Chapter 12
Let’s just be strangers now
Episode 12
“It is wonderful to see the two of you getting along so well.”
Those were the first words Bernhardt spoke upon finding Erich and Elisha at the Prince’s Palace.
At that moment, Erich snapped his head up and glared at Bernhardt with a face full of resentment.
How on earth did this look like they were “getting along”!
“Hello, Your Majesty.”
Whether she noticed Erich’s indignation or not, Elisha offered her greeting with a stoic face.
Her dainty hands were still moving busily.
Specifically, right above Erich’s head.
“What were you doing?”
Bernhardt asked soon after, bending his knees to meet the children’s eye level.
Elisha glanced at him and opened her mouth.
“I was removing the flower petals stuck in the Prince’s hair.”
“Flower petals?”
“He took a misstep and got buried in the flower carriage.”
“Oh dear.”
For a moment, Bernhardt’s gaze shifted toward the flower carriage beside the wisteria.
Since he had ordered the Imperial Palace to be decorated throughout for Erich’s upcoming birth anniversary banquet, it seemed the carriage had been left there for a break.
The child didn’t seem hurt, which was a relief, but…
“Couldn’t you leave something like this to the maids, Elisha?”
Bernhardt’s gaze shifted this time toward the maid and the guard standing beside Erich and Elisha.
It was a look of blatant reproach.
“I said I would do it.”
At that moment, Elisha spoke up, looking Bernhardt straight in the eye.
Only then did Bernhardt fix his gaze back on the children.
“I told her I didn’t want to!”
“You stayed still without saying a word of complaint until His Majesty arrived, Prince.”
“Th-that’s because it was embarrassing…!”
“You don’t have to be embarrassed. You’re pretty, Prince.”
Elisha spoke in a soft tone, as if soothing a young child. It was a perfect imitation of Bernhardt’s way of speaking.
See, this is what I hate! Besides, when did she even learn to talk like that!
“You…!”
Erich’s face turned bright red. He fumbled with his lips before pushing Elisha’s arm away and shaking his head vigorously.
Elisha tilted her head and spoke flatly.
“It’s not like I said anything strange.”
“…”
“The flowers are pretty, and you’re pretty, Prince.”
Though the flowers are prettier, of course.
The girl added, blinking a few times. Her attitude was as indifferent as ever.
Watching this, Bernhardt spoke with a softened smile.
“So Elisha likes flowers.”
“I like everything that is pretty.”
At Elisha’s remarkably calm words, Erich’s pale cheeks suddenly flushed crimson.
She just called me pretty, and then immediately said she likes everything that is pretty.
Is this a confession? Does she just confess that naturally?
Even though I told her so many times that I hate her, she likes me?
Of course, he had come to like Elisha about as much as a carrot root more than when they first met, but…
Soon, the boy’s blue eyes began to shake uncontrollably.
Not one to miss his son’s reaction, Bernhardt continued with a gentle smile.
“Tell me if there is a specific color of flower you want.”
“…”
“When the time comes for you two to marry, I shall decorate the entire Imperial Palace with flowers of your favorite color.”
You can even put a flower crown on Erich if you wish.
Having finished his piece, Bernhardt crinkled his eyes and glanced at his son.
Erich was blinking rapidly, his face so red it looked ready to explode.
He’s going to pop any second now.
It was the moment Elisha and Bernhardt were secretly counting down while watching Erich.
“I, with Elisha…!”
“Your Majesty.”
Suddenly, a low, deep voice drifted from nearby.
Bernhardt turned his head slightly to look at the owner of the voice.
It was the Chief Chamberlain, Ferdinand Cullen.
“The meeting is about to begin. You promised not to be late this time.”
“Right, so I did.”
I suppose I must be going now.
Bernhardt let out a hearty laugh and straightened his knees.
Elisha slowly waved her hand toward the receding figure of Bernhardt.
It was only after Bernhardt had completely vanished from sight.
“No matter how much you like me!”
Erich suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs. Simultaneously, the maids and guards nearby bit their lips hard.
Our Prince is going to say that thing again.
He even added a cute little preamble today!
“You’re saying you won’t marry me, right?”
But before Erich could finish, Elisha cut him off.
She still wore her usual expressionless face.
The people watching held their breath instinctively.
Elisha’s expression, which had been fine until a moment ago, suddenly turned sour. Could it be…!
“I already know.”
“…”
“Who would want to marry a strange person like me?”
However, at Elisha’s subsequent words, everyone in the rear garden widened their eyes.
Erich was no exception.
He thought she would just engage in another meaningless wordplay today.
He thought she would say something like, “But I still don’t hate you, Prince,” as usual.
“I heard what Ferdinand Cullen said. That a strange monster like me cannot be allowed to stay here forever.”
Elisha continued speaking in an extremely peaceful voice.
At the same time, everyone beside her doubted their own ears.
The Chief Chamberlain said such a thing?
No, more than that. She heard a story like that and hadn’t shown any sign of it until now?
“Ex-excuse me, Lady Elisha. That’s…”
It was the moment one of the maids opened her mouth with a shocked face.
“Why are you a monster?”
Erich snapped his head up and spoke, meeting Elisha’s eyes.
As he did, a few flower petals stuck in his hair fluttered down.
“I asked why you’re a monster.”
“…”
“You’re not a monster.”
He’s just saying that because he’s jealous of you.
His deep, sea-blue eyes looked directly at Elisha.
The traces of anger and embarrassment from moments ago had vanished without a trace.
The girl, receiving that gaze fully, asked cautiously.
“…Really?”
The boy sitting below her affirmed.
“Really.”
The guards and maids watching the scene cheered inwardly.
Our Prince finally…!
“But you are strange.”
And just when we thought he was getting better…!
It was the moment they were about to let out a deep sigh.
“…Haha.”
Suddenly, a very tiny sound of laughter seeped into everyone’s ears.
It was a clear, crystalline voice that sounded like a small bird’s chirp or the distant ringing of a bell.
“Haha, ahahaha.”
The girl, who had never laughed aloud before, burst into laughter.
A bit awkwardly, as if even she wasn’t quite used to it.
Erich stared blankly at the sight.
The eyes crinkled like half-moons, the slightly trembling white eyelashes, and the smile blooming vividly around her mouth.
Somehow, it felt as if they were incessantly tickling his heart.
Perhaps it was because Elisha’s hair brushed against his cheek.
Or perhaps it was because Elisha’s laughter continued faintly, as if it might stop at any moment.
If not that, then perhaps a thin flower petal had finally entered his body and was tickling him from within.
Whatever the reason, one thing was clear…
“Then, Prince.”
The girl, as cool as an autumn breeze yet as fluttering as a spring breeze, asked while still smiling with crinkled eyes.
“Can I keep playing with you like this, Prince?”
“…”
“Can I… keep staying here?”
Erich stammered, unable to calm his racing heart.
“Th-that’s…”
At that moment, every human in the garden except for Erich and Elisha swallowed hard.
Our Prince, finally.
Though he gave a slightly off-mark answer just now, this time for sure…!
“Ask my father!”
But contrary to their expectations, a deflated answer came out of Erich’s mouth.
Those around them bit their lips to stop a groan from escaping.
In the midst of it all, only Elisha.
“Okay, I will.”
She simply nodded with a beaming face.
As if that answer was enough, she smiled brightly.
Erich fluttered his eyelashes several times while facing Elisha’s smile.
Somehow, she didn’t seem like the Elisha he knew.
He felt as if she might turn serious again the moment he closed and opened his eyes.
But even as he blinked several times, Elisha did not erase her clear smile.
It was a sight that felt quite foreign, yet suited her perfectly, just as he had always imagined.
A look that suited her better than a pouting face or a frowning one.
Erich thought as he gazed intently at Elisha’s smile.
Ferdinand Cullen was wrong.
Elisha was strange, but she was a child who wasn’t strange at all, and she was certainly no monster.
Where on earth was there a monster who laughed like that?
What reason could there possibly be for Elisha not to stay in this Imperial Palace?
It was an autumn afternoon where the fierce thunder and lightning were as relentless as the non-stop rain.
Amidst the aftermath of an unexpected defeat, the young Crown Prince, who hadn’t suffered a single scratch, muttered toward the woman before him.
His eyes were fixed on her, colder and more hardened than ever.
In a voice more ruthless than the wind and rain.
“You.”
“…”
“Were someone who should never have been in the Imperial Palace to begin with.”
