Fortunately, the man accepted my lie without suspicion, going so far as to begin an unprompted explanation.
"Ah, so you're applying for an assistant researcher position! S-so am I!"
The man was a regular member of this library. According to his explanation, after I had snuck in under a false identity and caused a disturbance, the library had extensively revised their visitor management.
The area I had been looking through earlier was open to general visitors, but he said there were almost no books worth getting information from.
To obtain proper information, one had to prove their identity and receive a regular visitor's pass. Leaning on the man's visitor pass, I finally stepped into the proper section.
"I didn't know there were visitor ranks at the library. I've been studying alone in the countryside all this time... I only came up here recently after seeing the assistant researcher recruitment notice."
"Naturally!"
"If Mr. Brown hadn't helped me, I would have had to turn back empty-handed. Thank you truly."
"T-the monster field requires field experience too, and Miss Mary is truly remarkable!"
"Since I lived in the countryside, I ended up gaining experience whether I wanted to or not."
Making vague excuses, I slowly scanned the book spines. The books were clearly different in thickness from earlier.
"What did you say your research field was, Mr. Brown?"
"Ah, I research small magical tool material durability."
So he knows nothing about monsters.
"Thank you. I'll look through things on my own from here."
"I'll help you!"
"No need. You need to study too, with the selection exam coming up. Let's both pass the exam and meet as assistant researchers."
Smiling gently as I encouraged him, Brown nodded with a deeply flushed face.
"If you need anything, call me anytime."
Even after saying that, Brown lingered by my side for a while.
I ignored him as much as possible while pretending to focus on the books, and Brown eventually turned away reluctantly.
Instead of going to the reading room, he hovered around the nearby bookshelves, seemingly determined to stay close. With no more mental bandwidth to spare on him, I began searching through books in earnest.
After several false starts, I found a book with detailed information about Dullahans.
'Finally!'
The author had compiled content drawn from various sources including historical texts and theological works into a single volume.
Checking the table of contents, it seemed to contain what I was looking for. Having memorized the book's title, I immediately checked the background of Dullahan births.
"Why are there so many?"
There were numerous theories about the Dullahan's origin. Along with an explanation that no one had successfully researched it properly, the author noted that his contribution was simply gathering scattered information.
If he was going to research it anyway, he should have dug more persistently—how can a scholar lack such academic zeal!
I clicked my tongue internally and turned the page.
Among the many origin theories, two were most prominent. One stated that a corrupted spirit exiled from the spirit realm became a Dullahan, while another claimed that a holy knight's soul, denied salvation by the divine, became a wandering monster.
"A holy knight's soul denied salvation by the divine..."
Perhaps because of my current situation, that theory seemed remarkably persuasive.
With lingering unease, I quickly scanned through Dullahan characteristics and past cases.
Time was too short for careful analysis, so I turned pages rapidly while memorizing important keywords, then suddenly stopped.
A map of regions where Dullahans had been sighted had appeared as an illustration. It was essentially marking their habitat.
'This is tempting. Can't I just tear it out?'
I was absentmindedly touching the map page when a gentle voice came from behind.
"You shouldn't damage the books."
Startled, I pulled my hand back awkwardly and turned around. A tall man with glasses was staring straight at me. A librarian?
"I wasn't planning to damage anything."
"I'm glad to hear that. But you're someone I haven't seen before. We haven't accepted new members recently."
His gentle way of speaking was quite pleasant. And also somewhat familiar. Someone I met when I visited hiding my identity before?
A staff member with long hair loosely tied back and glasses. I couldn't recall anyone matching that description.
"...An acquaintance is a member who got me permission. Is there a rule against bringing companions?"
"That's..."
"Ah, Administrator-nim!"
Brown quickly interjected. He seemed to already know the tall man before us. So he was indeed a library staff member.
"This person came with me. She's preparing for the upcoming assistant researcher selection exam and this is her first visit, so she's unfamiliar with things!"
"I see. But if she's preparing for the assistant researcher selection exam, why is she reading books in this section?"
"She's applying for the monster field. She even has field experience. Impressive, right? Haha."
Brown rambled with unnecessary details while showing off his connection to me.
I licked my dry lips and quietly listened to their conversation. The man called the administrator tilted his head and fell silent. Then he stared intently at me.
Perhaps due to the glasses lenses, his red eyes seemed to sparkle. He had an ordinary appearance, yet his face stirred a strange sense of discomfort. What was it?
"I see."
He smiled faintly and nodded. Then he spoke to Brown.
"I don't mean to doubt Mr. Brown, but first-time visitors need to at least fill out a visitor reading card to access these materials. So I'll take responsibility for this person for now."
Brown couldn't quite bring himself to stop this, his shoulders slumping. For me, who wanted to use him as a shield, this was an unfortunate outcome.
Still, a visitor reading card? A separate identity verification procedure? There hadn't been such procedures when I came before.
It seemed my disturbance had caused this library to create all sorts of unnecessary procedures. To create such strict rules just because of a little venting—these mages and researchers were all so inflexible.
"Could you come this way for a moment?"
Uncomfortable as I was, causing another incident wasn't an option, so I reluctantly followed the administrator. He walked slightly ahead of me and spoke.
"I heard you're preparing for the assistant researcher selection exam."
"Yes."
A visitor card, reading card—I needed to come up with plausible information.
As I was anticipating what they might ask me to fill out, the administrator spoke with a laugh in his voice.
"That's strange. I heard they're not recruiting for the monster department this selection."
"...You must be mistaken."
"Absolutely not."
"...Then I must have been mistaken. I should have read the notice more carefully."
Damn it. I bit my tongue while trying to compose my expression.
Meanwhile, I kept thinking. If only I were on the first floor, I could have found an escape route somehow.
Wait! I have a magical tool! I could just change my appearance, claim I got lost and wandered in by mistake, and walk out smoothly!
Having made my decision quickly, I hurriedly spoke to the administrator.
"Um, I'm sorry but something just came up..."
"If you cause another disturbance this time, you'll definitely be caught."
Having reached the destination in an instant, the administrator opened the office door and calmly cut off my words.
"After the disturbance you caused, the mages carried out extensive renovations to the Great Library."
He glanced at me and gestured for me to enter.
Surprised by his changed manner of speech, I froze in place—and finally realized who owned this familiar voice. We hadn't met often, but he was someone I'd occasionally encountered at the imperial palace.
I gave up on being stubborn and entered the office, followed by him.
"I have no intention of reporting you. I simply moved locations because there were too many eyes over there."
Saying this, he closed the door and removed his glasses. As the frames smoothly slipped past his ears, his ordinary hair color slowly shifted to a subtle platinum blonde. His long hair length also scattered like a mirage.
The blurry impression from earlier disappeared, revealing striking features. His red eyes curved gracefully.
"This room activates an automatic soundproofing spell when the door is closed, so we can speak freely."
It was certain. The man known to have gone into seclusion after losing the crown prince position to Maxel.
But before that position was filled, he was the first prince frequently mentioned alongside Maxel as my potential fiancé—Heinley.
...But why are you here?
"Long time no see, my lady."
I didn't understand why, but he had clearly recognized me. I considered playing dumb but ultimately gave up and opened my lips awkwardly.
"This is an unexpected place to meet you, Your Highness the Prince."
"I too didn't expect someone reported kidnapped to be leisurely reading books here."
"How did you recognize me?"
Was the magical tool defective? Unless it was an illegally distributed tool—but this was officially sold merchandise, so it couldn't be defective. I absentmindedly touched my necklace when Heinley answered with a smile.
"How could I not recognize you? You're a woman I might have been engaged to."
That wasn't wrong, but...
Heinley was also an excellent prince, but ultimately he couldn't defeat Maxel in their competition. After the crown prince appointment, rumors said Heinley was essentially under house arrest in his own palace.
That he managed to keep his life at all was fortunate. Many other siblings hadn't even managed that.
But even that was precarious. By the time Maxel held his coronation as emperor, he'd likely be completely exiled from the empire—or perhaps executed on whatever pretext they could find.
Given his situation where even preserving his own life was urgent, seeing him out here made me wonder if he'd simply given up.
"There was a possibility, but ultimately nothing came to fruition, and Your Highness and I had no developments between us, so we're distant enough to not recognize each other."
It's not like we had any relationship worth acknowledging each other warmly.