episode_0016

[Episode 16] – The Queen Mother (1)

Having received an invitation from the queen mother, the princess and I decided to walk slowly towards the separate palace where the queen mother resided, not far from the lake. There was still some time until the evening banquet that the queen mother had invited us to.

The main purpose was to show myself sticking close to the princess to the queen mother’s court ladies and maids. This included the sight of me embracing the princess, supporting her hips. Although the princess, sitting with my arm as her chair, nervously clutched the hem of her skirt as if she felt embarrassed to show this to others, I had no intention of letting go until we arrived at the separate palace where the queen mother lived.

At least for now, it was necessary to demonstrate to others as much closeness with the princess as possible. That way, even the queen mother would take notice. The story would spread that the princess and I seemed close.

“Um, Your Majesty…?”

“Yes?”

While walking, holding the princess tightly, the princess, who had been fidgeting with the hem of her skirt, hesitated for a moment and then whispered softly into my ear, cupping her hands around her mouth.

“I, I have something I’m curious about…”

“Go on.”

The sound of her lips smacking in embarrassment echoed in my ear. After hesitating for a moment, the princess gathered her courage and whispered very softly in my ear.

“Ainsel is… the ‘Fairy of the Mirror,’ right…?”

“That’s right?”

“T-then…”

Gulp. The sound of the princess swallowing could be heard.

“Is there… also a fairy of the cake..?”

“Pfft.”

I couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the princess’s curiosity. She, nestled against my arm, seemed to have a sweet tooth appropriate for her age.

Seeing Ainsel on the opposite side of the princess making a gesture as if to say, “Oh, what should I do…? There probably isn’t such a fairy for cakes…,” unfortunately, it seemed that there was no fairy of the cake.

I turned my head slightly and looked into the sparkling eyes of the princess, filled with anticipation. What could she possibly want to do when meeting the fairy of the cake? My curiosity remained unabated.

“Hehe, well? I guess I’ll have to ask later.”

“Really?”

“Or you can ask me later. I’ll lend you the earring later.”

Beside her, Ainsel was astonished at the mention of lending the earring. She muttered in a low voice about being burdened with the cruel task of revealing the truth to the pure princess.

…Caught red-handed.

As Ainsel had said, she couldn’t bring herself to lie to the hopeful princess. The moment she denied the existence of the cake fairy, those sparkling eyes would lose their light and be cast into shadow.

As we strolled and shared various stories with the princess, we found ourselves arriving at the Star Palace, where the queen resided. It was smaller than the main palace where the king and princess lived, but its beauty was no less remarkable.

Unlike the grand landscapes of the main palace, the gardens of the Star Palace were adorned with easy-to-care-for, cute little trees and flowers. The interior of the palace also appeared different from the main one.

While the main palace was adorned with an excessive amount of gold, the Star Palace seemed to be decorated with minimal gold accents and enclosed in white tiles. The clean feeling evoked by the combination of white and gold was undeniable.

“Your Majesty, Princess. First, allow us to assist with your attire once more.”

First, the maids ushered me and the princess to the dressing room, insisting that we redo our attire before meeting the queen. In the main palace, there were at most two maids to attend to me.

However, it was different here at the Star Palace. Six maids quickly gathered to help with our makeup, working swiftly as if we were mere dolls in a play.

After quickly finishing our attire, the princess and I were able to change into suitable dresses. We were finally ready to meet the queen, or so we thought…

“There is still time until the evening banquet, so would you like to tour the Star Palace? I will be your guide.”

The queen’s maid approached us, offering to introduce us to the Star Palace since there was still time before the evening banquet. As I pondered what to do, the princess sitting beside me caught my eye.

Introducing the Star Palace, the maid’s words made the princess’s eyes sparkle. Just waiting quietly seemed like it would make her fall asleep, and for some reason, seeing the princess’s eyes sparkle like that made me curious without even realizing it.

“Well then, since there’s nothing else to do…”

Standing up from the chair, I grabbed the princess’s hand and followed the maid. The princess moved her feet as if she knew the way here better than I did, leading me a step ahead as if she were guiding me.

“This place was built 150 years ago by the king at that time for the rain-”

As we walked while listening to the boring explanation of the museum guide, the princess suddenly dashed into a room, leaving me behind. Without stopping the sudden action of the princess, the maid, rather than preventing it, seemed to expect this and slowly followed the princess into the room she headed for.

I naturally moved my steps towards that place as well. As I entered the room the princess had gone into, I couldn’t say anything.

A portrait, so large that it left me speechless, was framed on the wall, reaching a height of two floors. What surprised me wasn’t just the large portrait, but rather the fact that this spacious room was filled with portraits.

Portraits of a beautiful woman with black hair like ebony and ruby-like crimson eyes were spread all around. Dozens, no, more than a hundred portraits were visible. All of them depicted only one woman.

It seemed as if the princess had grown up.

The princess approached the largest portrait as if she were familiar with it, and gazed at the painting. Then, in a trembling voice, she called out the name of the woman depicted in the frame.

“Mother…”

*

It felt as though I would lose my mind looking at the portraits of ‘Aurora Snow White’ spread all around. Each portrait didn’t have the same face; there were smiling faces as well as expressions of anger.

As if her entire life had been cut and preserved in frames.

“This… what is this?”

“…It wouldn’t be surprising for Queen Mother to be astonished. The fact that such a place exists not only in the main palace but also in the Star Palace is known only to us who serve the Queen Mother and the princess.”

There’s a place like this in the main palace too?

Upon hearing the story, my whole body was covered in goosebumps. Who on earth would draw so many pictures of the first queen? I walked slowly, observing the numerous paintings hanging on the wall. None of them had titles or the artists’ names written below. They were simply snapshots of her time, laughing while strolling, chatting with maids.

It seemed as though her moments were cut and painted like photographs. As I continued to wander around the room, I found myself standing before a large painting that the princess was gazing at. Surprisingly, this painting was the only one with a title written beneath it.

Naturally, the title of the painting was simply “Aurora Snow White.” Nothing else—no content, no artist’s name—was written. In that moment, I couldn’t help but wonder who could have done such an extravagant thing.

“There’s no more space to put up the paintings Her Majesty sends… To be honest, there are too many, and it’s becoming a nuisance. It would be nice if she stopped sending them now…”

“Her Majesty?”

“..? Yes, Her Majesty sends us a painting every week. I heard that His Highness also sends ‘paints’ to Her Majesty every day? I really wish His Highness would stop-”

Sends us? Does that mean the king personally painted all these paintings?

…Is this what it feels like to be utterly flabbergasted? I wanted to say something in response to the maid’s words, but my lips just quivered, unable to form any words.

However, contrary to my thoughts, the only emotion I felt as I gazed at the paintings was that they were truly “beautiful.” Does the king have talent in painting? Each painting framed on the wall seemed like a piece of art.

“…If he weren’t the king, he’d have gained some fame through his paintings, wouldn’t he?” But even if in the game, the king is portrayed as a “pitiful” figure who loves the first queen, this seemed to go beyond reasonable bounds. Spending two years constantly painting and only drawing the first queen?

“…Something is wrong here.”

Not just wrong, but seriously wrong.

The king, who had been a “player” in the game, was not someone who would lose his mind even if he suffered from the sorrow of losing his queen. He remained a “father” for his daughter, refusing to give up. “That’s the person I know as the king…” As he absentmindedly gazed at a large painting with the princess, someone tapped my shoulder. When I turned my head to see who it was, my heart sank in surprise. “A fly must have flown into your mouth, Your Majesty.” “Oh, Your Majesty the Queen Dowager, it’s an honor to meet you…” Upon seeing the old man standing beside me and chuckling, I immediately bowed in respect. Although the old man gestured to stop my greeting, I couldn’t straighten my back. His hair, now white from the passage of time, sharp eyes and mouth, and deep blue eyes stared directly at me. He was the mother of the current king and the late king’s queen dowager. The queen dowager of this kingdom was suddenly standing next to me. “…Indeed, it has been a long time. Please, rise.” Only then did I straighten my back and look at the queen dowager. I thought I would only see her at the evening banquet, but she had brought her cane and was standing by my side, admiring the painting together. “Thank you for accepting the sudden invitation. I thought you would come up with various excuses and refuse, just like last time, but I misjudged you.” “H-ha…” Would the original Vivian just outright refuse the queen dowager’s invitation? She really went overboard… When I glanced at the princess standing next to me, she seemed tense, like a stiff piece of wood. Following my gaze, the queen dowager also looked at the princess. As our gazes converged on her, the princess, so tense that she seemed to forget to breathe, blushed like a ripe apple. After staring at the princess for a while, the queen dowager tapped her cane on the ground, turned her back, and led the way. “Follow me, dinner is ready.”