Chapter 9 – The Crown Prince and the Little Girl Who Didn’t Back Down
The old servant froze in place.
“Do you not know who this person is?” I shouted, still standing between them.
“This is His Highness the Crown Prince of the Empire!”
The servant blinked, looking between me and the boy with a confused, almost horrified expression.
I spread my arms wide, pushing him farther away from the prince.
“If you treat him roughly, you’ll lose your head on the guillotine!”
“W–What…?”
He opened and closed his mouth in disbelief.
I ignored him and turned to Prince Tian instead.
“Right, Your Highness? This grandpa was totally in the wrong, wasn’t he?”
The prince just stared at me blankly, his face pale as a ghost.
“Your Highness?” I asked again and again.
Finally, he gave a tiny nod. Barely a twitch, but enough for me.
I spun back toward the old man.
“See? You’re in big trouble now!”
The servant stiffened completely.
Even Tian was staring at me now, eyes wide.
I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows in mock seriousness.
“Hitting or grabbing the crown prince counts as high treason, you know.”
“W–What!”
The word “treason” made him shout in panic.
He was so flustered he didn’t even seem to realize I’d just used words way too advanced for a four-year-old.
“Treason?! I was just following Lady Karin’s orders! She told me to bring His Highness back! You wouldn’t understand, child—”
I blinked at him innocently.
“But you’re a servant, aren’t you?
Servants can’t grab or drag the crown prince, no matter what happens.
That’s considered disrespect toward the royal family.”
Saying “disrespect to the royal family” made my stomach twist a little—
especially since I had just called him “the ex-prince” not long ago.
But the old man’s face had already gone pale.
“Th–that’s not…!”
“And besides,” I said sweetly, tilting my head, “who told you that Lady Karin’s orders were above the prince’s?
He outranks her.”
Then I looked away dramatically, shaking my head.
“It’s weird that you don’t know something even a four-year-old does.
How embarrassing.”
And then, just loud enough for him to hear, I muttered,
“Maybe he’s not very smart…”
* * *
Servant Jacques turned red, then white, then red again.
He sputtered, fumed, and stomped his foot.
But in the end, he didn’t dare say another word.
He simply bowed stiffly and stormed out of the room.
Finally, it was quiet again.
The prince sat there with his shoulders tense and his hands clasped tightly.
Then a small voice spoke from beside him.
“Your Highness. That old man was scary, wasn’t he?”
Tian turned his head sharply.
The silver-haired little girl from earlier was looking up at him, eyes wide with concern.
Before he could answer, she added quickly,
“O-oh! But it’s okay! I mean, he was scary. What kind of grandpa acts like that?”
Tian’s expression darkened.
Because she wasn’t wrong.
He was afraid.
Afraid of Jacques. Afraid of everything that had happened since that day.
Since the day his mother died.
He still remembered the words Lady Karin, the new empress, had said to him then—words that never stopped echoing in his head.
***
“His Majesty is very disappointed in you.”
He hadn’t been close to her before.
She was just the empress, and he the crown prince—they shared the palace, nothing more.
“His Majesty believes it was your birth that killed the late Empress.”
Her black eyes had gleamed coldly in the candlelight.
Her pale hand had gently stroked the Emperor’s back as he slept beside her.
“You know that after you were born, the Empress’s health never recovered, don’t you?
Because of you, she could no longer bear children.”
Even as a child, Tian had heard the whispers.
How his mother’s body had grown weak after childbirth.
How she could no longer conceive.
How the Emperor had started visiting her less and less.
“The Emperor lost the woman he loved because of you.
If I were him, I’d have thrown you out of the palace long ago.”
He had gone numb that night. Completely blank.
“Those who lose His Majesty’s favor never last long in the palace.
And I don’t think you’ll be an exception.”
He knew it was true.
He’d seen it before—servants hanged for small mistakes, nobles exiled for the Emperor’s anger.
His small body had trembled.
Now, with his mother gone and the Emperor’s hatred growing,
He felt like a trapped animal waiting for the end.
“If you wish to live, stay quiet.
Do nothing.
Let me be the one to soften His Majesty’s heart.”
Lady Karin’s calm voice and that peaceful sleeping face of the Emperor beside her—
Even at that young age, Tian had understood she was the one in control.
And since then, the palace had belonged to her.
The Emperor doted on her constantly.
And everyone around Tian—from the maids to the guards—answered to her.
Even Jacques.
Everything Tian did — what he ate, what he read, when he slept —
It all went straight back to Lady Karin.
Sometimes, he wished he could just get angry.
But the only emotion he had ever truly learned was fear.
Especially around people like her… or Jacques.
And that was why, when this small, silver-haired girl had stepped between him and Jacques,
His whole world had stopped.
***
“Grandpa! What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Don’t you know who this is? This is the Crown Prince!”
“Right, Your Highness? He’s the one in the wrong!”
His pounding heart had finally calmed then.
And when she turned to him with those shining ivory-colored eyes—
so firm, so brave—
It almost hurt to look.
No one had ever stood in front of him like that before.
She wasn’t defying him.
She was protecting him.
And it had been so long since anyone had done that
that he didn’t even know how to respond.
“See? It’s fine now,” she said, puffing her cheeks a little.
“I told him not to treat you like that. You’re safe.”
She kept chattering, oblivious to how much her words stirred him.
But could it really be fine?
Tian knew Jacques wouldn’t stop.
He never did.
Sometimes, when Tian made even a small mistake, the old man’s hand would strike his face before he could react.
And Tian had never once resisted.
He believed Lady Karin’s words—that silence was survival.
That obedience was the only way to live.
He had grown up learning how to be afraid.
Until now.
***
“Come here,” the girl said suddenly.
Tian blinked as she went to the bedside table and came back with a white cloth.
Then, without warning, she pressed it to his forehead.
“Wh-what are you—what are you doing?!”
He flinched, startled.
But she ignored him, pressing the cloth firmly against his skin.
“You’re sweating so much, you’ll catch a cold! Honestly, Your Highness…”
“…”
“…Never mind.”
Her sudden pause made him bristle.
“What? What were you going to say?”
She just gave him a pouty look, refusing to answer.
He frowned and pushed her hand away.
“Come on, say it. What were you going to—”
He stopped.
Her face was suddenly very close.
Her pale eyes glimmered like marbles, her breath brushing his cheek.
“Wh-what were you…”
His gaze dropped slightly—
to her flushed cheeks, to her small, soft-looking lips.
She was frowning, looking utterly unimpressed with him.
And yet… he found himself speechless.
Up close, she was beautiful.
No, more than that.
She was the prettiest person he’d ever seen in his life.
And before he could recover, she folded her arms with a deep sigh.
“Fine, I give up, Your Highness.”
She gestured at her clothes.
“Take off your top for a moment.”
“Wh—what?!”
Tian’s face turned bright red in an instant.
