The Fabled Realm of Ouzelia.

Snow and meadows. Mountains and lakes. Glimmering rivers coursing through valleyed forests teeming with life and treasure. Under each stone and log, it was said that enough hidden riches could be found that even adventurers would grow bored of it.

Nestled in the north of the continent, it was a land of beauty and plenty, famed as much for its vast berry farms as it was for the lack of soldiers to defend it.

A disparate union of counties, city-states, duchies and petty kingdoms of self-raised kings. Ouzelia was characterised by both its lack of unified governance and thus any significant army, its inner borders seemingly shifting or trading without issue on a whim.

Despite this, it was a land unseen by the watchful eyes of the south.

Whenever the Grand Duchess schemed from upon her perch, or the newest upstart in Rozinthe sought to reinvigorate the old empire, it was never towards this land of abundance.

The reason was simple.

Invading Ouzelia would mean having to deal with its people, and nobody wanted to do that.

But there was also a lesser reason as well.

Dragons.

Lots and lots of dragons.

Ancient, noble and deadly. The most powerful beings known to exist.

Armoured in scales as hard as the mountains they laired in and wreathed in magic as old as the first breath. With claws able to tear the earth asunder and flame that could melt a castle, it would take only a single irate dragon to quell an army marching through the narrow valleys.

Any invaders would have to deal with whoever they were socialising with as well.

More dragons held their gatherings in Ouzelia than all the other realms put together. Nobody knew how many existed or how tea production kept up with demand. But nobody needed to know.

As creatures hatched as much from eggs as they were from magic, the very beat of their wings left tales of destruction in their wake.

And that begged a serious question.

“... why … do I … have to … rescchhueee … a dragon …”

My words came out as a tired yawn.

Yes, it was a truly ridiculous prospect.

Princesses did not rescue dragons. There was a well-established triangle.

1: Dragon kidnaps princess.

2: Knight tries to slay dragon and is eaten.

3: The princess escapes anyway.

That was the way it worked. No buts and no ifs.

That this sacred order of events could be twisted enough that a princess was somehow required to rescue a dragon was not only absurd, it was a danger to the social fabric.

If knights didn’t continuously get themselves eaten by dragons, there would be nothing to stop them spreading. As a princess constantly at the end of their compliments, I stood to suffer the most.

… Fortunately, I didn’t need to worry about this!

After all, there was no world in which I, Juliette Contzen, 3rd Princess to the Kingdom of Tirea, would brazenly agree to rescue a dragon from horrors unknown!

Why, that would just be silly!

Thus, as I woke from my slumber, it was with a tired smile as I looked forward to the day of mundanity ahead. Raising my face from the pillow of my arms, I blinked through the starch gathering in my bleary eyes.

Then, I sought to stretch … and almost toppled over in my chair.

“–Hiee?!”

My hands reached out and grabbed a desk for all the world as if it was a life raft.

I sat for a moment, floating in an endless ocean of confusion.

No thoughts reached me there. The endless theories on geometry and the meaning of life no longer made themselves known. Only emptiness. And then somewhere I began to paddle, following a giant question mark in my mind as I blinked again and again … before finally scrunching my eyes and opening them anew.

Bright colours rewarded me for my perseverance.

A heap of books, each more colourful than the last, lay around me at my desk. I leaned down and studied the closest one.

A Court Lady’s Indiscretion, Vol. 3.

The familiar red cover swept the cloudiness from my eyes.

Why, it was the book I was currently reading! But not only that … there was also the next book in the series as well!

Oh … Oh my!

But of course! How silly of me! I must have fallen asleep while studying again!

Chastising myself for my lack of care, I sat up straight and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. There was no reason I did that, of course. And anybody who might have said otherwise was guaranteed to coincidentally be looking in the opposite direction.

“... Would you like a marmalade scone, ma’am?”

Yes, even if they were holding a platter towards me.

Smiling amicably while professionally eyeing something on the other side of the world, a maid presented a selection of scones doused in lemon and orange marmalade.

“Oh, yes please.”

Without hesitation, I nodded to accept them all, then sat back as the maid placed the platter down on the desk. She’d barely bowed and turned before another maid appeared beside me, a tea set held aloft on a tray.

“I’ve prepared bergamot tea, ma’am. There’s also a choice of darjeeling, golden black and a breakfast blend if it’s not to your liking.”

“Ah. Thank you. The bergamot will do.”

I waited as she duly prepared a warm cup of tea for me.

I noted the precise angle of the pour with a nod. She would not be fired today.

Offering a short bow, she then left me to enjoy my studying in peace. I began by assessing the orange marmalade scone, delighting at once in the savoury tartness of the slightly bitter oranges paired with the subtle sweetness of the tea.

Then, I picked up A Court Lady’s Indiscretion, Vol. 3, and began to read.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

Somewhere, a clock was ticking away.

The only disturbance as I munched away on a heap of scones still warm from the kitchens. Sipping through the bergamot, I wore a purely ironic smile as I continued my earnest studies in what a princess should most definitely not enjoy, thereby ensuring the virtue of my future reading habits.

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X amount of minutes later–

“W-Where am I … ?!”

Hands slamming down on the desk, I immediately stood up.

A loud thud filled the air as my chair went crashing backwards, joined by the clattering of a mysteriously emptied scone tray flinging off to the side.

I paused, then brushed away the crumbs for good measure.

This …

This wasn’t my bedroom!

At once, the memories came like one of Clarise’s experiments at dawn. Except that instead of flames, what I saw was darkness. Pure darkness. A makeshift portal which had grabbed me by the ankles and swung me to my destination so fast that my nausea had no time to catch up!

I had stepped through a veritable door to the abyss! … Except this was even worse than that!

This … This was Ouzelia!

And this … was a library.

I instantly whipped around. And what I saw made me question if I’d made it to Ouzelia at all.

For one thing, nothing was on fire.

For another, there were scarcely enough books to make a fire. Certainly not the type to cause a scene worthy enough for our stewards to write out a letter of condolence in our name.

It was a modest library by all royal definition, complete with unvarnished panelled floors and streams of window light which only succeeded in blinding half my face.

Inoffensive and quaint. Not the words I’d use for a magical library.

Had I been forced to tour through a lord’s residence, here is where I would have wrinkled my nose before proceeding outside to mock the design of the patio tiles.

I turned to the nearest bookshelf in confusion.

Perhaps the titles were more interesting, at least?

As I stepped away from my little alcove in the wall, I approached the column of books. I sent a quick peek around, then tipped the brightest spine towards me.

“Whatcha dooooing~?”

“–Hieee!”

I swung around to see the familiar face of my loyal handmaiden.

Leaning slightly forwards, Coppelia assessed me with a feigned look of suspicion compromised as much by the mischievous smile she wore as the plate of blueberry shortcakes she held.

Behind me, a book came tumbling down. She scooped it in the air with her free hand, then gracefully slid it back into its slot. I caught the name of the title as she did so.

Encyclopaedia Of Noble Lineage. Kingdom Of Tirea. A-E.

Gratitude filled me at once. She’d just saved me from wiping my hands.

“C-Coppelia!” I gestured all around me. “Where is … where are we?! How did I get here, surrounded by the crumbs someone else left behind?!”

Coppelia raised her arms and spun, blueberry shortcakes twirling along with her as she danced like a princess in her bedroom after escaping 2 entire minutes of planned social activity.

“Me is how~” she said with a bright smile. “This is where I carried you.”

“This? … I don’t even know where this is!”

“A place of wonders to help along the dream you were having after maybe passing out during the punt across time and space. And that includes snacks. Want a shortcake? It’s just been made. The blueberry is practically melting into a sauce.”

I groaned at the idea that my first introduction to Ouzelia was with my unconscious face. That was what I usually reserved for when the Holy Church’s delegation visited the Royal Villa.

And then all I saw was the golden hue of sponge and a glistening blueberry garnish.

“A shortcake? … In that case, I suppose I can sample one, thank you …”

I accepted the offered treat, then took a small bite. And then another … and another. Shock filled me at once. While the shortcake itself was far too crumbly, the famed berries of Ouzelia did not disappoint. They were practically a melting glaze and … wait, no!

“I am not here to eat shortcake!” I said while eating shortcake. “I … wait, yes, I am here for the matter of your employer! This curator of yours, this … this dragon!”

I paused.

“... You did say dragon, yes?”

“Mmh, I did~”

I directed my groan towards the window.

In the end, I had nobody to fault but everybody else in the world. And then me last.

“... Very well!” I said as the last of the shortcake mysteriously vanished. “Then we have no time to waste! As … well, somewhat ordinary as this library is, I’m afraid I cannot afford to dally! I came here to perform a charitable service! … One which I hope to immediately squeeze for leverage, yes, but also charity!”

Coppelia pointedly tossed her emptied plate of shortcakes onto a desk where a copy of A Court Lady’s Indiscretion, Vol. 3 was currently bookmarked for future studying.

Her playful smile filled my vision.

“Are you sure? It looks like you’ve just woken up. Don’t you need to find your feet first?”

“It’s not my feet I need to find. It’s a dragon … also, just to confirm–”

“Yes, I did say dragon.”

I nodded.

Very well. I’d try again later.

“... Fine. A dragon.” I briefly closed my eyes. “That’s … That’s fine! I can rescue a dragon!”

Indeed, why not?

What was a dragon but just a very large flying lizard?

Wherever he was stuck, I was certain I could engineer a way to pry him free!

Yes, carrying a dragon would be somewhat of an issue. But where there was a will, there was a way. Especially when that will was Coppelia’s shoulders.

“Nooope~”

“E-Excuse me! I didn’t even say anything … yet!”

“You’re looking at me in the way children look at fruit slimes.”

“That’s ridiculous. Children only want to play with fruit slimes. I want to exploit your enchanted arms.”

Coppelia pushed a book spine slightly in. It wasn’t even jutting out. I tugged it back.

“So does the library,” she said, wiping away an invisible bead of sweat from her brows. “You wouldn’t believe the work I’ve had to do. I had to pretend to blow dust away from a book. And then I showed a guest to the wrong bookshelf and made them feel awkward because they couldn’t find what they were looking for. And then I repeated that once more until they felt too bad to ask for any more help.”

I gasped.

“H-How dare they! … You are not here as a librarian–”

“Assistant librarian.”

“–assistant librarian, but as part of my personal retinue! Nobody is allowed to distract you from your important duties! … Where is everyone? Who do I direct my complaints to? Why, for a mysterious library, I’m rather surprised it’s not at least bigger than a bookstore!”

Coppelia’s less than innocent smile was all I needed to want to go home.

“Hmm … well, everyone else is probably doing their own thing. Although it might not seem like it, you really need to call out if you need anyone. The library is surprisingly big.”

I looked around once more, still able to count the number of bookshelves.

“... Really? How big?”

“This big.”

Coppelia leaned forwards and pushed another spine in.

This time, it slotted deep within its row.

Crank.

All of a sudden, I heard a noise so ominous it sent a tremor through the ground. The wooden panels began to shake. And so did I.

It was like two heavy cogs colliding beneath me. And I was skipping on top.

“C-Coppelia?!”

The ground trembled. I instinctively reached out and balanced myself against the nearest row of spines. The words Elementary Mathematics, Books 1 - 6 shone back at me. I slapped them away.

Crank. Crank. Crank.

And then–

The very wall beside us groaned as it began to part.

And the Hidden Library revealed itself at last.

A wide doorway opened up to me. I blinked as fresh light streamed through innumerable windows, for what revealed itself was a dome of criss-crossing wooden beams rising higher than my neck could comfortably crane. Peering upwards, I found chandeliers of moss and vines dangling as though from an enormous pergola.

My little alcove in the wall, apparently, was itself an alcove in a greater chamber.

One big enough to host a dragon.

And then I saw the rest of it.

Bookshelves which didn’t just line the walls. They were the walls. Stacked in great columns like endless blocks, they rose almost to the top of the domed ceiling.

A daunting task for those not blessed with a mountain giant’s height.

But not for those wielding magic.

Eschewing the need for ladders, librarians in fetching uniforms and guests in mage’s attire walked to and fro, conjuring what they required with a flick of a wrist.

They were spoiled for choice.

However many books had ever been written, they could be enjoyed here. And with the only distraction being the heavy stomping in the near distance, the random scream of terror, the scuttling of a crab and the aggressive bleating of a goat.

A hundred questions tickled my curious mind.

All of them where the exit was.

“Welcome to the Hidden Library,” said Coppelia with a tidy clap of her hands. “I, Coppelia, #1 ranked assistant librarian by nationwide popularity poll, will be your guide today. Please mind your step, watch out for falling books and follow me. If you get lost, raise both arms and yell wildly.”

My face found my palms.

Even so, it wasn’t enough to stop the sight of a smile bright enough to peek past my fingertips. She leaned in and easily pried them apart regardless.

“Our first stop–the scene of the crime.”