Chapter 106

As the night deepened, Catherine found herself unable to sleep as well. When she ran to Henry as he emerged from the courtroom and shared a brief kiss, she thought she would be with him all day. If the Chancellor hadn’t intervened, she might have spent the entire day in Henry’s embrace.

Who would have known there was a rule that the next King could not share a bedroom with his wife until after the coronation? It was a rule forgotten over the last hundred years, as there had been no changes in the dynasty.

On the third sleepless night, Catherine gave up on trying to sleep altogether.

Living in the palace meant living a completely different life than before. Although she had learned many things as the Duke’s daughter, they were fundamentally different from palace life. With a mindset of learning everything anew, Catherine spent her days learning palace etiquette and behavior from the attendants.

It was a hectic day. By the time she finished all her tasks, she felt like collapsing into bed.

But unlike the Duke’s residence, there was no space in the palace that was truly her own. Whether in the bedroom or elsewhere, attendants were always present. Having power and rising above others meant living under constant scrutiny.

The larger the power on one’s shoulders, the less freedom and the greater the responsibility, as the Duke once said. Catherine began to understand this.

“Your Majesty. You have a visitor.”

The voice of an attendant snapped Catherine out of her daze as she gazed out the window. A red-haired attendant, who rarely spoke to her, bowed to inform her of a visitor. 

What was her name again? Anne?

She seemed to have introduced herself on the first day, but Catherine couldn’t quite remember. She stared blankly at the attendant’s red hair before speaking.

“At this hour?”

“Lower your voice, Your Majesty.”

“A visitor at this hour?”

“The Duke has come to see you.”

Catherine stood up. Her grandfather had come to her bedroom. The unexpected visitor made her forget the small poetry book she had placed on her lap, which fell to the floor. Perhaps it was thanks to the soft carpet that she didn’t notice. She had heard the carpet was laid to prevent the attendants’ footsteps from waking the Queen, and it seemed true.

Why had my grandfather come here? 

Normally, no one but the King could enter the Queen’s bedroom at such a late hour, but it seemed the Duke, second only to the King, was an exception.

“Grandfather….”

Perhaps they let him in easily because he was the Queen’s only blood relative.

Guided by the attendants, the Duke slowly entered. When their eyes met, he awkwardly cleared his throat.

The attendants bowed deeply behind the Duke, seemingly to give them privacy for their conversation.

“The attendants brought a guest in without permission, and you do nothing?”

Coming to see his granddaughter, that’s all he had to say. Catherine barely restrained a laugh. He could be seen as a steadfast person, or as someone who hadn’t changed. People say they don’t change easily, but she didn’t expect him to maintain the same attitude even when facing his soon-to-be Queen granddaughter.

“They must have brought you in without asking because you are my only blood relative.”

“Bringing someone into the Queen’s chambers without permission is unacceptable for any reason.”

His tone was not just stern but almost angry. Catherine saw the same old image of her grandfather, who was never pleased with anything she did, always shouting and angry.

“Did you come all this way just to lecture me?”

“That’s not….”

“A man who makes kings with his hands, of course, the attendants would fear you more than me, the future Queen. It’s only natural.”

She was starting to get angry. Her relationship with the Duke was always stagnant. It seemed to improve slightly, but then it would return to its original state.

Through Henry, Catherine thought the Duke had changed significantly. But now she saw he was still the same greedy person who disapproved of his only granddaughter and saw even the Queen as beneath him.

Feeling a bitter taste in her mouth, Catherine bit her lip.

If I become a better person, maybe grandfather will love me.

She recalled her childhood, filled with futile efforts to win his affection. Even as the Queen, the highest rank a woman could achieve in this country, the Duke still looked at her with disapproval.

In the end, regardless of her efforts, the Duke found her very existence displeasing. With that realization, Catherine’s face hardened coldly.

“It’s amusing that someone who values rules so much would address me, the Queen, so casually.”

The power the Duke loved so much was now in her hands. It might have been a moment of youthful defiance, but Catherine felt a warmth in her chest. Perhaps because she realized that even if the Duke never acknowledged her existence, it was no longer her problem but his.

“…It’s the first time I’ve seen you speak so confidently to me.”

In the past, he would have raised his hand at her insolence. But surprisingly, the Duke didn’t get angry, instead muttering to himself with an unreadable expression. To someone unaware of their complex relationship, he might have seemed proud of his only granddaughter.

“Why do you look at me like that?”

“You’ve changed a lot from the girl who would shrink and cry at the slightest raise of my voice.”

The Duke took a step closer to her, still speaking in riddles.

“Every time you trembled in fear, my heart felt heavy. How could someone so weak and easily hurt survive in this world?”

“I don’t understand why you’re saying such things. If you’re going to continue, please leave.”

“Your mother, Stella. At least she could express her feelings and emotions directly.”

Catherine, about to call an attendant to escort the Duke out, froze at the mention of ‘Stella.’ It was rare for him to bring up his daughter, Catherine’s mother, in front of her.

“I often thought if only you were a bit more like your mother, you wouldn’t have been born so fragile, crying at every harsh word.”

“Why are you suddenly saying this?”

“…I came to give you this.”

The Duke, taking another step towards Catherine, pulled something from his coat. It was a book, just the right size to fit snugly in his large hand. Catherine asked with her eyes, not words, what it was. The Duke’s face, as he looked at the book in his hand, held a bittersweet smile.

I must have seen it wrong. My grandfather smiling?

In her entire life, she had never seen the Duke smile so sadly. He was a man far removed from sentimentality.

“What is it?”

“It’s Stella’s diary.”

Come to think of it, the Duke’s tone had softened. His expression and gestures were quite different from the strict grandfather she knew.

“I had no intention of disturbing your rest. Instruct the attendants to always seek your permission before bringing in guests, Catherine.”

“…Well, perhaps the attendants followed your lead, thinking you could disregard the Queen.”

“Even so.”

“…….”

“Even if the greatest power comes, teach the attendants that before the King and Queen, it means nothing, Cathy.”

The Duke called her Cathy.

Hearing the forgotten name from distant memories, Catherine felt a lump in her throat.

After delivering his lesson-like remark, the Duke placed Stella’s diary on the table and slowly bowed.

He knelt, one knee on the ground.

The Duke was formally greeting Catherine.

“I, Bertram Annette, greets Her Majesty the Queen. I am infinitely grateful for your precious time. May heaven’s blessings be upon the Queen.”