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Chapter 14
René’s Test
In early March, when daffodils were blooming everywhere, Leopold received leave for the national founding day and caught the first morning train to René. Wearing his cadet uniform under a light spring coat and a backpack slung over one shoulder, he stood before her house with his cap in hand and rang the doorbell. Unable to wait, he knocked quickly—and soon heard hurried footsteps rushing down the stairs before the door flew open. René appeared before him.
“What on earth are you doing here?”
As soon as he stepped inside, Leopold dropped his backpack to the floor and cupped her face in both hands, kissing her before she could say anything else. Her wide-eyed surprise was so adorable that he couldn’t stop himself from laughing softly and pressing a few more quick kisses to her lips.
“What’s with the backpack? How long are you planning to stay?”
But Leopold, still holding her hands tightly, said nothing. Sensing something was off, René looked up at him nervously.
“Don’t tell me… you got caught last time and expelled?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
Avoiding her sharp gaze, Leopold walked into the sitting room and sank onto the sofa. René immediately realized he had done something reckless again. The way he avoided her eyes, the anxious way his fingers rubbed his temple—he was clearly hiding something.
René crossed her arms and glared. Leopold straightened up suddenly, forcing a bright smile.
“Let’s run away together.”
“Oh, really?”
René rose to her feet and motioned with her eyes for him to follow. Taking a deep breath, Leopold did as she said. She led him into the kitchen, opened the back door, and crooked her finger toward the yard.
Completely puzzled, Leopold stepped outside. René pointed toward the pile of firewood stacked under the eaves.
“You can handle that, right?”
“Handle what?”
“Chop the wood.”
“What does chopping wood have to do with running away?”
René brushed past him and quickly climbed the back steps. Turning at the door, she shouted,
“Or should I run away with you and freeze to death?”
Then she slammed the door and disappeared inside.
Leopold sighed and picked up the axe. Even to his untrained eyes, the woodpile looked enough to last through both spring and winter. But there was no helping it—he lifted the axe and began splitting logs one after another.
When he had finished roughly a quarter of the pile, he trudged back into the kitchen. On the table sat a shriveled piece of bread and a glass of water. Leopold slowly turned to look at René, silently protesting the unfairness of it all, before sitting down.
“I think living with you would be… very entertaining,” he said dryly.
He bit into the tough bread, crumbs scattering across the table and floor. When he stood, René handed him a broom. Laughing, Leopold knelt down and began picking up the crumbs one by one with his fingers.
Thunk!
“Ow!”
He’d smacked his head against the table while standing up, sending René into a fit of laughter.
“All right,” she said between chuckles. “Let’s go shopping.”
She thrust a shopping basket into his arms. Leopold brightened instantly. Shopping together! It felt just like they were newlyweds. But before he could head out the door, René’s sharp voice stopped him.
“Where do you think you’re going dressed like that? Change your clothes—there’s a set upstairs!”
He dashed up, tossed his academy uniform onto the floor, and changed into the casual clothes hanging on the wall. When he came back down, basket in hand, he extended his other hand to her.
“Shall we?”
René smiled and took his arm. Leopold’s heart leapt—shopping hand in hand like this felt almost unreal.
Unfortunately, shopping with René turned out to be grueling. She handed him a 30-kilogram sack of potatoes, then bought a bundle of carrots and a bag of onions. Dust clung to his clothes, and when he tried brushing it off, René burst out laughing.
Ah, of course. This was a test.
Catching on, Leopold steadied himself and carried everything without complaint. Just when he thought they were done, René stopped at a crate of apples.
“Should I make you apple pie?”
Leopold immediately nodded, already picturing a warm pie fresh from the oven with whipped cream on top. René lifted her chin slightly.
“Pay for them.”
He fished around in his pocket, hesitated, then handed her something. She frowned. Too little? He added another coin. René stared at him like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“You just handed over two gold coins for apples?”
“I did?”
He looked down to see two shiny gold coins in his palm. René shook her head, utterly defeated.
“This is hopeless, Leopold. Completely hopeless.”
And with that, she left him standing in the middle of the market, weaving away through the crowd.
Leopold, arms full of groceries, trudged home and set everything down in the kitchen. He looked around and found René lying on the sofa with her eyes closed, brow furrowed as if she had a headache.
“I’ll get you some medicine,” he offered.
He fetched a bottle of painkillers and a glass of water, only to find her sitting up and looking straight at him.
“You know,” she said, “if I really did run away with you, we’d be broke in three days.”
“I’d find a way to earn money.”
“Doing what?”
“…Chopping wood?”
René laughed and shook her head.
“If we run away, we’ll have no way to live. You’d eventually go crawling back to your father, and what about me?”
Her gray eyes hardened.
“What do you think happens to a woman who runs away with the empire’s crown prince?”
When he stayed silent, she continued quietly,
“I’d probably be scarred, disfigured. No one would hire me, so I’d have to sell myself—to men at train stations or in storage houses. And then I’d get sick and die on the streets within a couple of years.”
Leopold stepped closer, his face set.
“I’d never let that happen.”
“It would happen,” she said firmly.
“You think I’d let you end up like that?”
“Leopold. Boys like you—raised with servants around them—are all the same. A pretty girl like me—”
She stifled a laugh at calling herself “pretty,” but her tone turned serious again.
“—you spend one season with her, and you convince yourself it’s love. That’s natural. You grew up alone in a grand house, and once you get close to someone—”
“Stop it, Miss Martin!”
Leopold shot to his feet. She was repeating the exact words his father once said to him. Unable to stand it, he clenched his fists, glaring. René, still seated, stared down at the table.
“It’s time to go back, Leopold.”
He stood there, hands on his hips, staring at her. Then, glancing toward the window, he slowly moved beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Go back to where you belong,” she murmured.
“That’s why I’m here,” he said.
“Don’t joke around.”
“René… where I belong is with you.”
He buried his face against her chest, confessing softly,
“To be honest… I already missed the last train. If I leave now, I’ll have to sleep at the station.”
René pushed him away, but he only tightened his hold, laying his head on her lap. She glared down at him, but he peeked up at her with one eye and said,
“Then instead of running away, will you grant me one wish?”
René laughed. What else could a young man in love possibly wish for but something involving a bed? She nodded, amused.
“Be my partner at the spring ball in April,” he said.
“What? The ball?”
“The cadet academy’s spring ball.”
He looked up at her pleadingly, and René sighed, her resolve softening. If agreeing to attend would make him give up his wild ideas, then so be it.
Leopold grinned and hugged her tightly, but he still made her promise several times over.
“You said you’d come to the New Year’s ball too, and you didn’t… mmph…!”
“Ah—no, that’s not—mm!”
“You can’t stand me up this time, okay? Not for the April ball!”
Half-dazed, René nodded, and he kissed her deeply, smiling with satisfaction.
Not long after Leopold returned to the academy, a letter arrived.
Cunning Leopold. The ball was your plan all along, wasn’t it? I’ll be there on the last Friday of April—to kick your butt. Wait for me.
Sweet, innocent René—only realizing it now. Grinning from ear to ear, Leopold kissed her handwriting over and over again.
