The view from the balcony of the mayor’s villa offered a special perspective of Mountainend development, and even of some tiny parts of the borderlands. Yet, the bookstore remained hidden behind the landscape, which didn’t keep Ehran from staring in that direction every time he went up there.
The mayor had been struggling for quite some time with the decision of visiting the famous bookstore. Reason urged him to treat the store as any other business in town, but his intuition told him otherwise. Ever since he suspected the influence of the place in Asha’s secretive behavior, the elf started taking some precautionary measures. The first was arranging for a throughout search of the owner’s background.
From what he understood, Anne was telling the truth. The young woman was the solo heiress of an old line of archivists, who hadn’t done anything of notice before opening the bookstore. The only suspicious part of her background was that they couldn’t find information about her parents. They had found some information that suggested that her mother had also used the Wordkeeper name following the craft of her own father, Darius Wordkeeper, who Ailen met decades ago. The last information regarding the girl’s self-proclaimed master was of his death in the Solar States roughly ten years ago.
Ehran even paid a hefty sum to the Hall of Secrets to uncover any hidden connections of the bookmancer with any of the important players, but they come up with nothing. Apparently, his wife's judgment was correct, the girl was on her own, just trying to revive her dying craft. However, he couldn’t accept that a nobody, who hailed from nowhere and without any worthy ambitions, could influence his game so easily.
Then yesterday, to deepen his antagonism with the bookstore, Asha returned with the most valuable information he had received recently, accompanied by a ‘kind’ suggestion from the storeowner. He waited for so long to get this chance, he had spent so many favors and almost all the wealth his family earn for generations, and then the bookstore gets it done in less than a year.
Asha had referred to the cave as a ‘possible’ passage through the mountains, but he knew better. This was the opportunity he had been expecting all this time. It was shocking how the low-tier untrained boy found that path while dozens of experts who charged him in gold didn’t. Comically, the hunter did it, quoting his daughter, with the help of the bookstore.
It made him furious to imagine that the bookstore owner could be the foretold ‘star’, and that she had nothing to do with him. That title was supposed to belong to Asha, his gifted daughter, not to some weird bookseller. Unfortunately, destiny cared nothing for his opinions when it cast its threads. And soon, his fears would be set in stone by the very same ‘friend’ who guided his way to this town.
“What’s on your mind, my sun?” A sweet voice fished him out of his troubles.
Ailen, who just entered the balcony, asked with visible concern. The elf was wearing a simple light blue dress and inconspicuous jewelry designs of gold and ruby, she wore everything with a level of grace not many could match.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
“My moon, I… Asha brought word of…” Ehran then told her about the cave and the advice sent by Anne.
“I see… I know you don’t want to hear this, but I think she’s right. You should let the girl deal with the Clow, and focus on blocking the spies… If the cave opens a reliable source of essence materials, you should use your channels to ‘digest’ the resources. It would keep the Clows in the dark, if only by some time. You did open those channels for this purpose, didn’t you?” She suggested calmly while massaging his tense shoulders.
“I know what I should do, but I don’t like it. I feel… too passive in the whole thing.” The elf admitted.
“Oh, dear… You’re the mayor, you don’t need to drive progress by yourself. Just set the guidelines and collect the taxes…” Ailen proposed playfully. The hidden meaning of her words was clear to her partner.
“I still don’t like it… I would prefer to control everything and grow our forces more… directly. But I get what you’re trying to say. I could collect similar results without risking a clash with the Clows, leaving the bookstore to deal with the bulk of it… I get it, but I can’t. I need to do something, at least…” Ehran exposed his internal struggle and felt relieved for it.
“If you insist… So, why not help them instead? That girl did extend an olive branch to you.” The elf proposed carefully while popping some stress nodes on his back.
“I guess she did… But how?” He asked, almost instinctively.
“Well, you could start by sending her more customers. Especially, poor and desperate adventurers who could make good use of those unharvested resources… Maybe even some misfits who could grow into something given a chance. I’m sure she would appreciate the banquet and some spicy flavors.” Ailen spoke her mind but chose her words wisely.
“Hum… I could do that. Maybe she could pay us back by convincing Asha to…” The mayor agreed and started making his own plans when his wife interrupted him.
“One thing at a time, my sun. One thing at a time…” She reprimanded him softly while increasing the strength of her hands.
***
A simple but elegant carriage stopped at the entrance of the mayor’s villa. With the help of the driver, a young woman entirely dressed in dark blue and wearing a veil stepped out. She used a cane to steady herself before addressing the driver.
“Thank you for the kindness of guiding me here. I will be in the care of Mr. Ehran and Mrs. Ailen, from now on. You are released from your duty. May the stars guide you.” The woman said in a mysterious tone.
“And you, Truthseeker… Farewell, mistress.” He replied and then left, driving the carriage.
The woman walked forward slowly just in time to meet the butler who was coming out of the villa’s gate.
“How can I help, my lady?” The butler asked politely. As the mayor’s butler, he had to maintain the utmost respect in case of welcoming someone of status.
“I am here to meet with Mr. Ehran and Mrs. Ailen. I believe they are expecting me. Please pass them my name, Helen Truthseeker.” She replied calmly.
Upon hearing her name, the butler felt his legs going soft, but he still held himself properly.
***
“Mistress, why are you smiling?” Moruh asked coquettishly while caressing his head and wrapping his tail around Anne’s hand.
The bookmancer, who was staring at the door holding a silly smile, patted the familiar and answered.
“I just had a wonderful feeling… I think we’ll have a new customer, very soon…” She explained absentmindedly.