Chapter 108: The Queen Maker (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 108: The Queen Maker (8)
Cock-a-doodle-doo~!
The rooster's crow echoed throughout the village.
Francisca's eyes shot open.
Sitting up in bed, she turned her head to the side. Cloud was still fast asleep on the floor.
Francisca got out of bed and boiled some water over the embers of the fire. Once the water started to boil, she dropped two fist-sized potatoes into the pot.
She squatted, waiting for the potatoes to cook.
Is it done yet?
She poked one with a ladle, and it sank in easily.
They were ready.
She scooped the potatoes out and placed them in a bowl, then nudged the still-sleeping Cloud with her foot.
Her actions showed not a shred of reverence for the Hero.
"Breakfast is ready."
"...Five more minutes."
"Five minutes, my ass. If you don't get up now, I'll feed your breakfast to Spotty."
"Seriously? That's just cruel."
Cloud sat up, scratching his head vigorously.
He knew from experience that if he tried to stay in bed, his meal would indeed become Spotty's.
By the time he yawned, sat at the table, and reached for a potato, Francisca had already finished eating.
"I'm heading out first."
"Going to do the laundry?"
"Yep."
"Finish up quickly and come to Mister Dan's potato field."
"You want me to help with the work? You know that's not happening, right?"
"No, not that. Today's the potato harvest."
"Oh, that's today! Okay. I'll be there as soon as I'm done with the laundry!"
She replied in a cheerful voice and left the house. Woof woof! The dog, who had been sleeping in his doghouse, woke up and barked at her.
The dog's name was Spotty. He had been a stray until Cloud took him in and gave him a name.
At first, she'd wondered why he'd bring home such a mutt, but now, she had grown quite fond of him.
"Spotty, I'm busy, you know? Go ask that guy for your food."
After patting Spotty's head a few times, she headed for the village chief's house.
"Fran, is that you? You're here early."
A middle-aged woman with a wrinkled face greeted Francisca with a smile.
"Here's today's laundry."
"Yes, ma'am. I'll be back with it in a jiffy."
The formal speech that had once felt awkward now flowed from her lips like water.
Was it because she was conscious of hiding her identity?
At this point, she didn't feel much resistance to it anymore.
"By the way, about what we discussed last time, my son is a really great catch. So if you'd just consider..."
"I'll have this laundry done in no time."
Matchmaking, however, was a different story.
Francisca cut the chief's wife off and headed for the river.
She could see the woman's displeased expression, but...
So what?
She paid it no mind.
Far from caring, she hummed a tune as she settled down by the riverbank. As she beat the clothes with a club, other women from the village began to gather one by one.
"You're the first one here again today."
A woman with her brown hair braided to the side sat down next to Fran.
Abernine.
She was the first friend Francisca had made in this village. Thanks to her simple, good-natured personality, she was also her favorite.
"Aren't you a little too diligent?"
"I just don't need much sleep. Anyway, I was curious—what was decided about what happened on the mountain behind the village?"
A few days ago, a large number of animal and monster carcasses had been discovered on the mountain.
The hunter, Jo, who had witnessed the strange phenomenon, said he'd only seen an afterimage. The only thing he knew for sure was that an eerie wolf's howl had echoed through the night.
Cloud had left with a serious look on his face when he heard about the wolf's howl.
Though he had returned with nothing to show for it.
He'd sent a letter after that. Who could he have been writing to?
"Oh, that? My dad said he's planning to tell the official who's visiting today. He thinks they might dispatch some soldiers if they hear the story."
Abernine answered Francisca's question.
"Then it shouldn't be a big problem. Alright, I'm heading out first."
"Huh? What? You're already done?!"
Abernine exclaimed, watching Francisca stand up with her laundry basket.
"You've really changed. It feels like just yesterday you were getting an earful for tearing the laundry..."
"It's been two months. What do you mean, 'just yesterday'?"
With a small smile, she returned the laundry to the chief's house and then ran to Dan's potato field. Her face was full of glee, because as Cloud had said, today was the day they harvested the potatoes.
When she arrived at the field, she saw Cloud and Dan's family squatting and digging up potatoes.
"Fran, you're here?"
"Mister Dan, it's been a while! Where's the hoe? Ah, here it is."
As she picked up a hand hoe, she paused and asked the others.
"No one touched Elizabeth, right?"
"Nope. Who would dare after you made such a fuss? Besides, who names a potato Elizabeth?"
"It's a much better name than Spotty."
After retorting to Cloud's jab as she always did, she squatted down in a specific spot. Grinning, she began to work the hoe. As the dirt was turned over, a massive potato slowly began to reveal itself.
A giant king potato, easily larger than a fist.
"Elizabeth...!"
A look of ecstasy filled Francisca's eyes. She heard Cloud muttering from behind her that she'd finally lost her mind, but she ignored him.
Elizabeth was more important!
"Mister, you're really giving Elizabeth to me, right?"
She had asked this question dozens of times already.
"Good grief, kid. How many times are you going to ask? Just take it, take it."
Dan shook his head, looking utterly fed up.
Having received his confirmation, she dug faster and was soon able to hold the king potato in her hands.
"Heheheh."
The First Princess of the Prona Kingdom and the primary heir to the throne giggled foolishly over a single giant potato.
And a short while later, that very potato was confiscated by the tax collector who came to visit.
Francisca despaired.
*
"Elizabethhhhh!!!"
Watching the departing official and his carriage, Francisca fell to her knees and wailed.
"It's my fault... I should have hidden her...!"
The problem was that she had been carrying it in her hands, planning to show it off to the villagers.
If it weren't for my useless vanity, Elizabeth would never have fallen into the hands of a man like that.
Memories of her time with Elizabeth flashed through her mind.
Elizabeth...
I was so surprised when we first met.
After that, I started to care for you.
I even gave you a little more water than the others.
Finally, I acknowledged my special feelings for you and even gave you a name...
"Elizabeth-!"
I miss you, but I can never see you again.
All I can do is call out your name.
Francisca let out another howl as she watched the carriage disappear into the distance.
"What a load of bullshit."
And then Cloud smacked her on the back of the head.
"Ow! What—what was that for?!"
"What about you? Why are you being so dramatic over a single potato?"
"Dramatic?! Do you have any idea how much hope Elizabeth gave me in my weary life—"
"Cut the crap and look around."
Francisca scowled at Cloud, but she did as he said, turning her head to survey her surroundings.
"If they take that much, how are we supposed to survive the winter...?"
"Are they telling us to starve? Those bastards."
"I can understand the rest, but what kind of sick bastard takes the hens?"
The faces of the villagers were grim.
So grim that she felt embarrassed for having just wailed over a potato.
"Starting to grasp the situation?"
Francisca pressed her lips together and nodded. Cloud continued, his eyes on the distant carriage.
"Since we don't have anything, we only lost your king potato, but it's different for the other residents. They had to pay what anyone would call excessive taxes. Do you know why?"
"...Why?"
"To rebuild Rufus. It costs a lot of money to rebuild a ruined city, and the royal family's coffers aren't enough, so they're levying massive taxes on the royal domain. And this village is part of that domain."
"..."
"This will continue for some time. It might even go on for a very long time. Why? Because even if they manage to rebuild the city, there's no one to act as a central figure. Then, vultures will start showing up one by one, aiming to take the rebuilt city for themselves. They'll fight each other for the throne. And who do you think will be forced to bear the burden of the damage caused by all that?"
Francisca didn't answer.
He hadn't been expecting one, so he moved on.
"Now, you have two choices."
Cloud held up two fingers, then folded one down.
"Inherit the throne and become queen."
He folded down the other.
"Continue living here as a farmer. Choose."
Instead of choosing immediately, Francisca turned her head and looked around the village.
From the meddlesome chief's wife to Abernine's father who ran the tavern, and Dan who tilled the fields.
She had gotten to know most of them over the past two months.
And because of that, she knew.
She knew how diligently and fiercely they lived their lives.
They were not people who deserved to worry about starving to death.
Francisca let out a deep sigh.
The moment she saw their faces, her choice had already been made.
"The first one."
"A wise choice, Your Majesty."
He smiled.
*
Knock, knock.
"Who is it?"
Even as she answered the knock, Leslie's eyes didn't leave the documents in front of her.
"It's me."
That is, until she heard Cloud's voice from beyond the door.
At the sound of that familiar voice, she turned her head toward the door.
"Lord Cloud?"
"That's right. I'm coming in."
The door opened, and a handsome, red-haired man stepped inside. Leslie's perpetually cold expression brightened instantly.
"You've returned. When did you get back?"
"Just now. The trip was a little long, wasn't it? Were you well while I was away?"
"I can't say I was. As you can see."
Leslie gestured with her eyes toward the piles of documents on her desk.
"There's so much work, but the one person who energizes me was gone."
Cloud gave an awkward laugh at her chilly smile.
"Sorry. But it was fruitful. The princess has decided to inherit the throne."
"That is very welcome news. The neighboring lords were just about to start baring their fangs."
"Things should calm down once the princess takes the throne and I declare my allegiance to the queen. It will remove any pretext they might have had to interfere."
"Exactly. That's why I didn't call for you, even though you had left with the princess."
Having made her way to him, she gently caressed his cheek before leaning in to kiss him.
The kiss lasted for a long time.
As if she was trying to make up for all the time they had missed.
When their lips parted, a faint blush colored Leslie's pale face.
Seeing it, Cloud smiled, which made her shyly change the subject.
"There are some letters for you, Lord Cloud."
"Letters for me?"
"Yes."
Leslie took two envelopes from her desk drawer and handed them to him.
Both were sealed with wax, one bearing the crest of the Ferdiac family, and the other an unfamiliar crest.
"Do you recognize this crest?"
"No. It's the first time I've seen it. I looked up the crests of nearly every noble family to find the sender, but I couldn't identify it. I don't think we'll know who sent it until you read the contents."
"I see... Anyway, thank you. When do you think you'll be done for the day?"
"I'm not sure. I might have to pull another all-nighter."
"...That sounds tough. Should I stay with you?"
"It's alright. I'm not so petty as to hold onto a man who just returned. You must be tired, so don't worry about me. Go back and get some rest."
"Thanks. I'll do that."
As he was about to leave the office, he turned back to ask one more thing.
"The others told me Ophelia hasn't been coming out of her room much. Do you happen to know what she's doing?"
"I wonder. I'm not sure what Miss Ophelia is up to. It's been quite a while since I've left this office myself."
Cloud could only offer a bitter smile at Leslie's self-deprecating words.
*
I returned to my room and broke the wax seal marked with a wing-shaped crest.
I was curious about the letter from Frillite's family, but for now, this mysterious letter intrigued me more.
I unfolded the parchment.
======================
Ⓑx3
You have three left.
<Iries>
======================
After reading the letter, I was momentarily at a loss for words.
Because I understood its meaning immediately.
There was no way she hadn't seen the technique I used to annihilate the Four Heavenly Kings, but I'd thought it was strangely quiet on her end.
So she was busy deciding how many B-button Bombs to give me.
Treating my friend's technique like a B-button Bomb...
I looked up at the ceiling and said aloud.
"Three is too few. Let's make it five."
-...
Naturally, there was no response.
That fucking bitch.