While Anne handled the new hires, Rexford had reached the library, a huge building that was within the grounds of the palace.
It functioned like a public library back on Earth but was only accessible to nobility and those that worked for them.
One of the reasons why some citizens would go out of their way to seek employment under nobles or the imperial family is precisely because of the access to facilities that would allow them to increase their own worth.
Simply being a maid would allow an individual to enter the library in their free time, a privilege which would otherwise only be reserved for the nobility. But the nobles had no use for the public library for they would have their own collections.
Not as vast as the Imperial Library but large enough to give them competence.
Even the Imperial family had its own library reserved only for them called the Palace Library, even imperial servants are not allowed access to it which led to the Imperial Library located on the grounds of the Imperial Palace to be flooded with servants and knights.
As if prepared for such a result, the Imperial Library was the size of modern multistory university buildings.
It had rooms for reading, rooms for storage and even a large dining hall for those who wish to reduce the time it takes to have meals in between study sessions.
Entering the library, Rexford was greeted with a sight that reminded him of the century old universities back on Earth.
Though… the sight before him was more… posh.
Polished marble floors and granite walls, statues made of polished granite… despite the materials used in the building being similar, the colors were well balanced giving a luxurious feel to it.
Many servants were walking by, some were dressed in their work attires, likely coming to the library after they finished their work. Some were dressed casually which showed that today was likely their scheduled rest day.
Unlike modern libraries and universities on Earth, the people who were within this facility all carried heavy books and writing material with them. People who saw them would immediately identify these individuals as "studious" or maybe "nerdy".
The sight of people within a library genuinely reading gave Rexford a mysterious pressure.
Since he could faintly recall a time when he had used the university library as a hangout, a place to sleep and relax. Especially when the weather was unbearably hot since the university library where he studied had air conditioning.
Some would think that such an act was blasphemy but he was still better than the idiots who sneak in food or go to the library just so they could use the library wifi to play online games.
The sight of a modern day library filled with students on their phones while the books that withstood the test of time lay dormant on the shelves simply gathering dust was not present here.
Inside the Imperial Library, everyone was studying, the books were getting worn down but such damage was expected. In fact, Rexford felt an even greater feeling of shame when he saw the most worn down books being those of language, arts, crafts and other specific knowledge groups.
Literature was not covered in dust but the difference between their use was obvious.
Crowds formed sharing books since the library could not keep too many copies of the same text.
"First time entering the imperial library?"
"You know its not"
"But you act as if it is"
"Just a moment of realization is all"
"I see, the Third Prince has grown"
"Of course, I've gotten taller and bi-"
"That won't work on me Rex, now, what do you want from this little old me~"
A woman dressed in purple robes, her mature body exudes an air of glamour that gives her a mysterious seductive aura. But her dress brought more danger than it does lust.
The slit that reached her hips showed off quite a bit of her legs wrapped in translucent black silk stockings which revealed a garter wrapped around her thighs.
The garter was a traditional wear that many nobles wore to show "purity", embroidered with flowers and sometimes their family crest. It was not meant to be shown, hell, the slit in the woman's skirt was something that was looked down upon by many.
Yet, the woman before him carried it with pride, she showed off her purity and even went as far as to use an overbust corset, worn above the dress and used to emphasize one's figure.
If that weren't enough, her dress also had a low cut that revealed much of her chest, coupled with the corset, any man would find it hard to not look at the peaks that she showed off with pride.
Yet, her sex appeal was not the danger that scared off many-
"Duchess Hall, calling yourself old is too much. If you wish to, I don't mind proving your youth but today I came for another purpose."
"Still the same philandrous spirit, but it seems you've gotten more… aggressive? Has the Third Prince lost his fear of accountability? Well, I wouldn't mind taking you in, the Duchy still needs an heir and a woman can't really make one alone could she?"
"... Duche-"
"Call me Del like you always do Rex"
"... Del, as much as I would love to give you an unforgettable night, I'm currently busy with a task from the Emperor"
Rexford used his words carefully, despite having the memories before his awakening, Rexford's personality from his past life had still gotten more strength over his thoughts. The flirtatious personality of the prince would have been repressed when dealing with nobility before but his current mind saw things in a more… "modern" or "Earthly" way.
The prince who was raised in an imperial era would easily uphold the current societal norms, despite having a rather liberal mindset, the prince was still keenly aware of his position and the dangers he could befall.
Noble women were not on the same level as commoners, if he makes a mistake, the woman he takes in could be used as leverage.
The closest Rexford had gone was with fallen nobles or exiled nobility. Women who had completely severed connections with their noble blood, such women were unlikely to be used and would choose to go against their family if they had the chance.
The duchess though… She was one of the biggest red flags in the world of nobles.
Her large pointed hat was not an aesthetic choice but a proof of ability.
'Witch of Knowledge, the greatest witch in the empire and the one who controls the Imperial Library and Academy. She is also a Duchess, inheriting the title after all the male inheritors died in war… well, made to die that is…'
Delilah Hall, the Duchess who was also a witch, despite taking over her family's duchy, she chose to serve as the Imperial Academy and Library Overseer.
Some would see her as the unfortunate woman who was forced to take over her family's responsibilities despite wishing for a life in the world of magic but Rexford was well aware that it was not the case.
In reality, the Duchess had been colluding with the Imperial Family, her house had shown a desire to split from the empire and establish their own country. It was something that the empire did not wish to see as the Hall Duchy had the highest population of mages and witches.
This position is what emboldened the Hall Family of Dukes and it is why the Imperial Family colluded with Delilah.
"A task? Does that have something to do with the recruitment earlier today?"
"Yes"
"Hm… does this have something to do with your goals?"
"You could say that"
"I see, so what do you need my help for?"
"..."
The conversation was rather quick, but Rexford was already expecting it.
Delilah, despite being one of the biggest dangers in his life, was also one of the people who Rexford was colluding with for his plans.
None were aware of it but Delilah was one of the candidates for Rexford's fiance. It sounded absurd and would especially seem stupid to the people of Earth.
But the imperial family can't have Delilah build a relationship with the other princes.
The first prince who was also declared to be the official heir of the throne was impossible to be her partner as that would effectively make her empress, a bigger threat than the previous Duke Hall.
The second prince was also an impossible choice for he was the current leader of the Imperial Army.
While Rexford dropped out of the fight for the throne and became a "waste", the second prince also dropped out but moved to take on the matters of the military. Much like the first prince, having Delilah marry the man who controls the military power of the empire was a risk the Imperial family was unwilling to take.
Interestingly, the Imperial family had a tradition of taking in low ranking nobles or even commoners as Empresses.
This strengthened the population's trust and respect for the Imperial family while also ensuring that the Imperial Throne was not influenced by any of the noble factions.
In order to maintain such a tradition, the Imperial family would have multiple princes and princesses who would become the bargaining tool that would marry into noble families.
These members of the Imperial family would have no authority and instead act like a hostage or a connection which the nobles could use as leverage.
Usually though, the Imperial family would only marry their Princes, this allows them to have a chance at taking over noble families further strengthening the imperial power.
Unfortunately, the current generation was rather… skewed in terms of gender distribution.
On a larger scale, the ratio between men and women was relatively equal, but when isolating nobles, the gap is obvious.
Many men had died in the war and as nobles were the ones to take the lead and command armies, they were always the first to be taken down.
The Diabolus Empire was powerful, the races within were numerous and had various strengths which made them difficult to deal with. But commanders from the enemies of the empire found the biggest weakness of the empire's army.
The commanders were the people who made it possible for such a complex army to function with great efficiency. Cut them off and the coordination between races, the complex structure that won wars- all of it would break.
The Imperial family took advantage of this and sent dangerous elements to the front but-
It inevitably led to friendly forces being affected as well, in the end, there were more female nobles than male nobles.
Some houses had even resorted to having a female successor, an act that became more commonplace after Delilah was instated as the Duchess of Hall by the Emperor himself.
Such a situation would have been a goldmine for the imperial family but for some reason, the emperor was unable to make more sons.
Moreover, rushing now would not do any good, many of the noble women were of marriageable age and even if the emperor could have his concubines and wife make princes, the gap in their age and urgent needs for male heirs would not be solved.
Such a situation is what allowed Rexford to have the authority he currently had.
This situation is what gave Delilah a reason to support Rexford, building a deeper connection would increase her chances of officially getting engaged to the Third Prince. But more than that-
"Don't worry Rex, I won't force you, but being the Duke of Hall would be the best situation for you right? That would get you the chance to protect more people and even start a revolution in the territory- or course, a social revolution not separation from the empire~"
Delilah could easily see through Rexford's thoughts, but she didn't really bother to hide it.
She already knew that Rexford was keenly aware of her intentions. Unlike others, Delilah did not like the authority she had- this personality is why the Imperial family chose to collude with her instead of other women under the Hall family.
At the same time, she was also aware of Rexford's personality, after all, the two were the same.
But only one of them could escape and Delilah didn't care much about the Hall family. In fact, getting pregnant would give her more incentive to stay in the Imperial Capital!
If she married Rexford and got pregnant while still in the capital, Rexford would be forced to return to the Hall Duchy alone while she could use her pregnancy and childcare as an excuse to stay in the Imperial capital.
Whether the next Duke Hall would have the original Hall family blood or not is of no importance to her, either way, if Rexford were her partner, even the daughter of a concubine or mistress could take over further increasing her chances of escaping the family duty.
As such, Rexford's philandrous nature was less a liability and more of an opportunity for her!
"Let's not talk about such things Del, instead, let's focus on the more important matters, I need your help"
"On what?"
"Recordings… I'm planning to make a record, one that would be used for entertainment and I need help in editing it"
"... you think showing indecency would help you escape?"
Delilah was well aware of Rexford's recordings, after all, she had helped him edit it. In fact, Rexford had used it in an attempt to incur her ire but with the current circumstances, that plan had obviously failed.
Though, such a memory had led to Delilah creating the assumption that Rexford was planning to use the same tactic, the one that failed on her, onto the whole empire.
"Unfortunately, that's not the case, Father is well aware of my records and had barred me from showing anything indecent, trust me, this show would be purely for entertainment and also a call to the populace. Think of it as a play that would incite a change in the minds of the people"
"... fine, I'll help you out"
"Great! Now, could you contact Ortrun for me?"
Rexford asked with a smile but the answer he got was a sudden shift in the air as Delilah's expression turned sour.
"Huh? That dragon bitch? Why?"
"I kinda need her help as well"
"For what?"
The third prince paused, he knew of the relationship between Delilah and the noble lady Ortrun who was in a similar position as the witch.
But among the many people he could contact, Ortrun was the only one who could provide him with the manpower he needed at a short notice. After all, she had control over a third of the Empire's economy, she had had access to talents that even the imperial family didn't and what Rexford needed the most now were-
"... actors"