episode_0041

[Episode 41] – My child’s birthday party (3)

Fairy Queen Titania.

She is the wife of the fairy king Oberon and is called the queen of the fairies. They say there was originally no set name…

It is said that after it appeared in Shakespeare’s play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and became famous, it was also popularly used in other works.

Of course, this popular name was used in the game ‘Snow White’, and there was also a fairy queen named ‘Titania’ in the game.

Isn’t the name ‘Titania’ truly an appropriate name for the princess who will contract with ‘seven dwarf fairies’, receive help from their children, and become ‘Queen of this country’?

I think it’s a good name, but there was also reason for the Queen Mother to be worried. It was said that the royal families of this country do not use the names of ‘fairies or divine beings.’

Of course, the names of ‘Fairy King Oberon and Fairy Queen Titania’ were also one of them.

Is it pressure from the temple, or is it simply because of the belief that humans should not cross the name of God? Or maybe it was because of the custom of avoiding witches.

It is said that so far, among the names of the royal families here, there has never been a case of borrowing the names of divine beings.

Therefore, the Queen Mother was also worried that stories would come out behind her back and that people would find fault with her, saying that there was no precedent.

Even so, a fault is just a fault. It’s not like a flying spark, I just have to brush off any dust-like blemishes with my hands.

‘I can do that.’

I looked at the princess slowly walking towards the party. Her eyes were red, as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment, and her fist holding the hem of her skirt was shaking.

However, the princess’s steps as she entered the party were confident. He raised his head, looked down at the nobles below him, and waved his hand.

As the princess climbed up onto the high platform and gently waved her small hand at the nobles looking at her, some of the nobles watching from below were busy covering their mouths with fans due to the raised corners of their mouths.

When the princess appeared at her first official appearance, everyone was busy staring at her.

What would he say with that small mouth? How could he be so small even though he was seven years old? Wouldn’t he be scared of his first public appearance?

In particular, noble wives with children looked at the princess and did not know what to do. I looked at the princess with anxious eyes, saying, ‘It’s okay to make mistakes, so I don’t want you to get hurt…’

“Eh, hmm!”

The princess who went up to the podium cleared her throat and opened her mouth in a trembling voice. As everyone looked at the princess, her legs swayed slightly due to tension.

Thinking back to the greeting she had prepared so hard, the princess calmed her trembling heart and slowly began to recite the greeting.

Everyone praised me for preparing well.

“This is my 7th birthday!”

Twisting.

But maybe it’s because I’m nervous? The princess chewed her tongue so loudly that it looked painful to anyone watching.

The princess, who had bitten her tongue so painfully that the chewing sound echoed, covered her mouth with both hands with tears in her eyes.

She tried to speak through the pain, but no words came out, and the princess was at a loss and had tears in her eyes.

As the nobles below began to murmur slightly, the Queen Mother, who was sitting in the front row looking at the princess, glared at me.

With a look in his eyes that said, ‘Let’s quickly resolve this situation so the princess won’t be embarrassed.’

After receiving the Queen Mother’s gaze, I slowly approached the princess standing on the platform. The princess looked up at me standing next to her with tears in her eyes.

Huh.

I put my hands on the princess’s armpits, lifted them up, and then hugged her in my arms.

And, thinking it might be a bit dignified, he lowered his voice and, without lowering his head, just rolled his eyes and looked down at the nobles below.

“Everyone, thank you for gathering here to celebrate the princess’s birthday despite the recent hardships.”

When I commemorated the king’s death, the nobles who did not know the truth of the incident bowed their heads and briefly commemorated the king’s death.

After a very short silent prayer, I also raised my head and looked at the nobles again. Although I expected it, the way the nobles looked at me was not so kind.

Anxiety, avoidance, worry.

A lot of negative attention was paid to me.

According to Heinsel, Vivian was a beautiful and intelligent daughter who was called the flower of society before she became queen.

But then what do you do? I had a shitty personality.

Vivian said that she often used Ainsel to dig up the secrets of nobles and use that as an excuse to threaten them. That’s why everyone hates Vivian…

So, hasn’t Vivien not even been invited to any social groups since becoming queen of a country?

I understood that everyone was looking at me that way. However, that was Vivian in the past, not me in the present.

I declared this without paying attention to their negative gaze.

“Princess Titania is my treasure and will become the treasure of the kingdom in the future. No, I will make her that way.”

These words were a bit like a declaration of war to the nobles. He tells the princess, who has just entered the social world, not to even dream of doing anything in vain.

If you touch it, the royal family will move.

Will the threats to reveal Vivian’s secret begin again?

So Allah was like a small check.

I hugged the princess who was sitting with my arm as a chair so that everyone could see this even better.

As my cheek touched the princess’s, who was covering her mouth with both hands, she mumbled with her sore tongue, saying that she was embarrassed to act like this in front of everyone.

However, I held the princess in my arms even more and appealed in front of everyone that ‘I and the princess are such good friends.’

“Please, may Princess Titania be blessed for her future. I have no doubt that everyone will pray with the same heart as me.”

As I placed a small kiss on the princess’s forehead as if to literally bless her, applause erupted from below.

When the Queen Mother started clapping first, all the nobles who were watching around her were busy clapping along with the Queen Mother.

The princess’s greeting was unfortunately a failure, but at least the congratulatory speech seemed to have ended well, so she was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

I looked at the princess in my arms, smiled brightly, and wiped away the tears from her eyes with my finger.

“Titania. This will be your name from now on. How do you think? I hope you like it-”

As soon as she finished speaking, the princess covered her mouth with both hands and began to cry again, then stretched out her hand and hugged my neck. Then he pressed his face against mine and acted like he was really happy.

I patted the princess on the back and smiled really happily based on what I was feeling. I thought that the princess would definitely have the same expression as me.

“I sincerely congratulate you on your seventh birthday, Titania. And, please take good care of me for the rest of your life. Just like the ‘promise’ we made together.”

At those words, the princess, who buried her face in my shoulder, nodded and whispered to me in a tearful voice.

“Yes…! Please take care of me too…!”

*

After finishing our congratulatory speeches, the princess and I went down the podium to say hello to the Queen Mother who was looking at us from the front row.

When we went down to where the Queen Mother was, the Queen Mother seemed to be so uncomfortable that she was holding a strong drink in one hand and folding and unfolding a fan in the other, making a crackling sound.

Looking at that now familiar figure, I ordered a passing servant to bring me a suitable snack.

After accepting the plate from the servant who had brought some of the overflowing food from the party, I slowly approached the Queen Mother and smiled as I handed her some snacks.

“Your Majesty, it is harmful to your health if you keep drinking on an empty stomach. Since you keep doing this, I end up behaving like a maid.”

When I spoke jokingly in a worried tone, the Queen Mother’s eyes widened and she glared at me. Just as she was about to start nagging me, saying, ‘What kind of girl are you-‘, I gently pushed the princess’s back and held her out in front of the Queen Mother.

“Titania, do you have something to say to Her Majesty the Queen?”

The princess nodded at my words and approached the Queen Mother. She gently pulled up the skirt of her dress and spun around in front of the Queen Mother.

Then, the princess bowed and greeted the queen and looked at the queen with a bright smile.

“Thank you so much for giving me the pretty dress! Ha, grandma…!”

“…What now? Grandmother?”

The Queen Mother, who was looking at the princess with one eyebrow twitching, looked at me again and frowned. I looked at that figure, covered my mouth, and laughed out loud.

“Wouldn’t your granddaughter say thank you, ‘mother’? You should quickly accept her greeting.”

“……”

The Queen Mother, who was looking at me with an absurd expression, poured arrogant curses at me with just her eyes. Then he lowered his head to look at the princess, hesitated his lips for a moment, sighed a little as if he had lost, and smiled at the princess.

“…This is a small gift for my granddaughter. If you ever need anything, please tell me, not the queen. This grandmother will listen to everything.”

“Yes, yes…! Grandmother…!”

Looking at the princess who smiled brightly at the queen’s answer, the queen gulped down some alcohol to cover up her shyness.

As I was looking at the queen and princess with a happy expression, the queen frowned and waved her hand with the same expression as usual when she looked at me again.

“Don’t just stand here and go quickly. You haven’t forgotten that the first dance at a party is supposed to be performed by royalty, right? What are you doing here if you don’t quickly go to your partner’s side?”

“What are you talking about? My partner is here.”

“what?”

The Queen Mother looked at me, asking what I meant, but I tried to ignore her gaze, turned to the side, bent down, and held out my hand to the princess.

A typical man asking a woman to dance.

I smiled brightly and recommended it to the princess.

“Princess Titania, will you give me the honor of sharing your first dance with you?”

The Queen Mother, the princess, and the nobles who were watching us around were surprised by my words and couldn’t say anything and just looked at me.

Originally, social dancing was something that men and women did together.

Women could dance together, but it was something that could only be done at informal events, dance classes, or hidden away from others.

This was ‘common sense’ that even the princess who had just turned seven knew. So, after the party, the princess probably planned to secretly go into the room and invite me to dance…

The princess, who hesitated for a moment at my unexpected recommendation, looked at me, puffed out her cheeks, made a pouty expression, and grabbed my hand as if she had no choice.

“I was going to suggest it first, but…”

“Hehe, this kind of thing is usually done by quick people.”

I held the hand of the princess holding my hand and slowly led her toward the center of the party.

To share each other’s first dance.