The Swan Princess

Chapter 8: As Above, So Below

"My favorite, insolent girl. Today you're my messenger boy."

"What?"

We're back in the library, Prince Siegfried and I. He's holding the book in front of him fondly.

"Deliver this."

Get better soon, the title says.

I have no idea what the book contains, but if my guess is correct, he's only bothering to communicate with titles.

After I drop it off, another servant informs me I'm wanted back in the library at once. In as little time as I can, I write off a response message from Insun, then head back.

I shall do my best, Your Highness.

"Hmm." He strokes his chin and leans back into the couch. The picture of nonchalance. This time, he's on a velvet red sofa, legs extended in front of the roaring fireplace.

"Deliver this."

Eastern Medicines and Western Plants: How to Practice Your Roots (While Pulling Roots!) at Home and Afar

As I walk, I skim through it. I'm surprised he even welcomes this kind of book in his library. My assumptions of people are so low, I never expect people here to care about any culture that's not their own. Did Lukas tell him that Princess Insun supposedly only practices Eastern medicine?

"This one next."

The Most Handsome Princes of Svenia. There's a picture of him on the cover. I bet he read this one. It's covered in enough pictures and scurrilous titles to be a tabloid, which means it's aptly suitable for a man of his reading level.

"This is the last one."

Designs of Annalise: The Wedding Catalog. It's a fashion magazine filled with his younger sister, Annalise's designs. She's posing in most of them, graciously modeling the high-fashion fabrics.

He flipped the magazine over itself to focus on one particular image: It's in white, but the design is almost identical to the tulle and shape of the ballgown I designed.

I waver for a little too long looking at it. My eyebrows raise, my memories of that night come back to me at once, and I realize he remembered the design. It's a particular wonder he even went out of his way to bookmark this page.

"Do you like it, servant?"

"I wouldn't know, Your Highness," I answer timidly, "but I will deliver it straight away."

"Return to me after," he states as I walk out, "and do not dally."

After I've delivered his latest choice, I find him again at the fireplace. This time, he's sitting on the left side of the sofa, and he's looking at me with a contemplative expression.

"Sit," he gestures with his arm, waving at the other side of the sofa.

"What?"

"Sit, servant," he responds, sounding a tad annoyed. "Is there anywhere else you need to be?"

"Do you speak the language of Joseon?" He finally asks me.

"Yes?"

He scoots closer to me, so much so that his right thigh brushes up against mine. Sieg turns his broad shoulders toward me, and if I leaned any closer to him, I would be able to lean over and hug him.

His handsome face is sharp, intimidating, and utterly disarming when he's this close to me.

"I need you to teach me some phrases in Joseon. When I say something, tell me the translation back."