Ch.168The Fourth Flower (3)

*Creeeeak*

“I’m back. Ah, you’re awake?”

Claude notices Ellen sitting up and straightening her clothes as soon as he opens the office door.

Until just before he left, she had been limp and unable to properly hold herself up, but now she looks neat. Relatively speaking, of course.

“Here, let me… No, I’ll wipe it for you.”

“…Thank you, Your Majesty.”

She still doesn’t seem to have come to her senses completely.

She may look fine on the outside, but she still appears quite dazed. Well, everyone was like that at first.

“…Your Majesty.”

As he was cleaning up, Ellen cautiously opens her mouth.

She’s being extremely careful, just like when she first met him, when Ellen was simply a country girl who had just arrived in the capital.

“What is it?”

“What should I do now?”

“…What should you do, huh.”

Hmm… this isn’t something I can easily advise on.

What should I say… Right now, Ellen seems like she would follow whatever I say. As if she would follow the path I point to without a single question.

This attitude is certainly not good.

If there were a correct answer, following advice wouldn’t be a problem, but life has no correct answers.

When making judgments, one should only take others’ life advice as reference. Others’ life advice is written solely from their perspective, and since everyone has different circumstances, personalities, and talents, such advice can’t possibly fit everyone.

But there’s one thing I can tell her clearly.

“For now, you should live with me.”

Family living separately? That’s simply not possible.

For whatever reason, from what she said earlier, Ellen is clearly prepared to raise the child alone if things go wrong.

I must prevent that no matter what happens.

It’s her life, but now it’s also mine.

“Is that so… Yes, I understand.”

When I finished speaking, Ellen made an expression that couldn’t be clearly defined, then suddenly smiled brightly and accepted my words.

I’m glad she seems to have changed her mind.

If another woman were added here, my public image would worsen, but when it comes to women, my reputation has already hit rock bottom, so it doesn’t matter.

…No, that’s not right. I need to restore my image.

Sigh, I don’t know.

I should just give up. Giving up makes things easier.

……….

“…Your Majesty.”

“Well… things turned out this way.”

Ines’s gaze is piercing.

It’s beyond unavoidable—it’s a natural reaction.

“That makes three now. Even the most promiscuous rulers in history didn’t maintain relationships with four women simultaneously. You’ll make your mark in history.”

“I’m sorry.”

“…”

There’s no room for excuses.

No woman in the world would be happy about her husband taking another concubine.

Even with my head bowed, I can feel Ines’s sharp gaze on the crown of my head.

Wow, normally human physiology shouldn’t allow one to feel a gaze, but this is remarkable.

“So, what happened this time? Is it the same as with Chloe and Jeanne?”

“…What?”

I was just keeping my head down and apologizing, knowing any explanation would sound like a cheap excuse, when suddenly Ines says something strange.

The same as Chloe and Jeanne? What does she mean?

“From what I’ve observed, Your Majesty is always surrounded by women who—how should I put this—act impulsively without considering your intentions! Except for me, of course.”

“Ah…”

…Wait, doesn’t Ines fall into that category too?

Anyway, I understand what she’s saying now.

She’s asking if Ellen pounced on me like Chloe and Jeanne did when we first got together.

‘That’s not it.’

Ellen did seduce me first, but this time it started with my own will.

How could I resist after hearing her say, “I can raise the child alone even if political problems arise, so you don’t have to acknowledge paternity”?

Ellen probably didn’t say it with ulterior motives, but I myself have a mother who was driven away because of political issues.

Anyway, I lost my self-control and embraced Ellen, which is different from the cases with Chloe and Jeanne.

“I initiated it…”

“Well, that’s fine. After all, true love is with me— What?”

Ines’s expression changes instantly as she approaches me with a slick attitude.

Or rather, it’s more accurate to say the atmosphere she was emitting changed.

She’s still smiling, but that smile is no longer as fresh as before.

……….

[That’s ridiculous. Why are you deciding that? Do you think you’re so valuable that your every action affects my brother’s reputation?]

[But if I associate with His Majesty, bad rumors will—]

[Cut it out. And what? You’ll raise the child alone? Do you think your child would be happy that way?]

‘…’

She’s not wrong. No, it’s not just not wrong—it’s absolutely correct.

Ellen recalls her conversation with the hurricane that suddenly arrived and just as suddenly departed.

[…I won’t bring it up first.]

[What?]

[If I mention living together to His Majesty first, it would be no different than begging a wish from him. I only had one wish I could ask of His Majesty.]

[Tsk… Is that so? Then I’ll prepare in advance. Next time we meet, it will be at the palace.]

Just as Chloe confidently predicted, His Majesty accepted me without me having to ask, as if it were only natural.

I was afraid to bring up the request to be accepted, since His Majesty had neglected me for four years and, being lustful, surely has many undisclosed partners. The possibility of rejection seemed very high.

But now I have no such fears.

“Ah, I can see it now. We’ve arrived.”

Because I’ve returned to the palace like this.

“That’s… if my memory serves me right, that’s Her Majesty the Queen’s chamber.”

“That’s right. Today is the day my brother spends with Ines.”

“Today is…?”

“Ah… we had to create a schedule to prevent fighting. So we’ve designated which room His Majesty stays in each day.”

…Wow.

It’s a bit awkward to say, but Her Majesty the Queen and Chloe have remarkable patience.

‘If I were in their position, I would have done my best to knock out my rival and monopolize His Majesty.’

Ellen has no idea that the two of them had indeed tried to monopolize His Majesty by any means necessary, quite literally.

She’s simply appreciating their agreement, assuming they stayed within reasonable and legal boundaries.

“When Jeanne came into the picture, our every-other-day arrangement with His Majesty almost changed to once every three days, nearly breaking our agreement, but it ended well because Jeanne gave up nighttime companionship.”

“…I couldn’t give that up.”

“Oh no, I’m not pressuring you. I’m just telling you what happened. In exchange for giving up nights, Jeanne got exclusive rights to daytime companionship.”

“Daytime companionship?”

“Yes, you can share a bed during the day too, you know?”

…What is this?

I can’t understand this way of thinking at all.

The three of them are clearly rivals who should want to monopolize His Majesty’s love, so why do they care so much about each other’s feelings?

Even to the point of giving up what they could have for themselves.

“You look confused. Well, that’s understandable. You’ll learn in time.”

“…?”

Chloe noticed that Ellen didn’t understand, but instead of explaining, she just smirked and moved on.

‘How innocent.’

No matter how much she explained, Ellen wouldn’t understand anyway.

Guaranteeing the minimum that each person can have serves as a safety measure to prevent radical and impulsive incidents. Ellen, who has just entered the palace not as a guest but as a resident, couldn’t possibly understand this.

Well… Ellen seems to have a gentle personality, so the possibility of her causing such impulsive incidents is low even if treated harshly, but still, she should be guaranteed certain rights since she’s shared love with my brother.

‘She might think it’s too generous, but… I should treat her kindly, thinking of her as pitiful.’

No matter how close Ellen gets to my brother, she can never surpass my relationship with him.

Even if she bears children, they’ll be siblings to my children.

Even if she starts building memories with my brother from now on, they’ll be fewer than the memories I’ve built with him.

She’s not even a competitor, so why compete? I can afford to be generous.

“I’m going to open the door, so get ready.”

“…Yes.”

Ellen slightly furrows her brow at Chloe’s suddenly unpleasant demeanor but lets it go.

His Majesty is beyond this door.

She can’t show an unsightly appearance to His Majesty.

“Now, when entering a room where my brother is, first knock like this—”

“Hic… hnnng…”

“—?!”

“…?”

Just then, Chloe, who was teaching Ellen about palace etiquette, freezes upon hearing small sobs from inside, while Ellen, whose hearing isn’t as good as Chloe’s, wonders about Chloe’s sudden strange behavior.

“What’s wrong?”

“Shh.”

“Excuse me…”

Chloe, who until just now was lecturing about palace etiquette, now presses her ear against the door to eavesdrop—behavior completely devoid of the very etiquette she was preaching.

Ellen looks at Chloe with an incredulous expression, but Chloe has long lost interest in Ellen since hearing the sobbing.

She’s only interested in the unprecedented state of her greatest rival, Ines.