“Sniff.”

Sezh had been lying in bed attempting to sleep for quite some time before she sat up in annoyance. Her nosebleed was bothering her again. She had hoped that the bleeding would have stopped by now, but the blood had suddenly started gushing out of her nostrils again.

I need to somehow find a way to properly fix my nose. If I remember, Luna told me to hold it like this for now.

Sezh pinched the bridge of her nose tightly and then frowned at the uncomfortable feeling of cotton clogging her nostrils. Fortunately, she hadn’t been as seriously injured by Yerena’s beating as she had feared, despite the incessant bleeding from her nose. The swelling had lessened on the other areas of her body that had been struck by Yerena, and her head no longer rang.

Now I just want my nose to stop bleeding.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as her mind wandered onto the topic of Raytan. She wondered how he was doing at the moment. He had fought against a group of more than five of their siblings almost entirely single-handedly, yet none of them had been able to seriously injure him. Sezh tilted her head as she thought deeper about the situation with Raytan.

Were you always so good at fighting?

Losing Lise was likely the main catalyst for launching his coup d’état in my previous life. So, if Lady Lise doesn’t die in this life, then big brother Raytan won’t stage his rebellion, right?

“Hmm…”

Sezh mumbled to herself as she slowly lost herself in thought. She pondered her and Raytan’s circumstances for a long time, earnestly scouring her memory for any clues or confirmation for her theory. However, for some reason, the only things that came to mind were the books about the monarchy that she had seen Raytan reading in the library.

“Hmmm…”

Sezh blinked her eyes as she propped herself against the headboard.

To be honest, I still can’t say for certain that Lise’s death was the only event that prompted the start of his coup. And even if it is, I’ve returned to the past, yet I still don’t know how I can prevent Yerena from killing Lady Lise this time.

She racked her brain for ideas, but after thinking and rethinking the situation for longer than she was aware, Sezh decided it was better to just focus on the main goal in front of her. There were many things she wished to accomplish, but she needed to take them one step at a time.

First, I need to get to know him better.

She lay back down on the bed and turned onto her side before closing her eyes.

Dealing with all the things I’ve been through today has really tired me out. My body is hurting all over.

A wave of drowsiness began to overtake Sezh’s consciousness. As her mind slowly drifted off to sleep, Sezh muttered one last thought to herself.

‘What if… big brother doesn’t come tomorrow…?

***

Sezh had been out of her mind since the morning. As soon as she had woken up, Luna had arrived at her bedchamber bright and early—much earlier than usual—to give the young girl a bath. Afterward, she had ushered her to breakfast and then proceeded to dress her. Sezh had looked absolutely horrendous yesterday, so today she wanted to be a bit more careful about her appearance so as to not embarrass herself again.

But her bloody nosebleed, which had briefly stopped during the night, suddenly burst once more. The conventional remedies seemed to be ineffective in treating her nose, so Sezh was eventually forced to bear the discomfort of plugging her nostrils with wads of cotton again in order to stem the bleeding.

Once finished with her morning routine and satisfied with the princess’ appearance, Luna accompanied her to the West Library. Before she permitted her ward to enter the library and meet Raytan for her Kazaki lessons, Luna turned toward Sezh and reminded her of their agreement from last night.

“Your Highness, you didn’t forget what I told you yesterday, right?”

Sezh nodded.

“Luna said she will wait here until the tutoring is over.”

Before they arrived, Sezh had previously informed her lady in waiting that she could attend to her other duties or wait elsewhere in the meantime, but Luna stubbornly refused and insisted she would stay put in the hallway. Her conditions from yesterday contained two unspoken implications: first, that she would wait until the tutoring was over, and second, that she would remain on guard just in case another disastrous situation threatened to arise.

Once she indicated that she understood Luna’s words, Sezh proceeded to enter the West Library alone.

“…”

She wordlessly walked past rows and rows of bookshelves and empty seats until she reached a familiar window, and her heart sank with disappointment. No one was there. There was no sign that a certain red-eyed prince had even visited the spot recently, either.

Sezh started to grow nervous and questioned whether he still intended to come to the West Library, especially given the fiasco that occurred yesterday.

What if he really doesn’t come? No, let’s wait a little bit and see if he shows up.

Sezh sat near the window and kept her gaze fixed on the door.

Ten minutes passed, but still no one came. It was highly unlike him to not already be in the library at this hour.

Maybe he won’t come for real.

Sezh’s expression darkened.

Well, Raytan wasn’t happy with this whole tutoring arrangement since the beginning. He agreed to do it because Lady Lise had asked him to. And we fought with the others yesterday, so that probably put him in an even worse mood.

If he only came yesterday just because it was an obligation, then I do feel sorry for forcing him into this. But it’s not like I was going to take a lot of time from him…

Sezh grumbled.

No… In all honesty, it’s not like he nor I had anything important to do in the Imperial Palace to begin with since we are both forgotten children and nobody ever looks for us except to bother us… So… is it so hard to spare a few hours for me…?

Immediately after thinking so, Sezh felt ashamed of her own thoughts.

In any case, what should I do now? Should I go back to Lady Lise and ask her whether Raytan plans to continue the lessons? If I do, won’t she think I’m being weird?

Amidst her anxious deliberation, the large double doors guarding the West Library creaked open.

“…”

Sezh rose up from her seat. Her gaze met Raytan’s as he strode purposefully towards her.