Chapter 12
Daniela still felt awkward calling herself a queen, so she explained her position in a different way.
As long as the meaning got across, she thought, that was enough.
The maid who had been called “miss” jumped in surprise and answered,
“I—I’m Mera! I’ll be serving Your Majesty!”
“Alright, Mera. You don’t have to be so nervous. Why don’t you sit somewhere comfortably?”
The bedroom, as large as the entire house Daniela had bought when she first received her title, was filled with plush sofas and several chairs.
She thought Mera would choose one of them, but the moment Daniela told her to sit, Mera plopped straight down onto the floor.
“……”
No, that wasn’t what she meant.
Daniela paused for a moment, wondering how she could help the girl relax. Then, instead of ordering her to get up and sit on a chair, she sat down beside her on the floor.
“Eek!”
“Eek?”
Mera screamed without realizing it, and Daniela echoed her in mock surprise.
‘She’s cute.’
Mera, unaware of Daniela’s thoughts, stammered in embarrassment.
“Y-Your Majesty, you can’t sit here.”
“Why not? You’re sitting here, aren’t you?”
“I-I-I’m just…”
‘She’s going to faint at this rate.’
Resting her chin in her hand, Daniela smiled gently and tried to calm her.
“I’m perfectly comfortable, so don’t worry. More importantly, why don’t you tell me about yourself, Mera?”
Blushing deeply, Mera replied, still stumbling over her words.
“W-What would you like to know?”
Now seated properly in a chair, Mera was chatting excitedly.
Her earlier nervousness seemed ridiculous now. It turned out she was an incredible chatterbox.
No longer afraid of the queen, she even slapped the table with her palm as she delivered her conclusion.
“So! The best pastry chef is Lady Regina! Sir Jed stole her recipes, I’m telling you!”
“Oh? My adjutant’s name is Jed too. Sounds like a swindler.”
“Oh no! Fire him immediately!”
Daniela burst out laughing, and Mera grew even more excited.
The stories themselves weren’t particularly special or interesting, but Daniela listened as if they were the most fascinating tales in the world.
Encouraged, Mera kept going. She had completely forgotten how frightened she’d been about serving a queen with a bad reputation.
“And the best theater is on Rudel Street! Eating Miss Gina’s desserts and then watching a play in Rudel is something you absolutely have to do in the capital!”
Since Daniela seemed especially curious about Crovich’s specialties and tourist spots, Mera enthusiastically listed famous places.
At the mention of plays, Daniela’s eyes lit up.
“What kind of play is popular?”
“Oh, that’s easy! Of course, ‘The Battle of Dren Gorge’—ah!”
Mera suddenly turned pale and clapped a hand over her mouth.
‘I was warned so many times to fix my talkative habit once I entered the palace… and now my big mouth has caused a disaster.’
She hurriedly covered her lips, blaming herself while sneaking glances at Daniela. The queen already looked like she had realized something.
“The Battle of Dren Gorge” was a play based on a real battle between Crovich and the Frost Kingdom.
In it, the enemy commander, Daniela Nark, was portrayed as arrogant, foolish, and ridiculously comical.
And that very Daniela Nark was now the queen—sitting right in front of her.
Remembering the content, Mera wondered if she should throw herself on the ground and beg for forgiveness, but her body was frozen in fear.
Finally, Daniela spoke.
“Dren Gorge is a familiar place to me… Is it about ‘that battle’ I took part in?”
Mera stiffly nodded before forcing herself to answer.
“Y-Yes.”
“Really? Sounds interesting. I’ll go watch it sometime.”
‘Oh no! This is terrifying! If Her Majesty watches that play, I’ll be executed for insulting the royal family! My whole family too!’
Mera was on the verge of tears.
“I-I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I don’t think you should watch it. It was written by people who don’t know you at all… and it was made when we were still at war with the Frost Kingdom… and… and you’re the villain in it…”
Seeing Mera speak through sobs, Daniela replied gently, as if trying to soothe her.
“It’s fine. I can be the villain sometimes.”
Mera finally burst into tears.
She thought the queen could only say that because she hadn’t actually seen the play. Maybe she imagined herself as a cool, charismatic antagonist.
But in reality, the Daniela Nark in that play was a truly horrible person.
If the queen ever watched it, Mera was sure she would never be forgiven for even mentioning it.
Fortunately for her, the flustered queen said,
“Alright. Then I won’t watch that play. I promise.”
Because there was such a thing as a “harmless lie,” Daniela later declared confidently,
“So, we’re going to see that play.”
Jed shot her a look.
“That’s the play about the battle we lost miserably, isn’t it? What’s the point of watching it? To relive bad memories?”
“It’s not pleasant, but it’s not that bad either. At least we didn’t lose because of our own mistakes. The noble who caused the trouble paid the price.”
“Hm… that’s true.”
Jed nodded.
The battle had been ruined because a noble who came from the capital to “help” had refused to follow Daniela’s orders, claiming his higher status, and caused chaos.
And their opponent had been terrifying.
Even now, whenever Jed saw the Crovich royal banner, he got goosebumps.
Wherever that flag flew, their nightmares followed.
Benjamin Alexander Rodinia.
The fact that this nightmare was now her superior’s husband—living a disturbingly sweet newlywed life—still felt unreal.
As Jed was lost in thought, Daniela continued,
“It’ll also help me understand how much, and in what ways, people here hate me. I need to know reality if I’m going to plan how to live here.”
Jed looked indifferent—until she added,
“And… don’t you want to see a play where I’m the villain?”
“Let’s go right now. Where is it?”
His sudden change of attitude left Daniela speechless.
Anyway, having secured a reliable companion, she checked the map again so they could quickly leave the castle and reach the theater.
Fortunately, the capital was well organized, so memorizing the map wasn’t difficult.
The real problem was—
“Do we really have to sneak in and out like thieves? You’re the queen, you know.”
Sneaking out of the castle was the hard part.
Still, many parts of the castle weren’t fully secured yet, and there weren’t many guards. It was doable.
“Do you want to go with a long line of escorts while advertising that I’m going to watch a play that insults me? Do you think the performance would even go on?”
“Well… when you put it that way…”
Leaving behind Jed’s muttering, Daniela jumped down from her balcony and disappeared into the darkness.
‘She doesn’t look like someone who just recovered from serious injuries…’
Jed, still unable to accept that she could no longer wield a sword, stopped complaining and hurried after her, watching her confident figure as always.
The small theater performing The Battle of Dren Gorge was hidden behind a shabby tavern in a back alley.
After looking around suspiciously, Jed said,
“You really know places like this… How does someone who should’ve been resting in bed for weeks know about spots like this?”
He looked ready to start lecturing her.
Not wanting to admit how often she had snuck out of her room, Daniela cut him off.
“They sell food here. Looks like you can eat inside. Want some snacks?”
“You eat them yourself, Lady Daniela. More importantly, don’t wander around secretly anymore! If something dangerous happens now, you…”
You can’t fight anymore.
Jed swallowed the words he almost said.
