Episode 12
I thought it would’ve been easier if he just got angry at me, but that wasn’t the case.
And a little while later, he ended up agreeing to what I’d said.
It wasn’t the outcome I wanted, so I stood there momentarily speechless, just staring at him.
But the king misunderstood completely, thinking I was overwhelmed with gratitude.
“You must’ve really needed that money. I’m sorry I didn’t realize it sooner, Hestia.”
“…Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Not knowing what to say, I mumbled a vague reply and left the room.
The king asked if I’d like to dine with him, but I told him I wasn’t feeling well.
He asked if my wound had healed, and I replied that it still needed more time.
“The shallow ones have healed, but the deep ones… they seem to linger, Your Majesty.”
“I see. That can’t be helped.”
Fortunately, he didn’t insist on checking my wounds himself.
If it had been Lotron, he wouldn’t have shown any mercy—he would’ve unwrapped the bandages and inspected the injuries with his own eyes.
When I stepped outside, Beatrice was waiting for me and came running up.
“Your Majesty, what did he say?”
“He agreed to it.”
“What?”
Beatrice looked troubled.
“So… what will you do now?”
“For now, I’m going to spend that money like there’s no tomorrow. I’ll splurge so ridiculously that people will say I’ve lost my mind.”
“Ah… Well, that would certainly make your case more convincing.”
Even though I didn’t feel right about it, especially when the people were struggling, I was growing increasingly desperate to escape the palace as soon as possible.
“Should we hit every boutique in the capital, then, my lady?”
“Dresses won’t be enough.”
“Then what are you planning to buy?”
I remembered Beatrice saying that Lotron’s duchy wasn’t even worth fifty thousand fairs.
“I’m going to buy land. Someone has to be selling an estate. I’ll say I’m building a vacation retreat and buy it at a ridiculous price. Then people will say the dim-witted queen got duped into buying worthless land. That gossip will reach the king too.”
“I hope it works out.”
“Can you ask Kasia for help, Beatrice?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. The branch leader knows more about that sort of thing.”
Beatrice sent someone to fetch Kasia and relayed the message that I was looking for land.
Even though Beatrice trusted Kasia, she couldn’t tell her everything—there were too many critical secrets involved.
Because of that, the conversation with Kasia kept going off track.
Kasia wanted to help us buy a piece of land for a reasonable price, but Beatrice insisted on purchasing something at a ridiculously high price, and that was the problem.
Since Kasia couldn’t possibly know why we were doing this, she kept asking Beatrice to clarify what exactly we were looking for.
In the end, Beatrice said we wanted a terrible piece of land, and Kasia seemed to be trying hard to make sense of it.
She found land that suited our request and said we could buy it for fifty thousand fairs. In fact, since the lord was in a tight spot, we might be able to get it for thirty-five thousand.
I said I understood, and then added all the money I had to pay fifty thousand for the land.
I thought all that was left now was for the rumors to spread and for my divorce petition to finally be accepted.
Beatrice and I took a few knights with us and went to see the land for ourselves. It was so useless that even I was left speechless.
“You couldn’t even farm here. There’s barely any grass or trees. What could you possibly do with this land?”
“Exactly. There are barely any residents either. If it were me, I’d build a massive prison here and offer to house prisoners from all the other estates. That’s probably the only way to make money from it.”
Beatrice said this after inspecting every corner of the land.
It was perfect for our goal.
The knights, however, were worried we’d been scammed and insisted we cancel the contract immediately.
“Your Majesty, the rumors are already spreading. That you bought a wasteland for fifty thousand fairs. The Duke of Maiderne already has a bad reputation, and now people are lumping you in with him. If the land isn’t urgent, perhaps it would be better to wait before purchasing, Your Majesty.”
They were now genuinely concerned for me and offered such advice.
“No one knows what’ll happen in the future. Who knows? Maybe there’s a gold mine under this land.”
I said this, hoping they’d see me as foolish.
Who would’ve guessed…
That there actually was a gold mine there?
Damn it.
These days, I was unintentionally sweeping through high society.
They’d given me the nickname of a financial genius who’d pulled off a bold, unbelievable investment. I was being invited to parties everywhere.
Why is it that nothing ever goes the way I want?
One good thing: while returning from checking out the gold mine site in shock, I got into a minor accident and broke my leg and arm.
Normally, that wouldn’t be considered good news—but in a situation where the king was hovering, waiting for a chance to pounce, it was the best possible outcome.
I was dragging around my broken limbs, attending parties because staying in the palace meant the king would constantly show up or summon me—and I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Beatrice, you know what’s good about having a broken leg?”
“That no one asks you to dance, Your Majesty.”
“Exactly. No one asks me to dance.”
“But even knowing you can’t dance, why are they all so desperate to invite you, Your Majesty?”
“Because I’m the rising star of the kingdom. Unfortunately.”
“That’s true.”
“What’s harder is unexpectedly running into His Majesty at these events.”
“You truly suffer so much, Your Majesty. It almost worked this time too. Why did there have to be a gold mine there?”
Beatrice and I kept chatting as we devoured the finger food laid out before us.
Originally, the chief lady-in-waiting wouldn’t have been allowed to attend these functions, but because I was injured and always had Beatrice by my side, most invitations started to include her too.
By now, we even knew which venue had the best chefs.
Beatrice and I got along so well that we never stopped talking.
“Being here is strangely relaxing. It’s nice to see handsome men.”
“Your Majesty likes handsome men too? His Majesty is quite good-looking, you know. I thought you just hated men in general.”
“That’s not it. I’m just not attracted unless he’s my man.”
“But His Majesty is your man, Your Majesty.”
Beatrice replied like she didn’t quite understand what I meant, and I decided I’d said enough.
It was something she probably couldn’t understand.
“So what will you do now, Your Majesty?”
While Beatrice spoke, countless young noblemen approached to offer me drinks.
They didn’t ask me to dance, but they could at least share a drink and chat, so I sat there enjoying the eye candy.
One nice thing about a novel setting: since characters only needed a few lines of description to exist, unless specifically written to be ugly, most people were good-looking.
There were a few who stood out more than others—one of the reasons I’d been going to parties so often lately.
“Beatrice, with the gold mine, the land plot plan is ruined. I might as well become a free spirit now.”
Even before Beatrice came into the picture, the king had cheated countless times—bringing noblewomen and ladies-in-waiting into the palace and his bedchamber.
So I had no qualms about doing the same.
Besides, he wasn’t even truly my husband. If he wouldn’t grant me a divorce, I had no reason to stay faithful.
“Then did Your Majesty marry the king without any love at all?”
Beatrice’s question made me answer yes.
“Didn’t you have anyone in mind before marrying the king?”
“I didn’t. What about you, Beatrice?”
I asked lightly, only to realize it was a question I never should’ve asked casually.
Considering what Beatrice had gone through, and what had happened in her kingdom… she never had that choice.
