“You two have both changed so much over this past year,” I said.
They smiled.
“…That’s true,” Lady Kate said. “It’s already been a year since you married His Majesty.”
The words slipped from her lips, drawing a silence between the three of us.
I had first come to this country to be its temporary queen. The kingdom of Wolfvarte dictated that a “white marriage,” or marriage without physical relations between the husband and wife, could be safely nullified after two years.
My role was to spend two years shielding King Glenreed from political pressure before we went our separate ways. I was buying him two years’ worth of time where he wouldn’t need to choose a wife from one of the other four candidates.
Lady Natalie and Lady Kate. I gazed at the two candidates for queen.
They were both diligent people who’d grown a lot since I met them. But the idea of either of them becoming the queen made me somewhat apprehensive.
Lady Natalie was intelligent, but it was her family that concerned me. They made no attempt to hide their hatred of beastfolk, and I heard they didn’t approve of Lady Natalie’s newfound friendship with Lady Kate either. Lady Natalie struggled to oppose her parents and was still working out how to have a relationship with her family.
I didn’t expect King Glenreed to retaliate against Lady Natalie’s family if he chose her as his queen, but unfortunately, I could see her family feeling empowered enough to start acting out in some way.
Then there was Lady Kate, who had overcome a dispute with Lady Sienna, her little sister, but managed to maintain a good relationship with her family. Lord Gallon, her father, was a tolerant man, but Lady Kate herself tended to be a bit too forward in her personality. She needed work expressing herself more subtly and taking the time to think things over.
Lady Kate herself was aware of these flaws, and didn’t currently think of herself as a suitable queen yet. Instead, she’d told me that she would help me find a better pick to be queen.
…I wonder who Lady Kate’s current pick for the next queen would be? She might tell me if I asked…
Lady Kate was an honest person. She was quick to speak whatever was on her mind, so the fact that she remained quiet on this subject probably meant that she wasn’t ready to reveal the person she had in mind yet.
One year. Only one more year left.
Considering the preparation and laying of groundwork I would have to do for the next queen, it wasn’t much time at all. How was I supposed to act when the day finally came?
Thinking about it caused a slight ache in my chest.
One year from now, I wouldn’t be able to be by King Glenreed’s side anymore. It would be much harder to approach His Majesty at all when I was no longer the queen. Hanging around him when his next wife was officially named would only cause more disputes.
I couldn’t allow such an outcome.
I didn’t want that to happen.
I didn’t, but…
…I still feel lonely.
I was sad to think I would be separated from King Glenreed’s eyes, his voice, and Lord Aroo’s warmth. Just picturing that future was like having a hole burned in my heart.
It was a lot like when I regained my past life memories and realized I would never see my Japanese family again. But it wasn’t exactly the same, either. It was almost as if I was sensing something still to come.
“Queen Laetitia, I…” Lady Kate opened her mouth and spoke—her tone both quiet and firm.
Lady Natalie flinched slightly, startled by the noise.
“The next queen should be— Achoo!!”
Her sudden sneeze gave us both a scare. Even Berry was startled, her tail sticking straight up in the air.
Lady Kate clasped her hand over her mouth in a panic. “I-I’m sorry. My nose suddenly started to itch…”
“…Is it because of this?” I wondered.
A feather was now sitting on the table in front of Lady Kate. It was a large, white feather. I didn’t know where it came from, but perhaps it tickled Lady Kate’s nose on the way down as it fell.
“What a wonderful feather. Was there a large bird flying overhead?” I picked up the feather and looked to the sky. It was a clear day, and I couldn’t make out anything that could be the source of said feather.
Did the wind bring it here from far away?
It was clean and appeared untouched, but was much too big to have come from any local birds.
“Could this be a griffin feather?”
“Um… I don’t think so.”
To confirm Lady Natalie’s theory, I took a deep breath.
“Fon!!” I shouted out as loud as I could.
It wasn’t long before the sound of wings reached us overhead.
“Eeeeeek!”
Fon, the griffin, descended to the ground and folded up his wings. He clicked his yellow beak and nuzzled his face against me.
“There, there. Good boy, good boy,” I soothed. “Thanks for coming. Can I take a look at your wings for a minute?”
“Kreh!”
“But of course,” he seemed to say as he spread his wings. He unfolded them slowly, so as not to mess up my hair or dress with the wind they were capable of. Fon was a clever and considerate griffin.
“There, there. Would it have come from here?” I brought the single feather up to Fon’s white wings. However, it turned out to be quite different. The texture and shape didn’t resemble Fon’s feathers at all. “The wind really must have blown it here after all.”
I still wasn’t quite satisfied, but it was the only answer I could come up with.
But that was when I sensed Fon looking eagerly at the table.
“…You’re hungry?” I asked.
He was staring directly at the remaining gem candies on the table. I picked a candy apple up by the skewer and watched him nibble it with his beak.
“Hehe! Is it yummy?”
“Kreh kreh!”
He squinted his eyes, as if he was enjoying the texture of the apple in his mouth. Then he nudged me with his beak, begging for seconds, so I obliged and gave him another apple. He skillfully removed it from the skewer with his beak.
“It’s amazing he can do that, even when he’s so large.” Lady Natalie watched him, impressed. I got the sense that Fon was pleased by her praise.
“Would you like to try feeding Fon a candy gem, Lady Natalie?” I asked.
“Can I really?”
“So long as you don’t move the skewer too suddenly, it should be fine,” I instructed. “Fon doesn’t bite, and he’s careful not to move in ways that would injure a human.”
With my guarantee, Lady Natalie timidly reached out for a gem candy.
“Whoa, that looks fun. Can I try too?”
“Of course.”
Lady Kate joined us next. She clasped her hand firmly around the skewer and held it out for the griffin.
“Kreeeh!”
Fon squinted and cried out with delight.
That was how the four of us carried out the rest of our tea party.