Chapter 45: The Queen’s Motives and the Marquess’s Motives
IN the Kingdom of San Luenne’s royal palace, Queen Adele had summoned Chancellor Maxim du Jeanne.
“What happened to Bertine afterward?” she inquired. “Does her relationship with His Excellency Cecilio remain tense?”
“My daughter opened her own shop selling embroidery and accessories to make a living.”
“Oh, dear. So he felt nothing for her no matter what? I wonder if she tried hard enough.”
“I am sorry my daughter couldn’t help.”
Cecilio refusing to marry Bertine had been a possibility Adele had accounted for. But she knew it had been a gamble to force the girl to the Federation. Once he laid eyes on her, he might have fallen for her beauty, after all.
If anything, it would have been convenient for her if Cecilio had taken a liking to Bertine. Through their marriage, the Kingdom of San Luenne would have been able to take control of the Federation’s gem mines. The Empire currently had a monopoly on those, so San Luenne was forced to buy them from their powerful neighbor. It would have been much more profitable for the royal family to gain a foothold in that way in the industry, without making waves with the Empire.
Moreover, Bertine’s marriage to a son of San Luenne’s high nobility would have increased the power her father held as chancellor. Adele had wanted to avoid this at all costs, so shipping the girl off to the Federation was a tactic meant to kill two birds with one stone.
In the event she had returned to the Kingdom without being taken as a wife by Cecilio, her failure to be useful to her country would have provided Adele with the perfect pretext to marry her off peremptorily to one of her own relatives. And once she’d done so, she could have taken one or two of the chancellor’s businesses from him, under the guise of “giving them to Bertine.”
But the girl neither married nor returned. Worthless, egotistical chit.
“Chancellor, have you summoned Bertine home?” she asked.
“No. My daughter has found a place for herself in the Federation, so I shall watch over her from afar for the time being.”
“I see… Since the Federation’s leader rejected the marriage, you do realize our country will have to pay the unpaid balance of the reparations, don’t you? One thousand large gold coins, I believe it was.”
“Well, I didn’t receive any demands for the sum, so I’m frankly a bit at a loss on how to proceed.”
“Indeed. Perhaps we should keep an eye on the situation then. See how it unfolds.”
The queen dismissed the chancellor after that. Then she closed her eyes.
Adele knew the chancellor was too good to be true. He performed his duties extremely well, always turning a profit on anything he did. If the man himself said he hadn’t received any further demands, it means the royal family didn’t have to rush to come up with the reparation amount.
But…the Kingdom of San Luenne, her country, was in violation of the treaty signed at the close of the war. So she worried about leaving the situation as is. Regardless of what the chancellor said, the ultimate responsibility lay on the royal family’s shoulders.
The marquess was a frighteningly intelligent man, though also a dependable one. But his cleverness was the very reason she sensed it would be dangerous to trust him completely and leave everything in his hands. Unable to come to a decision on her next steps, the queen made her way to the king’s private chambers.
Recently, the king had acquired a water clock from some country or other. A thin stream of water ran from the top of the device to the bottom, marking off time. He was completely obsessed with the thing. Before the water clock, he had been enamored with a mechanical doll made in a faraway foreign nation. As a result of his personal interests, the queen managed more than half of government affairs. It had reached the point that most of their officers came to her with any particularly troublesome concerns.
But Adele didn’t complain because she had been chosen as queen for this very reason. The previous king, God rest his soul, had personally told her that his confidence in her talents was a deciding factor in his selection of her as his son’s wife. Even so, she still found it discouraging that she couldn’t rely on her husband in times such as this when she couldn’t make a decision for the country’s sake.
“Oh ho, Adele. Finished with work for the day, then?”
“Yes, more or less, since the chancellor is doing so well on our behalf.”
“Good, good. I’m grateful that both you and Maxim are so outstandingly capable.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. How are you finding the water clock? Interesting?”
“I am indeed. I never tire of it, no matter how long I observe. A marvelous invention. It truly is a work of art in my opinion. Those imperial merchants found yet another thing I would enjoy.”
“I’m glad to hear that then.”
With a smile, Adele left her husband’s chambers and entered her own. She ordered a maid to bring her hot tea right away. After it arrived, the queen sat there sipping, pondering.
Her only son, the crown prince, was already sixteen years old, but he left all his official duties to his retainers to manage. He refused to listen even when she warned him of the consequences of his dereliction of duty.
I have to remain firm. I’ll continue keeping a watchful eye everywhere and tighten the reins on the officials who serve us. Though she admonished herself, she still couldn’t help worrying over the remaining reparations. What do I do about that?
“No, I’ll put it out of mind for now. I can feel a headache starting.”
Adele let go of all the thoughts scurrying in her mind.