Chapter 2
Episode 2
At the words spat out without a single change in expression, everyone’s mouth, including Erich’s, fell wide open.
In the midst of it all, only Elisha blinked with a serene face.
Of course, it was true that Erich had acted without dignity, but he was, after all, a Prince.
He held a position where no one, except the Emperor or those permitted by him, could dare to restrain his actions.
And yet, she had called such a person ‘ill-mannered’ to his face. What’s more, she had treated him as if he were on the same level as a maid.
“You, what did you just….”
It was the moment Erich asked, his eyes rounding as if he had heard the unthinkable.
“I believe I told you not to run indoors.”
A gentle yet dignified voice resonated through the air.
At that, the maids, who had been standing there with stunned faces, hurriedly bowed their heads once more.
In the meantime, Bernhardt, standing before Erich, offered a faint smile.
It was a kind smile, much like the one he had shown Elisha before, yet it felt distinctly different from that time.
Erich knew exactly when his father wore such a smile.
“Father, I…”
“Erich von Cardion.”
It was the moment Erich began to mumble and trail off. Bernhardt spoke as he looked down at his son.
“Tell me what just happened.”
His voice was soft yet carried a weight of authority.
Erich immediately hunched his shoulders. Elisha watched the scene blankly. She still hadn't lowered the finger she was pointing at the maids.
“She, she called me ill-mannered…\!”
Eventually, Erich stammered out his explanation. Perhaps finding it absurd all over again, he even snapped his head around to glare at Elisha by the time he finished speaking.
Elisha met Erich’s gaze with an indifferent look and blunt words.
“You pointed your finger at me first.”
“That’s…\!”
“Elisha, then why are you pointing your finger at those maids?”
Bernhardt asked, cutting Erich off. Only then did Elisha slowly lower her arm and ask in return.
“Where are you going to send me?”
It was a statement quite far removed from Bernhardt’s question.
A pure question from a child, devoid of malice or any hidden intent.
Bernhardt raised an eyebrow, then soon shook his head and smiled at Elisha.
As if he had fully grasped the situation.
“Since I brought you here, you aren't going anywhere.”
He then passed Erich and stood before Elisha, bending at the waist. At the same time, the maids let out small gasps.
What that signified was clear.
The Emperor was showing them plainly right now.
Exactly where this child stood.
“Therefore, if only to help you adjust to this place.”
His eyes took on a deep blue hue as he scanned Elisha, Erich, and the maids standing beside them in turn.
“It seems some etiquette lessons are in order.”
\* \* \*
A girl who was not only brought personally by Emperor Bernhardt but was also given her own palace and took lessons alongside the Prince.
Even the maids who had briefly neglected her were immediately expelled from the palace.
Under these circumstances, the rumors concerning Elisha grew uncontrollably with each passing day.
Starting from rumors that she was the Emperor’s hidden child to idle gossip that she was the child of an unrequited first love.
Some of the people passing by Elisha would observe her as if she were a strange animal. Some even went as far as to mention the circulating rumors in front of her as if to provoke her.
Elisha listened to all those stories.
That was all.
If someone stared at her, she stared back; if they spoke, she merely fluttered her eyelashes a few times.
In the end, it was always they who grew tired and gave up first.
‘For some reason, she makes me feel uneasy.’
‘I’ve never seen that child speak. Is she mute?’
These were the common remarks made by people who had encountered Elisha even once.
Naturally, Elisha knew how to speak. She simply didn't want to engage with those people.
One cannot bark back just because a dog is barking. Though, of course, barking back might have been entertaining.
At any rate, most of it was just fleeting talk, so there was no particular reason to care.
Though there were occasionally those who clung to her persistently.
“Just because you’re taking lessons with me now, don’t drop the delusion that you can ever become like me.”
Erich spat the words toward Elisha, who was sitting at the base of a tree reading a book.
Elisha turned a page without even giving him a glance.
At that, Erich frowned deeply and continued.
“I told you not to follow me around.”
“……Prince.”
Finally, unable to endure it any longer, Elisha spoke up quietly. Her eyes remained fixed on the book.
“It is you who is far too delusional, Prince. Why would I follow you? I can’t find a single pretty thing about you.”
“You, how dare you say that with that mouth…\!”
“Mouths are meant to be open. I can’t exactly eat through my nose.”
Having finished her sentence, Elisha finally rolled her blue eyes to look at Erich.
Just as expected, Erich was looking down at her with a face flushed deep red.
Normally, she would have said, ‘Looking down on me feels unpleasant, it’s ill-mannered,’ but Elisha didn't bother opening her mouth for that.
The person teaching her ‘etiquette’ had told her so.
That Erich was a human being born of a different status than her, so she must show him respect.
That calling the Prince ‘ill-mannered’ was an ill-mannered act in itself.
So Elisha occasionally held back the words she wanted to say and made sure to call him ‘Prince’ every time.
It was the maximum amount of courtesy Elisha could show Erich.
“You, didn’t you hear the etiquette tutor tell you to use formal language?”
Erich asked boastfully, tilting his chin up. Elisha stared at him blankly and replied.
“I read in a book that formal language is used when expressing respect for someone.”
“And?”
“I don’t respect you, Prince.”
So I’m not using it.
Elisha spoke while blinking her eyes, as if stating the obvious. At that, Erich shouted out.
“They said the Emperor is a position that receives everyone’s respect\! I’m going to be the Emperor when my father passes away\!”
“But while there's an order for arriving, there's no set order for leaving…”
“You read that in a book again, didn’t you\!”
“I didn’t see this one in a book.”
Elisha replied lightly, blinking her blue eyes a couple of times.
Then, she briefly furrowed her brow as if in deep thought.
“Then I’ll use formal language when you become the Emperor later, Prince. I’m worried for this country, but if that’s how it has to be, there’s nothing to be done.”
She spoke with a resolute air, as if granting a great favor. It was a voice filled with pure sincerity, devoid of any malice.
Though for Erich, who was listening, it was enough to make his blood boil.
“You….”
Erich was about to scream, asking what on earth she meant by that, but he soon steadied his breath.
Because he had been taught that raising one's voice was undignified. Because they said he couldn't become a respected Emperor if he did that.
“……My nanny says if she heard you talk, she wouldn’t think you were eight years old.”
Soon after, Erich’s sulky voice bored into Elisha’s ears again. Elisha offered an easy answer this time as well.
“You don’t seem eight years old either, Prince.”
“Really?”
“Even a five-year-old kid outside the castle gates wouldn't act as childishly as you, Prince.”
“What\!”
“I’m truly worried for this country…….”
Eventually, Elisha let out a soft sigh and muttered quietly. Erich exhaled sharply through his nose and bit his lip.
It had already been a month since this unsightly pebble had rolled into the Imperial Palace.
To Erich, it was beyond unpleasant that someone who wouldn't even have a name if it weren't for his father—someone without even a proper status—was retorting to him so calmly.
At first, she seemed to just spit out a few words here and there, but now she was talking back in full sentences.
What’s more, most of it was true, so he couldn't even argue back.
“I really hate you.”
Erich said, pouting his lips grumpily.
From that gaze that looked as if she’d lived through the whole world despite being the same age as him, to that expression that didn't change no matter what he said.
“I don’t like you much either, Prince.”
Even that personality that refused to lose a single word—there wasn't a single thing about her he liked\!
It was the moment Erich raised an eyebrow at Elisha’s words.
“But don’t worry.”
Elisha spoke first with an expressionless face.
“I’ve never thought I wanted to receive the same treatment as you, Prince. Nor have I ever thought that would be possible.”
“You….”
“If my attitude made you feel that way, I apologize. It feels like thorns grow on my body if I say things I don’t mean. That’s why I usually stay quiet, but you keep talking to me, Prince.”
“…….”
“Anyway, I am.”
Her dull blue eyes fixed on Erich.
“Here to survive.”
It was an infinitely calm tone, as if stating a simple fact.
For a moment, Erich didn't know what to say and just stood there with his mouth agape.
In the meantime, Elisha withdrew her gaze from Erich and looked back at her book.
Eating, sleeping, and breathing were all, in the end, actions stemming from the desire to live.
‘Following that man was too.’
If she hadn't taken the hand Bernhardt held out back then, she probably would have starved to death.
Elisha knew that fact well.
That was why she didn't care even if someone talked about her.
Regardless of right or wrong, it was because she knew that the moment she added her own words, the person who brought her here would be put in a difficult position.
And the consequences of that would be entirely her own to bear. No matter how much she lived here, she was ultimately an outsider.
Truly, just imagining it made her….
“Tired.”
“What?”
“I’ve become tired because you keep talking to me, Prince.”
Soon after, Elisha closed her book and stood up. Erich reflexively lowered his gaze to check the title of the book Elisha had been reading.
「 Mysterious Human Psychology 」
“Where did you even borrow that book from….”
It was the moment Erich was about to nitpick Elisha as usual.
“Erich, Elisha.”
A familiar voice drifted into the ears of the two children. Erich and Elisha turned their heads simultaneously to look at the man approaching them.
“Father\!”
“It seems you two were playing together nicely.”
Bernhardt soon stood before the children and smiled. Elisha stared blankly at Bernhardt before speaking.
“We weren't being nice.”
“Hmm?”
“The Prince hates me.”
It was a flat tone, as if she were listing simple facts.
As soon as Elisha finished speaking, Erich’s eyes went wide and he sputtered.
No matter how thoughtless she was, to say such a thing so freely in front of his father. Was she trying to set him up?
Of course, contrary to Erich’s guess, there was no hidden intention in Elisha’s recent statement.
She had merely spoken the truth.
“Is that so…?”
Bernhardt smiled meaningfully as he looked at Erich and Elisha in turn.
Elisha tilted her head as she looked into Bernhardt’s deep blue eyes.
She had read it in the book she was holding, 「Mysterious Human Psychology」.
That kind of look is….
“I hope you two get along well.”
He soon placed a hand on each of Erich’s and Elisha’s shoulders and spoke in a voice just as calm as Elisha’s.
“Shouldn't you two get married when you grow up later?”
At the same time, Erich’s complexion turned pale with shock.
