“You want to go see my book collection?” Rosetta was amused by my request. She pretended to ponder before responding, “Sure, why not? I’ll have Lancelot and Cordelia escort you after I schedule a visit with Renata.”
At that time, I hadn’t realized that Rosetta’s collection wasn’t within her palace, but rather a museum complex. Specifically, there was a museum that was dedicated solely to her book collection. Upon entering the neoclassical style building, I laid my eyes on three floors of seemingly endless shelves. The scent of paper brought tears to my eyes with how overwhelming it was. Renata Sullivan, another head of a Gardens branch family, was the director of the museum complex. She had been awaiting our arrival, and greeted us as soon as we entered the library.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Miss Alphaeus,” I noticed that Renata was wearing a pair of white cotton gloves when she came up to us. This was the first time I saw someone of the Gardens Family wear gloves. “I heard from Rosetta that you wished to look at her book collection, so I thought it would be best if I provided you a tour. Rosetta also provided you permission to take anything that interests you back with you.”
“Thank you very much,” I smiled.
The tour went on for hours, with Renata explaining every section of the library with quiet enthusiasm. Cordelia and Lancelot remained two steps behind me, the only thing that reminded me of their presence was Renata’s occasional glance behind me.
“There’s so many books; if someone took one without permission, wouldn’t it be difficult to track it down?” I asked as we walked up another flight of stairs.
“Would you consider stealing one of Rosetta’s possessions?” Renata stopped as she reached the next floor, turning her body a tad to look down at me. “Especially when you’re aware of what will come?”
“I would never!” I shook my head feverishly.
“Either way, we have eyes and ears throughout the library so it would be nearly impossible to have a human leave without someone being notified. There’s nothing for you to worry about,” Renata reassured me with a gentle and innocent smile. “Now, let’s continue the tour.”
After the tour, I spent some more time in the library, and ended up choosing a few novels to take back. Cordelia and Lancelot, who also started to sport a pair of cotton gloves without my knowledge of when, carried the books after wrapping them with some cloth. I also received a small manual on how to care for these historical works from Renata, along with an invitation to come again to check out the other museums.
“Miss Sullivan is a nice person,” I commented as I got in the backseat of the car. Cordelia sat down in the passenger seat while Lancelot got in the driver’s seat.
“As long as you stay on her good side,” Cordelia chirped. “She becomes a demon if you damage the artifacts. The employees at the museums are actually more afraid of incurring her wrath than getting on Rosetta’s bad side.”
My skin began to crawl at the thought of what could possibly happen if I accidentally damaged the books I brought with me. Maybe, I should’ve just left without them. I quickly cleared the thought of asking Lancelot to turn back, and decided to just read the novels with the utmost care.
“Don’t worry about it, as long as you follow the manual, no bodily harm shall fall upon you,” I was aware that Cordelia meant to reassure me, but how she worded it only made my feelings of terror worse. Was there a chance of survival for me if I end up bending a page…?
I managed to return the books a week later, without inflicting any form of damage onto them. In the end, I hardly managed to read the contents of the books, as I was far too anxious about the possible torture that would occur. Renata examined the books carefully before handing the books off to one of her employees.
“Is there any specific museum you wish to visit?” Renata asked.
“I hadn’t thought about that…,” I admitted. Renata then pulled out her phone and searched something before handing the device to me.
“Here’s a list of our facilities; please feel free to look through them and decide on which one you’d like to go today.”
There was a museum for the arts, gemstones, fashion, botany, archeology, and nearly everything I could think of. What ended up catching my attention was the museum that was named, “The Garden’s Treasures.” It was the museum that contained most of the national treasures. When I asked why the museum only contained “most” of the treasures, Renata explained that the rest were in the hands of the Gardens Family members, like the aster flower crown that I had received from Cecilia.
“Rosetta is a bit whimsical, so what is exhibited in the museum can change overnight. It’s the only museum that she managed directly— and the only thing I can do is maintain the quality of the treasures,” Renata sighed in defeat.
“Even though you’re the director?”
“Well, she is my higher up, so I do have to go along with her whims, unfortunately.”
The museum of national treasures wasn’t as grand or large as the buildings that surrounded it. Compared to Rosetta’s library, it looked rather lackluster. At least, the exterior was. The interior exuded the same elegance as Rosetta’s palace did, with its snow white walls and spruce flooring.
A porcelain doll stood in the center of the exhibition hall, with a mellow expression as it gazed off towards its right, revealing the intricately drawn bellflowers on the left side of its neck.
“Flowers?” I muttered aloud.
“Kikyo— or rather— Chinese or Japanese bellflowers. They’re also called balloon flowers,” Renata elaborated. “You can’t see this but the flowers start in the center of the doll’s chest, right where the heart would be.”
As I continued to carefully examine the male figurine, the feeling that something was missing started to bud in my chest. Rather than gazing afar, the figurine’s eyes appeared to be looking at something from a short distance.
“It looks like something is missing..,” I muttered under my breath.
“So you noticed,” Renata’s smile grew. “It actually belongs to a set.”
“A set?”
“Yes. The man who crafted this doll…”
~~~~~
Comments (0)
See all