1 Karla is a Clever Girl

21st day, 3rd month, 1106th year of Yukea Calendar

In a world torn from constant war, where nations fall and rise at a dizzying pace. Lies a country called the United Greabari or more commonly known as the Greabarian Empire. It is a large country boasting many cultures and races. It's not a powerful state by any means, but it does have a large population true to its 'Empire' status.

It was an ordinary day like always, from up here Karla can see the bustling capital. She watched the people below like she always did every morning, sipping her tea. After years of doing this, she is confident that she knows the capital city of Rustata better than most.

Well, the southern part of it at least since the northern side is on the other side of the palace.

Needless to say, Karla is an Imperial family member since she is currently living in the imperial palace. She is the second princess of this Empire and fifth heir to the throne.

There is a line of people coming from the main road in the form of a parade or so, the sight of it brings a grimace to Karla's face. Even without a see-far spell she already knows most of them are kids her age. But she did it anyway to make sure.

Yeah, those people definitely participants for the Awakening ceremony that takes place today.

When children turn ten years old, they must partake in the Awakening ceremony that held every spring. They, along with their parents will come to the city and have their children awakened at the grand assembly park.

That is fine and it proves how blessed the empire is by having the capacity to awaken an individual. The problem lies in the fact that Karla is also ten now, which means she has to take part in today's ceremony.

Karla enjoys her position as the second princess but she doesn't enjoy the responsibility that comes with it. So far, Karla managed to get away from royal duties by emphasizing her age. but after the ceremony, that excuse will be invalid. Worse yet, if during the awakening she managed to obtain a ridiculous ability. If that were to happen she will be forced to join the military.

Karla still remembers her sweet art-loving older brother Lucius. he used to have a smile on him and always laid back. But when they discovered the potential of his ability, he's forced to join the military. His smile now replaced with an emotionless mask, he becomes serious and rarely plays with her anymore. Karla knows she must have a useless ability if she wants to continue a peaceful life.

Karla sighs as she put down her tea ", I don't need any special ability. my position and prestige are already enough as a blessing. Don't you agree with me Sarah?" she asked the maid who is pouring tea.

"Well princess, it is written in the imperial law that every citizen has a right to become awakened. Because it is a blessing granted by the gods and should be distributed equally"

"And I'm saying that my luck being born as royalty is already a blessing. Isn't it unfair if I have two blessings instead of one?"

"That shows how noble you are princess," Sarah said with a smile.

Karla shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Sarah is a great maid she had to admit, but she keeps pushing Karla into doing her royal duties. Karla suspects someone from her family had a hand in this behavior, but she can't figure out who is responsible. After all, Karla had six siblings and three stepmothers.

"Where is your sister?"

"She is preparing your clothing for the ceremony princess."

"You can do that then," said Karla as she sips her tea "you're better at that anyway please call Anna to me."

"As you wish, Princess" Sarah puts down her tea set then bow before leaving.

Good grief, Karla thought. That maid is so annoying I need to get rid of her so Anna can take over as my handmaid. Not even bothering to finish her tea, Karla went to the library. It's the only place other than the toilet where the servants won't bother her. That is because only a few people are allowed to enter it, she could hide there for an entire day without being found.

The palace hallways are grand with brown tiles covering the floors, and the ceiling painted light blue like the summer sky. Paintings and other great works of art accumulated for hundreds of years decorated the hallways at fixed intervals. Boasting the rich culture and history of this empire.

When Karla reaches the end of the hallway, she took a peek around the corner. she can see a guard patrolling the hallway that leads to the library.

Karla crouch like a sneaking cat, her footstep lithe and agile yet quiet. Since most guards trained in detecting magic Karla can't use magic to aid her this time. She has to rely purely on her skills, which she had trained for years by sneaking around the palace.

The guard turns around to patrol the hallway she came from. She sidesteps along with him taking great care to stay out of sight. She holds her skirt firmly in her hands to avoid rustling them. The guard remains oblivious to Karla's presence.

The guard started to walk to the hallway, she didn't miss this opportunity to sneak through. her steps quicken the further she is from the guard. Karla reached the end of the hallway, she turned right into the entrance of the library.

"To do that while wearing a heavy dress, not even the great gentleman thieves from stories can do that!" Karla pats herself at the back when she closes the library door.

She hummed happily as she strode through the towering bookshelf. Each has hundreds of books of many types and genres. From annual reports of ministers to works of fiction by many famous authors, The library is quite big. Its collections will not lose to the libraries of the great kingdoms in the west, nor the Grand empire in the east.

Today Karla is in the mood to read adventure books. She took some from the fiction section. Along the way she also grabs some historical chronicles as well. More often than not history is more thrilling than any best-written fiction.

She uses magic to make the books lighter so she can carry it with one hand. She also put a tea set in a pan and makes it lighter too. Karla took those items to the deepest part of the library, in front of a particular bookshelf.

What makes this bookshelf special? It's because Karla noticed the books weren't alphabetically arranged. it seems that the books are put in random positions. At first, she assumes this is a mistake from the librarian and puts the books in the correct order. But the next day they returned to their original position.

She asked the librarian about the matter. Yet, he can't tell what's wrong about this bookshelf. to him, the books are properly arranged despite Karla's insistence.

What gives? Karla thought, excited about the discovery. There must be some magic involved, Karla reasoned. But Karla doesn't have the capabilities to examine it, so she has to make do with just her wits.

She noticed a distinct red book, the cover is blank without titles or the author-name. It also faintly glows the moment the librarian leaves her alone. She opened it and found it empty except for the first page. It says :

For those who were blessed by the Goddess of wisdom

You have a right to answer this question.

What is the hidden message from this bookshelf?

For those whose strength is the arcane arts

Beware! Curses await those that do not proceed warily.

Risk is necessary, yet those who take too many will fail.

For those whose strength is their mind

The books are in the correct order according to their alphabet.

To see the truth, a shift in perspective is necessary, How many moons are in the sky?

For those whose strength is their body

Turn back.

Karla realized that this a riddle of some sort, you either solve it with magic or through logic. Opening with brute force is cautioned against. Although Karla's skilled in using basic spells, she is far from being a mage.

That means she had to figure out the riddle and there are two clues to start with.

The books are in the correct order according to their alphabet. When books or any other items are sorted alphabetically it usually from their first letter, Karla reason. Does that mean the message is the first letter of the book titles? She got herself a piece of parchment and started to note the first letters of the books in chronological order.

Tgncugvjcvykbctfrncpuqhvjgtgcnkuvjgtqctvwpcvjguyqtfrtkpeguu

"What? This is just random letters, where are the messages?" Karla tried to sort the letters in other various ways but not a single word can be deciphered. No, the clue said that these books are sorted, which means the key to solving this is in the second clue.

"A shift in perspective and the number of moons in the sky huh? This is such an awkward sentence as if the writer wants people to be suspicious of it"

Karla already tried playing around with it before but to no avail. that means the 'shift' has to be something specific that you can't find by random.

"There are two moons in this world Isana and Rifta the celestial sisters. The number two, and a shift in perspective; A shift by two?" Karla murmured while holding her head.

In the end, it took her two weeks to figure out the message, and she can't help but laugh when that happens.

"I'm a genius! wahahahaha" Karla proclaims proudly while her servants smiled wryly as if this is a recurring event.

"Do you figure it out then Milady?" Anna asked. she was chasing Karla who suddenly leaves her room.

"Yes, I do Anna! This is so simple. Look, this is the hidden message" Karla gave her a piece of parchment.

"Hmm, what's this? Release That Wizard, Plans of the Realist Hero, Artuna the Sword Prince. What are these Milady?"

"Those are book titles, of course. These three books must be in that bookshelf"

"I see but how does Milady solve it? It was just random letters, is there a message hidden there?" Anna looks at the upper part of the parchment where Karla worked out the message but she can't understand it.

"By shifting the alphabet by two! It's brilliant because that's exactly what the riddle said. Most riddles need to be interpreted by some unique logic. But this riddle gives plain instruction as if it's a math problem"

Karla can't help jumping up and down as she explained it.

"But what does shift by two means?" Anna tilted her head.

"Their positions! Oh, come here let me explain" Karla took the parchment from Anna and begin laying down on the hallway floor. If any other servant or member of her family sees this, it will cause a lot of commotion. But Anna doesn't care and went down to sit beside her.

Karla took out a pencil and start to explain while writing "The letter 'A' is the first letter in the alphabet is it not?"

"Well yes?"

"What shift by two means is that the true meaning of the letter is shifted. which means the real letter is actually two letters after it. Karla draw an arrow connecting the A and C

"So that means A is actually C, B is actually D and so on"

"The first letter on the message is T, so that means it's actually V?" Anna asked after listening.

"Not quite. you see these incomprehensible jumbles of letters used to be normal sentences. it's become like this because it has already been shifted. That means to turn it back to its original state it needs to be shifted back, not forward."

"I think I finally understand Milady" Anna claps her hands in excitement.

"T is R! And G is E…" Anna took a pencil and started to decipher the message.

Both Karla and Anna were full of smiles at this point. They both feel a kindred affinity with each other. Karla Could tell they have the same interest and a mischievous streak. They were 'Women of Culture' as Anna called it.

That was two years ago Karla recalled as she pulled three particular books on that bookshelf. Meanwhile, the tea set and books she bought float steadily in midair. She snatches those two when the bookshelf becomes transparent. On the other side of that bookshelf is a room like a lounge.

There were soft sofas all over that seemed perfect for leisure reading but there were also many desks if one prefers that. the wall filled with cabinets and chests to store things.

She and Anna would often lay on the sofas while reading books or talk about the adventures they took. Now she used the room behind the bookshelf as her secret base, but there is one problem, though. Karla looks at a wine bottle that was present on top of a grand mahogany table.

She is not the only one to solve the riddle.