Chapter 164: 164: Curious Mind.
Leo was in his library. All alone.
He had a seat before a table filled up with books. And he just sat there going through it under the night candle.
The room felt warm with the lighting. And the books around gave it a vintage smell and aesthetics to match the atmosphere.
Leo flipped through the books while writing down some notes on another.
Soon Damien walked in.
"Here you go, my lord." Damien served him a cup of drink which he kept on the table. "Have it."
Leo nodded, still flipping through the book before him.
Damien hesitated, standing beside Leo while staring through the pages of the book he was flipping through. Some academic book.
"The physician suggested you cut down on the drink. He said you could take it once in a week or something. But you’ve been taking it a little too often. Like daily... I don’t think that’s healthy."
Leo sighed. His eyes were still on the book while he sipped down some of the glass of drink. "Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I just needed some of it these days. At least for some support."
He brushed whatever Damien was saying and continued reading while he added, "You should also keep an eye on them. Don’t let them do anything stupid."
"But..." Damien hesitated. "Are you really going to let him sleep in your room?"
Damien knew Leo wouldn’t listen to him if he tried talking him out of the drink he was taking—something he was now making a drug.
So he decided to talk about something else.
"Don’t worry about that. It’s not like he has anything valuable to steal from there," Leo said.
"But... it’s still not appropriate for him to stay there. You’re giving him too much freedom," Damien expressed in disapproval.
Leo didn’t say anything. He didn’t think he needed to explain himself further. It was his way of following up on Eden and his tricky ways. He would basically have to read through him and monitor him better. And this was his way of doing that.
"And..." Damien was pouring out his worry. "Are you really going to leave him like that? I mean, I already feel like he’s playing around with you..."
He added, "And it’s obvious everything he did today was a plan. He didn’t want to tell you about whatever he found out. And I feel if you keep indulging him in his plots, he’ll keep pushing it. And heaven knows what he’s even plotting."
Damien was simply worried.
Leo scoffed. "You worry too much about nothing."
"Huh?" Damien blinked.
"I already know about these and I know what I’m doing." Leo smiled. "And I also know that tomorrow is his deadline to spill whatever he’s supposed to say. Or just die with the news."
Damien’s eyes lit in excitement as he stared at Leo. "Huh? What do you plan on doing to him tomorrow?"
Leo hesitated, his fingers running through the paper before him. "I’ll need you to do something for me tomorrow."
"Whatever you say, my lord," Damien expressed.
"Tomorrow we’ll hold a meal with him. It’ll be his last chance to come clean in whatever answers he has to give. And if he doesn’t, then I’ll have to end him here."
"Here?" Damien was curious.
"Arrange an ambush here for him tomorrow. So if I send him here tomorrow, it’ll be over for him," Leo said. "Then at least I can get rid of him then."
He was plain and cold as he made his statement.
Damien nodded. "I see. But then, why the library? Why should he end here?"
Leo hesitated and then looked around the library. His eyes running through the books and the shelves they sat on.
"It just feels right," Leo said. "That the same knowledge he believed he stood on should be the same place he dies on. The same knowledge he believed would save him would be the same land where he will bleed to death. I think that’s perfect." He smiled.
Damien stared at his master who spoke calmly, yet had murderous words spill from his lips.
All he could do was casually nod. "Okay then. Give me your instructions and I’ll do as you say," he said with a slight bow.
---
"So what do you think then?" Lenny asked Eden, who already had his eyes running through the room.
He was making his observations to prove his point that Leo doesn’t sleep in his own chamber room.
"Maybe he sleeps in that library? A nerd guy who sleeps in the library all night while reading. That could fit his narrative. But then again... the novel never mentioned anything like this."
Lenny nodded. "Not at all. But it also makes sense that maybe he doesn’t sleep here."
"I guess we’ll just have to find out then." Eden stared at Lenny.
"Find out what?"
"Where he sleeps. And why..." Eden said. "I have a feeling that could serve as some means of helping me break through him or something."
Lenny hesitated, blinked, and then said, "Whatever makes your curious mind rest."
Eden scoffed as he got down from the bed, adjusted his attire. "Who knows? Maybe I’ll find something to keep me alive while also not telling him about the secret I found."
Lenny sat there on the bed as he watched Eden head for the door.
Lenny sighed. "It would have been better if you were just a salted fish*"
Eden was heading for the door, eager to discover something tonight. And before he got to the door, he caught sight of something.
He saw a slight color that contrasted with the black color of the carpet. It was rather bright. Bright enough to catch his attention as he looked down.
"What’s this...?" Eden thought to himself as he walked up to the corner of the room, bending down to pick up the bright and rather colorful object he had seen on the floor.
*********
A "salted fish" protagonist is someone who doesn’t want to work hard, doesn’t want to fight fate, and just wants to live lazily and peacefully in their new world.
Often they’ll say things like: "I just want to be a salted fish" — meaning they don’t care about power, face, or drama, they just want to live quietly.