CH 13

Once again, the present

Charlotte Brennan’s funeral was a grand affair.

A mass was held in the royal chapel especially to console the Duke of Hamston for the loss of his daughter.

The King was present and Cardinal Rubert Mulally presided in person. Of course, Queen Jadalin and her attendants also attended, wearing solemn black gowns.

But Millicent wondered how many of them truly shed tears.

“I’m glad you killed Lady Charlotte first.”

It could not have been Jadalin who spoke to her that way as soon as the mass was over.

“She was a sassy b*tch.”

She assessed the deceased calmly.

“How in the world did you give a woman who was healthy a fatal case of pneumonia?”

Moreover, even her client, the queen, was satisfied with the results in that she did not suspect poisoning. After all, poison was the cleanest.

“It’s a trade secret.”

Millicent said indifferently. Jadalin snickered in response.

“So, have you made your next plan?”

“Not yet.”

For now, she just decided on a target. Adriana Beasley. The reason was simple. Charlotte Brennan had pointed out something Millicent had not considered.

Charlotte said that Adriana Beasley’s initials were AB. Like Ann Belvard and Ambria Belvard. She could not stand it.

Millicent never wanted to accept the woman to share the same initials as a noblewoman who was very good.

“But it will happen soon.” Millicent declared decisively.

“You still won’t tell me, will you?”

Jadalin asked. Millicent just shrugged.

“It’ll be fun.”

Jadalin didn’t question further, as if she was ready to enjoy the unexpected entertainment.

When they arrived at the queen’s palace, Jadalin sat down in a large chair to sew. As a benevolent queen, she made clothes to distribute to the poor in the capital.

“I learned how to ride a horse and swing a spear, and now I’m sewing…”

Millicent, who was pouring tea into a teacup, heard her murmur clearly in frustration. Indeed, Jadalin’s hand movements were particularly aggressive as she plunged the needle into the shirt collar.

The court ladies had to help, of course. Among them was Jane Grant, who found charity sewing boring and opened the door for chit-chat.

“I can’t believe Lady Charlotte died so suddenly.”

Jane unbuckled the knot and took off the black cloak that she had been wearing throughout the Mass. Underneath she wore a cream-colored gown. Perhaps because of this, she looked like a giant marshmallow as she had 

always been fair-skinned and voluptuous.

“She was fine when I saw her the day after the banquet…”

Jane pinched her temples with her chubby hands.

“She said she had been a little dizzy since the banquet ended.”

Ophelia said. She sat on the queen’s right side, wearing a red silk gown and a hood that was similar to the color of her red hair.

Her elegant square chin was prominently displayed in the outfit.

“It was no wonder she was dizzy. She drank too much wine.”

Adriana, still wearing a brace on her broken leg, said.

“I heard she suffered quite a bit until the moment she closed her eyes.”

Her tone was cold as she described Charlotte’s final moments. She thought Charlotte deserved it as she still had no doubt that Charlotte had pushed her down the stairs to take her role in the masquerade ball.

“…… May poor Charlotte’s soul be in the arms of the Creator Mother.”

Elizabeth put down her sewing kit and grabbed her rosary. She exuded an air of terrifying sincerity.

“A broken-hearted lady is prone to sickness.”

Queen Jadalin cut off Elizabeth’s sympathy at once.

“Surely, you would have just ended up in disgrace, as you still wanted to dance with His Majesty no matter what.”

Adriana quickly replied. “She even broke my leg…hmmm!”

However, perhaps thinking that it was unladylike to blame the deceased, she changed her words.

“You have seen the wine that Lady Charlotte dedicated to His Majesty.”

“Well, it tasted good.”

Jane chimed in like a twisted joke.

She wouldn’t be able to get anything out of listening to the bickering. Bored, Millicent stopped loitering near the queen. Seeking an excuse to retreat, she pushed a porcelain kettle at Jadalin.

“Would you like another cup of tea?”

“No, not tea, wine…”

Before Jadalin could finish her reply, someone cut her off.

“I’ll serve it to you!”

It was Elizabeth. As she snapped her fingers, Millicent handed over the teapot and the milk bottle.

“How heartbroken Her Majesty the Queen must be, since she has lost her maid.”

Her tone was softer and sweeter than milk tea. Even the gentle look in her eyes added to it, and Elizabeth looked as good as the rosary she always held.

But there was always room for interpretation in the Holy Church Bible in the service of the Mother who created all things, whose name was Monegal.

“Sure.”

Jadalin’s expression when she received the teacup was blunt, far from thrilled.

“Will Lady Charlotte’s vacancy be filled soon?”

Ophelia, who was watching her face, asked.

“There are always many ladies who would like to have the honor of serving the queen.”

“The King selects them, doesn’t he?”

Jane also asked.

“When doesn’t he?” Jadalin replied in an obviously thorny tone. “I have never selected my maids myself.”

Her foreign accent was prominent.

“Oh! But around the time of the banquet, a drunken Lady Charlotte said something strange.”

Adriana spoke as if it had just occurred to her.

“She said the maid looked at the fortune in the cards and saw some initials. So she was scared and talking nonsense…”

Her gaze fell on Millicent.

“It was you, wasn’t it? What did you tell that poor lady? She seemed quite frightened…”

It was not a question that stemmed from her pity for Charlotte. Nor did it stem from suspicion of Millicent. It was merely an infatuation with an ugly story.

“I gave her the initials of the man she would marry in the future.” Millicent insisted matter-of-factly.

“She seemed unhappy when I told her that his name would begin with a T or a K.”

“Hmm, she was upset because it wasn’t His Majesty’s initials.” Jane laughed, her chubby cheeks twitching.

However, she belatedly flinched and looked at the queen.  Jadalin’s expression was one of not caring. No, it was more like she was harboring a mockery similar to Jane’s toward the dead Charlotte.

“That’s the way it was with Lady Charlotte,” Jadalin said. “If it was astrology or card reading, she couldn’t stop herself. There were even rumors going around that Duke Hamston bought her many crystal balls.”

Ophelia concurred. “Let alone marriage, death was right around the corner…”

Adriana smiled scornfully.

“Seems like your talents aren’t very good, huh?”

She didn’t miss out on booing Millicent, either. Well, frankly, she wasn’t wrong.

“A mere creature was punished for trying to foresee the Creator Mother’s will.”

Elizabeth ignited Adriana’s cynicism with a terribly solemn tone. Her credulity contained an inexplicable blindness.

“How great a sin is it to peek into the Lord’s will!”

Jane shook her hand.

“Hey, please tell us about our future husbands.”

She spoke to Millicent as if joking.

“Her Majesty the Queen is here.”

Elizabeth’s solemn scolding didn’t bother Jane.

“It will be an entertainment for Her Majesty the Queen.”

She looked Jadalin straight in the eye.

“Isn’t Her Majesty curious about what kind of men her ladies-in-waiting will marry?”

It was a very bold provocation. She didn’t even glance at her as she had done earlier. She looked like she wanted to gauge whether the queen was an idiot who could endure suffering.

Jadalin stared at Jane’s lips, which blatantly implied the Royal Mistress selection.

Millicent wondered why the queen had asked her to assassinate her maids. Because the look in her eyes alone would leave ten people dead.

The longer Jadalin remained silent, the more nervous the attendants became. Even Jane, who had been cheekily sibilant, bit her lip.

Millicent wondered how to get out of this completely ruined atmosphere.

“His Majesty the King is coming!”

Fortunately, an announcement caught everyone’s attention.

For the king’s proclaimer swept in.

“The greatest king of the five continents, the guardian of the Holy Kingdom of Kintland, the azalea that bloomed in the darkest shade of gray in the royal family  of Grechis, the most perfect creation that God ever brought forth……”

That announcement seemed to be fixed, Millicent thought it was a long way off.

“His Majesty Frederick!”

Soon the king appeared. He wore a black satin cloak that came down to his waist over a dark blue riding suit, and he was stunningly handsome.

The queen and her attendants all threw off their sewing and stood up.

“I have come for a ray of sunshine from the dark and gloomy court, my queen.”

Frederick spoke with the elegance of a man of chivalry. The only flaw was that, unlike the lines he spewed, his expression was not very enthusiastic.

“You must have seen my sunshine earlier at Mass, I believe.” Jadalin, of course, answered more indifferently than that.

“Perhaps I missed it because the queen’s sunshine was directed only at the poor Lady Charlotte.” Frederick responded deftly.

Jadalin did not raise an eyebrow, but it was an expression that anyone who knew anything about the queen’s mask would have felt was its thorns.

“Your Majesty must have come because of business….”

“Yes, what were the queen and the noble ladies doing?”

Frederick cut off the blunt question his wife had thrown at him.

Instead, he scanned the queen and her maids with gray eyes.This was clearly the queen’s space, and yet he had quickly taken control of it all.

As if this was his kingdom and everything was his.