“Oh, Quinn, you said you liked gold, right?”

“The letter. Did you see it?”

“Yes. By the time I left, the room wasn’t ready yet……”

I heard a low laugh from Hein-ri.

“Maybe by the time we get there, it’ll be well decorated in gold. Look forward to it.”

“I like gold, but the room doesn’t have to be gold.”

“Well, he’s gold.”

“!”

“If I lie next to you, my vision will be all gold.”

“I’m going to turn around and sleep.

“In the same position as now?”

“!”

I grabbed the reins as hard as I could not forget that this was above the horse.

Heinley was like this all along the horse.

To speak lightly, at one point embarrassingly blatantly brought up the story that we are a couple.

Every time I was surprised and had to keep scratching the reins.

Whenever he kept saying things like “whether he was a husband or wife or a couple,” his face heated up for no reason.

But it’s not like I can’t say anything like that.…

“By the way, Queen. You know what? There is no palace in the West.”

“Then where do I sleep?”

“There are three rooms side by side on the same floor, one in the middle of which is the public bedroom, and the other room next to it is the Queen’s and the King’s.”

“Why would you have to……?”

Wouldn’t that be too inconvenient?

No matter how good a couple is, sometimes they want to be completely alone, and we’re even married in politics…….

There was a quiet laugh again by Hein-li.

“Oh. We use a special bed.”

Talking about bed here, does that mean you’re looking forward to your first night?

I’m so surprised that my eyes are tense.

But Heinley’s voice was not mischievous and serious this time.

It didn’t seem to have given me a dirty word.

So the bed is really special?

Either way, it’sir.I’d like to get off the horse for now.

When I finally saw the border, I let out a sigh of relief.

It was fortunate that I could get out of this embarrassing position.

But the tension, which had been relieved at best, returned when he saw the wagon, the guards, and Lord McKenna, waiting just behind the border.

I slowly slowed down my horse and crossed the border into them.

When the horse stopped completely, two guards of the West Kingdom approached and held the reins.

In the meantime, Heinley got off the horse first and reached out his hand to me.

As she held his hand and went down, McKenna came close and greeted me first, and then asked questions to Hein-ri.

“Your Highness, I’m sure you’ve sent two horses, why only one?”

Two?

As I stared at his words, Hein-li shook her head expressionlessly and said,

“You must have made a mistake, McKenna.”

“What? What kind of mistake is that? I’m sure I sent two.”

“There was only one.”

Hainley, who spoke calmly, glanced at me.

When his eyes met, he laughed, saying McKenna made a lot of small mistakes.

As McKenna frowned from behind, I smiled and shook my head, but belatedly looked closely at the faces of the guards and looked grave.

The guards, who would have come out to escort Heinley, seemed to be trying to keep a straight face, but there was a clear indication of embarrassment on their eyelids and lips.

McKenna noticed my expression and said with a smile of relief.

“You must be very surprised to see the queen in front of you, whom you’ve heard only from the grapevine.”

……I don’t think that’s what it means.

I don’t think I can tell the difference between a look of emotion and a look of embarrassment.

But if we panic here together, the atmosphere will get even more weird.

I pretended to be calm and laughed quietly.

McKenna sensibly opened the prepared carriage door quickly.

“Go in, Your Grace.”

……I don’t know if it’s good-witted or bad.

I can’t believe you’re calling me Queen all the time.

I looked silent to him, feeling like I was running away, and quickly went into the carriage.

However, even after entering the carriage, the eyes of the guards I saw earlier were not easily erased from my mind.

He’s expressionless and even the guards who should be good at it.

How will the people of the West look at me when they will meet in person in society?

What about the people you’ve met in the Eastern Empire when you were empress?

The scenery seen outside the window was slightly different from that of the Eastern Empire, and from here on out, we should be relieved that we would not be tracked down by Sohoshu.

The mind became more complicated than it was when it came running on horseback.

‘It’s okay. You can do it. You just have to do well.’

As I was reciting the spell inside, Hein-li called me softly, “Queen.”

He was sitting across from me and looking at me.

When we eyeballed together, the friendly eyes curled thinly.

Heinley leaned slightly down, and said, carefully covering my hand with his own hand.

“It’s all right. Quinn is the empress who has no choice but to love anyone.”

I wouldn’t have gotten divorced if I had……

Heinley tends to think too highly of me.

Even when I was crumpled in a box, I was amazed that it was like a scene in a myth.

Is it because of this?

Heinley’s consolation was not very helpful to me.

But you’re comforting me, so I’ll have to adjust to that.

“Thank you. It’s encouraging.”

I nodded to him with a smile, but I couldn’t relax until the carriage finally stopped.

Fortunately, after Sovishu brought in Rasta, he got used to receiving people’s curious eyes.

To accept that gaze as if it were calm.

When I arrived at the palace at Deoktaek and got off the carriage, I could even smile calmly at the sight of the numerous courtiers.

But the heart trembled with strange tension.

Curiosity, worry, expectation, interest, displeasure……

Dozens of eyes with countless emotions have even brought about the optical illusion that sparkles like chandeliers.

I smiled and folded Heinley’s arms to make them look as fancy as possible.

To see if it worked, they paused for a moment and bowed down with discipline.

“I see you and your queen.”

* * *

“Your eyes are shining very brightly.”

After the courtesans were bitten.

Holding my hand to take you to the room, Ha In-ri murmured, as if she was in a daze, all the way up the stairs.

At the same time, he often looked sideways at me to see if he was worried that he was offended.

His eyes seemed to be enormous.

“It’s all right.”

He answered calmly, but Heinley snapped, “I’m not okay.”

“I appealed so hard because I wanted to have Queen as my queen. Even if you hit the candle……”

“Because there’s not much of the king’s arbitrary marriage.”

“That’s true.”

“And you brought a divorced empress from the next country, not the noble spirit of the West?”

Heinley smiled and bowed his head.

But laughter is only for a moment. Still, his expression was not good.

McKenna, who was going up with us, said, taking notice of me.

“You don’t have to worry, Your Highness. There are a lot of people who like the story that the Empress of the Great East is going to be our queen.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course.”

But most of the people who came out earlier said ‘surprised’ on their faces.

I thought of the expression and laughed silently.

Unlike Heinna and McKenna’s worries, I wasn’t in a bad mood.

It’s a whole new environment, and I’m nervous, but…….

McKenna once again came out and looked at Heinley and said,

“It’s one thing to be surprised at the real thing. It’s a little. You must have been surprised. Still, there must have been a lot of people who admired inside.”

But McKenna and Heinley’s attempts to make me feel better were wasted by a story they met in the hallway.

He was standing in front of the Queen’s room, and as soon as he saw us, he came up, but his expression was so cold that he felt cold.

Personnel appointments were also so restrained that they had to appear in textbooks, but what he added afterwards was quite straightforward.

“Your Highness, you’ve acted too recklessly. You risked your life for a woman.”

He was openly attacking Hein-ri for coming and bringing me in person.

He even called me “a woman” in front of his face, even though he seemed to know that I had already become a queen.

McKenna was furious and shouted, “Sir Yu-nim!” but Hein-li warned calmly, as if joking.

“Why, there’s a man in front of me who risks his life for a word.”

The article “Sir Yu-nim” hardened his face.

He apologized to me immediately for not being tactful.

“I’ve done it. This is Captain Yu-nim.”

However, he added a bone-in remark later on whether he was quite stubborn.

“I tried to bring you here, but my lord was almost in danger, so I didn’t make a good sound. I’m sorry.”

“Sir Yu-nim. Just as I am your lord, so is Nabi. Do your courtesy.”

When Heinley directly warned him, he reluctantly relaxed from his eyes and stepped back and apologized.

But when Hein-ri repeatedly warned him and tried to take me into the queen’s room, he stepped forward again and said,

“Sorry, Your Highness. The Queen’s Room cannot be used until the wedding.”

With that remark, Heinley seemed to be on the verge of explosion.

The atmosphere became violent in a blink of an eye as the smile that had been on all along disappeared completely.

When we first met, I thought I looked sharp when I was expressionless, but……

Now the look on his face was frighteningly different.

Heinley smiled again as if he felt my gaze, but it was different from the smile he showed me in the carriage.

But this is no time to observe Heinley’s face.

After a moment’s relief of my astonishment, I quickly reached out and grabbed Heinley’s arm.

‘Don’t go out.’

Ha In-ri’s arm muscles caught in her hand flinched in surprise.

But he didn’t say anything if he noticed my intention.

It’s hard to hold back, and I have a tight chin.

Wiping his arm with thumbs to mean he did well, I laughed to look natural.

Yeah. This is not for Heinley to step up.

The author is not angry because I’m from a foreign empress, but because Hein-ri was detained in the Eastern Empire while trying to bring me back.

Looking at the atmosphere on the way here, the people of the Western Kingdom still seemed to regard me as the “Empress of the Eastern Empire” rather than the “Queen of the Western Kingdom.”

I’m sure this one.

But in the meantime, Hein-ri takes my side and punishes her, even though she’ll be scolded by angry Hein-ri?

In the long run, it wasn’t good for me at all.

In addition, the author is acting as he thinks he is right even at the expense of Hein-ri’s anger.

Such a man was not the type to press into power.

You have to make me admit it and trust me.

Yes. To get a proper place here, I’ll have to win the recognition of those people.

On my own.

I smiled deliberately and spoke with a soft voice.

“If that’s the way we live here, then we should follow the way we live here.”

Yu-nim hesitated for a while because she thought I would be angry, but she apologized without letting go of her distrustful expression.

“I’m sorry.”

I asked him with a” benevolent yet dignified smile” that I practiced hundreds and thousands of times during my days as Crown Princess.

“Then is another room ready for me to stay?”

Whatever he had in mind, he answered right away.

“There’s a VIP room, so you can stay there.”

I also shook my head right away to follow his logic.

“Did you say you couldn’t use the Queen’s room because you didn’t hold the wedding? But since she made her marriage vows, her status is definitely the queen. You can’t use a guest room with the same reason.”

“!”

Yoo wriggled his eyebrows as if he was embarrassed when I was a soft-spoken person the second time.

I kept staring at him with the same smile on my face.

It’s right to win his trust and kindness, but it shouldn’t seem easy.

In order to keep the line, we had to distinguish between concessionary and non-negotiable lines.

“Uh, uh…”

McKenna stared blankly at the confrontation between me and Yu, and when I looked at him, she spat out a meaningless sound, glancing at Hein-li’s glance and opened her mouth.

“Then, I mean, well, why don’t you share your room? No, I’m not asking you to use one room, but your room downstairs is more……”

But before McKenna could finish talking, she heard footsteps in the hallway.

McKenna stopped talking.

I turned my head to the sound side, and a lady in a blue dress was coming this way.

Surprisingly, when she appeared, Yu-na’s expression was slightly loosened.

On the contrary, McKenna looked troubled.

‘Who is it?’

Doubtful, the lady came close to me and said hello.

“I’m Krista, the Queen of Warton III, Nabi.”

Then he smiled sweetly at me and suggested.

“I was on my way to say hello and listened to the conversation. You seem to be having trouble with your temporary residence, but if you don’t mind, why don’t you stay at the Queen’s Annex?”

It was the best opinion ever.

Heinley frowned, perhaps dissatisfied, but I replied yes.

When she said thank you, she began to go ahead, telling her to follow.

Hein-ri tried to follow me again this time, but I’ll go alone. I shook my hand and followed her.

But inside, I was very embarrassed.

It was because I didn’t think that the Queen would stay with me at the palace.

The late empress of the Eastern Empire deliberately took her aides to the palace of Bubudo when Sovishu and I came to the throne.

If I’m confident, it’ll be difficult for me to settle down in the palace.

Having already studied the succession system of the Western Kingdom, I knew that the Queen of the Western Kingdom’s predecessor would also be at the great mansion of Compshire.

I thought we’d meet someday, but I never thought I’d be staying here.…

It wasn’t just that it was uncomfortable to be together.

Heinley couldn’t get married right away, so she probably took over the palace naturally even after she wasn’t a queen.

The employees in the palace now would be her men she hired when she was queen.

Who else would she follow if she stayed with me?

Of course it’s her.

Whether Christa is a good person or not, I thought it would be more difficult for a good person to make my place here.

‘That’s a big deal.

Worried inwardly, Krista, who was walking side by side, whispered to me,

“Is the rumor true?”

“What rumors?”

“As soon as I broke up, I was rumored to have married you.”

“……right.”

“Oh, my God.”

When I answered honestly, she covered her mouth and laughed.

It was a friendly yet elegant smile.

But as the moment of laughter passed, she became surprisingly quiet, and suddenly she looked gloomy.

He looked very sad.

“Mr. Christa? Are you okay?”

When asked worried, Christa looked at me with a puzzled look.

“What are you talking about?”

“……”

Strangely, she seemed to have no idea what she had done.

“No. No.”

‘Is it because of your deceased husband?’

Instead of telling me that her expression was very dark a little while ago, I smiled silently at her face.

It was then.

A passing court lady greeted Christa naturally, saying, “See you, Your Highness!”

She called Krista Queen in front of me, but she remained calm.

Krista was surprised to correct me instead of guiding me.

“Queen, didn’t you say you shouldn’t call me that anymore?”

But the court lady replied with a bright smile.

“You’ve been playing the role of queen. I heard the new queen is a foreigner and cares about her country so much. Will you do as much for us as you do for the Queen? To us, you are the real queen.”

At the grand remark, Christa looked sideways at me, perplexed.

If you correct it with your own mouth, it’ll look like you’re going to scold me, and I think you’re trying to make the court figure out who I am…. Unfortunately, the courtesan was ill-witted.

As the court lady continued her “real queen praise” without understanding it at all, Christa gave an earnest look to my side this time.

He seemed to want me to come forward and tell him the truth.

I’m sorry to Christa, but……I didn’t step forward.

Instead, he quietly watched the court lady.

What I was worried about earlier.

Two queens whose ages do not differ much.

I wanted to see the court ladies’ honest attitude toward this part.

The palace, where there were virtually two queens due to the lack of a natural change of power.

One is no longer a queen, but she was a queen until last year, and she has served as a queen ever since she became a queen.

Friends, families and supporters are all here.

Even the majority of courtiers would have been hired by her.

On the contrary, the other became a queen, but she is a foreigner, and her family, friends and supporters are all abroad.

It has nothing to do with courtiers in the West Kingdom.

It was obvious who the courtesans would be attracted to, but I wanted to make sure with my own eyes.

Since then, I’ve encountered several more courtiers and a similar situation has continued, but I stayed still until the end.

“Well… …I hope you don’t feel too bad.”

When she almost arrived at the annex, Christa spoke to me carefully, if she was ever bothered.

She had a sad smile around her pale mouth.

“It’s just that I’m so used to it, they’re good people. I feel sorry for my situation now, but I will soon follow you.”

“Yes…”

I answered a little slower so as not to sound too dry.

But I didn’t agree with her at all.

Most of the courtesies they have encountered on their way here so far have praised Christa by continuing to call her queen.

I heard that I am a foreigner, a shrewd woman who remarried as soon as I got divorced from my husband, and that I would be arrogant because I am from the Eastern Empire.

What else did they say?

Oh, you should get a head start in advance.

Some courtiers who watched me get off the wagon came up with a smile, and when they saw me standing behind Krista, they were shocked to see me, but……

‘Where I’m not around, they’ll say something similar.’

Obviously they are good people for Christa.

Good people who give her strength by her side even after she is not a queen.

But are they good people to me, too?

“……”

“Mr. Navier?”

But I couldn’t tell you the truth because it reminded me of when Rasta first came here.…

Of course, the situation between me and Christa is different.

Christa is Heinley’s wife, not his wife.

But it seemed similar in that his position was shaken by a newcomer.

Krista felt relieved when I smiled face to face, and when she arrived at the annex, she approached me with a light walk and opened the door.

“Here you go.”

I tried to hide my disturbed mind and followed her in.

Christa asked in a proud voice.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“……yes.”

The star palace was really beautiful.

The quiet sunlight broke down in the hall, and even the furniture, which seemed to be a little disheveled, was antique.

It’s a bit… …like the Crystal House of the Eastern Empire, and I’m embarrassed.

“I heard that there were many buildings in foreign countries modeled after the Crystal House by the Empress Seon-dae. One of them……’

But if I bring this up, it’s easy to come from the Eastern Empire and be arrogant or something like that.

Let’s not tell the story, I thought, and only repeated the word beautiful.

However, even after introducing the room, Christa hesitated without leaving.

When she wondered why, she carefully opened her mouth with her hands folded.

“You may not like this story, but……I’m afraid I’m going to have to tell you something. Well… …Fan ID. I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it?”

“The people employed here, the courtiers, are all far from old enough to retire.”

“?”

“It’s the people I hired.”

With a sigh, Christa looked at me with deer-like eyes and asked me,

“As I told you before, they’re all good people. I can be of help to you, too. I’m good at work and I’m diligent.”

“……”

“If you don’t mind, I’d like you to leave the courtiers unchanged.”

I tried not to look too stiff, but it was hard.

I can see how she feels about asking you this favor.

When the royal authority is replaced, personnel changes occur in large numbers.

Poor guy who’ll get fired for picking him.

But it was an embarrassing request to accept.

The courtesans are literally people who live together in the palace, but aren’t they all Christa’s people now?

I filled it with my own people, but my whereabouts were known to Rasta.

You want me to live in a palace full of people who aren’t mine?

Rather than settling down as queen, it was obvious that every move would be a gossip, as I saw on the way.

But her worries were not incomprehensible, so I thought for a moment and gave myself a proper line.

“I’ll leave those who work where I don’t have contacts.”

“Where there’s no contact……?”

“It’s hard for anyone who works in a place they’re likely to bump into. Even if you don’t fire me, I have to change my place of work.”

Krista’s face darkened.

The people who work where the Queen comes and goes, of course, are more familiar with her.

It seemed to be that.

But instead of asking me again, Christa nodded with a smile, “Okay.”

“I must have asked too much. I’m sorry.”

* * *

“Your Highness, how was the Empress of the Eastern Empire?”

When Christa returned to her room, the waiting maids came up and asked about Queen Butterfly.

They have been with her since she was queen, and she has been like a friend and sister to her.

Christa shook her head with a bitter smile.

“He’s been keeping me in check already.”

“No, what did the Queen do?”

“I had to. I heard the court ladies calling me the queen.”

“By the side? The courtiers did it when they were there?”

“I’m watching you without telling you you’re the queen……”

The maids kicked their tongues at Christa’s words.

“I hear you’re very smart. I guess you’re already picking someone to throw away.”

Christa sighed and sat down in the chair.

“You can’t be pressed already, Queen.”

“You must have a steamer in advance on the grass!”

The maids, who had been together from the highest position, grumbled angrily, but Christa shook her head and muttered.

“I’m not a queen anymore, how can I compete for power……”

Christa smiled woefully in a vain mood.

Would it have been better if the spirit of another nobleman had ascended to the throne?

A few days ago, he was no different from himself.

I also felt sympathy when I heard the rumor.

It was strange and unfair that he took his place to get out of the pit.

Besides, someone who remarried……

“She won the queen’s seat as soon as she was kicked out of the empress’ seat.”

“There’s no reason not to be queen!”

“Can’t you marry another king again, Mr. Christa?”

The maids offered words of consolation, but not much effect.

* * *