Fake Princess
CHAPTER 84
I didn't have time to talk more, because right at that moment Brother Axon opened the door and called out to us. “ You guys are lucky to come on a quiet day like this,”. “ The Abbot can see you now.”
Brother Axon led us to a large building I did not recognize, while greeting the robed men and women who came across us. Their faces revealed peaceful expressions, completely awkward with the tension I felt on my face.
Devan chatted with Brother Axon, but I didn't notice their conversation. However, when Devan secretly poked me with his elbow, I heard him say, “ Well, you should remind me. I know my sister once told me—maybe as much as five times—but I really don't remember this fortune teller who's been serving how long.”
“ Fifteen years old,” Brother Axon said friendly.
“ Of course, of course,” Devan replied when my steps came to a halt. Fifteen years. So he's not the one making the predictions. That means whatever information I find must have come from this place. But where is it?
“ Quiet,” whispered Devan as we entered the building and Brother Axon walked ahead to show him the way. As I glanced at Devan, I saw a smile lift up the corners of his mouth. “ How can you be nervous? Didn't you notice? We're in the library.”
To be ashamed, the knot in my stomach slightly loosened as I inhaled the scent and it felt very familiar, the smell of so many books in one room, and it calmed me down. As Brother Axon led us through several spacious rooms filled with books and shelves as high as the ceiling, inevitably my steps slowed down a bit to look inside. Most of the rooms contained tables, and there the monks and nuns were sitting with various books and scrolls lying before them.
The chief monk, Brother Santo, was an old man, his gray hair curling around his ears and deep wrinkles adorning his face. Even so, the man stood upright, and I could see the muscles on his upper arm did not loosen with his age.
“ Welcome,” he said with a smile on us. “ So, Brother Axon said you were writing a book about fortune tellers, and you wanted to see their life records.”
I nodded, and the man looked pleased. “ I think that's a good thing, someone as young as you have an interest in fortune-tellers. Although you are welcome to search for other collections, I think the most helpful material you are here.”
One of his hands disappeared under the cloak, and from there he pulled out a lock, many and clanking. Brother Santo put a long key into the keyhole of a door, turned and led us into it.
This room is not open and airy like other rooms in the library. The room was small and rather dark, illuminated only by lights placed at a certain distance that were quickly lit by Brother Saint, I realized there was only one wall containing books, I realized, and the books are thin, each covered in red. In the middle wall there is a closet made of black wood and has a silver keyhole.
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