Chapter 12

Chapter 12

After such a boisterous morning stroll, Rosette headed to the Imperial Library.

She needed to learn about the Kaysen Empire, and she decided the library was the best place to acquire diverse knowledge.

The Imperial Library housed a vast collection of books, offering insight into the empire’s history, customs, and trends. Rosette’s steps were resolute.

Upon arriving, she signed her name on the roster and entered.

The Imperial Library was, as Rosette had expected, enormous. It seemed to have gathered not only the Kaysen Empire’s books but also volumes from across the world; its sheer size was immense.

Every single book was meticulously maintained, not a speck of dust in sight. Rosette browsed, selected a few books, and then settled into a spot to open one and begin reading.

The first book she chose was a bestseller, prominently displayed at the top of the fiction section. The worn cover and pages clearly indicated its popularity.

It was a romance novel aimed at women, telling the love story between a humble, fallen noblewoman and a crown prince in disguise. The protagonist, once the only daughter of a wealthy noble family, had faced ruin due to a series of events. To save her family, she worked tirelessly, taking on any menial job without complaint. The story concluded with the prince, who had fallen for the hardworking protagonist, eventually uniting with her after many twists and turns.

Rosette started reading lightheartedly, but before she knew it, she was completely engrossed in the story. Time flew by as she read with such absorption.

The protagonist’s struggle to save her fallen family felt, in a way, eerily similar to her own plight. The character in the novel bravely overcame blaming, contempt, and hardship, ultimately reaching a happy ending. Rosette’s future, however, living in an unfamiliar foreign land, remained uncertain.

No, perhaps it was even more bleak. Her first task was to change the preordained tragic outcome… Rosette bit her lip, reminding herself of the fact she had briefly forgotten.

She vowed multiple times not to forget her circumstances and then picked up another book next to her.

She had stumbled upon it earlier in a secluded corner while browsing the library. It wasn’t where she initially intended to go, but the library was so vast that she had ended up there unintentionally. It was tucked away in quite an isolated spot, and its cover looked unusually old among the pristine books, so she had picked it up without thinking.

Rosette lifted the old book and opened it.

Dust motes, hazy in the sunlight filtering through the window, drifted from its cover. It seemed to be quite an old book; she hadn’t turned many pages, but the sense of age permeated, making Rosette cough repeatedly.

“There’s nothing special in here.”

The book was filled with indecipherable characters.

As a child, Rosette had briefly been fascinated by codes and hieroglyphs. So, while she recognized some characters here and there, there was nothing truly significant to glean, and a complete translation was impossible.

She reached almost the very last page. Judging from the content so far, the book seemed to be encrypted. Towards the end of the pages, characters she knew appeared in succession, and she read them aloud.

“Empire… Imperial family… And this… a curse?”

That was the end of the content. She tried to turn to the next page, but the one Rosette had opened was the last. When she pulled the pages apart to examine closely, she saw signs that someone had torn out the subsequent pages.

It was unsettling, but there was nothing she could do. Rosette scanned the book several times before putting it back and picking up another to read.

The Montegne Knights, the Hersia Kingdom’s Second Knight Order.

They had rented out the entire first floor of an inn and settled in. The knights were indulging in a hearty meal accompanied by beer, as if unwinding after a long journey.

Julian Helveron, the leader of the Montegne Knights, raised a toast, commending everyone for their efforts.

“To completing our mission safely and returning home, cheers!”

“Cheers!”

At his lead, the knights collectively shouted “Cheers!” The loyal knights respected their trustworthy captain, Julian, and would undertake even dangerous tasks at his command. Successful missions always brought substantial rewards, and his conduct as a warrior, walking the path of righteousness, served as an inspiration to many knights.

Julian Helveron, serving as the Knight Commander, was both an excellent guide and mentor.

Not long before the war with the Kaysen Empire began, a large-scale goblin attack occurred in the Ophelia region, located in the kingdom’s southernmost territory. Hordes of hungry goblins raided nearby villages, and the damage escalated beyond the Ophelia region’s forces to handle, prompting a request for support from the Imperial Palace.

Goblins, who lived in groups, carried weapons and engaged in organized behavior like humans. They had become increasingly rampant recently, making them notorious monsters that even regular soldiers found hard to deal with.

They moved in packs and were not above employing cowardly tactics, leading many soldiers to prefer fighting in a war rather than facing these monsters. At least on the battlefield, the enemy was human.

They were such formidable opponents that soldiers often avoided confrontations when attacks occurred.

However, during this large-scale assault, the Montegne Knights and the Third Knight Order, volunteered to form a subjugation force.

Under Knight Commander Julian Helveron’s active command, they achieved swift results. The subjugation progressed faster than expected, yielding remarkable success. They received a warm welcome from the populace and had already completed their triumphant procession.

This was a stop on their return to the palace after their achievements, where they unpacked their luggage at a nearby inn, as they always did, and shared an evening meal with the knights.

Julian possessed bright brown hair and sharp features. Whenever he smiled, it seemed to brighten his surroundings, and most people around him would unconsciously smile.

Endowed with good looks, ability, and manners, he was a perfect catch in every way, and this subjugation had further proven his capabilities. Their exceptional commander was one of the Montegne Knights’ greatest sources of pride. Sihern, Julian’s right-hand man, spoke with a touch of boastfulness as he watched Julian.

“Now that we’ve finished the subjugation so quickly, those First Knight Order bastards won’t be able to look down on us anymore.”

A small smile curved Julian’s lips at his subordinate’s words. It was a charming smile that would have captivated any woman, but unfortunately, only grizzled men were present.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. We only dealt with a bunch of common monsters.”

“Common monsters? They’re notorious goblins, known for their treachery. Most soldiers would rather go to war than deal with those monsters. Isn’t that why they were struggling without us?”

“That’s true.”

“Your strategy was brilliant again, Commander. Luring the goblins into traps!”

When the knights first arrived, the Montegne Knights had also struggled. The monsters, despite being mere creatures, formed various groups and even employed diversionary tactics, striking and retreating with astonishing cunning. For the first few days, the knights often found themselves going in circles.

After several days of analyzing the goblins, Julian discovered they operated in a division of labor. He even pinpointed the crucial detail that the weakest goblins would target sparsely populated areas for theft. That discovery was a triumph in itself.

They waited, piling food that goblins would love onto nets covered with dirt. The low-intelligence goblin hordes would surely flock to it without suspicion. And before long, Julian’s prediction proved correct.

They captured a group of goblins who came to steal goods in their nets. Then, another group of goblins, who possessed some loyalty to their own kind, saw the trapped females and came to rescue them. At that opportune moment, they dealt with the leader and all his followers.

The biggest success was deliberately letting one goblin escape, pretending it was a mistake, then chasing it to locate the monster’s stronghold and wiping them out.

Because everything had proceeded seamlessly under Julian’s command, Sihern was now passionately recounting the events, his loyalty rekindled.

“Ah, the exhilaration of discovering their stronghold… it was truly indescribable!”

“If you tell that story one more time, it’ll be the tenth.”

“It was just that thrilling, you know? I almost fell for you, Commander! Oh, that’s a joke.”

“That’s disgusting, Sihern. Cut it out.”

Though his words were a reprimand, Julian’s expression softened, perhaps not entirely displeased. Staring at his flawlessly handsome face, Sihern shook his head, having a ridiculous thought that if he were a woman, he might indeed have fallen for him.

“Anyway, I thought this subjugation would finally put those Dragon Knights in their place, but then a war with the Kaysen Empire broke out while we were away. The rumor is they played a significant role in tying down the Imperial Forces.”

“We should have realized the ambition of the Emperor, who had only recently ascended, sooner… That was our mistake, if anything.”

“Just hearing the rumors, he sounds monstrous. I already knew the Imperial Palace was a brutal place, but to kill his own father and brothers? The rumors even say he ruthlessly eliminated young children. Rather than facing such a notorious figure… perhaps dealing with monsters was better.”

“Still, it’s fortunate, isn’t it? For whatever whim, he made a peace treaty and retreated quickly. We almost had to deploy again as soon as we returned.”

“He’s not one to back down so easily, so it was quite unexpected. I heard the Princess herself intervened. Commander, you must know something about it, right? You were close with the Princess since childhood…”

At Sihern’s words, Julian’s expression abruptly turned cold and rigid.