The inside of the grand library was tremendous.
The entire wall of a gigantic cylindrical space that looked to be dozens of meters tall was made of bookshelves.
Hundreds of librarians,
Tens of thousands of visitors,
And millions of books.
Perhaps because of that,
Trine forgot everything else for a moment and murmured without realizing it.
"After I graduate from the Academy, I want to become a librarian at this library..."
Benheim somehow picked up those words and snorted.
"For a class representative of the knight department, that is quite a modest dream. If you wish, I will write you a recommendation letter later."
Princess Sia smiled slyly and said,
"For reference, surveillance magic is cast over the entire library, so if you steal a book, you will be caught right away. Do you understand, Trine?"
At that, Benheim laughed heartily.
"Steal a book? Is that student named Trine so light-fingered?"
"He loves grimoires very much."
"What is there to like about someone like that, that you accepted the engagement?"
"It was decided arbitrarily because of the duel with Father, so I had no choice."
"I saw the newspaper. His courage alone was remarkable."
"He merely attacked Father cowardly when Father had weakened."
At that, the female students began whispering.
"Was that really what happened?"
"I'm a little disappointed in Trine."
"I guess that just means he liked the princess that much."
Princess Sia's poisonous attitude was strictly part of the plan.
In fact, Trine had been the one to suggest it first.
He had asked her to put him down so Benheim would not suspect him.
Still, even Trine felt a little offended.
So he suddenly imitated a rooster's cry with a calm face.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo."
At that, Princess Sia flinched.
It was the sound made when 'The Bremen Town Musicians' activated.
She had suffered from it before when she visited Trine while he was sick, so it had remained as a trauma.
The female students, who did not know those circumstances, began whispering again.
"What is wrong with him?"
"I think he went crazy after being abandoned by Princess Sia."
"Poor thing."
Lizbette struck Trine on the back once.
"Get a hold of yourself. It is not as though the world has ended."
"Yees."
Princess Sia smiled silently and quietly approached Trine's side.
Then she pinched Trine's side with all her might.
"That hurts!"
At that, Benheim looked back with a puzzled face.
"What happened?"
While Trine glared at Princess Sia,
She calmly answered,
"It is nothing."
"...In any case, your purpose is not to tour the library, so let us go straight to my room."
***
The place Benheim brought the students to was a fairly old-fashioned room.
He placed a book on the table and said,
"This is the Book of Walpurgis."
Princess Sia said,
"You are unexpectedly handing it over without resistance. I heard that until recently, you had not lent it or shown it to anyone."
"As it is an extremely precious grimoire, I merely managed it thoroughly to prevent abuse."
"May I show it to my companions?"
"Of course. However, I am only lending it until you leave this room."
When Princess Sia handed the book to the students,
Trine snatched it up and immediately began reading.
Benheim ignored Trine and said to Princess Sia,
"In any case, tonight, we shall perform the ritual to break the curse in this room."
"May my companions participate in that ritual as well?"
"It is a somewhat dangerous ritual, so that would be difficult. Only I and one other librarian will participate."
If the fake Barbara had not been discovered yesterday,
Benheim would surely have allowed her to participate, as if being generous.
That would have allowed him to avoid Princess Sia's suspicion.
After killing Princess Sia during the ritual,
Dopplezinger would disguise herself as Sia.
And they would likely have claimed that Barbara had died in an accident during the ritual.
That was why Princess Sia thought inwardly,
'It is one thing to target me, but dragging in an innocent person as well is truly outrageous.'
However, that fact alone was not enough to use as evidence to arrest Benheim.
That was why she must not show even more signs of suspicion here.
Princess Sia calmly asked,
"What kind of person is this other participant?"
"I shall introduce her. Miss Dopplezinger, please come in."
At that, Librarian Dopplezinger from last night entered the room.
Only Sia and Trine had seen Dopplezinger's real face.
The other students did not seem to feel anything in particular toward her, whom they were seeing for the first time.
Princess Sia smiled brightly and said,
"I look forward to your help tonight."
"Yes. I will make certain the ritual succeeds."
"Good. Then I shall entrust my fate to the two of you."
At that, Benheim laughed loudly once and said,
"Thank you. I will certainly succeed in the ritual, save you, Princess, and formally propose to you."
At those words, the students looked at Trine for a moment,
But Trine pretended not to hear and was still absorbed in reading the book.
Benheim asked Trine,
"What do you think? If you can decipher it by the end of today, I will give you the chance to perform the ritual."
Only then did Trine close the book and say,
"I give up."
At that, Benheim snorted and said,
"Then since we must prepare the ritual with Princess Sia, students, please leave now."
In the end, the knight department students left Benheim's room, half driven out.
After they all sat around the lounge for a while,
The students each offered Trine a word of comfort.
"Honestly, even if you and Princess Sia got married, your personalities would not have matched well."
"If it is you, you will surely find someone better."
"You are the class representative of the knight department, so once you graduate, women will line up for you."
Lizbette placed a hand on Trine's shoulder as well and said,
"Stay strong. The pain of today will surely be repaid later with greater happiness."
At those words, Trine quietly nodded.
To be honest, he truly was suffering.
The act of pretending to suffer itself was more tiring than he had expected.
On top of that, there was an even greater problem confusing Trine.
'Isn't the Book of Walpurgis way too easy?!'
In truth, he had already finished deciphering it back in Benheim's room.
As expected, to Trine's eyes, it had looked no more difficult than a fairy-tale book.
It was so absurd that he even wondered if it might be a fake.
Lizbette rose from her seat and said,
"In any case, Lord Elford should arrive soon too, so let us go meet him at the station first."
At that, Trine stood up and said,
"I'll stay behind and read some books to clear my head."
"All right. But do not go anywhere strange. Stay inside the library."
"Ah, and can you pass along a message to Butler Elford for me?"
"What message?"
"Tell him I will cheat a little tonight, so please overlook it just this once."
At that, Lizbette frowned and asked,
"What? What does that mean all of a sudden? Are you saying you are giving up on Princess Sia and immediately meeting another woman?"
"Shut up! Tonight, my girlfriends are the grimoires in this library! So do not bother me."
"...Understood."
With an expression that showed she was not entirely convinced, Lizbette left first with the other students.
***
Some time later.
Butler Elford met up with the other female students at the train station.
After stopping by a cafe for a while, he received a brief explanation of the situation from the female students.
After finishing the explanation, Lizbette frowned slightly and said,
"And Trine asked us to pass a message to you, Lord Elford."
"Please tell me."
"He said he will cheat a little tonight, so please overlook it just this once."
"Cheat, you say?"
"I believe it means he intends to focus on grimoires to forget his heartbreak."
At that, Barbara, who was beside them, cut in irritably.
"I am truly disappointed! To think his attitude would change immediately just because Princess Sia rejected him."
Butler Elford closed his eyes for a moment and thought.
These students did not know that Trine's true unrequited love was Lady Yuril.
In other words, this did not mean he was giving up on Princess Sia.
Rather, it meant the opposite.
He had conveyed that message so only Butler Elford would understand its true meaning in order to avoid the library's eyes.
The butler, understanding the real meaning, smiled faintly and murmured,
"Truly, his recklessness has not changed at all since long ago."
At that, Lizbette smiled bitterly and said,
"Surely Trine only said something strange for a moment because he is in pain."
"Hoho. It seems none of you know anything about Trine yet."
"...Pardon?"
The butler slowly rose from his seat and said,
"Let us infiltrate the grand library together tonight. Combat may occur, so prepare yourselves thoroughly."
***
That night, after the library closed.
In his room, Benheim raised a glass filled with wine and said,
"Then, to the successful breaking of Princess Sia's curse."
Princess Sia did not lift her own glass and stared at him as she said,
"Lord Benheim, why do you wish to marry me?"
"If there is a beautiful flower, monopolizing it is a man's instinct."
"Please tell me the honest reason, rather than words you do not mean."
"Hahaha. Let us just say I have an ambition to bring prosperity to the elves."
"Is that so? That is truly a fine ambition."
"I hardly know where to put myself after such praise."
"So that is why you thought to kill me and switch me with Miss Gingerdopple?"
At those words, Benheim flinched for a moment,
And Princess Sia brought a finger to the glass.
"There is poison in this wine too, is there not? I believe it should be enough to serve as evidence to arrest you."
Benheim's expression twisted sharply.
However, he soon smiled falsely and replied,
"As expected of Princess Sia. To think you knew everything and remained silent until now."
"You are a cunning man, so if I had not done this much, you would never have shown your tail."
"Your courage is admirable, but you were far too reckless."
Benheim asked Dopplezinger, who stood behind him,
"Miss Dopplezinger. Is there anyone currently remaining in this library?"
"I have confirmed that after closing, everyone except the three of us, including all librarians, has left."
"What is the possibility that someone secretly infiltrates the library?"
"The library's security is famous for being impregnable. We will immediately know if a librarian enters as well."
"That is what she says, Princess. What do you intend to do now?"
Princess Sia's expression darkened a little.
She had certainly pushed too far.
She had managed to obtain evidence, but it meant nothing if there was no one to save her.
Still, if it was Trine, surely he would somehow...
"Do you perhaps think that a man named Trine will somehow save you?"
Benheim sneered, as if he had read Princess Sia's thoughts.
"Miss Dopplezinger. Would you explain Trine's movements?"
When Dopplezinger clapped her hands, a screen made of magic appeared in the air.
"This is footage recorded a few hours ago."
In the footage, Trine shouted,
"All right! Today, I'm forgetting everything else and reading books!"
Then he headed to the grimoire section and began pulling out books at random to read.
After some time passed,
This time, he held a book in one hand and went around asking every librarian he could find.
"Excuse me! Do you happen to know 'The Pied Piper'? Can you help me interpret this part?"
Benheim spoke in a mocking tone.
"I understand Trine's feelings well enough. After all, his fiancée was stolen right before his eyes, so he must want to forget you quickly."
In the end, when closing time approached in the footage,
Dopplezinger could be seen approaching Trine.
"It is nearly closing time, so would you please leave?"
"Just a moment! I haven't finished reading this book yet!"
"I will lend it to you, so please leave."
The two argued for a while.
In the end, Dopplezinger dragged Trine outside by force.
The footage ended there.
Benheim snorted and said,
"Once he has gone outside, returning is impossible."
Princess Sia bit her lip.
It seemed Trine had tried to remain in the library even after closing.
But since he had been dragged out by force, entering again would be impossible.
"I deliberately kept delaying matters so the princess and her companions could not meet each other."
It had been a blunder.
She had gone along with it and wandered too deep into the tiger's mouth.
Her mistake was that she had complacently assumed Trine would do something.
"Drink."
Benheim took a pistol from his inner pocket and pointed at Princess Sia's glass as he spoke.
"Surely you do not wish to leave behind an unsightly corpse after death, Princess?"
In the end, Princess Sia reluctantly picked up the glass.
At that, Benheim laughed loudly and said,
"Then, may you have a peaceful death."
Princess Sia resigned herself and quietly lifted the glass.
"...May the road ahead of you be a path of thorns."
Just as she brought the glass to her lips,
Benheim's expression changed into something rather ridiculous.
"Miss Dopplezinger? What exactly are you doing?"
"I am filming."
"What?"
Princess Sia looked toward Librarian Dopplezinger.
For some reason, she was holding a camcorder in one hand.
That camcorder was surely the object she had lent to Trine on the train.
Just then,
Benheim suddenly brought a hand to his ear and murmured,
"Intruders? No, those are our library's librarians, aren't they?"
Benheim made a screen appear in the air.
At that, countless librarians were entering the library as a group.
"I am certain I told everyone not to enter after closing today."
Princess Sia glanced at the screen and immediately noticed.
Trine was mixed in among that crowd.
Only then did Princess Sia's face begin to brighten.
'Really, at this point, I almost think he is deliberately trying to make my heart race.'
In the middle of that, a blue bird suddenly came through the window and sat on Benheim's shoulder.
"Director, this is serious! A fire has broken out in the general books section!"
"What? The library has a fire-prevention barrier!"
Just then, another bird came inside and began shouting.
"Director! Director! Bookworms are gnawing on the books!"
"What the hell is that all of a sudden?!"
The two birds perched on Benheim's shoulders and kept shouting with no intention of leaving.
"Fire! Fire! Fire!"
"Bookworms! Bookworms! Bookworms!"
"Aaagh! What in the world are these things?!"
Benheim tried to chase the birds away, but the birds made of mana could not even be touched.
In the end, just as Benheim unconsciously tried to open the window,
Dozens of birds were flying in from outside the window.
"Director! Director! Director!" "It is a dragon! The end of the world! We are all going to die!" "Please promote me! Give me more vacation!" "Princess Sia, take the camcorder and run!" "Am I truly a sparrow or a pigeon?" "Boom chick, beat chick, boom chick, beat chick!"
The birds surrounded Benheim and spouted utter nonsense.
In the end, Benheim covered his ears and sank down to the floor.
Taking advantage of that opening, Princess Sia sprang to her feet.
Then she snatched the camcorder from Dopplezinger's hand and began running out of the reception room.
Surrounded by the birds, Benheim shouted to Librarian Dopplezinger.
"Damn it! Go out there and catch her at once!"
However, Dopplezinger did not move an inch from where she stood.
"I am sorry. Trine ordered me not to move from here."