At first, I thought I had misheard him.

Coming at this late hour and asking out of the blue if I wasn’t studying. I doubted if I had heard him correctly.

Unable to believe it, I stared at Erhan silently for a while. He simply gazed at me without any further explanation.

Faced with his expectant gaze, I finally had no choice but to cautiously open my mouth.

“…Studying, at this hour?”

It didn’t seem like he was just saying it. He was holding two books in his hand. I looked back and forth between the books and Erhan with a dubious expression.

“Yeah. You said you were studying.”

I had heard him correctly. Erhan was looking at me as if wondering why I wasn’t welcoming him when he had come like this. Judging by his confident expression, it was as if I had originally promised to study at this hour.

“I’m coming in.”

He shrugged his shoulders and casually brushed past me, as if it were his own room.

Perhaps it was because his attire was much looser than usual. Even the scent emanating from Erhan was different. As he walked past me and entered the room, a subtle herbal fragrance mingled with his usual artificial sweetness. It was the same scent that came from my clothes.

Since we lived in the same mansion, it was only natural that we could use the same bathing products, but it was utterly unfamiliar to have the same scent as me coming from Erhan.

“…Why are you studying at this hour?”

Anyway, I couldn’t just stand there dumbfounded with my hands at my sides and let Erhan enter my room as he pleased.

I hurriedly followed the intruder, Erhan.

“I’m going to sleep. Go back quickly.”

I deliberately spoke more coldly. Of course, contrary to my firm voice, my hands couldn’t move an inch.

I wanted to grab him firmly and show him out, but didn’t Erhan dislike being touched? So I couldn’t even touch him and could only chase after Erhan.

However, with his broad shoulders and tall stature, he showed no signs of stopping.

“Are you listening to me?”

Get out, don’t you know this is rude, I’m going to sleep, and so on. Despite chasing after his tail and saying all sorts of things, he didn’t even pretend to listen. He simply moved the candlestick from the small table to the larger table. Then, after stacking the books he had brought on the table, he pulled over another chair to create seating for two.

The entire preparation process took less than a minute. He was very agile, as if he had multiple hands. As I gaped at the swiftly created study environment, Erhan tapped the book he had set down and said to me, “Sit down.”

Seeing him tap the seat in front of him, indicating for me to sit, made my head throb.

“Just leave. I have no intention of studying at this hour.”

In the first place, I had absolutely no intention of studying with Erhan here.

Even if I had become curious about Erhan and wanted to have more conversations with him, the location couldn’t be my room.

I deliberately kept my gaze fixed on Erhan, afraid that my eyes might unconsciously wander to the serpent’s passage. If Erhan were to discover that Zachary was there, it wouldn’t be something that could be easily overlooked.

So I told him to leave quickly, but he didn’t even pretend to listen. Instead, he turned his head and looked around as if he were actually touring my room.

“It feels like a lot has changed here.”

His serpent-like, elongated eyes curved mischievously. Feeling guilty, I was twice as uncomfortable. I could confidently say that I had meticulously hidden any traces of studying sorcery, but my opponent was Erhan. He was as sharp as a ghost and always exceeded my expectations.

I couldn’t help but feel tense as Erhan looked around my room with an air of intrigue.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

I couldn’t drag him out, nor did I have the strength to do so. Above all, if I carelessly provoked Erhan, I didn’t know in which direction he might lash out.

How could I get him to obediently listen and leave? Erhan was still sitting at the table with a nonchalant expression, humming to himself. Seeing his brazen demeanor, I closed my eyes tightly and let out a deep sigh.

I had no choice but to choose the only way to quickly resolve this situation.

“…I sat down. If I finish reading all of this, you’ll leave, right?”

I finally sat in the chair Erhan had indicated. Then, I pulled one of the two books placed on the table. Erhan’s gaze, which had been wandering around, finally settled on me.

“Yeah.”

The way he looked at me with a smirk was piercing. I tried hard not to make eye contact with Erhan and kept my gaze fixed on the book I was holding.

The book titled “The Flow of Capital in the Kingdom of Solaris and Its Relationship with Noble Families” was divided into two volumes. I opened the first book and began reading.

I theoretically knew how the kingdom circulated capital. I opened the book, thinking I would likely encounter content I already knew.

‘Handwriting?’

The book was a bit… peculiar. The title itself had a strong impression of being handwritten, and the inside was even more so. Instead of printed text, the handwritten script was unfamiliar at first and not easy to read. However, as I quickly grew accustomed to it, I gained speed.

Initially, I had planned to read it cursorily to send Erhan out as soon as possible, but the content and level of the book were much better than I had anticipated. Before I knew it, I had forgotten about Erhan’s presence and started reading the book with full concentration.

Thanks to having read countless books, I could speed-read. Immersed in the content, I quickly turned the pages, and soon I had read more than half of it.

“…Is this for real?”

The content was so shocking that I forgot about the situation and blurted out a question in a stunned voice as I read the book in silence.

Only after seeing the candle melted by the candlelight did I realize that quite some time had passed.

He put down the book he had been reading and looked at me, resting his chin on his hand. It was as if he had predicted that I would ask a question.

Given the nature of the content, I knew there would be no one to eavesdrop, but I still leaned slightly over the table and asked Erhan again in a low voice.

“They circulate funds like this and mutually turn a blind eye to it?”

This book contained information that was very different from what was generally known. It mainly dealt with the corruption between the nobles and the royal family, and most of the content was difficult for ordinary people to know.

It covered the flow of money that moved beneath the surface, not just the ledgers that were circulated on the surface. I hadn’t expected such secretive content to be blatantly included.

“How on earth did you get a book like this?”

While constantly expressing admiration, I unconsciously returned to the book and began diligently scanning the text.

It was intriguing. One of the reasons I had been reluctant to study was because this world was a dictatorship. Perhaps because the king held excessive power in this world, ordinary books were always filled with nothing but flattery towards the royal family, but this was different.

“There are no clergy members separate from the government to monitor these illegal activities. Most families know it’s illegal but turn a blind eye…”

The book listed instances where the amount spent on the kingdom’s industries was absurdly high and suspicious, as well as unclear details of expenditures. It even included a chart that traced the whereabouts of embezzled funds.

The book that bluntly exposed the hidden side of the kingdom was very sharp. The author’s tone was objective, yet it gave the impression of disdainfully criticizing the reality of the kingdom.

“I don’t know who the author is, but they’re incredible.”

Even the examples given one by one were not excessive. It was a book written in a way that was easy to understand even without specialized knowledge. I continued reading the book, constantly expressing admiration.

While I alternated between questions and exclamations, Erhan put down the book he had been reading and simply stared at me, resting his chin on his hand. Slightly narrowing his eyes as if observing me, he asked, “How is it? Do you find it interesting?”

Of course, I immediately nodded.

“This is the first book I’ve read that is so honest yet maintains objectivity and is well-written. It’s too specific about the corruption committed by the royal family and nobles and the whereabouts of the missing money to be a delusion. Of course, the downside is not knowing who the author is… If they revealed that they wrote such a book, the author would be in danger.”

I tightly grasped the book, my eyes crinkling, genuinely immersed in the enjoyable read I had encountered after a long time.

“It’s interesting. The fact that they had these thoughts and even published a book themselves is remarkable.”

It was probably a type of banned book.

“Anyone can imagine and think about writing a book like this, but actually publishing it as a book is a different matter. The person who wrote this book must have incredible courage. I’m too much of a coward to do something like this.”

As a result of studying about the kingdom to hide my sorcery studies, I had only encountered stereotypical content. So for me, a book that so sharply and interestingly exposed the truth about the kingdom was very refreshing and intriguing.

Although I was still in the middle of reading it, it was a book with sufficient value to warrant a positive review. As I was rambling on with my impressions, I suddenly realized that Erhan wasn’t responding and lifted my head. And I hesitated.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

Erhan’s neck and the tips of his ears were red.

It seemed like his face was also flushed, but did I see it correctly? I took another subtle glance. Erhan’s skin was exceptionally pale, making the redness stand out even more vividly.