Princess Anastasia was of course only thirteen or fourteen years old. Still at an innocent and pure age, she was somewhat at a loss for words in response to the current situation.
The girl's face flushed crimson under Lu Kang's gaze, turning into a patch of crystal-fine delicacy. She froze, then froze again. Her silver-white hair gently rose in the warm wind pouring down from the high windows.
Thus the princess came to her senses. Thinking she had hidden her identity well, yet unexpectedly exposed in mere moments, she decided to go all out—
"Y-yes." She stammered, "I am indeed Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova!"
Lu Kang thought to himself that the name was really long. It seemed this little princess had most likely sneaked out without her family knowing—otherwise she would not have panicked so much upon having her identity discovered.
But he did not rush to answer. Looking at the books scattered on the floor, he smiled: "So, Your Highness the Princess, do you need help?"
The girl rubbed the slightly swollen spot on her ankle. After hesitating, she finally nodded.
Her foot was sprained.
She clearly could not stand right now.
Just as Anastasia thought Lu Kang would reach out to help her up, Lu Kang reached toward the nearby bookshelf, took out a cane from between two books, and handed it over—
"Please."
"…"
So why was there such a thing in the library?
"You want to ask why?" Lu Kang saw the girl's surprised face as she took the cane and spread his hands. "Of course because there are too many clumsy girls like Your Highness the Princess."
"Are there other girls who come here?" Anastasia could not help feeling curious.
Then she reacted—
"Wait, who are you calling clumsy?"
Sure enough, not only clumsy, but also slow!
Lu Kang smiled and did not answer. The Kremlin Library, as the palace collection, was of course not open to the public. Only imperial family members could come—should he say that your mother, the dear Empress of the Tsarist Empire, had also fallen like this before?
"Mm… I keep feeling you are thinking something bad." The youngest princess of the Tsarist Empire had a trace of puzzlement in her blue-green eyes, but she no longer dwelled on it. Supporting herself with the cane, she stood up unsteadily.
She said, "Um… you are the librarian here, right?"
The girl spoke with some hesitation, but after Lu Kang nodded she took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind.
"Then can you tell me… where is His Excellency Lu Kang?"
Lu Kang had guessed it—after all, he had long known the empire's four princesses were all very curious about him. Only Nicholas II would not rashly let them offend the "sage" without Lu Kang's permission, so they had not met until now.
While speaking her mind, Anastasia turned to look at the vast interior of the library, surrounded by countless towering bookshelves like giants. Sunlight made the dust clearly visible and bright, but besides the red-wood bookshelves there were only books—no sign of any person.
It was practically a maze.
If not for that, she would not have climbed high earlier, thinking that standing higher would let her see more clearly—and thus sprained her ankle!
She clearly had not expected that the handsome, slender youth before her was the "Excellency" she wanted to find!
"So you sneaked out from the palace just to meet the 'Lu Kang' you mentioned?" Lu Kang could not help finding it funny.
"Of course—Father greatly admires His Excellency Lu Kang. He often praises His Excellency's greatness, holiness, and purity before us. I think His Excellency Lu Kang must be a true sage, God's apostle. I think he must be tall and majestic, with thirty-six pairs of wings, just like in the Bible…"
Then wouldn't I become "Cthulhu"?
Lu Kang found it even funnier as he watched the girl ramble on.
But perhaps precisely because of this unrealistic imagination, she had not realized the youth before her was the Lu Kang she spoke of.
"No." Then Anastasia realized she had spoken wrongly again. "Who told you I sneaked out?"
"Of course you told me yourself." Lu Kang pointed at his own eyes.
Anastasia subconsciously touched her own eyes.
"See? You just admitted it, didn't you?" Lu Kang said again.
The princess discovered she had "fallen for it" again!
"Bad guy…"
She gave a soft "mm," wisely choosing not to argue further—perhaps due to personality or habit. Even at this point she showed none of the usual princess's high-and-mighty commanding air.
"Do you… do you know where His Excellency Lu Kang is?" She simply pretended to be calm and changed the subject.
Temporarily freed from embarrassment, Anastasia puffed her cheeks slightly. The princess standing straight with her cane had her fluffy skirt swaying; the snow-white angel-down shimmered with crystal light under the sunlight pouring from above. Her full chest rose and fell, red lips slightly parted, about to say more…
Lu Kang was about to say of course he knew—but before the words left his mouth, a voice came from behind the princess.
"Your Excellency Lu Kang, the books you requested have been organized." A man in butler attire walked out from the other side of the sea of books.
That was the real librarian. He bowed respectfully to Lu Kang.
In a sense Lu Kang could also be considered a librarian, so he felt he had not deceived Anastasia—after all, who said there could be only one librarian?
He simply nodded and said, "Thank you for your trouble."
Anastasia was stunned. She turned her clean blue-green eyes to look at the man, then at the youth before her, as if realizing something. Her fair face, which had not yet fully calmed, flushed red again in layers.
"You… you are Lu Kang?" Her tone became stammering once more.
"What a pity," Lu Kang spoke teasingly. "I thought—I could hide a little longer and hear more about what kind of bizarre creature I am in Your Highness's heart!"
It was over.
The princess thought.
She carefully recalled her actions earlier; she had behaved exactly like a country girl, completely without the bearing a princess should have—she had lost face terribly!
…
[You watched Anastasia's back as she went from stunned to blushing, then fled in panic—forgetting even that her foot was sprained—and could not help finding it funny. You thought that with this, the princess's impression of you should be deep enough. Your goal of building friendly relations with every palace member and laying the foundation for future interference in court politics could be achieved bit by bit.]
[At the same time, you also sighed that youth is truly good—even though your own age was not large.]
[This was your first meeting with the empire's last princess, and also the first encounter between the "nation-destroying seductress" and the "flawless princess." You recalled the historical records of this Princess Anastasia, and the young girl defined by many as "innocent" among Nicholas II's executed family.]
[You also felt great pity.]
[That night, you heard from the servants that Anastasia had been punished by Nicholas II for secretly entering the library.]
[The next day, when Nicholas II visited, you briefly told the last Tsar not to blame Anastasia—for you it was only a small effort, and the girl who had suddenly intruded had indeed added some interest.]
[Nicholas II stroked his beard and nodded in agreement. Looking at your face, he seemed to suddenly think of something and revealed a meaningful smile. He chatted with you about some matters concerning Anastasia; you were somewhat surprised.]
[During the chat, Nicholas II smoothly invited you to the palace ball two days later.]
[You did not refuse. You also felt it was time to go out, meet more imperial family members and nobles, and further establish plans for the future.]
[Thus, two days later in the morning, you put on the priest's robe and attended the palace banquet in full attire.]
[Nicholas II, accompanied by his wife Empress Alexandra, had been waiting at the palace gate for a long time.]
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