Chapter 8

A light breeze blew over her eyelids, and the fluffy bed shook. In the wind, Elizabeth opened her eyes unconsciously. A boy, beautiful like a doll, was sitting next to her, looking at her. His violet-colored eyes were full of sadness.

Elizabeth defined it as sadness, but it was actually a more complex emotion.

Leonhardt tried to put together the puzzles in his head through a tearful face, a slightly thicker scent of blood, and a glimpse of what that woman had just hid behind her back as he glanced past the Duchess.

‘Yes… it was like that… ‘

How ironical.

The day he first met her, he spat out an expletive toward a girl who was limping, struggling to walk on her own.

He made fun of her barely combed hair as a spiderweb, and her pretense to be elegant and dignified while she’s having a limp, and he began to talk nasty words.

Actually, it wasn’t like that.

It was clear that her hair would have been sporadic, and that she would have been unable to walk properly because of those hits on both legs under her skirt, which was invisible to others.

Leonhardt had to bite his tongue when the duke himself took off his daughter’s shoes.

For an eight-year-old, shoes with those heels did not seem to be easy to walk on, even if with fine legs.

It was entirely his misunderstanding and grumpiness.

There was nothing wrong with her. It was him who misunderstood her, and it was all his fault for taking his anger out at her and even hurt her.

Leonhardt clenched his fists so tight that the white silk sheet was messed with wrinkles. Regret, grief and anger were mixed at the same time, his head was a mess.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth thought that she really wanted to pass out this time.

She showed the worst first impression of a face that was messed up by crying to someone who would become her companion in the future.

She usually heard from her mother how wonderful His Highness was, but he was much more magnificent than the story of the Prince she heard.

Growing up in an all-white dukedom, it was her first to see a bright purple as vivid as Leonhardt’s eyes.

But why was he looking so sad? Was he like that because she didn’t match with his expectation? She should have acted a little more gracefully as her mother said, he must have been disappointed?

“Are…you alright?”

Elizabeth blinked her big eyes. It was a practice that she learned when she memorized a book, and she did not remember any court language.

“Don’t be sad…”

Elizabeth, receiving worry from someone for the first time, was mistaken that Leonhardt was grieving.

‘I’m sure you don’t like me….’

“I’m sad?! I? No, My lady, I’m worried about you right now.”

“You are…worried…?”

What is that?

Elizabeth blinked again. Each time, the long, silvery eyelashes, wet with tears blurred her front.

Leonhardt’s eyes were not as visible anymore. It was a pretty violet that she’s seen for the first time since she was born.

She wanted to see it a little more…..

“Worry is… right. It’s a heart that wants My lady’s body and mind to be peaceful.”

“…! I am not sick!”

He couldn’t find a single sincerity in the answer that came out reflexively like a mechanical doll.

Leonhardt sighed with a heavy heart.

He wanted to show the lady the best first impression. Somehow, she was completely upset.

“Can you walk?”

“Sure!”

lie.

At that time, you were limping as if you were going to fall down anytime soon.

Leonhardt stopped Elizabeth, who was trying to get up with a light gesture, and pointed to the duke, who belatedly removed her shoes.

“I think these shoes are too high-heeled for her ladyship to wear.. Are there no shoes a little more comfortable?”

“Yes, yes?”

The Duke and Duchess looked confused at the same time.

Her shoe cabinet was filled with all sorts of colorful shoes, from shoes with crystal ornaments on silk ribbons made by craftsmen, to shoes made of bent glass, but the comfortable shoes the Prince spoke of were nowhere to be found..

“Unfortunately, Isolde was so stubborn that she wanted to become an adult as soon as possible… ”

“is that so…”

Seeing the Duke casually telling him blatant lies, Leonhardt put “comfortable shoes” at the top of his list of gifts for her in his mind.

“What color does My lady like?”

Leonhardt asked Elizabeth directly.

“Yes?” Elizabeth replied, with a dumbfounded look.

“Purple. Violet-like purple, like the eyes of his highness the Crown Prince… No, no. I love white, white the most! Really!”

“Really?”

Leonhardt was watching carefully where Elizabeth’s eyes were rolling.

She was clearly looking at the duke behind his back.

Leonhardt changed his posture and completely blocked the duke out from Elizabeth’s view.

And he asked again.

“Do you really like white the most?”

Elizabeth was a little anxious when she couldn’t see her parents. Maybe it’s a good thing? Should she answer that it is white?