Perhaps it was because she had heard it dismissed as a minor kingdom so many times — but the royal palace felt nothing short of vast.
Annabella followed the luxurious red carpet and came to stand before the audience chamber. The enormous doors were carved with such intricate detail across every surface that they looked less like doors than a single great work of art.
“I present the young lady of House Lates.”
The chamberlain had come out to receive her and bowed deeply at the entrance to the audience chamber. Already, the warmth of the King and Queen’s welcome seemed to radiate through the doors before she had even stepped inside.
“Both Their Majesties are waiting. Please, come in.”
The chamberlain turned and instructed the knights standing guard — their spears raised and crossed — to open the way. In perfect unison, they drew back their spears, and with a long, resonant creak, the great doors swung open.
“The young lady of House Lates enters.”
At the chamberlain’s clear, ringing voice, Annabella stepped forward with Hilda at her side. The walk was not so very long — and yet why had it taken her until now to make it? Her chest ached with something close to regret —
— full to bursting.
“I present myself…… before Your Majesties.”
Annabella came to a stop within sight of the throne and sank into a curtsy. Behind her, Hilda stepped back one pace and bowed deeply.
“Why have you only come now?”
The King’s voice came out as a gruff, sulky rumble — nothing like what she had imagined — and Annabella startled so much she lifted her head before she could stop herself. Her eyes met the Queen’s, and she found them streaming with quiet tears.
“Oh…….”
At that, the King shot to his feet and began pacing about in agitated circles, then let out a loud, pointed hmph and dropped back onto his throne.
“Why are you crying? It looks as though I’m the one who made you cry!”
The King had a voice that could fill a hall — and despite being well past sixty, he was vigorous enough to prove it.
He fussed helplessly over his weeping wife, then turned his gaze back to Annabella. His hand came up in a brisk, urgent wave.
“Come, come here, let me see your face.”
What sort of royal protocol was this.
Just then, Hilda gave Annabella a discreet nudge in the ribs. Her meaning was plain: do as His Majesty says.
Annabella hesitated for a moment, then carefully moved forward. With every step closer to the King and Queen, their faces came into sharper focus.
The King had golden hair and a dignified mustache, yet his face was young enough for his years that he could have passed for a man in his middle age.
Once Annabella had drawn near enough to stop, all dignity seemed to desert him — he circled around her without a trace of royal gravity, studying her from every angle as though determined not to miss a single detail. Then he gave a large, satisfied nod and reached a hand toward the Queen.
“My dear, she is Aubrey’s daughter, no question. She looks just like…… no — she is the very image of Aubrey!”
Annabella, who had been growing increasingly uneasy under his relentless inspection, finally let herself breathe. So that was what all those solemn circles had been for.
“Do I…… really resemble my mother so much?”
“You do! You are the very image of Aubrey!”
Milton seemed quite pleased by this, and gave his mustache a proud little lift.
“Let me see…….”
The Queen moved to rise from her seat, and Hilda stepped in with practiced ease to assist her — every inch the woman who had once called the Kingdom of Elaise home.
“Come closer…….”
Grace extended her hand, and Annabella dipped into a slight curtsy and took it. The Queen then drew her close and looked slowly, carefully into her face.
The same platinum hair as her daughter, the same blue eyes, the same refined features — to find all of that here, before her, was too much. Fresh tears traced a gentle path down her cheeks.
“This woman, honestly.”
The King reached into his br*ast pocket and produced a handkerchief, dabbing at his wife’s tears himself. It was the sort of thing unheard of in an imperial court — but which of the two ways was the finer, no one needed to say.
“I am so glad to meet you, Grandfather, Grandmother.”
Annabella offered her formal greeting. At that, even the King — who had been so gruff with her only moments ago — went slightly red around the eyes.
“There is much I want to say, but you’ve been in a carriage a long time and must be tired. I’ve had rooms prepared for you in the inner palace — go rest there, and we’ll see each other properly at this evening’s banquet.”
“Yes.”
Annabella dipped into another small curtsy and withdrew.
“She looks so much like her.”
“She does…… so very much.”
The couple murmured to each other as they looked out at the audience chamber, which felt somehow empty the moment Annabella had left it.
“We should have brought her here ourselves and raised her, long ago.”
“We never imagined the Duke would take another woman…… What can be done about the years already lost.”
King Milton forced down the bitterness rising in him and gave a slow nod.
He, too, had a fair idea of what had been happening at the ducal estate. Hilda had been faithfully sending word to the kingdom all along, through secret carrier pigeons, keeping them informed of Annabella’s circumstances.
“Your Majesty — do you intend to send the child back?”
“No.”
Not a single moment’s hesitation.
“Nor do I.”
Queen Grace looked at her husband with quiet resolve.
For once, the two were of one mind entirely. Seeing a granddaughter so close in age to their lost daughter — they simply could not bring themselves to let her go. And least of all down a road that led not to happiness, but to ruin.
“The Empire’s Crown Prince may look the part on the outside, but he is rotten through and through!”
“The Duke could hardly have been unaware of that. How very cruel of him to his own daughter.”
“And isn’t that precisely why he kept our granddaughter from us — so he could use her for that!”
By rights, when one parent died, the other was entitled to claim the children. But a father who would consign his own daughter to misery had no right to any such claim.
“And to think the illegitimate younger sister is only a year younger than Annabella!”
The Kingdom of Elaise had no shortage of well-placed ears.
“He dared take another woman to his bed and father a child while our Aubrey was still alive? And as if that weren’t enough, the moment Aubrey died, he brought those common creatures into the house——!”
Milton had never had any intention of sending Annabella back to that ducal estate — not from the very beginning. Even if the whole continent condemned him for it, all he had to do was play the part of a senile old man and be done with it.
“I’m tired — I must go to the inner palace and rest.”
“Liar. You’re going to see that child, that’s what you’re doing. Why am I to be left behind——”
“You can make yourself better acquainted with her after the banquet this evening. And I believe you’ve forgotten — the inner palace of this royal palace is mine.”
Grace let out a soft, triumphant little smile.
“Which means the right to monopolize a guest in the inner palace is also mine.”
“Blast.”
For the first time in his life, Milton found himself jealous of Grace. He had been jealous on Grace’s behalf many times — but jealous of her as a rival was entirely new.
“Well then, I’ll be off.”
Whether he liked it or not, Grace rose with all the elegance her name implied and swept out of the audience chamber with light, unhurried steps.
Milton, having at least some remnant of dignity left, said nothing as he watched her go.
The inner palace was divided into three wings: the Queen’s Palace, where Grace resided; the Princess’s Palace, where Aubrey had once lived; and the Guest Palace, built to house noble ladies visiting from other kingdoms.
As the young lady of House Lates, Annabella was to be lodged in the Guest Palace for the time being.
The rooms that had been described as hastily prepared were filled with craftsmanship so intricate and beautiful that her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. Even the cushions were embroidered with painstaking delicacy, and every teacup was ringed with a graceful border of gold.
“I sent word by carrier pigeon that I was coming on short notice — and they managed all of this in that time…….”
“Elaise is little known because it lies to the east, but it is one of the wealthiest kingdoms on the continent. Something like this is only to be expected.”
Hilda spoke with unmistakable pride in her homeland. The wealth of the Kingdom of Elaise was indeed considerable — and yet the King and Queen’s unaffected manner had earned them a popularity all their own.
“My guess is that Her Majesty the Queen is on her way here as we speak.”
“Oh? Why……?”
“The inner palace is Her Majesty’s domain — she need only say she’s stopped by for a brief rest, and no one can object. His Majesty the King, on the other hand, will be sulking rather thoroughly right about now.”
“And why would that be……?”
“Because he wants to monopolize you, my lady.”
“Then the Queen coming now is also…….”
“Naturally, because she wants to monopolize you herself. And the mistress of the inner palace has finally gotten her chance.”
Annabella was about to say something in reply when an elderly head lady-in-waiting came in and dipped into a curtsy.
“My lady, Her Majesty the Queen will be arriving shortly — her instruction is that you make yourself comfortable.”
Once the woman had withdrawn, Annabella turned to look at Hilda. Her already large eyes had gone twice their usual size.
“You see? I was right, wasn’t I?”
Hilda had entered the palace as a young lady-in-waiting and spent nearly her entire life within these walls, only leaving when she followed Aubrey out. Because of that, she knew the workings and atmosphere of the royal palace intimately.
Had it not been for the final wishes Aubrey left behind, she would have returned to the Kingdom of Elaise without a moment’s hesitation.
“Hilda, honestly…….”
Annabella was about to say more when the same woman came back in and curtsied again. Grace appeared behind her, and Hilda withdrew with the woman to give them privacy.
“I present myself before Her Majesty the Queen.”
The brightness in those blue eyes made Grace’s face soften into a smile at last. Her hair had gone fully silver with age, pinned up in a neat coil — and she had the very same blue eyes as Annabella.
“Come, sit here. Don’t make it harder than it is.”
“……Yes.”
Grace settled onto the sofa first and patted the seat beside her. Annabella hesitated, then sat down.
One of the things she had understood after her regression was that life was far too short. The time spent on things that truly mattered most of all. So when the chance arose, she had to reach for meaning without fail.
Just as she was doing now — letting the Queen take her hand and hold it. Feeling the warmth of blood in the silence, quietly sensing a kinship she had almost never known. Mourning someone already lost.
“You look so like her. You really are the image of Aubrey.”
Annabella wished this moment would pass slowly. Slowly enough that she could feel, truly feel, that the two of them were connected. Slowly enough to remember that between them — there had once been her mother.
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bluemoon238
The FL’s father, the more I read, the more stupid he seems. FL mother was royalty. Not just any royal family, but of an extremely rich kingdom. He cheated on such a marriage partner? Risky for both Duke and Kingdom. Is FL the only heir left available? Some of the things from first run don’t add up to me. Feels like Goose with golden eggs scenario mixed with people wanting to commit political s*icide. I’m pretty sure I’m missing some details.