For the heart - Chapter 68

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 68

“…For the past 20 years, no one has looked at Arsed’s chronicles. There was no one who asked about the lost chronicles from His Majesty the Former Emperor’s reign. Your Highness was the first.”

The librarian quietly gazed at Nina as he finished speaking.

Though the old man’s eyes were full of wrinkles, his pupils shone with intelligence that seemed unsuited to his age.

“This could cost me my head, but….”

The librarian left his words unfinished as he examined Nina’s face closely, feature by feature.

“…I’m not sure how carefully I should say this, but I’ve had such suspicions before. Perhaps it was from when you brought my son’s remains.”

“What….”

“The thought that Your Highness might not be Emperor Rainer’s daughter.”

Nina’s eyes widened.

“My wife died a year ago, so honestly I wouldn’t regret it even if my head rolled today. That’s why this old man speaks so fearlessly.”

“Then whose daughter do you think I am?”

“Don’t you already know who I’m thinking of, Your Highness?”

“….”

“The reason you searched for the chronicles from His Majesty the Former Emperor’s reign—is it different from what I’m thinking?”

Nina asked the librarian, who had returned to his calm expression.

“Do I resemble His Majesty the Former Emperor that you remember?”

The librarian slowly shook his head.

“Your face doesn’t resemble him much. I only saw Her Majesty the Former Empress once, but… you seem to resemble Her Majesty the Former Empress more, from what I remember.”

Nina recalled the portraits of the Former Empress and Former Emperor she had seen in Hamer.

Her face and that of Former Empress Ernesa Hamer were so alike that even with long hair, she could be believed to be her.

“But your eyes are similar. His Majesty the Former Emperor’s and Your Highness’s eyes.”

“My eyes…?”

“Yes. That firm yet warm gaze is exactly the same.”

Firm yet warm.

She could agree with the description of firm, but warm was strange.

No, it was unfamiliar.

During all the time she had lived on battlefields, had she ever looked at anyone with such eyes?

An inexplicable sensation stirred faintly deep in her chest.

She didn’t know what kind of gaze that was or how to make it.

As if understanding what she was thinking from her expression alone, the librarian smiled faintly.

“His Majesty the Former Emperor’s warm light permeates Your Highness’s gaze as well. I can tell, having looked into his eyes and conversed with him at length.”

“Have you spoken with His Majesty the Former Emperor many times?”

That the librarian and her father the Emperor had been close.

It was something she had never thought of.

“Emperor Magnus loved books as much as I do. Among all who have visited this library, he stayed the most often and the longest.”

“What kind of person was His Majesty the Former Emperor…?”

“He was wise and had a deep love for his people. He wanted to unify the chaotic continent through cooperation rather than force until the very end. Moreover… he loved his wife dearly.”

“Ah….”

It was the Former Empress who had stabbed the Former Emperor’s only weakness, his heart.

That he had loved such a woman so deeply.

“Do you also think Her Majesty the Former Empress killed His Majesty the Former Emperor?”

“I don’t know. I was just a librarian absorbed only in managing the library. What I know about Her Majesty the Former Empress is only what I heard from His Majesty the Former Emperor. That she was like an angel.”

A bitter expression crossed the librarian’s face.

It was the face of someone who could neither blindly hate nor believe innocent the woman known to be involved in the death of Emperor Magnus, who had been like a benefactor to him.

Reminding himself that such things no longer mattered, he changed to a calm expression.

“Your Highness, do you still wish to see the chronicles from His Majesty the Former Emperor’s reign?”

Nina’s eyebrows furrowed slightly at the librarian’s question.

How could she see chronicles that were lost?

“If you wish… I will show them to you.”

“Didn’t you say they were lost?”

“Rather than lost, they were burned on Emperor Rainer’s orders.”

Indeed, her guess that Rainer had eliminated them was correct.

If he had gone beyond losing them to burning them, there would be nothing more to see.

At Nina’s questioning gaze, the librarian gestured for her to follow him and walked to the very end of the library. Then he pushed the last bookshelf inward with both hands.

The bookshelf slid inward exactly to its depth.

When the librarian pushed it sideways, the space inside was revealed.

‘There was a hidden space inside the library.’

The moment she stepped behind the old bookshelf, cold air brushed against her ankles.

The scent of paper and dried ink that had endured for hundreds of years hung low like fine mist, tickling her nose.

Between the heavy bookshelves lingered the distinctive fragrance of aged wood, and peeling gold leaf remained on each spine like faint afterglow.

As light entered from outside, the paper dust thinly scattered on the floor sparkled silver.

“This is a secret archive where old chronicles are stored.”

“Old chronicles?”

“Arsed’s chronicles have continued for 700 years. When books become too old and the writing and paper begin to deteriorate, we copy them anew. The old books aren’t discarded but moved to this cool storage room. Probably… Emperor Rainer doesn’t know about it. He thinks of the library as merely a warehouse for stacking books.”

“You wouldn’t have recopied chronicles from just 25 years ago.”

“That’s right. Books only start to deteriorate after at least 300-400 years.”

“Then….”

“When he specifically ordered me to burn the chronicles from His Majesty the Former Emperor’s reign… I found it strange. So I switched the covers with old chronicles stored in the archive, burned those instead, and kept the real ones here in storage.”

Nina stared blankly at the librarian who was grinning.

Not only had he defied the Emperor’s words, but he had even switched them.

“I suppose I have more courage than I appear to have. In fact, for several years I was tormented by nightmares of being discovered and losing my head, but now that this day has come, I believe my choice back then was the right one.”

“….”

“According to the books I’ve read, rulers who order the destruction of historical records all have much they want to hide. That’s why I thought they should never be destroyed.”

The librarian then rattled off the names of rulers from various countries who had ordered the destruction of historical records.

While doing so, he immediately found the five years’ worth of chronicles he had hidden away.

Five books with worn covers labeled Arsed Chronicles 725, 726, 727, 728, and 729 were placed on the small desk inside the storage room.

“Here you are. These are the chronicles for the period Your Highness was looking for.”

Nina sat down in the chair and opened the chronicle for year 725.

“Ah….”

The moment she opened the chronicle, a low sigh escaped Nina’s lips.

Though the cover was worn and covered with dust, the inner pages were incredibly intact.

The faint scent of ink from 25 years ago still seemed to linger, and each stroke written with firm pressure made it feel as if Arsed under her father’s rule from before she was even born was pulsating with life.

As if all those times she had been so curious about had been trapped within the paper, holding their breath and waiting.

Nina slowly turned the pages.

Deep in her mind, she felt a sensation as if long-lost memories were stirring.

An inexplicable anticipation and excitement subtly bloomed in her chest at the thought that these records might not be mere words, but stories connected to her roots, perhaps even to a lost heart.

Carefully steadying her breath as she turned to the next page, she found the actual chronicle dates written inside.

“That chronicle is from the year 1303, the year His Majesty Emperor Magnus ascended to the throne.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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