Once the next morning rolled around, Laurel had had enough time to regain his composure despite the festivities. He got out of the dorms on the dot, excited to get started. Walking into the hexagonal plaza, he lost his breath; the library was much bigger than anticipated, obfuscating the sun that shone over the adjacent buildings. Beautiful stained glass art occupied its every window. The entryway was as shocking as everything else — double doors as tall as the first floor itself. They were wide open, allowing him passage. The interior was much grander than he'd pictured a library could be. Thinking about it, the first floor alone probably held more books than the one he knew back home.

Among the reading spaces, there was a reception desk aligned with the door. A girl wearing the Umbral Star cloak sat behind it and another woman leaned over to talk to her; her silver-rimmed glasses slid slowly down the crooked bridge of her nose as she spoke softly, pointing at the columns of different tomes. The younger one nodded, watching intently. Uninterested in their conversation, Laurel walked up and waited for a chance to interrupt. He didn't have to wait long, because the one in glasses glared at him and asked after sighing: "Are you Laurel Greyland?" Unaffected by her stare, he smiled. "Yes. I was gonna ask if Wyvern's been through here?" 

"Not yet," she said, turning her back to him and going back to whatever she was doing before. He picked one of the comfier chairs around to plop down on and wait. After a short while, Wyvern crossed the entrance, as extravagantly dressed as the day before. As she went past Laurel, she smiled: "Good morning, your Highness". He greeted her as well, but she didn't stop; instead, she walked over to the desk and affectionately pushed that other woman's glasses back up her nose. "Hey, Siren dearest," she beamed, effectively cutting their conversation, "You find any books on what I asked you about?" Oh. So the grumpy librarian was Siren. "Yeah. I set them aside on the bottom left drawer," Siren tapped the desk she was leaning against lightly. "Just don't take too long to get around to them." Wyvern chuckled before asking: "Well, are you busy?" Leaning towards the younger, quiet girl again, Siren furrowed her brows. "Is everything clear?" Once the girl had nodded affirmatively, Siren exhaled sharply. "I have a moment."

"Good. So, as we've talked about, Laurel Greyland, crown prince of the Ashen Valleys," Wyvern gestured towards him as she spoke. "And this is Siren, our head librarian and curator. She also has a chair in the Umbral Star council," then, addressing Laurel, Wyvern added: "You'll be in good hands." Siren was either squinting at him or that was her usual face. "Pleased to meet you," she said. "Likewise. So you're the one who wrote that poem from yesterday, huh," Laurel tried to make conversation. Unfortunately, that seemed like the wrong thing to say, because Siren's brows furrowed again as she turned to Wyvern. When it seemed like she was about to yell, she crossed her arms instead and spoke in a low tone: "You read my poem on stage." It was phrased like a question, but said in a quite monotonic manner. "Well, dearie, at least a part of you had to be there," Wyvern answered, unremorseful. Siren's eyes shot down to her own boots and her cheeks seemed to go a little red. "Which one." Still smiley, Wyvern answered the question, meeting silence from Siren. After a while, she said: "Well, I have a meeting now, so I trust Siren to take care of your Highness and help in figuring out where to go from here."

Just like that, the Archmage was gone. And, despite what she'd said, Siren didn't seem ecstatic to have him either. "Follow me," she ordered, sighing again. Then, she crossed the huge hall in the direction of the stone stairs. They started ascending, the noise produced by their heels contrasting with the library's silence. The second floor would be much like the first if a huge, somewhat circular room didn't sit in the middle of it, heavily tinted stained glass windows lining it where possible. Siren headed straight there, pushing the double doors open; she held them for a moment to allow Laurel passage and then shut them again. As he walked in, he looked around; the main difference from the other rooms was that the shelves had doors and locks and, instead of places to read and simple tables, there was a huge workstation and a handful of smaller ones. The only comfy place to sit down with a book was a soft-looking couch covered by varied pillows and a blanket. He spun around on his feet, watching the fairy lights; they were present in the other rooms as well, but they were more noticeable in there, since there was less natural light. 

"What's this room for?" Laurel asked. "It's my office," Siren answered, sitting down at the big desk. "These bookshelves are locked, but you can bring books from the other rooms here if you'd like." Without hesitation, Laurel sat on the couch, glad to find out it was as comfortable as it looked. He heard Siren sift through paper. "So… What are we doing?" She didn't look at him as she answered: "You tell me. You need to figure out what you want to focus on." Laurel hugged a pillow to his chest. "I'm not sure where to start, though." That made her raise her eyebrows. "Why do you want to learn magic? Do you have any aspirations?" That caught him off guard. "Does it matter?" When she looked up, she didn't seem amused. "Yeah. As far as my experience goes, intent plays a lot into it. You don't need a livelihood. You don't need to defend yourself. So. Why?" she tilted her head as she probed him for an answer, the silver stars that dangled from her glasses' string swaying. 

Laurel took a deep breath. "It's never a waste to learn something," he answered at last. Her eyes seemed to widen, intensifying the bags under them. "Knowledge for the sake of knowledge. I suppose that ought to do," she said, her tone dropping. Another sigh. "Still, you have to figure out an objective. Read up on whatever seems interesting," she went back to the books in front of her; "I'll be here if you need even more food for thought." That was so hands-off of her. Despite the sudden silence, Laurel didn't budge from the couch. "You're a councilor, so you're an Umbral Star graduate, right?," he asked, not quite into the idea of spending hours reading. She grumbled what must have been an affirmation. "Then, what do you use magic for? Since you mentioned intent and whatever," his persistence seemed to frustrate her, considering her frown. "My specialty is curse inflicting," she answered in spite of the apparent annoyance. "Like… 'Your teeth shall fall off' or something?," he asked, eliciting a smile from her — even if it wasn't a happy one. "Yeah, something." 

He shifted. Was it normal for someone to admit to doing black magic so nonchalantly? He'd thought his uncle had been exaggerating. "So… Black magic?" By that point, she'd gotten pen and ink out and seemed to be transcribing something from one tome to another. "Ooh, black magic," was all she said, which kinda made Laurel feel like he was being mocked. He was seldom mocked. Silence settled in and, as time marched on and Siren's pen nib scratched paper, he started feeling rather small. Eventually, he gave in and wandered away from the office and among the other bookshelves. Even though there were a few scholars around, all sporting their navy blue cloaks, the library remained quiet. The prince struggled to find something relevant and beginner level, but it was mathematically impossible not to, being in the biggest library in the region and all. As soon as he did, he proudly took his findings back to the office, closing the heavy doors and encountering the heavenly couch again. 

Time to get to it. When he opened the first book, though, he was greeted by sigils and a long list of warnings. They dictated rules of use of the library's books and detailed the consequences of their infringement. Laurel couldn't quite believe it wasn't a prank or rather, a bluff. "Is this serious?," he asked, showing Siren the page. She raised her eyes and squinted for a moment. "Dead serious. I suggest you pay that some mind and don't inconvenience me," she said, immediately going back to her work. Damn. So, Laurel read the warnings. They told him not to damage the books in any way, shape or form — including folding corners of the pages — or, under any circumstances, take them out of the library's perimeter. The consequences were, of course, curses. Why wouldn't they be? Something about developing delusions of seeing dots of color and licking them off the floor until your tongue couldn't physically manage it anymore. "Umm… Who writes these? Are they like, in the curse handbook or something?" Upon his new question, Siren seemed a bit amused. "Me. And I prefer original curses." Laurel stared back at the page for a bit. "No offense, but how sick does your mind have to be to think this stuff up?," though it sounded like an offense, he laughed lightly and smiled. Of course, he wasn't quite convinced that the stuff written there was for real. That remark made Siren sigh again. "Stop procrastinating," she said. Yeah, she did see right through him. Better get started.

Hours crawled by as Laurel tried to make sense of what he was reading. His thorough education didn't delve into that territory, but at least he had reading comprehension to make up for it. Eventually, he got fed up of studying something he hardly had the basis for. "Is it lunch time yet?," he asked, glancing up. "Probably," Siren replied, still writing, "Go ahead. I'll be here." Laurel hesitated, book still open in his lap. The sudden silence made Siren unglue her eyes from her work. "You can tell me what the issue actually is," she said, her voice calmer than usual. Laurel breathed in deep. "It's just… I don't think I'm getting this. Maybe I could use your input," he said, trying to smile at her even knowing it would probably have no effect. His mouth was agape once she actually got up and walked over. He forced it closed as she sat by his side, keeping a world of distance between them. Siren extended her hand, motioning for Laurel to give her the book; he did. She merely glanced at the cover before going "Ah, this one. Telekinesis…" She craned her neck as she looked at him, continuing: "Where did you get lost?" Taken aback by her sudden helpfulness, he took a moment to formulate a phrase. "At the start, I guess. The book acts like at the beginning of a spell, you can just… feel it in your body. I don't feel that." Siren averted her eyes and they got lost on the book's cover. "I'd say this book won't be of great use to you right now. You can't convert your mana into physical force if you haven't yet figured out how to harness it," she said, laying the book down on the couch and looking at the others he'd selected. She clicked her tongue, nodding a bit. "Honestly, maybe none of these. We have to address this notion first…" Before she could conclude the thought, though, there was a nock at the door. That scholar from the front desk walked in, nodding respectfully as she walked directly to the closest fairy light. Raising her hands, the student refueled it; its cold glow grew stronger. Siren's eyes stalked her as she did the same to every other light and, as she took off, Siren thanked her. 

Suddenly, her head made a sharp turn to Laurel. "I've got it. Fairy lights are an expression of energy. Someone who can harness their mana properly can easily progress to that stage," she mused, her face lit by the purple-ish gleam. "You could read into them once you grasp that initial hurdle," she got up, grabbing the pile of books, "We can leave these for later." She headed for the door, making Laurel leap off the couch to follow her. "What about that part? Harnessing? How do I learn that?" Siren started organizing the books in their respective shelves, which she seemed to find with ease. "Any mage would be able to teach you that," she said. He bit his lip and then attempted the pleading smile again; it had worked before, after all. "So… Could you help?" Siren blanked for a moment, but ultimately turned to look at him. "I suppose so. But I am, in fact, busy right now," she said. "Oh! That's okay. Totally. Maybe… later?," he still smiled, joining his hands together. Maybe it was his imagination, but her cheeks seemed kind of red. "Later."