Chapter 21.
An Unexpected Rival in Love
“We greet Her Majesty the Queen.”
“Welcome, Duchess Zenon.”
Meeting the Duchess not in the usual study where I took private lessons but in the parlor of the Queen’s Palace felt quite different.
When I met Duchess Zenon as my tutor, she was so charismatic that she rivaled her husband, Duke Zenon, the Prime Minister. The palace staff jokingly called Duke Zenon a “henpecked husband,” and it seemed they weren’t wrong.
But seated across from me in this cozy parlor, the duchess had set aside that charisma and now wore a gentle, kind expression.
“This is my niece, Violet. Violet, shouldn’t you greet Her Majesty the Queen?”
“Greetings, Your Majesty~ I’m Violet Zenon…”
Violet, whose lavender eyes resembled mine, clung shyly to the Duchess’s skirt as she looked up at me.
With her curly blond hair and plump cheeks, she was so adorably cute that I couldn’t help but want to reach out and pat her head.
“Do you remember how I promised during our last lesson to show you the Zenon family’s greatest treasure? This is her.”
“That makes perfect sense. How old is Lady Violet this year?”
“She turned six last month.”
“She’s absolutely precious~”
As we sat drinking tea together, quiet little Violet soon revealed her true self—an energetic troublemaker.
She bounced around, tossing a small ball here and there, laughing gleefully as she darted about. Her carefree laughter made us smile just watching her.
“You must love your niece very much, Duchess.”
“I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but yes. In both the Zenon and my birth family, it’s been nearly twenty years since a girl was born.”
“I heard daughters are rare among the noble families of Fritan.”
“Exactly.”
The Duchess sighed as she set down her teacup.
“For some reason, nearly every child born into the nobility lately has been a boy.”
“With such a small noble class to begin with, if only sons are born, will future heirs have to find brides from foreign countries?”
“Oh, there is a solution for that.”
Besides marrying foreign princesses or noble ladies? What could it be?
“Fritan may have few hereditary nobles, but there are plenty of opportunities to become first-generation nobles. If someone distinguishes themselves, they can be granted a title regardless of birth.”
“Ah…”
Fritan had a vast territory, but due to the harsh cold, habitable land was limited. Thus, the number of hereditary nobles with land was kept small, but the number of first-generation nobles was increased.
It was a good system to allow for upward mobility and secure loyalty to the crown.
And since first-generation nobles were still nobles, it wasn’t frowned upon for heirs of noble houses to marry their daughters.
Compared to the Haren Empire, Fritan clearly had a more relaxed view on class distinctions.
“Perhaps Her Majesty has already heard a certain story about Violet?”
“What kind of story?”
The Duchess gave me a sly wink, clearly about to share something amusing.
“If Your Majesty had not come to Fritan…”
She paused, sipping from her teacup.
“Our Violet might’ve become Prince Miklok’s queen consort. Hohohoho.”
What?! I turned to look at Violet again—this cheeky little girl tossing a ball and running around.
She almost became Mik’s wife?!
“Didn’t you say she just turned six?”
“Exactly. Your Majesty saved a great many people.”
Unbelievable! Even if there were no noble daughters of marrying age, a literal child? She’s practically his daughter’s age! I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t speak.
“Two years ago, I believe it was, the Council of Nobles briefly recommended Violet as a queen candidate. It caused absolute chaos in House Zenon.”
“Did Duke Zenon just go along with it?”
“What could he do? He’s the head of the Council.”
Wait a second—if he led the Council, then does that mean he was the one trying to marry off his niece?!
“Did the Duke actually want Violet to become queen?”
“Of course not!”
The Duchess, looking appalled, set down her teacup.
“The one who absolutely dotes on Violet in our family is Mark—my husband. He cried every night after Violet’s name came up in the Council.”
“Then why…?”
“There were no eligible noble ladies in Fritan, and every marriage proposal sent to foreign royalty or nobility was rejected. In desperation, the Council must’ve seen Violet as the only option.”
Though I sympathized with the Prime Minister, who was forced to nominate his niece as queen while crying at night, I was too curious to let the topic drop.
“So how did that ridiculous plan fall apart?”
“Well, after a month of fierce debate, the Council submitted a proposal to Prince Miklok. And then…”
“And then?”
“Prince Miklok smashed the Council’s roundtable into twelve pieces on the spot.”
“Pfft! Hahaha!”
I laughed loudly, completely forgetting to maintain my dignity. That was so like him.
“That same night, my husband tore up the divorce papers I gave him into twelve pieces as well. If His Highness had agreed to marry Violet, I was ready to divorce him.”
“Wow~”
I thought my own marriage was dramatic, but even before ours was finalized, all this chaos had happened! I quickly composed myself.
“When His Highness returns, we need to seriously discuss dissolving the Council. What kind of idiocy is this?”
“Such wise thinking, Your Majesty.”
From that moment until sunset, Duchess Zenon and I spent a long time gleefully tearing apart the idiotic and ridiculous Council—even though her own husband was the current head of it.
***
“Kh! Kuhuhuhu!”
“Your Highness, please stop laughing like that while covered in blood! Sometimes even I get chills!”
William shouted in frustration as he cut down three monsters charging at them.
Despite the scolding, Miklok, laughing like a madman, swung his sword behind him and decapitated a monster with one strike.
“Oh, I just remembered something funny.”
“Let me guess. It’s that letter from Her Majesty the Queen that the messenger bird delivered yesterday?”
“You know far too much about me.”
They turned, shooting arrows at the monsters attacking from the trees.
“Looks like we’ve nearly cleared the east side too.”
“Yes, and all the kidnapped women have been rescued and returned home.”
Miklok’s expression suddenly turned serious.
“Will, monsters used to raid villages and steal food, but they never kidnapped people before…”
“You’re right.”
“Good thing we decided to sweep the borderlands before winter. These bastards are getting bolder. Scare the ones that need scaring, soothe the ones that need soothing, and wipe out the rest.”
Though his words were grim, Miklok’s eyes still sparkled with amusement. William suddenly felt petty jealousy.
“What on earth did Her Majesty write in that letter to leave you so dazed?”
“Oh, that?”
Miklok grinned mischievously.
“You don’t need to know. Hahaha!”
William scowled, but Miklok, lost in his own world, mounted his horse excitedly.
“Next destination. Move out! Hyah!”
Miklok galloped ahead, and William and the others hurried after him.
As he raced through the wind, Miklok burst into laughter again, recalling Lea’s letter.
“My dearest Mik, a few days ago, I met the young lady who almost became your queen. The rival I nearly had was absolutely beautiful and adorable.”
At first, he hadn’t understood what she meant.
“Don’t pretend not to get it. You couldn’t have forgotten Violet Zenon, the precious jewel of House Zenon, could you?”
Violet Zenon? Miklok wrinkled his brow, digging into his memory—then groaned as he recalled the Prime Minister’s young niece.
That four-year-old brat?? He remembered how the Council suddenly tried to force her on him as a queen candidate two years ago, and his irritation surged.
“Damn nobles, cozy in bed with their wives every night, and they wanted me to marry a four-year-old and live celibate for decades?”
Just thinking of that absurd injustice—especially after the fiery wedding night he’d shared with Lea—made his blood boil again.
“With her fluffy blonde hair, lavender eyes, and rosy cheeks, in ten years you might regret not marrying Violet. But too late now! I won’t sit idle either—just know I’m hammering in a few legal, official nails of my own. Your lawful and rightful queen, Lea.
P.S. Fritan’s winter is just as unpleasant as the noble council.”
Even the “ominous foreshadowing” of her “nails” for her rival only made Miklok find her more endearing.
It was clear Lea had also fallen hard for Violet, despite her teasing tone.
Miklok was dying to go see her and ask exactly what kind of nails she meant.
But the work wasn’t done yet.
“Bloodstorm, faster now! Hyah!”
“Hiiiihhhhnng~”
His horse tried to protest at being called that ridiculous name again, but Miklok only kicked harder.
It should’ve resisted more fiercely when the name was first used jokingly!
Now even the knights had started calling him Bloodstorm, and the poor horse was at its wit’s end.
At least he still had his best friend, Bibi, to understand his pain.
***
Summoned secretly to the imperial palace by the Emperor of Haren, Marquis Uzkal walked with excitement.
Sending Hailey into the palace as empress had helped him extinguish some financial fires.
But his plans for a new business venture were crushed by a single cold sentence from Hailey.
“Don’t ever try to sell me to the emperor again. From now on, not a single coin will leave the palace for House Uzkal. Understood?”
He had gone to congratulate her, only to be humiliated.
He wanted to teach her a lesson, but now that she was empress, he had no choice but to please her—for the time being.
Then, by fortune, the emperor requested to see him. Clearly, he needed something. This was his chance.
“I greet the great sun of the Haren Empire, His Imperial Majesty.”
Marquis Uzkal bowed more deeply than usual.
The emperor, with no visible reaction, dismissed everyone else.
“Tell me truthfully. Are you certain the daughter of Yurahel never showed signs of divine power?”
“…Pardon?”
“Don’t play dumb. Answer!”
The emperor’s furious voice struck his ears. Uzkal quickly knelt in fear.
“She did not. I swear, she never showed a single sign.”
The emperor scowled.
“What if it started manifesting after she arrived in Fritan?”
“Th-that’s impossible. We checked every year from when she turned eight. As the High Priest instructed—if her stomach grew warm, if she felt electric tingling in her fingers. Nothing happened. Even on her twentieth birthday.”
“What if you lied?”
Uzkal forced a laugh.
“She was a silly girl obsessed with men, ignorant of everything else. What would she even know to lie about? And didn’t the temple say divine powers almost never awaken after twenty?”
“Damn that priest, changing his tune now!”
The emperor slammed the table in anger. If Lea’s powers had manifested after being sent off, then he’d sold her too cheaply—and it was gnawing at him.
Then a cunning smile crept onto the marquis’s face.
“Then, Your Majesty, why not confirm it personally in Fritan?”
“Hmph, like I could go myself. You expect the girl to tell the truth?”
“Of course not. But I know someone perfect for the task.”
“Who?”
“Viscount Robby Stone, eldest son of Count Stone.”
