Book 19: Chapter 55
The imperial palace’s carriage team starting from the imperial palace was a magnificent sight to behold. The crowds on either side of the road scattered flower petals. Truth be told, the crowd didn’t have a deep impression of Vera. The citizens didn’t view the succession of the throne as a very important event. There just happened to be all sorts of negative criticisms of Queen Vera from the beginning, which left the people, particularly younger people, distrustful of her. After the last attack, where Vera didn’t panic and handled it appropriately, people began to change their opinion of her.
It was safe to assume the previous criticisms were deliberately fabricated. Plenty of claims previously made about Queen Vera were groundless. She never had the energy to deal with the rumours, but she grew mindful of them to a degree. She, consequently, began to reduce their impact. She also apprehended those who disseminated false rumours, which improved the environment and status quo considerably. For that reason, the citizens were eager to see the Queen.
Despite Queen Vera waving at her citizens with a smile, her attention wasn’t on enjoying the vanity and pride she could derive from them. She was preoccupied with contemplating how to harmonise her relationship with the church. The church was bound to be infuriated with her as a result of her actions at the coronation ceremony. Additionally, if the church gained too much influence, they’d become a threat to her rule. Hence, she considered striking while the iron was hot.
The youngster sped up to reach to close the distance between Queen Vera’s carriage and him. He quietly spoke out to Queen Vera: “Your Majesty, are you worried about something?”
Queen Vera continued waving to the people with a smile as she responded, “As a Queen there is, indeed, too much to handle. Even so, it’s nothing major in comparison to the danger we’re in right now. In saying that, I do need to form a team of tacticians or something similar. The things I’ll need to be busy with in the future will be things I should do as the Queen; therefore, there’s no need to consider it suffering.”
“That sounds tough, Your Majesty. It is fine, though, as I will be there to protect you.”
“Shouldn’t you be protecting the four sisters right now, though? Your current job is to protect the sisters. If the four sisters get hurt today, we can forget thinking about the future.”
“That is true…”
The youngster grumpily retreated back to the side of the horse carriage behind Queen Vera’s. He vigilantly watched the people around. Somebody could charge over at any moment, and it was just as probable for a sniper to fire a shot from the darkness somewhere. Nona poked her head out to wave at the crowd, an action that was dangerous regardless of the tight guard formation. If there were assassins, she’d fall first.