Chapter 41: Hidden Archives (II).

Chapter 41: Hidden Archives (II).

Elizabeth's POV

I got a bit excited hearing the hidden archives that could give me the possible information that we'll be needing and some bonus dirty information amongst the other nobles.

"So how exactly will we find the hidden archives?"

The only dirt I wouldn't like to be found out was the royal family's.

Knowing that the royal archives haven't been found for about a century, it'll only date back to my 'great-grandfather' or grandfather who has died without being able to see them or heck maybe even deeper into my lineage.

The archives would most likely have contained their dirty secrets and the kingdom's condition of the time.

If the books, papers, and documents were preserved well.

Victoria held her chin thinking in deep thought. "A riddle would accompany the search, 'To find a room stained in history, hidden between two- lies in a story- a place you can run to'."

"Your mother was a fan of the series of mysteries that surrounded the castle after finding out the hidden room that was used for-"

She coughs for a bit, cheeks reddened. "For royalties to have their secret place with their mistresses- the former empress became adamant on finding other secret rooms."

"Thus she stumbled across the information about the hidden archives, telling to me in hopes we could find it together- but I was called into war so I couldn't accompany her in the search."

Well that's rather... a bit sad of a story in the past. I always knew my mother and Victoria were close friends despite their different social ranking and background.

"I never got to ask if she ever found it when I returned." she says looking regretfully but I shake my head telling her it was alright.

"So we're going to need more research to do. The library here wouldn't help- but maybe my mother recorded somewhere in her ahem- private study below?" I ask Victoria who smiles remembering that she showed me what the other floors of the secret room below were.

"We haven't been in there for a while after being busy with your coronation and training to control your magic, perhaps the answer we seek is there." We both nodded looking brightly at Sir Tobias and Misha who were sleeping peacefully in one of the tables.

We walked right by and told the knight who was awake of what we'll do. "Sir Tobias, take care of the scholar. We'll be having a private walk- do not worry the princess will be safe with me." (Victoria) tells Sir Tobias who tilts his head with concern looking over to me.

"Oh- your highness will it be alright for me to leave you alone? Not to offend the former general but it's just- escorting you has always been my duty."

"Yes, actually. We'll be continuing our search for any information about my magic elsewhere- We'll be back soon." I tell him, looking over to Scholar Misha looking so relaxed and at peace as he breathed. "Watch over my trusted scholar, he's one in a million. I was quite lucky my uncle gave me at least one good person to teach me."

"You don't have to tell me twice, your highness. Please be careful of your search. I'll be with him for now. Thank you, for letting me watch over him." (Sir Tobias) looks over fondly at the tired Scholar Misha before we excuse ourselves waving goodbye hoping the two would enjoy the given opportunity of bonding time together.

...

Click.

Hearing the door closing and a faint click of the door being locked, making sure that no one would disturb the two with their well earned rest for a while.

"Let's head to my mother's private study quickly." I ushered Victoria looking excited as we both walked side by side into the other wing of the castle. "If the former empress once searched for the hidden archives- she would note every detail of her search even if she failed to find it."

"We would also need to think about the riddle, a bit strange but I don't make anything of it."

I recalled the riddle Victoria told me. "To find a room stained in history, hidden between two- lies in a story- a place you can run to. It sounds like a lazy riddle, it doesn't even sound good and I'm surprised you remember."

"I am surprised as you, your highness after all the regret of now being able to find it with her- I'm glad that at least her daughter is continuing where she left off." (Victoria) pats my head as we arrive at my mother's abandoned room that we usually clean when we're free.

I pushed all the buttons needed on the jewelry box and took out the spare key necklace I've been keeping safe over the years. I inserted it into the keyhole and soon the secret entrance opened revealing a rebuilt elevator that made less noise when it was being used.

It was no longer using chains for walls but instead refurbished metal that isn't easily corroded.

"I still can't believe you made the elevator look better than what your mother originally intended." (Victoria) mutters, knowing that I had talent in redesigning.

"Thank you for the compliment, but really you overestimate me." I chuckled knowing that I learned a few things at school on my old having a drafting subject, physics and robotics on the side. The wiring was complicated but I managed to make it even after changing the materials.

Water proof, Fireproof, sound proof, the elevator has also been upgraded to carry more than at least ten people depending on their weight.

I needed to order and commission a blacksmith in secret for this to work, thankfully provided that I was wealthy I had extra for hush money.

"Now let's head to Floor 2. The place of all of her left knowledge and storage room for failed experiments." We entered the elevator, pressing the button for floor 2.

Ding!

The door closed after the both of us got in, we could feel the elevator going down as elevator music started playing.

The mix of a violin and piano, serenade music shuffles and we settle down to listen to humming.

"Out of all the upgrades, that one is my favorite." (Victoria) tells me smiling while listening to the beautiful orchestra and I puff my chest out proudly knowing how hard it took for me to do just a simple thing like adding recorded music into the elevator.

"It's thanks to you teaching me what you know about command spells that I learned how to make a few- ones that's going to be helpful in the future." I told her how grateful I was and listened to the recorded music.

It wasn't easy making {Command.order: Record}, I needed to write a rune code that takes the voices, noise, and everything stored somewhere.

At first I had to make a test recorder and cast it with that- it didn't work so I built my own magic one- sorted it out on an empty magic stone and whenever the elevator is booted up with mana- the stone will activate and play the song.

I had to rent a whole orchestra for a day to perform for me privately after a few more weeks of testing.

"Princess, perhaps you should teach me that sometime too. I still have a lot to learn and your new command spell could save a lot of trouble in my stealth missions."

A lot has happened over the years, I didn't slack off on my training, book reading and practicing my mother's command spells. That made me more dependable, Victoria's trust in me doubled and I could carry out several orders that the council actually partakes in now.

"Of course, after we find the hidden archives I ought to teach you." I offered and we both heard the elevator music ending making a ding noise.

Ding!

The elevator door opened and we found Floor 2 being surrounded by many shelves and books. I rubbed my heels into the welcoming matt, taking in the scent of ink, old paper and book leather in this room.

I took in the calculations the first time I came here- and all of these books are worth a ton of money in the present times.

"Where should we start looking around? I know everything in the bookshelves is not related to secret rooms." I tell Victoria because I've personally been checking every title since the time that I came here, memorizing the personal collection of the empress.

It was either books about architecture, other kingdom cultures, laws, and such.

"Hmm... your mother has always been a disorganized person. If anything she would've kept anything important into some random box shoved into the corner of a room." (Victoria) sighs, chuckling dreadfully remembering past memories with my mother. "Classic move by that woman."

"The more you speak of her like that I wonder if the empress and I would get along. Many often tell me we're similar but for me it feels like we're complete polar opposites." I tell her looking over the corner boxes of the study.

I organized her old junk from the past and tried finding anything related to her findings about the castle's secret rooms.

"Oh that's true, but you have her spirit and that's enough for me." (Victoria) joins me on the search dusting every book that I placed down on the floor.

I also found a few notebooks but they were all nothing but scribbles of rabbits and stick men figures. They were all doing a little dance, one stick was twerking and the other was throwing money.

"..." I flipped over the next pages and they were all drawn stick figures. "She can draw wonderful blueprints on her inventions- but these stick figures are another thing."

"Oh! I was wondering where those went!" (Victoria) laughs taking the notebook I was holding before telling me the whole context of these said drawings. "Your mother and I would draw these whenever we were feeling lonely. Your mother was quite the artist- I was the one who started drawing stick figures until she decided she wanted to do that too."

"She would often show me these when we were back from being apart, it was our own humor together. We would compare drawings and ask who did better?"

That seemed like a sweet way of bonding- drawing stick figures in bizarre positions.

Victoria kept flipping over the pages of the stick figures and I crawled right over to her side seeing the funniest stick figure comics my biological mother made. "Oh the good laughs we had- like this one it says, 'Victoria if I was a worm would you still love me?'. She had to show me this very late at night and I laughed so hard- out of all the things she had to ask!"

Good lord, how are you alive Victoria?

She flipped the page over and showed me another drawing.

"Oh and this one- actually this one I haven't seen before." she shows me a very detailed drawing of the castle's interior and I blinked in shock realizing what this was.

"Hold on, that's not a stick figure- that's a map."

We both leaned in to inspect the drawing seeing it was full of modern shortened abbreviations.

It was written with capital letters, "OMG! NEW ROOM FOUND! FULL OF DIRTY SECRETS MUST TELL VICTORIA WHEN SHE COMES HOME- FUTURE ME DO NOT FORGET! SHE GONNA BE SO IMPRESSED FR!"

Victoria and I faced each other with a deadpan expression looking at the map with a little stick figure pointing at X marks the spot with shiny effects on it while having a sassy pose.

The hidden archives were in the Emperor's current study- it hasn't changed its location and for some reason she found it all on her own.

"She forgot to tell you, didn't she?" I ask Victoria who sighs, replying tiredly.

"That woman most likely did forget, she had the attention span of a goldfish but somehow her genius makes up for it." Her hand massages the sides of her templates holding the notebook tightly.

"And she had the nerve to put something important on a notebook that she uses to draw stick figures! Damn it, Amelia!" This was one of the rare times I saw Victoria looking so angry but happy holding the notebook in her hand.

Turns out the former empress found the room, giving us an answer to where the hidden archives are.

I bet the former empress with her personality she's also one to put a nuclear bomb right next to the red button that activates it. The thought of her being my biological mother made me laugh.

I'm definitely nothing like her.