After resting for another day, the jokes at Isabella’s expense had already spread throughout the City of Emerald Shadows.
The more aggressive ones came from the orc tribes, who openly mocked the Empire for claiming to be civilized while its princess was capable of dragging a young woman off the street in broad daylight.
The more subtle jabs came from the Alandin Kingdom, which wrote in a letter that if Isabella was so desperate, Alandin could send two servants to satisfy her needs.
These comments made Aaron seethe with rage, and he almost grabbed his blade to lead the Guard Army into the orc tribes and the Alandin palace.
But before he could do anything, they were stopped by Isabella.
Not only that, she ordered the Empire mission not to leave the premises for the next few days, remaining safe within the Silver Moon Palace while waiting for the Holy Tree Festival to begin.
This move left many members of the delegation feeling frustrated.
In their eyes, this was Isabella’s tacit admission to those vile insults and an ultimate humiliation to the royal family.
There was even some discordant grumbling within the mission, especially after they saw that an extra elf had appeared inside the Silver Moon Palace.
As the hope and representative of the group, Hiberton requested an audience with the princess.
No one knew exactly what happened during that time, but after he came out, Hiberton said one thing to the group.
He stated that Her Highness the Princess was still worthy of the Robert name.
Regardless of how the rumors outside were spreading, Isabella truly spent the day resting well with Winnidith.
The two started by reminiscing about childhood anecdotes.
One saying, “Wendy, your face turned as red as a ripe apple the first time you wore a camisole,” was followed by, “Bella, you once drank an entire cup of red wine at a count’s banquet, thinking it was pomegranate juice, and ended up tongue-tied.”
They went back and forth, recounting each other’s embarrassing moments.
Laughter filled the air for the entire day.
But joy would not last forever.
By 10:00 AM the next day, there was still no movement from the Elven palace, so the two followed their plan to head to the Grand History Library to see if there was an opportunity to reach the third floor.
Of course, they also brought Arns, who knew the full context of the situation.
Aaron was once again left behind in the Silver Moon Palace to watch the house, and he was so angry that he didn’t even say goodbye when they left.
Because of that incident, the three of them used some disguises while going out.
Winnidith cast Invisibility Magic on all three of them simultaneously; as long as they were careful not to make any sudden, large movements or bump into any Eighth Rank powerhouses, no one would notice them.
“Welcome, what can I help you with?”
But there are always surprises.
When the three entered the Grand History Library, the receptionist at the front desk spotted them immediately.
Her strength was very weak, and it was clear that it was largely thanks to the spiritual power of the Sacred Tree.
Fortunately, she remained as emotionless as a wooden puppet, showing no reaction to their arrival, and was easily brushed off by Isabella.
“The things here are so strange and few.”
It was Winnidith’s first time here, and she never expected this place to be so unique.
When one mentions a history museum, one always thinks of ancient treasures, commemorative murals, and lifelike sculptures.
But inside the Elven Grand History Library, there were only everyday objects used by past Elven Kings.
A cup used by the First Elf King, a brush used by the second, a chair sat upon by the third… Winnidith even saw the clothes Alvain wore when he first ascended to the throne.
‘Wait, is Alvain still alive?’
She thought to herself, feeling embarrassed.
“The elves’ racial advantage gives them long lives. Many items that should be in a history museum are perhaps not as old as the elves themselves, which is why the collection in the elven history museum is so scarce.”
Isabella explained, while simultaneously sketching the internal structure of the Grand History Library in her mind.
The Grand History Library had seven floors, four above ground and three below.
The four floors above ground belonged to the history museum; the higher one went, the more advanced the collection became, with artifacts from before the War of Divine Fire starting from the third floor.
However, Isabella had already investigated, and none of the collections here had anything to do with the Sacred Tree.
It would be impossible for the First Elf King to allow related artifacts to appear blatantly before the public.
The three underground floors were the library, with the first floor being a general reading area accessible to everyone.
It contained excellent literary stories from various races, and many performances at the Starlight Opera House were adapted from stories on this level.
The second floor contained records regarding the elves’ own history, requiring identity as a noble official or special permission from the royal family to enter.
Elves have strong memories and long lives, so they don’t record trivial matters.
Therefore, everything recorded was a major event for the elven race, including the War of Divine Fire.
What the third floor held was unknown, as only the Elf King himself was qualified to enter.
According to Evian, it was actually a prison, but Isabella felt it was more than that.
If this prison were truly only used to lock up elves who had gone mad, the Elf King should never have let the world know of its existence from the start.
Therefore, Isabella guessed that the third floor actually served another purpose, and the later Elf Kings had simply converted a part of it into a prison.
They descended to the first floor first.
Seeing them choose to go to the reading area, the receptionist did not express surprise but kept a smile as she watched the door, waiting for the next guest to ask for help.
Winnidith opened her Elemental Vision but could not see any lines of spiritual power above the receptionist’s head.
‘So, can I only see those lines when emotions are stirred?’
She noted this down and hurried to catch up with Isabella, arriving at the first underground level.
It was not as dark as she had imagined; a huge stone slab filled with the Light Element was embedded in the ceiling, acting as a lamp.
Under the slab were neatly arranged wooden bookshelves.
Winnidith took a rough look; there were at least 100 shelves, seventy or eighty of which were packed full.
Calculating two hundred books per shelf, there were at least 16,000 books here.
Winnidith’s legs turned to jelly, and she slumped onto Isabella’s back.
She was allergic to books.
“Pfft… Alright, alright, the books on this floor are categorized. We’ll just look for the section we need.”
Isabella saw exactly what she was afraid of and stroked her long silver hair with practiced ease, which felt so good that Winnidith buried her face deeper into her hair.
‘I wonder where Bella learned this technique? Could it be from the maids in the Emerald Palace?’
‘It couldn’t be that silver-white Persian cat she often holds in her arms, could it?’
After coaxing Winnidith, the three of them split up to look for books related to the War of Divine Fire.
Isabella had good luck; she didn’t search long before finding a document from the orc tribes concerning the War of Divine Fire.
Since the Light Elves and Dark Elves were twins, the Dark Elves certainly had strength equal to the Light Elves.
Perhaps the orc tribes, which had formed a coalition with the elves, would have some records.
But her luck wasn’t entirely good; the moment she took the book out, she heard a strange, hoarse voice.
“Oh, isn’t this the Princess of the Empire? How was the taste of the opera house dancer?”
Isabella frowned slightly.
Just as she was about to see who was bold enough to mock her to her face, the first thing that entered her sight was a pitch-black snake tail.