“Y-Your Majesty?!”
“U-Uncle?!”
Neither Ana nor I could hold back our surprise as we saw the supposedly deceased king there in the eighth drawing room, the Aster.
“I’m here as well.” In the next moment, the dowager queen and the fourth prince stepped into the room.
“Thank you for having us.”
“G-Grandmother?! The fourth prince too?!”
“It’s all thanks to Gino,” my mother-in-law said. “Though I’d already known my brother’s life was being targeted, thanks to the poem Gino shared with me, I realized our mother was in danger as well. Because of that, I was able to perfectly execute this plan.”
“But weren’t you sobbing during the funeral?” I asked her.
“You can never trust a woman’s tears, Gino. That was part of my plan as well. I needed to show how grief-stricken I was to lower their guard.” She giggled at me, treating me like a child.
We’d been completely fooled. That being said, there was no way for me to be able to tell when a girl’s crying was fake, what with how inexperienced I still was. Would I ever become capable of doing that? I couldn’t imagine a future version of myself with that ability.
“But you were crying in the mausoleum as well, even when it was just you and father,” Ana said.
“Oh no, you saw that?” my mother-in-law said, embarrassed. “I was crying because you became the lady of the house, Ana. You used to be so small, but it hit me then that you’d become a wonderful, full-grown woman, and you were going to leave the nest. I was crying with joy as well as sadness, a very confusing feeling. To tell you the truth, I’d hoped to wait a little longer before passing everything down to you, but I ended up having to do it so soon after you graduated. I felt bad about that, and for not being able to give you a succession ceremony.” My mother-in-law’s voice grew emotional as she recalled these events.
Suddenly, I remembered something she’d once told me. “If the first prince became the king through a normal route, somewhere down the road, our family would come into conflict with the royal family. I’m sure it’s a price that you and Ana would have to pay.”
She must’ve already known about the assassination plot at that time, how the current king had planned to use underhanded methods to forcefully steal the throne. I couldn’t believe this. My mother had already figured out everything. She truly deserved her name as the “Empress.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?! I was so heartbroken when I thought they died! And I was worried when I heard that grandmother had gone missing as well!”
It was rare to see Ana get angry, but both His Majesty and the dowager queen looked at her happily.
“I feel bad about keeping all of this from you and I’m truly sorry, but you and Gino are still learning to read the intentions of others. We’d all have been in danger if either of you let it slip in your facial expressions or tone of voice, so we had to keep it a secret for as long as possible. It was imperative for our movements to not be discovered.”
I understood my mother-in-law’s argument. She’d most likely wanted to end this conflict with as little bloodshed as possible. I was sure of it. If we’d ended up being unsuccessful in weakening the current king, and he found out that His Majesty was still alive, he’d have spared no expense in trying to kill him, and a true civil war would have erupted, leading to many losing their lives. They absolutely couldn’t risk anything leaking by telling the two of us, who were still inexperienced.
The dowager queen hugged Ana, who had tears streaming down her face, and His Majesty patted her on the head. At any rate, I was just glad that Ana was happy.