Meanwhile, back at the castle, Queen Victoria was overseeing all government affairs while the king was away on the school field trip. As it turned out, the vassals had all been waiting for this moment, because the queen never slacked off, making far fewer spelling errors and handling matters far more quickly than the king.
“If you want to submit any requests, applications, or written arguments, and you want them approved quickly, you’re better off waiting until the social season is over.” That was the advice that those who’d worked in the castle for years had passed down to any newbies. Inevitably, the juniors would assume this was an exaggeration, but they’d change their tune the moment they saw the queen at work. Sure enough, the next year, they’d be telling the newbies the very same thing. She would easily conquer all the mountains of paperwork that had piled up and finish them perfectly.
The door for the office was unlocked during this time for convenience’s sake. A man knocked, then entered. “Your Majesty, I’ve arrived.”
At the sound of his voice, the queen put down the quill she’d been rapidly writing with and looked up. “Oh, you made it home safe, Maximilian.”
“Is the king already at the border?” It was the firstborn prince, son of the queen herself, Maximilian Lewin Royale. He brushed off his mother’s greeting.
“Indeed. Prince Edward went with him too.”
“Huh. Ed did too?” The corners of Maximilian’s mouth raised.
“You’re not surprised?” The queen felt her son’s expression was...off. It had been two years since he had gone to study abroad in the Western Empire. If Edward had stayed the same boy Maximilian had left at home, he would never have agreed to go on a field trip like that. Normally, Maximilian would have asked what had caused Edward’s change of heart, but he barely even responded.
“Hmm? Oh, I am. But more importantly, could you tell me more about the attempted coup that happened while I was away? We had to replace a bunch of buildings along the main road and the university research lab, right? I’d like to know the scope of the damages, the budget for repairs and...”
“Ah, right. Of course. I thought you’d want a report, so I put together all the documents for you.” Queen Victoria pulled out the papers she’d gathered for her son out of a drawer.
“You know me well, Your Majesty. I’ll be taking these back to my room so nobody bothers me while I work.” Maximilian smiled, politely took the papers, and winked at her.
“O-Of course I do. I’m your mother. Let’s have dinner together, okay?”
“Certainly. I’ll see you then.”
Once Maximilian left the room and she could no longer see him, Queen Victoria finally let out a breath, having held it without even realizing it. It was her son, with the same smile, the same gestures, and the same character as ever. Yet that unease she’d felt throughout the interaction never faded, and an indescribable anxiety began to well up inside her.
✦ ✦ ✦
“We’re baaack. Whoa, did something happen here?” Arthur, Marion, Francesca, and the twins had gone to a river near their camp to catch fish for their dinner that night. When they returned, the vibe was completely different. Arthur tried to ask Prince Edward what had happened, but—
“I...suppose that’s...maybe...one way to put it?”
—the prince’s response was unclear at best.
“Oh, hey everyone! How was it? You catch any fish?” Emma asked as she came running up to the fishing group.
Marion slumped her shoulders in shame, fishing rod still in hand. “No. We did our best, but nothing was biting.”
“It’s too bad we can’t have fish curry, huh, Caitlyn?”
“It is too bad we can’t have fish curry, Catherine.”
The twins seemed pretty sad to have had their hopes dashed too.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any help...” Francesca added.
When the girls had seen Emma preparing the fire, they’d all wanted to do something to help and had volunteered to go fishing.
“Hee hee, not to worry! There’ll be other days for that. Today, we can make curry with meat instead! We just got some of the good stuff, so you’ve got something really great to look forward to!”
“Ooo, we have meat?”
“We sure do!”
“I can’t wait, Caitlyn!”
“I can’t wait either, Catherine!”
While the Stewart family and their friends were all joy and laughter, they didn’t realize there wasn’t a single person around them smiling.
It was only the first day of the field trip.
No, technically the class didn’t start until tomorrow. It was the day before the first day of the field trip, and the Stewarts were already sticking out like sore thumbs. They’d been born and raised on the border, so this was just life for them. They didn’t realize how odd it all was to everyone else.
That was why the Stewarts could sit there, finishing their supper, telling each other that they’d be sure to keep a low profile the next day too.
“Yeah... There’s no way...” The poor students who had just witnessed the first (absolutely enormous) monster they’d ever seen be hunted, plucked, decapitated, and butchered right there in front of them had lost any appetite they had, along with any confidence they had in hunting at all.