Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Curiosity
His voice was soft and sweet, but there was a note of self-important pride in it.
And he had called me Queen. He was not the only foreigner to do so, but the word felt strange as I had been sending messages with Queen the bird.
Did that mean…Prince Heinley was Queen's owner? Did he think I was his letter acquaintance? I had a moment of suspicion, but soon dismissed it. It didn't matter if he wrote those letters. I had no intention of meeting Queen's owner in real life.
The knight standing next to me frowned as if offended. He seemed to think that it was rude for the prince to ask me to guide him around the palace.
"Alright."
Nevertheless, there was no knowing when his country would surpass the Eastern Empire. I would not stir up unnecessary trouble with a prince who might succeed to the throne in the future.
After a moment's thought, the proud attitude on the Prince Heinley's face vanished, replaced with an innocent smile as he offered his arm to me. I took it, and contrary to his beautiful and fine appearance, his arm felt densely muscled. I let go of it in surprise, and he looked at me curiously.
"What is it?"
"Nothing."
I couldn't very well say that he was more solid than I expected, so I quickly looked away.
"Have you ever been to the Silver Garden? It's the closest garden to the southern palace. It's very beautiful."
"I've been around the southern palace, naturally."
I pondered for a moment as we walked along the corridor exiting the central palace. The central palace was primarily used for work, with many forbidden areas to outsiders, so it was inappropriate for me to show him around there. The southern palace was used to house the foreign guests, and he must have toured around the area.
Then there was still the western palace…we could share a cup of tea, so the western palace should be at the end.
I could escort him to the Emperor's eastern palace, but I was reluctant to run across Rashta. We could easily skip that and go to the north palace…
"Your Majesty?"
I was strolling forward without saying a word, and Prince Heinley called out me. Something in his voice made my ears tingle.
"I was thinking about what to show you first."
"Ah. Then I want to go–"
Before Prince Heinley finished speaking, a familiar person ran towards us from the garden bushes.
"Your Majesty!"
Rashta. Despite my efforts to avoid here, she still appeared in front of me. I sighed, keeping on my mask as I nodded to her.
"Your Majesty, are you talking a walk? Rashta's taking a walk too."
"Yes."
I had no idea where her inexhaustible energy came from. Last time I saw her, we didn't part on the best terms.
"I came from over there."
She pointed her finger at the path she had followed, then smiled brightly and bowed to the prince.
"Hello, I'm Rashta."
I thought the prince would be offended by this unnoble greeting, but he smiled unexpectedly and copied Rashta's mannerism.
"Hello, I'm Heinley."
Rashta's giggle was like a silver bell.
"You're funny! Your Majesty, who is this? I've never seen him before."
Heinley introduced himself before I could.
"I'm Prince Heinley from the Western Kingdom."
"Wow! Prince?!"
Rashta covered her mouth with her hands, then squealed in excitement.
"Rashta has never seen a prince!"
"Haha, is that so?"
"You really look like a prince. From a fairy tale book."
"Goodness. You flatter me, Rashta."
A pink flush rose on Rashta's cheeks.
"Are you two taking a walk together?"
"I asked the Empress to show me around."
"This place is wonderful, isn't it? There are a lot of places to see."
"I haven't seen everything, but so far, it's been incredible."
Unlike the nobles who were embarrassed by Rashta's speech or behavior when they first met her, Prince Heinley carried on easily with her. Rashta asked if Prince Heinley was feeling comfortable, then posed him another question with a beaming smile.
"Well, Prince Heinley, do you want me to guide you?"
Prince Heinley's eyebrows lifted.
"Lady Rashta?"
"Rashta has been exploring the entire palace lately. There's no place I don't know!"
Rashta glanced and added kindly,
"Her Majesty is busy, so Rashta will do it for you."
"Ah. Thank you, Lady Rashta. But that's all right. The Empress is a great guide. "
I hadn't even shown him anything yet. Prince Heinley glanced at me apologetically.
"Ah! Then Rashta will go with you. It would be more fun if the three of us took a walk together!"
Rashta attached herself to Prince Heinley's side, and he returned a soft smile.
If he allowed Rashta to accompany us, I would simply leave. I thought through the words that would give me a reasonable excuse.
Busy? No, I said I was not busy.
I just remembered that I was busy? No, that was too hasty.
Perhaps I had to rush to the bathroom…No, absolutely not.
In any case, I didn't want to create a scene of the Empress and the Emperor's concubine taking a stroll with the neighboring country's prince. There could be no such ridiculous thing. But before I even choose an excuse–
"I'm sorry, Lady Rashta."
Prince Heinley turned down Rashta in a gentle but firm voice.
"Three is too many."
Rashta looked surprised, and Prince Heinley left her with a "Enjoy your walk," then calmly strode away. He was polite, but surprisingly cold. Usually when someone offered their company, the polite thing to do was accept.
I glanced sideways at his profile in surprise. Before I knew it, he returned with the prideful attitude when he asked me to guide him. I frowned in thought…he certainly had a rude personality. He really was a man that depended on his good looks. Was that the reason of the buzz in the social circles?
Prince Heinley stared at me while I thought. I avoided his gaze for fear of being too obvious, when he asked me an unexpected question.
"Do you not find me handsome?"
What was he talking about? I gave a slight frown, and Prince Heinley continued.
"It's strange. People are usually interested in me at this point. Why is the Queen so cold? Is my face swollen today? I made sure to dress finely."
I must have heard him wrong. I stared at him, Prince Heinley suddenly burst out laughing.
…Was it a joke?
"My apologies, Your Majesty. You were so rigid a while ago."
"!"
"The woman from earlier, was she the Emperor's mistress?"
Prince Heinley used the term "mistress" instead of "concubine." This, too, was not typical of nobility, and it produced a smile from me.
"The Emperor is a strange man. How could he look elsewhere with the Queen in front of him?"
"Thank you for your kind words, but…"
"There is no need to thank me. If he cannot appreciate you, it is his loss."
Perhaps that was why he was called a womanizer. For a moment I was pleasantly surprised. I knew his words were meant to be pleasing to my ears, but his haughty face made me unable to accept his flattery. He looked like the type that would be unwilling to give compliments even if he was held by the throat and ordered to do so.
I forced a smile, and he gave me a boyish grin in return.
"So, if you don't mind, Your Majesty, would you invite me to the special banquet on the last day of the New Year's celebrations?"
Those present at the final New Year's banquet were highly distinguished guests of high status, or made great achievements, or were expected to make great achievements. However, the Emperor and Empress only invited ten guests. Naturally, most of the invitations were already sent before the New Year's, and Prince Heinley was naturally the first on that list.
"Didn't you already receive the invitation? It couldn't be…"
"I received it. But it was an invitation from the Emperor of the Eastern Empire."
When he looked at me again, his eyebrows lifted.
"I would rather be the Empress' guest."
"I appreciate it, but I have already sent out all of the invitations."
"Why don't you cross out the Emperor's name and write down your name below?"
He was speaking nonsense, and he chuckled at his own words, then offered up his arm again.
"Shall we keep walking?"
* * *
After our stroll together, I returned to the western palace. Countess Eliza was helping me change my clothes, when she suddenly exclaimed "Oh!"
"What's wrong?"
Countess Eliza was smiling at the window. I followed her gaze and saw Queen sitting on sill. That was normal, but today his back was towards us. Countess Eliza chuckled.
"He flew here, but when he saw you changing, he panicked and turned around."
"Queen?"
"That bird is so clever, Your Majesty. Like a gentleman."
When I finished dressing, I approached the bird, but Queen still kept his back firmly towards me. He cocked his head when I approached, but didn't turn around. I spoke to him in a soft voice.
"I'm dressed now."
I poked his feathery rear, and he spun around and rubbed his forehead against mine.
"Did you not look because you were ashamed?"
Queen nodded his head primly. He really did look intelligent. However…
"Did you come here in a hurry today? Why are you tired?"
Queen seemed exhausted from his journey when he carried the first note, but after his owner arrived at the palace, he appeared to be more at ease. He looked exhausted again today, however, as if in a rush.
Queen fumbled a little, then held out his leg with another note. I petted his head and pulled out the scrap of paper.
– Looking for me?
Queen tilted her head and stared. He then went to drink some water, keeping his eye on me. It was a long moment before I finally replied.
– Looking hard. And you?
Queen shook the water from his beak then flew towards me. He looked at the note, then tapped my arm lightly with his wings as if to reprimand me for my lie. He was so adorable the way he reacted to my letters, and I patted his beak again.
– !
* * *
The New Year's celebrations finally began.
Fireworks glittered in the sky at night, and people laughed and chatted in the streets by day.
Although I had lived in the palace for a long time, the image that still came to mind when thinking about New Year's was the lively pre-marriage festival.
I opened the window, allowing the cool yet moist morning air to tickle my nose. I inhaled and exhaled deeply, then half-closed the window and rang the bell next to my bed. After a moment, Countess Eliza entered, dressed more extravagantly than usual.
"You will be quite busy today."
The Countess smiled at me, then quickly lifted the dress she prepared from the closet. My mother had given the dress to me as a gift, a beautiful thing adorned with white pearls and underlaid with layers of snowy lace to give a full skirt. My mother didn't say it directly to me, but I knew that she was worried about me after the rumors about Rashta.
"It's the first day, so we must all dress up. On an event like this, one should look colorful, but too strong of a color would look tacky. Instead, it's better to make the queen's image stand out."
She explained to me that concept was "The Queen of Snow", then urged me to get up and wash my face. After sliding into the scented bath water and receiving a massage, Countess Eliza washed my hair and placed on light makeup to make my skin look smoother. She helped me put on the white dress, then decorated my hair with more pearls. I slipped on the white shoes, and soon it really was as if I came from a country of snow.
"You look so beautiful, Empress. I'm not only saying this because you're here."
"Thank you, Countess Eliza."
Countess Eliza seemed to want to speak more, but she smiled silently instead. Perhaps she was about to say something like, "Sovieshu will be impressed when he sees you."
I checked the schedule on my desk one final time, then headed towards the eastern palace. From the second day onwards it wouldn't matter, but on the first day it was required that the emperor and empress enter the first grand banquet together.
I found Sovieshu waiting for me outside. He smiled at me gently and extended his arm for me to take. I thought he would be more upset and longing for his lover, but I noticed no such thing in his expression. It was surprising, but I took his arm and we walked towards the grand ballroom.
The doors to the hall were wide open. Four guards, dressed in splendid imperial uniforms than usual, stood on each side of the door, and one rapped on the door when they saw Sovieshu and I. An official sounded the trumpet, and the noise in the hall subsided.
I took a few steps with Sovieshu at my side, and an enormous staircase stretched downwards from our feet out towards an enormous hall dotted with the colorful outfits of the guests. Sovieshu raised his hand, and everyone bowed at the same time. I took in the crowd, when something I saw made my hands clench involuntarily.
Near the center of the ballroom was Rashta surrounded by foreign nobles.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
agatharoza
agatharoza This is a free-to-read book. Not to be monetized in any form. Original work was published by Alphatart. This is the English translation of it. My Korean is rather poorly thus forgive any false translation. I just love this book so much that I hope more people will enjoy it and support the author. The English version is being turned into a comic series in Webtoon.