The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy
Chapter 0478

I follow Ben as he strides confidently towards the large circular desk at the center of the room. The librarian - a younger man than I thought would have the job - glances up at us but then does a double take when he sees Ben. He groans a little, leaning against the

reference

desk.

"What is it this time?"

"I'd like the key to special collections, please," Ben says, giving a rather devastating and playful smile as he holds out his hand. I watch in wonder, not used to this extra-charming side of him. "Ben," the librarian sighs, shaking his head. "I know you're not doing research -"

"I am too!" Ben says, laughing and dropping his hand to the desk as he grins at the librarian. I look back and forth between them, curious. "There are manuscripts up there regarding the fifteenth century negotiations which established Atalaxia as an independent nation -" "A formation you don't even need to study until next term -" the librarian growls, calling his bluff.

"In this time of war," Ben says, likewise leaning forward, a pleased and clever smirk on his lips. "All knowledge of Atalaxia is useful."

The librarian groans again but rolls his eyes and reaches beneath the desk, lifting up large brass key and dropping it into Ben's waiting hand. "One period. And if you leave coffee cups up there again, Ternicki, I swear to god I'm revoking your rights -" "Thanks!" Ben says, snatching the key away and waving over his shoulder as he strides off.

"Don't fall in love with him," the librarian says as he turns to me, his voice dry. "His heart is elsewhere." My eyes go wide to be so advised, but the librarian turns away from me without another glance and I turn quickly to hurry after Ben, desperately curious about what the hell all of that was.

"Benny!" I whisper, grabbing at his sleeve as he starts up a spiraling brass staircase. "Where are we going!? That guy thinks we're going somewhere to make out! How do you know him?"

"We're going to Special Collections," Ben says, turning his head to smile down at me and ignoring my other questions. "Hurry up, we don't have a ton of time."

Together we wind our way up a staircase so sharply curved that it takes every bit of my attention to not slip and slide all the way back down to the bottom. At the top, Ben quickly slips the key into a red door that's set flat into the ceiling. He pushes up on it and continues to climb through, disappearing into the room above.

I eagerly follow, my jaw dropping open when I see the room that awaits us.

It's tiny - miniscule, really - but stunning. Each of the walls is glass, as is the pointed ceiling above us. As I climb into the room and Ben shuts and locks the door after me, I realize that we're in the greenhouse's glass cupola - an incredibly small space. Ranged all around it are carefully built book cases which have tinted glass on their fronts, instead of being open to the sunlight.

"What...what is this..." I breathe.

"It's where the Academy keeps its manuscripts," Ben says, flopping into a leather chair by a desk in the middle of the room and gesturing to its twin on the other side. "Florescent lights have more UV light than daylight, so they're kept up here where they're safe." "Is that... true?" I ask, wrinkling my nose a bit at the amount of sunlight streaming into the room.

"Oh, who cares," Ben says on a happy sigh. "It's cool up here."

"How did you find this?" I breathe, settling down into the chair and taking a moment to look through each of the windows that surrounds us - that looks out over the incredible countryside that surrounds the Academy. The view is...stunning.

"Ambassadors have more study time than anyone else," Ben says with a shrug. "I spend a lot of time here while the other boys are beating the crap out of each other and you're learning to shoot tin cans off of fence posts."

I grin at his glib description of our specializations and then turn my head to the side. "That librarian seems to know you well."

His smile spreads. "Yeah. We hook up sometimes."

"What!?" I laugh, delighted and aghast at once, because I honestly didn't consider that Ben had a social life outside of our friend group. And suddenly I'm a little disappointed in myself for believing that - because of course he does. Ben - he's very social and lovely. Of course others have caught onto that.