A Barbaric Proposal Side Story 8

The plan was perfect.

Nauk’s Royal Library was open year-round, as many scholars practically lived and ate within its walls. A mere blizzard wouldn't be enough to warrant locking its doors.

The twins waited patiently for the Madams, enjoying the cookies they brought, and then used the excuse of being sleepy to retreat to their respective bedrooms.

Once the Madams had tucked them in, patted their backs, and disappeared, the twins slipped out of bed.

Shellan didn't forget to advise Dief to stuff pillows under his blankets. No one would suspect they were gone if they saw a lumpy silhouette under the covers.

Creak, clang.

Shellan opened the fireplace tucked away in a corner of the King's Gallery.

[Dief] "Are we really going through here?"

[Shellan] "Yes."

She nodded firmly.

[Dief] "But it’s so dark. And it’s a fireplace. What if we burn to death?"

[Shellan] "Dief, have you ever seen a fire lit in this room?"

[Dief] "Mm? I don't think so."

[Shellan] "Exactly. There’s no risk of burning."

[Dief] "..."

He swallowed hard as he peered into the pitch-black interior of the fireplace.

He had been excited when Shellan first offered to show him the way to the library. Sneaking out while pretending to sleep was technically a "bad deed," but he couldn't bring himself to refuse.

It didn't feel fair for Shellan to have secrets he wasn't privy to; Dief, after all, had no secrets from her.

However, he hadn't expected the secret to be quite this dark. Dief honestly dreaded entering that void without so much as a single candle.

[Dief] "It’s too dark. I can’t see anything."

[Shellan] "It’s underground. Just get in. We’ll be caught if we linger."

[Dief] "No, wait. Are you certain this is a path?"

He used his strength to resist as she tried to push him from behind.

[Shellan] "Yes. I told you, I use this way every time I go to the library."

[Dief] "Really? I mean, seriously? Through this darkness?"

[Shellan] "Sir Renfel knows the way well."

[Dief] "What about you? Do you know it too?"

[Shellan] "...Mostly."

In truth, it was so dark that she couldn't see a thing.

Klima had told her he was used to it from frequent use. Shellan had been just as frightened, which was why she had always traveled through here nestled safely in Klima’s arms.

[Shellan] "If you're scared, move aside. I can go alone."

She brushed past Dief and climbed into the fireplace first.

[Dief] "Haaa..."

He let out a sigh that sounded far too weary for a child.

It was a sigh born of a complex dilemma: he didn't want to go in, but since Shellan was being so bold, he couldn't possibly leave her to face it alone.

[Dief] "I suppose I have no choice."

He couldn't let Shellan enter such a terrifying place by herself.

Dief bit his lip and followed her in.

---

They returned exactly one minute later.

In that absolute void, finding the way was an impossible task. Shellan had taken perhaps five steps before she made the elegant decision to give up.

[Shellan] "I felt as though my entire sense of direction had been dulled."

It was a very sophisticated way of admitting she was lost. Dief didn't quite grasp the vocabulary, but he was indeed relieved that her senses had failed her. Otherwise, they surely would have vanished into the dark forever.

[Dief] "Maybe it isn't even a path."

He still found the concept hard to believe.

[Dief] "It’s a fireplace. Why would there be a road inside it?"

[Shellan] "Because it’s a secret passage. It was hidden like that on purpose."

[Dief] "Mm... why?"

[Shellan] "So people can come and go without being seen."

[Dief] "Why would anyone need to do that?"

[Shellan] "A castle is supposed to have secret passages. You never know what might happen to royalty."

The children sat in front of the cold fireplace, whispering back and forth.

Dief reached out to brush the soot and dust off Shellan’s clothes.

[Dief] "I see... so is Sir Renfel royalty, then?"

[Shellan] "What? Royalty must carry the name Arsak. Dief, do you not even know that much?"

[Dief] "I know that! But then how does he know about the secret passage?"

[Shellan] "Sir Renfel is the King's personal guard. Of course, he has to know the layout."

[Dief] "Oh, right."

[Shellan] "...No, wait. That’s not it."

His eyes rounded as Shellan suddenly shook her head.

[Dief] "What is it, Shellan?"

[Shellan] "There is a contradiction."

[Dief] "A contra-what?"

[Shellan] "..."

She chose not to answer that particular question. If she stopped to explain every word he didn't know, they would be there until dawn.

[Shellan] "He became the King's guard when we were three. That was when he finished his lessons and was officially knighted."

[Dief] "Ah... was it?"

Naturally, Dief had no memory of being three years old. Shellan was the unusual one for remembering such details.

[Shellan] "But he told me he has used this path since he was a child. He knows it perfectly."

[Dief] "Aha. I see."

[Shellan] "It’s not an 'aha' moment. Isn't it strange? If he only became the guard four years ago, he shouldn't have known this path since he was little. He wasn't a guard back then."

Dief clapped his hands together.

[Dief] "You're right. That is strange."

[Shellan] "Does that mean Sir Renfel is actually royalty?"

She tilted her head.

[Shellan] "But that doesn't make sense either. If he were royalty, why would he become a knight? And Madam Renfel is the Head Maid."

[Dief] "Hmm..."

Dief rested his chin on his hand, pretending to ponder the mystery. However, he only grew more confused.

If Klima were royalty, what did that make Mother and Father?

He knew a kingdom usually only had one royal family. Something wasn't adding up.

[Dief] "What if it’s a secret passage that royalty just doesn't use?"

[Shellan] "There’s no such thing."

She stood up with a sudden thud.

[Dief] "Where are you going, Shellan?"

He scrambled to his feet to follow her.

[Shellan] "I'm curious. I have to find out."

[Dief] "Find out what? Whether Sir Renfel is royalty?"

[Shellan] "Yes."

She knew exactly where to look. Mother’s study held the royal records.

---

The two children crept toward the King’s study, their footsteps silent. The room was empty.

Creak.

After closing the door behind them, they stood before the bookshelves. The shelves were packed with thick, massive, ancient volumes.

[Dief] "It’s dark. I can't read the letters."

The spines of the books were marked with the years of the records. Without a light, the small, faint script was illegible.

[Shellan] "Yes. We need a light."

She stepped onto a chair and rummaged through the desk. She found a candle and a holder used for late-night reading. Inside a drawer, she found matches.

Scritch!

She struck a match with practiced ease and lit the candle.

[Shellan] "Take this, Dief."

He took the candlestick.

[Shellan] "Hold it steady."

She calculated the years in her head. Mother’s coronation was seven years ago. Klima became a knight four years ago. Mother and Father’s marriage was eight years ago.

[Shellan] "This should be the one."

Still standing on the chair, she scanned the shelves until she found the records from ten years ago.

[Shellan] "We need to find the name of the King before the coronation. If the King’s name was Renfel, then it all makes sense."

[Dief] "I see!"

He nodded, looking impressed.

However, even after scouring the records from a decade ago, the name "Renfel" was nowhere to be found. Instead, the twins discovered something else:

A suspicious gap in the records before the first Arsak King, their grandfather.

---

[Shellan] "I’m so curious I can't stand it."

She bit her finger and tapped her foot anxiously.

[Shellan] "Why is it missing?"

The names of the Kings before the Arsaks were Gainers. If there had been a King named Renfel, he surely would have been in those lost records.

[Shellan] "They were removed on purpose. I'm certain of it."

Dief, who had been struggling to follow her train of thought, simply nodded along.

[Shellan] "Why? Did the Arsak King take the crown by force?"

[Dief] "Hmm? That would be... well..."

He searched his mind for a word he had heard before.

[Shellan] "Treason."

[Dief] "Ah, yes. Treason. Treason is a very bad thing."

[Shellan] "It depends on why they did it. Maybe the previous King was a useless tyrant who did nothing for the kingdom."

[Dief] "Mmm... I don't really know."

She was not the type to sit and patiently explain things to Dief when he was confused.

[Shellan] "If Renfel was a royal name, this is a major crisis."

[Dief] "Why?"

[Shellan] "Because he might be hiding his identity to seek revenge against House Arsak."

[Dief] "Huh? Revenge?"

His eyes went wide.

[Dief] "That’s a bad thing too! If he gets revenge... will Mother die?"

[Shellan] "I don't know."

She stopped her pacing.

[Shellan] "That’s why we have to find out."

[Dief] "How? The records are gone."

[Shellan] "Yes. So we have to find them."

[Dief] "Where do you find something that’s gone?"

[Shellan] "That..."

She stood still, closing her eyes in deep thought.

Klima Renfel was a large, agile man. A kind soul who always took her to the library. Yet he had known the secret paths of royalty since childhood.

Perhaps he had been King for a brief moment between the Gainers and the Arsaks. If that were true, he might be biding his time to strike...

Shellan shuddered. The more she thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

Seeing her fear, Dief grew frightened as well.

[Dief] "Shellan, what should we do?"

[Shellan] "There must be something left behind."

She concluded.

[Shellan] "Just like the secret passage remained. If Renfel was undeniably a King, he would have left something."

[Dief] "But we’ve never seen anything like that."

[Shellan] "He isn't in the castle right now. Let’s search his room."

[Dief] "Ah! That would work!"

The two children slipped out of the study and crept toward the North Tower.

The tower, which served as the quarters for the Arsak Guardian Knights, was empty today due to the various crises at hand.

---

Searching Klima’s room yielded nothing. With only a single bed and one wardrobe, there wasn't much to search in the first place. They even tore open his pillow, only to have feathers fly everywhere.

Having ruined a perfectly good pillow, the twins decided to head to the jewel chamber. It was where old relics were kept, making it the most likely place to find a clue.

[Shellan] "Don't lift your head, Dief."

[Dief] "It’s a bit scary in the dark... okay."

Dief lay flat on the floor. Shellan climbed onto his back and slid a key into the lock.

It was astonishing that Shellan knew the key to the jewel chamber was kept in their mother’s bedroom, but she didn't say how she knew. To Dief, Shellan seemed to have more secrets than Sir Renfel did.

[Dief] "You're heavy, Shellan."

[Shellan] "Just bear it. You know I'm lighter than you."

[Dief] "Mmm..."

[Shellan] "And be quiet. Do you want to get caught?"

[Dief] "Oh, right. I'll be quiet."

Dief grimaced but swallowed his complaints. After a moment of fumbling with the lock, Shellan let out a tiny cheer.

Click!

[Shellan] "There! I opened it!"

Creak.

The jewel chamber door swung open. She pocketed the key in Dief’s doublet and stepped inside first.

[Shellan] "Let’s go."

[Dief] "Okay."

The sound of a heavy gulp echoed through the empty, silent jewel chamber.

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