Ariadne wiped away the tears clouding her vision. First, I have to get away from the duke. It was impossible to run away without any help. She was just seven years old, too young and weak to escape the duke’s grasp. She turned her eyes back to the opened books that were scattered everywhere. Maybe I can find a clue in one of them.

The “Ariadne Eldier” from the original novel died even before the novel started, but the “Glamus” that was made from her soul continued to show up in the novel. It was an important tool that allowed the protagonist to use elementalism. Thanks to that, even as a passing line, “Ariadne Eldier” was mentioned several times throughout the novel.

I need a guardian. Someone who will protect me until I’m old enough. She spent a long time looking through the books for any information that could help her.

The archmage, Solan Garcia. Someone who would not be swayed by Duke Eldier’s power, and her grandfather by blood. According to the novel, the archmage met me once. When he heard the news of Gloria’s death, he came to Eldier and saw for the first time his granddaughter who didn’t resemble his daughter in the slightest. At first sight, the archmage was irritated by Ariadne and never visited her again.

I have to seize this chance. Even a grandfather who hated the mere sight of his granddaughter was still better than Duke Franz Eldier. Plus, I have a lot I can use to make a deal with the archmage. She had a lot of information worth offering, but the most useful of those was undoubtedly the Elixir. No one in this world, let alone the archmage, could help but be interested in it.

This world was slowly ending because of the contamination from the evil realm. Under these circumstances, the Elixir—a potion that cured that contamination—was an irreplaceable and vital resource. Once Duke Eldier finished developing the Elixir, he would be untouchable. But if he didn’t have his special lab specimen, Ariadne, then he wouldn’t be able to finish the Elixir. Since the instructions are clearly written in the novel, I can make the Elixir once I have the ingredients, but the duke can’t do it without me.

The ingredients for the Elixir would be easily obtainable for the archmage. In exchange for making it, I will make a deal with him. For this to happen, she first needed to create a situation where she would be able to talk to the archmage one-on-one. That would be hard enough, but the harder part would be convincing him, as no matter what she said it would only sound like a child’s wild fantasies.

In any case, there’s no promise that the archmage will save me right away. Let’s just aim to get his attention first. It was a gamble, but she could see a ray of hope. First, I’ll draw his attention by showing that I don’t like the duke. Then when we’re alone, I’ll show him the Elixir I took from the study to demonstrate curing the contamination.

Flipping through the novel, Ariadne started creating a detailed plan. She was so focused on her work that she didn’t notice that someone else had appeared in the room.

“Aaahh!”

It was only when she heard the thud of a book hitting the floor along with a small scream that she noticed she wasn’t alone. Startled, Ariadne lifted her head and came face-to-face with a pair of golden eyes. Huh...?

The child in front of her seemed about five or six years old at most, with white hair as soft as cotton and skin as white as snow, and a large cloth wrapped around her body for clothes. She had a stack of books in one arm and had been organizing them into the shelves with the other. It seemed she’d accidentally dropped one in the process. Ariadne realized then that the books she randomly pulled out and stacked to create her stairs were mostly gone.

The child let out a hiccup as Ariadne stared at her blankly. Dozens of questions formed in Ariadne’s head. Isn’t this the library of my past? Isn’t it my dream? How can someone else be here? Who is this child? Wait... Is she cleaning up the mess I made?

“Who are you? How did you come in here?” Ariadne asked sharply. The child turned pale and her eyes started to water as she let out a little whimper. Her glossy eyes and tiny body trembling with fear made her look like a baby bunny.

Stunned, Ariadne put up her hands in surrender. “Um... I’m not mad at you. Don’t cry. I just wanted to know who you are,” Ariadne reassured her as kindly as possible. It looked like it was working. The child sniffed and took shy glimpses at her. Ariadne smiled, then introduced herself. “I’m Ariadne. What’s your name?”

With tears in her eyes, the child tilted her head curiously and repeated after her. “Just, want, know. Ariadne. Name.”

“Hm?”

“Name. Name?” the girl mumbled. She was about to reply, but suddenly Ariadne’s vision went dark, as if someone had turned off the lights.

She opened her eyes wide. Ariadne was lying on the bed in the corner of her study, where the duke always placed her when she fainted during a “special lesson.” She grunted in discomfort. As she regained consciousness, the pain and heat throughout her body came rushing back. No matter how many times she experienced it, she could never get used to the aftereffects of the experimentation. She clenched her fists in the blanket, letting out a sound halfway between a groan and a sob.

It didn’t hurt in the dream... The dream of the room with golden bookshelves. That was a dream, but also a reality. The fact that she still remembered her past life was proof.

Ow. It hurts... Ariadne looked to her side. There was no one around her. Franz Eldier had never once stayed by his daughter’s side nor taken care of her. Ariadne always woke up alone and in agony.

“Mom, Mom…” The pain drew involuntary tears from her eyes. She couldn’t help but cry out for her mother, even though Ariadne knew that she was no longer with her.

The wilted, falling morning glory flowers outside the window, the vine that had crawled toward her... The traces of her mother’s attempts to save her. The mother she’d never see again, the mother she’d lost because she realized the truth too late...

“Mom, Mom, Mom...” Ariadne mumbled between sobs.

She buried her feverish forehead into the pillow, already covered in her sweat and tears, and cried silently.

* * *

A few months after Ariadne realized the truth, the Archmage visited the Eldier estate. She waited outside the parlor, dressed elegantly. Soon, the duke would call for her to meet the Archmage.

Just do as you planned. It’ll be easy. Ariadne had planned according to many scenarios. They were all easier than the special lessons. She could still feel the fear that crawled up her body whenever she stood in front of the great metal door to the study.

Ironically, that fear was what fueled her. Anything would be better than that. It was harder to endure the pain after uncovering the truth than when she’d innocently trusted her dad.

If it hadn’t been for the Phantom Library, I might already have gone mad. Without the library in her dreams, Ariadne wouldn’t have known that she was going to survive to live that moment. In the library of her past life, she didn’t feel any pain. Every time she couldn’t bear the pain of the experiment, she closed her eyes and hid inside. She could always leave her body behind and run away to those golden bookshelves. She decided to call that place the “Phantom Library” together with “Pi.”

Pi was the name of the white-haired child she met there. Just like with the library, Ariadne also chose the child’s name. The child existed in Ariadne’s library without any knowledge of herself. Pi hadn’t known how to speak in the beginning, but she was an inhumanly fast learner and soon learned to communicate in simple terms.

Whatever she was, she clearly wasn’t human. She doesn’t eat anything and just stays in there. It doesn’t seem like she needs sleep either. Ariadne guessed Pi to be something like an elemental of the Phantom Library, a newborn elemental that didn’t know anything.

According to the world of the novel, that was the most plausible explanation. After guessing at her identity, Ariadne decided on her name. Normally an elemental was named according to the name or nickname of the place they were found in, but when Ariadne mentioned all the names relating to a library, the child only shook her head in refusal.

“You don’t like the elemental names? Then what kind of name do you want?”.

“Ariadne, name like that.”

She seemed to prefer a name that sounded more human, so Ariadne started reciting every human name she could think of. The child tilted her head as if none of them was to her liking, then pointed to an illustration in the picture book she’d been looking at.

“This, name?”

“It’s a drawing of a rabbit baking a pie.”

“Pie. Pie.”

She nodded her head to indicate that she liked the name. And like that, the child’s name became Pi. Remembering that moment, Ariadne laughed softly. Besides these moments with Pi, Ariadne had no other reasons to laugh these days.

“My lady,” a servant called her curtly, coming out of the parlor. “Duke Eldier is calling for you. Since there is a guest present, you must be on your best behavior.”

It seemed it was finally time. Ariadne took a deep breath and moved her feet. Let’s go. This is only the beginning. The doors opened, and Ariadne saw the old man in a blue-black robe sitting across from the duke. She held onto the hems of her dress and curtsied. The archmage made a gesture to dismiss her, and the duke obediently started to take her away, but she pulled away from his grasp and knelt in front of the old man. “Please take me with you, Grandfather!” she pleaded.

And from that moment, the ending destined for destruction began to change.