[Looks like Master has already eaten. But then, whose seat is this? Who's the third person supposed to be? There aren't many people in this house. The servants definitely don't dine here. That leaves the Duke and his granddaughter. But the Duke is ill and can't come down, so… this must be Anna's seat. Is she running late?]
I glanced around the room—there was no one else, only Suna standing quietly near the wall. I waved to her to come over.
"Is Anna not coming to dinner?"
"She's a little scared of you."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"There must be a reason."
"Why don't you ask her yourself when you see her?" she said and returned to her spot.
So, I ended up eating dinner alone. Even while I ate, I kept thinking—
[Why didn't Anna come? Is she mad at me for interrupting her play earlier? Or maybe I scared her somehow? That's possible too—it's not the first time. Well, if I see her again, I'll ask.]
After dinner, I returned to my room to sleep, but for some reason, I couldn't.
[It's the middle of the night, and I'm still awake. I'm probably too used to sleeping on hard forest ground. This soft bed and fluffy pillow might be what's keeping me up.]
I tossed and turned, trying to sleep, but it didn't help. Then I thought—
[Maybe some fresh air will help me relax.]
I got up and stepped out into the hallway, heading down toward the first floor. As I walked, I noticed light coming from one of the rooms.
[There's light coming from this room? Who could be awake at this hour?]
Curious, I crept closer. The door was slightly ajar, and I peeked inside—it was a library.
I carefully opened the door without making a sound and stepped in. I was immediately surrounded by books. Everywhere I looked—shelves upon shelves, save for the narrow paths left for walking between them.
[There are so many books here. I've never seen this many in one place.]
As I examined the shelves, a soft light from the center of the room touched my face. It came from a lantern placed on a table.
I walked toward the table in the center, where special chairs and lamps were clearly set up for reading. As I approached, I saw someone sitting there—Anna.
She was deeply engrossed in a book, completely unaware of my presence. When I got close enough, she finally noticed me and startled. She tried to back away, but since she was sitting at the table, she couldn't get up fast enough and fell back into the bookshelf.
At that moment, I saw the books on the shelf start to wobble and fall—straight toward her. I didn't hesitate. I threw myself between her and the books, shielding her with my body.
Just as I thought, the books toppled, but because I was covering her, they all landed on me instead.
Anna, frightened, had shut her eyes tightly and clutched her book to her chest. Once the books had stopped falling onto me, she slowly opened her eyes and looked at me. We were very close to each other. When she saw me, her face suddenly turned as red as a tomato.
"Are you hurt at all?"
"No… nothing happened."
"Good," I said softly, lifting myself off her and turning away.
Anna also stood up. Just as I was about to leave, I heard a voice behind me.
"Wait!" It was Anna's voice.
She spoke very quietly, like someone lacking confidence. I didn't catch what she said clearly, so I turned around.
"What did you say? I couldn't hear."
Anna took a deep breath and spoke louder.
"I said wait."
"Alright, I'm listening. What is it?"
"You're bleeding from your head."
"Where?"
After hearing that, I touched my head with my hand, trying to find where the blood was.
"From the top."
I moved my hand to the top of my head and felt it—there really was blood.
[My hair must have made it easier to spot the blood. Maybe one of the books hit me hard.]
"Whoa, you're right… it's bleeding. Do you have something I can use to stop it?"
Anna pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to me.
"Here, use this… and thank you."
"Thank you. By the way, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
"I was reading."
"What kind of book?"
Anna hid the book behind her back and didn't respond.
"If you don't want to say, that's fine. I just like books too. But I don't get much time to read, since I spend most of it training."
Anna still didn't say anything, and the silence made me feel a bit awkward.
"Well then, I'll go get some sleep. You should rest too. Good night," I said and left the library.
Anna looked at the book in her hand. On the cover, it said "Curing Magical Diseases."
I returned to my room from the library and finally fell asleep. The journey up to this point had truly exhausted me.
When morning came, I woke up and began my usual training. I ran around the Duke's estate using flame mana, and practiced sword strikes.
While I was training, Master stood by and watched, correcting me whenever I made a mistake. After finishing my exercises, he called me over.
"Attu, bring your sword."
[Master's asking for my sword—does that mean we're going to spar?]
"Get ready to fight."
"Alright, Master!"
I took up my sword and began preparing to strike. Master also drew his weapon and waited for me to make the first move.