Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Noah's POV

He pretty much set me up with everything within the last couple of hours. I had no real idea how long I spent - one day of 24 hours might have been too little to get all the information that I got from him, but I got it, and I felt extremely happy that the day had been as productive as it turned out to be now. On his part, he seemed to really want to see my return. The way he gave me his full attention, the way he helped me without complaining and kept on offering even when I thought that maybe I should let him off since we had literally no real affiliation with each other - it was shocking.

He was standing before me now as I stood at the door of the library where I had wanted to go for ages. "Here you are," he said, "the library." He continued looking as he gazed at the grand doors. "Beautiful, isn't it?" he questioned.

"Yes," I told him, finding no better word myself. The library was absolutely beautiful from the outside and even more pretty when I considered the books inside. He had a grin on his face. "Glad you like it," he said, as if he had built it himself. For a while there, I wondered whether he was the Alpha or some kind of Alpha's brother. If not, things would be messed up.

"Who are you really?" I asked him, deciding that it was a good idea for me to decipher his actual identity before I continued on with him in any way at all. He seemed to consider for a while, as if wanting to know if he could tell me or not. I waited patiently. I knew that after the time we had spent with each other, he was not going to hesitate to pass me this crucial information. Compared to all he had done for me, it was really no big deal.

"Emilia's brother," he said.

"Who?" I asked him once again in shock. He didn't seem to understand me.

"If you don't know Emilia," he asked, "how am I supposed to know her? Who is she?"

He laughed a little. "I thought I'm the only nameless guy," he said, looking at me with a look of disbelief. "I introduced myself using her since I thought you wouldn't know me. But even her, I just don't seem to understand where she's from. Are you really Queen Nora, or are you someone else?"

I looked at him, my eyes widened in surprise. So he knew I was the Queen all along. The way he addressed me now made it clear that he hadn't been naive all this time and he actually had the truth with him - just that he chose to hide it.

"Of course I know you are the Queen," he said, rolling his eyes a little. "Where would you be but outshining all the other ladies in terms of beauty and also in the palace? Plus, I've seen you in a couple of coronations," he said to me, giving me a small smile after that. "Don't worry, this doesn't change anything."

"Yes, but you were so casual. I thought you didn't know," I told him, still a little shocked.

He was silent as he was waiting for me to catch my breath and finally come up with more coherent speech. I took in a deep breath. I was glad for the time he was giving me to piece my thoughts together because I honestly needed it. It was now things were starting to make complete sense. When he led me to the palace, I wondered why he was giving entrance so easily. Also, I found myself wondering how he knew the inner cases so much. I gave myself a pitiful explanation that he was some kind of messenger who came in here sometimes. But could I have been more wrong?

Now that I really thought about it, I had to admit that Drake was the kind of person that would lie to me. And right from the beginning, he did play "Jake, a nameless guy" - wasn't that actually who he was? His sister, the one who had the name, was someone that I couldn't recall no matter how I tried, which was another thing that made his words even more true.

I shook my head, looking at him with a smile on my face. A misunderstanding just now, but it didn't need to affect anything just like he said. This changed nothing and would really change nothing, but it all depended on me and what I wanted. And I would rather he continue being that friend he chose to be from the very start, regardless of our identities.

And thinking of how he led me to my room and the other places, and finally here where I told him should be the last stop of our little tour, I couldn't help but feel grateful. He had wasted a lot of time because I was pretty sure he would rather have spent his time doing a lot of other things. He could have helped me also if he wanted to, but he just chose not to.

"Thank you so much," I told him. His eyes widened in shock - he didn't expect that reaction from me after everything. I could see the look in his eyes; I could take a guess at translating what he was feeling, what he was saying without words. He expected rage or frustration or scolding or simply plain annoyance. Maybe he expected me to walk off in a huff, but definitely not for me to be thankful after he had done what some would say was deceiving me. I shook my head - maybe he associated those with the previous Nora, but I was none of that. I would thank him because I didn't deserve half of what he had done.

It took him a while to regain his bearings, but when he did, the smile he gave me was wholesome. "You're welcome," he said, looking very happy as if he really thought that this was a good start between both of us in our relationship. I smiled at him as I started making my way into the library. Surprisingly, he entered with me. I thought that he was done and wouldn't want to spend more time with me. After all, I really did expect him to have better things to do with his time. When he followed me, I knew that he didn't really mind and he just wanted to interact with me.

I could not help but wish that this was Alexander. I was starting to like this guy a lot more than I should, and I knew that it might end up causing some problems and issues if I didn't take care to make sure that it didn't. However, I didn't tell him to stop, and he let me. And even if I didn't like him, I still wouldn't tell him to stop because I liked the companionship. I couldn't just push him away simply because of the fact that I was in love with another. I would give him a fair chance because he was giving me so much, so it was only right that I offered a chance to continue being friends with me.

In other words, he was always honest with me, through and through, and there was absolutely no reason I would end what was going on between us now because I thought that it was wonderful for me to have someone that I could trust in this place that seemed like a den of thieves. Could I trust him? I asked myself. I didn't really know him, and all I had of him were fragments. However, I found myself not really minding, not caring, at least not yet.

"So what books are you looking for?" he questioned.

I contemplated for a while - maybe I should just look for the books by myself because it was extremely suspicious if I really told him what I had in mind. He kept waiting patiently as I thought whether I should trust him, which would mean telling him what I was actually after. At this moment, I was very conflicted because I didn't know what my answer would bring, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to be truthful or not.

However, finally, I made up my mind. He wouldn't kill me if I told him what I really thought. So what was I afraid of? He may be suspicious, of course, but then again, I had too many secrets, and if I just kept on trying to hide them, I would only end up making matters worse because I didn't see anything ending my secrecy anytime soon. It seemed to be deeply ingrained in my personality as part of the things I had to do now that I was suddenly here. I didn't want it, but I didn't really have a choice. So I might as well let him know them, and I would be able to explain myself later on.

"Books on current events and historical events over the past 100 years, also on the various packs that are around and latest rules and revelations," I told him.

He raised an eyebrow. "Wow," he told me.

I looked at him sheepishly. "I hope that's okay?" I asked.