I Don’t Want the Obsession of a Twisted Archduke

“Well, I don’t like it. It’s like a nickname that I got from stealing other people’s credit.”

Geppel looked grim for a while and opened his mouth again as if something had come to mind.

“Taylor said so. He has arms, but he’s in better shape than before. Apparently, his long-suffering backache is also gone.”

“I see.”

I thought with a nod.

‘Somehow it seems as if I had put too much effort into it.’

I guess I fixed the other part without realizing it.

Geppel continued rapidly as if he still had something to say.

“Anyway, I’m grateful to you. It’s all thanks to you that Taylor can be a knight again. I will keep your promise.”

At Geppel’s words, I opened my eyes wide. That meant.

“You’re going to believe that Kyle’s curse is killing him?”

“Yes, I believe you.”

He replied with transparent eyes without a single lie.

It was the first time. If someone else, not me, believes that Kyle was dying. It was just that little thing and somehow, I felt overwhelmed.

Geppel then said with pleasure.

“If there’s anything I can do to help with Kyle’s curse, I’ll help you.”

We continued our conversation, talking about many things with Geppel. Somewhat short bouts of conversation adding together. This was all because Geppel quickly left, saying it had been five minutes already. As for me, I still had something to talk about, but I didn’t have any complaints.

‘I think Geppel’s busy with his work.’

Apparently, Geppel’s room was packed with documents. I felt sorry for Lantes, who had suffered alone.

After having recovered some of my strength, I took a step out and headed to the library. Of course, all the temple people told me not to.

“- That’s not possible. My body aches if I don’t go to the library and read for a day.”

However, I escaped the situation pretending to be a passionate reader. Although Kyle had a very dumbfounded face.

There was a fortunate downside.

Originally, I would have to leave the temple this afternoon, hurrying now that I just woke from my long rest, but in fact, the impatience from our party was gone. This was all thanks to the consideration of the temple, so I could stay with them for another day. They also said they would treat me to a meal left in the hope that my body would recover… It was kind of horrible. But thanks to that, I was able to use the library at a leisurely pace.

But there was something that bothered me a little bit, maybe more than a little bit.

For example, Kyle was next to me and Sejan was behind me. There was also a new guiding priest in front of me, but… The problem was Kyle’s distorted expression; glaring at everyone by. Because of that, the other priests didn’t come near us. Furthermore, even the guiding priest was very nervous. He looked like he would die if he made a mistake.

‘What a pity.’

I thought I’d tell Kyle what, but I left it alone. I had a history of falling down, so I had nothing to say even if I left overprotected.

As I reached the entrance to the library, I saw a new priest dressed in dreamy light purple. He had a very arrogant look on his face, and the delicate gold embroidery on his clothes showed how high-ranking he was.

But no matter how high-ranking a priest could be, he couldn’t stand Kyle and Sejan. He quickly turned pale when he saw the two of them advancing.

“Uh, welcome. I’ve been waiting for you. And… um, from here, the Archduke and the knight… You are not allowed in.”

Nevertheless, he succeeded in speaking through without losing his nerve. I felt like I wanted to applaud. I was so proud of him to keep his courage in front of the two.

“I’ll wait here.”

Kyle, whose efforts were overshadowed, left a short comment, carried out the same repertoire as in the prayer room. What had become a classic move from his repertoire, “Sitting shadily in front of the entrance.” Meaning, no one would be able to get in.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter. Unlike the prayer room, it’s a place where no one can come in in the first place.’

“Well, Archduke, Sejan. Be right back.”

Oh, sweet freedom.

I quickly enjoyed the freedom I was given, greeted lightly the priest at the front, and hurried into the library. Then stopped midway.

“…Geppel?”

Surprisingly, I went inside and there was Geppel. He smiled pleasantly as if he had waited for the look of surprise that I was currently sporting.

“Did you forget there’s a secret passage here, too?”

Geppel was smug, aiming at my ability. Honestly, I did forget about it. Even if I had remembered, I never would have expected Geppel to come.

‘I guess that’s why you sent me away so quickly.’

It was actually a good thing for me. The second library was so closed off that there was no librarian.

‘If I ask Geppel to play the role of librarian, I will have more time to read.’

Geppel spoke out of the blue as if he was reading my mind.

“Now, I’m afraid to say that books about curses are irrelevant, but I don’t know exactly what you are looking for. I don’t know if there’s a book here that will help.”

Geppel’s words were credible. He read all the tens of thousands of books here and memorized everything inside. So did all of my actions were in vain?

As if he had read my expression, Geppel continued to speak.

“But it’s hard to say it’s a complete waste of time. There are still books that I can’t translate perfectly.”

‘Geppel means that he can’t translate it. It’s a book that can’t be translated properly by an ancient language expert.’

At the moment, a big exclamation mark passed through my head. Was it possible? The cliché, I imagined.

“Where’s the book? I want to see it right now.”

I hastened Geppel’s guidance with a visibly animated face and added.

“Oh, by the way, what about your work?”

*** Erenthal ***

Erenthal, the new head of the former Second Arcane Library. He was a competent and noble priest who had been consistently guarding the library for decades, as you could see from his neat outfit.

Tardiness in his dictionary didn’t exist, as well as early leave, sick leave, class difference, etc. His work was what you could call flawless throughout his career a flaw in his career. To that extent, Erenthal was a man full of pride in protecting the library.

Well, until he was facing a big crisis; 25 years within his career. This was all because of Archduke Kyle Romani in front of him. Erenthal had heard the notoriety of the Archduke until now.

‘How was I not aware of the news that Archduke was going to visit this time?’

Even if all the priests in the temple were in chaos, the inside of the temple was noisy enough to overthrow the chaos. This left Erenthal in the scene of the confusion. Erenthal still clearly remembered the conversations.

“- The Archduke of the North kills people in a good mood, and kills people in a bad mood, right?”

“- I hear some people have stopped their hearts just by eye contact. But… you know what’s scarier here?”

“- What is it?”

“ - The Archduke grinned at it.”

“ - Hikes! … Devils, demons.”

Recalling Kyle’s smile, the silent faithful shook their heads vigorously before continuing their conversation.

“ - Shouldn’t you at least spray the holy water when you get here?”

“ - Where would such a great demon be purified by the holy water?”

“ - But, according to Lantes, when you see the archduke, you should welcome him enthusiastically.”

“ - Why?”

“ - What, political issues? Maybe it’s because of the Emperor. Anyway, they want you to smile broadly when you see the Archduke.”

“ - Huh, broadly?”

“ -Yeah.”

It seemed a promise was made by all of them.

“ - Well, let’s keep one bottle of holy water in our arms just in case.”

“ - So we’re going to spray it all together?”

Thus, the fear and welcome of Archduke Kyle seemed to end with the unity of all the priests present, but when asked by a new welcomer, the subject quickly shifted.

“ - By the way, what the hell is the Archduke doing here? He never stepped into a temple since he was cursed.”

“ - Oh, you haven’t heard that yet? We’re having a wedding here.”

“ - What, there’s a woman marrying the Archduke?”

At the question of a new priest, the faithful bowed their heads deeply and agonized. That poor woman… She will probably die before getting married. Erenthal later had an in-depth discussion with the new priest about Kyle and his woman.

“Newly-appointed library priest.” Kyle called Erenthal.

Somehow, Erenthal’s expression showed signs of exhaustion rather than fear. The reason was obvious. It was because Kyle was currently calling to Erenthal for his 30th time.

The answer was set anyway, Erenthal glanced at the clock and recited.

“Your Highness, it has only been five minutes and ten seconds since her Highness entered the library. So you’ll still have to wait longer before she comes out.”