WTPB - Chapter 73




Erdene stared at Sabnake with her chin resting on her hand.

Only then did Sabnake smile, sticking her tongue out cutely with an expression of

“Oh no. I’m sorry. I spoke carelessly in front of Your Majesty.”

“No. Tell me. Didn’t you say you were a distant relative of Sophia? That’s why I thought you were the daughter of a noble family.”

“I'm indeed from a noble family, but it’s actually just a facade. Your Majesty, no matter how much I think about it, this pie just seems too good to throw away.”

Erdene wrinkled her nose and closed her eyes, smiling helplessly and waving her hand.

“Yes, eat it. I don’t know if you’ll be able to eat it... Anyway, what do you mean it’s just a facade? Are you saying that you were poor?” 

As soon as permission was granted, Sabnake quickly put a piece of the pie into her mouth.

Even though the sugar was slurping, she swallowed it down with a happy expression on her face.

“They say in the old days, people used to fill their drawers with precious jewels, but by the time I was born, it was lucky if there weren’t any cobwebs in the drawers. To make matters worse, my mother... died of puerperal fever after giving birth to me. And they didn’t have enough money to pay for the funeral, you know.”

“Oh.”

Erdene clicked her tongue as if she felt sorry for her.

Sabnake took another piece of pie and tilted her head.

“My father didn’t know how to do anything, and the only property in the family was an empty house, but one day, a relative from my father’s mother’s side came by...”

[I’ll pay some of the rent in advance, so you can use the mansion, brother.]

Erdene blinked.

“So?”

Sabnake shrugged again.

“From that day on, that man and... The uncle’s friends settled down in the mansion. It turned out that they had made money by doing bad things. There are some errand boys and mercenaries who only do bad things. My father was afraid of that uncle, but he couldn’t move, and the employees in the house ran away because they didn’t get paid, so they made me work like a maid. I was so hungry that I secretly took out some bread to eat, and I got slapped on the cheek.”

Sabnake covered her cheek as if the place where she had been hit still hurt, frowned, and sighed.

“Then someone in the village... He wasn’t a noble, but he had a lot of collectibles, and he sent me to the Marquis of Fiddler’s through his connections. That’s how I ended up working there.”

“And your father?”

“He basically gave the mansion to them and came to the Marquis. It was three years ago. Fortunately, the Marquis found out about the situation and gave him a small house. He lives there and has remarried now.”

Erdene nodded as if she was glad.

“Yes, I understand what you are saying. But make sure you don’t fight with the kitchen staff. Leftover food and spices are supposed to be shared among the people who are left over.”

“I will be careful, Your Majesty.”

Sabnake, who had her knees slightly bent, quickly moved away.

Erdene shook her head with a half-smiling expression and called Sophia. Then she asked if Sabnake’s words were true.

Sophia nodded.

“I don’t know the exact details, but I remember Sabnake’s father coming to see my father. He got soaked because the rain was pouring down and he couldn’t even ride the carriage properly, so the employees thought he was a vagrant at first.”

“Sabnake says he’s doing well now, but his relatives and all, they’re really annoying. How can they get away with such a thing? What’s wrong with the law?”

Sophia sat down carefully across from Erdene.

“Those people are just as good at avoiding the law as the nobles, Your Majesty. Their cunning is beyond imagination.”

Erdene clenched her fist and tapped the table. Her expression was deep in thought.

“Yes, that would be so. The palace can’t investigate all of those circumstances... But now that I’ve heard about them, I can’t just leave it alone.”

Erdene paused for a moment and said nonchalantly.

“The law is far away, but the fist is close.”

“What should I do, Your Majesty?”

“Go and call Captain Wiziard.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Sophia immediately left.

Erdene called Anne and told her to bring tea, then took out something like a square picture frame from a drawer.

It was made of wood with a tough cloth covering the surface, and several sheets overlapped so that they could be opened by pulling them. On each sheet of stiff paper the width of the frame was a drawing of a person holding a sword.

Over the past month or so, Erdene has been gathering all the swordsmanship, spearmanship, staff fighting, and archery techniques that were handed down in the past from each of the inland allies, without any discrimination.

Since she couldn’t get everything on her own, she mainly used the connections of the Wiziard family.

Pelarhar, who had a wide network, also brought her a few items, and Arkan sent out official notices to each country under the pretext of ‘academic research purposes.’

As a result, everything from the very precious to the extraordinary ended up in Erdene’s hands, and she meticulously checked and understood them without missing a single one.

While Belen was reorganizing the soldiers, she had to think about how to train the regular soldiers, knights, and the King’s guards.

“Your Majesty, the Duke of Sonnetum has arrived.”

Anne sent. Erdene nodded, examining the picture of the crosscut.

“Tell him to come in.”

Pelarhar was already outside the living room before she could give permission.

Erdene raised her head only after the sound of his footsteps had come close to her.

“Welcome, Duke. Please have a seat.”

“You’re still busy, Your Majesty.”

Anne brought two cups of tea. Erdene tapped the dusty paper and looked up.

Pelarhar’s brown hair was damp as if he had just come out of the shower.

“Did you get rained on, Duke? On this beautiful day.”

Erdene teased Pelarhar, who smiled broadly.

“If only there had been a rain cloud following me, it would have been useful today. I was so hot after moving around so much. If there had been a lake nearby, I would have gone for a swim.”

“What did you do?”

“We trained. The soldiers are more motivated than ever these days.”

Pelarhar was basically someone who liked to move his body and be active.

In that sense, she was much better suited to her than Arkan.

Arkan did some personal training, but he had so much work to do that he couldn’t spend much time outside.

So Erdene spent more time with Pelarhar when riding or shooting arrows, and they became close enough friends to visit each other’s residences often.

At least, that’s what Erdene thought. However, Pelarhar’s position was a little different.

I just shouldn’t show it, Pelarhar thought.

His eyes naturally went to Erdene’s shoulders and the back of her neck which were bathed in sunlight.

Looking at her like this, it didn’t feel real at all that she was a scary person who couldn't stop crying.

“I saw Arkan grumbling again when I came in earlier. What happened?”

Erdene chuckled and gulped down her tea.

“He told me a funny story last night, saying that he was sad that he didn’t have such a sweet honeymoon.”

“Really? What kind of story?”

“Well, it’s a folk tale about a happy couple. It’s about a husband who cries so much when his wife dies that he turns into a flower. Do you know it, Duke?”

Pelarhar made a “ah” sound. It was a famous folk tale handed down in the inland regions, including Vetor.

“I know. My father and mother often told me that story.”

After saying that, he suddenly pressed his fist against his mouth and wrinkled his nose.

“It’s funny that Arkan grumbled when he mentioned that.”

“If he wanted something sweet, I told him to go to the kitchen and eat some sugar, and he got angry again. He wants it. So I gave him a pie with lots of sugar for breakfast as an apology.”

So that’s why, Pelarhar thought.

He held back laughter as he remembered Arkan’s cheeks being swollen as he went to the bureaucratic meeting, and coughed.

“When I see you two, I keep thinking about what it means to be ‘good friends.’”

Erdene laughed.

“You must be wondering why we stick together when we can’t eat each other up?” 

“I guess so, to put it a little rudely.”

“It’s simple.”

Erdene set down her cup and stared at Pelerhar.

“His Majesty must have a sense of duty to this marriage, and I have a minimal duty not to abandon that.”

Pelarhar, who had been drinking tea with a smiling expression, glanced at her with only his eyes moving.

He slowly put down his cup as if he had heard a serious confession.

“Duty?”

“His Majesty tries to approach me. Most of the time, it ends in an argument because he keeps making false moves.”

He knew that she was trying to approach him. Pelarhar thought.

Arkan often grumbled that Erdene ‘wouldn’t have any thoughts about marriage.’

Pelarhar himself agreed with that to some extent.

It couldn't be otherwise, Pelarhar thought.

Erdene was too easygoing and enthusiastic for a Queen.

It was due to the habits she had developed from living with soldiers for a long time, but delicately observing etiquette or gently conveying one's intentions did not suit her at all.

Therefore, not only Arkan, but no one could even imagine that Erdene would be engrossed in petty thoughts or worries about the love affairs of men and women.


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