Xavier leads Parisa to the library located on the second floor of the estate. She'd been shown it briefly, two weeks ago when Cordelia had given her a tour. Then, she's no interest in exploring beyond a simple glance from the doorway. Now, her curiosity was piqued.
Parisa had never been in a library before, but she knew what they were. Her time as Su-ho had also allowed her time inside ones at her schools while growing up.
Xavier pushed open the heavy wooden door and Parisa eagerly leaned around him. The scent of old leather and parchment hit her nose instantly. Her toes curled in her shoes and she bit down on her lip. Some part of her felt like she was trespassing on sacred ground. She, since her time as Parisa, had never been someone capable of going into a place full of such knowledge.
- An imposter?
The voice questioned, back from wherever it had decided to gallop off to.
- Aren't I?
The voice scoffed and she could practically image that, if it had a form, it'd be leaning back, relaxing. It would be prideful, just like Viola and her daughter had been earlier.
- You were like this the first time, too.
It said, catching Parisa off guard.
- The first time?
But the voice is already gone, vanished off to some unknown and unreachable place. Parisa shook her head and pinched the skin on her inner left wrist. The pain jolted her back to the here and now. She'd worry about the voice and its mysterious way of talking later.
Xavier swept his arm out, allowing her to enter first. She thanked him as she did and gaped at the large dark wood shelves stacked with books. There was a large open space upon entry with two long tables and plenty chairs. Off to the corner on the left was a small, circular coffee table and two comfy looking chairs similar to what was in her room. The spot overlooked the front of the estate, giving a clear view of anyone who was entering or going. If she peered around to her left, she could see more shelves extended beyond the first one.
"This is…amazing," she said, unable to find the proper words. Parisa was blown away.
Xavier closed the door behind them and the two stepped further into the room.
"I believe there are books for younger children over here." the young knight started moving in a direction, expecting Parisa to follow after him. She did so, her eyes latching onto every book they paced. While she could see the writing on each spine, every letter looked foreign to her. It looked like gibberish that some infant would make while trying to draw for the first time.
Parisa absentmindedly let her fingers brush along the spine of each book they paced. She enjoyed the way the covers felt on her smooth skin. It was exhilarating to know she was touch a book and that, someday, she may even be able to read it.
When they came to a section full of childrens' books she frowned, picking up a picture book with few words. Even these, she couldn't decipher.
Did she need help? Yes, undoubtedly. Did she like knowing that she probably read worse that children that were only three or four years old? No, absolutely not.
Looking up, she found Xavier skimming the shelves. Every now and then, he'd pull a book out and examine it. Sometimes, he'd return it. Others, he'd hold on to it, making a small stack in his arms.
"Xavier," she said, drawing his gaze. He didn't seem particularly keen on having his concentration broken. Parisa smiled. "I'm going to look around the rest of the library."
He nodded. "If you need anything, just call for me."
Parisa waved her understanding. She turned on her heel and walked off into the shelves and shelves of books. Parisa counted the number of red covers, blue covers, black, green, yellow. There were so many she was surprised she didn't get dizzy from all of them clashing together like some obnoxious and dim rainbow.
It wasn't until she came across a section, did she stop. A word had caught her eye. One that she had recognized and read without any difficulty. She pulled the book from it's place on the shelf, disturbing a fine layer of dust in the process.
- Now isn't this interesting.
The voice purred. Parisa ignore it this time. She turned the book over in her hand, inspecting the worn red cover and the golden writing.
'Lady Armelia and Her Daring Adventure'
Parisa snorted at the ridiculous title even though it struck a chord in her. It felt familiar to her, like she'd seen this before. Though, that couldn't be possible. She'd never read anything in her entire life as Parisa.
She sat down, leaning her back against the book case for support. The voice was silent but present as she opened the opening page of the novel. For a moment, she though it might all be a fluke or something conjured from her imagination but the moment she saw the first word and then the second, third, fourth, fifth all the way to the full sentence, she knew this was true.
She was reading.
Her mouth went dry. She brushed her fingers over the dark ink embedded on the page.
- What language is this?
It wasn't the standard language used throughout the kingdoms of Tandelle and Kurosu. She'd seen what those words looked like. This was completely different. It almost looked like different shapes stacked together to make a weird image.
Parisa looks up and listens, wondering if Xavier would be finished anytime soon. Now that she'd made this discovery, she didn't doubt she could stay here for hours on end. When not even a sound came from the rest of the library, she huddled against the bookcase and began reading the book.
With every sentence she read, the language became more and more familiar to her. She knew what this was, but she couldn't remember the name of it. She also knew the book, but from where? Where had she read this work before? Where had she learned this language.
- 'Come on, sis.'
Parisa heard his voice, subtle and soft with a hint of laughter. Her heart ached at the sound of it.
- 'How much longer are you going to study?'
She knew that voice. It was her brother's from her time as Su-ho. Parisa closes her eyes, trying to imagine him. It was difficult, remembering what he looked like since it had been a while since her last memory of him. The most she could get was a man, the same age she'd been as Su-ho, who had black hair and a blurred out face.
They'd been sitting on a couch and she'd been reading a book. Some text on languages for her class the next day. She'd gotten along with her brother better than most siblings did. They were generally there for one another when needed.
- 'It doesn't feel like studying when you actually enjoy the material.'
She'd responded, mildly annoyed because her brother was always like this. He didn't find school interesting. Nor did he enjoy reading the same way she did.
- 'If dead languages are so interesting, then why are they dead? Shouldn't people still be using them?'
She'd sighed at that, rolling her eyes in the process. The corner of Parisa's mouth kicked up.
"Just stick to Korean, little bro." Parisa said in time with the Su-ho in her memory. She opened her eyes and looked down at the book. Her fingers ran over the smooth parchment. "You'll never understand anything else."
"What?"
Parisa jumped and looked up, finding Xavier standing over her, brown eyes filled with curiosity. He tilted his head to the side as his gaze studied her before traveling down to the book in her lap. Both his eyebrows shot up.
"Are you reading that?" he asked and Parisa quickly closed the book in her lap.
"No," she said before she could stop herself. The lie came easily enough. "I—the language seemed interesting." she stood from her spot on the ground. "It's very different from the standard Tandellian and Kurosian I've been seeing. It's," she paused, tasting the word in her mouth before saying, "Korean, right?"
Xavier's nose crinkled at the question.
"Korean? I've never heard of such a language."
Parisa's stomach dropped at the response. Had she just given something away she shouldn't have? Would he think her mental for using a simple word that hadn't been heard of before?
"This language," he continued, nodding to the book she still held. "Is one that's commonly found in the most eastern part of Kurosu. Not many around here know it. A few nobility can speak it for diplomatic and communicative purposes, but that's about it." He grins at Parisa. "It would have been odd if you knew the language but not the common tongue around these parts."
A lump formed in Parisa's throat and her mouth went dry. She quickly returned the book to it's rightful position on the shelf, thanking the goddess above that she had lied, even if it didn't sit well with her.
- Ok, never mention Korean anywhere ever again. Got it.
She thought as she turned away from the bookshelf.
"Are those for me?" Parisa asked, changing the subject. Xavier held in his arms a large stack of books. The sight of it was already giving the girl fatigue. Su-ho may have enjoyed studying, but Parisa didn't think she would in the least, even if the outcome was beneficial.
Xavier's grin grew and he nodded, showing her the top one as if she could read the title.
"Yeah, these should help get you started with the basics, like the alphabet and simple sentences."
She took the first two off the top of his massive stack, studying the covers. They weren't terribly thick and some of what he had looked to be children's bedtime stories. At least those ones seemed rather run to read. They had images to go along with them, so maybe they wouldn't be that bad. Parisa returned his smile, albeit timidly.
"My lady?" Cordelia's voice rang through the library. "My lady, are you in here? Sir Xavier?"
"We're here, Cordelia. We'll be out in a moment." Parisa called.
"She's probably here because we're late to lunch. Let's not keep her waiting."
Parisa nodded and Xavier began walking towards the front of the library before she could hand the books back to him. She took a step to follow but hesitated. Her gaze slid back to the book on the shelf that had caught her attention. She quickly grabbed it and hid it underneath the two books she'd taken from Xavier.