Chapter 59: The Reason for Unease
Why do I feel so uneasy?
The queen’s eyes trembled slightly as they wandered to the window once again.
Since the members of the Pitzern Guild had finished their discussions and left, an inexplicable sense of anxiety gnawed at the queen’s nerves.
Could it be because fatigue had built up from stitching for such a long time?
“Agnes, is Del still asleep?”
The queen pinched the bridge of her nose as she asked, and the princess’s maid, Agnes, was startled.
“Uh… Your Majesty…”
“If she’s awake, bring her here. I should ask her to take a walk with me.”
Beside the pale Agnes, Meredith approached calmly.
“Your Majesty.”
“Meredith, what is it?”
“Your Highness the Princess has stepped out for a moment.”
The queen stopped pinching her nose and looked at Meredith.
The air in the drawing room fell heavy in an instant.
“The princess stepped out?”
“Yes. She seemed to have an urgent matter, so I told the guild members to continue their meeting while she stepped out briefly.”
“Meredith.”
Ah, the ominous feeling I sensed earlier… it’s because of Delia.
Anger began to rise slowly, making the fingertips resting on her dress tremble.
“I commanded that the princess should not leave without my permission.”
“Your Majesty, I will accept the punishment for disobeying orders. However—”
The queen’s voice sharpened on its own.
“However?”
“Your Majesty, the princess has made significant efforts all this time.”
Meredith calmly met the queen’s gaze, recalling the situation in the grand hall on the first day.
The commander had set a trap to lure the princess out.
The princess had been forced into the trap.
Naturally, one would expect a deep grudge between them.
Yet, the commander had safely returned the princess, and she had come back to the queen’s side unharmed.
Thanks to this, Meredith was able to observe Delia staying by the queen’s side for nearly two weeks.
“The princess could have gone wherever she wanted.”
Yet, whenever she had the chance, the princess clung to the window, searching for someone.
Even though it was obvious where her clear, blue eyes were looking, she remained by the queen’s side.
“Still, she stayed with you solely to reassure you, Your Majesty.”
“Meredith.”
Meredith bowed respectfully in response to the queen’s fierce anger.
“I hoped you would at least understand the princess’s feelings once.”
“You should have followed my wishes, no matter the reason.”
“I apologize.”
The queen’s face twisted even more as she looked at Meredith bowing her head.
“Enough. Finding the princess comes first. Tell me where Delia went.”
Meredith silently lowered her head.
Agnes, the maid who had been following the princess, also kept quiet.
“Ah. You can’t tell me immediately?”
As the queen’s anger intensified, another maid hesitated before speaking.
“I presume she went to the Pitzern Guild.”
“The guild?”
“A young artist requested to discuss a portrait.”
Everyone in the castle knew Delia despised portraits.
Yet a portrait…
Seeing how obvious the situation was, the queen’s heart raced. She quickly rose and gave orders to the other maids.
“I must go myself. Prepare the carriage at once.”
“But, Your Majesty—”
As the maids hesitated, the queen’s anger flared even more.
“Are you refusing to follow my orders?”
“It’s not that… Your Majesty, the king has arrived.”
The queen’s face contorted further as she looked toward the door, where the king stood silently, observing the commotion.
“Do you intend to stop me too, Your Majesty?”
“No, Queen. I have come to speak with you.”
The king slowly approached, leaning on his staff.
“Return later. I must go find Del now.”
The queen gripped her dress and stepped forward, only to be stopped by the king.
“What could be so urgent that you block my way? Is it more pressing than my child?”
The king looked at her for a moment and spoke slowly, with a chilling calmness:
“I have come to speak about Alfredo.”
The queen drew a sharp breath as the ominous feeling deep in her chest intensified.
Now she realized.
The foreboding sense wasn’t because of Delia—it was because of Alfredo.
The king and queen sat facing each other in the heavy, tense air of the drawing room.
Tea, with a subtle fragrance, was ready, but the queen only watched the steam rise like a mirage.
The king observed her trembling long eyelashes and began to speak slowly.
“It has been almost a month since the defeat on the Kavart Plains, and Alfredo has disappeared.”
The queen’s throat tightened at the king’s unnervingly calm voice.
She clutched the pendant around her neck as if praying.
“Not only our people in Eorenti, but even the imperial army, following the commander’s orders, is making every effort to find Alfredo.”
The king struggled to speak the heavy truth he needed to tell the queen.
“And yet, there is not a single trace of him.”
“Your Majesty, we must continue the search.”
“Of course we will, but…”
The king’s fingers traced the golden eagle engraved on his staff. Its sharp beak pricked his hand.
“Now, we must consider the worst-case scenario.”
The queen’s voice, like a scream, cut sharply through the drawing room.
“Your Majesty—”
He looked into her moist eyes and reminded her of the harsh reality:
“Even if Alfredo returns alive, he will not escape the responsibility for this defeat.”
“That’s because of the overwhelming imperial army—”
At the mention of the imperial army, the king’s eyebrows twitched strangely. Anger, long suppressed, returned, and his breathing grew rough.
“You should have at least fought that army!”
With a loud slam of his staff, the drawing room shook.
“Even if you lost, you should have shown the effort to fight. Then at least there would be an excuse.”
The king’s mind flashed back to recent events.
Enrico, a general, had appeared before the parliament at the request of the senators. They pressed him for details, and he answered faithfully.
Through his account, the king and senators vividly learned what had happened on the Kavart Plains.
“You remained composed until the army reached the plains, attending strategy meetings and observing training sessions.”
“And then?”
“During the first encounter with the imperial forces, the prince’s horse spooked, and he fell off immediately.”
“So he was badly hurt?”
“No. After regaining composure, the prince returned to the camp, following the deputy commander’s orders.”
“What?”
“When we arrived, he was no longer at the camp. We searched nearby but could not find him.”
“I see.”
“I apologize. At that time, our command was fully engaged in battle, and we could not watch over the prince.”
In the quiet hall, General Enrico’s words of apology echoed tragically.
Although carefully phrased, it was clear: the prince abandoned the army during battle. He even took control from the deputy commander and fled.
That humiliating truth tormented the king, replaying relentlessly in his mind.
“The prince abandoned the army in the midst of battle.”
The king stroked the golden eagle on his staff, trying to calm himself.
“Many soldiers witnessed it, and the senators heard of it.”
“Who would follow a prince who abandoned his army?”
“If Alfredo ascends next, Eorenti will plunge into even greater chaos.”
The king gripped his staff tightly, staring directly at the queen.
“I intend to hold Alfredo accountable for the defeat on the Kavart Plains and remove him from the position of crown prince.”
The light in the room seemed chillingly sharp, cutting through the air.
“And, as soon as the political marriage with the commander is formalized, Delia will be made the crown princess.”
“Your Majesty—”
“Do you remember, when the children were young, your father insisted that Delia should be crown princess?”
The king gazed out the sunlit window, recalling the past.
“At the time, I thought it was nonsense. Just a grandfather’s whimsical insistence out of love for his granddaughter.”
Crown princess… queen…
It had seemed impossible. Despite the king’s talent, Eorenti would never unite under a queen.
Neighboring nations would exploit her presence. If the family married to the queen claimed rights over Eorenti, the country would be torn apart.
Thus, the proposal to make Delia crown princess was delayed and eventually forgotten after Leopold III died at the Battle of Frover.
“Now, I understand my father’s words. Perhaps he foresaw the children’s potential.”
A heavy sigh escaped the king, full of regret.
“And…”
The king paused, recalling the red silhouette standing against the window that day.
“The empire’s commander has shown a surprisingly favorable attitude toward Eorenti.”
It was the decisive reason that resolved the king’s concerns about Delia.
“Thanks to the commander’s cooperation, both our proposal and the empire’s were reflected in the Treaty of Stühlen.”
The regent commander had been unexpectedly generous in postwar arrangements. Threatening the council subtly, he passed the political marriage unanimously and refrained from further interference.
“With him as regent beside Delia, stability can be restored quickly—for Eorenti and for Delia.”
The king withdrew his gaze from the window and quietly set down his teacup. He looked at the queen, trembling violently.
“Queen, have we not already prepared for the end?”
He reached out and held her hand gripping the pendant.
“Now, let us release the children.”
The queen closed her eyes, unable to control her emotions. She had tried so hard to stop Delia and the commander, knowing this moment would come.
A quiet sob escaped her trembling lips.
