Chapter 121

 

***

 

“Sigh…”

After letting out a small sigh, Melody began to silently wipe the nearby bookshelf, neatly folding the rag.

She didn’t want to waste her time arguing with him.

Soon, Claude approached her side and started to gauge her reaction.

“Did you… really get angry?”

“No.”

“But you haven’t glanced my way even once. Look at me, will you?”

At his earnest plea, Melody turned to him with a deeply furrowed brow.

“Really, if you keep doing this…!”

But her words were cut off before she could finish.

It was because he presented her with a permit. It seemed he had been following Melody around with it the whole time.

“This is.”

Melody took the document he handed her.

It stated that Claude was permitted to enter the examination hall as someone who would assist Melody.

“Well, you see.”

Claude added an explanation in a tone as if he was making excuses.

“Every other candidate brought someone from their family to help. Wouldn’t it be unfair if only Miss Melody was left to fend for herself?”

“It’s not unfair at all. I was planning to do it all by myself from the start.”

“Of course, I do like Miss Melody’s spiritedness as well.”

He took back the document, neatly folded it, and put it away in his pocket.

“I think it’s necessary to have options, just in case.”

Feeling that his advice was sincerely given, Melody found herself without a rebuttal.

At least she was relieved that his presence wasn’t something she had to worry about too much.

Melody turned her gaze back to the bookshelf she was examining with a more relaxed expression.

That moment, something odd caught her eye.

“Huh…?”

Melody recalled the information she had gathered about this place.

Bookshelves divided by region for each year’s information.

Most of the shelves were arranged in chronological order.

Since the ducal records also followed a chronological arrangement, that must be the correct method. Noble families often adopt the royal family’s methods.

However, the bookshelf Melody had discovered was organized in ascending order based on the name of the historian who recorded it.

Why is this the only one that’s different? She wondered, examining another bookshelf. It was arranged in chronological order, but…

“It seems like it’s mixed with other regions.”

There was no reason for the name of a mountain range from an entirely different region to be here.

Feeling odd, Melody arrived in front of another bookshelf.

There was nothing particularly different there. All the books were from the same region, neatly organized by date.

However, there was one book that stood out because its spine was so worn that the letters were barely legible.

“How did this happen…?”

Melody quickly opened the record. She knew the pages were in a terrible state, but it was now too dark to see properly.

After flipping through a few more pages, soon a small light illuminated her surroundings.

It was Claude.

He had kindly brought a light from the desk.

“Thank you.”

Melody nodded briefly before examining the damaged book again.

Her guess was correct; the inside was in a terrible state as well.

Feeling somewhat upset, Melody frowned.

“It looks like someone spilled tea on it and just put it back…”

“Since the records here can be accessed once certain criteria are met.”

“Even so, to return it so carelessly… Oh.”

Melody, hugging the ruined record, suddenly lifted her head.

“It might have been prepared by the historians for the exam!”

If someone had access to this place, they must hold a high position and would surely understand the importance of these records.

They wouldn’t commit such an act.

“Yes.”

Claude soon nodded in response, seemingly proud.

“That’s highly possible.”

“Then, my task is clear.”

To straighten up the bookshelves and rewrite the messed-up records.

Of course, she had to finish cleaning up as well.

“…I wonder if I can finish everything by tomorrow morning.”

Melody murmured worriedly. She had thought that cleaning alone would take a considerable amount of time.

“If you wish, I can help you.”

Upon hearing him say that, Melody quickly shook her head.

“This is my exam! Young master, please don’t do anything and just stay quietly by my side… Oh.”

Melody, without realizing it, had blurted out “stay by my side” and then was startled by her own words.

While she chastised herself,

He responded with a smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes.

“If you insist that much, I’ll stick right by Miss Melody’s side.”

“…Don’t stick close! I told you not to!”

 

***

 

Fortunately, Claude did not engage in the troublesome act of sticking right by her side, and she was able to focus on the task at hand.

She first brightened the area near the bookshelf with several lights, then began to organize.

Arranging them in chronological order wasn’t as difficult as she had thought, since all the information was written on the spine of the books. She just had to arrange them accordingly.

She also made sure to return any misplaced books to their original bookshelf.

During the process, she discovered a few more books that were out of place and returned them all to their rightful spots.

Then she continued with the cleaning.

After wiping away the dust that had fallen from organizing the bookshelves, she looked at the clock and realized it was late at night.

She was happy that the work ended earlier than expected, anticipating it would last until dawn. But then,

Melody found another record in disarray in a different bookshelf.

This one seemed to have a binding issue because as soon as Melody picked it up, the pages started to fall out.

“…I’ll have to read through and match the pages.”

She returned to the desk and slumped down into the chair, feeling quite exhausted, but relieved there was a soft, comfortable chair to lean into.

She closed her eyes for a moment.

From a distance, she heard Claude flipping through pages.

He had been sticking to a particular bookshelf without leaving.

At this point, Melody began to suspect that he hadn’t come here solely for the sake of her exam.

Perhaps there was something he wanted to find.

“Is he investigating some urgent matter?”

Melody considered going to check what he was investigating, but soon shook her head.

She had her own work to do.

First, she started to organize the book whose pages had gotten jumbled due to the binding mistake.

It was somewhat difficult because the page numbers weren’t written at the bottom of the pages, so she had to rely solely on the content.

But as she slowly matched the beginning and end of the story, she was able to organize the records in the correct order without much difficulty.

“All done.”

Melody also left a note on the cover saying, “Please rebind.”

“Now, then.”

It was time to start the final task. It was true that the damaged record was left as a ‘task’. Fortunately, there was plenty of paper prepared for transcribing the record.

Melody took out the pen and ink she had brought from the mansion and began to calmly transcribe the preface.

The scratching sound of the pen nib against the paper filled the quiet night.

In response, the sound of pages turning occasionally came from afar.

“Somehow.”

Melody thought this moment felt just like being in the ducal mansion with Claude…

“No.”

Feeling oddly relieved for a moment, Melody quickly denied her own thought.

It was definitely nice not to be alone in the frightening royal archives.

But, she didn’t want to admit that his presence was somehow helpful.

So, Melody set aside thoughts of him and focused on correctly deciphering the heavily blurred pages.

After a few more hours of transcribing, her shoulders and now her eyes began to hurt.

No matter how brightly she illuminated the surroundings, deciphering the blurred text was quite taxing.

“You’ve done a lot.”

Lifting her head at the comment, Melody saw Claude had approached her, pulling a trolley.

It was not something Melody had brought in from the door during dinner.

“Where did that come from?”

“Do you prefer your drink cold or warm?”

“Cold. But where did it come from?”

He carefully poured a light-colored tea into a large glass filled with lemon and ice. The cool sound of ice clinking echoed.

Claude then topped the finished glass with a herb leaf decoration and handed it to her.

“Thank you. But where did you get it?”

“I heard a knocking sound, so when I opened it, it was right there in front of the door.”

“What?!”

Melody stared at him in surprise, still holding the glass.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Of course, I’m surprised! How can you do such things yourself, sir?!”

“I came here precisely to do this kind of thing.”

Claude said, as if it was obvious, and then placed a large plate filled with pancakes, generously topped with fruits and syrup, in front of Melody.

He also didn’t forget to finish it off by delicately sprinkling some sugar powder on top.