The next day.

Ines, who had been lying in bed, quickly got up after hearing the news delivered by a servant.

‘Today, the maid Her Majesty the Queen was looking for is coming to the palace.’

Llewellyn, whom she had been desperately searching for, was finally coming to the palace.

Ines immediately rose from her bed and began to dress with more care than ever. It was the first time she sat before a mirror of her own accord since becoming queen.

Adding some color to her pale face made her look more lively than before. She chose a dress that was a bit more glamorous than the plain ones she usually wore.

After ensuring everything was perfect in the mirror, Ines pulled the bell cord. As soon as the maid arrived, she began issuing orders.

“Bring some fruit and snacks like cookies and cake. Oh, and instead of tea, please prepare a sweet drink with fruit syrup.”

The maid tilted her head at Ines’s instructions. She had heard that a guest was visiting the queen’s palace today, but she also knew this guest was a maid who had once served with the queen in her private residence. Naturally, the maid was puzzled by Ines’s fuss over treating the guest like a VIP.

However, regardless of the maid’s curiosity, Ines’s expression was brighter than ever. She seemed almost girlishly excited.

As Ines waited anxiously for her guest.

Knock, knock.

Finally, the person she had been desperately searching for appeared with a knock.

With reddish-brown hair and light green eyes, the woman looked more worn than before, as if she had endured many hardships, which made Ines’s heart ache.

“Your, Your Majesty…”

It was Llewellyn, the maid Ines had been searching for.

No sooner had Llewellyn entered than she bowed deeply to Ines. Watching her, Ines’s face finally crumbled.

As soon as the door closed, Ines rushed to Llewellyn, embracing her tightly and whispering softly.

“I missed you.”

Her voice was filled with a profound longing that words could hardly express.

“…Mother.”

Llewellyn, the maid Ines had been searching for, was, in fact, Ines’s biological mother.

* * *

Llewellyn had been a maid working for the Claudia family since she was fourteen. Although she stuttered and was clumsy with her hands, making her work slow, her discretion and gentle nature allowed her to get by without major issues.

Until the day she was summoned by the Duchess of Claudia.

Ines looked at Llewellyn, who had grown much thinner since she last saw her, and asked.

“How have you been? Are you hurt anywhere? How are you managing?”

“P-please, ask o-one at a time.”

Realizing belatedly that her mother wasn’t fluent in speech, Ines apologized.

“I’m sorry. I was just so glad to see you… Please, have some of these first. They’re things you used to love.”

Llewellyn had a great fondness for sweet treats. Back when they lived at the duke’s estate, Ines would often sneak cookies hidden in her skirt to Llewellyn in the annex.

“Where are you living now?”

“I’m w-working at K-kerban Farm, d-doing fieldwork.”

“Fieldwork…”

Hearing that her aging mother was doing fieldwork broke Ines’s heart. While she lived in luxury at the palace, her mother was toiling in the fields. Ines couldn’t just ignore this fact and took Llewellyn’s hands in hers.

“Live here with me from now on. His Majesty has given his permission too.”

“H-His Majesty?”

“Yes, so from now on, here with me…”

Before Ines could finish speaking, Llewellyn shook her head vigorously.

“That, that’s not possible. It would b-be a b-burden to Y-Your Majesty.”

Since Ines became queen, Llewellyn had avoided meeting her. She feared the world would discover she was illegitimate.

Understanding her mother’s concerns, Ines comforted her.

“Don’t worry, Mother. No one knows that we’re mother and daughter anyway.”

All those who knew Llewellyn’s secret were either dead or had fled. Besides, Llewellyn and Ines didn’t resemble each other enough to be seen as mother and daughter.

That was how Ines could become the legitimate daughter of the Claudia family.

“I’ve already told His Majesty that you’re my nanny. So from now on, just relax…”

“Ow!”

Trying once more to persuade her to live with her, Ines gripped her mother’s hand tightly. Llewellyn winced, her brow furrowing in pain.

Realizing something was wrong, Ines turned Llewellyn’s hand over. There, she saw a wound on her palm, as if it had been cut by something sharp.

“Oh my, you’re hurt!”

“It’s n-nothing. Just a b-bit of ointment…”

The wound wasn’t the kind that would heal with just some medicine. Even after receiving treatment from a doctor, it appeared deep enough that using her hand was inadvisable for a while. Perhaps, despite being injured, she hadn’t received timely treatment because she continued to work. That’s why the wound had worsened.

Thinking about it that way made my heart feel like it was tearing apart. So, Ines, as if making a decision, took Llewellyn’s hand.

Llewellyn quickly pulled her hand back, realizing what Ines intended to do.

“Oh, no. I, I can’t use it on something like this.”

“Please give it to me.”

At Ines’s firm words, Llewellyn stammered on.

“There might be a mother who wishes to be in pain instead of her child. But there is no mother who wishes her child to be in pain instead.”

Llewellyn had always been like that. Even when she was hurt by Duke Claudia, she never allowed Ines to use her abilities. So, even as her body became covered in wounds, all Ines could do was apply medicine to her mother’s body.

Recalling the past for a moment, Ines lowered her eyes.

“Mother, I always wanted to heal the wounds on your body.”

Not the wound on my brother’s finger from handling paper.

Not the wound my father got from hunting.

I wanted to heal my mother’s wounds.

“I’ve never used my abilities for what I wanted in my life. Except for one time…”

Just once.

There was a time she used her abilities for what she wanted.

And then, as if realizing something, Llewellyn looked at Ines’s left leg.

“It, it wasn’t from falling down the stairs, was it?”

“……”

Ines answered with silence.

Wandering around the palace late at night and falling down the stairs—that was the official reason why Ines limped.

But it wasn’t the truth.

Of course, it wasn’t because, as the rumors said, she fell off a railing while having an affair with an outside man.

The real reason she suddenly began to limp was…

Ines shook her head and took Llewellyn’s hand, placing her own over her injured palm.

“So please, let me heal you this time, Mother.”

“Your, Your Majesty…”

With those words, Ines closed her eyes for a moment. Soon, a golden light spread from her palm. As the golden light that illuminated the room faded away, Ines furrowed her brows, feeling uncomfortable. Then, as if she had finished her task, she withdrew her hand.

“It’s done, Mother.”

Llewellyn’s clean palm was revealed. In contrast, a clear wound appeared on Ines’s once unblemished hand.

The ability to transfer someone else’s wound to her own body—that was Ines’s power.

“I’ll heal quickly with the royal physician’s treatment.”

Seeing the wound on her daughter’s hand, Llewellyn began to cry. The sight of the wound that appeared in her place was painful. Realizing the reason for the limp also brought a surge of emotions.

“Instead of that person, Your Majesty…”

Llewellyn was not unaware of the stigma Ines bore when she suddenly began to limp. Even a child living in the capital would know how filthy the rumor was, how disgraceful it was for a woman. Even now, every time people mocked Ines, that incident was brought up.

Llewellyn’s tears didn’t stop. She asked Ines in a choked voice.

“Do, do you not regret it?”

“……Regret?”

Even though it was a vague question, she understood its meaning. Ines brushed her uncomfortable left leg.

“It was the first time I used my abilities of my own will.”

For the man I loved.

For the man who limped for me, the thing I could do was to take on Carlos Ivan’s blemish myself.

So naturally…

“I’ve never regretted it.”

Ines lifted her head.

“Not even once.”

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

—
T/N: What a revelation!