Chapter 255: Demonstrating in Front of the Queen?
Chapter 255: Demonstrating in Front of the Queen?
The Queen’s visit to the ducal residence was a private one, so it had to remain top secret. I had been strictly warned not to tell even Rudolf. When I said I would be bringing Lily, Rudolf seemed to guess it was related to the medicine, but he kept silent for me.Still, because Lily would be appearing before the Queen and the Duchess, a dressmaker was summoned in a hurry and a fitting session stretched late into the evening. The previous outfits were apparently unacceptable... Once the fuss reached this level, even outsiders could probably guess something was going on.
I felt a little sorry for the dressmaker, but she cheerfully accepted the rush fee, which eased my conscience. Selling the medicine meant I would continue taking Lily out in public, so Rudolf and I discussed preparing a proper set of outdoor clothes for her as well. As for me, two outfits were enough—I could simply alternate them every day. Rudolf claimed that no one ever notices when a man wears the same clothes repeatedly. Even if he said it... it was probably true.
And so the next morning found Lily and me inside the carriage. Between us stood the single arrow that separated our seats. If I grabbed it and pulled hard it would probably come free, but doing so would destroy its value as a monument. I wanted to glue it in place so it wouldn’t fall out by accident, but no such convenient substance existed in this world. Thanks to that arrow the pierced door could no longer be opened, turning the carriage into an extremely inconvenient vehicle... What a nuisance.
When we arrived at the ducal residence, an extremely luxurious carriage was already parked there—complete with four white horses. They called it a secret visit, yet anyone who looked would know it belonged to the Queen. This had to be her personal carriage. A vehicle far more splendid than even the Duke’s could only belong to the royal family.
If everyone already understood that this was the Queen’s carriage, then the "secret visit" was public knowledge. Thinking about it that way, the Queen of the Marie Kingdom had been truly admirable—she had walked out to buy pudding. (She had taken a carriage partway, though.) Careful. If I kept thinking like that I would end up dragging the Queen of Mainz out for pudding as well. I had to remember that flags like this could destroy a person.
The moment we entered the residence we were shown inside. Because the Queen was already present the number of people was large. Guards stood on every few steps of the staircase. Thank you for your hard work, gentlemen. Some of them looked at me with clear What’s this brat doing here? expressions.
We were led into a room I had never entered before. A woman who could only be the Queen already sat in the far seat, radiating an unmistakable aura. The Duke and Duchess sat on either side of her. So His Grace is attending today after all? At least there were no guards inside the room—only the Duke and I were male.