Chapter 15

Tak―

The sound of marble being stepped on echoed through the silent library from the direction of the entrance.

Someone had entered the library.

An uninvited guest had shattered Hastings’ peaceful time—though Hastings himself had yet to realize it.

“Ahem.”

Buried in a book, lost in the adventures of his imagination, Hastings Bartlett lifted his head at the sound of a throat being cleared.

‘What’s this? Who would come at this hour?’

After all, Hastings Bartlett, Baron of the Bartlett Family, was the librarian of the Imperial Library.

Naturally, his gaze followed the source of the sound.

At the entrance stood Yuwon.

Hastings’ eyes widened so much it seemed they might pop out of their sockets.

“Y-Your… Your Highness, the Prince!”

Even after rubbing his eyes and looking again, there was no mistake—the man standing before him was a prince.

Not the Third Prince, who visited the library three or four times a year, but the Fifth Prince, whose face he had never seen in person and knew only through rumor.

The snow-white hair, said to have turned pale from illness, and the peerless beauty said to be unmatched within the imperial family made his identity unmistakable.

The one standing below was undoubtedly the White Dog of the royal family—Yurion Aphahiel, the Fifth Prince.

‘Ack, this is no time to stand frozen like this.’

Startled, Hastings darted down the stairs as if gliding, bowing deeply before Yurion.

His movements were so swift and nimble, one might have mistaken him for a flying squirrel.

“It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness the Fifth Prince. I am Hastings Bartlett of the Bartlett Family, blessed with the honor of serving as librarian of the Imperial Library.”

Hastings greeted Yuwon politely.

Yuwon lightly patted the librarian’s shoulder in acknowledgment.

“Nice to meet you, Baron Hastings.”

Despite the surprise, Hastings handled the prince’s sudden visit with grace.

“Yes, Your Highness. I am deeply grateful that you have graced the Imperial Library with your presence.”

Though small and somewhat unimposing in build, Hastings was a man of notable composure.

Yuwon found himself quietly impressed.

‘So the so-called wastrel prince walks into the library, yet this man doesn’t seem all that startled. Or maybe he’s just good at hiding it. Either way, not bad.’

“I suspect we’ll be seeing each other often. I’ll be in your care, Baron Bartlett. Then, if you’ll excuse me.”

With that, Yuwon brushed past Hastings and walked deeper into the library.

Hastings bowed repeatedly toward the prince’s retreating figure.

“If there’s ever anything you’re curious about or in need of, please don’t hesitate to tell me, Your Highness.”

Without looking back, Yuwon replied,

“I appreciate that. I’ll call on you if needed.”

Though he said so, Yuwon had no intention of seeking him out.

For now, he had to be cautious of everyone—ally or enemy alike.

There was no benefit in inviting more eyes upon him.

Moments later, Yuwon vanished among the towering shelves.

Hastings, bowing toward the direction the prince had disappeared, found his mind filled with questions.

‘I heard Prince Yurion had fallen unconscious… So he’s recovered already?’

Being someone whose world revolved solely around books and the library, Hastings was slow to catch up on palace gossip.

Since the moment Yuwon had resurrected in the body of the Fifth Prince, all the empire’s attention had been on him—though such matters were distant concerns to Hastings.

‘Why would he come here of all places? He didn’t seem the type to get along with books… And besides, he’s nothing like the rumors. How could that man be the so-called wastrel?’

The Fifth Prince who had just spoken to Hastings was nothing like the rumors that said he smashed anything that displeased him and barked at anyone he met.

‘Well, rumors are always exaggerated. He seems like a decent person… but I’d better stay on guard. He might be the kind whose temper explodes without warning.’

Though he suspected the infamous wastrel might in truth be someone entirely different, Hastings nonetheless braced himself.

Thus marked the first meeting between Yuwon and Hastings.

Leaving a confused Hastings behind, Yuwon stepped into the inner stacks.

The rows upon rows of books filling every visible space of the Imperial Library greeted him.

The sheer vastness of the place was hard to comprehend.

It seemed as though the Aphahiel Empire had built this library to flaunt its grandeur—its size closer to a small fortress than a building of learning.

‘It looked large from outside, but from within, it’s even more impressive. To think they filled all this space with books…’

From cheap third-rate novels to the works of great authors, from scholarly tomes to rare manuscripts and forbidden texts unseen anywhere else in the world—

the Imperial Library held not only every book money could buy, but also those that money never could.

‘Amazing… Perhaps their bookmaking techniques far surpass those of the Central Plains.’

Even if he gathered every book he’d ever seen in his previous life, they would not fill even half the shelves before his eyes.

For the first time since coming to this world, Yuwon felt a fresh thrill of awe.

The sight before him was nothing short of breathtaking.

‘Heh… I wouldn’t be surprised if someone got buried alive under all these books.’

But astonishment was fleeting—he hadn’t come here to admire.

He refocused his mind.

‘Now then, let’s find something that can truly feed my mind.’

His eyes gleamed with anticipation as he moved toward the nearest bookshelf.

The Imperial Library of the Aphahiel Empire was more of a realm of its own than a mere library.

Having quickly grasped the library’s method of organization, Yuwon wandered through the vast interior, plucking books off shelves at will.

[The Poisonous Things of the Continent]

“Hmm, not this one. It has the kind of information I need, but it’s too superficial.”

He slid the book back into its place and reached for the one beside it.

[The History of Poisonings]

“Interesting, but not what I need right now.”

Once again, a failure. Still, all that his foot struck were books. There were plenty left. Yuwon reached for another one.

[Poisons That Changed History]

“Hmm… The title sounds impressive, but it’s worse than the last two.”

One, two, three… Yuwon flipped through the pages rapidly, scanning book after book, searching for something that could provide truly valuable information. Unfortunately, none of them seemed to fully satisfy him.

“Phew… I suppose a large number of books doesn’t necessarily mean they’re all good.”

In the end, he couldn’t find a single book that met his expectations and spent the entire afternoon surrounded by them. It wasn’t a complete waste of time, but still far from what he had hoped to achieve.

By then, the evening sun was slipping through the cracks of the library windows.

“I should head back soon. Maybe I’ll borrow something to read later…”

Just one or two useful books should be enough until he returned the next day. Yuwon carefully looked through the shelves once more and selected two volumes.

‘These two will do for now. Not perfect, but good enough.’

After choosing his books, Yuwon looked around and realized how deep into the library he had gone.

From where he stood, the section where the ancient texts were stored was less than a hundred steps away—an easy distance within the Imperial Library.

‘Hmm… Since I’ve come this far, I might as well take a quick look.’

Truthfully, the decision had already been made.

The very word “ancient text” carried a mysterious weight.

Back when Yuwon was in the Central Plains, “ancient texts” usually meant martial arts manuals or other extraordinary artifacts. It was only natural for him to still hold such preconceptions.

‘I wonder what kind of ancient texts exist in this world…’

His body, mind, and steps were already drawn toward the shelves holding the ancient books.

“Tch, nothing.”

Truly nothing—that was Yuwon’s impression after looking through the ancient section.

The number of books there was fewer than in other areas, and to make matters worse, their condition was abysmal.

‘They really live up to the name “ancient”… and even when you pick one that seems readable, it’s written in an ancient language I can’t understand. What a waste of time.’

As the term “ancient” suggested, the texts were filled with archaic scripts, leaving Yuwon completely helpless. It was nothing but a waste.

“I should stop here and go back.”

He had spent the entire day within the library. Now it was about time to return.

Yuwon turned and began walking toward the entrance.

‘I had some expectations for the ancient section, but…’

Unfortunately, none of them were fulfilled.

As the saying went, the higher the expectation, the greater the disappointment. His steps carried traces of regret.

And before he could take many more, it struck.

The pain arrived without warning.

“Ghk—! Khah… ugh!”

It happened in an instant—a powerful pain surged from his chest and shook his mind.

Thud!

It felt as if his heart had exploded.

It was that same pain that had once driven Yurion to drown himself in drugs and liquor—now it came for Yuwon as well.

“Kh, damn it…!”

The sudden pain made him clutch his chest and stagger.

The bookshelf he grabbed to steady himself tipped, sending a flood of books crashing down.

In his previous life, even when he had been poisoned and forced to slice his own flesh to survive, Yuwon hadn’t made a single groan.

But this pain was on a completely different level.

“Ugh…!”

His heart was seared with fire, then pierced by icy needles, then crushed beneath stone—hell itself seemed to manifest within his chest.

“Kh, damn this—!”

Yuwon gritted his teeth and endured the unbearable pain, the grinding sound of enamel echoing between his clenched jaws.

Even his past death had not been like this.

That one had come slowly, his senses fading one by one.

This, however, was vivid—sharp—mercilessly alive.

‘Kuh, I’d rather die than endure this again.’

It was a torment worse than death itself, and even Yuwon, who had once experienced dying, admitted as much.

The strength in his hand faded.

No longer able to support himself against the bookshelf, Yuwon collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony.

Even so, a faint, eerie smile twisted his lips, shadowed with despair.

‘Well, it’s not even my body. I stole another man’s flesh to live again. The one who should’ve died lives, and the displaced stone lies outside the wall. Life could never be easy. This is my karma—my chain to bear.’

Life was suffering without end. It had been Yuwon himself who begged for another chance at life after death.

Thus, this agony was the destiny he had to shoulder for taking Yurion’s body.

‘If this pain is fate, then I won’t run from it anymore!’

With that thought, enduring became slightly easier.

A fire sparked within him—he refused to lose to the pain.

‘Fine then. Let’s see who wins—you or me!’

Yuwon clenched his fists until blood seeped through his palms.

Veins bulged on Yurion’s slender forearms, and his neatly trimmed nails dug into his soft, callus-free skin.

Tak―

Then came the sound of something snapping in his mind.

It was the sound of his consciousness breaking.

‘Damn… I didn’t see this coming…’

Perhaps because he had pushed his entire body to resist the pain, Yuwon’s consciousness finally slipped away.

The moment he fainted, a radiant light burst from his chest—as if waiting for that very instant.

The source of the glow was the only thing that had crossed over with him from his original world—that jewel.

Through some mysterious power, the gem illuminated its surroundings and wrapped Yuwon in a warm, gentle radiance.

The disturbance soon reached the ears of Hastings, the librarian. In such a quiet place, it was impossible not to hear.

“What was that noise?”

Finishing his daily duties, Hastings hurried toward the source of the sound.

“Your Highness? Are you here?”

But what he found was only a mess of fallen books. There was no trace of Yuwon.

“Hmm? The sound definitely came from here… but he’s not here? And why are these books all over the floor?”

It was clearly the very spot where Yuwon had fallen. The scattered ancient texts were proof enough.

But Yuwon himself was nowhere to be seen. The unconscious prince had vanished without a trace—as if spirited away by a ghost.