Chapter 41: The Queen’s Wrath

Aurora had planned to keep drifting around like a free-range chicken.

Unfortunately, she forgot one thing.

She herself was the kind that drew the eye.

The prime minister’s daughter, from an excellent family, with golden hair and violet eyes, wearing a new dress cut to be both sharp and alluring.

Add the glorious feat of confronting the queen face-to-face in the capital and making her look ridiculous, and Aurora was something of a celebrity among the young nobles.

And that kick she’d used to stop Balian earlier had been too enthusiastic. Quite a few gazes that had been fixed on the queen now shifted to her.

The first to approach was a girl with purple hair.

She looked a bit younger than Aurora. She had a few healthy freckles, and her green eyes sparkled like gems.

She radiated an energy she couldn’t hide. She left the queen’s circle and bounded over to Aurora like a puppy spotting a new toy.

“Hi there! You’re Miss Aurora of the Olivia family, right?”

The words came fast, with a bright smile.

Aurora was caught off guard by the enthusiasm, but she wasn’t shy. She quickly fixed her expression.

“I’m Aurora. And you?”

“Katie de Riviere! From the Riviere Duchy!”

Oh, a duke’s daughter, just about her own rank.

The Riviere Duchy lay north of the Crownlands and west of the Hermes Duchy. Like Hermes, it was a coastal duchy.

Both Riviere and Hermes had grown rich through trade. The difference was that Riviere only ran maritime trade with neighboring countries, while Hermes also handled overland trade routes with the Empire.

Because it was closer, Hermes had always earned more than Riviere and thus held more power. But in recent years, the kingdom’s relations with the neighboring Holy Goddess Empire had soured, Hermes’s profits had declined, and Riviere was quietly gaining ground.

So Aurora guessed that Miss Katie had come to cozy up to her just to get under the queen’s skin.

But to her surprise, Katie didn’t bring up any of Aurora’s exploits that would make the queen furious. Instead:

“Miss Aurora, I’ve wanted to meet you for so long! You’re really beautiful, and not just beautiful…”

She pressed her palms together, green eyes shining.

“I heard you used your own allowance to buy grain for the refugees. You’re such a kind person.”

Aurora was about to exchange pleasantries when a hand suddenly reached in from the side and looped around Katie’s arm.

“Katie, there you are.”

It was a boy.

He looked about thirteen or fourteen, fair-skinned, and only came up to Katie’s shoulder. His brown hair was combed neatly, and his red eyes held an arrogance beyond his years. He wore an impeccably cut royal navy-blue tunic with a gold lily emblem embroidered on the chest.

He held Katie’s arm with an intimate air, then raised his glass to Aurora without hesitation.

“You’re from the Olivia family? Then that makes you my subject from now on. Come, have a drink!”

Aurora looked at his face. It seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

Balian quietly reminded her from behind, “Miss, this is His Highness the Crown Prince. Joffrey de Gaulle.”

Since he was the crown prince, she had to show some respect.

“Your Highness.”

Aurora gave a slight bow and clinked her glass symbolically. Joffrey was completely unreserved. He tilted his head back and gulped down a big mouthful, his red eyes swirling under the light as he gave Aurora a thorough look-over.

“She is pretty, just like Katie said.”

‘A rude brat.’

Aurora smiled and mentally gave the crown prince a negative score.

But then…

Someone was unhappier than she was.

The voices around the queen stopped abruptly.

Aurora looked over curiously and found Margaret’s gaze cutting through the crowd, fixed squarely on her.

Aurora could even see a twitch on Margaret’s face.

Aurora instantly realized the queen was about to blow her top.

First, she had just looked at the queen’s outfit and turned her face away with disdain in front of everyone. To Her Majesty, who prided herself on her beauty and thought she was supreme among noble ladies, that was an outright provocation.

Then, her precious son, Crown Prince Joffrey, was now standing in front of her mortal enemy Aurora, chatting and smiling, acting friendly.

Based on what Aurora knew of the queen, that airheaded woman must be furious right now. If the king and Marquis Ed weren’t still in the tent, the queen would probably have already jumped out to cause trouble.

Aurora didn’t plan to stir up trouble on an occasion like this.

Her father was in a small meeting at the other end of the tent, the king was still boasting, and the place was full of high nobles. Clashing with the queen now would be unwise.

Just as she was about to slip away with Balian and pretend to be invisible, Ed walked past her with a serious expression, heading straight for the king.

The prime minister whispered something to Louis, who was already red-faced from drinking. Louis’s smile froze for a moment. He put down the third roast chicken he’d half eaten, got up, and followed Ed out of the main tent.

With the two of them gone, the atmosphere in the tent shifted subtly.

The king was gone.

The prime minister was gone.

The queen remained.

“Oh hoh hoh hoh hoh hoh hoh!!!”

The queen’s triumphant, mocking laugh nearly lifted the tent off its stakes. Every single person heard it clearly.

“Who is this? She doesn’t drink, doesn’t eat, doesn’t dance, doesn’t come to pay respects, and turns her nose up at the queen’s banquet. I thought she might be some princess, but she’s dressed like a village girl, thinking she’s so virtuous!”

Everyone looked at Aurora.

Aurora’s fists tightened.

Margaret called out:

“Joffrey, come back. Don’t mingle with that unclean woman.”

Joffrey didn’t think he’d done anything wrong, but he always listened to his mother. He gave a lazy “oh,” grabbed his glass, and trotted back to her side.

Aurora wanted to pick up a glass and throw it, but doing that would clearly make her father’s life difficult.

And when her father’s life was difficult, he was in a bad mood. And when he was in a bad mood, she’d be grounded.

Aurora had too much to do to play female rivalry games with that big-chested queen.

But Margaret wasn’t going to let it go.

“Hey, why are you leaving in such a hurry?”

Margaret raised her voice.

“I still wanted to invite Miss Aurora for a drink. Why rush off without even a word? Is this how the Olivia family teaches manners? Ah, well, she’s from the countryside after all.”

The nobles around began whispering among themselves.

Aurora stopped.

She lifted her chin, turned around slowly, and squeezed out a standard social smile.

“Oh, were you talking to me? Forgive me, Your Majesty, you didn’t address me by name, so I thought you meant someone else. What would Your Majesty have of me?”

Balian had already stepped silently to Aurora’s side, half a pace ahead.

And Katie had flickered and vanished into the crowd without a sound.

The queen rose. Her silver gown swayed with the motion, and several male nobles quickly averted their eyes.

Where the queen passed, the crowd parted automatically. By the time she reached Aurora, they had formed a makeshift arena around them.

“Aurora, as a junior, you should bow when you see the queen.”

Margaret said.

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