It felt hot...

No, it was a lot more than that. The temperature in the room had, or had to have, reached blistering heights.

I felt as if I'd been thrown into a raging fire, and yet, strangely enough, I didn't feel any burning pain.

I'm not sure how to describe it, but it was heat without the burning sensation, nor the pain, just a fiery lingering disturbing sensation.

I had no idea where I was; all I knew was that I was dust to the winds, drifting... somehow.

***

"Young Lord, Young Lord."

From afar, or maybe not so much, I could hear a familiar voice.

"Young Lord."

As I slowly opened my eyes, I saw, leaning down at me, a masked man.

"Good morning, Young Lord," he greeted.

"Hello, Sy-Rufus," I greeted back.

For some reason, he handed me a handkerchief, which I accepted despite my confusion.

"Is it already the morning?" I asked.

It was then, trying to wipe off slumber from my face, that I came to realize that my face was trailed by a strange streak and that, for some reason, my eyes were wet.

What is this?

Did I cry?

"Not yet," revealed Syrius, while drawing the curtains of my room open, revealing a bright, dawny sky on the horizon.

"But since the young Lord seemed to be having a rather unpleasant dream, I thought it best to wake you up."

Dream?

Nightmare, you mean?

I tried to remember the content of that nightmare only to realize that it had already vanished from my memories, leaving only glimpses of how painlessly unpleasant it was.

"Thank Syrius. I have no clear memory of what that dream was about, but I have the feeling that it must've been a very frightening one. I can't say with any certainty, but it feels certainly good to be back in the land of the awakened," I said, wiping tears off my eyes.

"You’re most welcome. By the way, Young Lord, I met Lord Emilien earlier as he was leaving the castle. "

"Oh,..."

He told me that he would pay a visit to your father today. "

"I see," I simply muttered.

"You don’t seem very moved by the news."

"No—It's not that, it’s just that… I have the feeling that it is going to be a very awkward father-son reunion," I confessed, as I stepped out of the bed.

"Awkward?"

"You know what, forget what I said earlier," I said with a dismissive wave of the hand.

"…Understood," responded Syrius, though initially hesitant, solemnly.

I made my way to the windows, from which I could see the five other castle-like structures of the city.

One had to say that this room offered a superb view of the city. City, from which flocks of birds were seen flying through the city's streets. The rising sun was gradually flooding the city with its radiance, accompanied by small white clouds drifting above the city's distant and densely packed houses.

Well aware that it was everything but a good idea, an overwhelming desire to explore the city came over me, which prompted me to draw the window curtains shut.

Far from the eyes, far from the heart, was it?

"Rufus, has Lord Emilien said anything else?"

"He also charged me with informing the Young Lord to do his best to get along with Sir Mael," Syrius revealed with, what I somehow could tell, a smile underneath the mask.

"I'll do my best, but I don't believe Mael holds me very dear to his heart," I said helplessly. "I tried to-you know, break the ice with him last night during dinner, but he seems to be an expert at leading conversations down a dead end."

"Young Lord, Am I allowed to express my sincere thoughts on the subject."

"Go ahead."

"Please don’t take this wrongly, but…" He said, taking a weird and long pause.

"What are you coming at? Just spill it out already. "

"Perhaps you aren't doing it correctly. I doubt any child his age would be interested in... What was it? wild boar? "

Did I just hear him snickering beneath his mask?

"It’s warthogs."

Well, yesterday, when we were in the dining room, Lord Emilien was a little late for the meal, so Mael and I, at the same table, had to wait for him.

There were no words to describe how uncomfortable it was for both of us. We were essentially two strangers seated at the same table.

So, being the gentleman that I am, I thought it would be a good idea to tell him a little story to break the ice between us.

"For me, it's the same. Young Lord, don't get me wrong, young Lord. Your story about warthogs being hunted down by a ponytailed chimp was fascinating, but I doubt a child his age would be able to respond in kind to such a "great" story," Syrius explained, not forgetting to add his own pinch of sarcasm.

Seeing how suspiciously shaky he stood.

There was no doubt about it.

This guy was actually laughing at me behind his expressionless mask.

"So… what do you suggest then?"

"According to a trustworthy source. Sir Mael, like the Young Lord, is a thorough book-." He interrupted his words with a very forced cough, and instantly went on with. "Booklover. So the young lord could make use of this common ground. "

"Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?"

"I only found out about it after witnessing the Young Lord's attempt to befriend Sir Mael.

"Hum… is that so?"

"After all these years of seeing the young act abnormally and overly mature for his age, I was caught off guard by that sight. "

He pulled out yet another handkerchief from his pocket and wiped away non-existent tears from his mask.

"If Mathilda were here, she'd be so proud of you, Young Lord." Finally, our lonesome and silent young Lord attempts to make a friend.It's frightening how quickly children are growing."

From my bed, I retrieved a pillow and shouted, "Leave Maa out of this!" before flinging it at him, which he casually caught.

With that, I proceeded to the bathroom to prepare myself for breakfast.

***

It's been two or three hours since Syrius woke me up.

Mael and I were having breakfast on one of the castle's many terraces, closely watched over by his five attendants and my dear and loyal masked butler Rufus.

Mael was about to finish his meal, and I had a feeling that he'd leave the table as soon as he did.

"What do you have planned for the day, Mael?" I asked, not knowing what else to ask or even say to strike up a conversation.

" I plan to stay in the library. Why would you ask?" He asked back.

"Nothing—nothing; I was just curious."

"Hum… I see," by the time he had said this, he had already finished his meal and was about to get up.

"Say, Mael, do you mind if I join you? ... I mean, to the library. "

After a short but tense pause, he simply replied,"I don't."

Having received confirmation, I stood up from my seat, and we both made our way to the famous library, followed by Syrus and Mael and three attendants.

Soon, after walking through the same corridor, I saw him for the first time. Mael, upon reaching the famous library’s door, clarified, "The masked butler stays outside like everyone else," pointing at Syrus.

"Rufus. You're relieved. You haven't eaten yet, right? Go get your breakfast."

"Yes, Young Lord," Syrius humbly said before taking his leave.

Having them too, not having gotten their breakfast yet, Mael’s three attendants all glanced at Syrus' back with envy.

Mael, seeing their reaction, announced to his attendants,"You three can go too."

"But my Lord, we-"

"I said you can go!"

"Yes, my Lord."

In no time, they squandered off toward where we came from. It was then, and only then, that Mael took a key from his pocket and began to unlock the door with it.

When I said "unlock," I simply meant "put the key in the keyhole, shoving the door open."

A part of me expected this castle library to be opened—you know, more magically.

If a simple manor's library is protected by magic, I thought it was a reasonable assumption to make that a castle library would be as well.

A part of me was expecting the door to be opened with—I don’t know—some sort of incantation, but well—you get what you get.

Urged by Mael's cough, who had already entered the room while I was daydreaming, "Oops. Sorry, " I apologized as I dashed into the room, for him to close the door behind me.

What I saw when I walked into the room was not what I expected to see in a library.

The most noticeable thing in the room was not the books or bookshelves, but rather a shining ray coming from the ceiling and illuminating the entire room.

When I got closer to the center of the room, I realized where the light was coming from.

A massive stained-glass dome acted as a ceiling above us.

The entire room was shaped like a dome and was easily two-thirds the size of the manor.

From where I was, I could see three other floors upstairs. The room’s walls were no longer visible, for they were hidden behind built-in bookshelves.

On the ground floor, where Mael and I were, there were two desks in each corner of the room, as well as four sofas arranged diagonally across the room.

"This is quite impressive."

"You think..."

"Yes, this library is significantly larger than ours. May I?" I asked, pointing to a nearby bookshelf.

To which Mael responded, with a simple nod.

I immediately started looking through the books on the nearby bookshelf. While Mael went to take a seat across the room at the desk, where he began reading a book he had taken from the desk drawer.

I could feel his gaze on me from time to time while mine was elsewhere, but I paid it no mind.

After a while, I was done browsing through the bookshelves on the ground floor. Though there were a lot of interesting books, I haven’t yet found one that would be worth taking a seat and reading.

So I approached Mael on the desk he was sitting on and, much to my everlasting shame, interrupted him in his lecture to ask, "Say, Mael?"

"What?"

"I was wondering if this library had the two last volumes of the Annals of Crusaders and encyclopedias?"

It was a well-known fact that every 100 years, the Church, and more precisely, the Paladin Order, would organize an expedition to the Monster Continent to extend the human continent's border. These expeditions are called "crusades".

All of the information collected during each crusade was to be recorded inside two editions of books known as "the encyclopedia" and "the annals of crusaders".

The fundamental distinction between the encyclopedia and the Annals of Crusader is that the former is a book prepared solely with the goal of recording and sharing information about monsters, whereas the latter is primarily focused on compiling the tales of the adventures of each member of the paladin order who took part in the crusade.

These two book editions are released once every hundred years to the public.

Every volume of these two books, with the exception of those from the two previous centuries, could be found in the secret room.Which is why I asked Mael if this library had those.

" You’re reading these?" he said, for the first time showing an open interest in what I’d said.

"Yes, with the exception of the two previous volumes, I've read every existing volume."

"I see,… You can find them upstairs, on the second floor, on the left. You can’t miss them," he simply indicated, this time in his voice, carrying a little hint of what I assumed was enthusiasm.

"Okay. Thanks," I immediately answered, somewhat a little bit carried out by the whisker of enthusiasm he finally showed.

"You're welcome."

Having ended the discussion, I had no other choice than to head to the second floor, where I immediately stumbled upon the book editions I was looking for.

Taking the two Encyclopedia Editions that were missing from the manor's library, I took a seat on the second floor since there was a chair and a table here and I didn't need to get down to read the book.

And, while I'm not sure how long I've been here, it appears I've, force of habit, been here a long time.

What snapped me out was, from downstairs, Mael’s approaching footsteps.

I got up from my chair, put the book back on its shelf, and went down the stairs. And I immediately stumbled upon Mael, who was about to go where I was.

"Lunch should be ready by now," he announced.

"‘Kay"

He surprisingly waited for me to go down the stairs, and when I reached him, he went down side-by-side with me.

"How was the book you were looking for?’

"It was interesting. I’ve learned a lot about Fangwolves."

"Fangwolves?"

"Yes, in the past volumes, there wasn’t much information about them, but thanks to the book I read, I’ve learned more about them."

"You've already read everything you wanted to know?"

"Not yet."

"Then, wouldn’t you mind going back after lunch?" he asked,by the time we reached the library’s door, which he was holding for me.

"I wouldn't mind; in fact, I'd be delighted to," I honestly replied.

"Later then." He muttered as he closed the door behind us.