Chapter 52 - Rottweiler

“Is there such a place?”

Emily nodded and her expression brightened as she replied, “The detached annex out the back is the employee residence. There are always a few empty rooms prepared for temporary staff to use whenever we hire them for a party or some other special event. We clean them every day so that new employees can use them right away. As long as you don’t mind, Yeonwoo, you could stay there for a while.”

“Oh, of course not. I would be very grateful if I could use it,” I said quickly.

Emily smiled kindly. “Since I’m the one in charge of the annex, the thought probably didn’t reach him. That’s good, then. The third room on the first floor is vacant. The keys should be hanging near the front entrance. They’re organized in the order of rooms, so you can take out and use the third key. I’ll let you know when things are done here. I hope it doesn’t end too late.”

I simply thanked her in response to her worried remark. It was a relief, considering how dismal I felt as I imagined having to roam around the garden without a destination. Although it would easily take two hours to walk around the fairly large garden at a normal pace, I couldn’t just loiter around forever. It was a good thing that there was somewhere I could sit down and relax well.

‘What should I do to kill time?’ For a moment, I was thrown by the sudden free time. Perhaps this was the chance to catch up on some reading. I wasn’t exactly an avid reader, to begin with, but I was reading even fewer books as of late.

‘Now that I think…’ I suddenly remembered Keith’s study.

When I first moved into this mansion, Charles had taken out his time to show me around the house. That was when I learned about the study. We didn’t get the chance to go in back then, but when I had stolen a glance from the outside, there seemed to be a dense layer of bookshelves across the wide space.

I didn’t waste time and left my room right away. There was still some time until Grayson and the other guests were supposed to come, but the idea of procrastinating until I had to rush later didn’t tickle my fancy. The study was located at around the midpoint of Keith’s room and my room. I subconsciously glanced toward Keith’s room before hurriedly turning my head. What he was doing right now was none of my concern. After all, I was busy caring about my own life. I quickly walked into the study to disperse the attention that kept wanting to be directed toward Keith.

“Whoa…” An exclamation escaped my mouth at the spectacle before my eyes. The ceiling of the study was unexpectedly high. The ladder that was blatantly placed on one side made me relive the fact that these books were not just for decoration. I had noticed the part of the roof that seemed particularly tall from the outside; that must have been this room. The ceiling inside was a round dome, but the roof outside was pointy like that of a gothic castle.

The sunlight that entered from the window brightly lit up one side of the bookshelf. I blankly stared at the dust particles that fluttered about the air before briskly shaking my head.

‘What book should I read?’

I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of books and couldn’t come to an easy conclusion. While I hesitantly looked around the bookshelves, however, I noticed the pattern in which the books were organized in.

‘So these are the classics.’ I looked around for the modern novel section. Once I had found the modern novels, I then had to decide on which author’s work I should read.

What stumped me was that sometimes a poetry collection and a novel of the same author were placed together, and at other times, they were placed away from each other. Some books even had two copies on the bookshelf. Bottom line, it would be difficult for someone to find something they wanted if they didn’t have a basic understanding of the bookshelves or books in general.

In the case of the books that had multiple copies, they were either published in different years or interpreted in different ways. Of course, I couldn’t tell which version would suit me better.

In the end, the book that I took out after long thought was a novel by a German author that had also been adapted into a movie. I had considered reading the novel since I had enjoyed the movie very much, but I had completely forgotten about it amidst my busy daily life.

‘So that’s what he looks like.’ The author’s photo left a favorable impression on me. I smiled absentmindedly before coming to my senses. I finally checked the time, only to find that it had already been an hour or so. ‘I’ll be late if I stay for any longer,’ I thought as I rushed out into the hallway.

“Yeonwoo.”

I turned back at the sound of someone calling my name. Charles was walking toward me. As he stood before me, he as per usual, nonchalantly opened his mouth. “Are you all right? It’ll be time soon.”

“Oh, yes. I was just about to leave.”

Charles glanced at the book in my hand and continued as if he understood, “I heard from Emily that she offered you to stay at the annex. If it gets late, I’ll bring your dinner over.”

“Thank you.” I bid my farewell and left in a hurry like I was running away. The time was near.