Chapter 53: CH 52 – The Library’s Secret Floor (Part 1)

"Madame!" Ben grabbed hold of my grandmother to prevent her from falling.

She had stood up from the dining table but stumbled. A coughing fit overtook her.

Her weathered hand waved towards him, and Ben immediately produced a Red Poppy Potion for her. Grandmother gulped down the pink liquid, and her coughing subsided.

"Luca, dear…" She smiled at me as if nothing was the matter. "I'm afraid I'll need to head to bed early. We'll have a chess match tomorrow morning instead."

"Luca," Duncan whispered. He looked up at me with wide eyes. "She…"

"I know." I cut him off.

I had jumped up from my seat when the coughing fit had overtaken her. My hands gripped tightly into the oak table.

It was frustrating. I knew she was at death's door, but I was incapable of doing anything for her.

At least not yet.

She said that she had many experts look over her, but she didn't have someone like me. I had the benefit of time. I only had a few days from when I awoke to save her, but there had to be a way.

"I hope you have a restful sleep, grandma," I said. My voice cracked at the end.

I walked over and pulled her into a tight hug. The scent of honeysuckle emanated from her.

"Oh goodness, my dear boy," she chuckled. Her hands patted me softly. "Did that worry you? I am fine. I just needed to take my medicine."

I clenched my jaw.

She was far from fine. She and I both knew it, but I doubted that she herself realized just how soon death was approaching her.

"I'll see you in the morning," she said, pulling out of my embrace. She smiled with her painted dark red lips.

I nodded, knowing I wouldn't be able to control my voice if I replied.

"Madame." Ben offered his arm.

"Oh hush, I can walk just fine." She shooed him away and walked out of the dining room with her back straight and her metal cane tapping loudly across the floor.

"Peep!"

Leona fluttered over and plopped her yellow body on my shoulder.

She doesn't look well.

"She's going to die tonight," I replied. My voice cracked.

"So you know?" Duncan joined me by the doorway, mistakenly thinking I was speaking to him.

"I've lived through her passing before," I replied and walked out.

The servants had entered the dining room and began cleaning up. There was no reason to remain there.

Duncan followed me out. His and my steps echoed through the long hall.

Large windows on one side of the hall overlooked the patio on which grandmother and I ate earlier this morning. Beyond the white marble balustrade railing, a warm glow emanated from the town. Further out, lights were sprinkled through the farmlands, mimicking the stars in the sky.

"How far into the future have you lived through?" He asked. "You said you knew the disaster that would befall the Genuiver Duchy."

I paused and glanced around the long hallway. No servants were nearby, but talking about such unorthodox topics in such an open space was unwise.

"Let's go to the library," I whispered. "We'll speak there."

I motioned for him to follow me.

"Hello, young master Luca." I came face to face with Remlend as we turned the corner. "I was just coming to attend to you. Will you be turning in for the night or partaking in any other extracurriculars?"

I stumbled back a step.

Damn it. Did he hear what Duncan said?

His expression betrayed no change, but Remlend was always like that. He was so ordinary in his appearance and mannerisms. The only unusual part was how quickly he greeted and attended to me. It was as if he knew my every movement.

"We're going to the library," I replied. My eyes studied him for any minute change that would indicate that he had overheard something unusual.

However, even if he overheard Duncan, he didn't show any shift in his behavior.

"Very well. Would you care for tea and cake while there?" Remlend asked. He glanced at Leona at the mention of cake.

"Peep! Peep!"

Before I could reply in the negative, Leona chirped away.

Yes! Cake! We didn't have cake for dinner tonight. I want cake.

"Yes, please bring tea and cake to us," I replied.

"Wonderful, I'll bring it over shortly." Remlend bowed and walked away.

 

***

 

"This is quite a collection," Duncan mused and sipped his steaming tea.

His head turned to gaze up at what technically was a three-story library but stretched down into the basement rather than towering up. Books and scrolls filled the oak shelves. The round room was filled with a warm glow from the long, hanging chandelier that illuminated the three stories of books.

The two of us sat on the ground floor in two red velvet armchairs.

A golden trolley with tea and a plate of a half-eaten slice of cake stood nearby. I had no doubt that Leona would finish the remaining cake in no time. After she finished taking her nap, that is.

She was lying asleep, slumped across a pillow beside my armchair.

I suppose she is still a newborn, so sleeping and eating all day makes sense. Not that I know anything about normal phoenix behavior.

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"It is," I replied and took a sip of my peppermint and honey tea. However, I felt the tip of my tongue burn and set the cup back down to cool.

I gazed around the library myself, which was pooled together over several centuries.

Not that I even knew what kind of books my grandmother's library contained. I had never read any of them. Reading and writing, in general, was a pain for me. The letters got mixed up and took longer than average to get straightened out.

Yet, I never have trouble reading the System's messages. Odd.

I had come into the library only when Elda and Jarvis pulled me in with them for who knows what reason. They would sit and read for hours. I usually would doze off asleep on a nearby couch. They would awaken me now and then to share excitedly something they had learned, and that was as close as I ever got to reading the books here.

"As for what will happen with the Genuiver Duchy, there are two disasters," I said. "The first is a famine that will take place three years from now. A quarter of a million people will starve to death."

"So that's what will happen. But a famine?" Duncan set his cup down and pulled the black silk mask over his face to cover his scared face.

I didn't understand why he bothered with it. I had already seen his scars and honestly didn't care. Besides, I wasn't one to judge anyone else on their appearance, given how disfigured I was at the end of my original life.

But I suppose things like that take time, and everyone is different. And Duncan fared relatively poorly in court because of his disfigurement, while for me, in my original life's profession, appearances were secondary.

I tapped my left pinky and ring finger against the red velvet armchair. It was still bizarre how I had them back after missing them for years in my original life.

"How?" Duncan asked. His voice was soft. "We haven't had a famine in our region in two centuries."

"Your sister," I replied and looked back up at him. "She will take over the Genuiver Duchy in two years, after your parents' passing. She will divert one of the rivers towards creating a new lake, which will bring about a lack of water in the fields."

I oversimplified what actually occurred. In reality, after the error was caught, the river was attempted to be redirected, but it was too late. That year's crops were goners. Then other disasters like mudslides and disease plagued the land after the river was diverted, but I did not have sufficient knowledge of how crops and nature worked to explain what happened.

"Do you know how my parents died?" Duncan asked. "I've always known when they would die, but not how."

"I heard their health declined significantly, and they passed on due to their illness," I said.

"Illness?" Duncan's blue eyes stared at me.

"Well, given how my own parents' deaths were ruled an accident, when in reality they were murdered, I suppose I don't know for certain what happened–or rather what will happen to them," I added.

Duncan's fingers fidgeted with the golden signet ring on his left hand. He did that at the inn earlier today as well. It appeared to be a nervous habit of his.

"You said there were two disasters," he said. "I know the second one will be six to seven years from now based on the lifespans I've seen. What will happen then?"

"There's a war that will rock the Adovorian Kingdom," I replied. "Technically, it begins five years from now, but most of the damage will occur in six to seven years."

"The Misfortune Sisters said you could help me. Can you really?"

Duncan's blue eyes stared across the trolley at me. His shoulders were slouched forward, and his body's position appeared uncertain.

I picked up my glass cup with the peppermint tea inside and inhaled the minty and sweet fragrance before taking a long sip. The glass cup was surprisingly still piping hot beneath my fingers, but the tea was drinkable.

"Honestly, I don't know. But I have to," I said. I gazed down into the golden mixture.

"My goal is to avoid Adovoria's demise against the Kobar Empire," I explained. "Thus, that second disaster is already part of my plans to prevent. And for us to succeed in the war, a quarter million living people would certainly help."

"The famine should be taken care of easily enough. I'll just inform my sister ahead of time," Duncan said.

This fool.

I gazed up at him from my cup.

"No," I said. "Even if we prevent the famine, your sister will likely cause another disaster."

"But if we don't tell her, how will we prevent the famine?" Duncan asked. His blue eyes were wide. "And what makes you say she'll cause another disaster?"

Is this idiot being serious? Just what is his Intelligence stat?

My eyes glanced up above his head instinctively, but obviously, nothing appeared there.

"Do you even know your sister?" I asked. "She has no interest in ruling. In the future, she will party and spend her fortune away on entertainment, leaving all of the actual decision-making to some of the lower nobles in your area. Who, I might add, are within less than amicable circles."

Duncan raised an eyebrow.

"Are you saying you and your family are of an amicable circle?" He asked gently.

I smirked.

He seemed to be getting more comfortable with me if he was willing to call out my family's shady background.

"Hardly." I took a sip of my peppermint tea. "But you came to me for help, remember? I'm the only one that can help, as you have said. And my recommendation to prevent the famine or other disasters from occurring is to not have your sister take over the Genuiver Duchy in the first place."

"Then if not my sister—"

"You." I cut him off. "You must take over the Genuiver Duchy and help me when the war comes. That is my one condition for my help."

Having him take over one of the most populous, wealthiest, and most prosperous regions within the Adovorian Kingdom was advantageous to me. It meant I would have a potent ally for the war against the Kobar Empire. Besides my brother marrying Adovoria's crown princess, Duncan would be my next best asset in influencing the war's outcome.

Duncan stared at me with his blue eyes, and then his body slumped back into his chair. A faint laugh escaped from him. He clutched his stomach with one hand and shook his head.

"Luca, do you know what the Genuiver court and advisors think of me? Or why was I replaced as the official heir?" he laughed.

I frowned.

I did not. I didn't even know Duncan existed until a day back. Nor that his replacement as heir was set in stone.

"Do you know what everyone calls me because of these eyes of mine? And this scar??" He pointed at his features.

Damn it.

The pieces gradually fit together, and I took in Duncan as a whole again.

"You have a reputation problem," I guessed.

"You have no idea," Duncan replied.