Chapter 17
No one came to check if I was actually taking my medicine, so I managed to endure without taking it.
Though I didn’t have a personal physician anymore, people from the Royal Medical Office still came to observe my condition regularly.
At first, the king would come in person or send his maids to check on me. But eventually, he stopped coming altogether.
That was a relief.
Thinking he had finally lost interest and that all that remained was to get his seal on the divorce papers, I smiled in satisfaction.
It seemed like the Royal Medical Office was secretly investigating my physician’s whereabouts.
They claimed that if he had disappeared for the reason I mentioned, he would have at least given them a heads-up.
They wanted to know exactly what he had said to me before he vanished, but I had no intention of telling them.
So I repeated the same vague explanation I had given to the king’s maids.
They didn’t seem satisfied with my answer, but they had no grounds to press me further.
My breathing and pulse were both poor, and it was clear none of them wanted to take on the role of my new physician. They were all desperate to avoid that responsibility like a game of hot potato.
“Will I survive?”
Whenever I asked, no one could give me a definite answer.
I figured it was to be expected.
Beatrice diligently kept tabs on the king’s sentiments.
She told me that while the king had once been curious about my condition, he was now focusing solely on state affairs.
“Really? That’s good. Then go tell His Majesty that I wish to see him.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Beatrice said with a bright smile.
It seemed she thought things were finally getting underway.
Beatrice, who had gone to deliver my message to the king, returned before long.
But she came back alone, and her expression was troubled.
“What’s wrong, Beatrice?”
“I wasn’t even allowed inside, Your Highness. The king’s maids told me not to come near and that if you wanted to say something, to write a letter and leave it at the gate of your palace. They would deliver it to him.”
She looked angry.
“This is a good thing. It’s what I hoped for, after all. So cheer up, Beatrice.”
“I know, but… still, it’s upsetting to see His Majesty treat you this way.”
I smiled at her words.
“Yes, I understand. Thank you.”
Seeing me smile, Beatrice chuckled softly.
“Your Highness, you’re really not in pain, right? We’ll be able to leave here soon, won’t we?”
“Yes. It’s almost over. Just a little longer.”
Beatrice then wrote a letter, conveying my desire for divorce, and delivered it the way the king had requested.
There was no response for two days.
In the meantime, a few of the king’s maids came to check on me again.
My face hadn’t improved; instead, it had become grotesquely swollen, puffed up like a balloon.
When they saw me, they recoiled in horror, and after that, the king never came to see me again.
Beatrice continued to monitor the palace’s atmosphere and reported everything to me. One day, she brought shocking news.
Beatrice couldn’t hide her surprise when she brought the news.
“What is it, Beatrice? What happened?”
“Your Highness… the Duke… escaped. He broke out of prison.”
“Escaped?”
I stared at her in disbelief.
“How is that even possible?”
I asked, but then realized Beatrice wasn’t the one I should be asking.
I had only considered the security of the prison itself, forgetting that prisons were also managed by people.
That was a foolish oversight.
With so much bribery and corruption, it wasn’t hard to imagine the guards were paid off too.
The more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed.
It was a deeply worrying development.
I knew all too well how cruel Rotron could be, so I was particularly on edge.
The king didn’t scare me.
I couldn’t oppose his will because of his overwhelming power, but I didn’t believe he would actually harm me.
I feared he might try to force himself on me out of lust, but I never thought he would strike me.
Rotron, however, was different.
I knew he was capable of anything. That’s why hearing he’d escaped filled me with dread.
“We have to be careful, Your Highness. If the Duke has vanished, he could show up here. I doubt there’s anyone he doesn’t have a connection to.”
I nodded at Beatrice’s words.
In the end, something I didn’t want to happen was now a real possibility.
“Maybe this could actually work in our favor. Because of this, His Majesty might hurry the divorce.”
No one could predict how things would unfold, but I tried to remain optimistic.
Beatrice and I waited quietly, wondering how the king and the nobles would react to the Duke’s escape.
Within days, we sensed a noticeable shift in atmosphere.
As rumors of the Duke’s disappearance spread, some nobles close to the king began to feel a sense of crisis. Voices began to rise, insisting that the position of queen must not be left vacant.
Some suggested that now, while Rotron was still missing and unable to act, was the perfect chance to install a new queen—specifically, the daughter of a leading noble from the king’s faction.
Since I was clearly too ill to fulfill my queenly duties and had already petitioned for divorce, people saw this as a perfect opportunity and pushed hard for it.
Even the king didn’t remain lukewarm for long.
Beatrice moved even more busily, bringing me updates each time with hopeful eyes.
She probably looked dejected and downcast outside, but whenever she came back into the room, her expression brightened.
“Your Highness, I think it’ll be accepted soon. The nobles backing the king are pressuring him more and more every day, and it looks like he no longer has any lingering feelings for you. If we’d known this method would work, we should’ve done it earlier.”
“Yes. I’m glad. But it’s not over yet, so let’s wait a bit longer.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
We waited for news from the king.
If I could just hear those words—that he accepted the divorce—I would want for nothing more.
And finally, the message arrived.
Not only did the king agree to the divorce, but he also officially deposed me from my position as queen. Though he said I deserved to be severely punished for the Duke’s crimes, he claimed to spare me out of consideration for my terminal illness.
The more harshly the king rejected me, the happier I became.
There was no need to describe how joyful Beatrice and I were upon receiving that news.
The king forbade me from taking any belongings when I left the palace.
He claimed he wouldn’t punish me directly but would sell all my possessions to help the poor, though everyone knew that was a blatant lie.
Fortunately, my actual wealth was with the Jeifron Merchant Guild, and my estate remained untouched. Even the king couldn’t bring himself to seize my lands.
“I thought he’d take the estate too. This is unexpected, Your Highness.”
Beatrice seemed to have thought the same.
“Right? I’m sure he wanted to, but my father must’ve held him back.”
“That could be it.”
In any case, I left the palace having successfully divorced the king, and I managed to keep most of my lands and money.
As a deposed queen, I had no servants or attendants.
But I couldn’t imagine a better outcome.
The only one who remained by my side was Beatrice. Without even a carriage, we had to leave with a single sickly horse.
People came out to watch us from a distance.
The king’s faction likely saw it as a victory, while the nobles aligned with Rotron probably had complicated thoughts.
They knew I opposed them, but with Rotron missing, they likely realized they needed me to rally their forces.
They might’ve considered placing someone else at the center, but no one had enough influence to rival mine. So unifying under another person would’ve been difficult.
Beatrice and I had to work hard to maintain sorrowful expressions.
As we emerged from the palace in this awkward atmosphere, a carriage awaited us.
Emblazoned with the Jeifron family crest.
Before we even recognized the emblem, Count Jeifron and his sons had already stepped out to greet us.
A deposed queen.
They must’ve known how this public gesture would be perceived, yet they showed no concern at all.
“From now on, we will serve you, Your Highness.”
Count Jeifron greeted me first. Then Kassia approached to inspect my condition.
My face still looked grotesque—swollen and distorted enough to make people recoil.
But Kassia only looked stricken with grief, as if she might burst into tears. She didn’t turn away in disgust.
Count Jeifron also wore a pained expression, like a father looking at a sick child, and the others around him showed sympathy.
Though they couldn’t completely hide the look of revulsion, I couldn’t blame them.
Even I would wince at the sight of my face, so how could I fault others for reacting that way?
