They end up spending the remainder of the day scouring the library's resources, rooting through its endless rows of shelves for anything they can find about the maze.

Several hours in, Aster shuts the book she’d been poring over with an air of solemnity. She pushes it aside, her forehead thunking onto the table with a disappointed thud. “How is it that we’ve found absolutely nothing on the maze?" She bemoans. "Not in An Extensive History of Lucrenz, not in Roots of the Royal Family, and not even in all 7 volumes of My Royal Rendezvous: Secrets in the Castle?”

“My lady, isn’t My Royal Rendezvous a romance serial?”

Aster’s forehead remains glued to the table. “…So maybe I got side-tracked,” she admits sheepishly.

“Evidently.” Seraphina sounds like she’s trying not to laugh.

“But still-“ Aster presses her palms onto the table to push herself upright. “This is ridiculous! How have we not found any information other than the fact that the maze has been here since Lucrenz was first founded? Shouldn’t that fact alone be enough reason to have more information on it?”

“It is quite strange,” Seraphina admits. She glances outside the window, her lips twisting into a slight frown. “Oh my, I didn’t realise how late it’s gotten. It’s almost dinnertime, my lady.”

Just like that, all thoughts of Florian come flooding back into Aster’s brain. With how preoccupied she’d been while digging for information on the maze, she’d barely had time to fret over him and his string of absences. She imagines herself sitting through dinner, once again seated beside a glaringly empty seat at the dining table. Just the thought has a wave of something roiling through her gut. 

Was it guilt? Nausea? Hale if she knows.

Aster gets to her feet with a sigh. “I just wish we had a better lead. Isn’t there anyone in the palace we can consult?” The castle librarian had been helpful enough to suggest them books on Lucrenz’s history, but that evidently, had ended up with nothing to show.

To be honest, while Aster had been intrigued about the maze to begin with, it wasn’t like she was dying to spill every single secret its walls had to hold. But the lack of information - on such a focal part of the castle at that - had set her curiosity ablaze like never before.

“You’d think they’d keep records on something like a magical maze, of all things,” Aster mutters to herself, as she and Seraphina nod their goodbyes to the librarian as they depart.

A magical maze… A magical…

“That’s it!” Aster turns towards Seraphina abruptly, her maid blinking back at her with wide eyes. “Why didn’t I think of this before- if anyone could tell us more about the maze, it’d be the royal mage!”

“Oh… yes. Yes of course, Sir Han would know best,” Seraphina agrees almost dazedly.

“Where can we find him, Fina?”

“Well, Sir Han is often found at the magic tower, but-“

“Perfect! Then we can visit the magic tower tomorrow morn-“ Aster stops in her tracks. “Wait, what do you mean but?”

“Well… Sir Han isn’t in the castle at the moment, my lady,” Seraphina says. “The magic tower is closed.”