Ep.4 - The Queen's Story (2)
Ep.4 - The Queen's Story (2)
"Once upon a time, you see—when I was very young. Back then, I was kept so busy that there was absolutely no room for leisure in my life."
"Is that so...?"
Delin cut the tender veal into manageable pieces and brought a bite to his mouth. He was no longer hungry, but sitting still and quietly listening to the Queen while maintaining eye contact felt so awkward that he had to keep eating.
Delin couldn't understand why the atmosphere had suddenly turned so strange, but he simply sat there in silence and listened to her story, nodding diligently and pretending to pay attention.
"You may not know this, Delin-gun, but it takes an immense amount of effort to earn the position of queen. For a young, immature girl to become the queen who will lead a nation, that is."
"Yesss..."
The meat was still delicious, but the once-magnificent juices were starting to make him queasy.
No matter how good the food, once you're full, it inevitably becomes repulsive.
Delin began to feel satiated. Yet the fork in his hand did not stop. It had slowed, but it still moved busily.
"If I were to tell you what I learned, it began with basic lessons in deportment, then history, geography, politics, social graces, and even swordsmanship and magic... I studied every one of those essential subjects without missing a single thing."
"Th-that's amazing."
He knocked back his wine. The rising intoxication soothed his anxiety a little. But the moment he drank, regret surged in. He shouldn't have drunk more.
"Your face is red. You're not much of a drinker, are you?"
"Ah... no, it's just that I think I drank unusually much today..."
"It's fine. Doesn't a little tipsiness make conversation more enjoyable?"
The Queen immediately emptied her own glass as well. The maids rushed over just as quickly and stained both their empty glasses red with wine once more.
"So... to continue the story, while I was preparing to succeed the throne and learning so very many things, a thought came to me. How long would I have to spend my days on such tiresome lessons? I already knew everything."
"Ah... Your Majesty seems to be quite intelligent. I'm envious."
"Thank you for the compliment. But in the end, because of those thoughts, I lived a little twisted. You know, everyone goes through that kind of phase, don't they? They call it adolescence, right?"
"I... suppose so? I went through it too."
"Delin-gun, I imagine you must have been much cuter when you were little. I wasn't all that cute in my youth—a tomboy princess running around causing trouble here and there. I heard that a lot."
A tomboy princess, huh...
Considering the image of the Queen sitting before him now, it was a nickname that didn't suit her at all.
"You w-were cute, I'm sure. Really."
"Are you consoling me? Thank you."
The Queen smiled. Her benevolent, warm smile was beautiful.
"Anyway... right around the time that rather long adolescence was finally winding down, I met a knight named Neva. My mother, who was the sovereign then, personally appointed her as my escort knight."
So Neva had been that strong since then...?
The question rose in his mind, but the Queen, as if she knew even that doubt, chuckled and spoke.
"We were both still young and inexperienced, so even as an escort knight, not much was demanded of her. Just one thing. She only had to keep one thing."
"One thing?"
"Yes. Always staying by my side. When I slept, when I ate, when I bathed... Neva always watched over me. Always."
Delin nodded and put meat in his mouth again, chewing slowly. It was tasty.
The Queen also finally sliced the meat into small pieces, placed it demurely in her mouth, and savored the flavor.
The conversation paused for a moment.
The two chewed their meat at a comfortable pace, swallowed it down with wine, then resumed their talk.
"And so, Neva and I became very close. I always regarded Neva as a friend. Neva always soothed the boredom of my lonely young days. The two of us were truly happy. So very happy."
The more the Queen praised Neva, the more Delin grew uneasy bit by bit.
Would she suddenly rage about how a knight she cherished so much had betrayed her?
Delin gulped and gauged the atmosphere.
Before he knew it, the mood of the feast had become like walking on thin ice.
"Well... that's how it was. But in the end, Neva left and abandoned me. Delin-gun, have you ever experienced the sorrow of a friend who was always by your side suddenly disappearing?"
"Ah, n-no... That must have been hard for you..."
The Queen let her smile withdraw, and with a somewhat more serious expression, she held a sip of wine in her mouth.
About fifteen seconds before she swallowed that wine.
During those fifteen seconds granted to him, Delin meticulously racked his brain, examining the situation he was currently in from every angle.
'Saying I don't know was the right call. Whew... If I'd said I knew, I might have been executed for treason on the spot.'
'For now, I need to focus on [listening] and [reacting] as much as possible. That should help improve her mood. Carefully, without crossing the line and provoking her...'
"How is it?"
The Queen asked. At her question, Delin stopped thinking and immediately nodded as he answered.
"I-I'm truly sad! It might be a little presumptuous of me to say anything, but I still think it's so very sad. Being betrayed by a friend..."
"Yes. That's right. Betrayed..."
"That person called Neva was so cruel...!"
"Isn't she? I truly felt as if my heart was being torn apart. Hah..."
The Queen picked up her knife and brought it close to the area near her own chest. The blade wasn't particularly sharp, but it gave a slightly chilling feeling.
"So, what do you think happened?"
"Excuse me?"
"What do you think happened? To Neva, my old friend and escort knight."
"Uh... w-well, I wonder..."
"Would you like to think about it? I want to hear Delin-gun's answer."
"Thrown in... prison, perhaps?"
Hearing Delin's answer, the Queen beamed and took another sip of wine.
Silence passed between them again.
He'd rather she just poured out words.
Silence was agonizing.
"Prison. Speaking of prison makes me think I should bring up another person's story. I feel like I'm talking only about myself too much—is that all right?"
Whew.
The silence was broken.
"Ah, yes... of course! Please speak comfortably."
"Coincidentally, Neva freed a woman imprisoned in jail, and for that crime, she's currently wanted. A famous thief—do you happen to know her name?"
Philmark.
"Uh... I don't know. I'm not really well-versed in that sort of thing..."
"Oh dear. You don't know. That's a shame. Then where should I begin the story..."
Her fork wedged into the head of a fish. The fork, entering through the eye socket, eventually pierced through the head, and as the Queen lifted the fish in that state, one of the maids rushed over and cut off the neck.
"That person is missing one eye. Why might that be?"
"F-fi... fighting...?"
The Queen smiled.
"I wonder? Anyway... it's quite a pitiful thing, isn't it? If you lack an eye, you can't see properly. What is everyone doing? You all have both eyes perfectly open, yet Delin-gun's glass is empty? Pour him more."
"I-I think I've had enough now..."
"Don't refuse. Sometimes, one must know how to get drunk."
Delin's glass was filled with wine. His eyes, already drunk, did not perceive the strangely altered color of the wine.
"I like you, Delin-gun. Even during these recent days when I've been struggling so much emotionally, I was able to endure because you were here. I think I understand now why people go mad with love. My heart feels so at ease, you see?"
"Ah, yesss..."
"Delin-gun, were you happy when you spent time with me? What do you think?"
"I-I liked it too. I ate many delicious things, and with someone as pretty as Your Majesty... sleeping together..."
"Then I'm relieved. In that case..."
The Queen's glass was also filled with wine. She carefully tilted the glass and elegantly savored it, but her eyes never left Delin.
The silence stretched on. She sipped the wine very slowly, staring intently at Delin.
The once-full glass gradually emptied, and beyond that emptying glass, the Queen's face was reflected.
Finally, at the point when the red wine was all gone and the glass reflected only the Queen's beautiful face,
the Queen spoke.
"How about living with me for just a few months from now on? Like this. Eating delicious things, joyfully sharing our bodies..."
A few months, she said.
It wasn't a particularly difficult request.
"Having Delin-gun by my side seems to clear up my tangled thoughts. I need you, Delin-gun."
It was an excellent proposal that he could nod to right away. Without a doubt.
But he felt reluctant.
"I've always been troubled ever since the incident with Neva... but with Delin-gun here, my heart grows peaceful. How about it? Will you live here for me, just for a few months?"
"Uh..."
"Drink first. Drink, then answer me."
She gestured, urging Delin on. Delin, seeking to buy time to think, eventually lifted the wine glass, which was darker than before.
One sip, two sips, three sips...
"You drink well. That's cute."
Again, one sip, two sips, three sips...
Drinking like that, Delin thought.
'Why is she cutting off talk about Neva and Philmark midway?'
She surely knew, but the Queen would not easily broach the subject.
They weren't the only ones, either. What had happened to Chichi, or Kaede-ssi?
"Pffpt! Keck, ke-hek..."
A signal from his body that he could drink no more rose up and erupted in the form of a dry cough.
He had drunk about half, but plenty of wine remained in Delin's glass.
"I-I'll stop drinking wine now..."
His face burned.
Perhaps the strength had drained from his eyes, because the clear image was gradually blurring.
Was it because his alcohol tolerance had exceeded its limit? The inside of his mouth felt thick and stale.
"I see. That's a shame. So... your answer?"
"Yeh, yess... I'd be happy too..."
Delin couldn't bring himself to refuse and accepted her proposal.
In a situation where he could barely speak properly, he moved his mouth and tongue diligently.
"With someone as... kind a-and... pretty as Your Majesty... to... gether..."
Huh?
The words wouldn't come out right.
His head was hazy.
"Good. I like that. I had faith that if it was Delin-gun, you would stay by my side."
And the Queen
smiled as if even that state of his was quite adorable.
However, as time passed, that smile began to twist little by little.
"Pff-huh..."
The smile that had been so benevolent at first soon turned into snickering laughter,
"Ahahahahaha!"
"Whahh is..."
The laughter turned to ridicule, the ridicule turned to roaring laughter, and when the roaring laughter became a violent form that pounded the table,
the Queen spoke.
"Ah... this is fun. I think this is the first time I've laughed so loudly. Delin-gun? That expression, as if you got away with something, is so adorable! Are you doing this on purpose? Are you deliberately acting dumb?"
"Ah... eh-eh..."
"Right, right... you wouldn't know. You won't know. You don't need to know, you see? No, rather, living not knowing is probably happier. Fools are always happy. But, for us to talk with each other, we inevitably have to know."
Delin slowly closed his eyes. His body naturally began to slump downward, his weight shifting low.
"Let's do this. Delin-gun. I'll explain it in an easy-to-understand way."
His ears, however, continued to absorb the Queen's words until his consciousness flew away entirely.
"Rather than hearing a hundred times, it'll be easier to go and see once. Once you go, you'll understand everything. Rest comfortably."
And so, Delin lost consciousness and planted his face into the salad plate.