While on her way to the King's private office, several nobles who encountered Judith in the hallway bowed politely and were busy whispering to each other.
The rumors about Judith, who commanded the King's trust and affection in the Royal Palace of Rotair, were increasing day by day and showed no signs of stopping. Opinions were divided as to whether King Jedercayer would actually make Judith the Crown Princess and how she would overcome the difficulty if she came into conflict with Queen Gilsis in the process.
"Your Highness is the center of attention wherever he goes these days.”
Cheraan glanced at the whispering nobles and spoke in a voice filled with laughter, and Judith pursed her lips and smiled.
The servant who was waiting in front of the King's private office pretended to run out in a hurry as soon as he saw Judith far away.
It's a strange thing. Judith thought about this as she looked down at thr servant's head as he bowed deeply. His seemingly indifferent expression did not change, but every time she experienced something similar, she felt funny and shocked. The memory of her being embarrassed and dispirited, unable to properly raise his head in front of anyone, is still vivid as if it were yesterday.
“Your Highness, are you here? Your Majesty is waiting.”
Despite the servant's attitude, which appeared to be a bit fussy, Judith just nodded her head lightly and turned her gaze towards Cheraan.
“I will come out to see His Majesty, so please wait outside.”
“Okay, Your Highness. Bye."
Cheraan answered sadly. Judith smiled brightly and took a step forward, and the door opened as if she had been waiting.
King Jedercayer's personal office had a unique structure. Unlike the bedroom, drawing room, or other separate rooms, there were many doors running across the long hallway, one at a time, and on either side of each of the doors hung portraits of past Kings who had occupied the throne of Rotair.
After passing through several small doors with different decorations, an arched entrance appears, and from there, you have to go back inside to find the office. This structure, which was as rare as it was cumbersome to get in and out of, had a special purpose, and the only people in the Rotair royal family who truly knew about its purpose were King Jedercayer, Judith, and the Duke of Vergy.
“I see you, Your Majesty.”
Before she could straighten her bent knees and stand up, King Jedercayer looked back at Judith with a bright smile on his face.
“Welcome.”
A smile spread across his face as he looked at Judith. As always, recently, only when he met Judith did he have a bright face, as if he had forgotten all his troubles.
“How is your headache, Your Majesty?”
"Okay. Looking at you, it seems like the pain is going away.”
Even as he spoke, there was still a slight fatigue on the King's face that had not yet gone away.
The King did not have time to rest even for a single day as he was busy handling state affairs that he had not been able to take care of for the past four years. As he was exposed to heavy work without any time to properly recover his weakened body, his health deteriorated day by day, and he even developed chronic headaches and stomach problems that had not existed a few years ago.
The good news is that all the palace therapists who had been under the influence of Queen Gilsis were replaced with new people, and they all did their best to monitor the King's health. To prevent similar incidents from happening again, the Marquis of Ebelta was in charge of managing the affairs of the doctors and received detailed reports three or four times a week.
It could be said that it was fortunate for King Jedecayer that the relationship between Rotair and other surrounding countries was not greatly strained. Except for one major cold spell two years ago, just before early spring, the situation in the kingdom was generally uneventful.
“I heard that you called the doctors to your bed last night as well. Why don’t you rest just a little longer?”
Judith said worriedly, looking at the documents piled up on the table. The King smiled happily and fiddled with his pen.
“The newly elected chamberlain is so sensitive to everything. Wouldn’t it be you who tells him to call the palace doctor even if I touch my head for a moment? It wasn’t a big deal, so don’t worry.”
“Your Majesty is the light and pillar of Rotair. How could I not be worried as I rely on him for my life?”
Judith answered calmly and sat down next to the King. The King's complexion was very haggard as he turned away from the sunlight streaming in through the window, and his grizzled hair, which he had lost prematurely due to mental distress, made him look even older than his age. However, he was a lively person when she remembered the time when he was lying in bed and could not move, and Judith used to feel relieved when she remembered that.
“Is there anything interesting in the study that you might like?”
The King asked while looking at the tea brought out by the servant. Recently, Judith was entering the King's study with his permission.
There are several studies in the royal palace, but compared to places that anyone can easily enter, the King's study could only access the materials inside if there was a special need or permission. Records of the previous generation were mainly kept, including personal information and secret information that the immediate royal family would want to hide, so they were not exposed to anyone.
It was last fall that Judith learned of the existence of the study. It was mentioned simply out of interest rather than any need, but the King willingly allowed Judith access there.
It was a place where not only the Duke of Vergy, the Queen of Gilsis, or even Krald, who was a Prince, could enter or leave without reporting, but only Judith was able to freely enter the study and read the materials as she pleased. As such rumors spread, people became more cautious toward Judith. This was proof that she was trusted by the King.
Judith said.
“Would I dare to discuss the history of a country by adding to my personal interests? But once you start, you lose track of time.”
“What have you read recently?”
“A few days ago, I read a record about King Humberron, the 9th King. They say he is the one who built new roads leading from each territory to the capital.”
"It is true. When he was a Prince, his life was threatened by his half-brother, who was the Crown Prince at the time, so he took refuge on a small island in a distant archipelago. However, when the Crown Prince suddenly died of illness before the coronation ceremony, the nobles took him from the island and placed him on the throne.”
"Yes. So, after he ascended the throne, his nickname was ‘King of the Island’s Shade.’”
Thanks to his permission, Judith was able to freely read the numerous records, materials, and books in the King's library.
Thanks to the evil of Queen Gilsis, she knew the past Kings of Rotair well enough to be boring, but it was fun in its own way to learn about the detailed records related to them and the history of the kingdom. Judith especially read in detail the records of disputes between royal families and the process of resolving them.
The throne of Rotair has been occupied by the blood of the Jedercayer royal family from the founding King to the present. It is not that there were no disputes over the throne, but major changes that could shake the entire foundation of the royal family were rare, and even if they were, they were not successful.
The conflict between Franz and Krolald, or more precisely, the conflict between Franz and Queen Gilsis, had already been predicted, so Judith wanted to make at least one more preparation for it. Even if it means reading records of past royal families.
There would be nothing more to hope for as long as King Jedercayer recovers his health smoothly and continues his reign while designating Franz as Crown Prince and holding on until he builds a sufficient foundation and strength.
However, the King's health showed no signs of improving. It is fortunate that it does not get worse, and at best it is at a standstill. Even if he placed Franz in the position of Crown Prince, it was obvious that he would continue to be in a state where he would not have the power to stand against the power of Queen Gilsis for a while. Even though he didn't show it, Judith couldn't help but feel nervous.
“I have something to tell you.”
The King's words shook Judith out of her thoughts and woke her up.
“What is it, Your Majesty?”
“There was a letter from Franz.”
Judith's eyes seemed to widen, and then a smile spread across her lips. The King looked at her with satisfied eyes, as if it was cute to see her expression change, and then took out a torn envelope from under the table.
After leaving to study abroad, Franz sent letters to his father every few months. At first, all he said was a few awkward lines of greeting, but as he gradually got used to it, he felt more at ease, so he wrote down his life in the empire in quite detail.
The King occasionally showed the letter to Judith. At the same time, he also showed signs of secretly blaming Franz, who only wrote letters to him. He asked if Franz could write a separate letter to his wife to reassure her.
Every time she heard something like that, Judith would laugh it off by saying, ‘He must be very busy,’ but deep inside, there were times when she felt sad and regretful.
“I heard that since he finished his studies, he will be returning home in the near future. He graduated with good grades. As a father, how could I not be happy? So will you.”
Judith opened the letter, suppressing her pounding heart, and read the words written in it, one by one, as if they were engraved in her eyes. She was happy to see how stable Franz was leading a stable life just by looking at his neat handwriting and simple yet elegant sentences.
“The Duke of Vergy said that the Empire covets Franz’s knowledge and talent and is reluctant to send him back. Even if he had only become the third or fourth Prince, the teachers at the academy would have held on to him and not wanted to let him go. I had no idea that my child was so talented in studying.”
The King seemed very pleased with Franz's achievements. It was visible that he was just excited, without the humble attitude that is typical when praising a child.
Judith was more satisfied with the words of King Jedecayer than with the praise of any other person in the empire. This is because it was clearer that he was looking to Franz rather than Krald as the next person to ascend to the throne.
Even if his performance at the academy was poor, the King's heart would have been inclined toward Franz from the beginning. However, if Franz had achieved outstanding results, it would have been a sufficient opportunity to demonstrate his ability not only to the Delacca Empire but also to domestic nobles.
Comments
Post a Comment