"Your Majesty!"
"...Ed?"
The little brown head twitched and twitched. Julia quickly picked up the child at the sound of the familiar voice. The child laughed and clung to her neck.
"Meet the Queen."
While Ed was smiling, a young woman with black hair stood in front of her. It was Iris, Endymion's half-sister. The maid stepped back and waited.
"Ah, Duchess Hyde."
So, not Milady, but the daughter of the previous Queen. Iris Hyde greeted her with a blunt face. Julia also greeted her with her eyes. An awkward atmosphere quickly settled in.
Iris had a face that looked a lot like Endymion, even though they had different mothers. So Julia wanted to become close to her, but the atmosphere was awkward from their first meeting.
Julia was 7 and Iris was 12, so it was actually Iris's intentional approach to her from the beginning.
"I guess you came to see your mother."
"Yes, the Grand Duchess called me to have dinner with her for the first time in a long time."
Milady seems quite bored these days. She has lunch with her daughter-in-law and dinner with her daughter.
Julia's mother-in-law was very interested in her adopted daughter, but since Iris had been shy for over ten years, the two still had an ambiguous relationship. Compared to when they lived together in the palace, they became closer after Iris got married and left the palace.
"Ed, Your Majesty, you must be tired. Come down now."
"Yeah, yeah."
Edgar, a five-year-old boy, got down from Julia's arms with a sullen expression.
Julia, who liked the warm and soft feel of the child, regretfully patted the child's head. Iris, who had been watching the child in silence, spoke up.
"I have something to tell you."
"Yes?"
It was a cold and polite tone as if she was talking to someone else. Julia paused and met Iris's eyes.
Iris seemed to take a deep breath, then began to speak as if she had memorized it.
"Your husband has a hard time keeping the disobedient crowd in check. All you need is one heir, so how long will you act so arrogantly? Is the duty of a Queen to the beloved son of God nothing?"
This was it. The reason Julia thought of herself as a spoil.
'I thought it was quiet, but it's been a while since it happened again.'
Julia narrowed her eyes. Coincidentally, it was about the child again.
Iris has been this cold since she was little. At some point, she seems to have gotten a little closer, but strangely, a few days later, she suddenly becomes cold like a different person.
As if she was obsessively trying not to get close to Julia.
Not only did she not recognize her as family, but she would often pick a fight with her, saying that she was the child of God. Although she was arrogant and shy, she was not a bad person, but no one knew why she acted like that. The former King and Milady scolded her, but she did not get better.
Thanks to this, Julia was treated with honor by Semele and became friendly with Endymion, but she always felt like a stranger. A precious trophy wrapped in the packaging of the god's favor.
'By the way, a group of impure people? Are the opposition groups rising again? I haven't heard anything like that.'
At the beginning of his reign, some found fault with Endymion's bloodline. However, it quickly calmed down, and she didn't know that it was becoming an issue again after three years. Mion didn't say anything about it either.
'Oh, so that's why your mother suddenly said that she is a concubine?'
Milady said it lightly, but in fact, it was an important issue.
Endymion's reign had been peaceful, and no one had noticed her, so she didn't know much about it. On top of that, as a Queen from a foreign country, she was pushed out of politics.
Julia's head became complicated and she knitted her delicate eyebrows together.
At that moment, Iris appeared to have a strange expression on her face.
'Ha.'
Iris's characteristically blunt and cold face seemed to be openly mocking the Queen of a country. Julia gave her a determined look. Although she had a gentle personality, she was not stupid enough to be ignored in front of her.
"I am always grateful for the efforts of the Duchess of Hyde, but I think it is too much for the Duchess to worry about my family plans and His Majesty's."
It was a response to Iris's rejection of Julia, who had never accepted her as family. It was a remark that criticized her status as an outsider and no longer a Princess.
"..."
Besides, she was not comfortable with the idea of having a thorn in his sister's side, who resembled Endymion. She stared at Iris for a moment without saying a word and then tried to offer a hand of reconciliation first.
"Actually."
Suddenly, Iris lowered her eyes and spoke. Julia paused at the unexpected words. Iris bit her lips and slowly muttered.
"My friend had liked His Majesty since she was little. She even suffered from lovesickness, so the late King took pity on her and took good care of her, so they were able to get married. But everything went down the drain because the Queen chose you."
Julia was bewildered by the truth that had been revealed after 12 years and looked at Iris blankly.
The Princess that Endymion was almost going to marry was Iris' friend. That's why she pushed her away from their first meeting.
"Then that Princess."
"...Yes. If my friend had become the Crown Princess, no one with even the slightest Impure intentions toward His Majesty would have dared to appear."
That was true since the Princess's family was of high-ranking nobility. She was a daughter of a family that was much stronger than Julia, the Princess of a rural kingdom, and would be of help to Endymion.
For a moment, she was at a loss for words, but Julia lifted her chin like a Queen.
"It wasn't me who proposed first, it was him."
"That is true. However, even if the royal authority is strong, if there is constant interference with the bloodline, it can harm dignity. Shouldn't we quickly obtain a successor and give power to His Majesty as King?"
"Duchess, that is an overstep of authority."
It is true that Semele, being a powerful nation, values the nobility of blood very highly. Still, it is an excessive criticism to hear from a sister-in-law who is not even a mother-in-law.
Finally, the gentle Julia started to show her displeasure. Iris desperately avoided eye contact with her and continued to speak like a script.
"You've been together for at least three years, how can there be no news? I think it's a serious problem."
No, why does everyone think Mion and I slept together!
Even in the discomfort, it was absurd. At this point, Julia was starting to wonder if it was a mistake not to have anything to do with Endymion.
"At least one of the two may be incapacitated. I advise you to bring in a concubine to check before it's too late."
"Duchess Hyde, apologize. That is rude to both you and me."
Her sister-in-law's strangely blunt words finally made her forehead wrinkle. She spoke as if there was nothing to be afraid of in the world, but why did she avoid eye contact?
The little boy hid behind his mother's back, cautiously watching the chilly atmosphere. At that moment, Milady, with a line of muscular attendants, appeared from afar and cheerfully called out to Iris.
"...I apologize if it made you uncomfortable. However, please take the concubine matter into serious consideration."
Iris, who had smiled like a stepmother, lowered her head after sending her son away first. Julia was dumbfounded and tried to ask again, but Milady was getting closer and she couldn't fight anymore.
She stared at Iris with a disgusted expression, vowing to send a formal letter to the Hyde family demanding an apology.
"There are conservatives who are not happy with the lineage of His Majesty the King and the Queen. As a member of the royal family, I cannot ignore the issue of succession, so I am telling you this."
"Iris Hyde, stop it. This problem is not about you, it's about me and His Majesty..!"
But surprisingly, the next moment, Iris bowed down and did a half bow.
It was an excessive courtesy for her, a royal and current Duchess, who had ignored Julia from the beginning. While Julia was surprised, Iris spoke in a low voice.
"... My friend still can't forget His Majesty. Her father said he couldn't do it anymore and tried to force her into marriage, so she even tried to commit suicide. If Your Majesty can't give birth to an heir, please show your mercy."
Then she walked towards Milady with a clouded face.
'What?'
Julia, who was dumbfounded, turned around, but Iris did not turn around and went to the villa with Milady. Milady, who had missed the scene just now because she was trying to calm down Ed, who was whining, only waved and said that she would see her later.
"She still like Mion?"
Julia, left alone, felt dazed. Is it true that she loves Mion so much that she even attempted suicide because she couldn't forget her feelings as a child?
'It's serious.'
Julia hurried back to the palace and thought deeply. Iris was very rude, but in the end, it was no different from Milady's advice. She was so round and round that it made her feel sick.
Moreover, after sending an official apology request to the Duke of Hyde, she found out that what Iris said was true.
Although she gave other reasons on the outside, the Princess who had been staying abroad had been staying for a few months because she was not feeling well. And the conservatives often complained, though not seriously, enough to be bothersome.
Unfortunately, having a mother who was a Baroness and a wife who came from a rural kingdom were weaknesses for the perfect Endymion. It was a time when a successor was truly needed.
But to do that, Julia needs to get pregnant right away...
'Let's take a concubine.'
Julia made up her mind. In fact, she thought about closing her eyes and telling Endymion to have the baby. It wasn't something she really wanted to do, but it was better than giving her husband to a woman she didn't know.
But she lost confidence in the fact that Endymion, who knew everything, had kept all of this from her.
'Rather, isn't it possible that Mion doesn't want to have a baby with me?'
Otherwise, why didn't he say anything? Since the situation is like this, he could have just said let's sleер.
Besides, Iris's words kept coming to mind.
Rather than her shining reputation as the god's favorite, she thought that a concubine from a powerful family would be more helpful to Endymion. As Milady said, if she chose a concubine with a good personality who was not greedy for power, Julia would be able to secure her old age.
Even if it's not exactly that Princess.
Julia, who had sent word to Endymion that she had something to say at night, grumbled while bathing.
She had planned to choose a kind and pretty concubine who would reflect Endymion's tastes as much as possible, but somehow she felt bad when she thought of the Princess who had been secretly in love with Endymion like a sunflower. Even though she was clearly the number one candidate in terms of conditions and innocence.
'Oh, I don't know.'
Julia muttered with a sullen face, frustrated that she had no choice but to act passively because of her weak point, her origins, even though she was gentle but not timid.
By the way.
"Why does everyone assume that Mion and I slept together for granted?"
She doesn't know where that rumor came from. They just held hands and slept together for 12 years, but everyone thought they were in that kind of relationship!
"It's unfair! It's embarrassing!"
In addition, the Princess who had a crush on Endymion kept coming to mind and it made Julia feel uncomfortable. For some reason, she was also a little annoyed. Julia kept hitting the poor pillow until her husband came into the bedroom.
And then finally, after gathering her thoughts, Jukia spoke to Endymion, who had returned to his bedroom in the middle of the night.
"...Are you stupid?"
"Why? Ah, after all, it's the sexy side..."
"No need."
Bang!
This was the first fight between the royal couple in 12 years, and the reason the King stayed.
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