Chapter Five

“Do you know the moment when the blue skies look closer to green when you see it from between the summer leaves?”

“I’ve seen it.”

“That… is my favorite color,” she admitted in a whisper. Even more quietly, she said, “Please keep this a secret from my parents! They tell me to say that white is my favorite color. That’s why I have to like white the most.”

“From now on, you don’t have to.”

“Pardon?” What did he mean by it? Because she wouldn’t be His Highness the Crown Prince’s fiancée? Or was it that she was not allowed to like the blue color?

Leonhardt rose to his feet. Just how could an eight-year-old child have such a stiff manner of speaking?

“The lady said that she likes the color blue, like her eyes, but I think this room is a bit lacking in that.” It was just a suggestion. Leonhardt forced a smile at the duke and duchess.

The duke of Elysium clenched his fist at those words and forced a false smile in return. “Thank you…” he growled through his teeth, “…for your valuable suggestion.”

“I’ll come visit again when the lady is feeling all better.”

Elizabeth tried to reach out to the hem of Leonhardt’s clothes when he jumped off her bed, but her hand just barely missed it. Instead, Leonhardt grabbed her hand in his. “I hope you’ll have recovered your health the next time I visit, my lady.”

Elizabeth unconsciously nodded her head. The hand of the fiancé she met for the first time today was big and warm, and she held it tightly so neither of them would disappear.

***

“How was it, Your Highness?” With his nanny’s question, the maids leaned closer to Leonhardt.

He turned his gaze to the outside of the window while scratching his cheek. “Let’s buy a pair of shoes on our way back…”

The maids squealed and made an uproar inside the carriage. Leonhardt paid them no attention, as he was busy thinking about what he could do for Elizabeth. First of all, it seemed like getting her out of the duke’s household was the most urgent. If she were left neglected in that state until their engagement ceremony, and until she officially moved to the palace as the Crown Princess, he was sure the same tragedy would repeat itself.

If I could, I want to take her out of the ducal household already, but… They could only officially hold an engagement ceremony once they were both at least ten years old. Elizabeth was only eight. Leonhardt sighed.

In the meantime, they had arrived at the workshop of the empire’s best shoemaker.

Why are there so many types of women’s shoes? Leonhardt thought upon entering the workshop. Shoes for court parties, spring picnics, balls, evening banquets, tea parties, another pair of shoes to practice dancing for balls, boots for vacation, and boots for daily use.

The shoes stacked up like a tower on top of the table.

“High heels are definitely the trend among young ladies right now. To match their shared wish to look even just a little more mature, our workshop has made high-heeled shoes that wouldn’t put a strain on their feet…”

Leonhardt stopped the clerk from talking and shook his head. He then asked for the master shoemaker to come out personally.

The master shoemaker didn’t even have a chance to change out of his working clothes as he hurried to greet the Crown Prince. Before he could speak to the boy, though, Leonhardt had some orders for him.

“Show me all the ones suitable for an eight-year-old lady,” said the boy with a haughty manner, as he stared at the shoes inside the boxes with a tired expression.

The master, who was used to dealing with people of higher status, squinted his eyes as he took out another box. The master smiled at the child. “Your Highness, do you perhaps know the lady’s shoe size?”

“Of course, I…” Of course, he… didn’t know. Leonhardt tried to show the size with his hand while saying it was around that big, but he lost hope when he realized it would be impossible to describe it with a child’s hand.

“If the lady had been in our workshop before, we would still have her pattern. If it’s no problem, may I have the lady’s name?”

“Elizabeth Isolde von Elysium.”

The master’s eyes widened in surprise. Since his workshop was the best in the empire, the duke of Elysium was also one of his clients. The apprentices who had made her shoes all complained while clicking their tongues that these shoes were not something an eight-year-old child could wear. There was no way the Crown Prince would also make her wear the same kind of shoes that her parents gave her, right? The master made a resolve to stop the Crown Prince no matter what, if that was the case, as he took out the girl’s shoe pattern.

“…Small.”

“Pardon?”

“That’s ridiculously small. Are you sure this is her foot size? I’m not sure if she can even walk with these feet.”

“…If I may be so bold, Your Highness’ foot size is also not that different… but this is the average size suitable for the lady’s age.”

Leonhardt looked down at his own feet and blushed. He was just a ten-year-old child right now. How hilarious must it have been for a child to say another child’s foot size was small. Leonhardt cleared his throat and gave a few conditions to the master shoemaker.

“It must be light. And just get rid of the heels.”

“…Your Highness, it’s not good for a young child to wear high heels…” the master started, ready to stop him, but… “Pardon?”

“That’s why I’m telling you to get rid of those darn heels! Make it with a material that can allow a child to run around freely. It doesn’t matter even if it’s dragon skin or something, just make it so she can walk in this area!”

Hearing such an unexpected response from the Crown Prince made the master react late. “Shoes with no heels… Understood.”

“It doesn’t need any gemstones for decoration. Just make it light. Right, it would be better for it to have embroidery instead.”

“Embroidery? Embroidery on a silk base… It will be a lovely pair of shoes suitable for the spring season. Is there any pattern or words you want it to be?”

Leonhardt glowered at the master, who was looking at him with a smile still. The shoemakers knew best about shoes’ materials, so he could leave it to them as long as he insisted that it must be of high quality. But embroidery… embroidery…? What kind of pattern or words would suit the best material? Leonhardt’s little brain was sincerely turning its gears.

“…Embroider blue forget-me-nots.”

“Forget-me-nots…?” the master chuckled. “Haha. I see Your Highness is quite the romantic.”

“Th-that’s not it! It’s just… the lady said that she likes blue, so I…”

“If it’s just blue, there are other blue flowers. Your Highness can even ask for the nonexistent blue rose, don’t you think?” The master continued with a cheeky grin.

Leonhardt then glared at him, as if he were saying he would kill him if he said anything more. Frowning, he cooled down his burning face with the back of his hand. It’s only because I couldn’t think of any other blue flower but the forget-me-nots. It’s definitely not because I want her to never forget me. It’s just… it’s purely because she likes blue. That’s why I did that. Leonhardt did his best to convince himself. Somehow, he felt like every shoemaker in the shop was teasing him.

***

When Leonhardt arrived back in the imperial palace, he went straight to his desk and grabbed a piece of paper.

[ Lipe Plans ]

Damn it! Can I not even write properly with a child’s hand? Leonhardt scratched out the misspelled word multiple times before he grabbed another paper and carefully wrote…

[ L I ‘F’ E P L A N S ]

He kept forgetting that his body was still that of a child’s. It seemed like this incompatibility would continue to bother him for some time. Even if he became the emperor and managed the government wonderfully from a young age, there was no way he could remember everything that happened when he was a child.

However, he could at least still remember when, where, what happened, and why they happened.

No one can ever find this.

After contemplating for a moment, Leonhardt grabbed a pen with his left hand and began to write down the big events that had affected his life one by one with inverted spelling.

[ X Month X Day: first time meeting the empress. ]

[ X Month X Day: engagement ceremony with the empress is held. ]

[ X Month X Day: mother’s death. ]

Leonhardt’s pen stopped for a second. He agonized for a while in the face of the incident that pushed his life into the shadows. If he could prevent this tragedy from happening, maybe, just maybe, he, along with his father and Elizabeth, could live a happier life.

Leonhardt bit his lower lip as he continued to write the events that happened in his life. This writing couldn’t be read unless it was seen through a mirror, and thanks to his clumsy childlike handwriting, he had made a few pages of perfectly coded messages.

Leonhardt stared at it for a while before he lifted the bottom of the desk drawer and hid those papers underneath.

The next day, the maids in charge of the Crown Prince’s room found a crumpled-up piece of paper with aggressively scratched out writing instead of a stretched-out proper penmanship.

“Oh my?”

“Look at this. It says ‘Lipe Plans?’”

“Since when has our Crown Prince had such an adorable side?”

***

Leonhardt had received an invitation from the duke of Elysium. Rather than sending him a reply, he just headed straight to the duke’s residence. He still missed strokes when writing because he didn’t know how much strength should go into his hand, but other than that, he was now used to his small hands and delicate young noble face to some extent.

It also turned out to be unnecessary for him to worry that people would be suspicious of him for unconsciously using words only adults would use or other difficult words. Everyone was too busy clamoring about how much the Crown Prince had grown up.

I did use to behave rather wildly as a child, but this is too much… Leonhardt thought as he smiled awkwardly when his nanny praised him, telling him how much he had grown up.

The night before going to the duke’s home, Leonhardt couldn’t sleep and just tossed and turned for the whole night at the thought of meeting Elizabeth.

Should I bring something else other than the presents I prepared? Should I buy some blue hydrangeas on the way? Or should I buy a doll? Did the duke heed my warning properly? His worries and excitement kept him up until almost the crack of dawn.

Thanks to that, he resigned himself to falling asleep in his nanny’s arms inside the carriage. When he woke up, they had already arrived at the duke’s residence.

There, he was greeted once again by the elegant white temple-looking building. This time, rather than the duke, it was the butler who welcomed him in. Once inside, Leonhardt briefly gave the duke a formal greeting before heading straight to Elizabeth’s room. He was just letting his nanny and the maids deal with the duke and duchess. Right now, what he must focus on was Elizabeth and Elizabeth only.

“My lady, may I come in?”

“P-please do!” Elizabeth replied with a trembling voice. After the Crown Prince left that day, her parents had gotten her one or two blue-colored items to have in her room.

It was like a dream. With that as the start, even low-heeled shoes took over her shoe cabinets one by one. Then something unbelievable happened.

Elizabeth, holding onto her bed’s pillar, sucked in her breath, readying herself for the maid to tighten her corset as usual… but eventually, she let out her breath in a puff. No matter how long she waited, the maid never did it. Strange. She looked behind her.

Her mother, who was usually there to supervise the maid’s corset-tightening skills, blocked the maid’s arm with her folding fan.

“…Please be a suitable lady for His Highness the Crown Prince.”

This was the first time this ever happened since the day she wore a corset for the first time.

***

After the door opened, Elizabeth could hear footsteps coming in. Would his worried expression still look sad to her? She was most concerned about that.

The Crown Prince was holding a small box in his arms. Fortunately, when she studied his face, it didn’t seem like he was worried for her anymore. He took a look around the modified room before putting the box on the table and gesturing for her to come closer.

Elizabeth quietly approached him. She was walking on a fluffy carpet, but the high-heeled shoes were already starting to hurt her feet.

“This is yours,” Leonhardt said as he opened the box.

When the box tied with blue ribbons on a white background opened, she could hear the rustling sound of paper. Elizabeth tiptoed in her high-heeled shoes. However, when she couldn’t see anything properly, she frowned.

I want to quickly grow up to be as tall as His Highness… Elizabeth thought that if Leonhardt, who seemed to be smaller than his peers, knew what she was thinking, he would probably give her a bitter smile. She waited for him to remove the gift from the box.

Carefully, he took out a pair of shoes. They were beautiful white silk shoes with embroidery of a blue flower. Leonhardt then turned the shoes upside down.

Huh?

“Your Highness,” she asked quietly, “did the shoemaker make a mistake? The heels in these shoes…”

“There’s none,” Leonhardt said nonchalantly before making Elizabeth sit down on a stool.

“Please excuse me.”

“Kyaaah! Y-Your Highness!”

Leonhardt knelt before Elizabeth, but when she made a shrilling scream, he frowned a little. Her feet, wrapped in white silk stockings, were wearing shoes with heels so high they were dizzying to look at.

“Your Highness, you must not do this. Please let me go, yes? Your Highness. Your Highness!”

“Shh. Just stay still a moment, okay?”

Elizabeth, who was looking up, was completely in tears and at a loss for what to do. She should behave since he said so, but her body couldn’t stop trembling. Elizabeth clenched her fists and put strength in her legs so her body could somehow calm down.

Once Crown Prince Leonhardt took off her shoes, he put her foot on his lap.

Elizabeth was relieved that the stockings she was wearing today were thick enough. The high heels she often wore shifted her weight to the tips of her toes, causing her little toe to be noticeably strained. She didn’t want to show such a hideous sight to the Crown Prince.

While Elizabeth barely sighed, Leonhardt put the shoes on her feet and neatly tied the ribbons. After placing the shoe on her other foot, Leonhardt straightened up with a pleased smile. He said, “Try standing up.”

Elizabeth came down off the chair and found herself pleasantly surprised.