Underwear Even Tyrants Wear - 1
Was I too rough…?
Beatrix sat alone at the desk in her office, lost in thought. Albert had shyly told her he'd come back after taming Wilhelmina. Seeing that, she'd grown jealous and milked him for hours straight, pushing her administrative work later than planned. Of course, because she'd poured so much effort into the delay, she had actually finished even faster. Looking only at the results, it wasn't bad at all. Still, she had firmly decided that tonight she would just quietly cuddle and sleep. Her waist was throbbing from how hard she had milked him. She still got jealous from time to time, but she would grow used to it as time passed.
As Beatrix sighed and turned the thoughts over, someone knocked at just the right moment. It was Charlotte, with her golden hair.
"Your Majesty, excuse me……"
"Why are you blonde?"
Annoyingly.
Charlotte flinched at the sudden criticism and hurriedly bowed her head.
"I apologize. When I have time, I'll dye it or shave my head."
Her carefully grown hair was in danger of being gone, but it wasn't more precious than her life. If she had valued her hair as much as her life and tended it that carefully, it might have been different.
"Forget it. Just tell me why you're here."
Beatrix asked with a short sigh. It was simply because the hair color matched Wilhelmina's, so irritation had flared for a moment. At the same time, she was aware of how irrational it was to pick a fight over hair color.
I thought I was going to die.
Having just crossed the sudden blade of death that had come out of nowhere, a cold sweat ran down Charlotte's back. It was a well-treated job that paid well… but she was starting to think maybe it was time to retire.
"Yes. It's nothing else—I've brought the budget proposal for the young ladies' verification banquet."
Charlotte slid the paper in her hand onto the desk. Verification. Already that time, huh. Beatrix picked up the paper on the desk and nodded. Once every three years, a banquet was held to examine the young ladies who would succeed the various nobles. Though it was called a banquet, it was essentially an appraisal. It wasn't just leisurely play either.
"Looks fine. Proceed as is."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
When Beatrix slid the budget proposal she held, Charlotte received it respectfully with both hands.
"Then I'll execute it as is."
"Do so."
"Yes. I'll take my leave now."
As Charlotte left the office, Beatrix rose as well. There was nothing more to do, so she planned to return to the bedroom.
"Hnn…!"
The moment the semen filling her belly tried to leak out, Beatrix hurriedly clenched her entrance and belly tight. As the semen sloshed inside her stomach, a small moan slipped past her lips.
There.
Standing still for a while, the excitement finally subsided. Beatrix's lips exhaled a heavy breath, then pressed shut. As she stepped into the bedroom, Albert was stretching and loosening his body. He was in light clothes—pants and a shirt—rather than his usual formal wear.
"You've worked hard."
You must have been the one who worked hard, yet you're worrying about me first. Beatrix nodded silently and walked right up in front of Albert's face.
Cute.
Albert spread his arms as he watched Beatrix approach shyly. Since they had just had intense sex a little while ago, he didn't think she meant to do it again. And indeed she didn't.
"Just let me stay like this for a bit."
"Hug me as much as you want."
As the queen clung to him and acted spoiled, Albert's voice carried a smile. Beatrix stayed in his arms for a long while, then slowly stepped back one pace. Albert asked,
"Are you okay now?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Then shall we talk?"
"I want to walk for a bit. Is that okay?"
"I'm fine with it."
A walk wasn't bad. Albert offered his hand first, and Beatrix placed hers on it as if she had been waiting. They left the room side by side, holding hands amicably. As people they passed greeted them calmly, they returned the greetings lightly. Before they knew it, a few maids were following behind, muffling their footsteps—a few steps away so as not to be eyesores or ruin the good atmosphere.
It's the rear garden.
Albert took in the well-kept rear garden as he headed toward the table. Beatrix was the same. The moment she reached the table, she cast a purification magic, then ordered the maids standing behind.
"Bring some tea. Make it cold."
A couple of the maids headed for the kitchen. The remaining ones withdrew to where the two's eyes couldn't reach.
"Cold tea, you say… Summer's already fully here."
A wistful light showed in Albert's eyes. In summer the warehouse had always been stiflingly hot, making warehouse organization even more exhausting. The Crawler Trading Company he had worked for was a conscientious workplace, but the work itself being hard was unavoidable.
Thankfully the average temperature is a bit lower even in summer.
It was much better than the summers he had spent in the hot regions of the Hel Peninsula, which was fortunate. If the temperature had been high on top of that, he might have died of heatstroke long ago.
"In summer… how was it?"
Beatrix asked in a careful tone. They often talked about each other's pasts as a topic, but there was still much they didn't know. The summers they had spent apart were one of them. Being like this was so leisurely and nice. Albert met Beatrix's eyes and answered.
"In summer especially, the warehouse was stiflingly hot. Food… since we didn't handle groceries, that was fortunate at least."
"I heard you handled farming tools and tools needed for repairs… right?"
"Yes. Heavy, but they didn't rot. So it was okay. From what I heard about other places, it was chaos."
Especially for materials that rotted quickly—the stench would pierce the nose. Albert spoke freely about the things he had seen, heard, and experienced with his body at the trading company. Beatrix kept her mouth closed and listened carefully to every single word. If it was Albert's past, she wanted to remember every detail without missing a thing.
"Your Majesty. We've brought the tea."
In the middle of talking about going to sell tools to carpenters, the maids who had gone to the kitchen carefully approached and served the tea. The teapot holding the tea, the tea pot itself, were ice-cold. The teacups likewise, and the tea water inside the same. They were items engraved with magic, just like the shower or bathtub attached to Beatrix's bathroom.
"Thank you."
As Albert smiled while lifting the teacup filled with light-green tea, the maids also smiled and left. The consort who never skimped on saying thank you was an object of goodwill to them. Moreover, he was energetic enough to pin the queen down. I can understand harboring goodwill toward Albert. Even I fell for him, so a mere maid couldn't be unaffected. But going beyond that line was hard to tolerate. Beatrix silently sipped her tea and calmed her heart. Whenever Albert was involved, it was hard to make rational judgments.
"Oh right. In a month, the young ladies will gather at the royal palace."
Around the time she had emptied half her tea, Beatrix set down her teacup and started. Unlike before, Albert naturally needed to know. It was an event happening in the palace, after all.
"Young ladies?"
Though he had lived in the capital, most of his time had been spent working. Because of that, he seemed not to know why the young ladies were gathering. Moreover, since there had been a large banquet gathering nobles, young ladies, and young masters before, even more so.
"Yeah. Every three years I summon the young ladies from each territory to check. Whether they'll be a harm to me or not."
"Ah… so that's how it was."
"You should know too, so I was going to tell you. Actually, I had completely forgotten until the report came up."
"Really?"
Albert tilted his head as if puzzled. Feeling strange that she had forgotten something quite important.
"I do the verification, but I don't really care much about it."
"Ah……"
Then it was understandable to forget. Albert nodded slightly as if understanding.
"Then is there anything I can help with?"
"Just being by my side is enough. First a light banquet, then one-on-one interviews… and the aptitude evaluation when I feel like it."
"You evaluate aptitude too?"
"As I said just now, as long as they don't bother me. That's the virtue needed for the lords ruling each territory and the young ladies who will succeed them."
Whether loyal or not. The only point Beatrix evaluated was that one thing. If ability was lacking, just dispatch an aide, she said.
"Still, good ability isn't bad. If they work on their own, it's convenient and nice."
"That's true."
If subordinates were capable, superiors were comfortable. Albert knew that law well too.
"If possible, it'd be nice if they were all loyal, right?"
"That's true, but… is there something you want to do?"
Just from one sentence. Beatrix's eyes read his inner thoughts clearly. It could be a creepy situation in a way, but only a smile hung on Albert's lips. Not just a day or two of this, and he could think that their conversation clicked that well.
"If you just permit it, I'd like to try my hand a bit. Nothing grand."
If it had been when he first entered the palace, he would simply have had to follow orders. If he presumptuously offered opinions and meddled, he could have been done for. Even if Beatrix was crazy for Albert's cock. But now he was officially the consort, and properly Beatrix's husband. He was in a position to speak a few opinions confidently. Not just a few words—she'd permit even overturning the country, but……
That's a bit much.
As if shaking off useless thoughts, Albert lightly shook his head.
"Tell me."
"First, may I ask a few questions?"
"Ask anything."
Anything, huh. As soon as he heard that, Albert opened his mouth without hesitation.
"What do the young ladies like to eat?"
Those who steeled themselves saying it was coming. Those who flustered and made a fuss. The types responding to Beatrix's young lady summons order varied, but there was one common point. All were moving in extreme tension without preparing carelessly. Preparing bribes to look good was meaningless. Rather, it would only harm by revealing their incompetence and dark intentions. Thus, what the lords and young ladies prepared was none other than sealing their mouths and checking their own capabilities. This was the same for Conrad Miller and her daughter, Alice.
"Are the preparations all done?"
"Yes, Mother."
A girl around ten years old answered while fussing with her hair. Golden hair like her mother's sparkled under the sunlight. Conrad's daughter Alice, though young, was quite discerning and had strong will. Having unexpectedly risen to the heir position, her motivation was tremendous. Thanks to that, Conrad had no need to whip her separately for education. Conrad, with a stern expression, squatted in front of her daughter and said,
"Listen well. As it is, our family almost fell out of Her Majesty's favor once. You know well, right?"
"Yes. Because of that bastard."
Because he had harbored evil intentions to harm the current consort without knowing his place, he had ended up drowning to death. Alice recalled Karl's end—who even in death had stupidly kept his eyes wide open. Even as a young child, perhaps because she inherited the duke's blood, she hadn't batted an eye even seeing the corpse. Treating him as trash rather than a sibling was a bonus.
"Since you seem to know well, I won't say more. Just don't try to curry favor with Her Majesty, and keep your center well. Her Majesty hates the flattering type the most."
"Yes. Even if praising, do it plainly and briefly, right?"
"You remember."
Conrad lightly stroked the child's head as if proud of her daughter. Normally a child would be very happy receiving praise from parents. But only a faint smile bloomed on Alice's lips. Since the parents were the parents, the child wasn't ordinary either.
"Then that's enough. If you need anything, say so freely. So there's no negligence in preparation."
"Yes. I'll try to prepare matching an appropriate line. However, I'd like Mother to inspect once before departure."
"Haha. Inspection, huh."
Conrad laughed heartily and readily nodded. The decision to look at the answer sheet and correct insufficient points was very admirable. Especially in a time when one must be cautious like now.