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Chapter 11
Though he was looking straight ahead, he could clearly feel the gaze brushing against his cheek. Following that sensation, Franz slowly and indifferently turned his head.
With a movement sharp enough to make a “whoosh” sound, the other person quickly lowered her head and pretended not to notice him. It was that woman again.
At some point, she had begun appearing along his routes. Sometimes she sat on a bench reading a book, other times
she scribbled something in a notebook on the grass. On certain days, she would follow him from a distance along his
path, only to disappear suddenly—so briefly that he couldn’t tell whether she had been following him at all or had simply been heading the same way.
‘What is this—an amateur attempt at stalking that’s both blatant and clumsy? If you’re going to tail someone, at least do it properly, or don’t bother at all.’
It was the most obvious, poorly executed attempt at surveillance anyone could imagine.
Franz had exceptionally sharp instincts. That was why he had no choice but to notice her.
Well, most people would have noticed anyway unless they were specially trained.
If it were necessary, he could eliminate someone like this amateur stalker with ease. Even if the opponent were a skilled knight, it would be no different. The only reason he hadn’t acted was because she was simply too clumsy to be a threat.
At first, he had thought, ‘She’ll stop soon,’ and didn’t pay much attention. After five days passed, he simply observed her out of curiosity.
He decided he would ignore her for now and question her when she eventually revealed her true intentions. But contrary to expectations, her awkward stalking continued. At that point, curiosity began to grow.
‘It’s a novel approach, in a way. A new method to attract attention?’
“Hans.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Don’t turn your head too obviously. Do you see the woman in the water-blue dress at about four o’clock?”
“…Yes, I see her.”
“Find out about her.”
“About… that lady?”
Hans looked at him as if to say, Have your tastes changed?
Franz replied without hesitation.
“Yes.”
“Even so, she seems… well…”
Hans hesitated, flustered.
Franz cut straight through his hesitation.
“What? She doesn’t suit a notorious womanizer who doesn’t stop women from coming and never chases after them?”
Hans flinched, realizing he had been completely read.
“Cough. Please don’t exaggerate.”
Franz didn’t press further.
“That woman has been following me. For a week.”
“A whole week?”
Hans became slightly alarmed, but Franz’s expression remained indifferent, making it difficult to gauge the seriousness of the situation.
“Yes. Look at her. Pretending not to look while clearly looking.”
“….”
That’s not pretending not to look. She simply isn’t looking at all.
Hans stared at Franz with a conflicted expression. The prince didn’t seem to be lying, but it was hard to believe him either. From what he could observe, the woman didn’t appear interested in the prince at all.
“What is that look supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, Your Highness.”
“She’s suspicious.”
“In what way?”
“Hans.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“You know how people look at me, don’t you?”
“Yes. Too well.”
Hans agreed without hesitation this time.
Prince Franz was someone who naturally drew attention. Hans, who had served by his side for years, knew exactly how men and women looked at him.
“But that woman… she doesn’t look at me like that at all.”
That was true. There was no admiration, no fixation, no hostility in her gaze when it occasionally met his.
“Yes, that is correct. I’ve never seen someone like her before. But what exactly is wrong with that?”
“What’s wrong? Everything is wrong.”
Hans, usually quick to understand Franz’s words, found himself unusually confused today.
Franz continued.
“Every woman reacts when she sees me. They all do.”
“That’s true.”
That had always been the case in Franz’s life.
“So how can she look at me and not react at all? Isn’t that strange?”
Hans thought, So… is His Highness angry because she doesn’t like him? but he couldn’t say it aloud. Even so, it did feel strange.
“Then we should investigate her. That is unusual.”
“Exactly.”
“But is that really all?”
“What do you mean?”
“The reason you asked me to look into her… is it just because you found her strange?”
“What other reason would there be? Don’t overthink it. Just find out quickly.”
Franz’s indifferent expression did not change.
Hans looked at the young lady again.
She wasn’t particularly eye-catching, but she wasn’t plain either. Still, she did not seem like someone who would interest the prince. Not because of her appearance, but because of the atmosphere she gave off.
“Yes, understood. I’ll also prepare your carriage for after your evening engagement.”
Hans had come to remind him of a royal dinner invitation.
“Fine.”
“If you do not attend, Her Majesty the Queen says Lady Sylvia Winston will stay at Grenville Castle for the entirety of her visit to Villne.”
And not just stay—she would undoubtedly bring a parade of marriageable young ladies every day.
“…Then I suppose I have no choice but to attend out of fear of that threat.”
Hans bowed and left.
Franz, from the border city of Perington in Lapland, thought briefly of his aunt Sylvia Winston, who was visiting.
Naturally, that led him to think of the neighboring country of Altria, and his mouth turned slightly bitter.
When his aunt arrived, the social season would begin in full force. And with it, the relentless pressure of marriage proposals.
Lost in thought for a moment, Franz turned his head again.
The spot where Iella had been standing was now empty.
“Ah… I’m exhausted.”
As soon as she arrived home, Iella undressed, quickly showered, and collapsed onto her bed.
Her body, strained from concentrating while tailing Prince Franz, finally sent out all its signals at once. She felt so tired she could fall asleep immediately.
She had barely slept properly for days; her body felt heavy like a soaked sponge.
But now that she was in bed, sleep didn’t come.
Iella stared blankly at the canopy ceiling before forcing herself to sit up.
“Haah… I just want to sleep properly.”
Ever since she began stalking him, she had been having nightmares every night—dreams of being caught and dragged away by royal guards. It was terrifying enough to rob her of sleep.
“No matter how scary it is, I can’t be this timid. I need to finish this quickly.”
She opened her notebook, flipping through pages filled with sketches of Prince Franz. Some were quite detailed. Yet all of them lacked eyes.
“How am I supposed to draw him properly like this?”
What she had seen on the first day was far from enough.
“Honestly… my imagination is so poor.”
She didn’t even know whether his eyes were blue or deep azure. She had lived her life not knowing—and somehow managed fine—but now it was frustratingly difficult to depict.
There are colors in the world that cannot be captured in a single word. Human eyes were the same.
Instead of simply calling them blue, she wanted to capture which blue, what shade, what depth.
“What should I do? If I meet him directly, I’ll get caught… I almost got caught on the first day. I’m lucky I haven’t been caught yet, but still…”
She couldn’t continue this distant, passive stalking forever. Watching him only briefly from afar had clear limits.
“Should I bump into him on purpose? …No, no. That’s too obvious. He’ll think I’m trying to flirt. I don’t want that.”
She couldn’t think of a better plan, and nothing else came to mind.
“Tomorrow… I’ll definitely follow him more closely. Maybe something will come up.”
With that, she resolved herself and picked up a stick of charcoal. She began sketching, imagining Prince Franz in her mind.
In the quiet room, only the sound of scratching filled the air. Occasionally, the rustle of turning paper echoed, then more scratching. Despite her exhaustion, she focused entirely on the drawing.
“Iella, miss.”
Betty knocked and entered the room.
“Yes, Betty.”
“Were you drawing again?”
“Yes. I’ve taken on a new commission.”
“Oh… dinner is ready. You should come downstairs.”
“What? Already?”
Startled, Iella looked at the clock. It was already past seven.
“I lost track of time…”
She had been sitting in the same position for four hours; her body felt stiff and sore.
“Ah? This person… it’s him, right?”
Betty asked, startled as she looked at the drawing.
“Yes. That’s him.”
“Really? But you dislike him, don’t you?”
“I didn’t want to, but I ended up taking the job.”
“What? But you never accept commissions involving him…”
Betty lowered her voice. “Because you might get caught.”
Iella also lowered hers.
“That’s just how things turned out. I’ll do this once… and then never again.”
