Chương 61: A Royal Reader

Lira did not quite know what to make of everything she had uncovered regarding Harwin and the Scribe Tower. The more she thought about it, the less sense it made. Surely, if magical sight, or at least some form of mana perception, was common knowledge among the nobility, then someone else must have noticed what Harwin was doing. The enchanted coins were not subtle under magical observation.

If Lira could spot them after only recently learning magical perception, then any properly trained mage should have been able to notice them as well. So why was no one intervening? More specifically, why was Court Mage Edward Emberborn doing nothing? That question bothered her more than she liked, especially since Edward was clearly competent. More than competent, in fact. From everything Lira had learned so far, he was one of the most magically knowledgeable individuals currently within the palace grounds.

A man like that should absolutely be capable of noticing suspicious enchantments hidden inside an entire chest of coins. Unless he already knew… Lira frowned as she tapped her quill on her desk. Perhaps she was overreacting. It was possible, however unlikely, that the coins were being used for something far less sinister than mind manipulation. Maybe they were part of an accounting enchantment, a tracking spell of some sort, allowing Harwin to monitor where certain funds were being spent.

For a man who effectively handled much of the kingdom's financial bureaucracy, such information would be valuable and within his purview. Still, that theory did not explain the strange condition she had observed. Especially how the magic disappeared when the maid returned the extra coin. From what she observed, the magic only remained active when the coin was gained through dishonest means.

Tips, mistakes, or extra payments not properly earned all retained their magical charge, while legitimate wages lost it instantly. One could argue that tips were not dishonest, but they objectively were. Maids and servants who worked closely with the bookkeeping towers were gaining an extra income over the rest of the staff that did not share such opportunities.

Fortunately, if the legitimacy of the coins was the only factor in how they were affected by the magic, then as long as Lira remained cautious, this was not technically her problem. That was the conclusion she had settled on after much internal debate. She would simply scan every coin before using it, avoid accepting suspicious money whenever possible, and keep herself uninvolved. That was the safest option.

Lira had enough problems without accidentally getting caught up in whatever bizarre financial-morality trap Harwin was apparently running. Besides, she had more immediate responsibilities. The palace was gradually becoming busier as nobles began trickling back into the capital, which meant the library could soon become more active as well. If she wanted to maintain the illusion of being an exceptionally competent library caretaker, she needed to be prepared.

That was why she had spent most of the day cataloging every book currently displayed on the library's main floor in a new ledger. With the help of her ink manipulation spell, memory recall, and occasional book divination, the task progressed absurdly quickly. What would have taken an ordinary librarian days, or perhaps weeks, Lira completed in record time. She no longer needed to spend hours dusting thanks to her dust-gathering enchantments, which freed up even more time for productive work.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. Whenever she was not organizing or cataloging, she dedicated herself to magical study. Most of that currently involved rereading the books Edward had donated and practicing mana awareness while repeatedly casting simple spells. Her instinctive understanding of magical flow was gradually improving, though far slower than she would have preferred. Still, progress was progress.

She was seated behind her front desk, reviewing a newly completed ledger entry, when the library doors opened. Lira looked up immediately as a child entered through the library gate. He appeared to be around thirteen years old, perhaps slightly younger. He was dressed in finely tailored noble clothing, richly embroidered but practical enough to suggest status without excessive vanity. A knight followed several steps behind him. That detail was enough to signal the child's importance to Lira.

She stood at once and curtsied. Before she could speak, the boy glanced around the library with visible interest.

"So this is the library Aric and Deren were talking about." Lira's mind sharpened instantly. He had referred to the second prince by name without any honorific. Her conclusion was immediate; this must be the Third Prince Lyth.

"It is, Your Highness," Lira replied smoothly. The prince turned toward her. He had a much softer expression than Lira expected from royalty. There was none of the immediate arrogance or casual entitlement she had grown accustomed to seeing in nobles. Instead, he looked... vaguely awkward.

"I was bored," he admitted with surprising honesty.

"May I spend some time here, miss?" Lira blinked. That was possibly the most respectful interaction she had ever had with a noble in her life, which was mildly depressing when one considered that the benchmark was currently being set by a child. It said deeply unfortunate things about the state of the kingdom when a thirteen-year-old prince possessed better manners than most fully grown aristocrats.

"Of course, Your Highness," Lira said with a polite smile.

"Would you like me to recommend a book?" The prince brightened slightly.

"Yes, please." Well, that was almost adorable. Lira stepped out from behind the desk and guided him toward the reading area. Once he was comfortably seated, she casually moved through one of the mana obfuscation zones created by bookmarks she had discreetly placed throughout the library and activated her spell.

"Ladar. Linasara. Oshkan. Cognar. Turat." As the book divination activated, Lira focused on a simple question: Which book currently in this library would be most enjoyable for Prince Lyth? The familiar pull guided her toward one of the shelves in the mythos section. She followed the magical instinct until her hand landed on a book titled Lyth Godslayer. Lira raised an eyebrow. Well, that was either an extraordinary coincidence or she had found the book the queen was reading while pregnant.

Unfamiliar with the myth, she quickly walked to another mana curtain and absorbed the book's contents.

"Pika. Linasara. Cognar. Coopar. Nagla." The book detailed the journey of a legendary knight named Lyth who embarked on a quest to slay the God of Despair after his homeland was consumed by plague and famine. A little dramatic, but more importantly, it was age-appropriate enough. Violent, certainly, but not excessively graphic. Satisfied, Lira returned to the prince.

"I found one for you," she said, handing him the book with a small smile.

"It is about a hero who happens to share your name."

"Oh." The prince's eyes widened immediately. He accepted the book with visible excitement and opened it almost at once. Success. Lira returned quietly to her desk and sat down. Then, because she was incapable of simply letting a useful opportunity pass, she activated both meditation and her perception spell.

"Pika. Selan. Tureth."

"Pika. Velar. Syneth." Her senses sharpened. The more information she gathered about a subject, the more effective her future divinations tended to be. Information about a prince was always valuable. So Lira observed. She watched how he shifted while reading, noting the slight kicking motion of his foot whenever something particularly interesting caught his attention. She observed how frequently he glanced toward his bodyguard, as though seeking subtle reassurance that his presence here was still permitted.

At one point, he became sufficiently excited by a particular passage that he called the knight over and enthusiastically read part of it aloud. The bodyguard listened with the patience of a man who held genuine affection for the boy. Lira found herself smiling faintly; the boy was earnest. There was an openness to him that felt painfully uncommon within the palace walls. She sincerely hoped he did not eventually grow into the same brand of rot that seemed to infect so many nobles in this kingdom.