TWCT 12

Chapter 12

Queen’s Struggle (3)

“Your Majesty, the sun is quite strong today. If it pleases you, may I suggest working in the shade?”

That day, I was sitting in the palace garden behind the castle with Bado on my shoulder, doing embroidery.

I had been coming here whenever I had time these past few days because I wanted to stitch the scenery from the back garden onto a handkerchief. However, it was indeed much sunnier than usual today.

The knight on guard duty made the suggestion, and I looked up at him apologetically.

“I’m sorry for worrying you. But I’m actually quite sturdy, you know. I won’t collapse just from a little sunlight. Besides, if I change locations, the scenery will change too, and then the embroidery won’t match reality… Um, two hours. I’ll stop after two hours. No, maybe one hour… or perhaps fifty minutes?”

Seeing the knight frown at my answer, I reluctantly compromised bit by bit.

Because I sometimes end up bedridden, people seem to think I have a weak constitution.

In truth, I’m not physically weak—but it’s difficult to explain why I fall ill without revealing that I’m a witch. And I don’t want to worry anyone. So I had no choice but to shorten my planned time again and again.

In the end, when I said “fifty minutes,” the knight finally nodded.

“Thank you, Barnaba!”

I smiled brightly at the guard knight.

Then I heard a low cough behind me.

Startled, I turned around and saw a man in his forties with a magnificent beard.

“Ah, Commander Biagio of the Knight Order! Thank you for your hard work.”

Noticing the leader of the knights, who gave off the same kind of atmosphere as my father in my homeland despite his different appearance, I placed my embroidery tools down and hurried over with a smile.

The knight commander spoke sternly.

“What a spirited queen! To run with your dress fluttering like that…”

But his eyes were clearly smiling.

Then he held a small parasol over my head.

“I understand that Your Majesty does not listen to your escort knights. Therefore, this old man shall remain here holding an umbrella over you while you embroider.”

“Eh!”

“So please, stop before my arms grow tired.”

He made the strange suggestion with a mischievous expression.

Looking at his strong arms, I blinked.

“…Um, Commander Biagio, if we compare your muscles and my stamina, I would definitely get tired first.”

Bado, on my shoulder, twitched his tail as if agreeing.

He was once again perfectly disguised as a squirrel today.

Suppressing a sigh at his stubbornness, I hurried to explain.

“I may be spirited, but I do keep my promises. I promised Barnaba, so I will stop in fifty minutes today.”

“Splendid. Then this old man shall hold the umbrella for fifty minutes.”

Since he insisted on it, I looked up in shock.

“No, I cannot let the commander of the knight order do such a thing! And I really am quite sturdy, you know.”

But my words were ignored again.

Commander Biagio guided me back to my seat, sat me down as I had been before, and stood beside me holding the umbrella.

“Between us, I sometimes feel like simply standing around idly. So this task of holding an umbrella for Your Majesty is quite fitting for me.”

Even though that was clearly not true, I felt grateful that he was trying to justify it for my sake.

“Thank you, Commander. I appreciate you humoring my selfishness.”

But at my words, he raised one eyebrow in disagreement.

“If drawing the place important to His Majesty into embroidery is what you call selfishness, then such selfishness should be greatly respected.”

“Eh!”

His words struck right through me, and I jumped slightly.

As I stared at him wide-eyed, he lowered his voice as if sharing a secret.

“When I was young, I served as the king’s escort knight. Whenever His Majesty experienced sadness or frustration as a child, he would always come to this place. And he would stand exactly where Your Majesty is standing now, looking out at this view.”

“C-Commander Biagio…”

I stammered, calling his name.

So that was it. He saw right through everything.

I had been able to see Feliks’s actions in dreams since I was a child.

Because of that, I knew this place had been important to him when he was young.

But as he grew older, he stopped coming here, so perhaps it was no longer important to him.

Even so, it was still a precious place to me—a place that had once supported him in his childhood. That was why I wanted to faithfully capture this scenery in embroidery… secretly.

“Um, that is… Commander…”

This was already my third time embroidering here, and each time, by some coincidence, the commander had passed by. Until now, it had just been casual conversation, so I never imagined he knew the meaning behind it.

Flustered, I fumbled for words. Because I couldn’t explain properly without revealing I was a witch.

Then the commander smiled gently, as if to reassure me.

“Lady Rupia, I would like to thank you.”

“Eh? Thank me?”

“When we heard that a princess from a great kingdom would marry into our country, I honestly did not expect someone like you—someone who would care so deeply for His Majesty. I heard from the chef that you studied under the former royal chef and recreated dishes His Majesty loved. And I suspect… you also hired people who once served in this palace in your homeland to learn from them, didn’t you?”

“Eh!”

“And you are using that knowledge to care for His Majesty… If that is so, then I can only be grateful that you cherish our king so much.”

“……”

In truth, I had simply been observing through dreams, but since he misunderstood in such a favorable way, I stayed silent.

The fact that I loved Feliks, and that I cared about the places important to him—that part was true, so it was close enough… probably.

When I glanced up, I met the commander’s kind gaze.

It felt painful that I couldn’t tell him the truth despite his goodwill, and my chest ached.

So I decided to speak honestly about what I could.

“I heard that in this country, there is a custom where a wife gives her husband a handkerchief she has embroidered. Even if Lord Feliks may have forgotten this place now, it was once somewhere that encouraged him as a child, so I thought… maybe if he carries this embroidered handkerchief, it might become a small charm of protection…”

As I said it out loud, I realized how baseless it sounded.

In front of knights who acted on practical logic, I wondered what I was even saying and felt embarrassed, lowering my head.

But above me, the commander’s gentle voice fell.

“I believe it will bring him good fortune.”

“…Thank you.”

Still looking down, I gave him my thanks, then lifted my head.

His expression was as kind as his voice.

…Commander Biagio really is a kind man.

Feeling warmth in my chest, I bowed slightly and returned to my embroidery.

In the gentle silence, I focused on my work.

Commander Biagio continued holding the umbrella over me, while Barnaba kept muttering in surprise, “So that’s what this place was…”

Two weeks later, the embroidery was finally finished.

That night, when Feliks visited my room, I gathered my courage and handed him the handkerchief.

“L-Lord Feliks, this is an embroidered handkerchief! Please use it if you like.”

In my nervousness, I accidentally used overly formal speech.

But Feliks did not comment on it and accepted it with a smile.

“Thank you, Rupia! It’s wonderful embroidery!! …But actually, I’ve already been informed that you were making it.”

Then he frowned slightly, looking troubled.

“Please don’t overwork yourself to the point of harming your health. Whether it’s strong sunlight or cold wind, you tend to push yourself too far. From now on, I’d like you to avoid embroidering outdoors. This one is more than enough for me. I will treasure it.”

“…Yes.”

I could read his expression well.

He was happy to receive the handkerchief, but also worried about me overexerting myself.

So I decided to obey.

Because he had accepted my gift so happily and promised to treasure it, asking for more would be greedy.

“Lord Feliks, thank you for accepting it!”

“…That is not the kind of thing you should be thanking me for. If you do that, I would just say ‘thank you for being happy I accepted it,’ and this gratitude exchange would go on forever.”

“Ah, th-that’s true!”

Realizing it too late, I looked at him in embarrassment—and the moment I met his playful expression, we both burst out laughing.

“…Rupia, you really are a genius at making things enjoyable.”

“Then, Lord Feliks, you are a genius at making everyone happy!”

We laughed together again.

From that day on, the handkerchief I gave him often appeared in his chest pocket.

Every time I saw it, I smiled.

And every time he saw it, he smiled too.