As Judith had thought, the Duke of Vergy did not show much doubt about the story that Flavia had gone with her. If anything, it would have been more strange if the Queen had sent Judith alone. He might have suspected that there was some hidden agenda.
However, Flavia was Krald's wife. Since Queen Gilsis loved her son so much, she thought that Flavia would not be dragged into a dangerous plan. If Flavia disappeared, Krald would surely make Libencia Montfort the next Princess without caring about anyone's opposition.
From Queen Gilsis's perspective, it would be something she would want to prevent at all costs. Like it or not, the person who would exert the greatest power to ensure Flavia remained in the position of Crown Princess was the Queen.
“Aren’t you taking Bartholomew with you?”
“I was going to do that, but you know that His Majesty has been looking for Bartholomew a lot lately.”
King Jedkair wanted to give Bartholomew another chance to train as a Combler. However, it was unprecedented for a trainee who had been discharged once to get another chance, and the discipline of the Combler was not something the King could control alone, so he waited for the right time.
That was also the reason why he had been sending Bartholomew on small errands so often recently. It was to create a 'place to stand' for him, so that he, who had not yet attained a title, could make small contributions to the royal family and make his name known.
Because of the circumstances, Bartholomew couldn't be Judith's escort all day. Fortunately, Neos, one of the leaders of the Comblers, was leading the men and guarding the Nation Palace day and night. If not, she would have been too worried to take a single step.
“It’s fortunate for Bartholomew. I have Cheraan too. There must be many people from the palace in the workhouse, and they can’t do anything to me in front of all those people. Don’t worry too much.”
“I feel relieved when Your Highness says so. But always be careful. It may not be just Your Highness who is in danger.”
***
In the afternoon, Franz returned from work before sunset for the first time in a long while. When he showed up at the National Palace before dinnertime, the cooks were busy. Judith had always eaten dinner alone these days, so they had not prepared a menu that Franz would like.
Today's main dishes were eggplant soup with vegetables and marjoram, cooked until the edges were crispy, and whitefish with orange-flavored sauce. Franz seemed a little more excited than usual as if he was particularly happy to sit down to eat with Judith after so long. He was obviously tired from the hard work, just like the King.
After dinner, the two quickly dismissed the servants and maids and went to bed. While Franz, dressed in comfortable clothes, sat on the bed and read a book, Judith leaned back on the arm of the sofa and embroidered. It wasn’t something she started because of any special need, but something she did occasionally to pass the time, and as she continued to work on the pattern, it grew to a size that could be used as a cushion cover.
The atmosphere in the room was leisurely and quiet. Aside from the occasional sound of Franz turning the pages of a book, there was no particular sound to be heard, and if you listened carefully, you could hear the summer crickets chirping outside.
Judith, who was moving the needle, suddenly looked at the embroidery she was doing. The milky white threads were tightly intertwined with each other, forming a silver bellflower. As she looked at the pattern, a thought suddenly occurred to her.
“By the way, there was that gift I told you about before. Do you remember it?”
Franz, who had raised his head at Judith's words, blinked once. He seemed to be still immersed in the world of the book, and for some reason, he had a look on his face that made it hard for him to understand. However, after a while, he nodded and said, "Ah."
“You mean that gift you said you didn’t know who sent it?”
“Yes. I thought you sent me, but I was wrong.”
As expensive gifts such as necklaces, gloves, and perfumes arrived one after another, Judith could no longer ignore them. So she asked Franz how many gifts he had sent her, and why he had not written down the sender when it was obvious who was sending them. Franz, who had never sent such gifts before, was naturally embarrassed.
After she found out that it was not a gift from Franz, Judith told the servants and maids not to bring in any gifts. She told them to leave them where they were, and if they did not disappear after three or four days, she was to treat them like any other lost item. Of course, she also thoroughly investigated the gifts that had arrived earlier. Since there were no major problems, she kept them, but she never used them.
“Why those gifts all of a sudden?”
“It wasn’t all of a sudden... I just remembered it when I saw the silver bells. Among the gifts were gloves with a silver bell pattern. I wonder if Flavia sent me that gift.”
“The second Princess?”
“Yes. There is an atmosphere where gifts that are not obvious are considered to be from suitors. Perhaps by continuing to send me such gifts, they wanted to hint that I was secretly having an affair. Or perhaps they wanted to make you think that I had a mistress.”
It was a difficult inference for Franz, who was not immune to the complex and subtle conflicts and rumors of the social world, to understand right away. However, he also thought that Flavia could easily do something like that. Perhaps she was playing the same trick as last time because she could not bring down Judith as she wanted.
The conversation that had been going on for a while was interrupted again. Judith’s hand, which was about to finish counting nonchalantly, suddenly stopped. When she looked up, Franz was once again absorbed in the book. She was worried that he might end up inside the book and become an illustration.
"Your Highness."
"Yes?"
As he answered, his eyes remained fixed on the book. Judith playfully pretended to puff out her cheeks, then put down her embroidery and stood up.
“What book is it that you find so interesting?”
As Judith climbed onto the bed and leaned back slightly, he glanced at her. Franz smiled brightly, looked down at the book, and then looked at Judith again.
“...Do you really want to know what it’s about?”
“What is it? Is it a storybook? Or...”
“Shall I read it to you?”
Judith nodded with delight. Then she sat down right next to him and took a listening posture. Franz was holding the book at an ambiguous height, so the contents could not be seen clearly, but judging by the dense writing, it seemed that it was not a simple storybook. Franz cleared his throat slightly and began to read in a low voice.
“At the moment of being pricked by the rose thorn, Celia felt a pain like being stung by a bee and a thrilling pleasure at the same time. It was a new experience that the chaste Celia had never experienced before. Celia looked down at the large, thick hand that was holding her waist. A dizzying fragrance wafted from the rose bushes that cast a shadow, and she soon pulled up the hem of her skirt...”
The moment he read that far, Judith almost ran up to Franz and snatched the book he was holding. Her eyes widened and her ears turned red. However, her eyes that were busy scanning the bookshelf soon stopped moving. The moment Franz burst out laughing, holding his stomach, Judith couldn't hold it back and swung a pillow and hit his back hard.
“Why are you making fun of me? This is a history book!”
Franz was too busy laughing to even answer properly. Judith bit her lips and snorted, then slammed the book cover with one hand.
“You fooled me. I was really surprised, Your Highness!”
“Why are you surprised?”
Franz hugged Judith by the waist, holding back laughter and shaking his shoulders. He kissed her ear, which was so red that he could feel the heat, but that was not enough to comfort Judith who was upset. Franz said.
“Did you really think I was reading a pornographic novel?”
“Well, of course, you can say it so bluntly! No, wait a minute. Your Highness, have you ever read such a novel?”
“When I went to Rogero’s room, there was nothing but that kind of stuff there.”
Judith's mouth fell open. She had a feeling that it would be difficult to look at Rogero's face properly from tomorrow. Franz as if he knew what she was thinking just by looking at her expression, snickered mischievously and rubbed his lips over her cheek.
“Don’t tell that guy that I said that. He might come and kill me.”
“If I never see His Highness the Prince again, it will be all your fault. Do you understand?”
Judith muttered. She turned her head away from Franz, who was still unable to stop laughing, saying, “Wait a minute.”
“Anyway, you did read it, didn’t you? Whether it was His Highness the Prince’s or not.”
Then Franz narrowed his eyes and immediately shifted his gaze suspiciously.
“I didn’t read much, but somehow..."
Judith, who was in his arms, squirmed. Then, taking advantage of Franz’s moment of inattention, she quickly slipped away and crossed her arms.
“You said you could recite it fluently even though you didn’t read much?”
“No, that’s not it. I didn’t memorize it, I just thought of whatever came to mind...”
“You said you read it enough to still remember it.”
Franz racked his brain to find a way to change the subject, but it was no use. If he didn’t come up with an excuse, he would be kicked out of the room. Franz, who didn’t want to spend the night curled up on the sofa, hurriedly put on a serious expression, but he couldn’t save Judith, who was already in the swamp of distrust.
“I swear I’ve only read one book from start to finish.”
Judith narrowed her eyes.
“Are you calling that an excuse now?”
“I was just trying to say that I really didn’t read much...”
“You said you didn’t know anything, but you know everything. What?”
Franz's face turned red as he immediately realized what she was pointing out.
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