YOPRS 3

Chapter 3

The formal luncheon.

Sophia and Hans had arrived first and were waiting for their guests.

Hans, who had been fidgeting restlessly, spoke to her.

“Sophia, you must mind your manners.”

His voice was full of concern. Sophia understood that he was only saying it because he was worried about her, but she was beginning to feel as though his constant reminders were giving her calluses on her ears.

Well, I know how to behave on my own, don’t I?

“Don’t you worry.”

Sophia replied calmly.

But why did that answer only make Hans more worried? He rubbed his face with both hands.

A little while later, the dining room doors opened, and a servant entered. He announced the arrival of their guests.

“Your Majesty, Her Imperial Majesty Empress Eleanor of the Altheria Empire and His Imperial Highness Crown Prince Leon are here.”

A brown-haired woman entered the dining room, wearing a lavish dress and an even more extravagant hair ornament. Behind her followed a black-haired boy with handsome, well-defined features.

Sophia recognized the boy at once.

The insolent brat who had called her a pig and tossed an apple at her.

He had a pretty face, but it was positively brimming with a nasty temper.

Oh, I’m screwed. He’s the crown prince?!

Sophia squeezed her eyes shut.

If only she’d known, she would have treated him nicely.

Hans hurried over to Eleanor and kissed the back of the hand she offered him.

“Your Imperial Majesty, thank you for joining us today.”

Eleanor had voluminous brown hair and a slender frame. Every one of her movements was filled with elegance.

She covered her mouth with a fan and offered him a gentle smile.

“Thank you for inviting us, King Hans.”

Eleanor gestured toward Leon, who stood a step behind her.

“This is Leon de Romania, Crown Prince of the Altheria Empire.”

With an expressionless face, he greeted Hans.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, King Hans. I am Leon de Romania.”

Leon bowed with poise and dignity.

It was hard to believe that this was the same boy who had been lounging around like a carefree loafer atop a sack of apples. Sophia rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was seeing things.

“Please, have a seat.”

While Hans escorted them to their places, something happened.

When the adults’ attention was elsewhere, Sophia’s eyes met Leon’s. His little lips moved, silently conveying a message.

If you act like you know me, I’ll kill you.

Her premonition that things were about to go terribly wrong—the feeling she called a bad-omen hunch—had turned out to be a fact, not just a feeling.

After a lavish meal, prepared with the chef’s utmost effort, they headed out to the garden for tea.

The exotic scenery was filled with foreign flowers and shrubs sculpted into topiaries modeled after goddesses from mythology. Eleanor couldn’t hide her admiration.

“How beautiful! Hans, how on earth did you manage to create such a lovely garden?”

“Your Imperial Majesty, what could I possibly have done? It’s all thanks to the hard work of the gardeners.”

“You have an excellent gardener. Would you mind having yours give our gardeners some guidance?”

“Of course, Your Imperial Majesty. Just say the word whenever you wish.”

While Eleanor and Hans exchanged polite pleasantries, servants brought tea and refreshments to the gazebo. Before long, Hans and Eleanor had settled into their seats.

They seemed to have something important to discuss. Perhaps the children were getting in the way, because Eleanor spoke carefully.

“Crown Prince, why don’t you take a walk with the princess?”

Behind her gentle smile was a chilly gaze. Leon seemed intimidated. He pressed his lips together and clenched his fists.

Sensing the subtle tension, Sophia clicked her tongue.

Well, she’s certainly got a way of handling things.

Leon stepped out of the gazebo first and held out his hand to Sophia.

“Princess Belmonde, shall we?”

Sophia took his hand and tried to respond with a proper greeting.

“Thank you ver—”

She was about to finish, but the regional dialect slipped out before she could stop herself. She bit her tongue.

Apparently, habits accumulated over ninety-eight years weren’t so easy to shake off.

I really must stop making these mistakes.

She felt a little overwhelmed. Should she just stop talking altogether?

They walked for quite some time along a path lined with shrubs.

The weather was so warm and pleasant that even the discomfort of the luncheon and her dreadful premonition began to fade.

The fresh scent of grass, the fragrance of flowers drifting in from somewhere…

Sophia looked up at the sky. A single bluebird was soaring through the cloudless blue expanse.

She was still awkwardly holding the crown prince’s hand, but before long, she had stopped paying it any mind.

“What lovely weather we’re havin’.”

Lost in the beauty of nature, Sophia let the words slip out without thinking.

She closed her eyes, enjoying the breeze that swept past her.

Then Leon’s prickly voice reached her ears.

“I don’t like it.”

Sophia was startled. She lowered her head and met his eyes.

She couldn’t for the life of her understand why he was acting this way after eating such a good meal, but he looked absolutely furious.

“Pardon?”

“I don’t want to get engaged to you.”

Leon abruptly yanked his hand out of hers.

What’s got him in a temper again?

Sophia clicked her tongue and nodded.

“Well, that can happen. You might not want to, or you might like the idea. Either way.”

Humming to herself, Sophia looked back up at the sky. The pretty bluebird had already flown off somewhere.

She felt a little disappointed.

“I said I don’t want to! I don’t want to get engaged to you!”

Her indifferent reaction only made Leon angrier. He began snapping at her.

“Well, what can we do about it if you don’t? It’s the adults who’ve decided, isn’t it?”

“Do you never think for yourself? Doesn’t it frustrate you to live a life like livestock?”

Ah, the passion of youth…

Leon looked about twelve, around the age of a middle-school student. The age when all sorts of strange thoughts start swirling around in your head.

Sophia had already raised two children and had three grandchildren. She had experienced raising children going through puberty, so she knew just how dramatic kids that age could be.

The idea of arranging a marriage for children so young was ridiculous. But what could she do? Since she was the older one, even if only by a little, she would have to soothe and coax him.

Sophia gently patted Leon’s arm and spoke in a soft voice.

“Your Highness, I don’t think you’re old enough to understand yet. There’s no need to get so worked up. In the end, everything in this world comes and goes… doesn’t it?”

“Comes and… what?”

“What’s the difference between being a chicken or a pig? If you’ve got something, that’s good enough, isn’t it?”

She thought that might calm him down a little. But, contrary to her expectations, Leon’s face turned bright red.

He snorted angrily and stamped his feet.

Had she said something wrong?

Sophia tilted her head and asked him,

“What’s the matter… with you?”

“Are you treating me like an idiot right now?”

“Treating you like an idiot? No, no! You’re still so young, Your Highness. I was just saying it’s because you’re going through puberty and all… that’s all I meant.”

She was trying to soothe him, but her way of speaking made it difficult. As Sophia rambled on, stumbling over her words, Leon rolled his eyes in fury.

“Young? How old are you?”

“I’m ninety— No, seven years old.”

“Ninety-seven? Have you lost your mind?”

“No, no. I’m seven…”

“I’m twelve, you know!”

Leon straightened his shoulders and declared it proudly. Sophia nodded.

“Oh, is that so? Well, you’re practically all grown up, then. No wonder you’re so clever.”

“You’re still treating me like an idiot!”

“No, I’m not. It’s just that you’re at that age, going through puberty. You start having all sorts of strange thoughts for no reason, and even fallen leaves can make you sad, right? That’s all I was trying to say. I wasn’t calling you an idiot.”

Leon didn’t like how Sophia acted as though she could see right through him.

For a seven-year-old, she was rather short, and she was ridiculously chubby, with fat piled all over her body. It made him furious that a baby like her would dare treat him like an idiot.

How can I smack her one?

The situation was on the verge of exploding.

Leon was so furious at Sophia’s behavior—whether she was being obsequious or making fun of him, he couldn’t tell—that he ground his teeth and glared at her.

Trying to calm him down, Sophia gave his back a few gentle pats.

“It’s because you’re still a little tyke. You want to rebel against the adults and all that, don’t you? But you’ve got to listen to your elders if you want to grow up into a good person. When you’re a few years older, you’ll realize it. You’ll think, ‘Ah, I should’ve listened to the adults from the beginning.’”

Leon’s face turned a dark, reddish hue, and the veins in his eyes stood out. He clenched his fists, trembled all over, and ground his teeth so hard they clicked.

“Y-You… I’m the crown prince… And your way of speaking is so weird…”

He wanted to argue back with something, anything, but he couldn’t think of a single thing to say. As he stumbled over his words, Sophia tilted her head and asked again.

“Pardon?”

“Waaaaah!”

In the end, Leon’s patience ran out, and he burst into tears.

He was so humiliated that he had been made fun of by a little pig—a little child.

The attendants who had been following behind them hurried over in a panic to comfort Leon.

Sophia watched them and clicked her tongue.

Kids these days… What am I supposed to do with them? If it’s this hard just to keep them happy, how am I ever going to manage?