Lilith had closed the shop early.
She put the few coins she had received that day into the counter drawer. The metal clinked as it fell on the wood. She closed the drawer. Turned around.
Immediately she went to the master's room.
The same disorder. Clothes scattered. Sheets rumpled. But some aromas were beginning to rot on his work table. Unstoppered flasks. Liquids thickening. Black petals floating in murky oils.
She began to search the room.
The nightstand. She opened the drawer. Nothing. Under the bed. In the closet. She moved clothes from one side to the other. Nothing.
*Come on, Eugenio. At least be useful for something and help me get into the library*, she thought.
Suddenly she stopped.
A glint was caught by the corner of her eye.
On the work table. Surrounded by those fetid oils.
His money pouch.
Slowly she picked it up. Several gold and silver coins were inside. Lilith looked at them. Touched them. Dropped them back in.
"It's not much," she said. "But it should be enough for the entrance fee to the building."
She took it to her own room.
She changed her clothes.
A light blue and white lace dress. She put on a hat with white ribbons that hung from it down to her shoulders.
She took the pouch.
She left the shop.
Her smile was wide. Her clothes shone among the gray and brown world of the streets. She was a patch of sky in the middle of everything.
She drew the attention of passersby. Some looked at her. Others turned to watch her pass.
She arrived at the palace.
On one of the flanks was the entrance to the garden. Large black iron gates. A white gravel path that disappeared among the trees.
There, several institutions had their research centers. Among them, the library she had spied on before.
There was a long line.
People of all ages. Some with scrolls under their arms. Others with leather cases.
One went for one discipline. The next for another.
"Where are you going?" the gatekeeper asked Lilith.
"I wish to go to the Aldric Thorn library."
"Twenty grams of silver."
Lilith felt a tightness in her chest. The blood drained from her face. Her smile lost its brightness. Her lips tightened.
She opened her pouch. Searched through the coins. Found the smallest one. Placed it in the gatekeeper's hand.
"Go ahead," he said, pointing the way.
Lilith moved forward. Still smiling. But the smile was different. Between her humiliation and an attempt not to scream.
"Eugenio," she muttered under her breath. "You have achieved something I haven't done in a long time. Hating someone. You are a miser. The entrance fee was nothing!"
As she fumed, she entered the courtyard.
A large crowd was there. People from different sciences and disciplines surrounding a central stage. A man spoke of a new liquor like a preacher. He gestured. Raised a bottle. The sunlight made it shine.
Below, a line of more men waited their turn to go up. Some took notes. Others just watched.
Lilith walked past.
She reached the so-called library.
Two guards nodded as she entered.
Lilith stepped onto its floor.
A long, deep sigh was blown. Her shoulders relaxed.
Smiling again, she ventured inside to explore.
There were the same sections she had seen before.
Mathematics. Biology. Herbalism. Altars of knowledge. Shelves that touched the ceiling. Step ladders leaning against the sides.
She glanced through a couple of books. Turned pages. Flipped through them without reading. Walked around the tall shelves. Her fingers brushed the spines. Leather. Cloth. Skin.
In a section, there was a staircase leading down to a basement.
She went down.
The steps were stone. At the bottom, a dim light. Candles on the walls.
There were several desks. And scribes at them. Men and women bent over parchments. Quills. Open inkwells. Some copying. Others writing originals.
She observed them.
She approached one.
"Hello," she said. "Could you tell me what section this is?"
The scribe looked up. Blinked. Frowned.
"What? You shouldn't be here. This is where books are written."
"Sorry," said Lilith, displeased.
She moved away.
She looked for what else there was.
And she found something. A narrow hallway. Leading to more rooms. More doors.
Carefully, she looked at the scribes. All engrossed in their blank books and their quills. They didn't look at her. They didn't see her.
Quickly, she took out the glass eye. Dropped it to the floor.
"Quick," she whispered. "Go."
The eye rolled across the floor. Passed by the legs of a table. Crossed the threshold of the hallway. Hid in a corner. Behind an open door.
Lilith went back upstairs.
Upstairs, she went to the librarian.
An older man. Round glasses. Reading news. He didn't look at her when she approached.
"Do you have a moment?" Lilith asked.
"What do you want?"
"I'm looking for something about angelology or demonology."
"Those topics are held by the church in their own archives."
"Ah. And what else do they have there?"
"Mostly rituals and places to perform them."
"I see," said Lilith. "Then, would you know about homunculology?"
The librarian lowered his paper. Looked at her.
"That is here. In the alchemy section. Over there," he pointed with his finger.
Lilith nodded. She was about to leave.
"But," the librarian raised his voice, "what do you intend to do? Make an angel? I already told you they are only invoked. They are not made in a house."
"I-I already know that," said Lilith, moving away.
She went to the section. Walked between the shelves. Looked at all the volumes. Read the spines one by one. Until she found it.
*Manual for the Creation of Life.*
She took it. Opened it. Flipped through the first pages.
Materials. Dates. Methods. Diagrams. Organs drawn in red ink. Concentric circles. Lines connecting dots on the paper.
"It's not the real 'Book of Life'," she murmured. "But it will serve me to see how they think it's done."