Reincarnated Prince just wants a quiet life

Part 4: A Storm Brewing

The pile of books that I had left were still stacked haphazardly on the small table in the center room waiting for me to return to them. I strode across the room and picked a book off the top of the stack and cracked it open, the sound of old paper crinkling coming along with it. The book I had picked was titled "The Complete Guide to Sprite Summoning" and gave detailed steps on how to summon a sprite as well as how to form a contract with them. I was intrigued by it simply because it was a book on magic, a concept that did not exist in my previous world. Well magic 'did' exist but the magic from my previous life was nothing more than sleight of hand and mirror tricks. This was on a whole other level, this was real magic. Bending the elements to your will, conjuring flames in your hand, breaking the earth with nothing but your mind, feats that you could only see in video games and movies were now within reach. More than that it was a commonplace thing in this world, magic existed in everyday life and almost every lifeform used it.

As I read an owl hooted and upon looking up the culprit was perched on the edge of the table staring at me. The pure white owl tilted its head as if I was the intruder in its library and not the other way around. However, the owl made no other movements other than watching me tilting its head and hooting from time to time. I had heard that in ancient times libraries used to employ owls or cats to ensure that no mice ate away at the pages of the books. Although the idea made sense to me, the actual application of it was still an oddity. I tried to push the owl out of my mind and focus on the book that I was reading but the feeling of being watched sent shivers down my spine. I closed the book and sighed before looking up at the creature, "Is there something I can do for you Mr. Owl?" I asked as If I was actually expecting a response.

The owl tilted its head and hooted, still not moving from its perch on the table. It's dark black eyes never seeming to leave me for even a second. I shook my head as I reached for another book, opening it and searching for the page I had left off on.

"Who exactly are you, human?" said a low and scratchy voice.

I jerked my head up and looked for the owner of the voice and was met only by the stares of the owl. "Surely not..." I said in disbelief.

"Answer me human or I will have to remove you by force." said the owl as it tilted its head to one side while opening its beak.

"I-I must be going crazy. D-did you just speak?" I asked the creature.

"Who else is there human, now you will answer me." it replied, while flapping its wings as if ready to fly off at any moment.

"I-Ivan Emeralay" I stammered in disbelief.

"The crown prince? I had heard.....I must inform my master at once." with that it flapped its wings a few times before launching itself in the air, disappearing between the shelves as it flew away. The sound of its beating wings fading into the distance as I was left alone once more. I stared after the bird for some time wondering who could possibly be its master. Most of the palace staff had gotten accustomed to me walking around and seeing my face. Moreover I think I would remember someone who had a talking owl as a pet.

Shaking my head I turned my attention back to the book in my hand and tried to not think about the odd bird; perhaps the bird was someone's familiar, or a spirit that they have contracted with. I forced myself to push the thoughts of the bird out of my mind and instead tried to focus on the contents of the book. The second book I had picked up was titled "The practical applications of time magic." It had detailed explanations of what exactly time magic was and how one could use it in their everyday life. Most of it was simple spells that altered the time of an item, the example they had used was a wine maker using time magic to make his wine age, what would have taken years to do was achieved in a matter of hours. Absorbed in the book as I was, I was unaware of the woman's presence until she was almost on top of me.