Chapter 9

“What are you planting in the field?”

A little while later, Leon asked. Sophia looked out over the field with him.

“Garlic and chili peppers.”

“Garlic and chili peppers? Why are you planting those yourself? You could just ask the chef for some.”

“I heard they’re expensive around here. But I eat a lot of them.”

Sophia had heard about Aurora Kingdom’s financial difficulties. She hadn’t realized things were so bad that they couldn’t even provide their princess with garlic and chili peppers.

Feeling rather solemn, Leon lowered his head. He had no idea just how much garlic Koreans ate.

“The food here is all so greasy, I could just about die. If only I could have a bowl of rice soaked in water with a single piece of kimchi on top, I’d have no complaints.”

“Kimchi? What’s that?”

“Not ‘kimchi’ with a weird pronunciation. It’s kimchi. Kimchi. What’s wrong with the way you say it?”

Sophia showed Leon how to shape his mouth.

“Come on, repeat after me. Kiiim-chi.”

Her chubby cheeks, visible beneath the shade of her bonnet, were flushed red, perhaps from the heat. Leon stared at her, entranced, and tried to repeat the word.

“Ki…”

Then he suddenly snapped out of it, and irritation flared up inside him. He hated how he kept getting drawn into the antics of a seven-year-old child.

“Jeez! Do I have to know how to pronounce it?”

“Oh, never mind, then. Just keep living like that.”

“You little…!”

Leon raised his arm as if to shove Sophia, but stopped. He remembered her face, covered in blood after he’d hit her with a stone.

“Sorry.”

Leon pulled his knees toward himself and wrapped his arms around them. Sophia’s eyes widened at the sight of him suddenly looking so dejected.

“Are you sick? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

Sophia raised a hand to touch his forehead. Leon hurriedly slapped it away.

“Don’t!”

“No, I was just wondering if you were feeling unwell…”

“I’m not sick!”

Leon’s face was bright red. Sophia quickly realized what was going on.

“Are you embarrassed?”

“Ah…”

Leon buried his face between his knees.

“What on earth are you so embarrassed about?”

Sophia burst into laughter. Leon’s ears had turned bright red, and he continued hiding his face between his knees. Sophia pretended not to notice and left him alone.

The gentle spring breeze and the faint scents of soil and grass put her in a wonderful mood. Judging by how Leon grumbled but still didn’t leave, he didn’t seem to be in a particularly bad mood either.

They sat quietly together for quite some time.

With his head still buried against his knees, Leon turned slightly to sneak a glance at Sophia’s profile. Her bonnet obscured most of her expression. What kind of mood was she in right now? Was she feeling as good as he was?

Just as he leaned forward a little farther to see her face—

“The wet nurse must’ve gone to fetch water and fallen down the well and died.”

Sophia stood up, grumbling. Leon’s expression twisted at her sudden nonsense.

“What?”

“I’m about to die of thirst here. I wonder what I’ll be reborn as in my next life.”

Sophia muttered something incomprehensible and even began singing.

“Namoo Gwanse…”

Leon was left sitting all alone, watching her walk away with her hands clasped behind her back.

She really was strange from head to toe. That infuriating Pig.

The sun hanging directly overhead beat down mercilessly. Beads of sweat gathered on Sophia’s forehead.

She wiped it away with her dirt-caked arm. It was already as hot as summer during the daytime.

Leon quietly approached and held out a handkerchief. It was a well-made blue handkerchief. The moment she saw it, Sophia remembered the one she’d received from him that day. She had washed it carefully and left it to dry.

“Oh, goodness. I completely forgot.”

Sophia murmured as she accepted the handkerchief. Leon tilted his head.

“I mean the handkerchief from last time. I was supposed to bring it back to you.”

“Oh, forget it. You can just kee…”

Leon stopped himself before finishing the sentence.

If he asked her to return it, would they get to spend time together again?

“Make sure you bring it back.”

Leon crouched down at the edge of the field and watched Sophia work. A little while later, she stopped and looked at him.

“Would you like me to teach you?”

“Teach me what?”

“You’ve been sitting there because you’re curious about farming, haven’t you?”

Why had he been sitting there watching her? He’d actually forgotten. He couldn’t even remember why he’d come here in the first place. He just wanted to watch her. But why did he want to watch her? Because it was fun?

Sophia was smiling at him with an innocent, clear expression. Leon felt his heart begin to pound wildly.

Could it really not be a heart condition? Then what on earth was this feeling?

A sudden wave of embarrassment washed over him. He wanted to hide these feelings. Leon hurriedly took off his coat, set it aside, and stepped into the field.

“You’re right. I was curious, so that’s why I was watching.”

“Really? Then come over here, Your Highness.”

Sophia explained why they made rows in the field and how to dig into the soil. Leon nodded and listened attentively.

“Now, give it a try.”

Leon, who had been listening to her explanation with a rather foolish expression, took the small trowel and dug into the ground as she instructed.

His hands were so tiny and delicate… His movements clearly showed that he’d been raised in comfort. Sophia let out an exasperated sigh.

“Your Highness, have you never held a shovel before?”

Leon looked hurt, then quickly raised his voice.

“I-I’m the Crown Prince! I don’t have to do things like this!”

“Oh, I see. Very well.”

Sophia clicked her tongue and took the trowel away from him. Leon looked disappointed.

A little while later, the wet nurse arrived. Sophia brushed the dirt off her skirt and stood up.

“Snack time’s here.”

“Snack… what?”

The wet nurse laid out the food beneath the shade of the castle wall. Sophia plopped herself down in front of it and grabbed a sandwich with her bare hand.

Leon’s eyes widened in shock. Sophia patted the spot beside her with her palm.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to eat?”

Leon sat down beside her. The wet nurse soon brought them some cool water.

The shadows of clouds rippling over the green grass, the gentle breeze, and the sandwich with its sharp, tangy mustard flavor…

He was experiencing a feeling he’d never known before, yet had instinctively longed for.

The same feeling that had made him sneak away from his mother and fall asleep on a sack of apples.

Freedom.

The corners of Leon’s usually scowling mouth secretly lifted.

As soon as Sophia finished eating, she went straight back to work. She stretched her back and murmured,

“If only I had a proper hoe…”

Leon didn’t miss a word.

“What’s a ‘hoe’?”

“It’s a tool for digging the ground.”

“Is it different from a trowel?”

Sophia clicked her tongue and drew a picture on the ground. Honestly, there was no need to make someone feel stupid just because he didn’t know a farming tool.

“Look. The head is bent sharply like this—”

“What’s this part here?”

“That’s obviously the handle.”

Sophia gave him a rough explanation of what a hoe was and how to use it, then returned to the field.

And that was all there was to it.

Leon hadn’t been particularly serious about wanting to know, but after receiving nothing more than an explanation, he was left sitting there all alone again.

She treats me like a little kid and everything…

He couldn’t help feeling resentful toward Sophia, who seemed to have no interest in spending time with him.

Leon looked back and forth between the drawing of the hoe and Sophia. Suddenly, his little brain began turning, and a brilliant idea struck him.

Leon chuckled to himself. If everything went according to plan, he might be able to give that shameless girl quite a surprise.

Late that night.

Eleanor, who was sitting on the sofa reading a book, turned toward the sound of a knock.

“Yes?”

As soon as she answered, Hans and his chief attendant rushed into the room. The moment they saw Eleanor, they immediately fell to their knees.

“Your Imperial Majesty…!”

“Hans, what on earth is going on?”

Eleanor was startled. Hans pressed his forehead to the floor and shouted.

“Please… withdraw the marriage arrangement! Please call off this engagement!”

Eleanor was taken aback by his sudden plea.

“What did you just say?”

“I said I wish to withdraw the marriage arrangement. Your Imperial Majesty, I beg you.”

Eleanor glared at Hans. To insult her in such a manner…

“You come here in the middle of the night, and now you say something like this? What exactly do you mean?”

“Your Majesty. I understand that the northern faction has started a war. Our Kingdom of Aurora simply does not have the financial means to participate in an allied war right now.”

“Over such a trivial reason—”

“Please! I beg you, Your Majesty. Please let us call off the marriage arrangement!”

Eleanor held her tongue, struggling to suppress the anger rising within her.

There had been only one reason for pursuing a marriage alliance with a remote kingdom like Aurora.

The northern faction.

They had been in constant conflict with Grand Duke Isaac. He had already joined vassal rebellions several times and put his name to numerous petitions.

Even Hans, a man often called a puppet king, couldn’t possibly have been unaware of that. When the marriage arrangement was being actively pursued, he had clearly stated that Aurora would support Altheria.

So why now? What on earth had changed that made him want to overturn the arrangement? Had he perhaps been in contact with Ashval?

Eleanor composed herself and questioned him. No matter how hard she tried to restrain herself, her voice was tinged with contempt.

“You must know why the Empire agreed to this marriage arrangement in the first place, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.”

“And yet you commit such a discourtesy—”

Just as she was about to press him further, Hans raised his head. His chief attendant, who had been watching the situation, promptly stepped forward and presented a sheet of parchment on a tray.

Eleanor accepted it for the moment. But as soon as she unfolded the parchment, her mouth fell open.

“This is…!”

“Your Majesty, I know that what you wanted even more than having our militarily weak kingdom join the war was this.”

It was an offer so welcome that she could have reached out and snatched it from his hands.

The parchment bore the names of Aurora’s nobles who had agreed to reduce tariffs on imports from the Ashval Empire and grant the Empire joint administration rights over the harbor.

For a man who was supposed to be nothing more than a puppet king, he had managed to gather the signatures of so many influential people.

Eleanor couldn’t help seeing him in a slightly different light.

She barely managed to hide the smile spreading across her face. Summoning every last bit of strength, she spoke in her usual calm voice.

“King Hans. I have a request.”

“Anything, anything at all, Your Majesty. Please tell me.”

“If this marriage arrangement is called off in this manner, you understand that the Crown Prince’s honor will be tarnished, don’t you?”

“Yes, I understand.”

Eleanor adjusted her posture. Her bearing radiated authority.

“King Hans, this marriage arrangement must be something that we, the Empire, are seen as having rejected.”

Hans’s face brightened. Still kneeling, he raised both arms and shouted.

“Long live Her Imperial Majesty Empress Eleanor! Long live! Long live!”

The lamplight flickered in the room, illuminating Eleanor’s satisfied smile.