geometry book, neither of which she liked, but her hand simply refused to reach for one and she gave up.

She consoled herself that there was still time before September and she could prepare slowly, then headed back to the literature section she had been eyeing from the start.

‘The Havilland Story…. That looks interesting. There are even a few illustrations.’

‘Vitali’s Collected Poems. I want it, but it’s thin. I should borrow thick ones so I have more to keep me busy.’

She was carefully selecting books one by one with her own set of standards when she glanced at the clock again and found less than five minutes left before the time she agreed on with Bailey, and her heart quickened.

She needed to pick two or three books quickly and get back to her room.

Adele was flipping through the shelves and pulling out a book that caught her eye when a low voice came from behind her.

“That one’s not great….”

Adele let out a small yelp. She was genuinely startled.

“The one next to it. The Hunting Hour. That one’s good.”

Adele spun around toward the voice.

Intense summer sunlight streamed into the library through a gap in the red curtains.

A tall figure stood with the light at his back.

His face was obscured in the shadow of the light, but it was unmistakably Karl, whom she encountered before.

Karl walked closer to the frozen Adele and pulled out the book he just mentioned, The Hunting Hour.

“Hello, Master Karl. I was very rude the last… time we met.”

Adele answered, wondering whether she should put back the five or six books in her hands.

He might not know she had the duke’s permission to use the library.

“Can you read all of those?”

Karl glanced at the stack of books Adele was holding.

His tone seemed dismissive, and Adele bristled.

“I love reading.”

Karl gave a small laugh and spun the book in his hand once before setting it on top of Adele’s stack.

“Then give it a try. You’ll enjoy it.”

“…Thank you.”

Adele looked at Karl with a slightly sulky expression.

When they met in the garden last time, he looked a little tired, but after a few days, his color and expression were much improved.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were in the library.”

Karl raised one eyebrow, looking puzzled.

“This is where people read books. Is that something to apologize for?”

“Still, I didn’t know you were resting here. The duke gave me permission to borrow books, but….”

“It doesn’t matter. It was Bailey’s voice that woke me up.”

Sure enough, on the couch in the direction Karl came from, several books he was reading lay stacked, and cushions and a bundled blanket were scattered about in disarray.

Adele felt relieved to see Karl looking much better than before and smiled a little.

The young master at ease looked like a well-fed black panther.

The hair that seemed so purely black before caught the summer sunlight and shimmered like silver thread, and his relaxed and comfortable blue eyes looked less frightening and cold than last time, more like playful blue gems.

“Thank you, Master Karl. Thank you for the book recommendation too. I’ll head back first.”

Karl gave a nod and turned away, and Adele quickly gathered her chosen stack of books and stepped out of the library.

She gently pulled the library door shut behind her so as not to disturb him, then turned toward the western staircase to go back to her room.

Just then, she met the eyes of a maid coming toward the library.

The maid gave Adele a sharp glare and looked the stack of books in her hands up and down.

Her eyes made it plain at a glance that she disliked Adele, so Adele quickly gave a small bow and hurried down the stairs.

It felt like a tiny pinhole had been poked into a heart that swelled like a balloon.

Still, today was a lucky day.

She liked the dress Bailey made for her, and the thick books she borrowed from the library all looked interesting.

On top of that, seeing Karl, as handsome as a prince, and having him speak kindly to her were both wonderful things.

July was almost here. She realized she had been at Heitzrind for quite some time now.

Time really did pass quickly. She was starting to like this place, little by little.

Adele’s steps were light on the way back to her room.

“Master Karl, the mistress wishes to see you for a moment.”

It was the moment Karl was trying to drive out the small intruder and get back to the book he was reading.

Karl frowned and set down the book he was holding.

It was Daina, whose face he had not seen since her visit to his room.

“What is it?”

“I am not certain, but she asked to have tea together.”

Daina bowed her head politely as she answered, and Karl looked at her coldly.

She must have seen the small girl leave the library just now, yet she said nothing.

Whatever she was thinking inside, whatever she might report to his mother, it was not something he needed to concern himself with, so he let it go.

“All right. I’ll get ready and come down shortly.”

Daina bowed deeply once more and left the library, and Karl let out a small sigh as he rose from his seat.

After riding and hunting all day yesterday, he wanted a quiet rest today.

The library was a space only he and his father used, so he shut everyone out and holed up there since morning, but with one visitor after another, he felt today’s choice was a failure.

The first intruder to enter the library was not bad, though.

Picturing her neatly dressed, eyes sparkling as she selected books, he found it a little amusing.

The way she bristled at his dismissive tone was entertaining too.

Karl let the smile he briefly allowed drop and left the library with his usual composed expression.

It was shaping up to be a tiresome day.