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#12. I Want to Win Your Heart
Franz stopped crying abruptly.
It seemed hard for him to believe that his true identity had been discovered.
“How did you know? My shoes? Or my voice?”
“No. Thanks to the knights.”
“They treated me like cargo. They didn’t even show respect for the Crown Prince. How dare they…”
For a moment, Franz seemed to forget the small argument we’d had earlier and tilted his head in curiosity. It looked like he was trying to suppress his sorrow.
For the first time, he looked… cute.
“The knights didn’t even ask who you really were.”
“So what?”
“That means they knew. They knew you weren’t an ordinary servant and that it was fine for you to roam freely around the palace. Who else but the ten-year-old Crown Prince could do that?”
“Huh. Not bad. Anything else?”
Franz’s voice had softened considerably as he replied. I added a few more clues.
“You didn’t block the small passages either. That means it wouldn’t have mattered if you tried. You’ve been sneaking in here even before I arrived.”
“…”
“And that filthy uniform itself is ridiculous. Cleanliness and neatness are the duties of a palace servant. Aren’t your lackeys from noble families?”
“I don’t want to talk about those idiots,” Franz muttered sulkily.
Though he tried not to show it, I could tell he wanted to hear more of my reasoning.
“Any other evidence?”
“Your cheap hat doesn’t suit the palace. If you were a real servant, it would have been confiscated immediately.”
“My hat is cheap?!”
“Isn’t it? I think I saw something similar at the market.”
“Don’t insult my treasure!”
It was ridiculous to call that worn-out hat a treasure. He was as hard to read as his father, Nikolai.
“Lunch is served, Lady Elizabeth.”
It was the signal for mealtime.
Under the canary window, there was another small, flat door. Thanks to it, trays of food could be passed without unlocking the main door.
I wondered if the previous occupant of this room had been trapped as well. It didn’t seem like this feeding hatch had been made hastily just for me.
“Today’s menu is butter-roasted duck, lavender jelly, salad, and potato cream soup.”
Every dish on the gleaming silverware smelled fresh and savory. I wanted something a little spicier, but I couldn’t be picky.
“You should eat, so go back,” I told Franz, gesturing toward the two-person dining table.
As I placed a napkin on his lap, he pouted.
“You lack manners. Offering food to a guest is common courtesy, you know?”
“Isn’t that a bit rich coming from you? You’re not a guest—you’re just an unruly intruder.”
“So you really dislike kids!”
“Thanks for noticing.”
“Do you really think you could be my tutor? Absolutely impossible!”
I lightly ignored Franz’s indignation.
I spread a leaf of lettuce wide, placed a piece of duck on it, and drizzled it with honey mustard sauce. It wasn’t comparable to a garlic-and-paste-filled lettuce wrap, but the ingredients were good, so it tasted excellent.
“The duck is unusually tender today.”
As I chewed the lettuce wrap, a clear rumble came from Franz’s stomach.
rumblerumble
Franz’s eyes widened in embarrassment, and I felt equally flustered.
“Franz, are you… hungry?”
“I’m not!”
“I heard your stomach growl.”
“It’s just… a whistle. Something I do when I’m bored.”
He faked a whistling motion while giving a ridiculous excuse. Then came another rumble—far louder than his supposed whistle.
Franz’s cute face turned bright red, like a roasted sweet potato. Even the notorious troublemaker couldn’t be ignored when he was hungry, especially a small, thin boy like him.
“Do you want some? It might not suit your taste.”
I didn’t expect him to actually eat. He was the kind of boy who treated top-tier dishes made by a personal chef as trash.
Yet here he was, his pretty green eyes lighting up.
“Really? I can eat it?”
“Y-Yes, of course!”
“I’ll just have a little, then.”
Franz ran toward the table, neatly tying the napkin around his neck and starting to eat my portion. He had been so wary of me before, yet he came running for food like a true child.
‘Is this really the picky eater? He’s eating everything without spilling a thing.’
Even his refined manners had a princely grace to them. Watching him eat so eagerly made my own appetite stir.
While tearing some white bread, I asked him, “Why did the servants treat you badly?”
“They never did.”
“I heard they stripped you and hit you with wooden swords?”
“Just desserts. They deceived me.”
“What did they lie about?”
“…”
“Why did you chase out the previous tutor?”
Franz looked up at me silently. The hostility and sarcasm that once glimmered in his clear green eyes were gone. He had realized that bluster and insults wouldn’t work on me.
“May I give you a piece of advice?”
Franz’s tone turned serious. How many faces did this boy even have? Why did he need so many?
It sent a chill through me, just as it did when Nikolai had removed his Casanova mask.
“Stay quiet if you want to survive. Don’t assume you’re safe just because you’re surrounded by knights.”
“Is that from experience?”
“Don’t try to learn too much. Consider it my advice in return for your honesty.”
I was briefly grateful he took my words as advice, but his unnaturally calm demeanor for a child worried me. I wasn’t supposed to be concerned about celebrities or tycoons—but here I was, worrying about the Crown Prince.
Franz was breaking into a cold sweat again.
“Shall I call the physician?”
“No need.”
“Your forehead’s flushed. You don’t look well.”
“I’ll be fine soon. Don’t worry.”
“Still, you should be examined. What if it’s something serious?”
“I know my body best!”
Franz slammed his fist on the table. His reaction was different from children afraid of injections—it was sharp and instinctive. I could feel his deep-rooted distrust and fear of physicians.
‘Should I tell Nikolai? But he wouldn’t care… Ah! I know what to do!’
I smacked my knee as a clever plan came to mind. Just then, a knight outside the door announced Nikolai’s arrival.
“The Emperor will arrive shortly. This time, he has ordered you to be awake.”
Franz and I exchanged startled glances.
‘What do we do? There’s no time to escape!’
Before I could decide, the lock clicked open.
Elizabeth’s words were faster than usual today. She seemed both excited and anxious.
“I don’t understand why I have to stay locked up. You said you’d appoint me as the Crown Prince’s tutor, right?”
Every time her lips fluttered, a sweet fragrance wafted out. The tension I had been holding all night eased a little.
Even last night, the wolves hadn’t left Nikolai alone. And neither had the women waiting for his touch.
Though they hadn’t allowed him to run freely, the wolf persistently stirred his instincts.
“Enjoy life, Nikki. It makes living a little more fun.”
Though he never admitted it, Nikolai feared the wolf inside him. He worried he might one day fall for its schemes.
The women who became empresses believed they had captured him with their beauty. They didn’t know that Nikolai endured the stench with difficulty, that he despised this feeding time for the wolf.
He had restrained his desire to flee to the canary room among the groping hands of women. He wanted to see Elizabeth, even this morning.
I didn’t want to admit it, but I couldn’t help myself. I endured and endured until I finally came under the pretext of a palace inspection. And it had been less than a day.
‘Does this count as enjoying life? It’s awkward and confusing, but…’
Of course, it wasn’t all unpleasant. Every time Elizabeth and I quarreled, my face burned. It was hard to hide my eagerness.
“Tutors get privileges. Free access to the palace is one of them. Though I can’t guarantee you’ll really become the tutor.”
“So you mean I have to win the Crown Prince’s heart first.”
“Should be easy for you, right? You are, after all, a body meant to seduce the Emperor.”
“!”
“What’s today’s strategy, Elizabeth?”
Nikolai tucked her loose hair behind her ear. Even the wolf stirred women with such small gestures.
Elizabeth flinched slightly every time his hand brushed against her. Her dark eyes trembled like a country girl seeing a stranger. Pretending to be indifferent, she unknowingly provoked him further.
‘Unlike the women in the harem. I want to touch everything—the hair, the neck, the lips.’
Elizabeth murmured, barely parting her lips.
“Save those words for later.”
“Why can’t it be now?”
“It’s broad daylight. Someone might… hear.”
“So pretending to be modest is your new strategy?”
“It’s my natural temperament.”
If anyone learned that Elizabeth Emster spoke like this, they would laugh. She differed completely from the Elizabeth who once dominated attention, teased handsome men, and satisfied her vanity through affection.
Had she truly changed after the fever? Her loosely tied crimson hair and simple dress didn’t seem staged.
Like the Queen of Flowers, her natural beauty outshone her already striking appearance. Even Nikolai, ignorant of women, couldn’t fail to notice.
“Why are you wearing that? You brought it by carriage from Emster Mansion, didn’t you?”
“They only had flashy, tight, uncomfortable party dresses. I’ll need a tailor.”
“I’ll summon the best craftsman in the Empire. You can choose the finest silk and any jewels you like.”
“I have plenty of money.”
“Then do it. I want to win your heart too.”
Elizabeth’s lips parted in surprise. Between them, her small, white teeth caught Nikolai’s attention. Her blinking eyes and long eyelashes, which seemed to whisper with every flutter, did the same.
When the seduction game was proposed, Nikolai dismissed it as a childish waste of time. Even the contract was merely an excuse to possess her mysterious scent. He thought he had no competitive spirit—but for some reason, he couldn’t stop taking it seriously.
‘If I win the game, I can have all of Elizabeth. No need for conscience. Impulse or curiosity—it doesn’t matter to the winner.’
Nikolai didn’t understand relationships between men and women. Love felt even more confusing. Contracts seemed simpler, more convenient, more profitable.
If the game was won by capturing her heart, then winning was enough.
‘Doesn’t matter what I do to win, as long as I keep the contract.’
He couldn’t have guessed the boomerang effect this might have. He didn’t expect Elizabeth to make such a bold demand:
“If you want my heart, return the heirloom of the Nettleton family.”
