Chương 34: Threads of Leverage

For the next couple of days, Lira worked with the maids to make the first floor as presentable as possible. The heavy lifting, however, remained undone. The refuse pile had grown steadily in the corner of the room, a problem that still needed to be addressed. Splintered shelves, unusable furniture, broken lampposts, bags of dirt, and debris gathered from both floors. It formed a mass that could not be handled by them alone. Lira had already come up with a solution.

She just needed the library to herself again to act on it. Her first instinct had been simple. Find a way to bribe Dalwin. She had some personal money stored away with Pellen, enough that she could offer something tangible in exchange for assistance. But the more she considered it, the less it made sense. Why would a maid spend her own money to clean up the old library? There was no reasonable explanation for it. No one knew about her magic, about the value the library held for her beyond her assigned duties.

From the outside, it would look suspicious at best, foolish at worst, and it would invite questions she didn't want to answer. It was not worth it. The bribe, if there was to be one, needed to come from the library itself. Her thoughts had briefly turned to the primers. They held undeniable value. Even without fully understanding them, anyone with a bit of sense would recognize that they were not ordinary books, and offering one could easily secure cooperation. But that idea collapsed just as quickly as it formed.

Giving one away meant revealing too much. It would raise questions about how she had found them, how she understood them, and what she was doing with them. It would also mean parting with something she wasn't willing to lose. The third problem she faced was Dalwin himself. The man was unlikely to be interested in anything mundane. He did not strike her as a man who valued knowledge for its own sake.

Books would not sway him unless they carried some sort of status attached to them, and anything of that level would come with its own complications. Which left another option. If she could not influence him directly, then she could influence someone who could. A proxy. Harwin came to mind first, though she did not know enough about his relationship with Dalwin to be certain it would work. The grapevine claimed that they were rivals, but that was just unconfirmed gossip. She had never seen them actually interact.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. A noble would be more effective, but that came with its own risks. Drawing attention from the upper levels of the castle was not something she wanted unless absolutely necessary. So she waited, and she worked. While the cleaning continued, Lira kept an eye out for anything that might serve her purpose. Books of value, records of interest, and anything that could be leveraged in the right hands.

By the end of the week, the first floor had reached a point where it could no longer be called neglected. It was not perfect, not by any means, but it was functional. Celene returned that afternoon. She entered the library with the same measured grace as before, her gaze sweeping across the space as she took in the changes. This time, she did not need to walk far to see the results. The reading area stood out immediately.

Braka's work had transformed a section of the room near the entrance into something almost inviting. Tables were aligned properly, and the chairs looked uniform. Even the wood had been cleared of splinters. It still needed lacquer, but that would come later. The shelves were also more or less in order. The damaged books had been moved upstairs, while the more intact ones had been brought down to fill the gaps. Celene paused there, her expression softening slightly.

"Well done," she said. Her attention shifted to the group. Lira stepped forward and began to outline the work that had been done, giving credit to the maids. She highlighted Braka's carpentry, Maren's organization skill, Tessa and Elin's teamwork, and Sera's reliability in maintaining the space once it had been cleaned. Each maid was mentioned by name, and their role was clearly defined. Celene listened without interruption. When Lira finished, the headmaid gave a small, approving nod.

"Good job," she said.

"You have proved yourself quite the capable leader." Her gaze moved past them, settling on the refuse pile. It had grown large enough that it could not be ignored.

"Now, what do you plan to do with all that?" Celene asked.

"You know that my maids are prohibited from doing heavy labor." Lira followed her gaze.

"It needs to be removed," she said.

"I was planning to request assistance from the footmen." Celene's expression did not change, but there was a brief pause before she responded.

"I could ask Dalwin," she said, "but that would place me in his debt." She turned her head slightly, meeting Lira's eyes.

"I would rather not." The implication was clear. This was not something Celene would handle for her. Lira had expected as much. This was probably another test. The first had been leadership. This… this was about handling castle politics. For a second, she wondered what Pellen would think if he knew what she was doing. He had created this opportunity for her to spy for him, but half the time she was so busy with her own ambitions that the thought of him barely crossed her mind.

She should probably pass along some information before he comes knocking again.

"I understand," Lira finally said.

"I will handle it myself." Celene studied her for a moment longer, then gave a faint smile.

"I am sure you will." With that, she turned and left, the other maids following behind her. Tessa gave her a parting wave with her usual energy. Maren offered a quieter farewell, and even Braka gave her a nod before leaving as well. Then they were gone. Lira stood there for a moment, taking in the stillness that settled back into the space. Her gaze drifted toward the refuse pile, then to the shelves beyond it, and finally to the alcove hidden behind the tapestry. The pieces were there.

She just needed to connect them. If Dalwin would not listen to her, then she needed someone he would listen to. And for that, she needed a bribe worthy of a noble. To find such a bribe, her thoughts returned to a familiar idea. Divination magic. The best way to make order out of chaos. A faint smile formed as she turned toward the alcove. Now that she was alone, it was time to create a spell that could help her solve all of her problems.