Chapter 8

Upon returning to reality, Yvonne aka Franz was so startled that she covered her mouth, forgetting to breathe.

“Oh my gosh…”

‘Oh my God!’ Yvonne thought to herself still shocked with the sudden turn of events.

“You still have a girly side.” Kiryan said to her.

“No. Hey, are you really Duke Kiryan Hishleger?” Yvonne still can’t believe who the man was.

“Huh?” Kiryan answered while stifling his laughter.

“Okay. Is there any problem?” It was Paradis who spoke and broke the trance between the two.

“Uh, how… No… How the hell did this happen… Oh My God! Let’s wake up from the dream! I think I’m still asleep!” Yvonne said, still trying to make a dream out of reality.

He patted her cheeks and shook his head.

Paradis clicked his tongue at him when he saw that he was pathetic.

Kiryan smiled as if it was funny.

Yvonne, who saw that smile, was more embarrassed and faced the wall.

Paradis and Kiryan simultaneously grabbed her shoulders wherein their eyes met in the air.

“This is not a dream, you idiot.” Paradis pinches her shoulder and pulls her towards him.

“Isn’t this a real dream?” With blushed cheeks, she asked, exhaling harshly.

“No. Take care of yourself. Ugh, act more like a brother?” Paradis said to Yvonne.

“You don’t have any brothers?” Kiryan asked Paradis.

“He is not my brother but I am his guardian.” Paradis points to Yvonne.

One of Kiryan’s eyebrows rose at the word “guardian”.

To Paradis’s knowledge, Yvonne had no brother. He doesn’t even know of a sister named Diana.

Then, he gently wrapped his arms around Yvonne’s shoulders and pulled her closer to him.

“Because we are like family.” he said to Kiryan. “I mean, it’s not a family more like a guardian for grown-ups. What’s more, someone who seems to still need protection is protecting them. You’d better go to Marquis Laurent and learn how to be a man.”

“Nonsense! A duke like me should go and learn some etiquette? Where did you learn the habit of visiting without greetings?” Kiryan looks like a boy compared to Paradis’s skinny body.

It was a derogatory remark which caused the awkwardness of the atmosphere, and Paradis was Kiryan’s opposite, an illegitimate child.

When the atmosphere became hostile, Yvonne quickly went between the two.

“Hey, stop it. stop it. just… For now, uh… “ she mumbled.

“Okay. It is understandable that he was very surprised because we came without notice.”

His hand paused in mid-air for a moment. Then he carefully brushed the grains of sand off Yvonne’s head.

As Kiryan remembers, even as a child, Franz “still” had good eyes, small stature, and even a fierce temper. It was the “Franz” he knew.

Because of this, Kiryan casually ignored Paradis, who was wary of him, and left the theater.

Paradis was the only one running wild in the situation. Forgetting the rehearsal, he grabbed Yvonne’s back and dragged her to the dressing room.

“Tell me everything from start to finish. If you hide something, you know that I’m gonna smack you.” he told Yvonne.

“We were friends in childhood. Who remembers a friend when he was ten! I’ve known you for a while. But how… How could he be Kiryan Hishleger?” Yvonne wondered.

“Are you sure? Didn’t Diana’s diary say that?” Paradis asked her.

“Think harder! You don’t take that kid’s money or anything like that?” He said to her with a worried expression.

“No way! I’m embarrassed too.” She went back to being Franz once again. “I’m going to refrain from doing this for the time being.”

“Okay. But you have to stay at home for a while, do you understand?” Paradis warned her.

“I know even if you don’t tell me.” Yvonne sighed.

She brushed her hair helplessly. It was the part that Kiryan had touched before. The feel of his rough fingers was clear. Yvonne shrugged her shoulders.

Even if the world collapses, they need to practice. Especially if today is “Franz’s” last day.

Franz Bernicke is the master of famous children’s children’s books.

Yvonne longed for Franz’s adventure in meeting the dragon and saving the country from the Demon King because she wasn’t as courageous as Franz.

So, saying she wanted to become Franz, a few days before her tenth birthday, she cut her hair short like a boy. But that was for a nominal reason.

It was in anticipation that if she did that, her parents would pay attention to her. Anyway, thanks to her short hair, Kiryan had mistaken Yvonne for a boy. A terribly sweet boy. That was his first impression of “Franz”.

“Men don’t cry.” If Kiryan finds out that she is a woman, she thinks he will not play with her. But then again, Yvonne is dressing up as a man.

She decided to let it go.

“Sorry.” Franz sniffed.

“Are you not going home?” Kiryan asked him.

“Yes. I’m not going home now. I’m going to live here in the forest.” She finally stopped crying and puffed her chest like a dignified man.

“You will live here?” Kiryan asked, puzzled on what’s on his mind this time.

“Can’t I live here too? I won’t eat much rice. I’m a boy too. Let me stay with you.” She begged.

“You don’t know where I sleep. Don’t be weird and go home. You don’t know how dangerous this place is.” Kiryan ignored his protests.

She looked at him, “What?”

“I don’t know. I’m not going back.” She stubbornly declined.

“It’s noisy, go to your house quickly. There will be someone waiting for you back there.” Kiryan said.

“It’s not a place.” Yvonne said, looking sad once again. “I mean, I don’t want to go home. I hate both Mom and Dad.”

Kiryan clicked his tongue. Yvonne, a ten-year-old kid, had to prove her worth even as Franz. She exclaimed confidently in her thoughts.

“I can sleep in a secret cave or in a tree house!” she happily suggested.

“There is no such thing as a cave or a house.” Kiryan said getting exhausted with their conversation going nowhere.

“Isn’t it in the book?” Yvonne wondered.

“This is not a book. Are you stupid?” Kiryan irritatingly said.

“Hehe. I hear that often.” Yvonne chuckled. Diana used to say this often. “Stupid Franz. How can you live in this harsh world because you are so naive? I’m worried about you.” remembering those words made Yvonne smile.

Kiryan took a deep breath and got up from his seat. So she also got up and followed Kiryan.

“Don’t follow me.” Kiryan brushed her off. “Don’t you follow me.” he repeated.

“Why?” she said. “Then do I have to be here alone?” she pouted.

“Whether you are alone or not is not my business.” Kiryan continued to walk leaving Yvonne behind.

She still followed him, “Weren’t we friends?”

“What nonsense.” It was a cynical tone for a child.

She ran to Kiryan recklessly and grabbed his arm. “If we ate pumpkin chocolate together, we would be friends!”

“Don’t be funny. Can you let go of my hand?” Kiryan shook off her hand.

She said nothing to Kiryan, who was being mean.

The way she was being rejected by her new found friend caused her tears to fall for the third time on that day.

“Am I crying again?” she mumbled, wiping her tears.

“Ugh! Okay. If you can follow me, you can come with me.” Yvonne’s tears made Kiryan weak-willed.

In order to hide this, Kiryan quickly crossed the forest path. Yvonne was only used to the paved road, but in the forest, the roots of the trees sticking out. The forest road is unfamiliar, so Yvonne, no, Franz is notable.

She followed him at a slow pace. She fell over and over again, but she got up bravely and found Kiryan.

She chased him because she didn’t want to go back home. Home was a lonely place for her, for Yvonne. All of her parents’ attention was directed to Diana, who often felt like she had become a bum.

“Hey! Come with me!” Kiryan shouted far ahead.

Kiryan glanced back at her and looked at the tree nearby. Then he climbed a tall tree at once.

Yvonne, who can’t climb trees, asks him how she looked up and rolled up her sleeves then she climbed the tree.

“Kiryan!” she jumped and hung with all her might, but it all was about going up to the chest. She fell to the ground and held back the tears that were about to burst out. Then she tried again and again. Kiryan ignored Yvonne and climbed into the tree trunk.

She leaned over and closed her eyes. After several attempts, she gave up and Kiryan dropped her off. She decided to wait for him to come back.

‘Is it because I am tired from walking many steps?’ Her sleepiness hit her and she fell into a deep sleep.

When she woke up, no one was with her. A little bit of fear washed over her.

“Kiryan? Kiryan!” Yvonne found him and shouted.

The sunset pushed through the leaves and the sky was shone. She walked quickly and went deep into the woods for a long time.

Upon entering, a shabby town appeared. She was welcomed by a foul stench and the damp, sunken air was filled with a sense of defeat.

Standing in front of him the worst city on earth, the poorest of the poor, Yvonne was left speechless. Being awoken from a nightmare and finding herself in an unfamiliar place, she spoke with a voice like an ant and called Kiryan again.

“Where are you?” As she passes by the vacant lot, the neighborhood children chase Yvonne. Unlike the neat clothes she was wearing, she was dirty and worn out. The grime clinged to her face, and her skin was full of dust.

“Ah, nah… I am Franz…” she quietly introduced herself.

“I don’t think he’s from this town.” said the one kid who still had a snot dangling on his nose.

“Yes. I’ve been looking for Kiryan.” Yvonne said to them.

“Kiryan? Is it Kiryan Heger?” this time it was the kid with a missing front tooth.

“Heger? I do not know. It’s just Kiryan. His hair is black and his eyes are golden. And he’s very handsome.” She shyly described him to them.

“Pu ha ha ha! Isn’t this kid an idiot? Kiryan?” They laughed at his description.

“You are looking for Guerne!” said the little girl with a ponytail.

“What is that bag? What’s inside-”, “You smell good. That dress, my size!”, “They look similar.” they bombarded him with comments wherein she cannot hear anything else nor speak with them.

The children surrounded Yvonne and the distance narrowed. She was terrified of them and hugged her belongings against them.

“Give me the bag.” A big boy demanded for her things.

“I don’t want to…” Yvonne protested.

“Do you want to get hurt? If I say give it to me, give it to me immediately!” The big boy shouted at him while making a balled fist aiming at his face. Then, a tall boy took the bag.

At the end of the fight, she was pushed back and slumped to the floor. The boy opened her bag and her eyes lit up. “This kid is really rich. Look at this!” the children scrambled to have a look and at the same time get something from his bag.

“Please… Take me to Kiryan…” Yvonne said while still getting up from being pushed down, aching all over.

“Hey, this is mine. Peter, Moritz, the three of us share.” The tall boy said to his friends.

“You will lose.” The boy who’s holding the bag looked at the direction where the voice came from.

“It’s mine…” It was just before she burst into tears. At that moment, Kiryan appeared behind the boy.

His bright eyes met her gaze. Kiryan’s face under the rosy sunset was utterly gorgeous. It’s like a kind of elegance that doesn’t suit in a slum. There was something in his natural hand gestures that were elegant and his appearance was aristocratic.

‘Kiryan!’ She wanted to shout, but her mouth was frozen in fear. Kiryan glanced at her and the boys and turned around. He ignored Franz.

“Kiryan, did you properly ask for a drink? I thought he was just a maniac, but he was useful too.” The boy asked him and laughed with his friends.

“Like an idiot!” Peter and Moritz laughed at him.

“Don’t curse Kiryan!” Franz ran towards the boy with her whole body and punched him in the forehead. The boy shed a nosebleed and screamed. The other boys quickly grabbed her and pushed her away. When Franz fell, they kicked her and cursed her.

“Ugh. Kiryan.” Franz cried.

Kiryan was Yvonne’s first friend. It was like that for her. She is the only aristocrat in the region, and at least within the empire and because she is a woman from a long-established family, it was difficult for the other people to approach her in the neighborhood. She was sad that her first friend turned away from her. So, she called out Kiryan’s name the whole time she was beaten.

“Ouch!” Franz continued to call Kiryan’s name despite being ignored and getting beaten by the children from the slums.

***

Yvonne woke up and looked around reflexively. The imperial palace could be seen through the slightly opened windows.

“Miss, what are you doing?” Beth asked.

“It’s nothing.” Yvonne assured her.

Yvonne gathered her belongings and got out of the wagon. It’s been a week since she first met Kiryan. She didn’t live as Franz and didn’t leave the house without Paradis, but she was not confined to the residence. She wanted to make sure Selena Waltz wasn’t on the list of testers for the Third Imperial Palace Examination above everything else.

Yvonne was tired of dreaming about dying in different ways every night.

‘I’m sorry Selena Waltz…’ She thought to herself.

Yvonne walked down the hallway towards the Imperial Palace library in order to return the books she had borrowed the other day, but as she was reaching the corner…

“Huh?”

Kiryan Hishleger appeared.