First, she met the queen as a courtesy call, and afterwards, she went to the library where Chancellor Flynn introduced her to the head custodian of the royal library. The head custodian, who was an old scholarly man with a timid personality, then started introducing her work to her, and offered to show her the section of historical books in the library that she was assigned to handle.

The royal library was large, a building of its own that was almost as large as an entire side palace, and there were several floors inside, with multiple shelves encompassing several sections of books, from local folktales to special books on governance to books talking about commerce and economy. There were other custodians present as well, but they too seemed to be quiet people like the head custodian and merely offered nods of acknowledgement when Esther passed by them.

After a while, Esther and the head custodian soon reached a part of the library where not a single shadow of a person could be seen. It was extremely quiet, and this early in the morning, only the head custodian’s and her footsteps echoed in the empty section of the library.

“This is the section of ancient history books,” the head custodian told her. Esther looked around, studying her new workplace.

Unlike the other sections, the ancient history books were in the more secluded part of the library, and from the heavy layer of dust collecting on the shelves, it didn’t look like anyone visited here often.

‘Seems like no one has an interest in ancient history,’ she concluded and looked at one door that was attached to the section of ancient history books. “What is in there, Head Custodian?”

“Behind that door, there are books about ancient mythology, scrolls about gods and angels and all kinds of supernatural things, those kinds of unpopular beliefs from the small nations and tribes absorbed by the Kingdom of Megaris all throughout the years. As the dragon and the phoenix represent the royal family, other beliefs are considered sacrilegious.

Since the survivors of the defeated tribes are mostly indoctrinated by Megaris, no one believes in those false idols and godly beings anymore. Only those purely bored scholars read those books so it is an almost abandoned part of the library. We just open it to clean it once in a while. Most of the books and scrolls from older times are so hard to preserve but we are trying our best.”

Esther nodded, indicating that she understood.  The older man then gestured towards a certain spot. A table and a chair were placed by the window from where bright light entered the library. It had a view of the mountains from the North.

“That place belongs to you now,” the head custodian instructed.

“Thank you, Head Custodian,” she replied.

“I will take a leave then,” he said and Esther followed him to see him off outside. When she returned to her section, she looked at the door where the ancient mythology books were kept.

‘I am eager to know what they have recorded in those books, whether these humans are truly aware of supernatural beings or if they made up a bunch of nonsense.’

She no longer delayed her curiosity and entered that part of the library. The head custodian did not lie. If she were not informed, Esther would have thought it was an archive of useless documents forgotten by time. The smell of old paper was heavy in the air, and there were more scrolls than books. Almost all of the books had yellowing pages, some even looking so fragile a thoughtless touch would disintegrate the paper.

The windows were torture to open, as the locks had rust on them because they weren’t frequently used, much less maintained. She had to use a little strength so that sunlight could enter to brighten the room a bit. The room even had cobwebs, looking like it had been several months since anyone entered it.

Esther went through a few books from the shelf closest to the door, and she almost laughed as she realized what they were all trying to tell.

[God and the angels created by him are good, while every other creature including demons and witches are bad.]

“Naive humans!” Esther sighed. “Light is always good in their eyes while darkness is always bad in their opinions. They have no idea how much these have strayed far from the truth—-from the harsh reality hidden behind the curtains of light and sacrifices buried behind the curtains of darkness.”

She idly checked the titles of some of the books on the inner shelves, and one particular title caught her attention.

[Devil]

She stared at it for a while. ‘Is it about…him?’

Humans could not be blamed for their ignorance, but as someone who belonged to the other side, Esther knew that demons and the devil were not one and the same. There were several types of demonkind, each with their own characteristics and specialization, while there was only one known devil since the beginning of time.

‘Maybe it’s a book about demons, but what if it is really about him?’

With shaking hands, she carefully pulled that book from the bookshelf and cradled it in her palm. It was a book bound in heavy brown leather with a clasp-and-catch fastening. Its pages were loose leaves with gilded edges, and the cover had a decorative engraving of an upside-down sword in the centre, with a line of ancient devil runes on its borders.

She inhaled deeply before opening that book. She felt her heart being chaotic, but she handled the book ever-so-gently, terrified that one wrong move and the old book with brittle pages would be ruined in her hands. She slowly turned the leather-bound cover, and on the first page, she saw words written in the language of an empire destroyed by war more than a century ago.

[An unholy creature—the Devil]

She turned to the next page, and there was a rough outline of a terrifying image of a beast-like human. It was drawn in the fierce and bold style preferred by the civilizations of old, depicting a tall humanoid being with long unruly hair and fierce eyes. The image had long fingers with long nails and sharp teeth, looking more like a monster straight out of a nightmare.

“He is not like this at all unless he is—”

“Who are you talking about, Baroness Esther?”

She heard a familiar voice and nearly jumped in surprise. After letting out a breath to steady herself, she turned towards the source of it.

Prince Theron was standing by the door, resting his right shoulder at the door frame with his arms folded in front of his chest. His lips carried a light smile and his dark eyes seemed to be shining at the sight of her.

“Uhh, I…I was just engrossed in reading,” she explained as she could not say anything more. She could only pray that he didn’t hear her earlier mumblings.

“Let me see what you are reading,” he said and went to her. He took the book from her hands, and she glared at how he was carelessly handling the old book.

“Careful—”

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