Ye Tang lost track of time as she read the book.
Because the king had previously injured the queen, the maids did not dare to get too close to Ye Tang, lest they incur the king’s wrath. Yet they also did not dare to ignore Ye Tang, fearing she would turn them into dead people with just a few words. The maids left outside the library did not dare to remind Ye Tang, so they could only stand trembling at the library door, occasionally jumping in place to warm themselves as they waited for her.
The sky had already darkened slightly, and Ye Tang, who had lost too much blood, did not feel warm even wrapped in thick fur. She walked out of the library somewhat stiffly, and the maids guarding the door immediately schooled their expressions and stood neatly to the side.
“My stomach is hungry. Have the kitchen make me something to eat. I want meat, and I also want to drink some warm soup.”
“Inform Your Majesty and the princess that I cannot dine with them tonight. Also, have someone light the fireplace in my bedchamber.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The maids obediently went to carry out their tasks. Amber remained and wanted to support Ye Tang back to her bedchamber, but Ye Tang shook her head.
“Amber, let us go to the courtyard to pick some flowers for the princess.”
Snow White’s mental state was not good; seeing flowers should make her smile more. Besides, it took time for the fireplace to be lit and heated up. Ye Tang felt stiff all over and wanted to walk a bit before returning to her bedchamber—not to mention building up her strength, at least to warm her body.
“Very well, Your Highness.”
Amber steadily supported Ye Tang, her expression carrying an indescribable gentleness.
She had already realized that the queen truly loved the princess. And the princess truly admired the queen. This pair of mother and daughter without blood ties got along so well that she and her own mother felt inferior by comparison.
The nights in Castellion were terribly cold. Ye Tang felt as if knives scraped across her face the moment she stepped into the courtyard. Amber originally wanted Ye Tang to wait by the window while she picked the flowers in the courtyard herself, but Ye Tang still stepped into the courtyard.
This was the place Marinfield wanted to come to but could not.
“Then, Your Highness, please wait here for a moment. I will go get the pruning shears and basket from the gardener!”
When it came to picking flowers, Amber refused to let the queen, whose ten fingers had never touched spring water, touch roses that might have thorns. Ye Tang could not win against Amber, so they agreed that she would select the roses while Amber picked them.
The moon poked its pointed head out from under the clouds. Ye Tang stood amid the flowerbeds bathed in moonlight, her fingers brushing over the intensely blooming, vividly colored roses.
Castellion’s roses were beautiful; they could bloom even in icy blizzards. However, the thorns on these unusually vibrant roses were also extremely sharp. Ye Tang had not even touched the rose stems—her finger merely brushed a leaf—and it was cut.
Ye Tang, whose left arm was wrapped like a rice dumpling, looked at her finger gushing blood and sighed faintly.
In this state, how was she supposed to pull out a handkerchief to press on the wound and stop the bleeding? When Amber returned, she would probably look at her tearfully again, blaming her with her eyes for not listening.
“…Your Highness the Queen?”
The sound of armor came from behind her.
Ye Tang had not yet turned around when the other party strode over quickly. He seemed to notice that her right hand was raised in the air in an unnatural position.
Kay had just finished a day of guarding and was preparing to return from the castle to his lodgings in the city. He spotted a figure in the courtyard from afar and approached warily. He discovered that the figure was none other than the gravely injured queen.
“Lord Osley.”
His green eyes were as fresh and verdant as jade, a color that reminded Ye Tang of Cinderella. This made her unable to help but gaze at the knight’s eyes a little longer.
“Your Highness, you can call me by name directly—‘Kay.’”
Marinfield was tall, but Kay was even taller. Standing before Ye Tang, he was like a living wall of flesh.
“What happened to your hand?”
“Nothing. I just got scratched by a leaf.”
Ye Tang did not plan to trouble Kay to treat her, but she also did not hurriedly hide her dripping finger.
“Forgive my rudeness, Your Highness.”
Kay knelt on one knee before her. He used his own handkerchief to tightly bind Ye Tang’s finger and stop the bleeding for her.
Her finger stung with pain, but Ye Tang did not cry out. She always felt this conversation seemed a bit familiar.
“By the way, my lord, that day when there was a little misunderstanding between His Majesty and me in the princess’s bedchamber, it was also you who stopped my bleeding, right? Thank you, my lord. Is there anything you want? If it is within my power, I will fulfill any request of yours.”
A little misunderstanding?
Kay found the queen’s description truly hard to comment on. That day, the queen’s blood would not stop flowing; it not only stained the princess’s bed linens red but also soaked his cloak.
The queen rapidly lost temperature in his arms, her pale face as ghostly white as a specter.
That incident had not only left a psychological shadow on him but was also something he could not forget for a short time. Yet the queen called it just “a little misunderstanding” between her and the king?
“No need, Your Highness. Serving the royal family loyally is the duty and responsibility of us knights. …For that matter, His Majesty has already rewarded me.”
After bandaging Ye Tang’s finger, Kay stood up again. Ye Tang had to tilt her head back once more.
“Oh…? A reward? What reward did His Majesty give you, my lord?”
Ye Tang had not known that Osborne I would reward Kay for stopping her bleeding.
“…Gold coins and jewels. Probably about two chests’ worth.”
“I see. Then tomorrow, I will have the maids send you three chests of gold coins and jewels.”
“Your Highness—”
“No need to refuse, my lord. His Majesty is His Majesty, and I am me. You saved my life, and I consider my life quite valuable.”
With that, Ye Tang waved her hand. “You may withdraw, my lord.”
Kay could only obey. He saluted Ye Tang and soon left the courtyard.
Ye Tang then turned toward Amber, who was hiding behind a large tree in the courtyard and did not dare to come out, and said, “You can come out now.”
“Eek! S-Sorry, Your Highness! I did not mean to peep!”
Amber trembled in fear, worried that she had stumbled upon a scene she should not see.
“It is fine. Next time, no need to peep. If you want to watch, just watch openly.”
Not to mention that there was nothing between Ye Tang and Kay. Even if there were, Ye Tang would not care if people saw or reported it—if she liked someone, she would be with that person openly and aboveboard. She would do her utmost to remove any obstacles or resistance.
Amber, holding baskets in both hands with pruning shears inside one, blushed at Ye Tang’s words.
Kay had not failed to notice Amber hiding behind the tree, so he quickly understood that the queen had dismissed him to make it convenient for Amber to come out.
Thinking of the queen standing alone under the moonlight, he suddenly wanted to have a drink.
…
“Huh? Isn’t that Kay? Why are you here too!”
With the moon high in the treetops, it was the time when the tavern began to liven up. Eric spotted Kay the moment he entered through the door.
“It is Lord Osley!!”
Kay’s looks and physique were top-class even among knights; the dancers had been coveting him for a long time. The moment they saw him, they swarmed over madly, sticking to him like malt sugar.
Kay was already accustomed to not resisting the dancers—if he did not resist, the dancers would push and shove each other, pull and tug, and he would not suffer too badly. But if he resisted, the dancers would set aside their differences, pin him down together, and not release him until they had covered his face in lipstick marks.
After greeting Eric, Kay glanced toward the stairs. “Eric, about that matter from before—”
Eric immediately sobered up. While telling the tavern owner, “George! Lend me the second floor!” he pulled out a handful of silver coins and tossed them toward the dancers.
“Tonight’s drinks are on me!”
The dancers clapped joyfully, everyone scrambling to pick up the silver coins on the floor. The tavern filled with laughter and cheers, and the exotic music played even more fervently.
Only the second floor, where Kay and Eric were, became much quieter. Eric poured Kay a glass of wine before sitting down at the table.
“It was Zogo.”
“The knights in the city sent a hawk message, but Zogo received it and did not inform the queen or princess that the princess had suddenly fallen ill.”
Eric rubbed his face. “Zogo is a knight with a baronet title… I really cannot understand why he would do such a thing! What benefit does creating a rift between His Majesty and Her Highness the Queen bring him?”
“There are benefits, of course.”
What Kay recalled was not the queen’s stunningly beautiful face, but the fragile body that had shielded the princess from Osborne I’s sword in an instant—a body so delicate it seemed it would shatter at a touch.
This was not a body capable of bearing the kingdom’s heirs.
“If His Majesty does not get close to Her Highness the Queen, she cannot bear his heirs. The princess will become the next queen of Castellion.”
Eric’s pupils shrank. “You mean—”
“If the princess dies young, Castellion’s throne… no, probably Castellion itself will cease to exist.”
With that, Kay drained his glass of wine.
Letting out a groan almost like a whimper of pain, Eric slumped and covered his face with both hands. “…In the end, just what about Her Highness the Queen is His Majesty dissatisfied with? Even just for that face, he should have ten or eight children with her! Anyway, if it were me, I would do it!”
Kay, drinking alone, simply dispensed with the glass and took the bottle directly.
“Eric, you have seen the portrait of the former queen, right?”
“Of course. The castle is full of portraits of Queen Freya everywhere. …Ahh, it is unbearable. Having his current wife right there, yet filling the entire home with portraits of his ex-wife.”
Kay shot Eric a sidelong glance. “You are drunk.”
Eric huffed. “So what? What does that have to do with Queen Freya?”
“It does.”
Kay, who had been by Osborne I’s side for a long time, quietly revealed the root cause of Marinfield and Osborne I’s unhappy marriage.
“His Majesty only loves girls of fifteen or sixteen. I was fortunate enough to be present when Saint Ruby sent the portrait of Her Highness the Queen. The girl in the painting looked exactly like a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl… and she resembled Queen Freya greatly.”
Eric nearly spat out the wine in his mouth. He coughed violently for a good while before barely managing to say, “You don’t mean…?”
“That is exactly the ‘you don’t mean.’”
Kay sighed. “On the day Her Highness the Queen married into Castellion, the moment His Majesty saw her, he knew she was not the girl in the portrait. But Saint Ruby is a great power and did not demand lavish betrothal gifts from Castellion; Saint Ruby gained no benefit from deceiving Castellion. Unless—”
Eric tilted his head; he had already guessed most of it. “Unless?”
“Unless the queen was no longer a virgin and had already borne a bastard child. The queen’s reputation was too poor to marry into other great powers, so she was married off to Castellion.”
“His Majesty believes he was deceived by Saint Ruby and by the queen. However, for the sake of the nation, he cannot publicize that he was deceived. Otherwise, if he angers Saint Ruby and they retaliate by claiming they graciously married off their princess only for His Majesty to slander her, then march on Castellion… it would be a catastrophic disaster for Castellion.”