My Good Friend, The Villainess

3 - To Walk Without Footsteps

Papa always says, "if we walk without footsteps, did we ever move at all?". It's supposed to mean "without anything behind you, did you even exist?" or something like that. It's why your family name is so important, it's your history. It made you.

Apparently, Miriam has no footsteps, since her name isn't in any of the books. I've been going over the "S" section of every single record book I could find, which the Lauressier library has at least a brick load of, all very, very heavy.

"Su... Su... Su... And no Lons." I groaned out. "She isn't anywhere. I'm not spelling it wrong, I don't think I am." I was sprawled out on my stomach on the softest rug of the library, holding a mana candle as close as possible to read in the dark, surrounded by at least 10 thick books, and for nothing!

I couldn't even look up my family name, it definitely wouldn't be there. We don't have any titles and I don't think we're getting one any time soon either.

But I've never heard the name 'Sulon' at home either and mama prides herself on knowing everyone in the 'genteel' circle. She would've brought them up at least once. So, if she's not from a titled family or landed family... but being a commoner doesn't make sense either. Commoner surnames didn't make the same sounds that ours did, and they usually deal with jobs. Like Smith or Sews, something like that. The only ones that rule doesn't apply to are families that were demoted or those that came from abroad.

"That makes this even harder..."

Families that were demoted got to keep their names but had all their titles stripped and weren't allowed to even attempt to be knighted for generations, depending on what had caused their loss in status. And even then, they were given a title that would stay with their family for the rest of its existence 'Turpis'. And the possibility of someone of Turpis descent being able to approach Cressida...

"Impossible. So that means she's from somewhere else? But I don't know much about anywhere outside of Eguniel, besides where mama comes from. And why would a foreigner come over anyways?"

Everything was making less and less sense the more I thought about it. "Ebele."

"Yes, child?"

"Can you at least let me know if I'm narrowing things down in the right direction? Miriam would be a foreigner, right?"

"Correct, dear. See, I knew you were smart enough for this."

I felt my face go a bit hot at the compliment. I've never been good with those things. "Then I need a book with a map."

The Lauressier Library was a special place, not just because of the name attached to it. A long time ago there had been a conjurer of the family that loved books, so she made it so that rather than looking for books yourself, the library would shift and move to bring the books to you. When you were done with a book, it would pick them up all on its own and put them back where they came from. It was such an amazing thing to watch, nothing else like it.

I could still remember the first time Cressida brought me here, only talking with excited whispers because the library's supposed to be quiet. She had been so excited, eyes changing from honey to pretty spun gold as she brought me all around, showing me how the bookcases moved around without sound and without scraping the floors. We spent all day squeezed together in a plush chair looking at drawings of fairies.

Cressida's always wanted to meet a fairy.

Like magic, the bookshelves shift around when I get close to them. Before long, one ends up in front of me and goes motionless, just like the others do. Some of the books are glowing, but I pick up the one that's the brightest and it goes back to normal as soon as I have it in my arms. The books glowing means they're most likely the things you're looking for, but the entire shelf is full of books like "The Lehica Continent", "The Stars and How to Read Them", and "The History of Eguniel Through Its People".

With a bit of a struggle under the weight of it, I managed to get back to my place on the rug which was now devoid of the books left there before. "Lehica's Geography" was a lot thicker than I thought it'd be, at least thicker than both my arms pressed together. I don't think I'll have the time to read through the whole thing before Cressida wakes up.

"Which page has the map on it? Oh, I should have a pen and paper for notes. My governess always says I need to take better notes." I dusted off my nightgown and headed over to the desk where a librarian might sit if there was one and went hunting through it for some loose paper. I had to settle for a pencil instead of a pen, but that's okay. When I managed to find the page with the map on it, I had to take a bit to find where Eguniel was as a starting point. I remember during class Ms. Fereka said that we were "landlocked" which means we can't get to the ocean.

Eguniel kind of looks like a large steak sitting right in the middle of a strangely shaped dinner plate with a crack in it, the crack being a big river that goes all the way through it. Papa took me and my big brother sailing on the Arwell River last year with grandpa, it's much wider than the map makes it look. The Arwell also connects us to Saleq and the actual ocean down south, mama's from Saleq. Then there's Mantelso, to the... was it the right or would be east of us? The compass rose says east. To the west is Hamanek and to the north is Resema. There's lots of other places outside those but they're our "neighbors", it makes more sense for them to travel here.

"But what if she's from none of these places? Or across the sea somewhere? Ugh, why are there so many places to be from?"

My eyes were starting to hurt and from the windows of the library I could tell that the sun was rising. I had been awake for at least an hour or two by the looks of it and I was already sleepy again. Research is so much work. Maybe I should just rest my eyes, just for a little bit...

A little bit of... sleep...