We reached the outskirts of Menyurl.
A single building stood at the edge, its silence louder than the wind. The walls were dull, lifeless, like they'd been abandoned long before any of us were born. Not even stray animals lingered near it.
"Sure it leads here?" I asked, not really expecting a reassuring answer.
"Yeah. Monday said that's where the mark is on the key."
I approached the door and kicked it open. It gave in with a creak that sounded like an old man sighing, swinging back in defeat. Just to be safe, I reformed it again using Clarion.
Sinus watched the whole thing and raised a brow. "Couldn't you just unlock it? Just the way you reformed the door?"
I stared at him.
"…Right. Sorry."
The place was dust and shadows. No furniture. No personal trace of a human life. It was like someone erased history itself from the room.
"Well, so much for a secret, huh?" Gars muttered.
I tapped the floor. Clarion of Touch activated. My senses crawled into the ground like roots, feeling every crack, every hidden shape beneath the surface. But something felt… off.
"What the—" My brows furrowed. I tried probing deeper, but…
Wanora narrowed her eyes. "That's weird. Why is there a large box beneath…?" Her voice quieted. "And… I can't seem to see through it."
Sinus and Gars just stared at the floor like clueless bystanders. They couldn't see it—no Clarion of Vision.
I could feel it, but even then, something about the box was immune to my analysis.
Monday's voice was calm. "Can you see the entrance to the box?"
I nodded. The Clarion responded. My touch traced a faint tunnel, a pathway leading toward the bedroom.
I walked over and opened the massive cupboard. And there it was—another door, nestled inside.
A keyhole was etched in the center like a single eye waiting to be fed.
"Is this where we put it?" Gars asked.
Monday stepped forward and inserted the key.
The door swung open.
Words shimmered into view.
Only Twice.
"Only Twice? What does that mean?" Gars blinked.
"I don't know… Could it be the door can only be opened twice?"
My hand brushed against the door. And instantly—
A spike of pressure shot through my brain.
The architecture of the door wasn't simple—it was built like a paradox. Layers within layers. Loops and branches.
Breaking through it would be a miracle.
Then, the words started to burn into my mind. Not on the door. In me.
Only twice will the door open. After that, the library will burn.
If the door is kept open for more than a day, the library will burn.
Only the one who received the key should enter.
And leave once satisfied.
I blinked. My vision shimmered faintly with bright pink light. The Clarion kept translating the door's logic into warnings.
Wanora was staring at me now. Quiet. Watching.
I exhaled slowly. "Well… that's something."
I relayed everything.
Monday nodded. "Then this must be his real library. Grandfather was a researcher, so he must've hidden it here. Heide… it's yours. He gave you the key."
"Me?"
No. No way.
"I'm sure he didn't want me to—"
My eyes wandered to Wanora.
She wasn't looking at me anymore.
I lowered my gaze. "…It should be given to…"
But the silence answered louder than any name I could speak.
I muttered, "But how? If I actually need to stay in there and read… what about food? I can't just let all those books burn…"
Sinus placed a hand on my shoulder. "We'll handle it. Just get here before the end of the day. We've got limited time. Let's make the best of it."
The rest rushed out to prepare.
I stayed still.
The reality started to settle in.
Why… me?
Wanora could absorb the knowledge better than I ever could.
She probably wanted to.
But the key had chosen.
And that meant I had to go.
I sighed. This is a pain.
We returned home. Shalap and Evena were at the reception desk.
Gars turned to me. "I'll help the others. You better tell them. Might be a while before you come back home."
He wasn't wrong.
This wasn't just a library. It was Gramps' library. Something he made with his own hands. Something he left behind for me.
And I had to make sure I didn't miss what he wanted to say.
Shalap stepped up, full of curiosity. "How did it go? What's the secret treasure?"
I said nothing.
How could I?
I didn't want to go spend weeks or months or longer trapped inside reading ancient research.
Monday, Gars, Sinus, even Wanora—they probably didn't want me to go either.
But they still told me to.
Because they knew I had to.
"…I don't wanna leave," I muttered.
"Huh? Leave where?" Shalap blinked.
Could I tell them?
Would they be okay with it?
Would they forget me?
Would they even want to remember me?
Evena had been watching. She slowly stepped down from the reception desk.
Her feet barely made a sound as she walked over to me.
"Welcome… back."
She looked into my eyes.
"Why… are you… sad?"
I didn't even know what kind of face I was making.
Torn between two families.
One who raised me.
One who left behind their final words.
"I might have to go…" I said quietly.
She tilted her head. "Where…?"
"Somewhere. But it could take long… it could take very long."
I looked down. I'd promised Evena I'd help her. I told her I'd stay.
And now… I was leaving her like this.
She gently cupped my chin and lifted my face.
Her hands were soft.
"But… you will… come back?" she asked slowly.
My breath caught in my throat.
"…Yes."
I nodded.
"Yes. I will."
She smiled.
Softly.
"Then I… will wait."
I couldn't smile.
The corner of my mouth twitched, but the emotion didn't follow. I turned away before anyone else could notice the look on my face.
This wasn't what I wanted.
I could at least argue it with Wanora. Maybe… maybe she'd understand.
I reached her room and opened the door. She was standing near the window, back turned.
"Wanora…" My voice came out quietly. "I don't want to go."
"Huh?" She turned to me, eyebrows raised. "Why?"
"I don't think I wanna live away from everyone," I said, forcing a weak chuckle. "I mean… no one wants to spend a long time stuffed away in a lib—"
SLAM.
Her hands hit the table, hard. I flinched.
"You don't want to?" Her eyes locked on mine, burning with something I couldn't recognize at first—then I realized it was fury.
"I mea—"
"WHY NOT?" Her voice cracked through the room like thunder. "HE LEFT IT FOR YOU, DIDN'T HE?"
I couldn't move. The air felt thick.
"YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!"
"I… I just—" My voice trembled. "I can't. I mean… I'm not suited for long reads—"
Her eye twitched. "What are you talking about, Heide?"
My name sounded like venom in her mouth.
"He told you, right? Then go in that damn place and read it! Since apparently no one else should enter, right? He wanted you specifically."
"Wanora… I—"
"You. Why you?" Her face twisted with hate. "No—please. Don't look at me like that."
It hurt.
I didn't want her to look at me like that.
I didn't want her to hate me.
Why…
"Wasn't any of us important enough to him?" Her voice cracked again. "He gave us scraps. And he gave you his most precious thing?"
The door burst open behind us.
Gars ran in. "What happened?!"
Wanora didn't stop.
"You only came after us. What did you even have that impressed him so much, huh?"
What…?
I couldn't speak. My throat was locked.
What did she mean? That… that can't be what they thought.
Right?
Tears blurred my vision. My face was hot. My lips parted, but the words didn't come.
Gars stepped between us. "That's enough. He doesn't want this either."
"He doesn't? That's why I hate this thing!" Her voice shook. "Why doesn't he?! Didn't that old man love him more than us?"
She took a shaky breath, then hurled the words again. "Why doesn't he just accept his love like he always did?!"
She turned to Gars now. "Don't tell me you didn't hate him too, Gars. You clearly called him annoying when he arrived here."
What…?
The world spun a little.
They thought like that? About me?
This… this had to be a dream. A sick one.
Tears wouldn't stop. I didn't even try to wipe them anymore.
"I did," Gars said.
The words hit harder than a punch.
"But that was in the past. He's my brother. And I still love him."
His eyes looked tired as he faced Wanora.
She was crying too.
Of course she was. Wanora always loved Gramps.
Maybe more than the rest of us ever could.
Gramps had taken her in when she had no one else in the world. She clung to him. She adored him.
And in the end, Honurad Decimus gave the most important part of his life to me—a boy who had only arrived during the final years of his life.
Maybe that was why she hated me.
Because in his final years, Gramps stopped doing what he always did. He stopped interacting with the rest of them. He spent his days teaching me.
Maybe… maybe I was a parasite. The one who hogged his final days, who drained the last of his life and attention away from the people who deserved it more.
"He didn't even talk to us in his last days," Wanora muttered. "He kept teaching Heide. For what fuc—"
Her voice stopped in her throat.
I didn't wait to hear more.
I turned and bolted out the room. I couldn't see through the tears, but I didn't stop. I didn't want to see her face.
I had never seen Wanora look at me like that.
Not once.
Sinus and Monday rushed out as I passed them. They called after me, but I didn't look back.
"HEIDE!" Monday shouted.
No.
I couldn't hear anything right now.
Gars turned to Sinus. "Take care of Wanora. I'll go to Heide."
With heavy strides, Gars took to the streets. His feet pounded the pavement. He leapt over rooftops, calling out—but Heide was nowhere to be seen.
Then it hit him. A single memory, a guess, a flicker of hope.
He ran south.
An old, abandoned house stood in silence. The one no one visited anymore.
And there—at the door—stood Heide.
"HEIDE!"
He turned around.
Gars' heart stopped.
Tears.
His face was soaked. Just the sight of it crushed something in Gars' chest.
He rushed forward. "WAIT! PLEASE! SHE DIDN'T MEAN ANY OF THAT!"
Click.
The door shut.
Gars banged on it with both fists. "HEIDE! PLEASE! SHE'S JUST SAD! PLEASE DON'T GO IN!"
"…Why…"
A soft voice came from behind the door.
It was Heide.
"You all wanted me to go in… didn't you?" His voice cracked, unsteady.
It wasn't anger.
It was heartbreak.
"…I'm sorry…" he whispered, "…I didn't want to steal him from you…"
His voice trembled more with each word. "I just… didn't know that would happen…"
Gars slumped down at the door, defeated.
"Heide… it's true. I didn't like you when you came. Gramps kept forcing himself to teach you, even when he was sick…"
He looked up at the gray sky.
"I hated it. That he didn't care about himself. That he gave so much to someone I thought was just… a stranger. But… I realized something."
He paused.
"He loved us. All of us. In his own way."
A long exhale.
"I didn't hate you. I never did. I couldn't. It's just… sometimes, people get angry. And that's what happened to her. She loved him. And you know… Gramps once said he'd give something incredibly important to her, too. I don't know what it was. But I remember that."
He placed a hand gently on the door.
"She was just… disappointed. She loves you too, Heide. She's done countless things for you. And she would do them all again."
His voice lowered to a whisper.
"So please. Just talk it out with her. Let's fix this together."
He stood up and smiled faintly at the door, waiting.
Click.
The door slowly creaked open.
Gars exhaled a breath of relief.
"Heide…"
He pushed the door open wider.
But the room was empty.
"Wha—"
He rushed to the cupboard. Pulled it open.
SLAM.
He pounded on it with both fists.
"HEIDE, NO! PLEASE! WHAT—WHY?!"
"HEIDE, PLEASE!!"
The key was gone.
The door could only be opened from the inside now.
Heide had gone in.
And locked himself inside the archive.
No food. No water.
No way to open the door.
Would he come out in a day?
A week?
A month?
Gars didn't know.
All he could do was sit there and pray—
"HEIDEEEEEEE!!!"
That his brother… would come out again.