Red Cape, Red Dress - Aoyagi Toya x Shiraishi An

CHAPTER 04 - Books and Paperwork

            "Father, I'm going to explore the castle," An informed her father at the break of dawn.

Her father was already awake, planning his schedule at a desk in the exquisitely decorated room. "Be careful. And remember who you're supposed to be."

"I will!" An smiled, closing the door and leading herself down the hall. Paintings upon paintings lined the walls of the palace. Paintings of mountains, flowers, and simple scenery added color to the walls. From the way they described it, you'd think Ukiyo has no concept of happiness. The frames were golden, of course, and the paintings were signed by their respective artists in some corner of the artwork. One name appeared more often than others, Aoyagi Fumiko.

Woah, the queen herself painted these? It kinda reminds me of Ena... An stared at the paintings. There's no family portrait?

"Good morning, An-chan," said the knight An now recognized as Miyata Souma. "The art is brilliant, is it not? The queen has a knack for painting."

"Yeah, I noticed her signed name in a lot of them. However, there's no—"

"—Aoyagi family portrait? That is intentional," Souma walked forward, "King Harumichi plans to hide his children from the public and guests and keeps them couped up in the castle all day. Though..." Souma thought for a moment, "I think the oldest son has made one appearance, but it was only semi-public. The people know their names and ages, but that's it. I'm not even sure you'll meet one of them," the knight kept a neutral expression.

"I see. That's a shame," An sighed. "Do they get...go outside?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. They train with swords for at least an hour or two every day."

"Woah..."

Souma nodded, before looking out a nearby window. "Well, I will take my leave. Enjoy your stay here, An-chan," he waved casually as he left, leaving An in the hall.

She continued walking, and arrived at an extravagant door, with words written above, Royal Library. She pushed the door open and gaped at the towering bookshelves. Rows and columns of bookshelves were laid throughout the library, with fine sofas and desks sprawled out on the far sides of the library. Windows let beams of sunlight in, highlighting dust in the air. She turned around and closed the door silently behind her, and nearly jumped when a tall man with purple hair appeared in front of her.

"Welcome. You must be the guests from Akarui," he smiled, adjusting his monocle. "I'm the librarian, Kamishiro Rui. It's nice to meet you. Let me know if I can help you," Rui walked away and back to the main desk, analyzing which books were checked out to who.

An regained her composure and continued walking, grazing the bookshelves with her hands. A particular section caught her eye, and she turned into the Mystery Fiction isle. She focused on the spines and the titles, trying to deem which one seemed interesting enough to read.

"You like mystery fiction, too, An?" An squealed and jumped, whipping her head to see the source of the familiar voice.

Toya stood with an apologetic frown on his face. "I'm sorry for scaring you. I wasn't sure how to get your attention otherwise."

"It's fine, Toya. You're just...really quiet."

"I'm glad you forgive me," he exhaled, pushing reading glasses up his nose. "Would you like a book recommendation? This just happens to be my favorite genre."