He couldn't find any newspapers. He stood there for a moment, silent, as if the silence around him were carrying the weight of his thoughts. At that moment, a calm voice came from behind, "What are you looking for?"
Erwin slowly turned around. Standing in front of him was a woman with golden hair, a sweet but restrained smile on her face. Behind that smile, there was no obvious sign of age as if time itself had forgotten to affect her. She was wearing a kind of royal black dress, elegant and modest, which made her stand out from the crowd of ordinary people. This woman was the librarian.
Erwin answered briefly, "Newspapers."
The woman looked at him steadily, then said in a firm but calm voice, "You won't get newspapers today. The demand for them is unusually high today."
It didn't take Erwin a moment to understand the meaning hidden in the woman's words. "The demand for them is unusually high today"this sentence was not just information, but a hint. That night in the palace, the rumors of the dead, the bodies bleeding from their ears and noses all of them flashed through his mind at once. He understood that the entire city was now watching that event, and the newspapers were just fragments of that terrible truth.
Erwin said nothing. He just tilted his head slightly. A strange unease was building up in his chest as if he was walking too close to the center of an event whose very name would bring danger. Standing in the silence of the library, he felt it clearly for the first time.
Then Erwin slowly walked towards the shelves inside the library. On the old wooden shelves, rows of books some covered in dust, some with unknown symbols and dates engraved on them. His eyes were running over the book covers, but his mind was stuck somewhere else. That night in the palace, the mysterious deaths, and only one name Relic 001-4 were swirling in the depths of his thoughts.
He didn't know what the Relic was, or if it was even mentioned in any book. Yet a strange urge was pushing him towards the shelves of history, scriptures, and forbidden knowledge. It seemed that somewhere in this library, the shadow of that number was hidden maybe not directly, but in hints, in the gaps of torn pages, or in words that would escape the eyes of the average reader.
Erwin began to look at one book after another. With each page he turned, his inner restlessness grew. He realized that his desire to know about Relic 001–4 was no longer a curiosity it had become a necessity for his survival. Because since the incident in the palace, this number had become intertwined with his new life with an invisible thread.
He was convinced in his heart that the word "Relic 001–4" must have some connection with the incident in the palace. Right in the midst of that thought, a sudden tingling feeling arose in his chest. Because he noticed that Adlof was also standing in front of the ancient bookshelf. For a moment, their eyes metsilent, alert, as if a cat and a mouse were measuring each other's movements.
Erwin did not express his inner suspicion. He walked past Adlof in his normal manner, as if he had not noticed anything. Then he moved towards the shelf in another branch, but his mind was no longer on the pages of the book.
Erwin's suspicion intensified Adlof must know something about the events in the palace. At that moment, Adlof walked slowly to stand next to him and asked in a casual manner, "Did he do the job the professor gave him?" His voice was calm, but there was a strange tension hidden in the words.
Erwin looked back. Adlof's face was now a kind of smile not very calm, but not outright hostility either. That smile seemed to indicate that he was keeping something secret. In an instant, Erwin's chest trembled, as if the silent air in the library had suddenly become heavy.
At that moment, Olivia's voice broke the heavy silence between them. She looked at Adlof floating in the air and said coldly, "Master, I don't find this boy convenient at all." There was no emotion in her voice, only a clear warning. Erwin realized that these words had only reached his ears.
Seeing Olivia beside her, the pressure that had been building up inside her eased slightly. She controlled her breathing, suppressed the discomfort in her chest and took a breath in a natural manner. Then, looking at Adlof, she said in a carefree voice, "I don't remember anything about this."
Her words were calm, but the warning remained hidden deep in her eyes. Adlof held back that smile, as if nothing had happened, but Erwin could clearly see that he was now looking at Adlof with an unusual
"Excuse me, I was just testing you," Adlof gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Because you seem a lot different today than before."
As soon as he finished speaking, he laughed a relaxed yet overly loud laugh. That laugh instantly shattered the silence of the library, like the sound of glass breaking in the still air.
"So you're not going to class?" Adlof asked, looking at Erwin, his voice a mixture of excitement and curiosity.
Erwin looked at the gate of his previous memory and replied cautiously, "Of course." He didn't want to seem intimidating, so he kept himself calm.
He started walking towards the classroom with caution, picking up his feet very carefully. Adlof was walking a little behind him, and Erwin held back the discomfort, as if it wouldn't stick to him like the wind.
__ __ __ __
There was a crowd of students around him, all walking at their own pace. In this world, there was no discrimination between boys and girls; everyone worked together equally. It was the complete opposite compared to the world before Erwin in 18th-century society, boys and girls walked separate paths, and opportunities were limited. Here, everyone around them spoke to each other with ease and smiles, as if every word and expression flowed together like a kind of melody in the crowd.
Suddenly, Adolf disappeared from behind Erwin. Almost as if by reflex, he turned around, and at that very moment he bumped into someone hard. Losing his balance, his body slipped, and he fell to the floor.
For a few seconds, he just stared at the ceiling. The sounds around him seemed to fade into the distance. Slowly, he got up and sat down on the floor, when he realized that countless eyes were focused on him. The sounds of curiosity, surprise, and muffled whispers were heavy all around.
There were many books spread out in front of him random, messy, as if they had been shattered like thoughts in a moment of shock. He looked back and saw a flash of black hair. It was then that he realized they had both been knocked together.
Erwin said softly, "Sorry, miss." The words seemed to float away in the air, disappearing. Everyone around him was still looking, but this time the eyes were not just curious Erwin was being looked at with a slightly different look, with a look that he still couldn't fully understand.
The girl was still sitting on the floor. Erwin stood up and without a moment's hesitation walked towards her and extended his right hand. The countless eyes around him were still fixed on her, those silent eyes making him uncomfortable. The girl's face could not be seen her thick black hair had fallen down and hidden her expression.
After a moment's pause, the girl took Erwin's hand and stood up. She slowly moved her hair away from her face. Her face was revealed restrained yet sharp, as if a silent self-respect was hidden in every line.
Noticing the situation around her, she felt a little uneasy. Her blue eyes moved to one side, her cherry blossom-red lips curled slightly, and her cheeks puffed out slightly as she let go of Erwin's hand. Then she said in a short but clear voice, "Help me pick up the books."
Erwin picked up a few books from the floor and silently walked behind her. In a short time, the surrounding noise returned to normal, as if nothing had happened. However, as she walked, Erwin noticed there was a slight discomfort in the girl's gait.
He didn't delay any longer. He asked in a soft but sincere voice, "Miss, are you having difficulty walking?"
"My leg is sprained," the girl said no complaint in her voice, no cry of pain, just a kind of restrained confession.
Erwin paused for a moment at her words, then said softly, "Give me the rest of the books." He moved forward slowly, taking the books from the girl's hands, as if he might accidentally hurt her further.
"Can you walk a few more steps? There's a quieter place in the front room."
The girl nodded weakly, her eyes showing a hint of hesitation but a clear sign of agreement.
They reached an empty room in silence. The room was quiet, the light filtering through the window casting long shadows on the floor.
Erwin carefully placed the books on a wooden table so that they too could rest. "Sit here," he said, pulling out a chair. The girl sat down slowly, her manner a mixture of nobility and restraint.
"Show me the sprained ankle," Erwin said, his voice filled with responsibility.
He knelt on the floor, his eyes lowered, as if to make the girl's discomfort worse.
The girl paused and asked, "Can you fix it?" not a doubt in that question, but a kind of last resort.
Then he slowly pulled back the folds of his yellow royal gown and brought out the injured ankle.