🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 6
At a glance, the king’s gaze was anything but friendly, and Nadia instinctively flinched.
Before she could decide what to do, Lev turned away from her with Albina and left the reception hall without another word.
Arons was equally taken aback by the sight.
There was simply no way to interpret the groom leaving his own wedding reception with another woman instead of his bride in a favorable light.
Arons even began to wonder whether the king might spend the night with someone other than his queen.
He looked at Nadia with concern, but the woman in question had already regained her composure and was wearing a calm, untroubled smile.
“Thank you for coming today. Thanks to you, I at least got to have a conversation with someone during the reception.”
“Your Majesty…”
Her words only made Arons feel more sorry for her.
Nadia belatedly regretted adding that unnecessary remark, but outwardly, she brought the conversation to a graceful close as though nothing were wrong.
“I should be going now, too. Then, Your Grace, I wish you a peaceful evening.”
Since the king had already left the reception hall with his mistress, there was no reason for Nadia to remain there any longer.
Back in the queen’s palace, Nadia removed her heavy reception gown and sank into the bathtub.
However, even when the maids poured rose-scented bath oil into the steaming water, she felt little enjoyment.
Perhaps His Majesty won’t come tonight.
Once she accepted that possibility, she actually felt more at ease.
Truthfully, the thought of spending her wedding night with the king right away was overwhelming in its own way. She couldn’t imagine sharing such an intimate experience with a man who despised her.
Nevertheless, out of a sense of duty, Nadia put on a milky-white slip dress, sat on the bed, and waited for the king.
Then, at some point—
Ding, ding, ding.
The sound of bells rang throughout the spacious queen’s palace.
They rang at midnight every night.
By now, she had more than enough reason to give up waiting.
As Nadia began preparing to climb into bed, the maids standing nearby stared at her in disbelief.
“Could you put out the lights?”
The maids obeyed almost reflexively.
Leaving only a single, faint candle burning beside her, Nadia gave them an innocent smile and wished them good night.
“Sleep well, everyone.”
In the early hours of the following morning, not a single ray of dawn penetrated Lev’s bedroom because the curtains were drawn tightly shut.
Even so, he woke at the same time as he always did.
Anton, the king’s personal attendant, also entered his bedchamber at his usual precise hour, despite it being the morning after the wedding.
When Anton drew back the curtains, a pale blue light flooded the room, illuminating Lev.
The faint blue glow mingled with the sight of the man sitting up and slowly rubbing his face with his hands, creating an eerie, almost mystical atmosphere.
Anton found himself staring blankly at the sight before hurriedly shaking his head and offering his morning greeting.
“Good morning, Your Majesty.”
“Good morning, Anton.”
Lev stared absently at the empty bed before suddenly thinking of a certain woman who should, by all rights, have been lying beside him.
“Countess Bellevin is still asleep. As for Her Majesty the Queen, she retired for the night as soon as midnight arrived.”
The timely report drew a dry laugh from Lev.
Anton added,
“She seems quite perceptive. She must have realized long ago that Your Majesty wouldn’t be coming.”
“Did anyone else visit her?”
“Pardon?”
Anton seemed unable to understand the question at first. Then, as a troubling possibility occurred to him, he asked hesitantly,
“You don’t mean the young Duke of Lodgin, do you?”
There was no answer.
Good heavens. He really does mean him.
Anton stared at the king in disbelief.
“Surely Her Majesty wouldn’t dare do something so reckless. Adultery is punishable by beheading, Your Majesty.”
“Have you found out what kind of relationship they have?”
“They say the young duke is a distant relative of Her Majesty through her maternal family. Apparently, they’ve known each other since childhood and met from time to time. The young duke was usually the one who visited Count Turik’s estate.”
“Ha.”
Lev let out a hollow laugh at this unexpected revelation about their family ties.
“That must be unfortunate for the queen. If it weren’t for what happened to her mother, she might have become Duchess of Lodgin.”
“Ah, as a matter of fact, there were marriage discussions between the two families.”
When what Lev had said as a joke turned out to be true, his eyes narrowed slightly.
“Quite some time ago, when they were children. But the discussions were completely abandoned once Countess Turik became a candidate for queen.”
Since Arons was Lev’s cousin, if Agnetha Turik had become queen, the family relationships would have become rather complicated, with Lev’s paternal aunt potentially becoming Arons’s mother-in-law.
“Shall I keep an eye on them?”
“I suppose we’d better.”
Lev replied while drinking the water on his bedside table.
“This isn’t Murk. Levirate marriage would be rather troublesome here, wouldn’t it?”
Having been subjected to such a biting joke first thing in the morning, Anton momentarily lost control of his expression and stared at the king, dumbfounded.
Lev let out a low chuckle at the sight.
“Watch your expression, Anton.”
“You certainly have lofty ambitions for someone who says things like that.”
Anton shot Lev a mild, reproachful glance before continuing.
“Dr. Chekhov is scheduled to visit this morning. You also have a council meeting this afternoon.”
Lev nodded and rose from his seat.
Although he had gotten married the previous day, nothing had changed.
His heart wasn’t beating irregularly with excitement, nor was his mind in turmoil over romantic feelings.
He rather liked the calm and peacefulness of it all.
Lev wasn’t the only one whose life remained unchanged from one day to the next.
Nadia rose at her usual time and had breakfast as she always did.
The meal consisted of her favorite potato soup, two slices of warm white bread, roasted carrot slices, and smoked ham.
“I heard His Majesty spent last night with Countess Bellevin.”
Olga delivered the news from beside her, but Nadia merely nodded as though she’d expected nothing else.
Olga’s brows drew together at the queen’s untroubled reaction.
The breakfast suited Nadia’s tastes perfectly.
If I’d married someone abroad and had to cross an endless ocean to get there, I probably wouldn’t have meals like this.
She still felt more gratitude than resentment toward the king.
“Now that you’ve become the new mistress of the queen’s palace, you should invite members of high society and host a tea party.”
At those words, Nadia put down the piece of bread she had been holding.
Suddenly, she felt a little suffocated.
“As you know, Marchioness, I’ve never even made my formal debut in high society. I don’t really have anyone suitable to invite.”
“Are you saying you don’t intend to host a tea party?”
Even if I host one, will anyone actually come?
Nadia wanted to ask that question, but soon realized there was little point.
She couldn’t simply abandon her duties as queen altogether.
Her very lineage was already tainted by scandal. It would hardly be wise to give people more reasons to criticize her, especially when she still had no idea why the king had chosen to make her queen.
“Could you select some suitable people to whom I can send invitations?”
“Certainly.”
Olga’s cooperative response came as a relief to Nadia.
However, her appetite had vanished, and she no longer felt like touching anything on her plate.
“What does my schedule look like today?”
“You have nothing in particular planned. It’s your first day, after all.”
“Then would it be all right if I took a walk around the royal palace? Before the wedding, I spent all my time inside the queen’s palace, so I don’t know my way around at all.”
“If that is what you wish.”
Olga readily nodded.
“However, I wouldn’t particularly recommend it.”
Nadia understood why Olga had said that less than five minutes after leaving the queen’s palace.
“Isn’t that the queen? Agnetha’s daughter?”
“Yes, that’s her. I heard the king spent last night with Countess Bellevin.”
“My goodness! I also heard she stood all alone at the reception like a decorative flower on the wall. If I were in her place, I’d want to die of humiliation.”
Everyone who passed by recognized Nadia and whispered about her.
There were so many people doing it that if she punished every single one of them, practically the entire royal palace staff would end up being disciplined.
Worse still, even Nadia’s own maids snickered in agreement rather than taking offense at the insults directed at their mistress.
Nadia decided to pretend she couldn’t hear them.
That would make things easier for everyone.
The palace isn’t so enormous that I’ll never be able to memorize it.
As she wandered wherever her feet took her, she began to get a general sense of the layout.
When she had visited the royal palace as a child, it had seemed as vast as an endless ocean. Perhaps she had simply been too young to appreciate its true scale.
“Oh.”
Just then, an unfamiliar garden came into view.
Even from the outside, it was clear that the grounds were exceptionally well maintained, which aroused her curiosity.
As Nadia approached as though drawn by an invisible force, one of the maids watching her whispered to Olga with a troubled expression.
“Head Maid, will it be all right? This place is…”
“What’s the worst that could happen?”
Olga replied dismissively, while the other maids shrugged as though Nadia should simply be allowed to do as she pleased.
Completely unaware of their exchange, Nadia stepped inside.
“Wow…”
Although it was already spring, the weather remained somewhat chilly.
Nevertheless, thanks to the abundance of flowers planted throughout the garden, buds had already begun to appear here and there.
Moreover, lavender grew in profusion, filling the air with its fresh fragrance.
At the center stood a fountain adorned with a plaster statue of a baby angel. There were also charming little tea tables where someone could sit and enjoy an afternoon tea.
The garden behind the queen’s palace was well maintained, too, but Nadia found it fascinating that this separate garden had been cared for so meticulously.
She was wandering around the garden with keen interest when a displeased voice suddenly rang out.
“Why is the queen here?”
Nadia flinched in surprise and turned toward the voice.
In the distance, Lev was glaring at her with a cold expression.
