The Nurse of the Queen - 1
Richard abruptly fell silent at Virginia’s words. Though he had never been one to obey the elderly nurse without question, he knew all too well that once she began speaking in that furious tone, there was no defying her.
She spoke sternly. “Very well, my lady.”
She glanced at Prince Rio and added, “Then would you be so kind as to send Prince Rio out?”
“……Will you leave us, Rio?”
“If Her Majesty commands it.”
Both Richard and Rio let out sighs at almost the same moment. When Virginia snapped, “My lady!” Richard immediately clamped his mouth shut. Rio watched the scene with open admiration. The only person on earth who could subdue Richard so easily was his nurse, Gina.
“What are you waiting for, Prince Rio?”
“I’m going, I’m going, Gina.”
Only after Rio had closed the door and left completely did Virginia plant her hands on her hips and turn to Richard. Her voice had softened a little, yet it remained firm.
“All right. Now let’s have that talk.”
“Please, Gina! I’m really not in the mood right now.”
“Whether you’re in the mood or not, this conversation must happen.”
“Fine. I get it. Just get it over with.”
“My lady!” Virginia cried.
“When speaking to others, you must always look them in the eye!”
“I know, I know!”
Richard sat up with an irritated grunt. But his attitude was still so sullen that Virginia folded her arms and repeated herself.
“Look at me, my lady.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake! Gina!”
“Now.”
Richard fidgeted before finally meeting his nurse’s gaze. The moment their eyes locked, her expression gradually softened. She said, “Good,” unfolded her arms, and sat down on the stool Rio had occupied only moments before.
Richard simply could not rebel against this middle-aged nurse. Even the greatest knight on the three continents—the knight among knights—found the woman who had raised him with iron discipline since childhood to be an exception. Besides, the current situation itself was draining every ounce of strength from him.
Doing his best not to look cowed, Richard asked, “So, what do you want to say?”
“I hear you’ve been wandering the entire castle stark naked since this morning?”
“Damn it. Can’t a person do that once in a while?”
“There it is again! That foul language! And you truly don’t see what’s wrong? Oh dear, a grown young woman parading around without a stitch of clothing and feeling no shame at all! My lady, what exactly has this old Gina done wrong to deserve this?”
“Gina!”
“Don’t raise your voice! You’re a married woman now—how long do you intend to behave like a ten-year-old tomboy?”
Richard felt something surge up from deep inside his chest. Yet he barely managed to swallow the lump before it could spill out at Gina. And soon he would regret holding back.
Gina gave him no room to breathe and pressed on relentlessly. “Just what happened today that made you run around the entire castle naked—twice, no less?”
“I can explain everything. I’ll tell you. So could you please stop calling me my lady?” Richard pleaded.
He already hated hearing the title Her Majesty the Queen; to be called my lady by the person closest to him after his own wife felt like pure torture. But his nurse remained implacable.
“I told Prince Rio the same thing. You are always my lady.”
“Stop treating me like some little girl!”
“Shouldn’t you first behave like a proper young lady? I cannot overlook it forever when you act like a wild boy.”
“Damn it all.”
Richard clutched at his hair and shouted. Before Virginia could scold him for coarse language, he poured everything out.
“I’m not a girl! I’m a man!”
“……”
Virginia opened her mouth to speak but remained silent for a long moment. She wore an expression of utter disbelief, then folded her arms again and glared at him as if daring him to continue.
Richard realized he had made a mistake, but the words were already spoken. Gina let out a few dry laughs—hah, hah—then tilted her head and said,
“Very well. That is certainly a fresh excuse. I’ll give you credit for not trying to run away from the consequences. So what should I call you instead? Young master? Little prince?”
Virginia’s reaction was perfectly natural. She did not believe a single word. Richard had not expected her to, either.
He said, “Don’t mock me, Gina. I’m being serious. Until yesterday, I really was a man.”
“My goodness, is that so? It seems this old nurse must have gone senile. What am I to do? I bathed you myself before you even turned one, yet I never noticed?”
“Fine. All right. What do I have to do for you to believe me?”
“Nothing you say will convince me. You, a man? No matter how much you hate proper ladylike behavior, don’t you think that excuse for your disgraceful conduct is rather crude, my lady?”
Richard let out a long sigh. He could not bring himself to curse in front of his nurse, so he groaned under his breath instead. Seeing how he sat, Gina said,
“Don’t sit with your knees spread like that.”
The moment the words left her mouth, Richard snapped his knees together and straightened his legs.
“There, you see? Does any man sit with his legs pressed together like that?”
“No, that’s—”
Richard truly could have explained. If only this elderly nurse of his would listen, even a little, he thought the weight on his heart might ease whether she believed him or not. But she had no intention of listening.
“No, I won’t hear it. Do not try to escape the situation by inventing strange tales.”
“Gina.”
Richard covered his face with both hands and muttered in a muffled voice, “If I start crying right now, will you stop?”
“A woman’s weapons should be used on men. They don’t work on me.”
“I’ve been struggling since this morning. You’re only making it worse, Gina. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“As I’ve said from the beginning, no. This is all because you refuse to behave properly, my lady.”
“That word again—properly, properly!”
At last Richard could endure no more. He shouted, voice thick with irritation and rage. Instead of the deep, resonant sound that should have filled the room, only a high, piercing cry emerged. He was greatly startled, but his anger burned far hotter than his surprise.
He continued at once. “Is what Marion did also because of my behavior?”
“What about Prince Consort Marion?”
Gina’s eyes sharpened. Richard immediately regretted his slip of the tongue, but it was too late. Gina pressed him again.
“Speak quickly, my lady. What exactly did Prince Consort Marion do?”
“How could this happen? How is this possible!”
“Ah, Gina.”
Rio, who had been standing outside Richard’s door, saw Virginia emerge and called out to her. “Is the lecture over?”
But she did not seem to hear Prince Rio at all. Wearing an expression of utter disbelief, she hurried off almost at a run, then shouted back into the room in a loud voice.
“I still have plenty left to scold you for! This is not over, my lady! Not by a long shot! I will return and continue later!”
Rio wore a puzzled frown as he entered Richard’s room.
“Brother, I’m coming in.”
“Yes.”
Richard’s reply sounded just as strange as Virginia’s behavior. Rio stepped inside with a doubtful look. The moment he saw Richard, he could guess what had happened.
Richard was huddled on the bed, face buried in his hands, ears and neck flushed a vivid red.
“……Did you tell her? About Lady Marion.”
“……Yes. You have no idea how impossible it is to move when that nurse is around.”
Rio gave a small chuckle. “Didn’t you say everything you wanted to say?”
“When have I ever been unable to speak my mind?” Richard muttered, still covering his face.
“You must have said something you shouldn’t have, then.”
“Telling her about Lady Marion was the right thing to do. If you hadn’t, how much angrier would she have been? She wouldn’t have backed down so easily, would she?”
Rio spoke as if joking. But Richard did not respond in kind. He had already lost count of how many times he had sighed or groaned today, yet all he could do was alternate between sighing and groaning without another word.
Rio found the sight strange and asked, “Brother…… did you say something else as well?”
“……”
Richard remained silent. Rio tilted his head, thinking. He could not immediately recall what Richard might have said to make him—this was an insulting way to put it, but—look so embarrassed. He retraced everything Richard had done that day. Soon he realized exactly what Richard must have said to cause such shame. And he also realized that the emotion Richard displayed was not merely embarrassment.
To be precise, it was a mixture of shame at having spoken of Marion’s matter and regret for having said something unnecessary.
Rio spoke slowly. “Did she believe you?”
Richard gave a hollow laugh and lowered the hands covering his face. Then he roughly tousled his own hair.
“As if she would. On the contrary, she praised me. Said it was a fresh excuse.”
“Well, that is to be expected.”
The two brothers, Rio and Richard, burst into hollow laughter at almost the same moment. Until yesterday Richard had unquestionably been a man; he had never needed to say such things to anyone. But now, aside from five people at most, no one knew the truth, and even if he told them, no one would believe him. Not even the person closest to him—Marion, of course—perhaps even closer than Rio.
Richard found that fact almost unbearable.
“Rio, my brother.”
“Yes, brother.”
“Come sit closer.”
Rio approached Richard’s side without a word. He did not know how he should treat his brother now. Richard was supposed to be the perfect, magnificent knight. Rio could not bear to see him weak, and he wanted him to remain ever proud and radiant. Yet the Richard before him now was the complete opposite of what he wished for.
In a single day the man had burst into tears twice, blushed easily, and become emotional. If those feelings had been positive it might not have been so bad, but Richard was far too gloomy.
“Now you are the only one left I can open my heart to,” Richard said.
“How could I have known yesterday that I would end up like this?”
“Do not speak so weakly, brother.”
“No, it’s fine. There’s no need to pretend to comfort me. You must be laughing at me on the inside, aren’t you?”
“How can you say such things, brother?”
Rio nearly jumped out of his skin. He spoke to Richard with desperate fervor.
“You are the greatest knight not only in Zylan but across all three continents. Who but you could lead the beautiful western kingdom of Zylan?”
Richard frowned and snorted once more. He spat the words as if they tasted bitter.
“Yes. I suppose I was always suited to be queen of Zylan.”
“That is not what I meant, brother.”
Rio’s voice was earnest. “How could I ever think of you that way? You are the knight among knights, the man among men.”
At those words, Richard’s expression eased a little. Rio continued to console him.
“You must regain your strength, brother. You are the ruler of this nation, the one who protects its peace. No—you are Zylan. Only when you stand firm can this country stand firm.”
And so can I.
Rio added the last part silently. At his brother’s flattering praise, the corner of Richard’s mouth lifted for a brief moment, but the smile soon vanished into thin air.
Richard said, “Protector? Ha. After being mocked by my own wife, am I fit to protect this country? A nation scorned by its queen.”
His words were less a statement than a complaint, and less a complaint than bitter sarcasm. At this rate, nothing Rio said would reach him. Rio decided he must first lift his brother’s spirits.
He called out, “Brother.”
“Hm?”
“It must be uncomfortable for you, becoming a woman. All the things that happened today… and the discomfort you suffered because of Gina.”
Rio’s question clearly irritated Richard. He asked his younger brother in a peevish tone, “Obviously, isn’t it?”
“And it displeases you that Lady Marion, even after becoming a man, shows no sign of discomfort and actually seems to be enjoying it.”
The word displeases was something one might use with a child, but it was not far from the truth. Richard answered shortly, “Yes,” then added, “What of it?”
“Should you be the only one suffering?”
“What? What do you……”
A puzzled look rose in Richard’s eyes. He studied Rio’s face. A faint smile played on Rio’s lips, and Richard thought he could guess its meaning. When Rio added one more sentence, his intention became perfectly clear and filled Richard with delight.
“Brother, you have a remarkable talent not only for martial arts but also for teaching them, don’t you?”