Chapter : 19
Elfreda walked toward the audience chamber with a confused expression. It had only been one day since the last time. Robert, a servant of the Central Palace, had come to find her and told her that she needed to go to the audience chamber again, just like yesterday.
“Is something happening again?” she asked worriedly.
Robert looked at her as if it was something obvious and replied.
“Princess Serina requests an audience with His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen.”
His tone sounded like she was pretending not to know something she was already part of. But Elfreda was too shocked to notice that.
So Serina really intended to apologize to her?
“Apologize? …Serina?” she muttered.
It was a combination that did not fit at all. Elfreda followed Robert in a daze, and even after arriving at the audience chamber, she still could not believe what was happening.
She tried to hide her feelings and entered. This was the same place where, just yesterday in the bright daytime, she had been joined with him. The memory naturally came back, and Elfreda’s cheeks turned slightly red.
At that moment, Ainar, who was sitting on the throne, turned his head toward the sound. Their eyes met, and Elfreda’s face turned even redder, but Ainar spoke calmly.
“The Queen has arrived.”
“…Great ruler of Makaeri.”
Elfreda quickly lowered her head. A low laugh came from Ainar. It was easy to imagine what expression she must be making right now.
Elfreda bit her lip to calm her pounding heart, then went to her seat beside him and sat down.
From there, she could see the situation below clearly. Serina, who had been hidden by Ainar’s presence when she first entered, now came into view.
Serina was sitting as befitting a Makaeri princess, in a place where no one could sit comfortably. Her expression looked extremely displeased, so much so that even the Makaeri envoy standing nearby looked nervous.
Could it be… really?
Just as Elfreda was starting to think her unbelievable guess might actually be true, Ainar spoke in a very gentle tone.
“I hear the princess wishes to meet both of us.”
“….”
Instead of answering immediately, Serina bit her lip tightly and then replied.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I clearly remember what the Makaeri envoy said to me yesterday.”
Ainar asked with a faint smile.
“Is it safe to assume what I am thinking is correct?”
“….”
Silence continued again, even longer this time. But Ainar did not rush her. He simply waited calmly.
Elfreda looked at Serina with a tense expression, worried she might cause trouble.
In reality, Serina’s face was frozen with humiliation. Her lips were bitten so hard they had turned white, almost bleeding. In the silence, even breathing sounded awkward.
Creak.
A chair was pushed back. Everyone’s eyes turned to Serina as she stood up. But even after standing, she seemed unsure, shifting nervously. She glanced at Elfreda and became even more unsettled.
I…
Serina felt her heart pounding with anger and shame. Her fists tightened.
How did I end up in a situation like this?!
“Don’t make things worse. Just bend once. If you want to achieve greatness, you must learn to endure for a moment.”
Those two lines, received yesterday, had left Serina stunned.
The firm handwriting was definitely her father’s. But she could not believe it. She already knew her father’s plan to take Machi without shedding a single drop of blood by using Elfreda. She also understood that if this incident escalated, relations between the two countries would worsen.
But was it really worth forcing her to kneel to Elfreda?
The proud Makaeri empire, which rode across the continent as if it were its own land, did not suit such humiliation.
Even if there was some bloodshed, shouldn’t they just take it by force cleanly?
To treat his only precious daughter so coldly!
And for what? For that Elfreda? That foolish woman who grovels just to receive a shred of her mother’s affection?
“Princess.”
Ainar’s calm voice called her. His gaze was already becoming irritated from the delay. Serina felt a strong urge to wipe this small kingdom off the map. Even Elfreda’s worried gaze made her want to tear her eyes out.
Unfortunately, Serina did not yet know that her father was a capable ruler who had even succeeded where her grandfather had failed in the Machi expedition. But she was not foolish enough to completely ignore his orders either.
So Serina decided she had to comply for now. Even though she planned to strongly argue, once she returned home, that they should crush this place by force.
Even so, the humiliation was so intense her legs trembled.
Finally, Serina forced herself to stand firmly on shaking legs and slowly bowed her head before Ainar and Elfreda.
“…I regret that my escort killed a civilian of Machi.”
She gritted her teeth and continued.
“As the princess of Makaeri, I offer my apology to His Majesty the King.”
After saying that, her eyes stung with heat. She felt like she might cry from humiliation at any moment. Thinking about how these insignificant people might be looking at her made her feel sick.
She clenched her fists so tightly her well-groomed nails nearly broke the skin, then forced her head up.
Ainar looked satisfied. Elfreda looked confused.
That expression of Elfreda’s only made Serina’s anger burn hotter.
“But you forgot something.”
“…What do you mean?”
“You didn’t apologize to my queen.”
Serina could not hide her disbelief.
Now I have to apologize to that woman too?
She clenched her teeth and argued.
“Since the Queen is beside you, didn’t she already receive the apology together with Your Majesty?”
“That is a different matter. Because of this incident, my queen’s position has become awkward.”
Ainar spoke expressionlessly.
“So it is proper to apologize for that as well.”
“If I apologize to the Queen, will her position improve again?”
“I will make sure such things do not happen again, at least for the sake of the Queen.”
Ainar replied in a dry voice.
“Well, that is the least I can do.”
“…This seems excessive, Your Majesty.”
“Your Majesty, I…”
Seeing Serina on the verge of exploding, Elfreda tried to step in, afraid the situation would worsen. But before she could even say it was fine, Ainar turned to her with a cold expression, telling her not to interfere.
Only then did Elfreda realize this was not about protecting her—it was Ainar’s way of firmly controlling Makaeri. She was just a justification.
Ainar looked back at Serina and said,
“A simple apology is enough. Is it not natural to do that much for the sake of your sister, who was placed in a difficult position because of you?”
“Then, at least privately—!”
“You should be glad if you don’t get slapped again.”
At that, the atmosphere in the audience chamber turned cold.
Ignoring everyone’s shocked expressions, Ainar added expressionlessly,
“I didn’t want to mention that.”
The Makaeri envoy’s face turned deathly pale. Things were not improving—they were getting worse.
She already apologized… and now it’s ruined!
He looked at Serina with a desperate expression and whispered so only she could hear.
“Even a simple apology is fine, Your Highness. Please…!”
“Whose servant are you? Why do you keep siding with him?!”
“Isn’t it better than wasting the effort of your apology?”
Serina felt like she was going insane.
