episode_0017

[Episode 17] – The Queen Mother (2)

The princess and I walked ahead, following the queen mother as she strolled down the corridor. Despite putting some distance between us, the queen mother occasionally glanced back as if to ensure we were keeping up.

She turned back, met the princess’s gaze, then continued walking.

Turned back again, locked eyes with the princess, and resumed her stride.

It seemed the queen mother was intermittently checking to see if the princess was keeping up or had stumbled. Observing her behavior, I felt reassured that bringing the princess along was indeed the right decision.

Look at the queen mother, fumbling and unable to compose herself. I wanted to hold the princess’s hand, but considering my position, I knew I shouldn’t indulge her childishness.

That’s who the queen mother was.

Someone who couldn’t properly express love.

People like her, when given the slightest opportunity, tended to excel on their own. It was like parents who say, “I’ll abandon the puppy!” but end up loving it more than anyone else once they bring it home.

I glanced at the princess walking beside me. She still seemed nervous and awkward, as if the queen mother was intimidating.

‘…What should I do?’

Outwardly strict, yet inwardly a grandmother who wanted nothing more than to shower her granddaughter with love. In such cases, the granddaughter inevitably had to make a small sacrifice.

To create an opportunity, I lightly tapped the princess’s back as we walked together, bowed my head slightly, and whispered softly enough for only the princess to hear.

“Princess, do you see Her Majesty’s hand over there?”

“Yes, y-yes… I see it.”

The princess, watching the queen mother’s hesitant gestures, nodded gently. I smiled slyly, cupping my cheek with one hand and whispered as if revealing a secret.

“Her Majesty is doing that because her hands are cold. She really wants someone to hold them warmly… but it’s a big problem because Her Majesty dislikes me.”

I gazed at the princess as if it were a big deal, taking a deep breath. In response, she looked at me as if she didn’t know what to do.

“So… wouldn’t it be better for the princess, whose hands are warmer than mine, to firmly hold the queen’s hand? Then, the queen will surely like it too.”

“But, but… the queen doesn’t like me either…”

“Who said that? The queen doesn’t dislike you.”

“Well… whenever I approach her, she always looks scary…”

As I gently patted the princess’s trembling back, she hesitated, not knowing what to do. I pushed her gently and reassured her, “It’s not like that at all. Hurry and go. If the queen scolds you, I’ll take the blame.”

“Really? Is it true? Promise?”

Nodding slightly while looking at the anxious princess, she clenched her fists and started running towards the queen.

With quick, large steps, the princess reached out and grabbed the queen’s hand with both of hers. She couldn’t hide her surprised eyes at the icy, rough sensation of the queen’s palm.

Furrowing her aged brow, the queen looked down at the princess holding her hand, enough wrinkles on her face to instill fear in the young princess.

“Princess, what is the meaning of this?”

Hearing the chilling voice, the terrified princess began to justify herself, feeling as though the coldness from the queen’s hand was piercing her own body.

“Oh, well, the queen… said that holding her cold hand would be… nice… so, that’s why…”

“The queen?”

At the mention of the queen, the queen’s eyebrows twitched noticeably.

The queen gave me a puzzled look, but I just waved my hand lightly. After all, she wouldn’t refuse my kindness anyway.

“Forgive me… I’ll let go quickly…”

As the terrified princess tried to release her hand, the queen consort held onto it as if she didn’t want to let go. The princess blinked at the queen consort, seemingly not understanding what was going on. The queen consort, gripping the princess’s warm hand tightly, sneered, “Hmph, your hands are cold, so I guess I’ll have to borrow yours since I don’t want to touch that witch’s hand.”

“Oh, um…?”

“Let’s go quickly. It seems like the food will get cold.”

The princess, bewildered, was led away by the queen consort, but I clearly saw it. When she turned her head away from me, the corners of the queen consort’s mouth slightly lifted.

‘…Did she just push my back a bit?’

*

From the moment we arrived at the dining table, the queen consort acted almost unrestrained. She seated the princess in the empty seat next to her and even served the food herself.

The princess found the queen consort’s behavior burdensome, but she had no choice but to accept. She had eaten so much that her stomach had swollen like a balloon.

She wanted to stop eating and put down her fork, but her plate was still piled high with food. It was all because of the queen consort, who kept piling the food on her plate whenever it showed a little empty space.

“Sigh…”

“What did they feed you at the palace to make you so small? Anyway, I should visit the kitchen in the palace once. You need to eat well from a young age to grow tall and healthy.”

With her nagging, the queen consort started piling food on the princess’s plate again. The princess sighed as she looked at the mountain of food on her plate.

Feeling sorry for her, I transferred some of the food from her plate to mine, and the queen consort glared at me like fire, as if telling me to keep my hands off the princess’s food.

Unable to bear the sight, I pleaded with the queen consort, “Your Highness, it seems the princess has eaten too much.”

“How much did she eat to be full already?”

“…It certainly looks like she ate more than usual.”

I nodded and bowed my head, causing the queen to click her tongue disapprovingly and turn away. The princess, in an effort to quickly digest her swollen belly, was fervently trying to soothe it.

Watching the princess in this state, the queen sighed and swiftly gestured for her to leave. It meant she could vacate her seat now.

“Rest in the adjacent room for a while. I have matters to discuss with the queen.”

“Yes, yes… Oh, thank you for allowing me to attend tonight’s dinner-”

“I understand, now go.”

Interrupting the princess’s farewell, the queen again gestured swiftly, prompting the princess to grab a maid’s hand and escape outside the dining hall with a sullen expression. As the serving maids and the maid beside the queen also hurried out of the dining hall, only the queen and I were left in this spacious dining area.

As the atmosphere, brightened by the princess, dissipated, the dining table seemed to grow colder, as if winter had suddenly arrived.

“First, I should offer my greetings.”

Before the queen could speak, I inclined my head in greeting. As I did so, the queen raised her eyebrows and looked at me.

“Thank you for inviting me to such a splendid dinner, Your Highness.”

“Hmph, I put more effort into this dinner invitation since you’ve been refusing them. I’m glad you liked it.”

…How many times had Vivian refused the queen’s invitations to make her look so disgusted? I forced a smile and looked at the queen.

“…I have no intention of refusing your invitations in the future. How could I refuse the call of someone who has ‘helped’ me from behind the scenes?”

As I finished speaking, the queen furrowed her brow and glared at me. Then, as if in disbelief, she let out a hollow laugh and stared at me, as if asking for more explanation.

“Me? Help you? When did I ever help you?”

“…During the meeting in the palace, didn’t you take my side instead of Lady Hujak?”

Ha! The queen burst into laughter mixed with admiration.

I attended a meeting held in the palace to become the princess’s “educator.” I was puzzled by how Vivian, who was notorious as a “witch,” could have surpassed the late queen, who had raised the current queen. While calmly recalling my knowledge of the game, I realized something. The chief of the palace responsible for the royal family was merely a “scarecrow.” And behind that, there was the “queen consort” who actually managed the royal family. Perhaps the reason I could prevail in the palace meeting went beyond just rumors about the late queen, and it was clearly because the influence of the “queen consort” was present at the palace meeting.

“…When did you realize that I had influence in the palace?”

“After all, the palace is the administrative department responsible for the ‘royal family.’ It wouldn’t be strange to have the ‘royalty’ behind it… I simply speculated after seeing the results of the meeting.”

“Hmm… I see.”

The queen consort, with her chin resting on her hand, looked at me as if she found it amusing. Since I couldn’t say I learned this while playing the game, this response was the best I could offer.

“It’s an insufficient answer, but today, for the first time, you are pleasing to me.”

“…Thank you.”

With that response, I felt a little relieved. It felt good to have tasted some fruit from my efforts to diminish Vivian’s notoriety.

The queen consort smiled slyly and continued, “Anyway, the reason I invited you today is that rumors about you in the main palace haven’t ceased since the funeral. People say you’ve been acting as if someone else ever since. Turns out, it was true.”

“Haha…”

I never imagined that such rumors would spread even to the queen consort. Originally, the reason I wanted to meet the queen consort was to express my gratitude for her help at the palace meeting. I was taken aback when she called me first, wondering what had happened…

“She seems completely rattled.”

Just as I relaxed, the queen consort, as if warning me not to relax in front of her, began to talk about something else, taking a sip of the wine in front of her and gazing intently at me.

Today, I watched as you and the princess walked through the gardens of the Star Palace. It seems you’ve become close enough to carry the princess in your arms.

“Oh, it’s not as serious as Your Majesty the Queen thinks…”

Unable to meet the envious gaze of the Queen Mother, I could only turn my head away. As I did, she seemed to recall the memory of the princess and their earlier encounter while examining the hand that had touched the princess.

“She’s still quite young.”

“Well, she’s only six years old.”

“Yes, she’s just six now, but in three months, she’ll be seven.”

The Queen Mother held the hand she was looking at tightly and then turned to me. As soon as the story of the princess turning seven emerged, the atmosphere around the Queen Mother began to cool, much like before.

“You must also know. What a child born into the royal family does when they turn seven.”

I nodded at the Queen Mother’s words.

The “main event” of spring.

All royals hold a splendid birthday party when they turn seven. You might think it’s just a birthday party, but for the royal family, a seven-year-old’s birthday party holds a different significance.

It’s an “announcement” to the people of the kingdom that this child is the “future leader of this country.” This was the “main event” of spring, the royal seven-year-old’s birthday party.

Clang-

The Queen Mother looked at the wine glass in her hand with annoyance. I understood her frustration. After all, the current princess is…

“It’s almost the princess’s birthday, yet His Majesty stays holed up in his study and doesn’t even bother to name the princess. I don’t understand what His Highness, my son, is thinking.”

Because there’s no “name” for the “announcement” yet.