Chapter 28
Franz’s expression betrayed no emotion whatsoever. If there was anything at all visible, it was perhaps a faint trace of annoyance. He stared quietly at Hans’s face before asking in a detached tone,
“Did I make some promise I don’t know about?”
“No, sir.”
At Hans’s reply, Franz nodded slightly before speaking again.
“Your shamelessness hasn’t changed.”
There was mockery laced in the muttered words that escaped along with a sardonic smirk.
“Hans, do I look like I have the leisure to chat idly with some washed-up singer?”
At the low, cold voice that fell like frost, Hans flinched involuntarily.
“My apologies. I’ll take care of it myself.”
“No need to report to me about this again.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Still, since she had the nerve to come all the way here, give her a cup of tea before sending her off. I can afford that much generosity.”
“Understood.”
“Oh, and…”
Hans bowed his head in acknowledgment at Franz’s continued instructions, then left the room.
“Did he really say that?”
“Yes.”
At Hans’s firm voice, Agnes swayed on her feet. She hadn’t exactly been expecting warmth, but having her fears confirmed in reality hit hard. On top of that—
‘How dare someone like you covet a place you could never reach? I don’t care who you roll around with or where, but if you ever appear before me again, you’ll find you can’t even sing that one passable song of yours.’
The chillingly cold voice seemed to echo in her ears, and goosebumps prickled along her arms.
‘How did he find out? We were so careful when we met…’
She was startled. She had thought he knew nothing, but Prince Franz knew everything. The realization that he might be far more dangerous than she had assumed filled her with fear.
Prince Franz, who never met the same woman more than twice, had spent over three months seeing her. Yet during that time, they had slept together only once—right after her unforgettable debut performance as a prima donna.
Even then, the prince had left before the heat of the bed had cooled, but that single moment of ecstasy had been intense and lingering.
At first, their meetings were always nothing more than casual conversation before parting ways. Contrary to her expectations, he didn’t seem to have much desire. She had thought the rumors about him were exaggerated—but from experience, she knew they were not.
It was disappointing, yes, but it was fine. She could sate her desires with other men. In fact, being rumored as a woman the prince was seeing only made other men eager to have her.
‘Still, we shared a bed once… how could he…’
“You’re lying. You’re lying to me right now, aren’t you?”
Hans suppressed a sigh at her sharp, wide-eyed glare. Just as the prince had said, the reactions of women in this situation were tediously predictable.
“Why would I lie about something like this? You knew it wasn’t a special relationship. If you thought you were different from the rest, that was your own mistake—and arrogance.”
“You—! How dare you say that to me?”
Her shrill voice rang out, and this time Hans didn’t bother hiding his sigh.
Honestly, if she couldn’t handle the consequences, why had she overreached in the first place? And to think she’d been seeing other men while meeting the prince… It was hard to imagine anyone with normal sense doing something so reckless.
“Greed brings ruin. Wasn’t being at the top of the opera company enough for you?”
“That seat was mine by right!”
Prince Franz, with his body as perfect as a work of art, loved art itself. They had shared conversations so pleasant she had almost been fooled into thinking they truly connected.
Whenever she pushed for something, he would grant it within reason. So she had naturally assumed that, if not marriage, he would at least make her his mistress.
She had thought he cherished her as an artist, that she was worth at least that much to him. But now it seemed she had been the only one thinking they understood each other.
“Perhaps, at some point, that might have been possible. The one who made it so was His Highness.”
“Then let me meet him, just once, to beg his forgiveness. You can arrange that, can’t you?”
Agnes pleaded desperately, tears streaming down her face. But Hans didn’t so much as blink—he knew her tears were nothing more than crocodile tears.
“His Highness is not one to reverse his orders. And I am not foolish enough to act in a way that would earn his displeasure. I only have one life, after all.”
Agnes trembled, fists clenched, burning with humiliation and injustice.
“For your own sake, forget about this. You’ve merely returned to your original place.”
“Please… The truth is, I’ve been rejected at every audition lately! Unless His Highness has been pulling strings, how could that happen?”
“Do you think you’re important enough for His Highness to bother with? He is not a man with time to waste!”
Hans raised his voice, warning her to watch her tongue.
“This can’t be happening…”
Agnes stood there, dazed and despairing.
“This is your own doing. Why indulge in greed you couldn’t handle?”
“Are you blaming me?”
“I’m not blaming you. I just pity you.”
He pitied Agnes for being unable to accept the consequences of her own excessive greed and foolishness. Watching her flushed and pale face alternate in color, Hans left her with a final remark.
“I’ll bring you some tea. I’d rather just send you away, but His Highness said he admired the courage it took to come all this way, so I’m to show you that much generosity.”
Agnes raised her eyebrows and glared at him in displeasure, but he felt no fear.
“Forget it! I’m leaving!”
Her pride wounded, Agnes shot to her feet, spinning on her heel so sharply that her long dress skirt made a whipping sound.
“Oh, and!”
Just before she stepped out the door, Hans called her back, as if something had just occurred to him. Agnes turned with a flicker of hope in her eyes, but Hans cut it down like a blade.
“His Highness said that once you leave here, never let him see you again.”
“Ha!”
Agnes gave a hollow laugh. The situation was beyond absurd—so much so it felt hopeless. She stomped away, her footsteps heavy with emotion. Hans let out a light sigh of relief.
“Well… it could’ve been worse.”
He’d worried she might cause a scene, as some had before, but this wasn’t so bad.
“Why does every woman end up like this? I don’t know whether to say His Highness is blessed with women or cursed with them.”
For all the money the prince spent, he deserved to meet someone who would truly care for him—but Hans had never realized how difficult that would be.
“It’s not as if His Highness is lacking in anything…”
Well, except for personality—but nobody’s perfect. Hans comforted himself with that thought.
“The Creator must have accidentally poured all the personality into his looks instead.”
“What are you muttering about?”
It was the butler, Murray.
“Ah, I was just thinking it’d be nice if His Highness met a good woman and married soon. Ha ha.”
Caught off guard, Hans scratched the back of his head with an awkward laugh.
“If it’s meant to be, it will happen. It’s what we all hope for.”
Murray, his neatly combed silver-streaked hair framing a kindly smile, nodded.
“Yes, if it’s destined, it will naturally come to pass.”
Hans decided to drop the matter, wishing only for a miracle.
Franz, left alone in his office, reviewed documents. Progress was slow, and it was only when the evening sky began to blush with the first tinge of sunset that he finally finished. Stretching out his stiff body, he walked to the window.
Just then, a breeze drifted in through the open glass, tousling his brilliant golden hair. The air was rich with the fresh scent of the forest and the sweet fragrance of flowers—a scent that naturally drew the corners of his lips upward.
He closed his eyes, breathing the scents deep into his lungs, when a knock sounded and Murray entered.
“Your Highness, shall I prepare dinner?”
“No, prepare for me to go out.”
“Yes, sir.”
A short while later, as Hans helped him get ready to go out, he grumbled,
“Your Highness has a tendency to overwork your body.”
On days without a set schedule, he could easily rest, but he never did. With back-to-back parties, court events, and social gatherings, ten bodies wouldn’t be enough.
“Overwork?”
“Exactly. Your body is practically an asset, yet you treat it carelessly. You need to rest when you can.”
Franz chuckled at Hans’s words.
“Getting off work early is a good thing, isn’t it?”
“Well, for me, yes, but…”
Hans stopped himself from saying more. Arguing would be pointless; he’d never win.
“I don’t like crowded places either. Wasting time with those stuffy old men isn’t pleasant—but even at those gatherings, there’s useful information to be gained.”
Through interactions with nobles, high-ranking officials, businessmen, and wealthy merchants, he could obtain various pieces of information his company needed—the kind that made money. For Franz, such events were simply an extension of his work.
