23. Nico

23

NICO

I waited a couple of days before going back to the library to look for someone new. I wanted to give Cyrus some time to go there himself without the worry of running into me since he cared so much about finding his soulmate as quickly as possible.

I honestly wasn’t sure why I went back there at all, but once I found myself in front of the inviting doors with a big open sign tacked on in the middle, it wasn’t hard to step inside. The Librarian greeted me with a smile and I smiled back, but it wasn’t the least bit genuine on my part.

“Hi, I’m here to look for a new match,” I told them as I approached the counter. “I’m sure you’ve already talked to Cyrus – I mean, Professor Cartwright.”

“Yes,” the Librarian nodded, “he was in here a few days ago. I expected him to return, but I must admit that I’m surprised to see you back. I thought perhaps you would have sworn off matchmaking entirely.”

“Oh, no, I’m not that easy to get rid of.” I laughed. “I guess I can’t be alone for very long after all.”

“Of course, and we’re happy to have you back. I welcome all match-seekers to use my service as much as they wish. Now, is there anything you would like to change in your application before I put it back into the dating pool?”

I hesitated. If I left it the way it was, I would only get a match with another orc, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to move on from Cyrus so quickly. “Do you have any goblins?”

The Librarian raised their eyebrows in surprise. “Did I not tell you before that searching for specific monsters in this way leads to more waiting and potentially less integrity in the match?”

“Yeah, but the orc search worked out well until it didn’t.”

“Exactly. And to answer your question, no, I do not have any goblins currently looking for a mate. This town doesn’t have many goblins in it based on some of their past experiences, as you might recall.”

“The Goblin-Orc Conflict of 1504? Wasn’t that, what, like 500 years ago?”

“521, to be precise.”

“Surely they’ve moved on from that. Besides, if what I learned in my history lessons is true, our town didn’t even participate in that conflict.”

“Yes, and because of that, the orcs used our town as a sort of refuge for those few years. The goblins never really came back once we had established a fairly large population of orcs.”

“Oh, I see. Well, if there are plenty of orcs around here, you can keep my application exactly how it is. I doubt any other orc can compare to Cyrus, but I guess I’ll give them a try.”

“Of course, Mr. Ross. Is there anything I might help you with today?”

“Please, call me Nico. No one else calls me Mr. Ross, and you know me better than most people do at this point. And, no, that’s it.”

“Very well, then, Nico. Have a lovely day, and I shall contact you when I find you a match.” The Librarian looked down at their book and sighed. “Oh, dear.”

I was about to turn and leave, but I stopped and leaned over the counter to get a better view of the pages. “What? What is it?”

“It seems that your match is already in this book. I should have thought that through a little more clearly before you came in.” They shook their head.

“Who is it?” I grinned. “Don’t keep me in suspense.”

“It’s Professor Cartwright.” They glanced up at me, their mouth pulled into a tight line, and my smile faded.

“Oh. I forgot that his application was open again. Is there another match I could maybe go with? You know, the second- or third-best?”

The Librarian flipped furiously through the pages. “Yes, here is your second-best match. What a relief that they are already looking for a mate.”

“And he’s an orc?”

“Yes, an orc male named Throkhan. He’s 42 and has been looking for a match for 2 years.”

I nodded. “He’s not related to Cyrus, is he?”

The Librarian shrugged. “Truth be told, I have no idea. It’s quite unlikely, though. Professor Cartwright moved here from a different city when he got a job at the university, and I’ve known of Throkhan’s family for many years. They’ve lived in the area for decades. It says here that he prefers conversation via phone, so here is his number.” They handed me a slip of paper folded neatly in half. “Good luck, Nico.”

“Thanks, I’ll need it.”

I left with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. When I matched with Cyrus the first time, I was excited, if a little nervous. Now I couldn’t conjure up any excitement as hard as I tried. My hands shook with anxiety as I opened and refolded and reopened the paper with Thokhan’s number scrawled across it. This was a good thing, wasn’t it? This was exactly what I wanted. And yet, all I could think about was Cyrus sitting alone on that big white couch in his house and it made me want to cry.