“THAT was a lovely party, Your Majesty.”
King Glenreed and I were sitting across from each other in a palace drawing room after the festivities came to a close. The table between us was covered in gifts of food to His Majesty that had been tested for poison. It was clearly more than the king could ever eat on his own, which was why, as queen, I was permitted to join him. It was a perk of the job.
“Which would you like to try first?” I asked. “They’re all so lovely, it’s difficult to choose.”
Just gazing at all the local specialties was a treat in itself. I’d only spent a year in this country and still had lots of foods to learn about and try for the first time.
The kingdom of Wolfvarte came to be when five smaller countries unified into one. The regions to the north, south, east, and west still have vastly different culinary cultures to this day. It would be a long time before I ran out of things to try, in other words.
King Glenreed smirked slightly when he saw how excited I was. “You really love food, don’t you?”
“I love both making it and eating it,” I admitted freely.
“I thought so. It’s easy to forget how tired the party made me when I watch you. I used to think these events were such a chore every year, but maybe they’re not so bad if I get to see that look on your face.”
“…Thank you.”
I’m not blushing, am I? It’s like he knows exactly what to say.
It wasn’t fair. I was nothing more than a figurehead queen, yet he knew precisely what I wanted to hear. It made me happy.
…But I remembered my place. There was no misunderstanding the situation.
King Glenreed had only shown me a bit of basic human kindness. He was a compassionate, caring person, even to the placeholder queen he married out of convenience.
I cast my eyes down to the food, persuading myself not to get the wrong idea.
“I’d like to start with the herb-roasted pork. What about you, Your Majesty?” I asked to change the topic.
“I’ll do the same. For drinks, we can open up one of the bottles you gave me.”
“I’m honored, thank you.”
I was smiling on the outside. Inside, I was striking a victory pose.
My birthday present to the king was a set of colorful fruit juices. The Gardener Cats had provided the fruit, and when you set all the bottles next to each other, they looked like a lovely rainbow.
Of course, I was confident the juices had turned out delicious as well. Gilbert and I spent a lot of time changing parts of the recipes through trial and error until every last bottle was something that would be delicious on its own.
The variety of flavors meant that some would pair nicely with a meat dish, some were delicious when added to alcohol, and others were light and easy to drink when one’s stomach was upset.
After I gave His Majesty a sponge cake the previous year, I’d predicted that there would now be an influx of food gifts. It was why I decided to make juice, in hopes it would complement the rest of his birthday presents. It proved to be a wise choice.
The two of us drank from cups of juice as we dug into the food. Once we finished, I decided to move on to dessert before we got too full.
“Your Majesty, which would you prefer? I heard you like honey, so why don’t we try Lady Fillia’s baked goods?” I suggested.
“No, you’re wrong.” King Glenreed shot a puzzled look at Lady Fillia’s gift. “I don’t know why she thinks I love honey, but she’s got the wrong idea. I don’t hate it, but it’s definitely not a favorite of mine.”
“…Is that so?” I cocked my head, but this didn’t come as a surprise.
King Glenreed wasn’t interested in food at all when we first met. It was highly unlikely that he would have any favorite foods at all.
On the other hand, Lady Fillia didn’t appear to be lying either. Her cheeks had turned pink as she thought back on the memory with King Glenreed, leaving me with a faint ache in my heart that I couldn’t forget. I didn’t know what she would gain from lying about such a thing in the first place.
“I wonder why Lady Fillia said that?” I pondered.
“I don’t know. I didn’t smell any lies when she spoke, so she must think she’s telling the truth, at the very least,” he said.
“So she had some sort of false memory?”
“I think she confused me with someone else. Maybe she used to eat honey sweets with someone else when she was young.”
“The wrong person…” I looked up at King Glenreed’s face, still unconvinced.
…No, it’s impossible.
King Glenreed didn’t seem very aware of it himself, but his face was one of absolute beauty—every last feature was without the slightest flaw. I didn’t see how someone could confuse a less perfect face for that of His Majesty’s.
There was little doubt that King Glenreed had his striking looks while he was still a child as well. I wished I could have seen what he looked like at that age. I just know he’d be adorable!
“Why are you so silent all of a sudden?” he asked.
“…It’s nothing.”
King Glenreed’s voice pulled me back to reality. I took a gulp of juice to try to distract from my silence.
“…Just to be clear, you really, really don’t remember eating honey sweets with Lady Fillia many years ago?” I asked.
“Nothing like that, no. I spent most of my childhood sick in bed until I was about twelve or thirteen. After that, I can still remember most things that have happened in my life.”
“I see…”
It still didn’t make sense to me, but if King Glenreed insisted, then Lady Fillia must have been mistaken after all. Still confused, I filled up on dessert until our dinner reached its end.