It was a thick, massive book with a pitch-black cover. The cover was made of some unknown material, smooth as a mirror, with tiny flickering lights occasionally emerging from within. The paths of those wandering starlights reminded Amber of the countless people bustling through the streets of the imperial capital. Other than that, there were no words or symbols on the book's cover—no title, no author.
It lay quietly atop the stone pillar, its starlight-wandering cover seeming to guard the contents within. The pillar itself brought to mind a reading stand in a church or library... Perhaps that was truly its purpose?
Amber could not help glancing back at the enormous throne. Compared with that mountain-like seat, this tiny stone pillar and the Black Leather Book resting upon it could practically be described as grains of sand... If this was the Night Lady's reading stand, using it must have been rather uncomfortable for Her...
Absurd thoughts involuntarily surfaced in Amber's mind, but her attention quickly returned to the Black Leather Book. She heard that aged, gentle voice emerge from it once more, carrying a trace of amusement. "Yes, I really do seem to be a book, though I think I may once have been a person... A human. Strange, isn't it?"
"Have you always been like this?" Amber asked cautiously. Though she could roughly guess what this strange place and this strange "big book" were, every word had to be considered carefully before the situation became clear. "How long have you been here?"
"Always... That is an interesting question, because I do not know why I became this way, nor when I came here," the voice from the book said with a laugh. "I have been here for a very, very long time, but the passage of time is barely