After the man prepared the whip, we continue to the library and this time, Finnian is with us.
“What are you doing here, Finnian?” Ashnor asked him with curiosity.
Finnian looked at Ashwin then at Nix, then decided to just shrug.
“Is he dumb, or something?” Nix commented jokingly.
Ashnor elbowed him, “Hey!”
“What?”
“That’s not a very nice thing to say, Nix,” Ashwin told him.
Nix looked at Finnian then at me.
“I’m sorry, I was just joking.” Nix looked sincere so Finnian just patted his head.
Finnian is older than them by a year, the three boys are still three, turning four this year. Finnian is already five.
“Okay, let’s go to the bookstore!” Niveus pointed in the direction where the library is located.
“Why are we going to the bookstore, when the imperial library has the most complete set of books in the empire?” Finnian suddenly asked.
Finnian actually said something in front of Nix, huh. Does he consider him as one of his friends already?
“Well, I don’t know? I just thought the bookstore would be fun?” Nix scratched his head.
“Maybe, we’ll find something there that is not available inside the imperial library?” Niveus low-key defended her young master.
Finnian only shrugged and continued to walk towards the bookstore.
Will he just continue to roam around the marketplace without any guard or even a disguise? What could’ve happened if he did not bump in unto us?
We stop in front of a huge bookstore, and as we stepped inside I saw a boy wearing a black cloak, with his back against us. He’s flipping through the pages of a book with his face hidden.
Is that the boy from last night? But, somehow he feels different, he does not give off any insane feeling from him or even his murderous intent is nowhere to be felt. Maybe this is not the same boy from last-
He suddenly look back at me and our eyes met.
It’s him!
He stared innocently at me. Does he not recognize me? Or is he a different person?
He continued to pick some books without giving me another glance.
“Ria! What kind of books do you like?”
“Fifi, do you want some fantasy adventure books?”
“Does the princess wants those kinds of books?” Nix asked them.
“Well, she’s a baby,” Ashnor responded.
“She’s different compared to other babies.”
Finnian left us without any word and proceeded to skim through the shelves.
I looked back at the place where the boy was earlier, but he was no longer there.
“Do you want to go over to that section, Princess?” Niveus asked me.
I nodded, I was curious as to what kind of books he was looking at. Niveus carried me towards where he was standing.
I skimmed through the titles of the books and well, they were not the kind of books little children would want to read.
‘Drugs: Poison or Curse’ ‘Ten Ways to Easily Kill a Prey’ ‘The Royal Art of Poison’ ‘Poison: A History’ ‘How to Silently Kill a Person’ ‘Fatally Dead’ and etcetera.
“Uhm, these aren’t good books, Princess. Let’s just go to another section.”
Well, at least I know that he’s the same boy, because who, in their right minds, would want to read those kinds of books?
But he seemed different compared to last night. What happened to him?
Finnian suddenly appeared and handed me a book.
‘The Little Princess’ it’s a storybook.
“Oh, Young Duke, are you going to give this to the princess?”
“No, not yet. I want her to look at it first.”
He stared at me as he waited for my reaction.
“Hmm, I guess not this then.”
With that, he disappeared again.
“Riri! What kind of books do you want?”
Ashwin suddenly came running towards us.
“Shhh, no running please.” One of the people working in the bookstore said.
“Oh, we are very sorry.” Niveus bowed her head towards the person as a sign of being apologetic.
Ashwin came over to us, pouting.
“Why do we need to say sorry?”
“Prince Ashwin, we are disguised as normal citizens of the empire. Also, even if you are the prince, you must learn to obey the rules. You are not above them.”
“Okay.” Ashwin agreed but was still pouting.
“Anyway, let’s go look for books that would be of interest to the princess.”
Finnian came back again with a book as he handed it to Niveus for me to see.
“What kind of book is that Finnian?” Ashwin asked him.
He just motioned for Ashwin to look at it.
‘World History: Things You Did Not Know’ Hmmm, I am still very curious about the world I am in. I want to know more and maybe this book could help me with it.
“I guess, this is it then,” Finnian whispered to himself, looking satisfied.
“Niveus, is this book available in the Imperial Library?”
“I’m sorry, Young Duke but I also do not know that.”
Someone passed by as looking at Finnian before fully processing who he was, then she curtsied.
“Greetings, Young Lord of Imperial Blood.”
Finnian only nodded at her.
“What can I help you with, Young Lord?”
“That book,” He pointed to the book in Niveus hands, “Is it available in the Imperial library?”
The woman looked at the book, “Do you mind if I take a look, Miss?”
Niveus handed her the book as she flipped through the back page of the book.
“Hmmm, I believe it is not yet available. This arrived only yesterday, so it is still new to the empire.”
“Okay, we’ll buy it then.”
“Follow me, Young Lord.”
The woman led us to where we could purchase the book as Finnian handed her the money.
“Shall I hold the book, for you Young Duke?” Niveus asked Finnian.
“Okay, it’s for Flizeria. Do take care of it.”
With that, he left us again. Niveus is now holding the whip, which Ashnor bought for me, and the book, which Finnian bought for me.
“I can never read what that boy is thinking.” Niveus sighed to herself.
“Let’s go and check on the others.”
The boys looked over lots of books, Nix was looking at books about governing territories and budgeting, while the twins kept on looking for books that they think that I would like.
Finnian on the other hand looked satisfied for the first few moments and then went back to his aloof expression.
Then it was time to leave the bookstore.
“What did you buy, young master?” Niveus asked Nix.
“I bought a book on how to effectively govern a territory.”
“Oh, that’s so mature of you.”
“Well, we still don’t know who will become the crown prince, but either way I will still be leading a territory someday.”
Niveus nodded with pride toward his young master.
“How about you Prince Ashnor, what did you buy?”
“A book about the art of war.”
“The Art of War? Why did you buy that?”
Ashnor shrugged, “We can never know when there will be war.”
These boys are really mature for their age.
“How about you, Prince Ashwin?”
“Well, I bought a book about different places in the world. I want to read this together with Fifi and we will go to these places, someday.” He smiled at me brightly as he presented to me the book.
Niveus then looked at Finnian, “Well, why did you not buy anything, Young Duke?”
“That book is enough.”
He referred to the book that Niveus was holding which he bought for me.
We walked towards the children’s parlor this time, and I want to walk on my own so I tap Niveus’ cheek and pointed towards the ground.
“Oh, do you want to walk on your own, Princess?”
I nodded at her so she put me down.
“I will hold you, Fifi!” Ashwin presented.
“No, Ria is walking with me.” Ashnor calmly walked toward me but Finnian suddenly held my hand.
“She’s mine.” With that, he held my hand as we walk ahead of them.
“Hey! No fair!” Ashwin shouted from behind but Finnian did not look disturbed, and I heard Niveus chuckle as they started walking to catch up to us.
I look up at Finnian as he looked straight ahead without looking at me.
Children with imperial blood really act differently than other children huh.
The six of us arrived at a store with a glass door.
“So, this is it,” Niveus said as she opened the glass door.
“Welcome.” A maid greeted us with a smile.
“Table for six?” She then asked us as she looked at us one by one.
“Yes, please.”
She then stopped at Finnian as she noticed his red hair.
Her face was filled with surprise but before she could forget to breathe, she curtsied towards him.
“I greet the Young Lord of Imperial Blood.”
I guess the people greet children with imperial blood that way, especially when they don’t exactly know their titles.
“This way, please.”
With that, she led us further inside.
The interiors of the parlor were of pastel colors, really suitable for children. Cakes and other sweets were displayed as children were laughing on their own. Mingling on their own with no parents.
“The parents usually put their children here, as they have other business to attend to.” The maid explained.
“We are here. Here’s the available menu for today. Please do ring the bell if you need anything.”
There were sofas at the corner and at the center of the room is a grand piano. There were also flowering plants inside giving the parlor a wonderful atmosphere.
As we settled down, the children were looking at us. Well, to be exact they are all looking at Finnian.
Then we heard someone clear their throat, a young girl.
“I greet the Young Duke of the East, Finnian Orientem.” She greeted him as she curtsied.