37. Building A Wall

"All right! Hopefully, we'll be lucky today," Adro sang before glancing at Grace. "You've sacrificed a lot for this."

"Hey... It's my day off," Grace chuckled.

"A day-off you forced to take in the middle of your hectic class schedule," Adro added.

Grace shook her head once. "Nope. I do enjoy going to the city library, so it feels like a short vacation for me."

Smiling a little, Adro patted Grace's shoulder before guiding her towards the library entrance. He knew Grace was just finding positive reasons to accompany him. However, he wouldn't try to bring that up this time so they could make good use of their time because, since Grace entered the exam period, they rarely had the chance to enjoy time together, even just playing hooky or watching movies at home.

In the expansive library, Adro and Grace once again wandered through the aisles of old books. They had come to this library several times, but let alone found something; they hadn't even managed to check all the bookshelves.

"Adro!" Grace called. Her eyes were still focused on a book with an old leather cover.

Turning at the half-whispered call, Adro quickly approached Grace, who stood at the end of the bookshelf aisle. "Did you find something?"

Grace nodded. "This book seems suspicious. We should check it out," she pointed to the page she had opened.

After studying the page for a moment, Adro nodded with his jaws clenched. "You're right. This is a book discussing witchcraft and magic, and it feels more familiar compared to other books on witches in this library."

Heading to the nearest table, they wasted no time and studied the book from the first page. What was even more surprising was that the book not only discussed witchcraft but also covered interdimensional travel through a portal. However, it didn't explain the form of the portal, how to make it, or other details.

"I'm not sure, but I believe this book was written by someone who practiced magic. It seems like they deliberately didn't provide complete information about the magic in this book." Adro remarked.

"Here, it's only mentioned that this book was written by someone with the pen name LJ," Grace said before turning to the next page.

"Look at this," She continued while pointing to a new paragraph. "Here, it explains that there were child kidnappings in that era. Strangely, they were kidnapped from their bedrooms, even when the room had no windows. Some children were found in the middle of the forest, but with attitudes and behaviors vastly different from their previous selves, and the rest of the children disappeared forever."

"That's the work of witches," Adro said, rubbing his chin. "But now, I doubt whether this book was truly written by a witch. Their hearts are so corrupt that it's unlikely they would write about their evil deeds in a book."

"Let me look into this book on the internet." Grace pulled out her laptop from her bag.

"LJ is a historian and writer. The book was published thirty years ago, and the author has passed away now. This book is a compilation of scrolls found in the ruins of an overseas kingdom buried for two hundred years," Grace explained after working on her laptop for about five minutes.

Staring at Grace with wide eyes, Adro asked, "Are there any heirs to that kingdom?"

Shaking her head slowly, Grace answered, "I'm sorry, but there were only traces of the kingdom found without any information about successors. It's similar to other extinct kingdoms scattered around the world."

"I see. What a shame," Adro mumbled, lowering his gaze.

"Um, Adro..." Grace cleared her throat.

"Yes? Did you find something else?" Adro raised his gaze back.

"I think… I found something else, but... it's not so good."

Seeing Grace's unstable eye movements, Adro tried to smile while briefly patting her back. "You can tell me. I prefer bitter truths over sweet lies."

"This is a reliable article containing refutations of the book written by LJ. They conducted further investigations and found that the child kidnapper was a psychopathic alchemist illegally researching children's brains. They also found evidence that the alchemist was eventually caught and sentenced to death. They accused LJ of inserting lies into his writing to gain fame."

"All right. I understand," Adro muttered, leaning back in his chair.

"I'm sorry, Adro," Grace said slowly, placing her phone on the table.

Chuckling, Adro stared at Grace with a raised eyebrow. "Why are you apologizing?"

"I-I just feel bad for not being able to send you home. If only I had more money and more friends, I would use them all to do something more extensive that might succeed in finding your way home," Grace said, hanging her face down.

"Grace," Adro reached out to lift Grace's chin so she wouldn't look down anymore. "Do you know how sweet you are? This isn't the place for you to feel guilty, because you've done your best. I should be the one thanking you. If you keep blaming yourself, I'll be the one feeling bad now." He smiled while gently stroking her cheek with his thumb.

"Um..." Grace's eyes shifted to see the big and warm hand on her face, while her body stiffened.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Adro quickly withdrew his hand down.

"N-no, it's okay," Grace gazed down.

Clenching his jaw, Adro cleared his throat once. "It seems I unconsciously crossed a line. You can tell me if you feel uncomfortable with any of my actions."

Lifting her face, Grace found a wistful smile on Adro's face. "It's… it's not like I'm uncomfortable. I'm just a... little surprised. Maybe it's because I don't have many male friends."

"Is that so?" Adro lifted his brows. A beam appeared on his face. "That's honestly a relief for me. You know, I did that because I see people in this world often do it. On TV, friends often hug and embrace each other. Even in my world, those who have a close relationship often do it."

Smiling awkwardly, Grace rubbed her arm. "Even in your world, people do that. It just seems that I'm too sensitive."

"To be honest, it's weird," Adro suddenly said.

"What's weird?" Grace looked at him with widened eyes.

"We haven't known each other for long, but I already feel very close to you as if you were my little sister—well, even though I don't have a sister. But if I did, I'd want her to be as sweet as you," Adro giggled. Then he continued as his smile faded, "Strangely, I can't control the way I see you, even though I know you don't consider us that close."

"Adro, sorry if you feel that way. I just... have my own reasons that make me uncomfortable when a guy is as nice to me as you are," Grace explained.

"I see," Adro mumbled. He remembered all of Grace's stories about the bad men in this world and the incident when Grace was bullied by some women in the mall. At that time, they said that Grace had been dumped by a man who took advantage of her. No wonder Grace felt uncomfortable when a man was being kind to her.

Forming a bright smile, Adro brought his face closer to Grace to gaze into her round eyes intensely. "No need to apologize, Grace! I understand what you mean. If you're not used to it, I'll make you accustomed to it. Those men can't appreciate something precious."

Grace could only force a smile at Adro, who seemed enthusiastic. She wasn't sure, but it seemed that Adro had drawn the wrong conclusion. Unfortunately, she couldn't make it straight because her real reasons would only ruin their friendship now.

Once again, Grace had to lie. She wasn't unfamiliar with Adro's increasingly sweet treatments, considering they were already close enough to spend time together under one roof. However, she tried to build a wall between them so that she wouldn't develop deeper feelings for him.

Adro's sweetness certainly made Grace happy. She had never received such warmth from a man. However, if she allowed herself to get used to this, she would be the one hurt.

In fact, Grace already felt an ache in her chest because Adro only saw her as a little sister, while deep in her heart, she wanted something more.