[Episode 57] - Children’s Society (2)
Including Lady Sergio, the remaining ladies who arrived at the tea party numbered five in total.
Was it because I had set such strict conditions for attendance? Rather than the sinister atmosphere of high society I had imagined, many of them gave off a gentle air, like a parents’ association.
Seeing them each holding their child’s hand, bowing their heads as they thanked me for the invitation, I felt embarrassed for having worried for nothing. Some seemed even more nervous than I was; one lady even bit her tongue while continuing her introduction.
I kept smiling at those ladies, telling them not to be nervous, but the more I smiled, the more tense they seemed to become, to the point that they even faltered as they walked. Was it because they were standing before a queen with such a poor reputation?
“Today is simply a tea party for the children, is it not? Do not be so nervous. I invited you all as the mother of a child, just like yourselves.”
I glanced toward the children gathered in the middle of the garden as I spoke. In the center of the garden, which the maids and gardeners had decorated beautifully, six children sat huddled around a round table.
Perhaps because it was their first meeting, and because they were still nervous, none of them could say a word, all of them fidgeting awkwardly. They were busy touching the pets they had brought with them or avoiding one another’s gazes by staring at the teacups placed before them.
The sight made me let out an involuntary chuckle. According to what I had heard from Vin Chaud, children’s society was something like this. The parents had their own place, and the children had theirs.
‘Behind children’s society lies the adults’ society... was it?’
Apparently, the rule of children’s society was that parents merely watched their children from a distance, without interfering in what the children did or said.
Was that why? Everyone was busy looking at their children with anxious eyes. They fidgeted restlessly, worried that their children might make a slip of the tongue or behave strangely.
Managing this atmosphere was also the role of the “host,” was it not? I took a sip of tea to wet my throat, then smiled softly as I looked at the worried ladies.
“Do not worry too much about the children. Seeing you ladies with my own eyes, I can tell that your children have taken after you and grown up well-mannered. Surely, after a little time passes, their laughter will reach us all the way over here.”
Perhaps my encouragement had worked, even if only a little, for the ladies’ expressions brightened somewhat. I wondered what topic I should bring up next, but it turned out to be a needless concern.
Perhaps the things mothers talked about when gathered together were the same in any world, for the ladies found their own topics and began conversing among themselves.
What books were good for children’s growth, how picky their children were with food, how worried they were that their children did not study enough, the children this, the children that—
As though there was no end to worries about their children, even the ladies who had hesitated at first soon became not nobles, but mothers of children, busy sharing their stories. And the one who took the center of it all was none other than Lady Sergio.
‘Was her name Elise Sergio? I thought that, as a businesswoman, she would only think about money...’
I had wondered whether, from her position as a businesswoman, she intended to sell things to the ladies, but her story was a little different. She said that the reason she had begun a business related to “children’s goods” with her family was because of the sudden increase in the number of children.
That story was more than enough to capture the ladies’ curiosity.
At some point, her experiences—from how their family had grown larger and they had been forced to start developing goods for children, to making small rattling toys, and even creating strollers that children could ride together—were more than enough to delight the ladies.
‘Did she say she had four children? Judging only by Lady Sergio’s appearance, she doesn’t look like someone who has given birth to that many... She did say there was another “Lady Sergio,” so could it be something like a concubine relationship?’
She did not look that much older than “Vivian.” At most, she appeared to be in her mid-twenties, so it seemed like a stretch for her to already be the mother of four children.
Well... it was not as if this country placed restrictions on concubines or anything of the sort, so I simply thought, I see, and let it pass. Sometimes, the sense of dissonance caused by my modern perceptions was a little painful.
“If there is one truly fortunate thing, I suppose it is that the children get along well. They have never fought among themselves, so I’m grateful for that alone.”
Lady Sergio trailed off in a small voice, saying, “Though it is also a problem when they get along too well...” but the other ladies laughed softly, as if envious, saying that there was nothing wrong with getting along.
Exactly. What could be wrong with getting along? Even now, when I think back on those two months when I fought with the princess, chills run down my spine. It was a relief that now we had returned to how we used to be, when we got along well...
“Your Majesty...? Is something the matter?”
Had I fallen into thought without realizing it? When I found myself staring blankly at my teacup, the ladies were looking at me with worried expressions. With all eyes gathered on me, it felt awkward to say it was nothing, so I smiled bitterly and continued with whatever words came to mind.
“It is nothing much. I merely recalled the time I fought with the princess not long ago...”
Come to think of it, had I ever shared such a story with anyone before? Perhaps because there was no one around me with whom I could have this sort of conversation, I continued speaking as though murmuring to myself.
“As you all know, the princess has neither brothers nor sisters. As for parents, she has, at most, me, her adoptive mother, and Her Majesty the Queen Dowager, her grandmother.”
The Queen Dowager... Ever since her own child, the king, met that end, she had never once told me how to raise a child as a parent or anything of the sort. Because I understood how the Queen Dowager must feel, I had never particularly asked her about such matters either.
Was that why?
“So... I am worried. Whether I am raising that child well... Whether I, as her adoptive mother, can make the princess happy...”
Standing before parents who had children, it seemed my tongue had loosened. Perhaps I wanted these ladies to understand even a little of the anxieties I had felt until now. I could not stop the unease that kept leaking from my mouth.
When I laid bare my anxiety, the ladies opened their eyes slightly wide in surprise and looked at me. Wondering if I had said something wrong, I smiled bitterly and asked them.
“...What is it? Did I say something strange?”
“No... We simply thought that Your Majesty worries about the same things as people like us...”
Seeing the ladies laugh softly, I tilted my head. At the sight of them chuckling, saying that whether one was a queen or merely a lady, life was all the same, I also let out a small laugh.
“We always worry about such things as well, Your Majesty. Whether we are raising our children well... Whether our children might go down the wrong path because I taught them poorly...”
One lady smiled bitterly and began to share her own worries, saying they were the same as mine. They had all seemed like experts in raising children, but the way they worried was not so different from me.
“Your Majesty. If I may dare to say this... I, too, am a daughter raised not by my birth mother, but under the care of an adoptive mother.”
Lady Sergio, seated beside me, covered my hand with both of hers and smiled bitterly. At the way she seemed to be encouraging me, normally I would have shaken off Lady Sergio’s hand holding mine, but...
“That is why I can tell you this. When it comes to raising a child, there is no great difference between a birth mother and an adoptive mother. The person who cares for a child with love is the child’s true mother.”
“Lady Sergio...”
“This may be presumptuous of me, but... I am certain the princess feels the same way I do. So please do not belittle yourself with words like, ‘I am only an adoptive mother.’ The one most hurt by that thought of Your Majesty’s would be none other than the princess.”
At those words, I could say nothing. Because I could feel it in the touch of Lady Sergio’s hand as she stroked the back of mine. For some reason, my chest felt tight, and emotion welled up as though I might cry.
Feeling as if I had been understood, even if only a little, I smiled bitterly and looked at the ladies. I did not particularly like gatherings like this, but sometimes, perhaps it would not be bad to create such occasions.
Lady Sergio, who had been stroking my hand, smiled brightly to change the subdued atmosphere and continued telling a little more of her own story.
“Though getting along too well is a problem too. I still haven’t grown out of being a mama’s girl, so it’s quite serious, you know? Sometimes I come somewhere far away like this, but... even now, I want to see my mother so badly I can hardly stand it.”
“To think there is a daughter like you who thinks so dearly of her mother... At this point, I envy your mother.”
“Hehe, she is the person I love most, after all. This much is only natural, isn’t it? I am sure the princess will grow up to be a filial daughter like me as well.”
What about your husband...? The words came to mind, but I said nothing and merely smiled. Well... it was a good thing for family members to get along. And so, as I continued the tea party, laughing cheerfully with the ladies and listening to tips on raising children—
Clang—!!
From the direction of the children came a sharp sound, as though something had been struck with a tray. Everyone turned their heads in surprise to look that way, and I, startled, had no choice but to spring to my feet and run toward the princess.
“W-What in the world is...!”