Rumius completely forgot about how sleepy he had been a moment ago.
' A misplaced book?'
' And one on basic magic and spell casting at that? What were the freaking chances!'
Rumius rubbed his eyes, not believing the scene that they were showing him for a second. When he looked again, it was still there. It was like the monotony of life had suddenly been peeled away.
Rumius was on cloud nine until he was suddenly sent crashing back down to earth. Looking at the book up on the high shelf, it felt like looking up at a kite stuck in a tree. There was no way he could reach it.
Rumius peaked his head from the aisle and snuck a look back towards the shelves where he'd left Rennie. The coast was still clear.
Rumius ducked back into the cover of the shelves, inexplicably fearful that Rennie would see him. Rumius knew that he had little time. Returning a book wasn't exactly that difficult or time consuming a task, regardless of how picky the librarian was. Rumius stole a glance over at the aisle where Reverie was again.
He couldn't see her since she was further inside but he was sure that since he had left, enough time had already passed for her to narrow down the right shelf and row.
Stealing another glade up the shelves, Rumius contemplated leaving the book behind. There wasn't enough time. He couldn't reach the book without pulling some kind of stunt and he didn't want to get caught by Rennie cause god knows what she and Maman will do to him.
Rumius lifted his foot, his body turning away. He set his foot down again. Looking up at the book again, the glow of its bluish pendant almost beckoning him to come and take it.
Rumius clenched his fists, his lower lip protesting mildly as his teeth clamped on them.
He needed every opportunity he could get. He couldn't let this one get away.
Rumius looked around frantically, trying to find something that could help elevate him up.
'A book ladder, a chair, anything…..'
' Wait.. a ladder….'
Rumius looked at the shelf in front of him, a crazy plan forming in his mind. He didn't know if to laugh or cry.The first row from the ground up was just below his shoulder level. The next level would then likely be within arm's reach.
Hesitantly, Rumius stepped forward and gave the shelf a nudge. It didn't budge. He pushed a little harder. Still nothing. Then, planting his legs firmly, Rumius gave the shelf one last push. The structure didn't so much as vibrate.
Rumius's lips quirked into a uncertain grin. A nervous bark of laughter escaped his lips.
" Fortune really does favor the bold."
Rumius looked over his back and treaded carefully back several paces. He took a good breath before letting it out in a quick puff. Shaking his head, he clapped his cheeks twice. Not hard enough to be painful but still strong enough to be felt.
Determination blazed in his eyes.
' Let's do this.'
Dashing as best he can forward as his little legs could carry him, Rumius took the momentum from his run-up and transferred it into a vertical jump, leaping into the air and crashing into the books inhabiting the bottom row.
Rumius grunted, both from the effort and the impact. But it wasn't over yet.
Reaching up, Rumius grabbed the base of the shelf's second row and tried to pull himself up. It proved harder than he thought but he eventually managed to get a leg up onto the shelf. Then eventually both legs.
Rumius clung tightly to the walls of the shelf, not daring to look down. Sweat beaded his forehead from the exercise as his breath came out in ragged, barely regulated gasps. He was completely out of shape.
' Yeah obviously.'
Rumius looked up on the last shelf. The book was right above him, its pendant's jewel beckoning as the light of the chandelier above shone through its translucent body. It would take too long to climb up but Rumius wasn't sure he had the strength.
Rumius slowly unraveled his left hand from its iron grip on the shelf and slowly extended it upwards.His fingers just fell short of the hanging accessory.
' Shit! Come..on…reach!'
Rumius was craning his entire body upwards. He could feel the slight cramp building in his back and his as his muscles protested, already exhausted from climbing the first two shelves. His spine was stretched to its limit as well as the entirety of the right side of his body.
Then, like the suspense wasn't already enough, Rennie's voice rang through the aisle and made Rumius's already palpitating heart pump the afterburners like crazy.
" Young master, please come back, I'm done! We should head back to meet the mistress soon!"
Rumius jumped. The slight lift was enough to allow his fingertips reach the pendant's chain. Rumius's fingers closed, almost reflexively around the book's hanging pendant and dragged it from its shelf out along with him.
Rumius landed back first on the ground with a dull crash and found that he was incredibly fortunate just as the book, the size of his whole leg and body combined smashed onto the ground next to him.
The shelf was high up enough so the fall didn't hurt, not too much, but unfortunately, there was no way the two loud 'Bangs' that followed would've gone unnoticed.
Rumius could already hear platter of feet. His heart leapt to his chest. Leafing through the book as quickly as his little hands could, Rumius grabbed the entirety of the first chapter, nearly twenty pages all, and tore them cleanly from the book. He crumpled them and stuffed them into his pants.
And just as he finished stuffing the paper, Rennie rushed into sight at the head of the aisle, her face fraught with worry as she took in the sight. Rumius jammed the book in his hands into the nearest shelf with a vengeance and stood awkwardly in front of it, covering it from Rennie's view.
Her tightened shoulders sagged visibly the moment she laid eyes on him, standing upright and visibly unscathed, even holding a book. Her chest fell from the heavy expulsion of air that followed.
Rennie ran over and got down on her knees, framing Rumius's shoulders in her hands as her eyes darted around like scrambling bees, looking for even the faintest indication of an injury.
" Young master! Young master! Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"
Rumius's heart pounded away like a sledgehammer. He was worried for a number of factors but above all, he just wanted to get as far as possible away from this spot.If Rennie saw the words on this book's cover….oh god he didn't want to think about it. His head spun from the fall but it wasn't too severe as to hamper him.
Rumius placed one of his hand as reassuringly as he could over Rennie's and gave it a series of awkward pats.
" Er..yes. I'm alright. Why?" He asked, feigning ignorance.
Rennie frowned, he eyes looking away for a second as she seemed to remember something.
" I'm sure I heard two really loud crashes just now…did you not hear them?"
" I did."
" But it came from one of the other aisles. A book probably dropped off its shelf."he lied.
Rennie nodded, both in relief and understanding.
" Well, that's good. I don't know what I would do if you got hurt."
Rennie fell silent, her eyes becoming serious as she looked at the shelf on their left, almost as if trying to see through it to locate the source of the sound. The shelf naturally remained opaque, unmoving and silent, its dark wood giving no reply as the library's silence once again settled around the two of them.
" Should we go check where the book fell? It should be close by."
Rumius's heart rate spiked as he hurried to keep his bluff intact.
" No no no! Not right now uhh.."
" be…cause I'm sure Albert would've heard the sound as well! There's no need for us to go check it! We should return to meet Maman already, I'm sure she will be getting impatient by now."
Rennie nodded in agreement upon hearing this. A thought of amazement that she had become so jaded to briefly flashed across her mind.
Grabbing his maid by the hand, Rumius started dragging her towards the other end of the aisle.
" Come on let's go Rennie! Dinner! Dinner!"
" Hahaha alright, no need to rush."' Rennie allowed herself to be dragged along.
Rumius' heart was still thumping away when they'd left the library but not out of fear. Rather, it was out of excitement. He'd gotten away scott-free. It didn't get freer than this!
He'd done it! Haha, HE'D DONE IT!!
While the possibility that the meticulous Albert might find the book and put it out of reach again existed, Rumius was satisfied with today's harvest.
He would finally be getting his hands on some actual, worthwhile content! Finally!
Rumius had to actively struggle to keep his body from breaking into some wild dance as he hurried along the walkway with Rennie behind him.
This would open the doors into the world of boundless freedom that he had felt that night and one day, he would make that feeling his own. And it could begin right here.