Chapter 10

Aktoum’s banquet hall roared in an instant. The title ‘Your Majesty’ was a title that could only be used by the emperor who was lying on a bed in Aktoum.

Deborah’s face, which had been gentle, changed suddenly.

“You are the one who will become the wife of the Crown Prince, wouldn’t the Crown Princess be the right title…?”

“I am the Queen of Spinel. Are you trying to insult me?”

“I don’t mean to insult you…!”

Deborah, who was about to raise her voice for a moment, could be seen barely holding herself back.

“…This place is definitely Aktoum, so it’s a title worthy of your status in Aktoum.”

“This marriage is significant in that Spinel and Aktoum will be united as one country. But you are talking about Spinel and Aktoum separately. Does it mean that you are against this marriage?”

“!”

She couldn’t openly say that she was against this marriage in front of everyone.

No matter how much of a conquistador she might be, she couldn’t stand out in the lofty social circles. A social butterfly that supported wars full of blood and hunger…? Who would look up to such a butterfly and say that it’s beautiful?

A person’s position was determined by how he or she was addressed.

I didn’t explicitly say it, but Spinel was definitely a sovereign country, and I was the monarch of that place, my title of ‘Majesty’ should be transferred.

I never intended to be downgraded to something like the crown princess. Even if I married Rixus.

“…….”

Deborah bit her lip into her mouth, seemingly embarrassed.

However, as a woman with a lot of experience in the social world, she did not show much agitation.

I was sure she was troubled. As to how to behave.

If she called me ‘Your Majesty’, everyone would think she lost, but there was no justification for continuing to call me ‘Crown Princess’.

Calling me that way would make her seem like a war maniac who was against this marriage.

Soon, Deborah’s expression softened. Then she slowly bent down and greeted me again with that graceful gesture of courtesy.

“I see Your Majesty the Queen.”

“Yes.”

I slowly stretched out my hand, and Deborah politely kissed the back of it lightly.

As she turned, Deborah’s cheeks trembled slightly with anger and shame.

After that, all the nobles of Aktoum came to me one by one and greeted me. The flow was very smooth.

* * *

‘When the heck is Rixus coming?’

It was around the time I thought like that.

An hour later, exactly as promised, the door to the banquet hall opened.

“His Highness, Crown Prince Rixius is entering!”

Rixus entered indifferently and then suddenly stopped.

He glanced at the frozen banquet hall with a puzzled look.

Standing in a banquet hall where it was cold enough to see puffs of breath, the nobles were wearing summer clothes, ordering hot stew, and eating it in a hurry.

After realizing the situation, Rixus’ lips twisted.

He took a few more steps to sit next to me and admired, saying,

“Looks like I’ve got a really great wife.”

I picked the grapes and pushed them into my mouth one by one, whispering arrogantly.

“I took liberties and gave this place a little touch-up.”

“You seem to have looked after yourself quite a bit?”

“As I said, there’s no need to worry, right?”

“Yes, I came in worrying what to do if you were crying.”

“There are no tears for me to shed. But I don’t know if they will leak a runny nose.”

Pueich!

Just in time, Prime Minister Bernard sneezed loudly. Hence, Rixus and I exchanged glances, with a look of holding back laughter. 

Soon, I spoke, while giving Rixus a sidelong frown.

“Still, it would have been easier to deal with if you had informed me in advance.”

“I had no idea either.”

I looked over the clothes he was wearing.

The aristocratic tailcoat with golden insignia, which only the crown prince could wear, was obviously made of thick fabric appropriate for this season. In the end, we were the only ones wearing clothes for different seasons, like ugly ducklings.

Still… Wasn’t today a little victory for the ugly ducklings?

I raised my lips and took a sip of the warm water. After a victory, even the drinking water was sweet.

Then Rixus leaned over to me and whispered.

“Berylia, half of the nobles in here seem to have developed a crush on you today.”

“……Why?”

He gestured to the nobles in the banquet hall.

“Look at them.”

As I shifted my gaze alongside Rixus’, some nobles hurriedly turned their faces away from us, avoiding my eyes. 

However, the expressions of the nobles were somehow not bad.

Rixus continued speaking in a low voice.

“Their gazes contained more curiosity than malice.”

“…….”

“It’s proof that you didn’t cross the line and showed your strength while maintaining your dignity.”

What Rixus said was true. Even though I messed around, they were giving me pretty favorable looks.

I could guess the reason.

Originally, the people of Aktoum had a strong desire for a powerful monarch.

This desire was created through endless competition when the countries that had been divided into small parts in the past were finally unified as the ‘Aktoum Empire’.

‘At least they don’t think I’ve ruined the banquet.’

As I reassured myself, Rixus said,

“In fact, when I said I would welcome you as the crown princess, the reaction of the nobles was the worst.”

“…How was it?”

“Of course, the conquistadors were against it. Even the pacifists were against it. Because everyone misunderstood you.”

Well, I knew what the misunderstanding was.

I am a monarch with a bad image even in Spinel. Of course, it would be even worse in the enemy country.

Rumors always went  in a more provocative direction.

The nobles who supported the crown prince would have wished for him to have a proper marriage since the emperor was lying on a hospital bed.

In such a state, I could guess what the reaction would have been upon hearing that the monarch of an enemy country, a country with a lot of rumors, came as the crown princess.

“Hmm. Then, how I fight in the future will determine our marriage…”

“’You’ are not fighting.”

Rixus slowly ran his index finger over my hair.

The body temperature that touched my cheek was warm.

“We will not fight alone, we will fight together.”

I stared motionlessly at his blue-purple eyes that were like the early dawn. 

I felt weird. What did he mean by ‘we’?

‘You’re talking as if we are on the same side.’

Could he and I ever be on the same side?

Rixus could say that because he didn’t know the tragic ending we had so many times.

But I didn’t bother to point it out.

If my enemy mistook me to be on the same side and reduced his vigilance, there would be no better conditions for victory than that.

I just quietly drank tea and time passed smoothly.

And at long last, the highlight of the celebration banquet, dance time, came.

Then a nobleman who liked to step up stood up and shouted loudly.

“The first thing we ask for is a dance between Her Majesty the Queen and His Highness the Crown Prince, who are the main characters of the day!”

I frowned.

‘…Goddamnit, of all things!’

In fact, there was no law that required the main characters to dance first. So I planned to move on naturally, but it failed.

If I made a mistake, I would be humiliated in front of everyone and ruin the image I had just barely restored today…?

Still, it was impossible to sit still. In the end, I took Rixius’ hand and went out to the very center of the hall.

I practiced for a bit at Spinel… I could dance well, right?

“Sorry.”

But as soon as the song started, I stepped on his feet.

“Ah, sorry about that.”

This time, I stepped on it a little harder.

Rixus didn’t blink an eye and didn’t show any pain like a gentleman, but… When I stepped on his foot for the fifth time, I myself thought it was too much.

I was embarrassed and asked quietly.

“Are you okay?”

Rixus looked down at me expressionlessly; his face was close, in front of my nose. Then he said with a strangely mischievous look.

“I’m fine except for a crushed big toe.”

“!”

Both of my cheeks were slightly red.

Rixus put strength into the large hand wrapped around my waist and supported my body stably.

He whispered in my ear so that only I could hear it.

“Queen, come up onto my feet.”

Nobody would be able to see my feet because the dress was very long anyway. But if I do that, wouldn’t the two of us be even closer together?

Of course, it was embarrassing to do so, but it hurt my self-esteem to show my poor dance skills in front of the nobles… 

Still, it was a little more embarrassing to dance on his feet.

I flatly turned it down.

“I’m heavier than I look, Rixus.”

“Do not worry.”

Rixus, was there a gentlemanly side to you?

“You look heavy to me too.”

“!”

…‘Gentlemanly side’, retracted.

As I stared at him coldly, Rixus raised his lips and laughed like a mischievous boy.

I wanted to smack him, so I finally put my feet on top of Rixus’ feet. ‘Okay, look how heavy!’ I was thinking like that.

In an instant, Rixus pulled me into a hug with his strong, muscular arms. A handsome face came close, alerting me it was within the range of immediate lip contact.

“Hold on tight.”

My heart was pounding.

He started dancing so that he could barely feel my weight.

I felt like I was made of feathers.

We made gentle and elegant steps together and moved like a pair of butterflies.

I could feel his movements and his warm body temperature.

Rixus gazed down at me, expressionless, but his eyes seemed kind, perhaps because of the atmosphere.

It was ironic. That the man I should be most careful of was now protecting me from the eyes of others.

Rixus hugged me and spun around nicely. As if there was no difficulty.

“I can’t concentrate on dancing.”

“……Why?”

His smooth lips touched my ear as he whispered softly.

“Because my wife is so pretty.”

…Surprisingly, Rixus, he was good at saying blatant remarks.

I narrowed one eye and glanced at him slightly.

As I widened our distance with a little embarrassment, he hugged my back even tighter and pressed our bodies closer together.

While I was flustered, he put his forehead against mine and smiled cutely.

Meanwhile, the music reached its climax with a strong symphony of horns.

From then on, as if possessed, we danced without taking our eyes off each other. When I finally came to my senses, the nobles were pouring out standing ovations and shouts at us.

“Your social debut in Aktoum is a huge success. How do you feel?”

Standing next to me, Rixus softly asked me.

‘I feel…’ I thought as I looked at the nobles with contemplation.

“…Today has been a very strange day, Rixus.”

“Which part?”

This strange feeling was natural for me, of course.

‘As it was a day when I felt like I was on the same side as you.’

I thought to myself and said with a relaxed smile.

“It is a secret.”

Then, with my eyelashes lowered, I gracefully grabbed the hem of my dress and went back to my seat.