CHAPTER 10
“Your Majesty? What do you mean by that……?”
Julia felt her cheeks grow slightly warm, but she pretended not to notice and smiled as she held up her golden goblet.
However, Kiara hesitated and did not pour wine into her cup. She was a young noblewoman with a stubborn streak.
Having quickly noticed this, Julia gently explained,
“I mean exactly what I said. His Majesty cannot drink strong liquor like that.”
Kiara looked back and forth between Endymion and Julia. But Endymion seemed to have no interest in anything else, staring intently at Julia with his blue eyes.
Seeing this, Kiara tried to refuse once more, her voice tinged with lingering reluctance.
“But surely the King of a country can’t possibly…….”
“That is true.”
Endymion’s relaxed voice cut her off. At his perfectly timed defense of Julia, the gaze of Duke Soer, who had been watching the situation from a step behind the two women, immediately turned toward them.
“Because I’m a lightweight when it comes to alcohol, whenever I’m in a difficult situation, my Queen drinks in my place.”
“Ah! I’m terribly sorry, Your Majesty! I nearly committed a grave discourtesy.”
Her olive-colored eyes trembled as she hurriedly apologized. Endymion’s lips curled upward as though he found the situation amusing. Then he rested one arm on the armrest of his throne, propped his chin on his hand, and spoke in an arrogant manner.
“You should have simply listened to my Queen from the beginning.”
“Pardon?”
“It was a secret between husband and wife, but now that it has been revealed, I can’t say I’m very pleased.”
It was a reprimand that essentially meant: You could have simply offered the wine to the Queen instead of the King. But because you stubbornly insisted, you ended up making me reveal my own weakness.
“I-I’m sorry, Your Majesty!”
Although Endymion spoke with a smile, as if he were merely joking, the characteristically chilly aura surrounding him sent a shiver down her spine. The imposing presence of the King, whom even the older ministers found intimidating, was certainly not something a mere young noblewoman could withstand.
“I only wanted to see Your Majesty again after twelve years. I was simply so happy that…….”
When a faint moisture gathered in Kiara’s voice, Duke Soer stepped forward with an awkward expression. Noticing him, Julia smiled gently and spoke.
“I understand the warmth behind the young lady’s gesture. Now, then, would you give me a glass?”
The icy atmosphere immediately thawed at the Queen’s graceful voice.
Duke Soer stepped back with a relieved expression, while the cold blue eyes of Endymion warmed as though they had never been cold at all. Kiara quickly bowed her head in response, uncorked the bottle, and carefully poured the wine.
“Your Majesty, this is an 89 vintage wine distilled from Gold Grape, which belongs to the Tirbe royal family.”
Duke Soer added a brief explanation. Julia nodded and tasted the golden wine. It was clean and pleasant, with a bitter aftertaste that almost seemed to burn her tongue, but it was quite good nonetheless.
“It’s fragrant. Thank you for the celebratory wine.”
After emptying her glass, Julia smiled pleasantly and praised it. The expressions of Duke Soer and Lady Kiara brightened, and even Endymion did not look displeased.
When he concluded with the customary words of praise and dismissed his guests, the father and daughter politely bowed and withdrew.
Greetings from the other nobles continued afterward. Once all the young ladies invited as potential concubines had finished paying their respects, a splendid banquet was laid out. The atmosphere was exceptionally lively in anticipation of the royal hunting competition, which was being held for the first time in a long while.
Together with Endymion, Julia raised her glass high, officially opening the lavish banquet.
Tooooot!
The booming sound of a hunting horn scattered across the open sky. The splendid banquet had ended, and after a brief rest, the horn announced the beginning of the actual hunting competition.
The royal knights took their positions around the edges of the hunting grounds to provide security, while several large tents had been set up near the entrance.
In the ordinary tents, elderly nobles and noblewomen enjoyed outdoor tea parties.
Young noblemen and young ladies could freely participate in the hunting competition, but if they happened to catch one another’s eye, they would sometimes sneak away together to enjoy a private walk.
There was even a joke that more couples had been brought together by the fresh natural scenery, so different from the stifling view of the capital, than by the actual purpose of the hunting competition itself.
“Mion, you were a little too harsh earlier. Didn’t you see that Lady Soer almost cried?”
“I’m a tyrant by nature.”
Endymion replied lazily, like a satisfied lion. Julia, who was carefully loosening his cravat, lightly scolded him.
“There you go again.”
If a king was too cold and blunt, it was difficult to win the favor of the nobles. His late father and Milady had tried to correct that trait ever since he was young, but it had never really changed.
Endymion paid no attention whatsoever to his parents’ advice, but he always listened to Julia. So, at some point, correcting this particular habit had naturally become her responsibility.
“Still, you shouldn’t scare people by being so harsh with them. Okay?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Don’t joke around.”
“……It seems my Queen likes other people more than she likes me.”
As Julia loosened his cravat and even undid the buttons at his neck so that he could move more comfortably, Endymion complained.
Julia widened her eyes, then let out a small laugh and shook her head.
“No. Actually, I was happy that you took my side.”
Only then did Endymion lower his eyes with an expression like a cat that had just been praised.
Honestly, he really is adorable at times like this.
His body might have grown large, but he was still like a child sometimes. Julia suppressed a smile at Endymion’s languid, satisfied expression and continued what she was doing.
To be honest, she was secretly relieved that Endymion was not as close to the young lady as she had expected.
She knew that, from Kiara’s perspective, it was rather unfair. Endymion being unable to hold his liquor was hardly a great secret, and Julia had been the one to mention it first. Still, for some reason, she had felt as though she had won earlier……
Won? Won what?!
Startled by the thought that had suddenly crossed her mind, Julia stopped her fingers as she was undoing his buttons. Endymion looked down at her questioningly.
Julia barely managed to collect herself. She quickly finished undoing the buttons and lowered her hands.
“Be careful out there.”
Julia straightened Endymion’s collar as she saw him off. Endymion glanced down at her and asked,
“You’re not coming with me?”
“Ah, I’m fine. I have something to do. I need to see if there are any young ladies suitable to become your concubine.”
There! Satisfied after neatly arranging Endymion’s clothes to her liking, Julia smiled.
The young ladies had been invited without being told about the concubine selection, so by now they were probably all quite at ease.
“And I thought I’d take this opportunity to get a little closer to the young ladies. As you know, I’m close with the noblewomen, but I’m a little awkward around girls my age.”
Middle-aged noblewomen liked Julia’s calm personality. She never acted haughtily just because she was the Queen, and she had a kind nature. Because of this, many of the noblewomen treated Julia almost like a daughter or daughter-in-law.
But the young ladies her own age seemed to find Julia somewhat difficult to approach.
Despite attending countless tea parties, social gatherings, and balls over the past twelve years, Julia had unfortunately never made a single friend her own age.
Perhaps that was the one and only flaw of a perfect Queen.
“What do you think? Is there anyone who seems suitable?”
“I don’t know.”
Julia asked lightly, but Endymion answered casually and turned away. Several young ladies were scattered nearby, yet he did not even spare them a glance. In fact, he had not shown even the slightest interest in them from morning until now.
Wait, why is he acting like that when he was the one who suggested inviting them?
Embarrassed by his curt answer, Julia glanced around. Then she happened to spot Duke Soer and Kiara preparing nearby.
Julia quickly turned her head away. For some reason, she felt relieved that Endymion was not looking in their direction, and she spoke lightly.
“At least make an effort. You might meet someone you’ll be seeing often in the future.”
At that moment, Endymion, who was fastening the scabbard of his sword beside his saddle, casually spoke.
“I don’t think I’ll need to.”
“Hm?”
Julia was about to ask what he meant when Endymion mounted his horse in the blink of an eye.
The knights who had been waiting for the King immediately sounded their hunting horns, while the nobles who had finished preparing formed a line to enter the hunting grounds.
“What is with him, honestly?”
For some reason, Julia had kept missing the right moment to talk to him all day. She gave Endymion a slight glare before stroking her horse’s neck.
Hmm. I’ll let him off for now. When he comes back, I’ll make sure to ask him properly.
Endymion looked down at Julia with a boyish smile and whispered in a low voice,
“You know the western plain of the hunting grounds?”
“Flan Plains? Yes, I know it.”
“Come there in two hours. There’s something I want to tell you.”
In two hours, the hunting competition would be in full swing. If she wanted to hunt while building relationships with the high-ranking nobles, it would probably take at least three hours. And why did he want her to go to a place famous for its walking trails?
Thoroughly puzzled, Julia finally grabbed the reins with both hands, unable to contain her curiosity.
“Why? What do you want to tell me? You’ve been acting strange toda—!”
Smack.
A soft, warm touch.
At the small but startling sound, Julia’s entire body went rigid.
Endymion took Julia’s hand, pressed a brief kiss to her fingers, then gently let her go.
Before she even had a chance to react, he raised one arm to signal the beginning of the hunt, then urged his horse forward and joined the line of nobles.
“Oh my!”
Several noblewomen nearby happened to witness the scene and let out small gasps. Some even made a fuss, saying they had never seen a husband kiss his wife’s hand outside of a ball.
Julia stood there alone, staring blankly at Endymion’s back as he disappeared with the nobles.
—I’ll be waiting.
The quiet voice she had heard just before he kissed her hand came back to her.
Her fingers felt strangely warm and ticklish, and Julia squeezed her eyes shut.
……It seemed that, somehow, her body had started acting a little strange.
