Chapter 7: Ch7 Remuneration

Joy welled up inside me as I approached the bookcase filled with new books. They would contain new information. New worlds that I had yet to read. Manuals with different thought processes on how to control the world’s elements. The books called to me, luring me in. I peeped up and down the shelves at the titles that popped out to me, “Current Theories on the Curse, How to be Customary to the Corporations, Diving into the Past, The History We Lost, Gem Inspection Guide: Make Sure you Don’t Get Ripped Off, An Artistic View on Gem Inscriptions.”

A knock came on the door just as I reached out to the bookshelf, causing me to writhe in agony at not getting to read a new book so close by. They were so close I could almost smell them.

“Lady Astrid, I have come to discuss remuneration with you!” shouted Don through the door.

My hand quivered back slowly, like claws of a beast who lost its chance to grab its prey. There had to be some exchange of payment, I guessed, for destroying their gems. I was pretty sure I could create one after reading books on the subject. It would even give me a chance to try out new methods of spell delivery. It would be interesting to see how people got by without spells.

“Be there shortly,” I replied, waving away my barrier. I quickly checked the mirror. My brown hair seemed bland, so I cast a beautification spell. The spell caused my hair to roll up into curls with a slight shine to them. My hair even had a slight scent of strawberry wafting around me. “Elle’s Simple Spells for Simple Beauty” really came in handy for women. It was common among patrons of the library to make copies for themselves to give to their partners.

The door automatically opened after I unlocked it. Don seemed well dressed, with his peppered hair and normal stoic expression coming across rather bored. I presumed Donna would come get me, but it seemed like I would have to ask.

“May I come in? Sorry for disturbing your rest, Lady Astrid.”

“Yes, you may. Where is Donna? I would like to talk with her.”

The king coughed a bit before saying, “She is indisposed currently. She felt ill this morning. I will tell her you asked of her.” He sat down at a work table and pulled out some documents from his robe.

The guilt I had felt the previous night creeped back up, bringing with it anxiety. I really had to watch out so I wouldn’t scare anyone else. Hopefully fixing the mana flow would allow me to stay under control. There should be a chance for me to apologize for going overboard.

When I went and sat down at the table in the room, I was mentally preparing myself for the king’s demands. There was a lot I could offer with my knowledge from the library. Maybe I could help solve the human curse, since I still had spells. With that in mind, I wasn’t worried about what the king would ask for anymore.

“So, for attacking you unprovoked last night, I would like to offer our sincerest apologies. The group’s leader that attacked you unprovoked shall be put to death tomorrow morning. His family will be exiled outside of the dome,” he said with a straight face.

“Yes, that's fine, apology accepted. I’m sorry for destroying your gems. Do you need anything for that?” I replied, glad I wasn’t in trouble. That was one less thing on my plate. It felt like I was missing something, though.

“No, no, that is our fault for attacking you. We are elated you weren’t hurt. I would like to offer you our house to stay in. Furthermore, we would like to -”

The gears inside my head had finally realized what the king had said. I blurted out with a stutter, “Wait, no put to death, no exile. Why? I wasn’t even hurt. No. That is not okay.” I could feel my chest tightening that someone's family would grow up without a parent because of me. They would be lonely like I was when I had moved into the library.

“His life is forfeit and can no longer work for royalty. These are laws set by the corporations and kingdoms alliance. His penalty is for attacking someone high ranking.” Don’s face had grown dark as he said this.

I tried searching for some ideas in my brain, then an idea came to me. “Then he shall work for me. As my bodyguard. It is the compensation I seek.”

The king's face went white as my non-sunbathed skin. “Why would you need a guard? You can defend yourself. As a goddess would be,”

“Tooooo - Umm. Grab books off the top shelf! Oh, they can do errands for me as well.”

“If that is what you want, Lady Astrid,” said the king. He got up and quickly exited the room. As soon as the door closed, I heard him yelling, “Cancel the execution immediately! Quickly get him.”

Were they really going to execute someone? I thought as I put my face in my hands, resting my elbows on the table. There is so much I need to look out for. I turned my head to the books and said, “It’s all for you. I will read you soon.”

I went through the door, running to catch up to him, but my legs could not keep pace. Not wanting to draw any more attention to myself, I decided against using a spell. Anyway, this was my chance to check out the statue that looked similar to me and was probably of me.

When I got to the white stone statue, I analyzed it closely, looking at all the details. It had the exact same facial structure as me. A creepy feeling of having been stared at for way too long came over me. My fan club may have been more serious than I thought. The more I thought about it, the more my skin crawled because there were so many people staring at me all over the place. Not just my fan club, but now whoever had these statues or paintings. They are all looking at me and thinking about me.

It was also a wonder as to who had made these. It must have been from my little fan club, but I didn’t realize how serious they were that I was the spirit of the library. It couldn’t have just been a couple of them. There were actually a lot of them, the more I remembered all the people that would pat my head. They even rustled and tousled my hair, so rude.

After they made the original set, there must have been reproductions. Then I may have gained my own myths and legends at some point. I had seen similar examples in books I read where the hero couldn’t have been in so many places at one time.

I started thinking about using grand magic to erase it all at once, but I shook my head at the thought. It would be dangerous to mess with mana from the library on that scale. I also didn’t know what fallout it would be. I mean, maybe some people would get blamed for stealing, or losing, or breaking things.

The more I contemplated the situation, the more I realized I would need to come up with a plan on how to handle people that would recognize me. It was times like these that I really wish I had an advisor. While holding the statue, I began pacing back and forth, lost in thought.

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“Lady Astrid, I - I have stayed the execution,” Don said, heaving his breaths. He had startled me, causing the statue to jump out of my hands and dance across my fingers before heading towards the ground. I wrapped my fingers around its neck as I caught it.

I breathed a sigh of relief and gently put it back on the table I grabbed it from. Turning to him, I spoke, “Astrid is fine, Your Highness. I would rather not cause another miscommunication with any of the guards.”

He regained his composure. “May I be candid, Lady Astrid?”

“You don’t need to ask for permission like that,” I said, feeling anxious again. There was just too much expectation out of anybody with the title lady.

“While you are nice, other people are not, and they will have my head if I disrespect you. I wouldn’t even have a chance to explain if I used anything less than, lady. I should be calling you my goddess, but you have deemed me worthy not to.”

“Oh, ugh do you have any ideas?”

“On what?”

“How to deal with it? I really don’t want to have any more outbursts. All of this formality really stresses me out. I am afraid more people will hate me like your daughter.”

“My daughter doesn’t hate you, Lady Astrid. She is just indisposed currently. As for dealing with it, I have no idea on how your powers work. We can’t do anything like you can. No one has been able to for hundreds of years. Maybe some sort of camouflage or face cover, like the guards here.”

“Oh, that is a great idea. There should be a glamor spell I can use. Thanks for the idea. So when do I meet my new guard?”

“This evening he is saying goodbye to his family before they have to leave the dome.”

“Why are they leaving the dome?” I felt the creep of frustration coming back. 

“They were exiled.”

I took a deep breath to calm myself before saying, “I didn’t want anything serious happening to anyone over a miscommunication. Now please bring him and his family to my room in good health with nothing done to them by this evening. Do I need to take care of this myself?”

He went sheet white, realizing her tone changed. “Yes, Lady Astrid. I will also have their home items brought here as well.”

“Thank you, Lord Don.”

He took off running again, shouting out, “Prepare my car. Get it ready. I must get to the gate immediately!”

I shook my head when I realized he said a word that I was unfamiliar with. What is a car?

There were books in my room calling my name, so I made my way back to my room to read them. The path had become familiar, and I saw just how bland the building really was. There were some walls with paint cracks on them, but I ignored that and moved on, not wanting to get anyone in trouble. 

Just as I made way to the shelf where the lovely book was, a knock on the came, causing me to freeze.

“Lady Astrid, lunch is ready. I know you skipped breakfast. You should eat. We made a top quality meal for you.” I heard a girlish voice through the door.

Can I please get a chance to read! I thought before I opened the door. A maid in a clean brown dress was waiting on the other side. 

“I will show you to your lunch.” The maid swiftly took off before I could talk to her.

Why do people keep ignoring me? I thought as I followed her to the dining room from before. There were sandwiches on the table; the bread looked fluffy and fresh with some sort of green leaves sticking out. I sat down in the same seat as before and began eating the food slowly, this time determined to enjoy the flavors longer. The meats inside were cold and had a salted flavor. They smothered it in some sort of sweet sauce that disguised the salty flavor. I took one one bite after the other but opened my eyes to look around the room. There was only one guard by the door, not the mass of them like last time. 

As I finished my first sandwich, I saw the door creak open and Donna’s head pop in, but before I could call out to her, she looked shocked and shut the door. I felt a bit of a pain in my chest, wondering if I was some freak. I mean, a king is basically my squire now. His daughter is terrified of me. I lost my appetite and headed back to my room to be consoled by books. They had always been there for me. 

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