Chapter 27

He was not against the idea of making someone his queen. To have an heir, it was a position that was important. But ever since he became king, he had lost his interest in women. Also, no woman had expressed interest in him either. The nobility was obviously against him, but even the chambermaids didn’t look at him nicely. Hypocritical laughter, strong anger, potent perfume, pretentious words. And sometimes, cheap pity. There was no way his heart could be pulled toward these women.

If he thought about it, it was a strange interest. If he had absolutely no interest at all, he would not even bother looking around. And plus, there were few people who even attempted to seduce him. But the few times someone did pique his interest, he poured everything into them. Books, sword dancing, even the throne. And so, he kept all the political relationships, or people with great potential skills, close to him and on his side. At least to them, he could spare a smile.

After becoming king, it was true that he had changed a little. The 27 years of shame he had felt were put behind him, and the long war had ended. And now, everything was his. He felt complete. And as always, there was no one around him to fulfill his personal taste. But for the first time, he had found a person he could call a friend. Lieutenant Hanavah-lyene.

That’s when he suddenly realized something. Maybe because he hadn’t received love from his parents or anyone else for that matter, he never learned how to love anyone. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do or act in front of a person he was interested in and wanted to become close with. But he held all the power of the country in his hands. Giving gifts or caring for a person was not difficult for him financially. And so, he shared his wealth little by little with anyone who caught his attention, whether it be the chambermaids or another woman. It was an important position so his actions were warranted. Those who received the honor expressed their thanks and looked happy. They seemed to like such actions. And so, he thought that this was the way he was supposed to go about it.

He was seen as a savage and emotionless yet generous king. It was the legacy of his monarchy.

The motive for the rest of his life was to grow the country. The reason for this was immensely simple. He wanted to expand his territory to leave a good impression and have his name written in history.

And so, he had returned the war-ravaged country back to normal, and helped it grow to a better state. Because of this ultimate goal, he needed to find capable subjects who would be able to help him achieve it. He adamantly went out to search for such talent. He wanted to become close to those who he thought were worthy of his attention. He didn’t want to be close to them on a personal level but instead wanted to maintain his distance as king as subject. But he tried his best to keep a smiling face toward them. He had done that up to now and had planned to continue as such.

He wanted to prove to all the people who had looked down at him because of his parentage that they had been wrong about him.

He wanted to show them that the name that would end up in the country’s history was his. How dare they patronize him? <> The beginning of his story in history would start with the fact that he was born lower class but didn’t give up, and with persistence, he was able to rise to become the ruling king of a nation. At its end, he showed savagery but that it was all for the future of the nation. And so, he would be known as a legendary king to the generations after him.

There was a lot to do. And so he had no time to think of entertaining a potential queen. He became upset about the situation that Count Banassi had created.

<>

The fact that he would think of him that way made him even angrier. He would choose his own queen. It was not a position to hand out to just anybody. Also, he would not take as many concubines as the previous king.

And so, he did not give his interest to any woman. Or, as it had been when he was a prince, there was no woman who even attempted to attract his interest. All of them were nothing but pretty, made-up dolls.

Lu Havre only concentrated on his work for his country.

The crown prince from Skara had come but he wasn’t interested in him. He knew he was intelligent, but he was a person who would leave after 3 years and Lu Havre couldn’t treat him as a mere subject. He was also not interested in Skara’s crown princess. She may have been smart, but like everyone else around him, she did not spark any interest in him. She was not memorable at all.

It was a strange trepidation. A weird interest. He only spoke politics with anyone. And he only spoke directly to the people with whom he could. Other than those people, no one had ever grabbed his attention or had caught his eye. He had no personal friends. But he had lived his whole life like that and had planned to continue living like that.

But this princess.

“Your majesty. May I request that you do something for me?”

“You may.”

“I hope that your majesty would speak comfortably to me, without using honorifics.”

“I will do as you wish.”

It was dark outside the window. The princess respectfully bowed and left.

She must really like the dance studio. He obviously didn’t think it was a waste of money. He had worried that it might have been too much. If it fit her fancy, he was willing to give her all he could.

As he was looking over the last of the documents, Lu Havre realized something. Ever since he heard that she loved to dance, a thought kept creeping up in his mind. Lu Havre walked to the corner of his office and started to search through his desk and pulled out a report. That’s when something caught his eye. <> A long time ago, he had read it once but wasn’t interested at the time and so had pushed it back into the corners of his memory. But…this time he read it in detail.

***

“Your majesty. The king requested to have a meal with you.”

Ashite nodded casually at the chambermaid’s comment. It was no longer a surprising event. She could not put a finger on the king’s action. Before, they had only seen each other at most twice a week, but just this week, it had already been three times.

The chambermaids prepared to get her ready. Ashite had already heard several things from the chambermaids a long time ago.

<>

Monterobis’s traditional style did not suit her taste. She was not familiar nor comfortable with the dresses that exposed her shoulders and were cut so deep down the front that it showed her cleavage or the gaudy accessories and makeup. The chambermaids did as she instructed them to going forward. Of course, she had been here a long time and had become a little more accustomed to this fancy lifestyle. A young chambermaid powdered the face of the princess who sat in front of the vanity. Watching the chambermaids reflected in the mirror, Ashite waved them over.

“I think that dress would be best.”

“Yes, your majesty. I will prepare that one.”

“What do you think about these shoes? It looks to match well with the dress.”

“It is a fine choice. I think my cheeks are colored well enough as it is now.”

“Yes. Now I will do your eye make up.”

“Alright. I like this color.”

“How do you like this hair accessory?”

Lena lifted up a hairpiece. It was decorated with a thin white lace.

“Lena, that will overlap with the color of the shoes.”

“But…this white hair accessory matches well with your majesty.”

“Head chambermaid, this is a bit more reserved. Don’t you think it will be better?”

“Yes, that seems better. How do you like it, your majesty?”

“It’s good. That necklace there looks pretty.”

The chambermaids took turns styling the princess. When they were finished, Ashite looked at herself in the mirror and smiled widely.

“You’ve done well. I love it.”

The chambermaids smiled like little girls. They also thought that the princess looked very pretty. They felt proud of their accomplishments, as if they had succeeded in finishing an art piece.

She looked pristine overall. The woman’s black eyelashes were full, her cheeks were blushing pink, and the peach tinted ivory dress was elegant. White lace draped over her forehead. Her beautiful purple hair was decorated with white flower petals. Her pink-tinted hair looked like it tasted sweet. Her frail shoulders were exposed to reveal her smooth silhouette. Her high heels, studded with small yellow topaz, were stunning.

Ashite stepped into the restaurant a few moments later.

The king was there. Lightheartedly, she greeted him. The king was smiling slightly. The meal started quietly. The soup was full of a savory aroma that made her hungry, and it was when they had finally started their main course.

“Princess, I heard your mother was a free spirit.”

Ashite bit the nicely cut meat and looked at him. Even though she had not told him this herself, she wasn’t taken aback by the fact that he already knew this about her. She was also not ashamed of her mother having been a free spirit. And his voice had no intonation of sarcasm. As usual, it was a calm voice coming out a face that was relaying a simple truth.

She looked at him blankly for a moment. Her eyes were wide. She must have been surprised. Such a truthful expression. Lu Havre couldn’t swallow the small laugh that escaped him.

“Do you know Etutu?”

He must have read her report. Or he heard the rumors. That was not a big deal.

But why was he bringing it up now?

Did he like the dance so much that he felt it was okay to bring up her mother?

She knew that he was sincerely complimenting her, and because of the dance studio he gifted her, she felt purpose in her life. But her gratefulness was separate from her feeling of confusion. He was a mystery to her as always.

Ashite lightly nodded her head.

“That is true, your majesty.”

Lu Havre propped his chin over his hand. His upper body leaned into the table. It was a leisurely position.

“That must be why you dance so well.”

She wasn’t sure how to answer. But of course there was nothing she couldn’t respond to now.

“You give me too much credit.”

“No, you deserve it.”

“…Thank you. I learned it from my mother when I was young.”

“I see.”

That look of interest. The king lightly nodded in understanding.

Oh, that’s what he must have been curious about. Ashite smiled slightly.

Lu Havre was looking at her.

That expression. It was the same expression she had when she told him she loved dance. The impulse was spontaneous. He had kept everything hidden for 27 years, but now he no longer wanted to hide neither his identity nor repress his true feelings. And so something inside him stirred. Or maybe, there had always been a root squirming inside him ready to pop up above ground. With that feeling, he spoke.

“It must have been difficult for you.”

Ashite made an expression that looked like she wasn’t sure how she should react.

Lu Havre stared back at her and leaned back onto his chair. He had on a relaxed look.

“My mother was also a concubine.”

Ashite gasped.

At first, when the king gave her not an ounce of interest, she didn’t care at all. She had known that she was no different from the others.

Ashite, too, had no interest in what kind of person the king was.

The short report of her history was plenty enough. Other than her peace, nothing else mattered to her. From time to time, he had eaten with her and talked about books together, but that was it. She did not want to know more about the king nor reveal anything about herself to him either. Even when he complimented her dancing and gave her the dance studio, all she thought was that he was a person she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She had no reason to ask him why he was so interested in her. She could only make assumptions about his interest in books and people, that he happened to like the dance he saw her perform, and that he knew how to express the appropriate amount of gratitude. She just assumed that he acted according to what was expected of a king.

She was grateful for his goodwill but not sure what he was about. That was the extent of their relationship. They had not ever conversed about their personal lives.

Until now.

She had overheard that he was not the prince born from the queen. But his tone of voice was not of someone who merely wanted to tell her he was the son of a concubine. There was definitely something more to it.

It piqued her curiosity all of a sudden. But she hesitated, wondering if it was okay to ask or not. And so Ashite slowly opened her mouth. For just a slight moment, she took off her white mask of purity. He was the person who gave her the dance studio. And he was the one to first mention her mother. Plus he told her that it must have been difficult for her. Had she ever heard those words before? If she had said that she was not intrigued, she would have been lying.

Ashite looked straight at Lu Havre.

“Your majesty. Could I ask you something?”

He nodded.

“What kind of person was she?”

Lu Havre stared at Ashite. She did not filter her words. She didn’t hesitate. He observed her facial expression. After a short bout of silence, he spoke.

“She was part of the Han Clan.”

The Han Clan were strong and valiant people from a small island who had resisted the invasion from the Latrice nation. They were great warriors. However, a majority of the nations, especially the nobility of Monterobis and Skara, looked down on them. Even in Khan, with its more relaxed culture, thought very lowly of them. A minority race, poor and savage. Those were the reasons for their lack of respect from other nations.

Ashite swallowed hard.

She finally understood why his expression was sympathizing as if he identified with her. How his voice had been calm as he brought up this subject with her.

The son of the Han Clan. She knew how much he had to endure with such a status and so felt cautious in easily saying that she understood how he must have felt. The nobility of Monterobis was highly snobbish and women were not even allowed to raise their voices. For a moment, she wondered if the rumors she heard of his brutality were to enact revenge against the shame they brought them.

Her emotions wavered. <> He was such a mystery to her. Every assumption she had been sure about, he crushed.

That expression, that voice, those words: what did they mean?

She could not be sure of its exact meaning, but his intention was delivered to her. Like what happened when someone threw rocks into a still lake, the disrupted waters rippled.

“…Your highness.”

“<>”

Lu Havre changed the subject. He was calm.

“I read it all a moment ago. As you read it, what crossed your mind?”

Attention, curiosity, interest. She read those things in his eyes. It was a question the king asked her many times. The subject had changed drastically, but Ashite could not say anything. The king spoke first.

“Will you tell me?”

“Yes. Your majesty.”

But the moment Ashite was about to speak, Lu Havre lightly opened his hands.

“Ah. First, let’s finish.”

“Pardon?” Ashite had no choice but to ask a question full of confusion.

Lu Havre did not think that this was a useless question. “The food will get cold.”

“Oh…yes.”

His red eyes sparkled clearly like a dancing flame.

“We have a lot of time. We can finish talking about the book tomorrow.”

Tomorrow. His gaze was speaking to her. Ashite resisted the urge to look away from his gaze. She clenched her fists together. Her fingernails were digging into her palm and it was hurting her slightly. She closed her eyes ever so slightly then opened them again.

The king had been continuously staring straight at her with those strange fire-filled red eyes. It was respect to keep eye contact with him.

Ashite looked straight at Lu Havre also. Their eyes met.

“Yes, your majesty.”