11. Rosa Wants to Avoid Flag (5)
“Wait, Rosa von Langheim.”
The queen had stopped her.
Dorothea sent a glance towards Leon, Chris, and Rosa, who stood there looking pale. The queen’s gaze was so cold, it sent shivers down her spine.
Then, for some reason, the queen smiled.
“—Forgive me, it seems that I’ve underestimated you. I can see why Leon and Chris hold you in high regard. Then I, too, shall give it my all to face you.”
“Eh…?”
Rosa couldn’t keep up at all.
Leon and the others also raised their eyebrows in suspicion, but Dorothea paid them no heed. The queen beckoned to her page and had him bring two teacups.
“Your Majesty the Queen…?”
“Beautiful, intelligent, and demure. A fair and just maiden whose mere presence arouses the love and protection of those around her. If such a woman existed, every mother in this world would be vying for her to be their son’s wife… Again, if such a woman existed.”
The queen announced in a singsong voice as she picked up one of the tea cans placed in the middle of the table. Then, she brewed a cup of tea.
It was the tea with rose petals that Rosa had brought.
“Let me be honest with you. I can’t stand a goody two shoes like you. I can’t help but wonder if a dark, twisted nature is lurking beneath all that. After all, you’re too good to be true.”
There was a commotion at the table due to the open hostility.
However, it was the queen’s next action that truly took people’s breath away.
Dorothea bent down at her feet, scooped up some dirt, and poured it into Rosa’s teacup, which was producing aromatic steam.
“…!”
“What are you…!?”
“—But…”
The queen quietly interrupted Chris and the others, who were raising their voices.
Her voice, which was low for a woman, was so full of spirit that even Leon hesitated to speak.
“If you can drink this, I shall trust you. Whether or not you’re a genuine saint, if you’re able to swallow dirt to achieve your goal, then at least I’ll know that you’re strong at heart. All kinds of demons lurk in the royal castle. It takes strength for someone with duty and reputation to uphold to stay true to herself.”
Dorothea cleared her throat, smiling brightly.
“Hey, Rosa von Langheim. If you drink this, I shall acknowledge you. I’ll put you under my wing. What do you think? Can you swallow muddy water for the sake of your ambition? Now, let us witness your true self.”
At the queen’s taunting smile, the entire table was frozen silent.
However, Chris and Leon came back to their senses, retaliating almost instantly.
“Mother, you’re going too far! Why would Rosa have to drink something like that!?”
“That’s right, Your Majesty the Queen. What would you achieve by doing this? You said you wanted to reward Rosa, so we invited her—frail as she was—to such a place!”
Fury emanated from Leon’s eyes, making him seem ferocious.
“She doesn’t even need your approval! If one has to be humiliated to be acknowledged, what is the point!? I’m sure anyone would agree that Rosa is a much stronger and better woman than you!”
He spoke quietly, like a raging lion.
“—Despite being the Nation Mother, you’re given tuberose—the whore’s flower—because you drown yourself in extravagance and debauchery!”
“…If that’s how you feel about me, then you’re blind when it comes to women. All the more reason for me to judge your partner.”
Dorothea also graciously raised her eyebrows in response.
An invisible spark scattered between the two of them.
…Uhm.
Leon and Chris were right behind her, while Ladu stood diagonally behind her. Meanwhile, Dorothea stood in front of her. Rosa, who was sandwiched, was already panicking from the moment her tea was brewed.
—Wait, hold on a second, what is happening here!?
Even though she made sure to follow every single step that was there to be disliked, she still somehow got offered a cup of tea!?
Moreover, there seemed to be a mental tug-of-war going on.
Does Her Majesty the Queen want me to drink this tea or not?
The unexpected twist was simply too much for her to understand.
No, I don’t think anyone who offers muddy water expects to be taken seriously, so Her Majesty probably doesn’t want me to drink it…
In that case, she will just refuse the tea, no problem!
…If only the queen would outright say ‘I hate you!’ instead of being so roundabout about it. Rosa couldn’t understand the purpose behind the queen’s action.
After all, no matter how she looked at it, she was constantly making mistakes. Yet, the queen said that she was too good to be true.
What is Her Majesty the Queen thinking?
So, Her Majesty is cold on the outside, but is actually very kind inside? Eh, is she a pundere? Wait, I can’t grasp her character at all…
So many things stood out to her, and Rosa felt that she shouldn’t take the queen’s words and actions at face value.
…It was only at that moment that Rosa began to seriously ponder about what kind of person the queen was.
“If I’m blind, then you’re deaf. Do you know what people say about you? You dismissed all the maids in favor of having handsome pages attending you.”
“So what? It’s not like I did anything to harm His Majesty the King.”
Leon and Dorothea continued to exchange glances at each other.
Hearing that, Rosa suddenly tilted her head.
…Come to think of it, Her Majesty the Queen doesn’t seem to like men.
After observing the queen’s pages, Rosa had such an impression of the queen.
Rosa knew that because she had seen her father, a womanizer, in action.
Someone who was truly lecherous was one who had no sense of place or time, and would constantly ogle the opposite sex.
Yet, not once did the bewitching queen stare wantonly at her pages.
In fact, the queen seemed to be keeping an equal distance from each page, and occasionally observing them from a distance.
Looking at handsome pages… Observing…?
Rosa was taken aback.
A woman who observed handsome men.
If she wasn’t lustful, what meaning did it have?
No way… Is Her Majesty the Queen…?
Her heart skipped a beat.
Due to the incident with Anton, she felt that the word ‘rotten,’ which she had buried in the ground in despair, suddenly rose up again.
Suddenly, the trivial details about the queen that Rosa had casually overlooked until then came back in full force.
The queen went so far as to say that reading a novel featuring a seme knight was a woman’s pleasure.
—As for the confectionary that she exclusively ordered from the workshop, what flower petals did it contain?
…Rose.
White roses bloomed among the tuberoses, as if being purposefully hidden from view.
Above all, the queen especially paired her pages with each other. Every time the pages whispered and laughed together, she’d casually glance at them.
There, Rosa took another look at the cup of tea that had been presented to her, and silently gasped.
Made by ‘Dilsen.’
The workshop where the tea master who created Rosa’s favorite tea leaves worked.
The tea leaves made by the youth who ran away and the cup made by the youth who was left behind were reunited, as if by fate.
…I-is this just a coincidence? Or…!?
No.
Once she began to doubt, everything seemed black, or rather, rose-tinted.
As Rosa stared at the cup, the queen’s words echoed one after another in her mind.
‘—a dark, twisted nature.’
‘—duty and reputation to uphold.’
‘—all the more reason for me to judge your partner.’
Could it be that Dorothea was the one who concealed her true self behind her role as a queen and a vixen?
At the same time, the queen sensed Rosa’s rotten nature and was desperately trying to figure it out.
‘—Now, let us witness your true self.’
…Is Her Majesty the Queen trying to determine whether or not I am rotten!?
Rosa’s eyes deepened in color as she stared at the queen in front of her.
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