The day of the date was finally upon us.

[No, no, no. Nora, please take over—…]

I don’t really mind, but what if there’s a kiss today?

[What if… well, that’s—]

I mean, I don’t really feel anything toward him, so don’t expect anything romantic.

In the end, Cecily, whose hairstyle and clothes were all coordinated by Anita, became really pretty. Her simple, lacy ivory dress suited her very well, and her slightly stiff hair looked even more feminine after the ends were curled.

The meeting place was directly in front of the library on the outskirts.

I thought it would’ve been better to arrive five minutes late and ask, “Did I keep you waiting?” to make the hierarchy clear, but Cecily and Anita adamantly refused my idea. They seemed to be asking what era I was from.

Well, sorry for being an 800-year-old woman.

Thus, we arrived at the meeting place 15 minutes early.

As I was getting annoyed inwardly, wondering why such a cute girl had to wait for a man, Cecily stroked her hand. Her nails were painted with pastel pink nail polish. Naturally, Anita had done it for me.

I was quite surprised, as I had never imagined that painting nails, which was fashionable 800 years ago, would still be a thing today.

When I said that we could create a special ink that could be used for barrier spells, Anita reacted with great interest. But then, she pretended to be nonchalant, saying, “It would be inappropriate for this occasion.”

Maybe, using the prototype together in the future would be a nice parting gift.

If Anita were to search for employment with background, not even her favorite Royal Institute of Magic would dismiss her. I should be able to arrange for the materials through her connections in about three months.

But for today, it would certainly be inappropriate.

From now on, it was a date for a young maiden.

All I had to do was continue to encourage this fidgety girl.

What’s the matter?

When I asked that, Cecily said something unexpected.

[I thought my hands had gotten prettier.]

Yes, your nail polish is cute.

[No, I just thought that my hands had gotten smoother.]

Certainly… I did take care of her hands every day.

It was a simple moisturizing cream I made myself. I’d been using it recently, coupled with the one that Anita had given me. I just put it on whenever I remembered about it.

But then, Cecily spoke…

[Thank you, Nora.]

What’s with you all of the sudden?

[I’m so glad I met you, Nora!]

Huh, Cecily!?

Couldn’t you have waited a bit longer before saying something like that…?

If you say something like that… it makes the rest of my fun youth a bit mellow.

…I hope we’ll continue to get along, Cecily.

[Of course! Please take care of me, Nora!]

As expected of the man I had high hopes for. He arrived well before our appointed time.

Thank goodness. I didn’t have time to get sentimental.

If I’d made the mistake of crying before our date, I’d have caused trouble for Cecily.

Mark, wearing a casual shirt and cardigan, came running over.

“Sorry, I didn’t think you’d be here so early.”

“I just woke up early… Good morning, Mark.”

“G-good morning.”

Cecily, you’re doing great!

Despite being shy and bashful, she was speaking coherently.

I guess there’s nothing left for me to do.

“Well then, shall we go?”

“Sure.”

They weren’t holding hands yet, but the two of them walking next to each other were undoubtedly the portrait of youth.

…But maybe library wasn’t the best place to go on a date?

After all, libraries had always been a no-go zone for private conversations.

And yet because they were both such serious people, they were busy looking through research materials.

As an 800-year-old woman, I’d like to say, “I’ll take care of that, so you two go to a fancy café.”

Even when I thought they were finally having a conversation…

“Is this difficult?”

“It might be tough if we don’t ask for donations due to budget constraints.”

“Sorry… even though I’m the one who suggested it, I might not be able to donate anything.”

Well, Cecily’s papa was a former embezzler who was currently under supervision by an inspector. After being given tuition assistance, she couldn’t possibly ask for more, right?

Money… Is there something I can do?

“Ah, this book…”

Cecily reached for a book that was a little higher than her height.

“Oh, this one?”

Mark was about to grab it for her…

Whoaaaa! Their hands overlapped!

The two froze as they stared at each other. Their cheeks turned red at the same time.

“S-sorry…”

“No… H-here…”

Wow, this is it, this is it! This is what I was waiting for!

Good job. Sorry for making fun of you, Library Date.

Aaah, Cecily was pretending to read the book he gave her, but she couldn’t pay any attention at all.

How cute! You’re so adorable!

Mark, knowing what Cecily was thinking, craned his neck.

“The book seems ancient. What is it about?”

“Ah… Well, I’ll go read it over there!”

And then Cecily runs off. So cute!

She’s cute, but I wish she’d try a bit harder.

[The bystander is so noisy.]

Hehe, sorry.

Then, all of the sudden, my gaze fell on the book Cecily had taken.

Just as Mark said, it had a really old binding.

…And maybe that was why it looked familiar to me.

How nostalgic. I wrote that book.

[Huh?]

The author was “Noritz Nodera.” It was a pseudonym I used for all the thesis I wrote in my pastime.

As a genius magician of the Magic Association, having some thesis published under the name Nora Noz was problematic. This one revolved around this issue of, “How to hide zero-point test without getting in trouble with your mother.”

[I thought the title was strange… What is it about?]

Basically, it was a thesis on stealth magic. The goal was to make it as easy as possible so that even children at the time could use it… In the end, I think I advocated for a spell that transformed a mimicry barrier into a barrier. Even though it was interesting, I thought it was too flippant, so I used a different name…

By the way, all of the papers under the name of “Nora Noz” seemed to have been removed.

Well, I guess it was the work of His Majesty the King, who despised me so much.

Regardless, I had never told anyone about the name “Noritz Nodera,” so these all must’ve remained quietly here like this until now. Looking at the loan statement, there doesn’t seem to be any sign of anyone having used it, either.

Aside from that old relic, I was trying to persuade Cecily to hurry up and return to Mark.

[Could this prove to be useful?]

Huh?

[By mirroring one half, you can create the same light on the other side, right? That way, you’ll only need half the materials, which might cut costs!]

Indeed, mirror magic was so quack that even a child could do it, since the reflected image was based on imagination—I see… It might be the perfect technique to apply to fireworks.

“This should work!”

Cecily started running on her own. I didn’t think it was okay to run inside the library. Oh, well… as long as the staff doesn’t get angry at her, I guess. It was also part of youth.

However, no matter how hard Cecily looked, she couldn’t find Mark anywhere in the library.

---

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***T/N: Uhm I wonder how does Mark see her if her “personality” changes so often and drastically

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