Chapter 3. Heir of the Golden Rule 

As Ael was lost in thought, the carriage finally began to move again after being stuck in traffic. This allowed Ael to snap out of her reverie and reflect on the conversation she had overheard a little earlier.

‘They said he doesn’t reveal where he is.’

People assumed he was staying in the Empire, where the headquarters of the Ash Merchant Guild was located.

To manage the ships and goods traveling across the continent and oversee business, it was natural for him to be in the Empire.

But until now, he hadn’t revealed where he was or where he was going. So even if people wanted to meet him, they didn’t know where to go.

‘The biggest secret of the Ash Merchant Guild is his identity and whereabouts.’

And such a person was coming to Denertum.

‘It will be an enormous opportunity for Denertum.’

Ael recalled the continental economic indicators she saw in a magazine she borrowed a month ago.

The Ash Merchant Guild was known to bring tremendous economic effects, raising the level of any country it entered.

‘He wouldn’t just be coming for a visit… maybe he’s coming to explore for more investment.’

She didn’t know what aspect of this country caught his interest, but she hoped he would find a reason to stay here for a long time.

‘They say it’s the quietest country on the continent… Maybe he’s coming for a rest. If he has a family, would they come and live here together?’

As Ael was excitedly pondering various thoughts, the coachman’s voice interrupted her.

“We’ve arrived.”

Startled, Ael looked outside to find the entrance of the Academy Library right in front of her.

Hastily getting off and settling the fare, Ael hurried into the library.

She had already lost considerable time due to the congestion at the central square. If she didn’t hurry, her parents would find out about this outing.

Ael half-ran toward the reading room. Perhaps her loud footsteps were annoying, as a library staff member looked at her disapprovingly.

Ael covered her face with her hat and presented something she had secretly taken from her father’s study.

It was an identification card with her father’s name engraved on it.

Specifically, it was an ID card that allowed access to the Academy Library.

Even though the entire continent was swept up in winds of change, Denertum remained a conservative country.

In some republics, commoners directly elected their representatives, and women were given the right to vote equally, but such things were distant dreams in Denertum.

Here, women couldn’t even read books freely.

According to Denertum’s mythology, women were created by God from the leftover scraps after making men.

Therefore, they were always considered lacking.

This belief was so strong that the people of Denertum regarded women as physically inferior to men, and intellectually deficient, unable to properly absorb teachings.

Because of this, Denertum’s academy still did not allow women to enroll, even if they were nobles.

Thus, they couldn’t use the Academy Library either.

Women could only enter the library if they were running an errand.

The staff examined the ID card and then asked Ael, noting her appearance.

“Are you a governess? Did you come on an errand for your employer?”

“Yes. I was told to borrow books for the young lady’s education.”

Familiar with the question, the lie flowed smoothly. In fact, it wasn’t even a lie. The books borrowed today would eventually be read entirely by her. So, in the end, they were indeed books for her education.

After checking the ID once more, the staff granted her access.

Her steps led her familiarly to the reference room. Soon, she found the shelves where the newly arrived books were placed.

“Ah…….”

With eyes filled with emotion, she surveyed the books on the shelves. It had been three months since she last came here.

Ael’s father had acquired a membership to the Academy Library for show, but he had never used it.

So it was tossed somewhere in the study, forgotten. Ael found it while cleaning the study.

Normally, she would have just placed it on the desk, but the day before, she read in the newspaper her father had discarded that a large number of imperial books had arrived at the Academy Library.

After fiddling with her father’s ID for a long time, Ael finally decided to sneak it out and head to the Academy Library the next day.

Her heart felt like it would leap out of her chest with the fear that her father would catch her at any moment and scold her for being insolent, but her curiosity to see the imperial books led her on.

When she first came, she didn’t know where to go or the borrowing procedures, resulting in several close calls, but fortunately, she managed to borrow books.

How her heart pounded that night as she sat alone in her room reading an imperial book written in the continental common language.

Of course, there were books at home too, as her father’s study was full of them. But they were all old.

Books that, when opened, emitted dust and musty smells, made more for decorating a noble’s study beautifully rather than for reading.

Books that Ael had read all alone when she was young.

Besides those, Ael couldn’t read any other books. Her father no longer bought new books. Moreover, he didn’t like Ael reading books.

〈Excessive knowledge leads to arrogance.〉

He didn’t want his daughter to become smart. While he might have allowed it for his second daughter, Elise, for his first daughter, Ael, learning more was of no use to him.

〈You’ll have to serve your husband anyway, so what’s the point of reading more books? Instead, think about honing your lacking conversational skills and charm! Not a single marriage proposal came for you this year! When people occasionally talk about you, I can’t lift my head in embarrassment!〉

Since she had not appeared in society for several years, there was no way marriage proposals would come.

But saying that, it would have been fortunate if it didn’t result in getting hit.

Anyway, he was someone who showed no leniency to Ael.

Because of this, if Ael wanted to read new books, she had to secretly borrow them from the library, avoiding her father’s eyes.

But if you let your guard down, you will eventually get caught. Half a year ago, she was finally caught. That day, Ael was slapped. Her father ordered her not to step outside the mansion for a month.

Of course, he didn’t allow her even a single sheet of paper, let alone books.

How painful that time was.

Unable to bear the boredom, she repeatedly wrote and erased formulas on the foggy window with her finger.

Later, even that was not allowed, and she had to do everything in her head.

After that, due to a shortage of workers, she was able to leave the room a little earlier, but she didn’t even think about taking the ID out again.

‘I know it’s wrong. But…….’

With a face filled with emotion, Ael looked at the new books. Just looking at them made her body tremble with joy.

For someone like her, who had to live confined in the mansion in Denertum, this was the only time she could peek at the world.

With trembling hands, Ael brushed her fingers over the spines of the newly arrived books. It was then.

“Huh?”

Something caught Ael’s attention.

Among the new books, something was shining.

At first, she thought it was sunlight. But the Academy’s shelves were designed so that light couldn’t directly enter.

‘What is it?’

Turning her gaze to where she saw the light, she found a book sitting alone, apart from the others.

As soon as she saw its shape, Ael recognized it as an imperial book.

Unlike the expensive leather-bound books of Denertum, imperial books had cloth covers.

Nobles mocked these books as being vulgar, but Ael preferred imperial books.

Because they seemed like books that anyone, not just authorized male nobles, could read comfortably and with joy.

Just as Ael reached out to properly set the book upright, she saw the title.

Heirs of the Golden Rule

Upon seeing the title, Ael paused, then gave a bitter smile.

She recalled something someone had said about her at a banquet once.

That person had called Ael a ‘failed heir.’

‘Even calling me a failed heir is too much.’

She wasn’t born as an heir to the Golden Rule at all.

The Golden Rule. It referred to the power that those who lived on the continent in ancient times possessed.

People believed there were laws that constituted everything in the world.

The ancient people who perfectly understood those primordial laws called them the golden laws and used them to wield incredible power.

Moving a boulder the size of a house with a touch, causing water to spring from barren land—such miraculous powers.

And those who possessed that power were called heirs of the Golden Rule.