Villain transmigration: The doll maker.-Chapter 55:Addicted.

I came to a stop in front of a book stall. It was small with only a few books that had gathered dust. An old man was seated by the stall, and the moment I arrived, he smiled, exposing his crooked teeth.

"Are you here to buy a book? All my books are the best on the continent."

His old broken voice pitched. His hands were shaking, and both of his legs were missing; they seemed to have been carelessly cut off.

His dark eyes looked up kindly at me.

"How much do the books cost?"

I directly asked. The old man’s face brightened before he leaned over the books and started to wipe off the dust frantically.

"Not much, my lord, just three silvers each, and you can have them."

I looked at the book that had gotten my attention despite having the most layers of dust. It was the biggest among them almost the size of my torso.

"If you don’t mind asking, where did you find your books?"

I squatted down to be eye-level with the old man. He smiled again and picked up his staff, a wistful look crossing his arms.

These books have been in my family for as long as I can remember. "

"Then why are you selling them?"

I asked curiously.

"There are no descendants to pass them on to, I do not wish for them to end up in the town’s dumpsters. "

"Shouldn’t you sell them at a cheaper price then?"

The man shook his head and muttered to himself.

"I cannot go lower than that. This is my ancestor’s work, I cannot disrespect them beyond this."

"Then they’re probably going to be thrown away in the dumpsters. "

The man swayed before he supported himself on the wall. The movement sent his smell directly to me. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. He reeked.

"I’ll buy all the books."

That returned all the energy he had lost.

"Thank you young master."

He bowed his head with tears dripping down his face and hitting the street. His shoulders shook as sobs came out of him.

"Okay, pay him and take the books."

One of the guards I had come with picked up the books. I reached out and took the biggest before he walked away with the others.

Luna paid the money, two gold coins, and followed me to the carriage. We resumed our journey.

"Young master, please never do that."

Donovan’s chastised. I chuckled not responding to him. I must have given all of them a scare. It was unbecoming of a noble to do something like this but excitement couldn’t keep me down.

"Master, why would you want that book so much? It’s dirtying your coat."

I looked down to see that some of the dust had rubbed off on my clothes. The book had not been well cleaned.

"My dear, I think I just found something useful, this might just be a part of the key."

I lowered the book since I had been holding it to my chest and showed Luna the cover.

’Le grand secret des Philosophes ’

Luna looked at the title then shook her head.

"I cannot see anything young master."

"What?"

I looked down at the cover. The cover had a multitude of circles crossed around each other, it looked almost like a spell with barely visible symbols around it.

In the middle of the circle was a picture of a badly drawn man and woman. Another circle surrounded them, then a square, then another circle, finished with a square, before the main conjoined circles finished.

The title was at the top, written in what looked like mercury and sulphur, each on different words. They looked as though they were trying to merge.

"What does it say master?"

Luna asked curiously. She really didn’t see anything.

"The secrets of Philosophers. That was why it caught my attention, and the cover had gold, mercury, and sulphur on top of it."

I said in wonder. Mercury and sulphur were two of the main components in the study of alchemy. Most alchemists believed that if you mixed them together, it could help in the creation of gold. No one had been able to.

"What about the other books?"

Luna asked. I waved her off and held my head in my hand, looking at the moving trees.

"They’re useless, I just bought it for the sake of it. Let’s say it’s a thank you for the book."

The carriage drive back to the capital was disappointingly uneventful. I spent most of my time going through the new book.

A knock came on our carriage door the moment it came to a stop. I looked outside to see we had stopped outside the estate and the guards were looking at our convoy in confusion since they had opened the gates for us.

"Young master, will it be okay if we go our separate ways from here?"

Blair asked. He had been the one to knock on the door. I nodded.

"Do you mind taking the necromancer to the laboratory, there should be a lot of souls for her use."

"Yes, young master."

Blair smiled and bowed before turning to leave. I called him back.

"And Blair, " he turned to me," thank you for your hard work, I’ll give you your reward at the academy. "

His eyes widened before he bowed even lower than before. He had been asking for an increase in strength. Despite practicing magic he was unfortunately not talented in that aspect and had only managed to get to ten stars.

Seeing Luna and Isis ’ transformation, he had asked if I could help improve his strength as a reward for his achievements. I was more than happy to oblige.

"Let’s go."

The carriage moved forward and entered the estate. I suddenly felt homesick the moment I saw the castle. The Bloodmooor estate felt like a welcome back embrace and it delighted me.

"You can go and rest luna, I’ll be by the garden. "

I told Luna, who was following behind me, the moment we got into the castle. The smell of roses and blood lilies dominated the house a calming scent.

"But..."

"No, we haven’t rested during our travels this is an order from your master. I need you to rest since we’ll be going back to the academy tomorrow. "

Luna paused before she nodded and walked towards the servants’ quarters.

Work without rest makes the body dull.

"Lucian, are you not going to greet your sister?"

Seraph’s voice came from upstairs. I looked up to see her leaning over the railing her red hair swaying in the air.

"The butler told me you won’t be receiving anyone."

I had asked her location, but I had been told she had given instructions not receive any visitors since she was busy.

"Come here."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. I walked up the stairs while maintaining eye contact with her until I came to a stop a step away from her and opened my arms.

"How about you welcome your long-lost brother with a hug?"

She giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Just so you know, I didn’t miss you."

She said against my chest. I pulled her closer to me.

"Are you still angry?"

I asked against her hair. She nodded then paused and shook her head.

I leaned on the railing and she let her body weight fall on me.

"I wasn’t angry, I was just embarrassed, okay. I didn’t like that mother saw me in that state, I’m supposed to be the heiress, and look, I must have disappointed her. I should have been firmer and not fallen under your stupid temptation."

She grumbled face red from blushing and frustration. I laughed at that. We really had different worries.

"If mother were angry, she would have punished you,if that makes you feel at peace. I took on all the blame. "

She got out of my arms and looked up at me her face filled with shock.

"What!"

That was the only thing she could shout. Seraph has an inherent fear and worship for mother. Her sleeping with me might have been her first act of defiance against her.

I was proud of that. She can’t live under mothers shadow forever, even mother knew that.

"Mother didn’t blame you she knows you’ll never do something like this."

"I just want to be a qualified heiress."

She softly said.

"And you are, or mother wouldn’t trust you in managing most of the important things, so stop worrying about what she thinks a lot. You can’t revolve around her forever."

She nodded before falling into my arms again.

"The third prince is being confined."

She changed the subject.

"Why?"

The third prince was the one who had been pestering Seraphs for marriage since I was little, forgetting that she would never marry a human.

"Excessive consumption of ilustor, he’s become terribly addicted. How sad."

She laughed at that her eyes brightening even further.

"Did you do it?"

I narrowed my eyes. She wrapped her hands around my neck and reached up for a kiss. I met her in the middle.