[Episode 17] - The King’s Mother (2)
The princess and I followed the Queen Dowager as she walked ahead of us down the corridor. We kept a certain distance, but the Queen Dowager kept turning back to look at the princess, as if checking whether we were following properly.
She would turn back, meet the princess’s eyes, then walk on again.
Then turn back, meet the princess’s eyes, and walk on again.
The Queen Dowager acted as though she was worried whether the princess was keeping up, or perhaps whether she had fallen, glancing back at every opportunity. Watching her, I thought once more that I had done well to bring the princess along.
Look at those hesitant, restless hands of the Queen Dowager. She wants to hold the princess’s hand, but she must be thinking that, given her position, she cannot indulge the princess’s childishness.
The Queen Dowager is that sort of person.
Someone who cannot properly express love.
People like that, for the most part, only need someone to create an opening for them. After that, they manage just fine on their own. Just like parents who say, “If you bring home a puppy, I’m throwing it out!” only to love it more than anyone once it actually arrives.
I glanced down at the princess walking beside me. Perhaps she was still afraid of the Queen Dowager, because she was so tense that I could plainly see her walking stiffly and awkwardly.
‘...What should I do?’
A grandmother who appeared strict on the outside, but in truth wanted to shower her with love at any moment, and a granddaughter who was frightened of that strict grandmother. In cases like this, the granddaughter had no choice but to make a small sacrifice.
To create an opportunity somehow, I lightly tapped the princess on the back as we walked together, lowered my head a little, and whispered in a very small voice only the princess could hear.
“Princess, do you see Her Majesty’s hand over there?”
“Y-yes... I see it.”
Looking at the Queen Dowager’s hand, which was restlessly clenching and unclenching, the princess gave a slight nod. I smiled gently, cupped my cheek with one hand, and whispered as though acting out a scene.
“Her Majesty is doing that because her hand is cold. So I’d like to hold it tight and warm it up for her... but Her Majesty dislikes me, so that’s a problem.”
As though it truly were a serious problem, I let out a deep sigh and glanced at the princess. Then the princess looked up at me, as if she had no idea what she should do.
“So... would the princess, whose hands are warmer than mine, go and hold Her Majesty’s hand tightly for her? If you do, I’m sure Her Majesty the Queen Dowager will be pleased.”
“B-but... Her Majesty dislikes me too...”
“Who said that? That Her Majesty dislikes you.”
“Um, uh... b-but... whenever I go near her, she always looks so scary...”
When I patted the princess’s drooping back, the princess grew flustered and looked this way and that, not knowing what to do. I gently nudged her back forward and spoke.
“That isn’t true at all, so hurry along. If Her Majesty scolds you, I’ll be scolded in your place.”
“R-really? You really will, right...? You p-promise...?”
Looking at the princess’s anxious face, I gave a small nod. Then, perhaps having gained even a little courage, the princess clenched both fists and began running toward the Queen Dowager.
Pat, pat—the princess ran over with large steps and threw herself forward, grabbing the Queen Dowager’s hand with both of hers. Then, at the truly icy-cold, rough feeling of that palm, the princess could not hide her startled eyes.
The Queen Dowager frowned and looked down at the princess, who had seized her hand. Her wrinkled brow, marked by the years, was more than enough to instill fear in the young princess.
“Princess, what is the meaning of this?”
At that voice, cold as ice, the terrified princess began making excuses somehow. All the while feeling as though the chill from the Queen Dowager’s hand were seeping into her own body.
“Ah, um, th-that is, Her M-Majesty the Queen... said Her Majesty the Queen Dowager’s hand... would be cold... and that it would be good... to hold it tight... so, um... that is...”
“The Queen did?”
Twitch.
The moment she heard those words, the Queen Dowager’s eyebrow twitched sharply.
The Queen Dowager looked at me with an expression that said, “What on earth is this supposed to mean?” but I merely waved my hand at her lightly. As if she was going to refuse my goodwill anyway, acting all threatening like that.
“I-I’m sorry... I’ll let go right away...”
When the terrified princess tried to quickly release her hand, the Queen Dowager seized the princess’s hand instead, as if unwilling to be parted.
The princess blinked at the Queen Dowager, as though she had no idea what was going on. The Queen Dowager kneaded the princess’s hand, warm enough to be hot, and glared at me.
“Hmph. As the Queen said, my hand is cold, so I suppose I must borrow yours for a while. I do not want to borrow that witch’s hand, after all.”
“Uh, yes...?”
“Let us hurry along. The food will grow cold.”
The princess, bewildered, was led away by the Queen Dowager as if being dragged along, but I saw it clearly. When the Queen Dowager turned her head away from me, the corners of her lips rose ever so slightly.
‘...Would this be enough of a push?’
*
From the moment we arrived at the banquet hall, the Queen Dowager behaved almost as though the reins had come loose. She seated the princess in the empty seat beside her, and even served food onto the princess’s plate herself.
The princess found the Queen Dowager’s behavior burdensome, but she could not refuse and had no choice but to accept it. I had no idea how much she had eaten, but the princess’s stomach had swollen up like a tadpole.
She put down her fork, wanting to stop eating now, but food was still piled like a mountain on the princess’s plate. It was because the Queen Dowager kept serving her more whenever even a little of the plate’s bottom showed.
“Urk...”
“What on earth have you been eating in the Main Palace for your body to be so small? In any case, I shall have to stop by the Main Palace and meet the head chef. Children must eat well from a young age if they are to grow tall and healthy.”
Along with her scolding, the Queen Dowager once again began piling food like a mountain onto the princess’s plate. The princess looked at the food that had risen to the height of her chest and made a sound like, “Urk—”
Feeling sorry for her, I moved some of the food piled on the princess’s plate onto mine, and the Queen Dowager glared at me with a fiery gaze. As if telling me to take my hands off the princess’s food.
Unable to keep watching, I pleaded with the Queen Dowager.
“Your Majesty, it seems the princess is very full.”
“How much could she have eaten to be full already?”
“...It does seem certain that she has eaten more than usual.”
When I bowed my head, the Queen Dowager clicked her tongue and turned away. The princess rubbed her swollen belly, busy making desperate efforts to digest the food as quickly as possible.
Looking at the princess, the Queen Dowager let out a sigh and waved her hand at the princess. It meant she could leave for now.
“Go and rest in the room next door for a while. I have something to discuss with the Queen.”
“Y-yes... Thank you for allowing me to join tonight’s dinner—”
“I know, so go on now.”
Cutting off the princess’s greeting and waving her hand again, the Queen Dowager sent her off. The princess, looking dejected, took a maid’s hand and left the banquet hall.
Once the maids who had been assisting with the meal and the attendants by the Queen Dowager’s side had all left the banquet hall, only the Queen Dowager and I remained in that vast room.
With the atmosphere, which had been somewhat bright thanks to the princess, now sinking down, a chill seemed to settle over the banquet hall as though winter had arrived.
‘First, I should greet her.’
Before the Queen Dowager, who had been tapping the table with her finger—tap, tap—could open her mouth, I bowed my head first and offered her my greeting. As I lowered my head, the Queen Dowager’s eyebrow twitched as she looked at me.
“Thank you for inviting me to such a splendid dinner, Your Majesty.”
“Hmph. Since you have rejected my dinner invitations so many times, I paid a little more attention this time. I am glad it pleases you.”
...Just how many of the Queen Dowager’s invitations had Vivian refused for her to react with such disgust? I forced a smile and looked at the Queen Dowager.
“...From now on, I have no intention of refusing Your Majesty’s invitations. How could I refuse the summons of the person who ‘helped’ me from where I could not see?”
When my words ended, the Queen Dowager furrowed her brow and glared at me. Then, as though dumbfounded, she let out a hollow laugh and rested her chin on her hand while looking at me. As if telling me to go on.
“I did? Helped you? When, exactly, did I help you?”
“...At the meeting held in the Ministry of the Royal Household, did you not side with me instead of the marchioness?”
Ha! The Queen Dowager burst into a laugh mixed with admiration.
The meeting held in the Ministry of the Royal Household for me to become the princess’s “education officer.” I had wondered from the start how Vivian, infamous as the “witch,” had managed to defeat the marchioness who had raised the First Queen.
Then, as I calmly recalled my knowledge of the game, I remembered one thing. The minister in charge of the Ministry of the Royal Household was nothing more than a “figurehead.”
And behind him was the “Queen Dowager,” who controlled the royal family.
The reason I had likely been able to win at the Ministry of the Royal Household’s meeting was not simply because of the rumors surrounding the marchioness, but because the “Queen Dowager” had exerted influence over the meeting.
“...Since when did you know? That I had reached into the Ministry of the Royal Household.”
“Is the Ministry of the Royal Household not an administrative department in charge of the ‘royal family’ to begin with? It would not be strange if there were ‘royalty’ behind it... After seeing the result of the meeting, I merely guessed as much.”
“Hmm... Is that so.”
The Queen Dowager, chin propped on her hand, looked at me with an amused smile. Since I could not say I knew it from playing the game, this answer was the best I could do.
“It is an insufficient answer, but for the first time today, I find you rather pleasing.”
“...Thank you.”
At that answer, I was able to relax just a little. I felt pleased, as though I had tasted even a small part of the fruits of my efforts to reduce Vivian’s ill repute until now.
The Queen Dowager smiled gently and continued speaking.
“In any case, the reason I invited you today is because rumors about you have not ceased in the Main Palace lately, so I called you here to confirm them. They said you had been acting like a different person since the funeral, and it seems that was true.”
“Haha...”
I had never imagined such rumors had spread all the way to the Queen Dowager’s ears.
The reason I had thought I should meet the Queen Dowager in the first place was because I wanted to thank her for helping me at the Ministry of the Royal Household’s meeting. When the Queen Dowager suddenly called for me first, I wondered if something had happened, but...
‘Looks like that was completely needless worry.’
The moment I relaxed like that, the Queen Dowager began speaking of something else, as if warning me not to let my guard down in front of her. The Queen Dowager drank the wine before her and stared fixedly at me.
“...Today, I watched you and the princess walking through the garden of the Detached Palace. It seems the two of you have grown close enough for you to carry her around.”
“I-it is not to the extent Your Majesty is imagining...”
At the Queen Dowager’s gaze, which seemed to look at me with envy, I had no choice but to turn my head away. Then the Queen Dowager looked down at the hand that had touched the princess’s earlier, as if recalling that memory.
“...She is still so very small.”
“She is only six years old, after all.”
“Yes, she is only six now, but in three months, she will be seven.”
The Queen Dowager clenched the hand she had been looking at and turned her gaze to me. The instant the subject of the princess soon turning seven came up, the Queen Dowager’s atmosphere began to turn cold again, just as it had before.
“You know as well, do you not? What a child born into the royal family does when they turn seven.”
I nodded at the Queen Dowager’s words.
Spring’s “main event.”
All members of the royal family hold a splendid birthday party in the year they turn seven. One might think it is merely a birthday party, but the seventh birthday party of royalty holds a different meaning.
It is an event that “declares” to the people of the kingdom that this child is “a future leader who will guide this nation.” That is spring’s “main event,” and the seventh birthday party of a royal child.
Grind—
The Queen Dowager ground her teeth and looked down at the wineglass in her hand as if irritated. I understood the Queen Dowager’s frustration as well. After all, the princess right now...
“It is almost the princess’s birthday, yet that man who calls himself His Majesty will not even come out of his room, nor has he given the princess so much as a name. I truly do not know what my son, His Majesty, intends to do.”
...still had no “name” to be “declared.”