"Dear Lia,
I think I'll come to visit you during the afternoon today. *Your* afternoon specifically so that we don't have any issues like when Jisoo found me. Father hasn't tied me up with too many briefings and whatnot during the night. I value my sleep in whatever way possible, and I think it's even nicer to spend it in a dream, especially when that dream is with you."
*Whoever handed you a romance novella might have made a mistake.*
"That was quite cheesy, wasn't it? I think it's payback for earlier, and I hope those words (lovingly) haunt you throughout the rest of your day. At least then I will know you've been thinking of me.
I think it's also payback for Leo. I'm aware he likes to steal my letters and do irritating impersonations of me without saying who wrote them and to whom they're addressed. Akiyoshi mentions it to me sometimes about how he always has to exit the room from the sheer second-hand embarrassment of hearing his friend act like a drunken sailor.
Enough about him. This letter is for you, anyway. I hope you have a wonderful day, and just know I'm your sun watching from afar—even if all you see is the moon in that dreary place. The sun is just around the corner always. Don't forget that. Ever.
I'll see you later with… a sort of proposal? Shocking, yes, but the only hint I will give you is that it has to do with outside the castle. Maybe that's less exciting for you because you live in the town area of Mirai, but I promise it'll be interesting. If it's not, I'll take any suggestions from you. Whatever you want to do with me."
*Hasn't this been a hot topic since that conversation about the curse?*
"And don't interpret that wrong, please. Especially if Leo finds this."
*I wasn't the one who wrote or read it that way…? Innuendoes are in the eye of the beholder—I guess—if your mind's already wired like that.*
"Love,
Come on, you know who I am :)"
***
During the morning before Koharu visited for the day, I sauntered into the Moon Castle's library. As much as I was joking around when Koharu told me about cameras, I was curious to see the explicit detail they could capture. I recalled that skyship I saw before when Koharu interrupted—knowing it existed someplace and at some time for it to have been captured in that manner.
Naturally, I sought out the covers of library books.
Unfortunately, most had bland text and flat areas of color as frontispieces, boringly ornate borders, and on the rare occasion, a fancy drawing that still could not capture the subtleties of a real-life scene.
I was a little distraught in my search for a photograph until I pulled out an unsuspecting book and heard a loud booming noise. I took a step back, almost as if it affronted me (though I wasn't the type to be a librarian). The shelf wailed as it heavily dragged across the wooden floor and rendered its muffling properties null. It was an unpleasant piercing sound that made me cover my ears, but the steady rhythm of quick footsteps layered itself over the threnody.
Splitting in half to reveal a room, the books it contained fell out in a disastrous rock slide. I picked one up to place it back on the shelf; however, it flew out of my hands.
*I don't remember throwing that…? Maybe I need more vitamins.*
"Guess you've found the secret room? Well, it's not a secret anymore."
"Prince Akiyoshi?"
I turned around to look at the black-haired boy who waved his hands around to place the books back in their respective positions. They precariously leaned against each other, but they refrained from tumbling out.
"That would be me." He sighed with the faintest hint of a grin. "You'd think Dad would be smart enough to build a bookshelf that doesn't split straight down the center, but I don't think he considered all the books would fall out."
"Must be a pain." I stepped forward into the space, which was dimly lit with black candles that burned eternally. "What's in here?"
*There's nothing weird, right? It doesn't seem like a torture chamber or a place to hide dead bodies… for the skulls. Oh my fucking gosh—*
"Why don't you grab something for me?"
I glanced over my shoulder and proceeded to stand beside one of the shelves lining the room. These were more sparse than the few small, tightly packed structures in the main part of the facility. I easily slid out a smooth book, but the rest fell like dominoes.
Ignoring that, I scanned the cover of the title I selected: *Photography.* There was a picture of the object Koharu showed me in my dream on the front with a person winking behind it. It seemed like they had a bug in their eye, but the glass on the front of the item stared at me relentlessly, a harsh glare reflecting off it.
"It's those books," I said with confidence as I grinned, giddy about indulging myself in the mystical hyperrealism. "They're the ones with those photos the fairies brought."
Akiyoshi snuck up behind me. He was only a few inches away from my shoulder, standing half a foot above me.
"Correct. You seem to already know about these?" he asked with a lilt at the end.
"Yes. I was searching for them."
"Sinclair has one of those that works, you know."
*Duh.*
"Of course they have a working book," I remarked.
With an airy chuckle, Akiyoshi shook his head. "No, I mean a camera. That thing on the front." He pointed to the black object as if I didn't know what it was.
"Doesn't Koharu as well?"
"That one doesn't work for some reason." He pulled a thick book from the shelf above his head and placed it on a wooden ledge. "You can bang it any number of times, and it's as dead as a stick on the ground."
*Have you considered that might instead… break it?*
The brown leather book he removed contained no words. It was only made of pictures, particularly photographs. Each one was a square on an expanse of glossy white paper pasted to colorful sheets with visual textures like marble. Pieces of old plants, newspapers, and cheap jewels turned it into a scrapbook between the borders of the images. It quickly piqued my curiosity, and I scooted as close as I could to it.
"See?" Akiyoshi asked, cocking his head to the side. He flipped through the pages casually. "Sinclair left these here."
"Who's this?"
As he was about to turn it over, I pointed to a picture of a smiling young man with wings standing next to a beautiful woman with light hair in an ornate gown that trailed along the ground.
Akiyoshi said, "Look closer."
I practically pressed my face to the photo. It was in a transparent slot, and the paper had a crease in the center. The lights were bright and drowned out the darker features, but they appeared oddly familiar. It then hit me.
"That's… Leo."
*He looks so happy here…*
"Indeed."
"Who's with him?"
Akiyoshi shrugged, closing the album. "I don't know. He always goes silent when I ask him."
"Leo? Silent? That's a first," I joked, but I stopped laughing once I detected a somber atmosphere.
*The size of it reminds me…*
I snapped. "Is this the paper you asked him about the other day?"
He nodded. "I'm still not any closer to finding out about it, though." He reached above himself to put the book back into its spot. "Is there anything else you want to see in here?" Akiyoshi asked, voice returning to its original flatness.
I contemplated his statement. "I think I'm fine. I just wanted to see another photograph after my dream."
*My mind always lingers on the things Koharu shows me, but this one has turned into a fascination.*
"Let's leave. You have a briefing to go to in about ten minutes."
I furrowed my brow. "How—"
"I schedule these things. I wouldn't question it too much," he told me as he rested an arm against the disheveled furniture.