317 Roselle Memorial Exhibition (2/2)
The lady had chestnut hair that fell to her waist, and she had a perfectly proportioned figure. She was neither fat nor thin.
She wore a lace dress which had the vibes of a young girl, but she wore a black, out-of-fashion bonnet, and a fishnet veil hung down, concealing her face.
She stood in front of the display cabinet and stared at the items inside for a long time without leaving.
Even when Klein and the others followed the guide to the next exhibition hall, she remained rooted to the spot.
After passing through a few more exhibition halls, the female guide pointed ahead and said, ”The next thing you will see is Emperor Roselle's restored study.
”Of course, it's only a part of it.”
As she spoke, Klein and the others entered the exhibition hall as the area before them opened up.
It was almost like a library, lined with shelves which were two stories high. There were ladders sitting beneath them and aisles between them leading to a three-dimensional book park.
”You can imagine how the owner of this place had once climbed up and down the ladder in search of the book that he wanted to read…” The guide painted a vivid picture.
No, Roselle would definitely send his servants to seek it out for him. He wouldn't do it himself… Klein silently refuted.
In the center of the row of bookshelves were desks, chairs, brass lampstands, and the like. They were all protected under the cover of glass and were blocked from making contact with the outside world.
With a single glance, Klein found a stack of manuscripts which were all yellow in color.
The stack of manuscripts weren't spread out, so one could only see the contents of the first page.
It was a drawing of a rectangular object with a detailed description: ”This is a portable, miniaturized application of the telegraph. Through it, one can connect to the person holding the same item and receive and exchange information. You can even converse with them directly.
”This requires better positioning. I think we can boldly cast our sights to the sky. There are no obstructions in the sky, and it would allow for better transmission of signals.”
…
Emperor, you aren't even letting go of a cell phone… Klein couldn't help but facepalm.
At that moment, the guide introduced the stack of manuscripts.
”… These record the wonderful ideas of Emperor Roselle. They record inventions which he was unable to turn into reality in time. They record the glory of what our human civilization is capable of!”
Klein didn't pay any attention to the flattery and instead casually sized up the other things.
Suddenly, he noticed a bookmark in a hardcover book on the desk.
The exposed part of the bookmark depicted a drawing which was randomly drawn by a child.
Emperor Roselle isn't good at drawing… Just as Klein was mocking inwardly, he suddenly thought of something—Roselle had once disguised a Card of Blasphemy as a bookmark and placed it inside a certain book!
Could it be this one? Klein carefully observed for a few seconds, but he didn't find anything amiss.
That's right. He had mentioned before that the Cards of Blasphemy possess anti-divination and anti-prophecy characteristics. Under normal circumstances, there's no way to discover their uniqueness… If it were so easily recognized, the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery would have long taken it away… Klein cast his gaze away and began scrutinizing the other books. He discovered that many of them had a bookmark in them, and all of these bookmarks were of different shapes.
He pondered for a moment, and using his Clown's ability to control his facial muscles, he curiously asked, ”Are these all books that Emperor Roselle has read before?
”Sorry, I mean, are these the original books?”
The female guided nodded firmly.
”Yes, these are all the items from Emperor Roselle's study from back then. They include, but are not limited to, books, manuscripts, bookmarks, lampstands, ink bottles… But even more were destroyed during the several conflicts.”
Klein nodded slightly and studied the bookmarks again.
Roselle had said in his diary that he was going to put the Card of Blasphemy in a very valuable book so that no one would ever think that the most valuable thing in that book was actually an obscure bookmark… Well, which of these books are valuable? Klein began eliminating books as he recalled the details written in the diary.
”Glorious Era,” doesn't look like it…
”The History of the Intis Kingdom,” doesn't look like it…
”Geography of the Northern Continent,” this might be possible, but it isn't very likely…
”The Improved Principles of Steam Machinery,” just like before…
Klein scanned the books, one by one, when his eyes suddenly came to rest on the first pile of manuscripts he saw.
They were recording objects from Earth objects which Roselle had wanted to invent but lacked the conditions to do so.
There was also a bookmark in it, and on it, there was a depiction of Roselle in royal Emperor clothes.Poem by William Butler Yeats.