A Breath Away from Discovery
Ran Abaran’s coming-of-age ceremony was far more pathetic than anyone could have imagined. Having mocked him to his heart's content, Selos walked with a light step, feeling a deep, long-standing congestion finally clear from his chest. Perhaps it was the alcohol he had merrily gulped down, but instead of heading to his own room, he turned toward the gardens—a place he rarely visited. A cold winter wind slapped his cheeks. It was then that the triumphant grin plastered across his face vanished in an instant.
Wheat-colored hair that cascaded down to her waist—she was someone he couldn't possibly fail to recognize. She wasn't alone. Or rather, she was alone now. For the limp figure dangling from her hand no longer looked like a living human being.
This was a passage from the original novel.
The night of my coming-of-age ceremony—that was the day Mentil's hidden ability would be revealed, and the day her contact with the Second Prince, Dito Abaran, would begin.
Outside the window, the trees had not yet shed their colorful autumn garments. It was still autumn. Which meant there were at least three months left.
I had managed to align myself with the timeline of the original events, but now I was facing an even more serious problem.
The Red Book was a thin, ancient text of about fifty pages—essentially a historical record. It was meant to serve as a guide for the protagonist and his companions on their journey, meaning it had to fall into Ratel's hands at just the right time. And right now, it was right here.
The Empress usually had her tea time in the morning, leaving her room empty for about an hour. Although guards blocked the door so tightly not even an ant could slip through, the window was a different story.
"Chirp."
Even if I were caught, the chances of them killing a tiny sparrow that had flown in were slim. Aside from my wings being a bit tired from the flight, everything had gone incredibly smoothly so far.
Letting out a sigh, I carefully descended to the floor, shifting back into my human form. Fortunately, the carpet was thick enough to muffle even the slightest sound.
The room was surprisingly modest. Compared to the First Prince's room, which was practically plastered in gold, her room was furnished with low-saturation, dark-toned furniture. The already dim room received barely any light, thanks to the large, heavy curtains draping the windows. Of course, they were similar in the sense that every single item in here was undeniably exorbitant.
The lustrous, uniquely patterned carpet on the floor, the white marble mirror hanging on the wall, and even the telescope by the window. A telescope in a world where religion completely overwhelmed science. Since it was an object so expensive I couldn't even dream of buying one in my past life, I couldn't begin to guess how much it would cost here. If I were to sell it... No, focus.
Shaking off the temptation, I took a step forward. The Red Book was here. In this very room.
A massive bookshelf occupied an entire wall of the spacious room. Tales of Karl Machen's Stars, Foundations of Celestial Observation, The Moon of Sierra the Great, The Three Moons, and so on. It was packed with books about the stars and the moon. Considering how little scientific research on celestial bodies existed in a world dominated by this religion, it was an astonishingly vast collection.
Of course, the Red Book wasn't simply one of these volumes. I pulled out one of the oldest-looking books from the shelves. Since the story mentioned the Red Book had been hidden for a very long time, it would be a weathered volume rather than a pristine, newly bound one.
Song of the Moon. It was a hardcover book bound in blue leather. There was no need to read it.
I walked over to the window and parted the curtains just a fraction. Holding the book up to the morning sunlight streaming through the gap, I quickly flipped through the pages. The musty scent of old ink brushed past my nose as the weathered paper fluttered.
Then, there was one page. A page that let through a different amount of light compared to the others. I stopped flipping and held that single page up to the sunlight.
What had looked like an ordinary page began to absorb the sunlight, glowing with a transparent light and revealing hidden letters.
A small smile tugged at the corner of my lips in relief. It seemed no one had found it yet.
I slid the book back into its original spot and closed the curtain I had parted. Darkness reclaimed the room.
There must have been hundreds of books filling the wall. Hidden within those hundreds of volumes were about fifty pages like this one, designed to let light pass through. In the original novel, the hint was presented with the romantic phrase, "Follow where the light guides."
It was a relief that they were still in place, but I couldn't afford to let my guard down. If Mentil and Dito found them before the protagonist, it would trigger a massive disaster. The protagonist would lose his guide for the journey, while Dito and Mentil would gain a massive shortcut.
Yet, I couldn't steal them right now either. I couldn't carry fifty pages all at once, and if I took them piece by piece, the Empress would notice something was amiss and move the rest elsewhere. That would truly ruin the original plot.
But I couldn't just sit here and pray that Mentil and Dito wouldn't find them. Aside from the anxiety, there was no guarantee that Tollin would be excluded from the next batch of the Chrysa family members Mentil brought. An original storyline where Tollin vanished would never work in the protagonist's favor.
According to the original novel, Mentil and Dito join forces after my coming-of-age ceremony, and the two of them use Mentil's ability to search for the Red Book. However, the protagonist is supposed to arrive earlier, succeed in securing the Red Book, and make his escape. That was the stable sequence of the original plot.
It couldn't be too early, nor could it be too late. Yet, in this godforsaken world, another major event had been dragged forward by three months.
The only consolation was that because I had significantly accelerated the start of the original story, the protagonist might arrive in the capital a bit earlier as well.
Where on earth is that damn protagonist?
If he didn't arrive on time, I would have no choice but to resort to my final backup plan. And that was an option that held absolutely no benefit for me.
Please, just get here quickly. If you've entered the Abaran Empire, you should be arriving soon.
Click. It was at that exact moment that the sound of the door unlocking echoed through the room.
To think that the moment I prayed for the protagonist to be sent to me, the heavens would send the Empress instead. Truly, God was not on my side.
Fortunately, because I had instinctively willed myself to transform into the smallest animal I knew, I managed to narrowly escape her gaze. Though transforming into the absolute smallest creature I had ever encountered didn't exactly make for a dignified appearance.
Judging by the shape of my paws, I seemed to have transformed into a tiny field mouse I had once seen in the forest. At this size, hiding behind the heavy curtains was effortless.
Click-clack. With the light clicking of her heels, the Empress stepped fully into the room.
Since my transmigration, I had only ever caught fleeting glimpses of her from afar. Each time, my impression of her had been that she looked incredibly sharp and cold. This was the first time I was seeing her from such a close distance.
Her lustrous black hair, lightly dusted with a few streaks of white, was swept up tightly. Her neck was stretched straight, a testament to her impeccably rigid posture.
She was the epitome of a beautiful middle-aged woman, but unlike the Emperor, whose face seemed to defy time entirely, her face showed the natural passage of years. Yet her eyes were far sharper and clearer than his dull, vacant ones. Ominously so, in fact.
Without sparing a glance elsewhere, she walked straight toward the bookshelves.
"..."
Although the novel stated there were no magical traps or devices on the bookshelf, meaning there was no way she could know I had touched the books, tension gripped my chest. Fortunately, after scanning the shelves a few times, the Empress turned her head away. I let out a silent sigh of relief.
"...The smell of a beast."
But her next words made the hair on my tiny body stand on end.
Did she just say 'the smell of a beast'? Did she catch my scent? Right now? No, that was impossible.
Even Rasiah and Selos, whose five senses were far more developed than an ordinary human's, had never mentioned a beastly smell when I transformed into a crow or a squirrel. The Empress was undeniably a regular human.
Was there a setting in the original novel about the Empress having the nose of a bloodhound? No, no matter how hard I racked my brain, no such setting existed.
Yet, unless she possessed the nose of a hound, there was no other way to explain how she was walking with such terrifying precision toward the exact curtain where I was hiding.
"Hmm."
The Empress furrowed her brow, seemingly focusing all her senses on her nose, as she steadily closed the distance to my window. I glanced behind me. Dammit. The window was slightly ajar, but this was the third floor. In the lavishly built Empress's Palace, with its soaring ceilings, the third floor was an immense height. To make matters worse, my current form was a mere rodent.
If the Empress discovered me, was she more likely to leave me be, or call the guards? It wasn't a difficult calculation. The option of quietly revealing my mouse form to her was instantly discarded.
Could I slip out the window, immediately transform into a bird, and fly away without being seen? Or should I jump first and transform into another animal right before hitting the ground?
As a million thoughts raced through my mind, the Empress was now close enough for me to accurately gauge her height.
Right, let's just jump. I'm small, so I'll survive somehow.
Knock, knock. Just as I steeled myself and tensed my legs, a saving grace echoed through the room.
"Your Imperial Majesty, it is Jen."
The one who saved me from the brink of leaping out of a third-story window was the Empress's personal maid.
The Empress tore her gaze away from the curtain and stepped back.
"Enter."
A petite woman with dark hair tinged with purple stepped inside. Jen Sia. The Empress's personal maid. She was a character who also appeared in the original novel.
"What is it?"
In response to the Empress's harsh tone, Jen bowed her head even lower. She handed over a thin stack of papers.
"An urgent matter has arisen requiring fifty children and several priests from Comiel Village to enter the temple in the capital. Because of the large number of people involved, the expenses are quite high, and the documents requesting payment have been delivered to Lord Selos."
The Empress frowned as she scanned the papers.
"A fire broke out at the temple, leaving no rooms suitable for conducting the rituals?"
At her muttered words, the maid replied, "We sent someone to verify, and a fire did indeed break out in that region."
Flipping through the documents, the Empress nodded and handed them back to the maid. A mocking sneer played on her beautiful face.
"They will use any excuse to demand money. Just approve the payment."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Ah, wait."
The Empress stopped Jen just as she was about to take the documents and leave.
Slap!
With a sharp, stinging crack, Jen's head whipped to the side. Her cheek flushed a bright red, but the woman didn't let out a single whimper as she immediately lowered her head back into a bow. The Empress dusted off her hand, looking down at Jen.
"Replace all the maids responsible for cleaning this room. They clearly aren't doing their jobs properly. There is a foul stench in here."
Jen bowed deeply, her voice filled with contrition. "I am deeply sorry, Your Majesty. I will discipline them severely and have them all replaced immediately."
Not long after Jen left, the Empress also departed the room. Only then could I finally let out a long, shuddering breath.
I had barely escaped a suffocatingly tense situation, but my relief was far outweighed by sheer exhilaration.
Comiel and the temple. The protagonist's arrival was drawing near.