Book 15: Chapter 23
I finally returned to the Imperial Palace before it woke. I quietly sneaked upstairs and went to Nier’s room. Nier’s room was really high up, so the sun had brightened her entire room already. The blinding light stung my eyes when I opened the door. A few maids quickly spun around to salute me. I gave them a nod: “Where’s Queen Consort?”
“Queen Consort is currently getting dressed.”
“This early?”
“Because you did not return all night, Queen Consort did not sleep, either.”
I lingered for a moment then apologetically glanced at the bed. The maids there were Nier’s maids. I imagine their response was somewhat of a complaint judging from their tone. It was the first time I didn’t return home at night, but I didn’t think Nier wouldn’t sleep all night. I nodded, and then went into a hidden door. That was Nier’s dressing and make-up room.
Upon hearing the door open, the ladies-in-waiting, who were busying themselves, turned around to respectfully salute me: “Your Majesty.”
Nier didn’t turn around. She, instead, continued sitting in her chair and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her arms and thighs had a few white scars, which were proof of her being a Valkyrie. She was only wearing a thin piece of clothing, so her voluptuous body was partially exposed and partially hidden. I could even see her breasts. Her long black hair that didn’t pale in comparison to Mommy Elizabeth’s was splayed out behind the chair. I walked up behind her with a friendly smile. I gently grabbed her long black hair and began to comb it using a comb I grabbed from the side.
Seeing the two of us together, the ladies-in-waiting sensibly left the room and shut the door. The ladies-in-waiting system was a custom Mommy Elizabeth adopted. The ladies-in-waiting were wives or daughters of nobles. To be a lady-in-waiting, they had to know how to conduct themselves in a conserved manner, be polite and look better than the average person. However, the nobles couldn’t ask for anything more than to send all the women around them to the palace to be ladies-in-waiting, as the ladies-in-waiting often got to see the King, Queen and officials. Normally speaking, older married women were assigned to the Queen, while virgins were assigned to the King and Princess. That prevented ladies-in-waiting with ulterior motives from seducing the King. Normally, inexperienced virgin girls wouldn’t think about that, nor would they cause the King to fall.
Of course, I didn’t have a lady-in-waiting with me. I only had Luna. That meant Luna would be very busy, but neither Luna nor I considered it to be a problem. Most importantly, Lucia made it very clear she didn’t want me to have a lady-in-waiting with me, so I never assigned one for myself. Perhaps Lucia trusted Luna more, considering she was an elf.