Beautiful. The first word that came to mind when he saw her. Although he had to admit that her grim expression didn't seem too friendly. He smirked. Hans always liked a challenge.

She had white-blonde hair held in place in a tight bun at the base of her neck and piercing blue eyes that he could easily get lost in. But he wouldn't. Hans never did.

He was surprised to find her walking towards the slummier parts of the market place and couldn't help but follow. Confusion clouded his mind as he saw her slim figure walk into the old used-book shop. That was strange. What of the book shop she just walked past in the brighter, more family friendly part of the market? Her fine clothes and elegant gait certainly proved that she could easily afford it.

He heard the bell tinkle above his head as the door closed behind him. She was standing on a step ladder near the back wall at the mathematics section. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. That certainly wasn't expected. Hans walked towards the mysterious young woman, a confident grin on his face. He fully planned on walking out of there with her by his side, at least for the day, a string of broken hearts eyeing her with envy. He chuckled.

"Hello," he said, a charming smile spread across his handsome face. She turned around and almost lost her footing, clearly startled. He instinctively reached out to steady her by placing his hand on her lower back.

"Glad I caught you," he laughed. He hadn't expected her piercing glare in return.

"Hello sir," she said through gritted teeth, clearly wanting nothing to do with him. "May I help you with something?"

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Hans-"

"Mr. Hans it has truly been a pleasure but if it is not too urgent, which it clearly seems not to be, I am quite busy at the moment and would appreciate it greatly if you could continue perhaps another time," she cut in, quickly turning her attention back towards the vast collection of arithmetical books before her.

His mouth hung open stupidly as he gaped at her turned back. Never before had Hans Westergaard been rejected by a woman in a such a manner. That just made him want her by his side even more. He quickly composed himself.

"I am truly sorry to interrupt miss but I suppose that curiosity got the best of me and I couldn't help but notice your interest in trigonometry. Not a popular subject amongst young women- (he gulped as he saw her glare at him) but quite interesting nonetheless. It's amazing how the relations of the sides and angles of triangles can give way to such practical results," he finished seriously, hiding an invisible smirk.

He saw her gloved hand hesitate as she contemplated whether or not she should reach out and grab the book she was seeking or add on to his polite attempt at conversation.

"Yes, it is," she finally replied. Not as long as the answer he was hoping for, but an answer nonetheless. He was definitely getting somewhere.

"Arithmetics interest you then?" he asked.

He saw the ghost of a smile grace her lips as she replied, "Very much. I've always loved numbers and angles and measures and relations. They manage to keep my thoughts busy," she added with a slight laugh. It was a beautiful sound. He definitely wanted to hear more of it.

"They could certainly keep a man up at night if he took the time to actually think. Not enough people appreciate the precise art of mathematics."

"Oh I don't really have much else to think about, which really makes one come to appreciate the more complex aspects of the world we live in including 'the precise art of mathematics' as you so nicely put it." She giggled shyly, a pretty blush highlighting her cheeks.

He smiled at her as he reached out for her gloved hand, helping her down from the ladder as she finally grabbed her book as well as three others. "Would you like some help with those?" he asked.

"Oh that's alright. I don't wish to trouble you."

"It's really not a problem, I don't have much else to do."

"So your sole purpose was to follow me here and attempt to woo me after all," she said with a mischievous grin.

He blinked, surprised at her bold suggestion.

She laughed at his reaction. "You didn't honestly think that I didn't notice you following me here from the other side of the market?"

He didn't quite meet her eyes as he scratched the back of his neck. "I uh... Well I-"

She laughed again, a full, eyes closed, head thrown back, laugh. He couldn't help but notice that she really was beautiful.

"It's alright," she finally said, "You've proven to be a good starter of conversation." She smiled.

"I'm glad you think so," he replied, smiling back.

"If you do insist on helping, would you mind holding these for a moment or two? I wanted to check whether or not there was anything new in philosophy before I left."

"I don't mind at all," Hans replied as he took the books, his hands brushing over her gloved ones. They were strangely cold. He ignored the thought.

Hans followed her to the philosophy section, surprised to see her scanning the theories of Aristotle.

"Aristotle? In a monarchy?" he chuckled, "You really are full of surprises miss..."

"Elsa. My name is Elsa."

"Elsa... That's beautiful," he said, smiling softly.

She blushed brightly and turned towards the shelf, quickly submerging herself in the quest for her books. A mischievous grin spread across her face as she replied to his previous question, not bothering to turn around. "One is always free to think and theorize, no matter how society tries to-" a look of realization and sudden sadness graced her hidden features as she softly added, "control you."

He suddenly found himself smiling disbelievingly at the woman before him. This meeting certainly hadn't gone as he expected. He couldn't be more glad. There was something about this beautiful, mysterious, well spoken, intelligent, and slightly mischievous young woman that made her unlike anyone he had ever met before. He found that he really liked her for that.

"You really are something Miss Elsa," he said softly.

Her sadness quickly dissipated to mild shock as she turned around to look at the man who had managed to make her day a little more worth while. She smiled shyly and felt her cheeks reddening as she tucked a stray lock of her beautiful white-blonde hair behind her ear. She grabbed her books and straightened up as she suddenly eyed him with a devilish grin.

"Not quite the maiden you had planned to quickly woo and have by your side for at least the rest of the day huh?"

Now it was Han's turn to blush. "You know it really scares me, how easily you managed to see right through my evil plans."

Elsa laughed and Hans couldn't help but feel a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach as he took in the beauty of the sound as well as the woman from which it came. A goofy, lopsided smile slowly crept across his face, so unlike his usual confident grin. Elsa opened her eyes to see the foolish look on his face, suspecting that he didn't smile like that very often. She couldn't help but feel the same unfamiliar sensation taking over her stomach as well. She couldn't help but have her own lopsided smile spread across her face.