“Oh… Barbara wants to meet with me?”
The lady formerly rumored to be Wilhelm’s paramour had requested an audience. I can’t believe she’d ask to speak with me personally, I thought.
“Yes. She says it’s just to pay her respects, but I wonder what she’s truly after,” said Gilbert.
“Hm… Even you don’t know?”
“Well, people driven by their emotions can be quite unpredictable.”
I laughed. “That’s true. Now, what to do?”
“There’s no need to meet her, is there? Seeing as there’s no benefit, I think it would be a waste of time.”
“Why don’t you give it a shot, Your Majesty?” Tommy chimed in. “You want to, right?”
I looked him up and down. “You must have a lot of free time.”
Tommy stood before us disguised as a footman. With his makeup and hairstyle, it was nearly impossible to recognize him at first glance. I was strangely impressed but not surprised—his disguises were always spectacular.
“Not at all!” he protested. “Lately, I’ve been super busy running everywhere to fulfill your orders. I was just about to head to another location, but I can stay and talk if you wish. I’ll just sprint there once we’re done. I figure it’s better to prioritize your wishes, Your Majesty.”
“My wishes?”
“You want to see—no, you want to talk to her, don’t you?”
“Oh, you win. Yes, I’ve been wanting to talk to her. In fact, I’m sick of waiting.”
“Could it be you know what Barbara is planning?” Gilbert asked.
“Ha ha ha. No, I don’t.”
I’d only met her twice. Once at the banquet and once at the tea party. Both times were before my coronation, when I refrained from using Heart Realm, so I hadn’t been able to hear inner thoughts. Thus, I didn’t have a clear understanding of why she came to the palace.
I just wanted to know whether my judgment of her was correct. That was all there was to it—not that anything would change if I got my answer now.
“Hm? If that’s your reaction, were you able to discern her true intentions? I’d love to hear what she’s after before it happens.”
“Why? Are you implying you don’t know, either, Tommy?”
“Huh? Uh, well…”
“We can ask her directly when we meet, so you don’t need to hear my speculations.”
“This won’t put you in any danger, will it?” Tommy asked me.
“I assume not. Even if I was wrong, she probably won’t be able to harm me. I’ve got excellent guards by my side, and I won’t go down without a fight.”
“That’s good to hear. But, Your Majesty, how did you know she would come? You didn’t ask me to keep an eye on her.”
“It was just a hunch. Call it a woman’s intuition, if you will.”
“A woman’s intuition! Your answers… How should I put it? They boggle the mind…”
“What are you implying? I am a woman.”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Tommy—is Lord Dornetti, Barbara’s father, currently in the royal capital?”
“Um, I think so. There have been no reports of him leaving the capital, so he should still be here.”
“Then summon him to the palace at once. I shall meet with him after I see Barbara.”
“Okay, sure… Why, though?”
“A father is unlikely to acknowledge his mistakes as a parent unless he witnesses them firsthand.”
“Can’t say I get it, but I’ll do it, Your Majesty.” Despite his lack of understanding, Tommy accepted my command.
“Now, who do you think would be a suitable messenger to send to Barbara?” I asked.
“Freesia, probably.”
“Oh? Why’s that?”
“Though Alicia is your lady-in-waiting, she’s bound to lose control of her magic around Barbara. So I think Freesia, the maid you value the most after Alicia, would be a good choice.”
Alicia had never lost control of her magic in front of me. On the contrary—she’d always manipulated it skillfully. When we played the Black Witch game, I had a hard time against her magic, Dichotomy—she created barriers that blocked my path.
After losing her memories, she also lost the ability to properly use her magic. She could no longer control it, either. Despite that, she still produced the same amount of mana she always had.
Basically, Alicia’s vast swathes of mana were perpetually in a frenzied state. I was amazed she’d managed to go this long without causing substantial harm.
“You make an excellent point. In that case, let’s ask for Freesia.”
I called upon a nearby maid, who immediately went to fetch Freesia. When the girl arrived, she looked openly bewildered; perhaps it was because she’d been rushed here.
“Hello, Freesia. Sorry for summoning you here out of the blue.”
“N-no, it’s no problem at all.”
“I have a request I’d like your help with.”
“A request for me?”
“Indeed. It seems Barbara has come to visit me. I’m occupied, but I hear she insists on meeting with me, insisting she won’t leave until I receive her.”
“How terribly rude.”
I glanced off to the side for a moment, thinking, My sentiments exactly.
“Leave it. I am curious to know why she would go to such lengths to meet me, and I’d genuinely like to get acquainted with her. I’m planning to put on a little show, and I wish for you to play a supporting role.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Anything for my queen.”
“My! I appreciate it. Please inform Barbara that I am unable to meet with her. I believe she will protest, and when she does, guide her to me.”
“Which room shall I guide her to? If you are granting her an audience as the queen, the reception room closer to the outer palace would be appropriate. If you want to chat with her as one noblewoman to another, I believe your own reception room in the inner palace would be more suitable.”
“Take her to the audience chamber.”
“Huh? The audience chamber?”
“Yes. I want to have a long conversation with her, and I’m sure there are others who would like to listen, so the audience chamber would be more fitting.”
“Oh… Understood. I shall escort her there.”
“Please do. Right, it’ll take a while to gather the others, so please keep her company in the waiting room for the time being. I’ll have someone knock on the door once I’m ready.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. That said…wouldn’t Alicia be more suitable for delivering this message? She’s much closer to you, so her presence would give it more credibility.”
“Alicia wouldn’t be able to control herself if Barbara was disrespectful, no?”
Freesia’s eyes widened in surprise as it dawned on her. “I apologize for my presumptuous suggestion. As you said, Your Majesty, she wouldn’t be able to control herself. I will see the job done.”
“Mm, I leave it to you.”
Freesia proceeded to the waiting room where Barbara sat, and I went to the monitoring room beside it. While the waiting room primarily served as a space for guests to wait, there was a monitoring room where we could verify the guests’ identities if necessary. In essence, the room was built with eavesdropping in mind. I immediately took advantage of it to listen in on Freesia and Barbara’s conversation.
“What do you mean I can’t meet her?” Barbara said.
It seemed Freesia had just told Barbara that I wasn’t available.
“My apologies, but Her Majesty is currently occupied with work, so it’ll be difficult to see her right now.”
“What is going on?! House Radford was suddenly abolished, and I can’t even ask Wilhelm about it because I can’t see him! I want to stand before the queen so she can explain herself!”
“Forgive me for asking, but…why must Her Majesty explain herself to you?”
“Because I’m Lord Wilhelm’s lover! I finally managed to reel in a good man, too… And now, since I have connections with House Radford, everyone looks at me with distaste! Even if Her Majesty’s jealous of me, she has gone too far, don’t you think?!”
Hearing her rant and rave, I sighed and put my head in my hands. Though my guess was spot-on, it was still shocking to hear. Gilbert cradled his own head beside me, and Tommy roared with laughter.
“Now I know what you meant by fatherly mistakes, Your Majesty!” Tommy said.
“I bet. Gosh, I didn’t even have to chat with her myself—I was right on the money!” I quickly realized I’d spoken too casually, the way I would in private, as opposed the formal accent I’d adopted from my father.
“That’s just splendid.”
“Ahem! Yes, indeed. But how is she able to ignore noble etiquette so blatantly?”
“Maybe it’s because she wasn’t raised among other nobles,” Tommy ventured. “She was adopted by Lord Dornetti at fifteen, so it’s only been a year. I figure it’d be hard to educate her properly in such a short time.”
“Oh, so she isn’t Dornetti’s child?”
“She is—she’s related to Lord Dornetti by blood. Her mother’s a maid, though. The viscount didn’t formally acknowledge her as his legitimate child at first.”
“Ah, I see. Still, I’m surprised she was allowed to participate in official functions with the way she acts.”
“I wholeheartedly agree. Well, she did manage to win over a young man from a respectable family, so it turned out pretty okay, didn’t it?”
“That’s true. And not only him. She’s apparently been…captivating young men one after another.”
“Oho, impressive. Not sure if I should praise her skills or worry about our country’s future.”
“Both,” Gilbert and I said simultaneously. We burst into laughter at our synchronized response.
In the waiting room, an exasperated Freesia escorted Barbara toward the audience chamber. As I watched them, I murmured, “You’re right. Well…in his case, he was captured rather than caught.”
“Did you say something, Your Majesty?”
“No, not at all.”
“So? Now that you’ve managed to hear what you wanted, what will you do?”
“I’ve no need to see her anymore, but…since she insists, I shall.”
“You’re very kind,” Tommy said.