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Chapter 3
Nadia had absolutely no idea how the preparations for her wedding were progressing.
However, she didn’t dare ask anyone about it. Instead, she continued to live as though she were dead, just as she had promised Olga.
It wasn’t particularly difficult, either. Now that she had been designated as the future queen, she was so busy attending lessons on how to fulfill her duties as queen that her days were completely occupied.
For Nadia, who had grown up neglected by her mother and without receiving a proper education, the schedule was grueling. Nevertheless, she never complained.
One day, after spending so much time confined to her quarters that she had practically become a recluse, someone came to visit her.
“Countess Bellevin requests an audience with Your Ladyship.”
Nadia knew exactly who Countess Bellevin was. She had overheard the maids gossiping about her a few days earlier.
“I heard His Majesty took a mistress even before his royal wedding!”
“That’s right. He even granted Lady Albina the entire County of Bellevin.”
“He must cherish her quite a lot. Why on earth would he choose Agnetha’s daughter as his queen when he has a woman like that?”
Nadia recalled the silver-haired beauty who had glared at her at the execution grounds.
“Why else? It’s revenge for the late Queen Anna. He wants Agnetha’s daughter to suffer just as miserably.”
However, Nadia didn’t think she had the right to feel miserable about it. She had never considered the position of queen to be truly hers in the first place.
“Do I have to go there myself?”
“Would you prefer not to meet her?”
“If possible, I’d like to go myself and get some fresh air. But I’ve been terribly busy with my queen’s lessons lately.”
Just thinking about the rest of her schedule for the day made her sigh involuntarily.
“I simply can’t find the time to go out. If she doesn’t mind, I’d prefer it if the countess came here herself.”
Albina’s maid, who had expected Nadia to fly into a rage, was left staring at her blankly.
Meanwhile, Nadia continued speaking in a perfectly calm voice.
“If she comes here, I’ll find a way to make time for her.”
Ha! No wonder she’s Agnetha’s daughter. She’s quite something.
‘Look at how she answers without even batting an eye! She’s acting as though she’s already the queen and everyone else has to come to her.’
Nadia had no such subtle intention, but Albina’s maid interpreted her words that way.
When Albina heard the report, she came to exactly the same conclusion as her maid.
“She wants to establish the hierarchy.”
In other words, even if Albina was the king’s favored mistress, Nadia would still be his legitimate wife. Nadia was making it clear that Albina had no right to summon her at will.
Of course, there was some truth to that. But the woman in question was Agnetha’s daughter.
Albina was outraged and incredulous that Nadia apparently didn’t know her place.
“Are you really going to visit her?”
The maid who had gone to the queen’s palace asked, her expression displeased.
Albina responded as though the question itself were ridiculous.
“Of course I am. She’s picked a fight with me, so should I just ignore her? That would be unacceptable for a knight.”
Albina had been one of the elite soldiers who advanced on the capital alongside Lev. Having successfully accomplished such a dangerous and reckless mission, would she really be afraid of defeating Agnetha’s daughter?
“I’ll make sure to knock her down a peg.”
Of course, doing so would be difficult on her own. Albina leaned toward her maid and whispered an instruction into her ear.
The maid nodded, her face brightening.
“As expected of you, Lady Albina! That wicked woman won’t stand a chance against you.”
Albina curled her lips into a smile of agreement.
A few days later, Albina visited the queen’s palace wearing a tight-fitting silver dress.
It was an unforgiving garment that revealed every contour of her figure. For that very reason, however, it accentuated her voluptuous curves all the more.
As she looked around the queen’s palace, which she hadn’t visited in a long time, Albina wore a wistful expression. But before long, her face turned cold.
She had suddenly remembered something Lev had told her on the day Agnetha died.
“Make sure you torment her well, Albina. She’s the daughter of the woman who drove your mother to her death.”
Of course I’ll torment her properly.
Albina’s expression had sharpened with determination, but the moment she saw the person who had come out to greet her, her face transformed into a warm smile.
“Marchioness Ryabova.”
She hurried over to embrace her mother’s old friend, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.
“It’s been so long. You must have been through a great deal.”
“Things are more peaceful than you might think.”
Olga replied in an unruffled voice.
Albina seemed to take her words as mere politeness, but Olga was being sincere.
Nadia had proved far more aware of her own position than expected and had hardly caused any trouble. She simply stayed shut away in her room as though she were dead, attending her lessons and doing nothing else.
“Allow me to escort you to the reception room.”
“Yes, please.”
Albina responded with a smile.
The route to the reception room was familiar to her. As she looked around, her expression briefly softened with nostalgia.
“Everything here is just as I remember it.”
“There has been no reason to change anything.”
“True. If Agnetha’s daughter dared to touch anything here…”
Albina laughed as though she had made an idle remark.
“His Majesty would be the first to refuse to forgive her, long before any of us could.”
Olga silently agreed.
They soon arrived at the reception room, where Albina’s eyes fell upon a spacious, round table made of white marble.
It had been a long time, but the sight was familiar.
Albina sat down at the table and looked around the unchanged room, reminiscing about the past, when she heard footsteps approaching.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Countess Bellevin.”
A voice she had never heard before reached her ears.
Albina’s wistful expression vanished in an instant.
Turning her head, she saw a woman wearing a golden dress that fell in a straight line to the floor.
Her hair, cascading all the way down to her waist, was so radiant and glossy that it looked as though it had been spun from golden thread.
Beneath her gentle-looking eyes, emerald-green irises gleamed brilliantly, as if precious emeralds had been set into them. Her nose was high and elegant, curving pleasantly rather than ending in a sharp point.
Her small face was adorned with plump, vivid red lips. Every feature was arranged in such delicate harmony that she was unmistakably beautiful at first glance.
She was tall and slender, with so little flesh on her body that she looked as though she barely ate. Yet her breasts and hips were moderately full, and the contrast gave her figure a sensual appeal.
Albina had thought Nadia was beautiful when she first saw her on the day of the execution, too. But the unpleasant feeling that followed that appreciation was undoubtedly because the source of Nadia’s beauty was Agnetha.
Nadia’s features were simply gentler, but she greatly resembled her mother.
‘I suppose it’s true that His Majesty won’t have to worry about becoming weak if this woman becomes his queen.’
Just her very existence was enough to remind Albina of her mother’s death and all the suffering she had endured during her childhood.
Albina rose from her seat and put on a smile she didn’t genuinely feel.
“I’m honored that someone as busy as Your Ladyship has agreed to meet me.”
Up close, Nadia’s skin was truly pale and smooth.
Albina had heard countless times that she had exceptionally fair skin herself, no matter where she went. Yet Nadia seemed even paler than she was.
She looked as though she had been carved from the very white marble of the table at which Albina sat.
“I’m the one who should apologize for not being able to receive you properly. Things have been rather hectic lately.”
Nadia sat down with a genuinely apologetic expression.
Albina inwardly scoffed at what she assumed was an act.
“Understandably so, considering everything you’ve been through recently.”
“Pardon?”
“You’ve lost your entire family, after all.”
Albina smiled, making no attempt to conceal her hostility from the very beginning.
Nadia was momentarily taken aback. After a brief silence, however, she answered,
“With His Majesty the King here, I hardly have the right to show my grief over losing my family.”
At those words, the smile disappeared from Albina’s lips.
How dare Agnetha’s daughter bring up the death of Queen Anna?
Anger surged from deep within her heart.
“Indeed. When you consider why Queen Anna passed away, I suppose you’re right.”
“…”
“I’m relieved that you understand your own position so well. I was worried you might not.”
Nadia fell silent, like a sinner standing before a judge.
Her submissive attitude eased some of Albina’s irritation, but her displeasure did not disappear entirely.
She wanted to see Nadia lose her composure and become visibly shaken.
“In any case, since the two of us are now married to the same man, I thought we should meet and make an effort to get along.”
Albina smiled, her eyes narrowing into crescent moons as she delivered a rather provocative remark.
“I’m the senior one in our relationship, after all. If there’s anything you’d like to know about His Majesty, feel free to ask me anytime.”
How would Nadia react?
Would the wicked daughter of Agnetha glare at her in disbelief? Or would she invoke the authority of her position as queen and tell Albina to remember her place?
Albina waited for Nadia to become agitated and snap back at her, expecting either reaction.
But the answer that followed was entirely unexpected…
