37
「Th-Thank you……」
「Are you alright?」
Saying so, Luca sent his gaze to the entrance of the archives. When his eyes met the guard knight's, the knight bowed his head to Luca apologetically. He might have been told not to let anyone in, but as expected, he probably couldn't stop them with Candice as his opponent.
As usual, Luca couldn't meet her eyes and was acting timidly.
「……Why are you guys here?」
「I am going to teach Arthur how to read and write! We came to look for a good book for that purpose.」
「I-I see.」
Sending a fleeting glance at Arthur, Luca tightly grabbed his own arm and then took a step back to open up some distance.
（If I recall correctly, Luca-oniisama was told not to get involved with Arthur, wasn't he……）
Candice remembered her conversation with Luca. After tidying up the books together with Arthur, who was trying his best to return the books Luca had been reading, she began walking to go look for books.
「Luca-oniisama, I apologize for disturbing your studies.」
「Ah……」
「Arthur, let's go.」
「Yes, Candice-oneesama.」
「I wonder where the books Arthur could read are. What kind of book do you want to read?」
「A book where Candice-oneesama appears would be good.」
「Fufu, oh Arthur. I don't appear inside books, you know.」
While having such a conversation, she searched for books Arthur could likely read, but they were all difficult-looking books aimed at adults, and she had absolutely no idea where anything was.
Because Jeanne, Eva, and Rose were stopped by the guard outside and were waiting there, she couldn't even have them help search. Perhaps because she kept looking up, her neck was also starting to hurt. It was when Candice was wandering aimlessly through the vast archives without finding the books she wanted to read.
「U-Um……」
「Luca-oniisama?」
Luca peeked his face out from behind a bookshelf. His eyebrows were furrowed, making him look somewhat angry. Thinking they might have gotten in the way of his studies after all, Candice returned his words.
「Were we being too loud?」
「No…… um, as thanks for earlier, I'll help you look for books.」
「Eh……?」
「Of course, if it's not a bother…… that is.」
Luca's voice gradually trailed off.
「By all means, please do. I was having trouble not knowing where the books were.」
「……!」
When Candice said so while pressing her neck, which hurt from looking up too much, Luca's expression brightened. Looking at him calmly, she thought that while Luca was easily embarrassed and shy around strangers, he was a kind-hearted boy. First, when Candice mentioned the books she was looking for, Luca guided them to the place they were located in the blink of an eye. After finding a few books and placing them on the table, she had him guide them next to the place where books Arthur could likely read were.
「Over here!」
Saying so, Luca beckoned to Arthur. When she followed along with Arthur, there was a shelf lined with many children's stories. Arthur jumped at the bookshelf with his eyes sparkling. Luca took out a few books and showed them to Arthur.
「These are books I read when I was about your age.」
「Wow……!」
Upon receiving the books from Luca, Arthur floated a full-faced smile and thanked him, saying, 「Thank you very much.」 After looking at Arthur with wide eyes, Luca too muttered in a small voice, 「……You're welcome.」
「If only I could read letters like Candice-oneesama quickly.」
Hearing Arthur say that, Luca opened his mouth.
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