Obsessed with Regressors

For a split second, the room felt as if it had stopped. She guessed that wasn’t just her feeling. Because Viscountess Patterson was also frozen. She looked at Viscountess Patterson for a moment. Then she turned her head again to Her Majesty the Queen and said,

 

“It’s just a swimming pool. It’s not worth going into that kind of gossip.”

 

For someone like a queen to put pressure on someone, it has to be something bigger. Swimming with her son could be done even at the royal palace. Building a small swimming pool wouldn’t be that difficult. If a rumor spreads that she pressured a nobleman to share a popular swimming pool with her son, Her Royal Highness becomes a laughing stock. And if she was royalty, she should not be laughed at, even if she was feared.

 

“That’s right, Marion.”

 

As the Queen said this, she turned to Viscountess Patterson. Then the Viscountess bowed her head. It seemed that the queen made this request because she was instigated by Viscountess Patterson. She then turned her head to me and said to her Viscountess:

 

“Go to my room and get it.”

 

At the Queen’s direction, Viscountess Patterson bowed her head once again and she went out. What did she ask her to bring? She was sure she was not trying to scold her. But it seemed that wasn’t the case. Her Royal Highness leaned towards her as Viscountess Patterson left. And with an apologetic look on her face, she smiled and said,

 

“I’m sorry for being unreasonable, Lady Biscon. Marion recommended it so much.”

 

As expected, Viscountess Patterson seemed to have instigated this. However, Her Royal Highness must have lived under a lot of encouragement. Why did she decide to respond to this encouragement only from her?

 

“May I ask why she thought of accepting Viscountess Patterson’s invitation?”

 

She asked as euphemistically as possible. There must be a reason why she followed Viscountess Patterson’s recommendation even though she thought it was far-fetched. The queen paused for a moment at my question, then smiled with an apologetic expression again. Huh. That alone answered why she did that. She tried not to look disappointed and the queen opened her mouth.

 

“I’ll be honest. I was wondering how you would get out of this awkward situation.”

 

To put it simply, it meant that they were testing her. Thanks to her efforts earlier not to look disappointed, she was able to keep a straight face. The queen leaned towards her again and said:

 

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

 

“No, Your Highness.”

 

Words of denial came out of her mouth reflexively. Well, it was said that everyone flatters those who were higher than them to some extent.

 

She said, trying not to sound sarcastic.

 

“As I said before, Your Highness can satisfy your curiosity if you wish.”

 

In other words, she could pressure anyone. Shit. It sounded much sharper than the effort. The queen silenced her mouth for a moment at her words. And she took a sip of tea. She wouldn’t be able to cut off her head like this. They couldn’t even impose visible punishment. Even if a commoner behaved like her just now, you couldn’t punish him for being a little arrogant. But anyway, the other person was a member of the royal family, and there was nothing good about being looked down on by the royal family. She wondered if she should apologize, but decided not to.

 

“Do you know that you have become the center of society these days?”

 

Then, the queen opened her mouth. For a moment, she wondered whether she should react more to her not being angry or to what she meant by what she said.

 

“Me?”

 

The queen smiled at her confused reaction. She leaned towards her and spoke as if she was telling a secret.

 

“I heard your business is doing very well. Everyone is watching you.”

 

Her? She looked at Her Majesty the Queen as if she had told a dull joke. That meant she was hesitating whether to laugh or not.

 

“People’s opinions were divided. Some say it is your business, others say it is Count Burns’ business.”

 

As Her Majesty the Queen continued, she wrinkled her nose and quickly straightened it. Externally, the business is Elliot’s business. But anyone who’s ever been to the pool knew that’s her business.

 

“So I was curious. Whose business is that?”

 

The queen’s honest words relieved her unpleasant mood. It was not easy for a royal to speak so honestly. It meant she respected Eugenie.

 

She asked in a gentle tone.

 

“Did you know whose business it was?”

 

As her attitude softened, the queen’s expression also softened. She said, adjusting her posture.

 

“Your recent actions are very interesting. It’s not that common for a single woman to break off her engagement and go into business.”

 

She realized that she still liked the queen. Her actions were radical and unconventional. Everyone probably thought she was a strange woman. Well, maybe some people would think she was crazy. Women who had been told that they were crazy flashed through her mind. Baroness Kernell, Lady Devon, Lauren and Lord Lannon. What the four people had in common came to mind. No, to be exact, that’s what the three have in common. At that time, Her Royal Highness asked next.

 

“I wonder why you made that choice.”

 

“Because honor is important to me.”

 

She grinned at the queen’s expression as she asked what that meant. Among the nobles, there was no one who did not consider honor important. So, it couldn’t be said that she particularly valued honor.

 

She opened her mouth to explain what she meant. But then, someone knocked on the parlor door. This was Viscountess Patterson. As soon as the Viscountess revealed her name, Her Royal Highness’s expression disappeared. She leaned back on her sofa with her expressionless face and told her viscountess to come in.

 

“I brought you what you said.”

 

In the Viscountess’s hands were two small wooden boxes. What was that? She tried not to show too much curiosity. Meanwhile, the Viscountess placed one of her boxes on the table in front of Her Majesty.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Her Majesty the Queen briefly greeted the Viscountess and then looked at me again. What is that? It looks like a small jewelry box. But Her Majesty the Queen would have no reason to give her jewels.

 

“I cleaned up the butterfly palace not long ago. That’s when I discovered it.”

 

If it were the Butterfly Palace, it was now empty. This is because it was originally a place where the adult princess lived until she got married. The last princess became the queen of Newkirk. The queen pushed her box towards her and nodded her head as if to open it. Are you giving it to me? She carefully opened the box lid.

 

“I heard it was used by Princess Genevieve.”

 

It was a thin bracelet. Well, that’s right. She took one look at her queen and lifted her bracelet. If the princess had used it, she would have been said to be frugal. The chain was so thin that it had several jewels or beads hanging on it.

 

‘Hmm. Cute.’

 

She thought it’s cuter when Julia did it than me. No, wait. She looked at the bracelet to see if anything, but it was just a bead. Her Majesty the Queen also smiled when she saw her attitude.

 

“It’s not jewelry. Except for that one black thing on there.”

 

Among the colorful beads, only one, the black one, appeared to be a gem. She turned her attention to the black gem. Was it a black pearl? Or sapphire? But it was neither. The black beads had little luster. Hmm, she didn’t think she had ever seen a gem like this. Although her family was not rich, she knew how to see jewelry. This meant that it was easy to know whether this was real or fake. But she had never seen a gem like this. The queen said as she observed the black bead as if it were strange.

 

“It’s called a magic stone.”

 

“A magic stone?”

 

What was that? Wait a moment. She had heard it before. She looked at the magic stone, which was smaller than her little fingernail, and quickly placed it in the box. Magic stone. To put it simply, it was a stone that could contain magic. It was said that ordinary jewels could contain magic, but once used, the jewels crack or explode. However, a magic stone could contain magic multiple times. Simply put, it meant that it could be reused. Therefore, magic stones were closer to combat use rather than decoration. She heard that it was used for research in the Ivory Tower and was also carried around by wealthy mercenaries. If it was processed into a bracelet like this, there was a high possibility that the magic stone contained magic. She didn’t know how that magic would manifest.

 

“Don’t worry. Because it’s empty.”

 

Then the queen spoke. She guessed this meant that the magic stone did not contained magic. She opened her mouth again when she nodded her head.

 

“If Princess Genevieve were here, I think she would have given it to you. Because she was very close to your mother.”

 

That’s what she heard. Her mother, she said, was the princess’s companion and she was very close. When she was young, her mother used to tell her princess stories. How beautiful she was, how perfect she was. If you only listen to her mother’s stories, Princess Genevieve was the most perfect person in the world. She said it all because she was my role model when I was younger.

 

“Thank you.”

 

She greeted politely and closed the box. Since it’s just a bead, it’s not a good idea to wear it to a formal event, but she could wear it on a daily basis. At that time, Her Majesty the Queen winked at Viscountess Patterson. Then she set down another box the Viscountess was holding in front of her.

 

“But it’s a bit childish for you to do it. I think Princess Genevieve also wore it during her academy days.”

 

What was this again? Her Majesty the Queen said to her who was confused. She gestured for her to open it and continued.

 

“I was thinking about just turning the beads into gems and using them myself. But I was rude to you today, so this is my apology.”

 

At the queen’s words, she looked down at the second box for a moment. And when she opened it carefully, there were several small jewels lying there.

 

That’s right.

 

It was similar in size to the beads on the bracelet. There were many different types. She thought she could replace it with beads. When she took a quick look at Viscountess Patterson’s complexion, she looked disapproving, but she quickly managed to control her expression. Right. She realized that the queen had intended this from the beginning. Now this action was both towards her and towards Viscountess Patterson.

 

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

 

She said her greetings as she picked up two boxes. When she was told to come back next time, she felt even better than when she visited. Of course, it wouldn’t have been Viscountess Patterson. From the beginning, the Queen had planned to give her Princess Genevieve’s bracelet and a piece of jewelry that could replace the beads in the bracelet. However, if she just gave it to her, she could be said to be showing favoritism, so she pretended to be taken along as the Viscountess told her. That was, she pretended that Viscountess Patterson was pressuring her to do what she wanted, and she gave her the bracelets and jewels as an apology for that.

 

That really hurted her head.

 

As she rode back in the carriage, she prayed that the royal family would not call her. The royal palace was a place where you had to use your brain to even give a bracelet. She wanted to live a simple life.

 

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