Chapter 08
Nadia momentarily lost her words. She wondered if it was a joke, but Albina’s maid was smiling seriously. Nadia bit her lip hard.
“I must decline……”
“If you refuse, His Majesty the King will be very disappointed.”
Albina’s maid cut off Nadia’s words and spoke.
“Countess Velevin instructed me to tell you exactly that.”
“……Is His Majesty there?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Seeing Albina’s maid answering with a pretense of docility, Nadia swallowed dryly. If the king was involved in this, things became troublesome.
It could easily be seen as slighting him. And if she did not go, it would give the social circles one more pretext for gossip about her.
Making an excuse about her health was not an option either, since she had already had a tea gathering hosted by herself today. Nadia looked at Olga with a troubled expression.
‘Why are you looking at me?’
Olga’s eyes seemed to ask that in return. Faced with the attitude of a thorough bystander, Nadia bit the inside of her lip.
“Fine, I’ll go.”
***
At the same time, the reception room of the Velevin Palace was very lively. Everyone who had been invited by the queen had gathered there.
“How flustered must the queen have been? She must have gone to the reception room full of anticipation, only to see that no one was there.”
“And the maids of the Queen’s Palace wouldn’t have bothered to tell her that beforehand, would they?”
“Tell her? Only Lady Ryavova has become pitiful. To serve Agnes’s daughter as her master……”
“His Majesty will surely grant her a fitting reward.”
When Albina, who had been listening quietly, said a word, everyone clapped as if it were a fitting remark.
“More importantly, will the queen really come? If she comes here, there would be no greater laughingstock than that.”
“She will come.”
Albina spoke with certainty.
“I told her to be informed that His Majesty is here.”
“Pardon? Is that alright?”
“Of course. Actually, His Majesty has decided to stop by briefly.”
“Oh my, really?”
Everyone giggled and rejoiced. If Albina had invoked the king to invite the queen, the queen could not help but come.
Everyone was waiting with expectant expressions for when the queen would arrive.
“Countess, I have escorted Her Highness the Queen.”
“Oh my!”
She really came. Everyone exchanged glances with interested expressions. Shortly after, Nadia entered the reception room.
The people who saw her were momentarily at a loss for words. And for good reasonāNadia looked incredibly beautiful today.
The dress the queen wore today suited her pure white skin very well and gave off a strong spring atmosphere. Yet the saturation was not high, creating an elegant and refined feeling.
And what of the rose gold tiara matched to a similar tone as the dress? Had they not harbored ill feelings toward the queen, it was such an excellent choice of attire that they would have immediately applauded and admired it.
“We greet Her Highness the Queen.”
Everyone rose from their seats and offered a composed greeting. To invite her to such a humiliating place and then observe superficial courtesy would be an even greater disgrace to the queen.
Albina, with the corners of her mouth slightly twisted, checked Nadia’s face and then subtly narrowed her brows. It was because the queen’s face looked as unaffected as their attitudes.
“So everyone was here.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Albina answered with a smile.
“Please don’t take it too much to heart. After all, we’ve all ended up gathered in one place like this, haven’t we?”
“Did the countess send invitations to these people for today’s schedule as well?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Her calmly nodding appearance seemed to say there was nothing wrong with it. Moreover, the others were accepting this situation as natural.
If Nadia showed displeasure here, she would be the only one who seemed strange. Just as Albina was smiling, anticipating her responseā
“Then there’s no reason for me to take it to heart either.”
“Pardon?”
“Everyone must be more comfortable with Lady Velevin than with me. As you know, I have no experience in social circles.”
At Nadia’s calm answer, Albina was momentarily dazed. Before she could retort, Nadia continued.
“Still, it would have been nice if you had given me a heads-up, Lady Velevin.”
“……Ah.”
Albina, coming to her senses belatedly, wrinkled the bridge of her nose and opened her mouth.
“I apologize for that, Your Highness. Here, please sit.”
Regardless, Albina continued to be shameless. What mattered here was momentum.
“Bring another chair.”
Albina yielded her seat to the queen and then sat in the newly brought chair placed beside Nadia.
Sitting beside the queen without permission was a highly rude attitude, but no one pointed it out.
If someone here were to point out etiquette and establish the queen’s authority, Albina was willing to graciously apologize and rise from her seat.
But if that happened, the queen who had intruded on someone else’s tea gathering would be mocked for flaunting her dignity without knowing her place.
Finally, this time Nadia let out a faint sigh. Albina smiled and opened her mouth.
“Sitting side by side with Your Highness like this puts me in a good mood. It feels a bit more intimate, perhaps.”
“But madam, I think you should get up.”
Nadia quietly opened her mouth.
“His Majesty’s seat……”
“His Majesty the King is coming.”
At the voice that came just then, everyone quickly rose from their seats. Shortly after, Lev appeared in the reception room.
Wearing a black uniform that fit his body appropriately, he was a quite beautiful figure even just by his silhouette.
The pale skin and sharp features revealed beyond it had the power to turn this reception room into a battlefield in an instant.
As everyone bowed their heads in awe at the entrance of the king who had usurped the throne from his father and achieved revenge for his mother, only one person approached him with a bright smile.
“Your Majesty.”
Albina affectionately embraced herself in the king’s arms.
“You always seem to come at the most amazing times.”
“You only call me when I’m busy.”
The two, now close, conversed in small voices that only they could hear.
Albina giggled as if in thanks, shrugged her shoulders, and quickly pulled away from him.
“Here, come sit down.”
Albina yielded her seat to Lev. While the maid went to fetch a new chair, the noblewoman sitting beside the king rose from her seat.
“Lady Velevin, I will yield my seat to you……”
“No. There’s somewhere I want to sit.”
Then Albina boldly sat on the king’s lap. Everyone seemed not to have expected this situation, as the sound of gasps could be heard.
Lev’s eyes also momentarily hardened as if flustered, but soon returned to composure.
“Your Majesty, may I sit here?”
Lev, looking at Albina as if she were truly remarkable, produced a rather affectionate voice.
“It would be uncomfortable for drinking tea.”
“Oh my, it’s a joke.”
Albina giggled and promptly rose from her seat. In the end, Albina ended up sitting on the king’s right side.
“Then shall we continue what we were talking about? Ah, Your Majesty. What we were talking about was……”
The tea gathering resumed as if nothing had happened. The central figure was, of course, Albina. Lev was mostly on the listening side, occasionally responding to Albina’s stories.
Above all, since the gazes of everyone present, including Lev, were directed solely at Albina, anyone who did not know would have thought Albina was the queen.
Nadia was completely excluded from this conversation. No one asked her a question, nor did anyone give her even a handful of glances.
It was the same treatment as at the reception. And just as then, Nadia’s expression was calm. Like someone to whom this level of insult was nothing.
“I had such a wonderful time today, Lady Velevin. Please invite me again next time.”
“I should be the one thanking you for coming. Do see me often.”
Even when it was time for the tea gathering to end, the situation was no different. The attendees left greetings only for Lev and Albina, and turned away from Nadia.
Even if she were not the queen, there could be no greater insult than this. It was the act of completely ignoring a person. And yet it was a place where she could not simply storm out.
Now that there were no eyes watching, she might reveal her resentment and burst into tears. Albina, feeling a thrilling sensation, turned to look at Nadia.
But Nadia was wearing an expression completely unexpected.
