Translator: Cinder Translations
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Since Kevin took the part-time job as an administrator at the Royal Archives, he had been diligently working for several days.
In his spare time, he eagerly read through the various collections in the archives. Except for some confidential royal records, the majority of the books were accessible to the staff.
He initially thought there would be many people around, but the past few days had been rather quiet. It seemed the royal offspring weren't particularly studious.
However, this suited Kevin just fine, as it gave him more free time to study.
One day, his superior assigned him a grueling task: to copy a somewhat damaged ancient scroll. Kevin worked from morning until noon, his wrists aching with fatigue. The supervisor's requirements were strict; the new copy had to be neatly written, word for word, with no smudges or corrections allowed.
This was quite a hardship for Kevin, who wasn't a professional scribe. Occasionally, if he accidentally wrote a word wrong, the entire page would be discarded.
By noon, he had only managed to copy one-fifth of the scroll, and his stomach was already growling. He decided to step out for a quick bite.
Standing up and looking at his morning's progress, he sighed, "If only there was a printing press here."
"A printing press? What's a printing press?"
A girl's voice came from nearby.
Someone has arrived?
Kevin raised his head to look towards the door.
In walked a charming and cute young girl.
Kevin politely asked, "May I ask who you are?"
The girl proudly raised her head and introduced herself: "I am the granddaughter of the current Imperial Chancellor, Duke D'Arshi, and the cousin of His Highness Felix—Lady Vivian D'Arshi. Hurry up and bow to me."
"Hello, Miss Vivian."
Kevin awkwardly bowed to her.
"May I ask why you are here?"
The girl pouted, "Hey, you still haven't told me what a printing press is!"
"Oh, sorry." Kevin quickly explained, "A printing press is a machine that, once coated with ink, can easily print typeset text onto paper. Then, by binding it, it can become a book without the need for painstakingly copying each letter by hand."
Vivian's eyes sparkled as she pondered, "Interesting. If such a machine really existed, wouldn't all the scribes in the world be out of work?"
Kevin shrugged, "Maybe."
Vivian furrowed her brow, "You're not lying to me, are you? If such a machine really existed, why have I never seen or heard of it?"
Kevin hurried to clarify, "That machine has only just been invented in the past few years, and it's far away in Aldor. It will likely take a long time before it reaches Gabella."
The girl gasped in surprise, "Ah, that's my aunt's country! That… is indeed quite far."
Then she murmured, "Hmph, such a good thing actually came from Aldor."
Kevin couldn't help but think, "There are many fascinating things in Aldor that you haven't seen."
He picked up a notebook from the table, a bit boastfully saying, "This kind of paper also came from Aldor."
This time, Vivian ignored him and called out, "Lady Kolrich, weren't you supposed to be here for business?"
Kevin then noticed a woman dressed as a palace attendant not far away. As soon as she heard Vivian's call, she walked over slowly. Kevin felt a sense of familiarity, as if he had seen her before.
The lady Kolrich had her face veiled with light gauze, and as she approached the table, Kevin could finally see her features.
What a beautiful face, that was Kevin's first impression.
Then he was surprised to notice that she had white hair, even her eyebrows were white.
Moreover, while her skin was as fair as milk, it had a normal shade of white, indicating she didn't suffer from any illness Kevin knew of.
How fascinating! Kevin had seen black, blonde, brown, and red hair, but he had never seen a young person with a head full of white hair. He had heard rumors that Earl Grayman had a female advisor with green hair, but he had never encountered her.
Noticing Kevin's stunned expression, Lady Kolrich seemed accustomed to such reactions, showing no sign of displeasure.
She gently reminded him, "Mr. Administrator, I'm here to return a book."
"Oh, sorry! I'll take care of that right away."
Kevin hurriedly searched for the borrowing record.
"Please sign here."
Vivian, watching Kevin's frantic movements, scoffed, "Hmph, all men are the same."
Just as Lady Kolrich was about to hand the book to Kevin, she suddenly exclaimed, "Wait!"
Then she snatched the book from his hands and flipped through it roughly, making Kevin wince at the aggressive treatment.
She flipped through the book, shook it a bit, but found nothing, then tossed it back onto the table, leaving Kevin confused about her intentions.
After the paperwork was completed, Lady Kolrich smiled at the chancellor's granddaughter and said, "Miss Vivian, do you still want to follow me?"
"Of course!" Vivian's eyes widened, "I'll keep an eye on you until you slip up."
"Although I don't know why Brother Felix trusts you so much, my intuition tells me you are up to something, hmph!"
Kevin looked at the two women with a wry smile. It seemed their relationship was not very harmonious. Although he didn't know the specific reason, it looked like a subconscious hostility between two beautiful women was flaring up.
Lady Kolrich smiled helplessly, as if dealing with a petulant child.
"Then you can follow me. I still have a lot of work to do."
She elegantly turned and walked towards the door, while Vivian angrily followed her.
However, just as Lady Kolrich turned, Kevin caught a glimpse of her fleeting expression.
Cold, indifferent.
It seemed to match her silver-white hair, making one feel as if they were in an ice cellar.
Could it be that her previous gentle words and smiles were all feigned?
Wait, Kevin recalled Vivian's earlier words—Brother Felix? Isn't that the eldest son of His Majesty the Emperor?
Kevin had encountered him once when he entered the palace with his mentor and senior.
At that time, he was accompanied by a palace attendant, who seemed… to be Lady Kolrich.
No wonder he felt a sense of déjà vu upon their first meeting.
"Ah, filling my stomach is a priority, and I need to hurry back to copy that scroll!"
Kevin shook his head, dismissing the political intrigue he had read about in novels from his mind, and quickly walked out.
(End of the Chapter)
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