Youngster’s Name
The imperial palace’s carriage team starting from the imperial palace was a magnificent sight to behold. The crowds on either side of the road scattered flower petals. Truth be told, the crowd didn’t have a deep impression of Vera. The citizens didn’t view the succession of the throne as a very important event. There just happened to be all sorts of negative criticisms of Queen Vera from the beginning, which left the people, particularly younger people, distrustful of her. After the last attack, where Vera didn’t panic and handled it appropriately, people began to change their opinion of her.
It was safe to assume the previous criticisms were deliberately fabricated. Plenty of claims previously made about Queen Vera were groundless. She never had the energy to deal with the rumours, but she grew mindful of them to a degree. She, consequently, began to reduce their impact. She also apprehended those who disseminated false rumours, which improved the environment and status quo considerably. For that reason, the citizens were eager to see the Queen.
Despite Queen Vera waving at her citizens with a smile, her attention wasn’t on enjoying the vanity and pride she could derive from them. She was preoccupied with contemplating how to harmonise her relationship with the church. The church was bound to be infuriated with her as a result of her actions at the coronation ceremony. Additionally, if the church gained too much influence, they’d become a threat to her rule. Hence, she considered striking while the iron was hot.
The youngster sped up to reach to close the distance between Queen Vera’s carriage and him. He quietly spoke out to Queen Vera: “Your Majesty, are you worried about something?”
Queen Vera continued waving to the people with a smile as she responded, “As a Queen there is, indeed, too much to handle. Even so, it’s nothing major in comparison to the danger we’re in right now. In saying that, I do need to form a team of tacticians or something similar. The things I’ll need to be busy with in the future will be things I should do as the Queen; therefore, there’s no need to consider it suffering.”
“That sounds tough, Your Majesty. It is fine, though, as I will be there to protect you.”
“Shouldn’t you be protecting the four sisters right now, though? Your current job is to protect the sisters. If the four sisters get hurt today, we can forget thinking about the future.”
“That is true…”
The youngster grumpily retreated back to the side of the horse carriage behind Queen Vera’s. He vigilantly watched the people around. Somebody could charge over at any moment, and it was just as probable for a sniper to fire a shot from the darkness somewhere. Nona poked her head out to wave at the crowd, an action that was dangerous regardless of the tight guard formation. If there were assassins, she’d fall first.
Vera pulled Nona by her shoulder and sighed: “If I were you, I’d get back in here. That’s too dangerous, don’t you think? Nona, as your sister, I must remind you that, if there are assassins around right now, you’d be the easiest to pick off. You’re essentially asking them to attack you.”
“What are you talking about? Aren’t there guards? Since Miss Ying and the youngster are here, why do I have to be careful?”
“You’re a bodyguard’s nightmare,” commented Vera, with a sigh.
Liu Yue sat at the window on the other side. She gazed outside with her chin resting on her hand: “This is quite the grand scene. I must admit I’ve never seen such a scene before besides at Hilles City. Dad has never held such an event. I suppose it would be similar if Dad did hold event similar to this. It sure is nice.”
Vera shook her head: “Dad won’t do that. Dad doesn’t like these sorts of occasions. I assume he considers it detrimental to the people and a waste of money.”
Liu Yue shut the window and faced back to her sisters: “That sounds like Dad. Sister Freya organised all of the events we’ve conducted. I really want to experience it in the North for once. We might feel more invested into it. I must admit that, although there are lots of people and we’re in a foreign country, I’m not happy in the least. How about we have a chat? Let’s talk about… Oh, right, do you remember the youngster’s name?”
Nona , clueless, titled her head: “The youngster’s name? I don’t think he ever told us.”
“I don’t recall, either.” Daisy, too, shook her head even though she had interacted with the youngster a fair bit because she’d ask him to fence with her whenever she was free.
Liu Yue shifted her attention to her eldest sister: “Vera, do you remember?”
Liu Yue thought Vera might remember as the latter had a terrific memory. Unfortunately, Vera shook her head: “I honestly can’t remember. Compared to Dad, his existence is much less significant. He didn’t do anything particularly noble for us during the last attack, either, so you can’t hold it against me.”
That was when the youngster looked at the four sisters’ carriage with a helpless smile: “When you’re discussing such an upsetting topic, can you shut the windows so that I don’t hear?”
Nona asked Liu Yue, “So, do you remember, Liu Yue?”
“Mm…”
His name was Larya Polites. He mentioned it when he met her father for the first time. Liu Yue remembered it. Though she was just curious at the time, she never had the chance to address him by his name again. She supported her face in her hand. She glanced over to the youngster, who didn’t care, on his horse. She softly laughed: “I’ve forgotten, as well. What was it again? Something… Something Polites?”
“It’s Larya…”
The youngster sighed then tugged the reins. He refocused his attention on his surroundings. He focused all of his attention on Liu Yue when she spoke. As a bodyguard, he was supposed to focus his attention on his surroundings. He, himself, was surprised he was swayed. He was disappointed with himself, but he was still somewhat happy to know that she remembered his surname.
The carriage slowly made a turn. They prepared to cross a section between two tall buildings, which was also the riskiest part of the route. There were more people on both sides than ideally. If they were caught front and rear in a pincer attack, they’d be in a pinch. So accordingly, the guard team switched their formation. They refocused the majority of the team in the front and rear to ensure that, even if they were caught in a pincer attack, they had sufficient combat power to eliminate the obstacles.
Queen Vera shut the carriage window. She sat back inside. With a smile, she commented, “Oh… This place. How could they attack from here? It’s true it’s an ideal location for an attack, but it’s far too obvious.”
Glossary
*Larya Polites – Pronounced “Lar-ya Po-lee-tis”
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