She should have expected that answer–but it still manages to catch her by surprise. Kies wasn’t one to leave people alone should they need help, even if his profile was more aloof than others. Gratitude begins to swell inside her, but she pushes it down as her pessimism begins to plant doubts in her mind.
She wasn’t very optimistic about finding anything new, and the last thing she wanted to do was to waste someone else’s time in pursuit of answers that may not even be here. Lecord theoretically had the kingdom’s archive recorded here, but it seemed like the family she came from was a mystery to everyone in this world.
“…Chivalry isn’t dead in this world. Never change, Kies-san. It’s a good trait to have.” She replies teasingly, albeit a little forced as she readies her apology talk if and when they turn up empty of information. A hand goes to the jade pendant and dream ring that hung around her neck, fingers wrapping around the carved jade–
She stops as the carved number of ‘45′ stands out, a small sigh escaping. She had seen plenty of magic in this world and even used it herself–but for some reason she still couldn’t believe in it fully. At least she had some acceptance now, but the distant idea that she was in a coma and having a long dream sometimes entertained itself in her head.
“An encyclopedia would be a good start. Can you grab that one?” She asks, as she points towards the higher shelf. The book seemed to be leather bound, and thick enough to possibly have a wide variety. Her eyes scan the shelf nearest to her– Elemental Magic, Spell Books, History of Alchemy…but none seemed to pop out as a good choice.
“I’ll go further down to see if there’s any books on magical items or jewely. Would you mind looking through that one?”
The prince let out a chuckle at the other's light teasing, but it didn't stop him from taking notice of her usual nervous antics. He'd learned over the course of their time together that whenever Kaede reached for her necklace, it meant she was having doubts and anxieties about the situation at hand. He doesn't say anything though—she wasn't as weak as she believed herself to be, after all.
Kies grabs the book she motions towards with ease, raising an eyebrow as he looks at the rather bland title: The Encyclopedia of Magical Objects of the World. Well, it was a start at least.
"Sure." he replies curtly to her request. "Let me know if you need my help."
With that, Kies moves towards one of the nearby wooden tables and takes a seat, going through the book's pages one by one. The prince is confident that he had been around the ring of Traümere long enough to say that he had a pretty good idea of its powers and capabilities. That being said, though, there were only so many objects that could be considered to be on par with the Traümere ring, and before Kies realized it he had gone through the entire book in about half an hour.
In a moment of sheer curiosity, the prince turns towards the front of the leatherbound book and looks through its details. The date catches his eye—it was written only about 5 years prior to the current year. While the prince wasn't aware of the full details, he did know that the incident regarding Traümere occurred at least 18 years ago. With practically all information regarding the Kingdom of Dreams having disappeared around that time, it was no wonder that the book contained close to no information at all; it was very likely that its authors had forgotten about or possibly had never even heard of the Kingdom of Dreams to begin with.
With this in mind, Kies quickly returns the encyclopedia to its spot on the shelves before going off to look for his princess to inform her of his realization. It doesn't take him long—they were the only two in the entire place, after all—to find her at a table not unlike the one he was at earlier, deeply engrossed in a book of her own. While he is loathe to interrupt her, the prince does not exactly have much other choice.
"Kaede, did you find anything so far?"
