[R18] King's Domination

[A/N: Posting 5 extra Chapters today because we reached the tier 2 milestone today :D]

The me on stage began a self-introduction in a woman’s voice. However you looked at it she was a woman, and I started to worry that if I stayed quiet I might look like a woman too.

"From a small country in the east..."

She started, and that bothered me a great deal... It is a small country, yes. But even if that is true, if you say it like that on stage, will everyone not take it as fact that the Marie Kingdom is a small country!

Whether that thought reached her or not, Anouk said,

"It is all right, Lord Robin. No one knows the Marie Kingdom."

She meant to comfort me, I suppose, but it was not comfort at all! A Marie Kingdom no one knows... Was it the same as standing in the center of Tokyo and asking where the prefecture I lived in was, and no one answering properly?

"That girl had only ever been given bit parts until now, I hear, but she was pulled up high for this play."

Her Majesty explained. Pulled up high, but is the only reason that she looked alike? Still, the monologue on stage had a fair amount of presence. Her voice carried more than I expected. Was someone using magic to send it?

While I thought extra things, one point bothered me. For some reason the costume was shabby. I am from a small country, and I am in debt (the play did not say so, but), so I cannot buy expensive-looking clothes. Convincing myself of that was sad. But as soon as the monologue ended a ball began, and the gentlemen and ladies’ clothes were a little shabby too.

"The clothes..."

Her Majesty caught the mutter that slipped out.

"That cannot be helped. Theater cannot spend that much money from the start. As the run continues it starts to profit little by little, money can be put into various things, and the costumes are put in order. If this run lasts thirty days, Lord Robin’s costume will surely have changed. Please look forward to it."

"Nooooo."

I will not come to see it a second time.

On a stage, you can tell the heroine at a glance. Because, you see, among a crowd of people dancing, the spotlight is only on the heroine. I do not know what the model for the young lady of House Kirchhoff looks like, but Her Majesty and the others said,

"It looks like her! Ufufufu!!"

and laughed while watching my reaction.

The me on stage said things like,

"What a beautiful woman! I understand now that I have lived until this moment in order to meet her!"

and said it while dancing around the heroine... I would never say a thing like that... Not only me. A man would never say it. Or would he? There were guys who said it... I want to cry.

But of course the heroine reacts to my line... The two of them walk toward each other, take hands, and in a ball with a great many people around them they dance while trading sweet lines and sink into a sweet world. Who can feel that? I thought, and when I looked to the side Her Majesty had a melted face, and Anouk was leaning forward watching the stage. The maids’ faces were grinning too.

What is so good about that! I wanted to shout, and then one thing came to me.

"Your Majesty, would Your Majesty like to be told a line like that as well?"

At my question Her Majesty made a face that said do not get in the way for a moment, and still said,

"Yes. That is so. Being born a woman, I would like to be told such a thing once..."

She even put a lingering note on it.

Then I stood up smoothly.

The four women’s eyes left the stage and landed on me. Did they think I was going to the toilet? Four pairs of suspicious eyes.

I moved in front of Her Majesty, went down on one knee, and took her hand. Then I looked her in the eyes.

"Queen Scarlett, I fell in love the moment I saw you. Since then, even when I sleep your face rises on my eyelids, and even when I am awake I am always thinking of you! I thought that fulfilling this love would ruin Lady Scarlett’s person, so I stayed silent. But watching the play here now I cannot hold down the hidden feeling, and I convey this overflowing feeling. Please grant this pitiful stray child of love the voice of Lady Scarlett’s mercy."

I said it in one go, a little flat.

"My!?" "Kya!?"

Anouk and the maids made sounds, and Her Majesty stayed silent. For an instant a heart mark seemed to float in her eyes.

I did not take my gaze off her. Anouk and the others in the corner of my sight covered their mouths with their hands and waited to hear what Her Majesty would say. All three had faces that said something more interesting than the stage was happening in front of them and they could not hold the feeling down!

"Your Majesty, are you satisfied with this?"

I said it slowly and smiled a little bit.

Her Majesty’s eyes were round. She was still frozen. Her face was bright red! The pupils taking my gaze moved left and right. What should I answer? Was she thinking that? Her mouth opened and closed. Then at last, in a hoarse voice,

"Lord Robbie, I am very glad of your feeling, but even so I am the queen of a country. I cannot answer Lord Robbie’s feeling. If we were reborn, in another world, I think I could answer Lord Robbie’s feeling. Thank you. Thank you truly for turning such a feeling toward one such as me."

She said it with heat. Your Majesty, are your eyes a little wet? She went on then...