The day after Sirius’s visit, Leticiel headed for Viatris Castle by carriage just as she had promised.
Gazing absentmindedly out of the carriage window, Leticiel could see another carriage in the corner of her vision. Scarlough was riding inside, but she couldn’t care less about him, so Leticiel ignored his carriage to focus on the town’s scenery.
Leticiel and Scarlough’s carriages entered the royal castle’s grounds without being stopped by guards, coming to a halt right in front of Viatris Castle’s main gate.
“Lord Filiaregis, Miss Drossell Filiaregis, we’ve been awaiting you.” A young man who had been standing by the gate and appeared to be a chamberlain bowed to them as they exited their carriages. “His Majesty is waiting in the parlor. This way, please.”
Following the chamberlain, Leticiel entered the castle. Naturally, being the center of the kingdom, its luxurious grandiosity was on another level from the duke’s manor. Leticiel thought she’d gotten used to seeing gaudy decorations and glittering furnishings in the past month, but the royal castle’s interior was so dazzling that it hurt her eyes.
“Please wait here a moment,” the chamberlain said to her, stopping in front of a door after they had walked for a short while. Then he knocked on the door and announced, “Your Majesty, Duke Filiaregis and his daughter have arrived.”
“Let them in,” a muffled voice replied from inside. The chamberlain silently opened the door and showed them inside.
The room they found themselves in was twice as large as the parlor in the duke’s manor. The wallpaper and carpet were decorated with glittering patterns and embroidery. Even through the soles of her shoes, Leticiel could tell that the carpet was made with the finest materials.
A large table surrounded by four plush sofa seats sat at the center of the room. Oswald Draco Alesta Platina, the forty-seventh king of the kingdom of Platina, sat in one of them. “Long time no see, Drossell,” he greeted Leticiel in a relaxed manner. On the seat beside him, Sirius the prime minister sat with a conflicted expression.
Leticiel didn’t have any memories of Drossell’s sixteen years of life, but as the first prince’s fiancée, it wouldn’t be strange for her to know the king. She couldn’t let it be known that this was her first time meeting him, so Leticiel played it safe and replied with, “Yes, it has been, Your Majesty.”
“I’m glad you’ve been well. We haven’t seen each other since the court ball held at the beginning of the year, isn’t that right?”
After a pause, Leticiel said, “Yes, I believe so.”
Scarlough, who had entered the room before her, quickly crossed the room with his head down and took a seat across from Sirius. Leticiel lowered herself into the final empty sofa chair and carefully observed Oswald, who was sitting across from her.
His hair was the color of dark chocolate, and he had red eyes and a short beard. His facial features and downturned eyes resembled Rocheford’s, but he was full of dignity, vigor, and nobility that Leticiel could never imagine seeing in the younger man. As expected of a king who had ruled his kingdom for over twenty years.
“Now, let’s get right to the point. I called you here to discuss the commotion you witnessed the other day.” Oswald paused there. Leticiel waited patiently to see what he would say next. The king inclined his head and continued, “I’m terribly sorry for the trouble Rocheford caused you. You also have my deepest gratitude for saving his foolish life.”
Leticiel heard a small gasp, though she wasn’t sure who it had come from. Even she was stunned for a moment, surprised that the king had bowed his head to her, a mere duke’s daughter, at the very beginning of his speech.
The power and position of the king in this peaceful era were different from those in the turbulent era in which Leticiel had lived. The very country itself was different as well, but Leticiel believed it was common sense that kings did not easily bow their heads in any world.
Despite that, the king of Platina was bowing to Leticiel right before her eyes. She understood that it was the greatest gesture of sincerity he was able to show his subjects.
“Please raise your head, Your Majesty,” she said, shaking her own slightly. It wouldn’t do to force the king to keep his head lowered in front of his subjects forever. “I simply did what was required of me in that situation. There’s no reason for you to thank me.”
“Sorry,” the king repeated after a short pause. At Leticiel’s urging, he slowly raised his head and smiled somewhat bitterly. “As his father, I should have done a better job of guiding Rocheford. But he’s all I have left of the late queen…”
Leticiel listened silently as Oswald clasped his hands together, gripping them tightly, and began to speak in low tones. Since insider information about the royal family hadn’t been published in any books or shared openly, much of what he said was new to Leticiel.
“Rocheford lost his mother—the queen—when he was five. He became depressed after her death…and he’s been changing little by little ever since.” Oswald stared off into the distance as if looking back on the past, his expression exuding deep sadness and regret. “Rocheford was pitiful after losing his mother. I and everyone around him spoiled him rotten. So that he wouldn’t be hurt, so he could get back on his feet… But it wasn’t what was best for him. I deeply regret the way I’ve acted as his father.”
Oswald let out a short sigh. For just a moment, Leticiel caught a glimpse of his thoughts as a father, not as the king, flickering in the depths of his eyes.
“Personally,” he continued, “I strongly feel that he takes after the queen, Josephina. I loved Josephina from the bottom of my heart. That’s why I’ve always seen the love of my life in him…”