“What are you looking at, Nier?”
“Ah, Your Majesty!”
Nier quickly went to stand up, but the Empress waved her hand then pressed it on Nier’s shoulder and said, “You don’t need to get up, Nier. Your well-being is more important right now. Are you feeling all right? If there are any problems, you must notify the doctor. If you can’t handle it, I’ll, personally, send you back.”
“I am all right. I am well. You do not need to worry, Your Majesty.” Nier shook her head, and then sat down to the side before gently stroking her tummy. The Empress sat down next to her and stroked Nier’s hand with an affectionate smile. She asked, “You just looked in the Prince’s direction, didn’t you? What’s wrong? Do you miss him?”
“Uhm… Tonight is a full-moon night so I am slightly worried for him…”
“It’ll be all right. Luna is with him. I don’t like that elf, but she can help him on full-moon nights.”
Elizabeth stroked Nier’s head, and then gave her a kiss on her forehead. In an affectionate tone, she said, “I am most worried about you right now, Nier. You are pregnant with my son’s child, who is also my grandchild. I never experienced raising a child. I’m eagerly waiting for the day your child is born. You must let me have a good look when your child is born.”
“Uhm, but… I will definitely give birth later than that woman by a bit.”
“That doesn’t matter. I don’t care about that sort of stuff. I believe my son won’t mind either. Take care of yourself, Nier. I remember you came with me for the last hunting event, right? You came as my bodyguard that time, though. This time you’re here as a member of the royal family. How do you feel?”
Nier shyly smiled. She then looked at Her Majesty and replied, “I am very grateful to you for giving me an opportunity to be by His Majesty’s side. Honestly, I do not feel a certain way about money or status… As a matter of fact, I do not know what to buy nor do I know how my life will be different. Instead, of saying that I am a member of the royal family, I consider myself His Majesty’s wife……”
“That makes sense. You were a Valkyrie in the past, after all.” Elizabeth gave her a pat on her shoulder then sighed and looked outside. She lamented, “Perhaps it was wrong for me to refuse to let you be with my son back then. You wouldn’t have had to go through that if I wasn’t selfish and prejudiced against you and had let you be with my son.”
“It does not matter, Your Majesty. I never felt I was suffering. After all, that was also the most important phase His Majesty and I had to go through to be together. If His Majesty did not put his life on the line to rescue me that time, I would not be aware of His Majesty’s love for me. It was precisely because I saw His Majesty’s expression that I had the courage to confess my feelings.”
“Hehe, I’m surprised to hear that my fearless Nier was once afraid. Love can truly make one happy. I experienced it back then and understand that heart throbbing feeling. I dared to fight with anyone back then, but didn’t even dare to give my husband a biscuit.” Elizabeth chuckled softly as she recalled her memories. She then stood up, “It’s getting late now. I won’t torture your ears with my old stories. Nier, rest up early. My son is definitely safest in the royal capital so you don’t need to worry.”
“Uhm, goodnight Your Majesty.”
“Goodnight.”
Nier didn’t know why the Empress shared her past with her. The Empress had always kept a lid on her past. She never once brought up her past, nor did she ever talk about her and Inard, but she took the initiative to share it this time. Maybe it was because Elizabeth had that feeling like she was in love again.
===============
Freya looked at the beauties in front of her, frowned and asked, “Did you find out anything?”
She doesn’t actually think well of the women, probably because they reminded her of her past. Wherever avoidable, she never wanted to recall her past. While it wasn’t as dark as Luna’s, it wasn’t a happy memory, that’s for sure.
She was very reluctant to know these people, but it was her Onii-sama’s order so she had to complete the task.
“This is all we have found out.”
The woman handed Freya a bag. Freya opened it. Inside were all random things that gave her a headache. The women were uneducated, and they were idiots. Freya assumed that there wasn’t anything useful. Ninety percent of the items were likely to be pointless things.
Freya took the items out one by one. They were all random things. Though there was a document, it was a pointless document. Everything else was chest crests and the sort. Other than being able to prove their identities, they were otherwise useless items. There were even gold coins you could find anywhere. The items were truly useless.
Freya soon realised how foolish her idea was. If the Shadow Squad or the monarch’s spies were the ones who investigated it, they’d have something to work with. Unfortunately, trusting these women, who probably don’t know how to read, was futile. The bag wasn’t filled with ninety percent trash. One-hundred percent of the contents were trash.
Freya passed back the bag. She let out a heavy sigh, “The things you found are completely useless. Three days and you didn’t find a single thing worth anything. You didn’t even manage to get anything out of them. I need to report back today. Are you expecting me to return empty handed?”
“Actually, we still have one more thing…”
One of the women hesitated for a moment. She then took out an item from the pouch that she always had on her. It was a small golden box. She hesitated for a moment and explained, “I was actually planning to sell this, so… if you are willing to offer a better price, I’ll give it to you.”
Freya hesitated for a moment. Her expression suddenly changed when she saw the small box. There was a wing print on the box.
‘That’s the Valkyries’ small box. A Valkyries’ small box would never be found outside, so why was it with those vassal states?!’
“Deal! I’ll buy it from you at three-times the price, but you must give me the box right now!!”
Freya placed her wallet into the woman’s hands and quickly took the box to open it. The powder inside suddenly burst into the air. Before Freya could react, her legs went limp, knocking her out on the ground.
“Don’t blame us. They offered us a higher price…”
The women looked at Freya, who was lying on the ground. They giggled amongst each other before searching her to take all of her valuables. They then stripped her, dragged over to dump her in a bin and finally put the lid on.
=========
I looked at the red sun going down. I placed my cup down and said, “It seems that Freya hasn’t returned.”
“It will be all right. Miss Freya will be fine. Your Majesty, it is night time now so you should return to your room first.”
“Uhm, all right.” I nodded then stood up. My body was aching. I walked to my room. I looked at Alice by the door and thanked her, “Thank you, Alice.”
“You need not thank me. It is my duty.”
Previous Chapter l Next Chapter
