Fake Princess
CHAPTER 99
The library was in the main part of the palace, not the wings reserved for lowly nobles. I visited her again from the day my true identity was revealed. It was strange to cross the hallways to the library, as if I were walking around in a dream or a ghost palace. Or as if I were the ghost, unreal. I felt light, unreal, as if a strong wind could lift my body and take me away.
I must have looked that way too, because halfway to the library, Devan reached out and hooked his arm on mine. We used to walk like this, but never made my heart jump like I do now. But it was calming as well, and we entered the library in this position.
We glanced around and, after making sure no one saw us, quickly approached a table in a corner that I knew people would rarely pass, “ You should ask for a genealogy book on one of the librarians,” whiskey. “ Here, I've written a list of the years I want.” I pushed his note on the table towards Devan. I wrote down until twenty years earlier than necessary, just in case. “ If they ask why you asked for it, just say you—nothah—sis researching the lineage of a girl I like or something.”
Devan's face flushed red upon hearing my words, looking ready to refute, but I just swung my hand at him. “ Go!”
Devan did not take long to return while carrying the thick books. Everything was long and wide, each of the pages was large enough to be used to draw a family tree by a copyist. “ Let's start from Omar first,”. The book was covered in dark green, the writing on it had not faded due to age. Omar's family, along with the rest of the family in the book, are new royals, having been knighted recently. Even so, I turned the page carefully, until the name Otralus was caught by my eyes.
“ Here it is.” I pointed to his name, then stopped. “ But nothing...” I shook my head. “ Look, he said he was an only child, and his parents are dead. And his only brother had died without an heir—all before Omar was thirty. For years he had no immediate family, long before the soothsayer was ordained. But I think—I mean, I think it could be that he was the culprit. Omar wouldn't tell Paula about the spell they used on me, and she didn't want Paula to teach me. Omar also said he wanted to get a report on my magic development from Paula, as if he knew I was a threat. And he left town right after the events I saw in the park.”
“ Maybe,” I justify, without really believing it. What if we were just chasing after shadows? What if this wasn't the right way to find out who was cooperating with the fortune teller? I have no other idea, at least a safe idea.
I got rid of the green book, my stomach felt wrapped around it, and grabbed the most recent book from the other series. The older noble records needed more space, and Devan brought me three red-coated books.
The Enderson family list itself takes up four pages. I checked the names, and finally found what I was looking for. “See,” I said while pointing, “ he is not a noble. Melani married Theodrin Enderson, Baron of Saremarch. The man died before I was born.”
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