Chapter 154
The Ascald Library was a familiar place to Raul.
His grandmother had brought him there countless times since he was little, and now that he was one of the Seven Sages, he sometimes visited the Forbidden Books Room, too.
Raul wasn't fond of the Forbidden Books Room, though. He'd rather not go in there if he could help it.
That day, as he hesitated in front of the door leading to the Ascald Library's underground stacks, he heard a voice behind him say, "Oh?"
He turned around to see a black-haired, mustached man standing there—the Marquis Hione, who managed the Forbidden Books Room.
"〈Thorn Witch〉, is something the matter?"
"Well, I came to borrow some books, but... I'm not too fond of the Forbidden Books Room."
The books in the Forbidden Books Room had demons from the old era sealed inside them.
As a result, the room was filled with the demons' presence, and sometimes they would speak to people who visited.
"I guess I take after my ancestor."
"I see. The demons connected to the First 〈Thorn Witch〉 hurling their grievances at you, then?"
"Well, I'd be fine with grievances, but..."
Raul scratched his cheek and let his gaze wander.
He was used to people resenting and hating him because of his ancestor.
But some of the demons directed feelings at him that were even more troublesome than resentment or hatred.
"When they say things like 'Please step on me' or 'Insult me,' it gets a little awkward."
"…………"
The First 〈Thorn Witch〉 was said to have possessed a beauty that overwhelmed everyone around her.
Apparently, humans weren't the only ones captivated by her.
"In that case, I can fetch the books for you. I was going to get some other books anyway."
Raul was honestly grateful for the Marquis Hione's offer.
"Then please do," Raul said, readily bowing his head as he handed over a list of books. The Marquis Hione passed the book in his hand to Raul.
"In exchange, could you give this book to my daughter? She should be on one of the sofas on the first floor."
"Your daughter... Um, what was her name again?"
"Claudia. She's turning sixteen this year."
If she was turning sixteen this year, she was two years younger than Raul. Maybe they could become friends.
Raul took the book from the Marquis Hione and set off with a spring in his step.
＊ ＊ ＊
(That's her.)
The girl sitting on a sofa, reading a book, had an air about her that was unmistakably different from everyone else.
Her intelligent features held a coolness that kept others at a distance, almost seeming unwelcoming. And yet, she fit this library better than anyone.
"Hey, are you Claudia?"
Claudia kept her face turned toward her book and moved only her eyes to look at Raul.
Her attitude said she didn't want to respond with anything more than the bare minimum, but Raul wasn't bothered.
"I'm Raul. Raul Roseburg. Your father asked me to give you this."
Raul held out the book, and Claudia accepted it with a quiet, "...Thanks." Her voice sounded as though she'd let it out along with a breath.
She set the book on her lap and turned her attention back to the one she'd been reading. Her manner made it clear she didn't want him to talk to her any more than necessary, but Raul still wasn't bothered.
"Your father has always been a big help to me. I've been researching how to imbue plants with magic lately, and he's been letting me use some land for the research..."
"…………"
Claudia gave Raul, who kept talking one-sidedly, a disapproving stare.
Her face remained turned toward her book, but her gaze had grown even colder.
"This is a library."
"Oh, I know!"
"If you want to chat, go to a tea party or something."
Raul's face lit up at her words.
"Does that mean you're inviting me to a tea party? Awesome!"
"…………"
"I'm looking forward to it, Claudia!"
Chatting at a tea party! It sounded so much like something friends would do! Raul was genuinely delighted.
For the first time, Claudia turned her whole face toward Raul instead of just her eyes.
Her expression plainly showed her displeasure, but Raul still didn't mind.
Raul was generally oblivious to hostility—or rather, after people had spent so long comparing him to the First 〈Thorn Witch〉, his senses had grown numb to malice and hostility.
＊ ＊ ＊
A few weeks later, Raul spotted Claudia at a ball his grandmother had forced him to attend and happily called out to her.
"Hey, Claudia! Long time no see!"
"…………"
"We're not in a library, so it's okay to talk, right? Oh, and you're welcome to invite me to a tea party, of course!"
"…………"
Claudia merely gave Raul, who'd launched into a one-sided conversation, a cold look and said nothing.
Convinced she was just shy, Raul told her about the flowers that had bloomed recently, his carrot fortune-telling, and how delicious turnips had been.
Claudia didn't even respond once. Still, Raul chatted away with a cheerful smile, so the people around them probably thought they were close.
A lady passing nearby spoke from behind her fan.
"My, you two seem quite close."
Claudia opened her mouth as if to say something, but Raul answered before she could.
At the time, Raul was so excited to be thought of as close to someone that he was floating on air.
"Yes, she's even invited me to a tea party!"
Raul hadn't realized it.
He paid little attention to his own appearance, but he was so beautiful that people said he was the spitting image of the First 〈Thorn Witch〉.
The striking young man and the beautiful, quiet young lady had been attracting considerable attention for some time.
Add Raul's remark to that, and it was obvious what sort of misunderstanding the people around them would leap to.
Claudia Ashley was engaged to the son of Baron Maywood. However, people had long whispered that a baron's son was no match for a marquis's daughter.
Then along came a handsome Magic Count—the current head of the Roseburg family, a distinguished line of mages—and a daughter of the Ashley family, who were related to the 〈Star-Reading Witch〉. Their families were almost too perfectly matched.
—The Marquis Hione's daughter has dumped her fiancé and fallen for the head of the Roseburg family.
—The fifth 〈Thorn Witch〉 is infatuated with the Marquis Hione's daughter.
It didn't take long for rumors like those to spread on their own.
The rumors died down soon after the Marquis Hione denied them, but the fact that they had existed remained in people's memories all the same.
＊ ＊ ＊
At the Roseburg estate's annex, Isaac Walker quietly asked Claudia a question as he watched Raul and the others prepare for a magic battle.
"Do you dislike the 〈Thorn Witch〉?"
Claudia made no attempt to hide her exasperation as she swept her hair back. There was no need to ask something so obvious.
"...I don't dislike him. I hate him... about as much as I hate you."
She was equally merciless to Isaac and Raul, but Isaac didn't seem particularly hurt. He simply voiced his question with genuine curiosity.
"But you talk normally with Dudley, even though he's the same sort as the 〈Thorn Witch〉... Well, I wouldn't call you close, but you get along all right, don't you?"
He had a point. Glenn and Raul were perhaps alike in their cheerfulness and loud voices.
They were also alike in how they pushed meat and vegetables on people.
But the two of them were fundamentally different.
"...That man listens even less than Glenn Dudley."
Glenn had probably grown up surrounded by people's affection. So when someone showed him malice, it affected him as you'd expect.
Raul, on the other hand, had grown up feared by those around him because of the First 〈Thorn Witch〉.
So, without even realizing it, he protected himself by tuning out some of what people said, so he wouldn't have to hear their malicious words.
The result was an out-of-control farmer who was one of the Seven Sages and never listened to anyone.
"...You know about those rumors, don't you?"
"The ones saying you and the 〈Thorn Witch〉 were in love? Only a handful of people were saying that, and I stopped hearing about it pretty quickly. Cyril didn't seem to know, either."
"...What do you think Neil looked like when he heard those rumors?"
Isaac thought for a moment before answering.
"He probably quietly worried that he really wasn't good enough for you, but acted as usual and pretended he didn't care about the rumors so you wouldn't notice."
That was exactly what had happened.
Neil hadn't suspected Claudia of changing her mind or being unfaithful. He'd simply accepted that he wasn't a suitable match for her and quietly felt dejected.
"...That infuriating man. He doesn't realize that every time someone with such a striking appearance gets close to a woman, rumors start. But if I tell him how I feel honestly, he'll just say, 'Once we've bared our souls to each other, we're friends, right?' So I'm never telling him."
In the direction of Claudia's gaze, Raul was showing Cyril and Monica the staff and robe of one of the Seven Sages.
The weasels were rolling the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉 around on the table. Someone could be heard crying, 'You beasts! Stop playing with me!' But Cyril was ignoring it, so he, too, had become quite careless in how he treated the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉.
"Man, it's been ages since I wore this robe. Does it suit me?"
"Your buttons are misaligned."
"Oh. Then I'll undo them. I'll just drape it over my shoulders."
"Um, Lord Raul... It looks like there's some kind of liquid on your staff..."
Cyril pointed out Raul's crooked robe with a frown, while Monica stared at the tip of Raul's staff in dismay.
Raul looked at the green liquid on the tip of his staff and said, "Oh!" as if he'd just remembered something.
"I used it to scrape the grime out of my cauldron!"
"You used one of the Seven Sages' staffs for that?!"
"The staffs of the Seven Sages are treated to resist alteration, you know. It's handy for scrubbing off grime. They're sturdy, too, so people say they're great for hanging laundry!"
"What kind of mage would use one for that?!"
"…………Ah..."
At the small groan, Cyril turned to Monica with a dead-serious expression.
Monica fidgeted with her fingers and let her gaze wander.
"Um... Lord Raul... Who... who told you that...?"
"I heard it from Mr. Luis!"
"Waaaaah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! That's not true—well, it is, but I've put it away in the storage room properly now..."
Isaac cut in with a pleasant smile.
"Yes, and I dust it off now and then."
"You're even making His Highness take care of your staff?!"
"Eep... I'm s-s-sorry..."
Watching the noisy brothers, Claudia quietly took a step back and fell silent, like a decorative figurine.
If she said even one word about this ridiculous commotion, Raul would decide they were friends, too.