Chương 74: Power Imbalance

Soon after Celene left, Lira descended the stairs at an unhurried pace, allowing herself a few moments to compose her expression before returning to the main floor. The library had become far too lively for its caretaker to look distracted without it being noticed. As she stepped into the main hall, she immediately noticed that Tessa had already finished cleaning up after lunch without waiting for her. Lira couldn't help smiling. She was genuinely grateful for the younger maid's presence.

With the noble children wandering between the shelves, servants coming and going with food and drinks, and Prince Lyth himself turning the place into his personal reading room, the workload had multiplied far beyond what a single maid could reasonably handle. Perhaps she should ask Celene for more pairs of hands. She remembered that Maid Sera had been good with books the last time they worked together. Lira settled behind the front desk and began sorting the growing pile of returned books.

While her hands worked automatically, her attention drifted across the library, watching the cluster of young nobles.

"Pika. Velar. Syneth." The perception spell settled over her mind, sharpening her senses. To avoid overwhelming herself, she immediately cast another spell.

"Pika. Selan. Tureth." The flood of details slowed into something more orderly, allowing her to calmly examine each scene. The young noble couple no longer sat at the same table as the prince. Instead, they occupied a table near the eastern window. At first glance, they appeared to be reading together. However, beneath the table, their fingers were tightly intertwined. Their eyes spent nearly as much time studying one another as they did the pages before them.

Young Lord Giladon barely seemed aware of the book anymore. Every few seconds, his gaze drifted toward Lady Basma's lips before forcing itself back onto the text. Lady Basma wasn't much better. Unlike Giladon, she wasn't distracted by romance. She simply hated the book her boyfriend had selected. Her eyes glazed over as she struggled through each paragraph. She endured the experience purely because she wanted to spend time beside him doing something meaningful.

Across the room, sharing a table with the prince, sat another noble youth. Lord Carl held his book with both hands so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. His eyes repeatedly returned to the same paragraph, never progressing to the next page. Every few moments, he secretly glanced toward the prince before pretending to continue reading. He wasn't struggling to understand the story. He was struggling to read the words themselves.

The boy was probably one of the children pushed into the library by ambitious parents hoping their son might become friends with the prince, but admitting that he had trouble reading in front of other nobles would be too embarrassing. Then her attention shifted toward Prince Lyth. For the first time since he had begun spending his days inside the library, the prince wasn't completely absorbed by his book. Instead… His eyes kept wandering toward Tessa.

The young maid was dusting shelves that were already perfectly clean, humming softly to herself while she worked. She moved with cheerful energy, occasionally standing on her toes to reach the highest shelves before hopping back down with an innocent smile. Lira's enhanced perception allowed her to notice tiny details others would never catch. The prince's eyes lingered just a little too long whenever Tessa made a sound or walked past his table carrying another stack of books. It wasn't lust, not yet.

The boy was still too young for that. It was the awkward curiosity of a sheltered teenage boy experiencing his first genuine crush. Lira looked away, pretending to organize another stack of books. Tessa didn't seem to be actively seeking the prince's attention. For starters, despite her youthful appearance, she was three years his senior. No, this was entirely one-sided. What worried Lira was that the kingdom had already produced one prince who believed servants existed solely for his pleasure.

She refused to watch history repeat itself. Lyth was still young, and he was genuinely kind and respectful. But kindness alone wasn't enough. Power had a way of changing people, especially those surrounded by servants who could never refuse them. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Lyth could order Tessa to become his personal maid, and palace etiquette would require her to obey. He could request that she spend more time with him, and nobody would question it.

He could order gifts delivered to her room. Every interaction, no matter how innocent, would be poisoned by one simple truth. He was a prince. She was a maid. There could never be equality between them while that imbalance existed. Fortunately for Tessa, and for the future of the kingdom, Lira controlled the prince's reading material. She could instill whatever morals she wanted while his mind was still open to learning. Hopefully, this library contained something suitable.

"Ladar. Linasara. Oshkan. Cognar. Turat." The spell guided her through the shelves, gently nudging her toward a section she rarely visited. Fiction: Tragedy. Her fingers eventually stopped upon a faded leather binding. The Monster's Bride. Curious, Lira opened the book. Rather than giving it directly to the prince, she decided to absorb it first, just in case.

"Pika. Linasara. Cognar. Coopar. Nagla." Knowledge flowed into her mind. The story began with a celebrated knight whose face had been horribly burned by enemy magic during the final battle of a long war. When he finally returned home victorious, the people who had once praised his handsome appearance could barely look at him. His fiancée fainted the first time she saw his scars, and the engagement ended before sunset.

Afterward, the knight discovered that courage on the battlefield meant very little compared to appearance within noble society. The war hero slowly became a monster in the eyes of the world. Years passed, and his ancestral lands required an heir, but no noblewoman would willingly marry him. Eventually, with bitterness replacing hope, he visited a slave market. Among hundreds of frightened women, only one looked directly at his scarred face without flinching. So he bought her immediately.

After bringing her home, he gave her a single command.

"Be the perfect wife." And she obeyed. As years turned into decades, she became everything a noble household could ever desire. The servants adored her fairness, the peasants praised her kindness, and the neighboring nobles admired her elegance. She stood faithfully beside her husband through every triumph and hardship. The knight fell hopelessly in love with her. Every year, his affection deepened. Every year, her devotion appeared absolute. Yet one thing never changed. She never once said the words, "I love you."

As old age finally caught up with him, the knight realized that death would soon separate them forever. Unable to bear the uncertainty any longer, he asked the question that had haunted him for decades.

"Do you love me?"

"No," the woman answered without hesitation. His heart shattered.

"... Is it because of my scars?" She actually laughed.

"Your scars never bothered me." She gently touched the burned side of his face.

"I rather liked them." The knight stared at her in confusion. She smiled sadly.

"You see... I struggle to recognize faces. I have been like this my entire life. I learned to manage by looking at people's clothes, as most of you nobles wear your family crests, which helps me avoid embarrassing myself." Her fingers remained against his cheek.

"You were the only man I could always recognize immediately." Tears filled the knight's eyes.

"Then... why?" Her smile faded.

"Because you never gave me the chance to love you."

"I belonged to you from the moment you bought me," she explained.

"My life was always in your hands. Every kind word you spoke carried the weight of an order. Every act of affection from you was another duty I was expected to fulfill." She lowered her eyes.

"I was never your equal." She looked back at him with genuine sadness.

"If you truly wanted my love... you should have freed me first." The old knight finally understood. Everything he believed had been kindness... Every comfort he had provided... Every gift... Every embrace... Had existed inside a cage. Not once had he ever allowed the woman the freedom to choose him. He died only moments later, realizing too late that the greatest act of love he could have offered was giving her the freedom to leave him. Lira slowly closed the book, her chest feeling strangely heavy. No...

She definitely shouldn't hand this book directly to Prince Lyth. That would be far too obvious. Instead, she placed it beside her own stack of reading material. Sooner or later, as always, the curious prince would ask what she was reading. When that happened, she could recommend it more naturally. Satisfied with her plan, Lira returned to the shelves.

She magically selected the perfect books for the noble couple's current mood, an adventure story for the young lady and a romance novel for the young man, then quietly replaced Lord Carl's difficult history book with another volume written in simpler language but bearing a sophisticated title so it wouldn't be too embarrassing to read. She returned to her seat, satisfied with her actions, only for her face to turn ghostly white as the First Prince entered the library.