The girl already knew a fair bit of the book's contents. Just after reading the first few chapters, the girl realized that she had read the book before.
Sadly there was nothing new that she learned this time around.
"The universe is mocking me."
The girl's fist was shaking with annoyance thinking of the time she spent anxiously reaching for the book.
"Ha…"
After tossing away the book in annoyance she went back and picked it up off the floor. She was annoyed at the book but if her mother were to find out that she carelessly handled them, her being annoyed was going to be the least of her worries.
"Hahaha…"
As she put the book aside, the girl let out a small laugh.
Taking out another book related to earth magic, the girl sat back down on the chair. But as she did, a sense of tiredness came over her. She tried shaking herself awake which worked to an extent, but soon a sense of fatigue enveloped her again.
"!!!"
The girl woke up thanks to the sound of buzzing and lights flashing from the book in her hands. Realizing that she had fallen asleep, the girl hurriedly looked at the clock to see how much time had passed.
"Five o'clock."
It had only been thirty minutes since she fell asleep.
The girl sat straight and stared at the book in her hand before opening the book and reading its contents. But as the girl continued to read she could feel her eyelids getting heavier and heavier.
Perhaps it was because she's been getting up a lot earlier recently both due to her sister and her wanting to improve herself, she's been a lot more tired.
Being tired was often seen as proof that one was working hard, so the girl was fine with it showing. It was slightly undignified for her status but she paid no heed to it.
Though she wanted to continue her reading, the fatigue was slowly spreading across her body. Before long the girl once again rested her head on the table. She compromised with her body and told herself to just rest her eyes for a little while.
****
Though the princesses had maids that were assigned to them, they also had other duties. As such, there were times where there would be no one to watch over the princesses.
While it may seem odd to leave them alone, it was also treated as a test of sorts. As members of the imperial family, they should be able to perform their tasks and responsibilities without someone looming over them.
However, it was their main duty to look after them. So once their light duties to the palace were done, they would check on their princess.
"L-Lady Kara, are you free now?"
"Yeah, just about. Just some light dustin' across the halls now. Ya want me ta check on Princess Mira?"
"Yes please."
"Sure thin' Lady Em. I'll make my way ta her as I dust."
"Thank you Lady Kara."
After exchanging goodbyes, Kara made her way to the library as she dusted the hallways. Passing by the large lobby, a painting of the imperial family hung at the top of the grand staircase.
Kara dusted over the glass protecting the painting and smiled as she saw the smiles on their faces. She took a step back to admire the now cleaner painting.
"Hmm… I wonder where the other one is."
While the painting depicted the four members of the imperial family, there was a time when there were only three of them.
A time when there was an even smaller version of the empress walking about the halls. It was truly uncanny how much Aurelia looked like Jyllene. In contrast, the second princess looked more like Pyron. At first sight anyway.
"Hmm…"
Kara squinted her eyes and stared at the girl and everyone else. Looking closer between all four of them, she saw little connection.
The girl's eyes were a light shade of emerald green while everyone else had ruby red eyes.Her hair was also different from them, but as she had yet to have her awakening that was subject to change.
Now that her mind was on the topic, Kara kept looking the more she noticed the vast difference between them. It was almost as if the girl was unrelated to them.
"Maybe it's just me."
Though she found it odd, there was no reason for her to question them. After all, Jyllene did give birth to her.
Kara pried her eyes from the painting and continued working her way towards the library.
Just before reaching for the doors of the library Kara cleared her throat and went back to being a proper maid for the girl.
Opening the doors, Kara spoke aloud to gauge where the girl was in the three story library.
"Princess Mira?"
…
'She couldn't have gone out right?'
"Princess? Are you there?"
…
"Hmm…"
Having called out twice and receiving no response, Kara started to look for the girl among the rows of bookshelves.
Luckily she did have a hint of which floor to start her search as Emma told her that the girl was on the second floor earlier.
Heading up to the second floor, Kara found the girl relatively quickly.
"…"
Sleeping on an open book.
"Princess…"
Seeing the girl napping away when she said that she was going to study, Emma let out a small sigh. She was a little disappointed at the sight.
"Ha… I knew it."
Her voice was small, almost inaudible even to herself as to not wake the girl up. She had been diligent with her studies recently but with the sight in front of her, Kara's suspicions were proven.
"It was because of Princess Aurelia after all."
Of course it was because of Aurelia. There was no way that their lazy girl would suddenly become studious out of seemingly nowhere.
Even though her change was brought on by something else, it was nice to see the girl try her best. Seeing the girl sleeping with an exhausted look on her face, a smile showed itself on Kara's face.
For a bit of time, Kara stared at the girl's sleeping face.
'Cute.'
Jyllene and Aurelia were quite pretty even by the high standards of nobles. But the girl in front of Kara now was more cute than pretty. Not wanting to wake the girl, Kara pulled out a chair and merely sat there. There was nothing urgent for them to do anyway, so her sleeping like this was fine for the time being.
As she sat there resting alongside the girl, the book that was to their side began buzzing and lighting up.
"Guess it's time."
The books in the imperial library had a number of spells engraved on them. Apart from needing the proper enchantment to take it off the shelf, it had a timer that would remind the people who took them to place them back if they were done reading them.
With the timer going off Kara picked up and went to place it back.
"Hmm?"
Kara went to the row of shelves containing the earth related grimoires but the light that it was giving off was still strong. Looking at the book in her hand, Kara raised an eyebrow reading the book's cover.
"Prowess of the Gods?"
Kara was somewhat surprised at the book in her hands. She was aware of its contents but what was surprising was that the girl was reading it. She had thought that the girl was reading something related to earth magic to help her fiance.
Why was she reading this instead? Did she pick it up by accident? If that was the case why not put it back? There were a few questions that came to Kara's mind but with the girl thoroughly asleep there was no chance to ask her.
As Kara put the book back into its place, the sound of the library's doors opening caught her attention. Walking and looking over the rails of the second floor, she sees Shira walking in.
"Princess? Lady Kara? Are you here?"
"Shh! Be quiet!"
Hearing Kara whisper yell at him, Shira silenced himself and tilted his head at her. Kara motioned for him to come up. Meeting up at the top of the stairs, Kara put her finger against her lips and pointed at the sleeping girl before Shira could ask why she was acting that way.
"I see. Looks like she's quite tired. That's… a small problem."
Shira spoke in a hush tone as he talked.
"How so?"
"His majesty is asking for the princess."
"Really? Did she do somethin'?"
"Not that I am aware of."
"Hmm…"
There was no reason for them to refuse Pyron's request, not that they could even if they wanted to. However, the girl sleeping brought about a small problem.
"Well let's just wake her up."
"We can try at least."
The two moved towards the girl and tried to wake her to no avail. Shira frustratedly let out a deep sigh.
"Ha… I don't suppose you have any smelling salts on you?"
"Na, don' got any on me this time."
Shira crossed his arms and tapped his foot as he thought of what to do.
"How deep of a sleeper is she?"
"Very. Before Princess Aurelia came back it was basically impossible ta get her ta wake up."
"Is that so? Hmm…"
The thought of getting Aurelia to come by and wake the girl up crossed Shira's mind for a moment. Not the best idea but options were somewhat limited.
"You said she's impossible to wake up, yes?"
"Pretty much yeah."
"Very well then."
Shira moved to pick the girl off her chair and carried her in his arms. She was rather light so it was barely a problem.
"I'll have to take her up to his majesty like this then. Surely she'll wake up by then."
"Hope so."
As Shira began to take the girl to Pyron, Kara accompanied him.
"So, why'd his Majesty suddenly want ta see Princess Mira?"
"That I am unsure of actually. His Majesty just asked me to bring the princess."
"Hmm… wonder what's up."
It was quite a surprise. They normally see each other at brunch or dinner everyday, so there was no time before that Pyron asked to see the girl.
Though it was because of Aurelia, the girl had been diligent in her studies recently. There should be no chance that the girl was being called for bad behavior. At least not recently.
Without knowing the reason for the sudden meeting, Kara began to sweat thinking that something happened without her knowledge.
"It's probably nothing bad, Lady Kara."
"Ya think? This has never happened before."
"I am aware, but his Majesty didn't seem to be displeased. So I highly doubt this is to discuss the princess' shortcomings."
"What could it be then?"
"I've not a clue."
Shira looked down at the girl sleeping peacefully in his arms. With how small, quiet and light she was, it was barely an inconvenience.
"You were not kidding when you said that she does not wake up no matter how hard you try. I can't believe she's sleeping through all this."
"Told ya. I really wanna ask Princess Aurelia how she manages ta wake her up in one try."
"Huuhuu, perhaps it's something only she could do."
As Shira stared in amazement at the girl, her hair caught his eye. Due to her not having her awakening yet, it was supposed to be pitch black. But looking at it now, it was definitely still black but it seemed lighter.
"Has Princess Mira's hair always been this light? I could've sworn it was darker."
"Oh so it wasn't in my head. Yeah, it did look lighter than I remember."
"Hmm…"
The two continued their idle chit-chat as they went towards Pyron's office. Both unaware of the girl's true state.
'I'm sorry.'
Even in their hushed voices she could hear their entire conversation. The girl planned to wake up earlier but had she done so, it would make things difficult. So she pretended to be asleep much like before how before her sister came back.
She would never have thought that she would hear such things about herself though. However those things were for her to worry about another day. This time there was something more pressing.
'Why does father suddenly want to see me?'
Try as she might, she had done nothing recently that would get her in trouble. With even the butler not knowing the reason, her heart began to beat rapidly as they approached the emperor's office.