I’ll Seduce The Tyrant Instead of My Bias!

The intruder who burrowed through the thorny holly hedge was neither a stalker nor a spy. He was merely a young boy who appeared to be no older than ten years old.

“Who are you?”

“……”

“Don’t you know you’re not supposed to come in here? Haven’t the knights warned you about this?”

The boy, wearing a tattered hunting cap, remained silent. He simply looked up at me with his emerald green eyes, which almost glittered like gold in the sunlight. Despite the rebellious look in his eyes, the boy was as cherubic as an angel from a Raphael’s masterpiece. His rosy cheeks were adorned with a radiant flush, and his eyelashes were long and neatly arranged, resembling those of a doll. Despite his noble appearance, he wore jade green jacket and pants, commonly worn by the lower-class servants. Perhaps they were hand-me-downs? The loose sleeves were messily stained with black ink. However, what caught my attention more were the boy’s hands, covered in numerous wounds and scratches. His small hands were red and bruised.

‘Is he an apprentice servant? Was he being beaten or even bullied?’

Memories of my childhood, so devoid of happiness that even hollow words couldn’t describe, resurfaced.

“Hey, I heard your mom and dad cheated on each other, then abandoned you and ran away?”

“Our moms said not to play with kids like you!”

“Don’t act all cocky. You’re just an orphan!”

 Children bore no ill will, you said? They didn’t know any better? What bullshit that was. Children weren’t as innocent as the adults believed. They understood who was rich and who was poor, and they knew damn well who they could bully, and how to make it more enjoyable while doing it. Trust me, I spoke from experience.

“Sorry to have given you a fright, kiddo.” I reached out my hand to the boy who resembled my past self. His eyes narrowed, as if displeased with being called a “kiddo.”

“You, what kind of woman are you?”

“You’re pretty rude to an adult you’ve just met for the first time, aren’t you?”1

“Cut the crap and answer me.”

“If you continue to behave like this, I’ll get angry.”

Despite her gentle reproach, the boy defiantly held his head high and persisted in speaking rudely.

“Answer me, woman. Where are you from, and what does your father do?”

“Look, kiddo. I’m not trying to be mean, but this is my place, and you’re an unwanted guest. Why should I answer your rude questions?”

“You’re as stupid as you look. Of course you should answer because I’m the one who asked.” 

“Excuse me?”

“Woman, just who gave you permission to be in the Canary Room?”

The blood rushed to my head instantly2, but there was nothing more foolish than getting seriously angry at a child. What was required in a situation like this? A proper education! I firmly grabbed the cheeks of the arrogant boy with both hands.

“Let go of me!”

Although his cheeks lacked flesh, they were pleasantly soft and doughy, reminiscent of glutinous rice cakes, and just perfect for stretching sideways. The boy squirmed, tears streaming down his face.

“It hurts!”

“Kiddo, when something like this happens, you should start by apologising. Or beg.”

“Who the hell do you think you are to lecture me on how to behave?”  

I grew up without parents as well, but somehow, I understood how the phrase ‘I wonder what their parents are like’ came about.

‘You don’t have any friends, do you?”

I squatted down in front the boy and propped my chin up while looking at him. The boy, wary of another pinch on his cheeks, flinched.

“Who’ll play with you when you’re mean, even to someone you’ve just met for the first time?”

“I have lots of friends!”

“Liar liar, pants on fire.”

The boy’s emerald green eyes quivered slightly. Now, he finally looked like a child his age.

“Not everyone who’ll play with you is your friend. A real friend is someone who’ll help you when things are tough, someone who’s always there for you. That’s what a true friend is.”

“What’re you saying?”

“I’m saying, since you don’t have any friends, you came digging holes and picking fights, didn’t you?”

“Who said I dug this hole? This place was originally my—” The boy clamped his mouth shut, as if he had a reason not to speak or simply didn’t want to say anything anymore. He defiantly lifted his pale face and declared, “I don’t need friends.”

“Me neither. So can you please leave?”

“You’re chasing me away right now?”

“I’m not really fond of kids in general, let alone one as rude as you.” I smirked at his rather shocked face. 

“I’ve never met a woman as ignorant and blunt as you. Usually, even if someone dislikes children, they’ll pretend to find them cute in order to avoid criticism.”   

“You’re such a know-it-all, aren’t you? Then will you please leave?”

“I’ll do whatever I want here. No one can stop me.” The boy retorted with his hands on his hips. At that moment, he looked less like a servant and more like a young tyrant.

“Pfft. You’re just like a man I know.”

“Who?”

“A villain among villains, with a terrible personality, a foul-mouth, and a penchant for tormenting others.”

“How dare you compare me to such a person? Unforgiveable!” He swung a small fist at me, and contrary to his tone, it was a feeble punch, weaker than a cat’s paw. I could see beads of sweat under his hunting cap.

‘Why’s he sweating so much even though the weather is cool? Come to think of it, he looks pale too.’

I reached out and touch the boy’s forehead, but there was no fever. However, his rather low body temperature concerned me. He hurriedly swats my hand away.

“Don’t casually touch a man’s body!”

“Ma–…man?”

“Unmarried men and women are supposed to keep their distance. You don’t know that either?!”

Although it may sound naïve, I was momentarily touched.

‘It seems that Confucian ideals are alive in this world. “Boys and girls shall not sit together3”, bravo!’

I felt the nostalgia of my homeland for the first time in a while and stood up sluggishly.

“Alright, I get it. Now go away. I’ll call someone if you don’t.” I waved my hand vigorously, as if shooing away a fly.

“Now you’re threatening me?”

“From the looks of it, it seems like you abandoned what you were supposed to do and ran away. You don’t mind getting caught?”

The boy flinched again, but he stubbornly stood his ground.

“I have the right to be here, and I have questions for you!”

I gave up trying to argue with him and cleared my throat loudly, then shouted at the top of my lungs, “My good knights, we have an intruder here!”

“Hey, can’t you keep it down?”

“Oh my, is there a hole here? Oh dear, how scary!”

“I told you to keep it down!” He clung to my leg with a tearful face. The armoured knights arrived and pulled the cheeky koala away.

“I will never forget what happened today, woman!” Even as his voice faded into the distance with the knights, the boy continued to shout. I smiled brightly and bid him farewell.

“It was nice to meet you, but let’s never see each other again.”

After the boy left, I examined the hole he had dug. Unfortunately, it wasn’t large enough for me to go through.

“What’s this? Is it trash?”

I discovered several torn pieces of paper in the hole. When I carefully pieced them together, a drawing of a monstrous creature emerged, sketched in bold black ink. The detailed depiction of its menacing fangs and piercing eyes showed remarkable artistic skill. Despite being torn, it seemed too precious to be thrown away. I took the pieces with me and returned to my room, thinking that would mark the end of my encounter with him.

Two days later.

Nicolai, who had decided to accept Cares’s suggestion, visited Elisabeth. The brass padlock still adorned the entrance to the Canary Room, as it always had. A profound mix of aimless anger and inexplicable longing washed over him. It felt as though Lila would welcome him with open arms once he unlocked that door—it was a dream he had dreamt countless times. The realisation that she no longer exists in this world seemed equally surreal.

“Niki, promise me you won’t about forget me. Promise me you’ll protect our Finch.”

Lila’s dying voice lingered briefly in his ears before fading away, causing a tingling pain to rise from beneath his breastbone. How would Lila react if she knew he hadn’t seen Franz for a long time? Dismissing such thoughts, he pushed them aside and proceeded to unlock the door.  

“Elisabeth?”

She was lying on the bed, her back turned, unmoving even as she heard the door open. Not only had she been kidnapped, but even her last hope—marriage to Marquess Nettleton had been snuffed out. Nicolai had threatened to not only to make her former fiancé a royal servant, but also his sister as his consort.

‘I anticipated her anger, it would be strange if she wasn’t angry. Even if she despises me, there’s nothing I can do about it.’

He was used to being despised, but he wished to avoid it this time. To be honest, he longed to offer her an explanation, to tell her that there were circumstances that caused him to act the way he did. But, the Emperor was not someone who sought understanding; he was a commanding being. No matter how unreasonable and dictatorial it may have been, his words were the law. If that were the case, why was his mouth dry? It felt as though his nervousness had intensified thanks to the gradually growing scent of the cherry blossoms.

“Have you gotten used to the life in the palace?” His attempt to sound nonchalant was betrayed by a slight crack in his voice. Elisabeth remained motionless. It seemed that she had decided to utterly ignore him, which made his heart sink.

“Until when will you continue feigning ignorance of my presence?”

He reached out to grab her shoulder but stopped himself, realising too late that she was fast asleep. Elisabeth, who was curled up, had a frown on her face. Was she having a nightmare? Hidden beneath her eyelids, her eyes flickered from side to side, and her beautifully delicate lashes revealed even more emotions—pain, fear, and anxiety. All of it mingled into a sense of desperation far greater than anything else. Her plump lips parted, and a half-muffled voice escaped.

“Do-don’t do this. Just once, please……”

Save me.

That was undoubtedly what she was mouthing soundlessly.

“……No! Stop!!”

Elisabeth whimpered and flailed her slender arms in the air. Nicolai noticed the lingering red bruises on her wrists. He squeezed his eyes shut, knowing that his own knights caused those bruises, which was no different than him causing it himself. He wanted to strike down those knights who had treated Elisabeth recklessly. Perhaps he might have come close to doing so. A wave of indescribable emotions, well beyond the feeling of guilt, hit him. Ever since meeting Elisabeth, the strange and uncomfortable vibration had never left him. If it had just been unpleasant, it wouldn’t have been so confusing. Nicolai grabbed Elisabeth’s wandering hands, they were small, soft, and warm. Unconsciously, he murmured out loud,

“Don’t be afraid. As long as I’m here, no one can harm you.”

There was a lot Elisabeth had to do for the Empire and the royal family, and so, it was Nicolai’s duty to protect her. Therefore, it was only natural for him to want to gather all her fears and burn them to ashes, as well as to find and eliminate the source of her anxiety. But no matter how he tried to wrap it up, it was nothing but a lie.

‘I was the one who insulted Elisabeth’s former fiancé, and I was the one who confined her in a gilded prison. I’m the one she fears, I’m the one who hurts her.’

Nicolai swallowed a bitter laugh. Fortunately, it seemed Elisabeth hadn’t heard the words he said. Nicolai clapped loudly.

“Argh!”

Elisabeth sprang up abruptly. He felt sorry for waking her up so crudely, but he didn’t show it. Her eyelids fluttered open and she gazed up at Nicolai. A beautiful smile bloomed on her drowsily languid face, like a flower kissed by the spring sunlight. This smile would forever be imprinted in Nicolai’s heart like a seal. Little did he know he would also be privy to her inner thoughts, thoughts he had no desire to hear.

“What? Aren’t you just that fucking scumbag tyrant?”

“I thought it was Claudia again. Tch.”

Elisabeth clicked her tongue and fell back asleep. Nicolai’s thick eyebrows arched sharply. He couldn’t take it anymore.

       To be continued…

Translator’s Notes:

1 What Elisabeth actually said was ‘대뜸 반말이네? 어른한테 인사는 못 할망정.’ And that translates to ‘Speaking informally (to me) straight away? (You) can’t even greet an adult properly.” Of course, we know that the concept of ‘formal/informal’ speech doesn’t exist in English to the degree of the Korean language, so it would be just weird for me to translate that as it is. Talking informally to someone you’ve just met, not to mention way older is considered rude, so that was the meaning here, and that’s how I chose to interpret the sentence.

2 ‘순간적으로 뒷골이 확 당겼다’ If you’re experienced enough with K-drama, you’ve probably come across this trope where someone (mostly the old ladies or men) holds their neck and goes ‘Aigoo’ or falls back and faints with their eyes rolled back (refer to pic). This sentence describes exactly that. It translates literally to ‘suddenly, the back of my head throbbed.’ It’s a figurative (?) expression to describe feeling of anger that had reached a boiling point or frustration.

3 This really left me stumped. But I couldn’t think of anything better than its literal translation. ‘남녀칠세부동석’ is a quote from Confucius’s The Book of Rites(礼记): Pattern of the Family (內則).

“六年敎之數與方名。
七年男女不同席，不共食。
八年出入門戶及卽席飮食，必後長者，始敎之讓”

(The bold part here-in Chinese, corresponded to the bold part above in Korean)

Confucian ideals value hierarchy, social order, harmony, and maintaining proper relationships and behaviour within a family. Nowadays, we consider seven-year-olds as little children, but since in the olden days, you’re marriageable by, idk, ten to twelve years of age (you need to understand, humans did not have longevity then, and living to what we considered the standard of old age now was rare) … so, at the age of seven, it was considered (at least to Confucius) proper for children on the cusp of marriageable age to understand and establish a sense of modesty and propriety among different genders by segregating them.