Elsa bowed politely to the woman sitting on the crimson sofa opposite her and said something.
“I kept provoking her, but she never revealed her true identity.”
A woman of mysterious age, clad in a black veil, curved her red lips into a smile. She crossed her legs gracefully, tapping her feet in high, jewel-encrusted heels.
"Yes, but it's true that she's Admiral Belford's daughter. It would have been better if you had said it directly to the Prince of Hessen."
“Princess. If I do that, will the Duke really look at me?”
The veiled woman was Princess Erita. Their purpose for meeting alone in this secret location was obvious. Princess Erita smoothly wove her serpentine tongue into a series of plausible words.
"That woman can't stand a Duke. It was the same in Belford and Frogen. She might choose the Duke of Hessen over Noah Rotsilt, who lost his ducal title and fortune. So wouldn't she be close to the Duke?"
“It seemed like that.”
Elsa nodded, frowning as she recalled Diana's brazen and arrogant demeanor. "Seeing is believing," she said. If the Duke of Hessen, Eden Jean, offered her a better deal, she'd have no choice but to give in.
The two eyes glimpsed through the veil shone strangely, and the corners of the slightly curled lips twisted faintly.
"You're rescuing the Young Prince in danger. Isn't that the case in any novel or play? Of course, the Young Prince won't be harmed. I'll give you that order."
Elsa thought the Princess felt the same way.
She also knew that she had long been in love with Noah Rotsilt, the Duke of Frogen, and she immediately understood why she wanted to get rid of Diana, who had suddenly appeared.
Green is the same color, isn't it? The two women held hands simply because they shared a common ground, regardless of their positions or statuses.
It had been raining since morning, but as the time for our appointment approached, a ray of sunlight broke through the dark clouds.
I unfolded Noah's letter that arrived last night and read it again.
"Babe."
I remember that from the very first words, it was so powerful that I looked away as if I had developed presbyopia, and then looked closer.
"I arrived safely. I'm writing this as soon as I unpack. I want to write well, but it's difficult. I'll ask Jace, the love expert, and practice and write it again. Be sure to take Molly with you when you go out. Bye."
The content, written in neat handwriting, was quite sparse, but it was still something. It seems like it was sent as soon as he arrived in the duchy.
After neatly folding the letter and putting it away, I was debating whether to put on my raincoat when I heard news of Daniel's arrival. The Prince was still at Tempshire Palace, under the care of the Queen and the Marchioness, and I was on my way there.
I suggested to Lenny, who had told me that the nanny, with whom I was not on good terms, would not come.
“Lenny, let’s go out together. Do you like opera?”
Lenny's eyes widened at my words. She, with her gentle, herbivorous expression, smiled bashfully.
“Really? Then I’ll quickly change into my outdoor clothes.”
I went outside with Lenny, who had changed into her everyday clothes. I saw a black car bearing the Duke's crest arriving below the outdoor porch.
Daniel, wearing a lace shirt, a brooch, and a dark brown coat, walked over to me with a dignified manner and escorted me. As expected, the nanny hadn't arrived. For some reason, only the servants and maids were visible, and no one was to guard him.
“Master, is it not necessary to take more people?”
“It’s a safe area, so it’s okay.”
Medea's security and protection are so strengthened that you can only go out with your attendants. Unlike the Middle Ages, when skilled knights were employed as escorts, a single, high-performance gun is enough to protect you.
I told Daniel that I would take Lenny with me to the market.
“Yes. Please take care of me, Lenny.”
Lenny's cheeks flushed red at the polite young master's words. Lenny, who had been smiling kindly with eyes that were almost too pretty to die for, bowed politely.
We were driven by a chauffeur to the magnificent opera house at the edge of the city.
The theater was filled with well-dressed audience members, and we sat in the best seats and waited for the opera to begin.
Contrary to the plot that Daniel described as a story of a Princess and a knight, the story featured four poor vagabonds in a dark and shabby attic of an apartment building.
As the curtain fell and the stage scene changed, I asked Daniel in a small voice.
“Prince, who is the Princess?”
“She's the heroine, Lilia. And he's the knight who protects the Princess, Elzeta.”
It was a childish interpretation, not based on the real status of a princess and a knight. The curtain rose again, and the opera reached its conclusion.
The ending was that the female protagonist dies of illness on a worn-out bed. The curtain fell as the male protagonist cried out her name, and the weeping crowd rose to their feet and applauded.
Lenny, who had been sitting there concentrating, was crying so hard that her face turned red.
"No, this is ridiculous. What a tragic ending! I'm going to throw away the food waste in front of the composer and librettist's house."
“...Was it that sad?”
“Aren’t you sad, Miss? I’m heartbroken to death.”
While Lenny, immersed in the story, sobbed, Daniel didn't cry, perhaps because he'd experienced real death. Perhaps because it was a love story for adults, he couldn't relate.
"In the end, the knight failed to protect the Princess. The music was beautiful."
He simply muttered a comment, his expression aching with regret. The actress playing the female lead was a skinny middle-aged woman, and the male lead was a pot-bellied man of similar age with a bushy beard.
“Prince, why did you think Lilia was a Princess?”
"My father said it best. It's a way for your own Princess to appear. He said it doesn't matter what a person looks like, what their status is, or what their job is."
I nodded, remembering how Noah always called me "Princess." So that's the way men in this world value things.
It seems that he knows the truth that if he wants to be treated well, he must first treat others with respect and dignity.
“It would be great if someone could become the Prince’s Princess.”
Daniel stared blankly at me, his lips pursed. He stopped trying to say something and took my hand, standing up.
Before we knew it, the shadows of the tall bell tower and trees stretched long, and the sun was slowly setting.
As we were heading to a nearby restaurant where we had made reservations for dinner, a skinny boy approached us and stood in our way, seemingly hesitating to say something.
He was dressed in tattered, yellowed calico, as if he hadn't washed in a long time, a slum child perhaps. His oversized military coat, barely touching the floor, must have been placed there by a soldier who took pity on him.
I was about to pass by without a second thought, wondering if it was a pickpocket or a lure for a crime, when the boy spoke up.
“My Lord, please help me just this once.”
Daniel, hearing the dry, cracked sound, stared at the boy. Lenny stood between them, looking down at him with suspicious eyes.
"What's going on? Tell me. And how did you get in here?"
“My little brother and mother collapsed and won’t wake up.”
At the words "Little Brother, Mother," Lenny and Daniel were visibly shaken. I was the only one who remained expressionless.
“Oh my goodness, then you should have asked your neighbors for help.”
“No one will help me. I’m not from here.”
The boy's thick, stiff, yellow, straw-like hair suggests he is not a Medean.
“Are you a refugee?”
The boy nodded with a gloomy expression at my question. I took some money out of my wallet and handed it to him.
“Use this money to call a doctor and take him to the hospital.”
The boy who had received the money stood there, like a stone statue, at a loss. With narrowed eyes, I scanned the boy, who blocked my path and refused to leave.
“I can’t go to the hospital... I don’t have any ID or citizenship.”
Daniel stepped forward and faced the boy, perhaps feeling compassion.
“Then I’ll take them. Where is it?”
“Prince, you shouldn’t follow him without permission.”
I grabbed Daniel's hand and pulled him back. The boy addressed the Prince directly, not me, as "My Lord," and asked for help. A normal child would ask an adult first.
“I’m sorry. I’ll ask someone else to help you.”
The boy turns around weakly, and Daniel stares at me.
“I want to help.”
“No. It’s dangerous.”
Lenny and Daniel both looked at me with pitiful eyes. They seemed to be asking, "Are you going to ignore that poor boy?"
Feeling like a terrible villain, I wiped my face as if I were washing my face. I looked around and spotted a police officer on patrol.
“It seems like this child’s mother and younger sister have been injured. Can you help them?”
The officer frowned at the dirty-dressed child, stroking his mustache.
"I'm very busy right now. If you tell me your location, I'll send someone else. And how did you get in from the slums? Get out of here right now..."
“I am Daniel Jean Hessen of the House of Hessen.”
Daniel introduced himself, staring intently at the officer. Startled by the words "Duke of Hessen," the officer immediately changed his demeanor and asked the shabby boy a question.
“Where is that?”
What the heck? A six-year-old knows how to use power.
“They told me to say this when adults don’t help me in an emergency.”
Daniel whispered to me secretly. I smiled gently and looked back and forth between Lenny and Daniel.
“The officer will be leaving now, so we’ll take our leave now...”
“Shouldn’t we watch to see if it goes well?”
Lenny's words were clear: "Getting things done." I frowned, but their goal was to help the boy, so I accepted it. The boy led the way, and we followed him into a narrow, dirty alley.
As we headed towards it, the road became more and more muddy and filled with the stench of rotting fish, making it unbearable.
“I guess this is the innermost part of the slums.”
The officer muttered, and I, appalled by the sticky sewage and mud clinging to my shoes like tar, held up my skirt and continued to walk.
Do people live in a place like this? The further I went, the more I saw shacks built from wood and scrap metal, with old tents and blankets instead of doors, crammed together ominously.
Seeing the rats running around busily and the dogs rummaging through the trash cans, I asked the boy as if I wanted to get out of there quickly.
“Where the hell is it?”
“We’re all here. This is the end.”
Lenny's eyes widened as the boy's greasy hand pointed toward the highest shack in the village. She was carrying the Prince on her back, worried that his expensive shoes would get dirty.
"Officer, please go. We're going to have a hard time."
As Lenny smiled brightly and looked out at the scenery, he sighed at the sight of the steep stairs stretching out in the distance like a pilgrimage of suffering.
"Then you guys should go back now. It's dangerous after sunset, so you should leave quickly."
As the boy and the officer gradually disappeared, I let out the nausea I had been holding back and looked at Lenny and Daniel with eyes that were pleading for my life.
“...We did our best, so let’s go back.”
“Thank you, sister.”
Daniel, carried by Lenny, spoke apologetically. I dabbed a handkerchief with a bottle of violet perfume, held it to my nose, and forced a smile. "I was taught not to ignore those in need, so what can I do? Of course, Lenny and I had our struggles."
“Is that them?”
From somewhere, ominous voices and whispers could be heard. I strained my nerves to the sound of footsteps approaching stealthily.
I think I made a huge mistake by doing something I never used to do. I shouldn't have sent the officer alone. No, I shouldn't have come here in the first place.
“There you go, ladies.”
A group of rough-looking men with messy beards smirked at us.
“Lenny. Are you a fast runner?”
I stepped back and whispered to Lenny.
"Yes?"
“Take the Prince and run right now.”
If this precious Prince gets hurt, it will be a big problem.
“What are you talking about...”
Lenny's eyes widened, then narrowed as she spotted a group approaching from the shadows in the distance.
“What about you, young lady?”
"I'll run away instead. I'll run away in pieces. Now!"
At my shout, Lenny, carrying the Prince, started running quickly. I stood there for a moment, trying to buy time, and glared at them.
“What do you want?”
"You."
The grim man smiled, revealing his black, dirty teeth. Huh? Not money or valuables?
“What the heck!”
I stood there blankly staring, but as soon as I realized something, I let out a single scream, took off my shoes, and started running down another alley.
“I kept provoking her, but she never revealed her true identity.”
A woman of mysterious age, clad in a black veil, curved her red lips into a smile. She crossed her legs gracefully, tapping her feet in high, jewel-encrusted heels.
"Yes, but it's true that she's Admiral Belford's daughter. It would have been better if you had said it directly to the Prince of Hessen."
“Princess. If I do that, will the Duke really look at me?”
The veiled woman was Princess Erita. Their purpose for meeting alone in this secret location was obvious. Princess Erita smoothly wove her serpentine tongue into a series of plausible words.
"That woman can't stand a Duke. It was the same in Belford and Frogen. She might choose the Duke of Hessen over Noah Rotsilt, who lost his ducal title and fortune. So wouldn't she be close to the Duke?"
“It seemed like that.”
Elsa nodded, frowning as she recalled Diana's brazen and arrogant demeanor. "Seeing is believing," she said. If the Duke of Hessen, Eden Jean, offered her a better deal, she'd have no choice but to give in.
The two eyes glimpsed through the veil shone strangely, and the corners of the slightly curled lips twisted faintly.
"You're rescuing the Young Prince in danger. Isn't that the case in any novel or play? Of course, the Young Prince won't be harmed. I'll give you that order."
Elsa thought the Princess felt the same way.
She also knew that she had long been in love with Noah Rotsilt, the Duke of Frogen, and she immediately understood why she wanted to get rid of Diana, who had suddenly appeared.
Green is the same color, isn't it? The two women held hands simply because they shared a common ground, regardless of their positions or statuses.
***
It had been raining since morning, but as the time for our appointment approached, a ray of sunlight broke through the dark clouds.
I unfolded Noah's letter that arrived last night and read it again.
"Babe."
I remember that from the very first words, it was so powerful that I looked away as if I had developed presbyopia, and then looked closer.
"I arrived safely. I'm writing this as soon as I unpack. I want to write well, but it's difficult. I'll ask Jace, the love expert, and practice and write it again. Be sure to take Molly with you when you go out. Bye."
The content, written in neat handwriting, was quite sparse, but it was still something. It seems like it was sent as soon as he arrived in the duchy.
Well, even if I write and send it again, it probably won't arrive until after Noah gets here.
I suggested to Lenny, who had told me that the nanny, with whom I was not on good terms, would not come.
“Lenny, let’s go out together. Do you like opera?”
Lenny's eyes widened at my words. She, with her gentle, herbivorous expression, smiled bashfully.
“Really? Then I’ll quickly change into my outdoor clothes.”
I went outside with Lenny, who had changed into her everyday clothes. I saw a black car bearing the Duke's crest arriving below the outdoor porch.
Daniel, wearing a lace shirt, a brooch, and a dark brown coat, walked over to me with a dignified manner and escorted me. As expected, the nanny hadn't arrived. For some reason, only the servants and maids were visible, and no one was to guard him.
“Master, is it not necessary to take more people?”
“It’s a safe area, so it’s okay.”
Medea's security and protection are so strengthened that you can only go out with your attendants. Unlike the Middle Ages, when skilled knights were employed as escorts, a single, high-performance gun is enough to protect you.
I told Daniel that I would take Lenny with me to the market.
“Yes. Please take care of me, Lenny.”
Lenny's cheeks flushed red at the polite young master's words. Lenny, who had been smiling kindly with eyes that were almost too pretty to die for, bowed politely.
We were driven by a chauffeur to the magnificent opera house at the edge of the city.
The theater was filled with well-dressed audience members, and we sat in the best seats and waited for the opera to begin.
Contrary to the plot that Daniel described as a story of a Princess and a knight, the story featured four poor vagabonds in a dark and shabby attic of an apartment building.
As the curtain fell and the stage scene changed, I asked Daniel in a small voice.
“Prince, who is the Princess?”
“She's the heroine, Lilia. And he's the knight who protects the Princess, Elzeta.”
It was a childish interpretation, not based on the real status of a princess and a knight. The curtain rose again, and the opera reached its conclusion.
The ending was that the female protagonist dies of illness on a worn-out bed. The curtain fell as the male protagonist cried out her name, and the weeping crowd rose to their feet and applauded.
Lenny, who had been sitting there concentrating, was crying so hard that her face turned red.
"No, this is ridiculous. What a tragic ending! I'm going to throw away the food waste in front of the composer and librettist's house."
“...Was it that sad?”
“Aren’t you sad, Miss? I’m heartbroken to death.”
While Lenny, immersed in the story, sobbed, Daniel didn't cry, perhaps because he'd experienced real death. Perhaps because it was a love story for adults, he couldn't relate.
"In the end, the knight failed to protect the Princess. The music was beautiful."
He simply muttered a comment, his expression aching with regret. The actress playing the female lead was a skinny middle-aged woman, and the male lead was a pot-bellied man of similar age with a bushy beard.
“Prince, why did you think Lilia was a Princess?”
"My father said it best. It's a way for your own Princess to appear. He said it doesn't matter what a person looks like, what their status is, or what their job is."
I nodded, remembering how Noah always called me "Princess." So that's the way men in this world value things.
It seems that he knows the truth that if he wants to be treated well, he must first treat others with respect and dignity.
“It would be great if someone could become the Prince’s Princess.”
Daniel stared blankly at me, his lips pursed. He stopped trying to say something and took my hand, standing up.
***
Before we knew it, the shadows of the tall bell tower and trees stretched long, and the sun was slowly setting.
As we were heading to a nearby restaurant where we had made reservations for dinner, a skinny boy approached us and stood in our way, seemingly hesitating to say something.
He was dressed in tattered, yellowed calico, as if he hadn't washed in a long time, a slum child perhaps. His oversized military coat, barely touching the floor, must have been placed there by a soldier who took pity on him.
I was about to pass by without a second thought, wondering if it was a pickpocket or a lure for a crime, when the boy spoke up.
“My Lord, please help me just this once.”
Daniel, hearing the dry, cracked sound, stared at the boy. Lenny stood between them, looking down at him with suspicious eyes.
"What's going on? Tell me. And how did you get in here?"
“My little brother and mother collapsed and won’t wake up.”
At the words "Little Brother, Mother," Lenny and Daniel were visibly shaken. I was the only one who remained expressionless.
“Oh my goodness, then you should have asked your neighbors for help.”
“No one will help me. I’m not from here.”
The boy's thick, stiff, yellow, straw-like hair suggests he is not a Medean.
“Are you a refugee?”
The boy nodded with a gloomy expression at my question. I took some money out of my wallet and handed it to him.
“Use this money to call a doctor and take him to the hospital.”
The boy who had received the money stood there, like a stone statue, at a loss. With narrowed eyes, I scanned the boy, who blocked my path and refused to leave.
“I can’t go to the hospital... I don’t have any ID or citizenship.”
Daniel stepped forward and faced the boy, perhaps feeling compassion.
“Then I’ll take them. Where is it?”
“Prince, you shouldn’t follow him without permission.”
I grabbed Daniel's hand and pulled him back. The boy addressed the Prince directly, not me, as "My Lord," and asked for help. A normal child would ask an adult first.
“I’m sorry. I’ll ask someone else to help you.”
The boy turns around weakly, and Daniel stares at me.
“I want to help.”
“No. It’s dangerous.”
Lenny and Daniel both looked at me with pitiful eyes. They seemed to be asking, "Are you going to ignore that poor boy?"
Feeling like a terrible villain, I wiped my face as if I were washing my face. I looked around and spotted a police officer on patrol.
“It seems like this child’s mother and younger sister have been injured. Can you help them?”
The officer frowned at the dirty-dressed child, stroking his mustache.
"I'm very busy right now. If you tell me your location, I'll send someone else. And how did you get in from the slums? Get out of here right now..."
“I am Daniel Jean Hessen of the House of Hessen.”
Daniel introduced himself, staring intently at the officer. Startled by the words "Duke of Hessen," the officer immediately changed his demeanor and asked the shabby boy a question.
“Where is that?”
What the heck? A six-year-old knows how to use power.
“They told me to say this when adults don’t help me in an emergency.”
Daniel whispered to me secretly. I smiled gently and looked back and forth between Lenny and Daniel.
“The officer will be leaving now, so we’ll take our leave now...”
“Shouldn’t we watch to see if it goes well?”
Lenny's words were clear: "Getting things done." I frowned, but their goal was to help the boy, so I accepted it. The boy led the way, and we followed him into a narrow, dirty alley.
As we headed towards it, the road became more and more muddy and filled with the stench of rotting fish, making it unbearable.
“I guess this is the innermost part of the slums.”
The officer muttered, and I, appalled by the sticky sewage and mud clinging to my shoes like tar, held up my skirt and continued to walk.
Do people live in a place like this? The further I went, the more I saw shacks built from wood and scrap metal, with old tents and blankets instead of doors, crammed together ominously.
Seeing the rats running around busily and the dogs rummaging through the trash cans, I asked the boy as if I wanted to get out of there quickly.
“Where the hell is it?”
“We’re all here. This is the end.”
Lenny's eyes widened as the boy's greasy hand pointed toward the highest shack in the village. She was carrying the Prince on her back, worried that his expensive shoes would get dirty.
"Officer, please go. We're going to have a hard time."
As Lenny smiled brightly and looked out at the scenery, he sighed at the sight of the steep stairs stretching out in the distance like a pilgrimage of suffering.
"Then you guys should go back now. It's dangerous after sunset, so you should leave quickly."
As the boy and the officer gradually disappeared, I let out the nausea I had been holding back and looked at Lenny and Daniel with eyes that were pleading for my life.
“...We did our best, so let’s go back.”
“Thank you, sister.”
Daniel, carried by Lenny, spoke apologetically. I dabbed a handkerchief with a bottle of violet perfume, held it to my nose, and forced a smile. "I was taught not to ignore those in need, so what can I do? Of course, Lenny and I had our struggles."
“Is that them?”
From somewhere, ominous voices and whispers could be heard. I strained my nerves to the sound of footsteps approaching stealthily.
I think I made a huge mistake by doing something I never used to do. I shouldn't have sent the officer alone. No, I shouldn't have come here in the first place.
“There you go, ladies.”
A group of rough-looking men with messy beards smirked at us.
“Lenny. Are you a fast runner?”
I stepped back and whispered to Lenny.
"Yes?"
“Take the Prince and run right now.”
If this precious Prince gets hurt, it will be a big problem.
“What are you talking about...”
Lenny's eyes widened, then narrowed as she spotted a group approaching from the shadows in the distance.
“What about you, young lady?”
"I'll run away instead. I'll run away in pieces. Now!"
At my shout, Lenny, carrying the Prince, started running quickly. I stood there for a moment, trying to buy time, and glared at them.
“What do you want?”
"You."
The grim man smiled, revealing his black, dirty teeth. Huh? Not money or valuables?
“What the heck!”
I stood there blankly staring, but as soon as I realized something, I let out a single scream, took off my shoes, and started running down another alley.
Comments
Post a Comment