Chapter Four

The duke of Elysium was an underhanded hypocrite with no shame. He was weak in the face of the strong and strong against the weak. Hitting with a cane? A corset? High-heeled shoes and harsh etiquette lessons? All of them were for their daughter’s sake.

He repeated this self-justification and would argue it was all for the sake of the family, all for the honor and for something even more valuable that his daughter would bring.

If someone ever got mad at him for beating a little child, he just looked baffled, as if he could not understand their anger.

“Isn’t it better for her own parents to punish her than letting someone else do it? My daughter would feel more guilty and thus would make sure to not do it again…”

…would probably be his answer.

It sounded paradoxical, but in high society, he was known as the balance of the empire. Of course, it was not the good kind of balance. On one side of the balance was his house, and on the other side was everything else. Whenever the balance tipped to one side, he would toss the weight called “his daughter” to either side to reach equilibrium.

In the eyes of such a person, the little boy in front of him was just a heavy weight on the other scale—not yet the lord that he had to serve, the little sun of the empire, and his future son-in-law. The duke must have been curious whether the daughter, whose marriage he had arranged before birth, could match that heavy weight or even be heavier.

“The lady seems to be late.”

“She’s still a child, so it takes a while for her to change her clothes,” came the explanation. “She’s still lacking in many ways, so we’re in the middle of educating her so she won’t put a stain on the imperial family’s honor…”

“Educating.” Leonhardt stopped the butler from pouring milk into his tea. It would’ve been too bitter for a child to drink, but Leonhardt immediately drank it in one go without even blowing on it. He smiled and put his elbows on his lap, resting his chin on his clasped hands.

Crap, it’s still too hot and sour for a child’s tongue… Leonhardt’s face twitched as he decided he didn’t like the taste of the tea. A child’s senses were more sensitive than an adult’s. For example, right now, the young Leonhardt could hear very clearly the voice of the lady who was supposedly just changing her clothes—crying and begging for mercy.

“The lady is taking too long. If you don’t mind, may I escort her personally? She will be my spouse very soon anyway.”

“H-however…”

“I know that the lady usually takes a long time to dress herself. But if I have to wait so long that I have to drink this tea three times…”

That would be rude to a guest. Leonhardt trailed off his words on purpose, then sipped on the tea that the butler had filled back up in the meantime. It was clearly the brand of tea he liked, but it felt awfully bitter, sour, and scorching hot.

As Leonhardt had said, it had already been a pretty long time. The duke finally gave in and led Leonhardt to his daughter’s room.

The spacious room adjacent to the master bedroom in the Elysium mansion belonged to Elizabeth. Along with a bedroom, it had a study where she could learn manners and writing. There was also a dressing room full of new dresses for every season, a bathroom, and even a small kitchen and dining room to study table manners. It was a house within a house. It was basically a birdcage.

The room’s door was white and made of platinum, even the hinges. The duke knocked hesitantly, glancing between the door and Leonhardt—seeming to want to waste more time.

“P-please wait. Isolde’s condition suddenly turned bad, so she just fell asleep on the bed.” The voice from inside was obviously flustered.

The duke of Elysium winced visibly and took a little glance at Leonhardt. The little sun of the empire, who barely reached his waist, was crossing his arms with a wry smile. Somehow, that smile seemed to say that he already knew it all. The duke of Elysium gulped nervously.

“It’s regrettable, but Isolde was born with a frail body…”

“Then, let me see her face for a moment before I leave.”

The duke could not stop the Crown Prince from opening the door in time and so could only stand and watch in apparent shock. However, the duke’s astonished look did not mean ‘Even if you will get married in the future, how dare you barge into a lady’s room without permission?’ Instead, it meant ‘What if he gets disappointed after seeing Isolde’s inadequacy and insists on breaking off the engagement?’

Leonhardt scowled at the smell of blood filling the room. Although only a child’s sensitive senses could smell it, it was definitely the smell of blood.

Elizabeth’s room was an impressive room with nothing lacking, worthy of being the room of a duke’s daughter. A silk insignia was hanging over the white bed like a curtain of mist. The spotless white cushion on the white sofa was in such perfect shape that it looked like it had never been used. White rugs. White wallpaper. White window frames. White desk…

Even a hospital room wouldn’t go this far.

Stark white. No matter how much it was filled with fancy and high-end items, even a normal person would go crazy if they had to spend every day in this room, much less an eight-year-old child, who should be exploring the world and immersed in color. To put her in a completely white room, where even the books arranged in the bookcase were all white…

Leonhardt clicked his tongue and turned his attention to the bed. At that moment, he noticed the duchess was hiding something behind her back.

“Duchess.”

“…Y-yes, Your Highness.”

Leonhardt stared at her.

The duchess couldn’t even meet his eyes, like she was uncomfortable for some reason. She was acting so restlessly, biting her lips, looking at the ceiling, then shifting her gaze to the carpet over and over again.
“I heard she was unwell, but she’s even lying down without taking off her shoes. Will she be fine without calling a doctor?” Leonhardt was about to ask whether she was still wearing a corset, but he quickly changed it to her shoes. A ten-year-old boy shouldn’t know that much about a lady’s undergarments, after all.

“Our… our house has our own doctor, so Your Highness doesn’t need to worry. More importantly, as you can see, Isolde is no longer in any state to see you…”

Lies. The duchess was hiding something. Leonhardt was once again looking straight into her eyes.

The duchess of Elysium flinched. The atmosphere changed so quickly as soon as the Crown Prince entered the room, as if the air surrounding the boy had shifted direction.

Elizabeth was lying on the bed in silence, holding her breath. Hearing her mother’s intimidated tone and her father’s flustered one in conversation with another’s voice—it wasn’t hard to guess who the owner of that beautiful voice was.

And as soon as she realized whose voice it was, Elizabeth’s breath hitched. She sniffled. It would’ve been better if I’d just passed out, she thought. She was trying her best to not cry, but her legs just hurt too much. Inside her chest, a corner of her little heart was breaking apart. I am here. My legs hurt but I can still stand, she wanted to say.

But she knew that if she did, she would get scolded all night because a lady was not supposed to act frivolous and speak up first.

“But I’d been waiting to come here, so I want to at least see her sleeping face…” His voice was coming closer, so Elizabeth shut her eyes even tighter.

“Please excuse me.”

A light wind blew over her eyelids as her soft bed shook. Elizabeth unknowingly opened her eyes when she felt the wind brush against her face.

A boy as beautiful as a doll was sitting beside her, looking at her. Sadness seemed to fill his violet eyes.

Elizabeth’s face was messy with traces of tears. The smell of blood got stronger when Leonhardt lifted the sheet. And after confirming that the duchess was hiding a rod behind her as he passed by, he could piece together all the puzzle.

Right… so that’s what happened. He forced a smile.

The day they first met, he’d hurled insults at the grim-faced girl who had to walk with a limp. He had made fun of her messy, barely combed hair and told her it was like a spiderweb. He spat cruel words about how displeasing it was to see a limping girl like her pretend to be graceful.

Even though that was not the truth.

Seeing her face in this state… it was obvious that her hair would become disheveled. And judging by the presence of a rod, she must’ve been hit in a less visible place, like on her legs under her skirt. Of course she wouldn’t be able to walk.

Leonhardt had to bite his tongue when the duke personally took off his daughter’s shoes. The shoes’ heels were much too high for an eight-year-old. It would be hard to walk in them even if her legs were fine.

That day they had met, it had all been him. His misunderstanding and ill nature. He was the one who misunderstood, venting all his anger on a girl who was barely able to walk, and in doing so, he scarred her heart.

Leonhardt clenched his fists until the white silk sheet he was holding was all crumpled up. His head was in a mess, overcome with regret and rage.

On the other hand, the only thing on Elizabeth’s mind was that she wanted to pass out for real right now. Having her betrothed see her in such a condition was the most unfavorable first impression she could imagine. Her mother always drilled into her about how dashing His Highness the Crown Prince was, but the Crown Prince that she met in real life was even more dashing.

To Elizabeth, who grew up in an all-white house, this day was the first time she had ever beheld a vivid purple color like the one in Leonhardt’s eyes.

But why does he look so sad? Is it because I don’t suit His Highness after all? I should’ve behaved more gracefully like mother said. He must be disappointed in me… What if father comes to find me tonight?

“How… are you feeling?”

Elizabeth blinked her large eyes. She had learned etiquette and imperial language like her life depended on it, but she couldn’t recall any of it at that moment.

“Please don’t be sad…” she murmured. Elizabeth thought Leonhardt was sad because no one had ever been worried for her before. As I thought, he doesn’t like me…

“Sad? Me? No, my lady. I am worried for you.”

“Wor…ried?” What? Elizabeth blinked again. Every time she did that, her eyesight blurred because of the many tears on her silver lashes. It made her feel sad whenever it happened because she couldn’t see Leonhardt’s eyes anymore. What a pretty purple color. She wanted to see it more…

“Worrying is… That’s right,” Leonhardt said. “That means I want both your body and heart to be at peace.”

“I am not in pain, Your Highness!” She answered reflexively, like a mechanical doll.

Leonhardt could tell her heart was not in that answer. Dumbfounded, he heaved a deep sigh. To this person, I… Those people… just what did they… He gritted his teeth. He wanted to give her the best first impression, but his first plan had definitely fallen through.

“Can you walk?”

“Of course?”

Lies.

Back then, you were limping as if you were going to fall at any moment. Leonhardt stopped Elizabeth from trying to stand up with a gentle gesture. He then turned his attention to the duke.

“I think these shoes’ heels are too high for the lady to wear…” Leonhardt said. “Are there no more comfortable shoes?”

“P-pardon…?” The duke and duchess of Elysium were both bewildered.

Her shoe cabinet was filled with all kinds of fancy shoes, from shoes with silk ribbons decorated with crystal made by a master craftsman to shoes with heels made of glass, but there was not a single comfortable pair of shoes like those the Crown Prince was referring to.

“We are much obliged, but Isolde has always made a fuss about wanting to be an adult faster, so…”

“…Is that so?” Hearing the duke lie so brazenly, Leonhardt made sure to put ‘comfortable shoes’ at the top of the list of presents to buy for Elizabeth.

“What color do you like, my lady?” Leonhardt directly asked Elizabeth.

Without a beat, she answered, “It’s purple. A purple like Your Highness’ violet eyes…” she winced suddenly. “No, actually, it’s white. I love white the most! Really!”

“Really?” Leonhardt saw clearly where Elizabeth’s gaze was directed. She was definitely trying to check the ducal couple’s reaction. Leonhardt changed his position so they wouldn’t be in Elizabeth’s line of sight. He then asked again. “Do you really like white the most?”

Elizabeth was momentarily startled when she couldn’t see her parents. What did they want her to do? Agree with him? Still say white was her favorite?