The Proudest Queen Consort Shines Brilliantly at the Evening Party (II)

When Victoria returned to her room after finishing some official business, she was greeted with a huge pile of presents left there for some reason.

“Mhm, it appears a magnanimous soul has visited me,” she pompously nodded even though no one else was around.

She removed the wrapping to reveal each one of them: a dress that appeared to have been worn before, counterfeit jewelry…that she probably couldn’t use, a dusty pair of silk gloves, a tin of expired tea, an extremely old yet gorgeous article of male clothing, and a fluffy and realistic mermaid plushie…with the tag saying “With 50% more beautiful legs compared to the competition!” left attached to it. What was with these?

“Trash, perhaps?” The queen consort threw a fierce fastball in every sense of the word. “To transform the queen consort’s room into a scene from a flea market, we must have quite the unique fellow inside the royal court.”

Victoria looked over the top of the desk. There was only one item among the pile that wasn’t trash—an extremely expensive bottle of high-grade wine, possibly worth ten million gold. Only this item was pristine. There was also a glass prepared, clearly tempting her to drink. An obvious trap. It was clearly a trap. She opened the wine and sniffed it a bit. Yup, there was poison. She knew even without licking that this was some kind of deadly poison!

As Queen Victoria Winner Ostwen enjoyed the scent of poison from the wine, a young noble lady was watching from the gap in the door. She had already taken the guards down with her handy crowbar she kept on her for protection, and they lay splayed out on the ground. Or rather, they hesitated to raise a hand against a lady…and were one-sidedly knocked out. A blunder on their part. The girl pushed the fallen guards a bit to the side as she peered inside the room. She was the terrifying perpetrator who plotted to poison the queen consort—she was Sarah Magne.

(Yeah! Go! Drink it! And suffer from stomach pains! I will protect Lady Delphine! And then she’ll shower Sarah with even more love… Eh he he…)

Sarah Magne loved Lady Delphine. She was like a puppy, a fluffy, pink Pomeranian. To Sarah, Delphine was her master, her ‘idol.’ And Sarah was the type to do anything for her ‘idol.’ She was a troublesome fan.

(I mean, Lady Delphine was even nice to the dumb Sarah!)

She still recalled from a long time ago when she was scared and trembling during her debut into high society. That wonderful lady, Lady Delphine, called out to her, escorted her, made her laugh with funny stories, and laughed at her stories. Sarah felt saved by her actions. That was why—

(For Lady Delphine! Gulp down that stomachache wine! Hurry up, Queen!)

Drinking that wine would naturally lead to “death,” but Sarah didn’t think that thoroughly. She was a natural idiot. Victoria poured the contents of the bottle into the glass, held the glass up, and brought it to her mouth.

(Go! Drink it—!!!)

Victoria tilted the glass…but put it right back down. She didn’t drink. Sarah became de~pressed. 

Victoria raised the glass again to her lips. Sarah became excited.

(Gooo!!!)

But Victoria still didn’t drink. Sarah became de~~~~pressed. Yup, this girl was the only one who didn’t know she was completely being played around with.

The depressed Sarah was completely taken aback when the door to the room suddenly opened. Before her very eyes stood the golden-haired queen consort. How dazzling. Those beautiful eyes and lovely, wine-red dress were impactful. Sarah was like a rabbit in front of a wolf. A frog targeted by a snake. A fawn standing before a lion.

“W-w-w-w-w-w-what?! What?!”

“‘What’ is not the question. You are the daughter of Marquess Magne, correct? If you have some kind of business with me, you need only call out to me.”

Like an empress, she appeared with her arms crossed, chest puffed out, and eyes directed downwards. Whoa… Amazing… To think that there was such a person in this world who looked down on people from such lofty heights…

“I-I-I-I have no business…!”

“You need not hide it from me. You must have something to convey to me if you’ve sent me this mountain of gifts. Speak. Your queen grants you an audience.”

Victoria smiled like the empress of the world. Sarah saw a halo behind this figure. Whoa— The queen consort was so shiny. She was glowing! Amazing. Amazingly amazing!!!

“Nothing…means nothing!”

“Mhm, nothing, I see.”

“Anyway… I would really appreciate it if you do not appear at tonight’s party!!!”

The queen consort was silent for a moment, and Sarah stared back at Victoria in all her earnesty.

Lady Sarah Magne, daughter of Marquess Magne, was not only bad at considering differences in social status and positions, but she was also absolutely terrible at speaking indirectly. She was well known in high society as a fairly strange one… No, she stood out a lot, like floating about 150 meters up in the air.

“Hoh… And the reason being?” The queen consort remained dignified even though the girl had made a rude request all of a sudden.

“Th-that’s…a secret! In any case, I ask that you don’t attend the evening party for the sake of the one Sarah treasures!”

“Mhm. Does that person loathe me? Are they scared of me?”

“Th-that’s right! You are scary… Very scary… That’s why…”

(Ah. Did I anger her? I bet she’s angry. It’s obvious that the queen consort would be aggravated if she was told to not attend the evening party without being given a reason. Maybe Sarah will be arrested here and thrown into prison. Maybe Sarah was too rude and would be hung. If that happens, Lady Delphine would… I-I have to do something to make sure the queen consort doesn’t attend… B-but, how…?)

“Th-th-that’s why, um, well, you see, err…” Sarah attempted to explain.

But the queen consort suddenly growled in a low, thunderous voice, “Calm yourself. You must control yourself before the queen.”

“Y-yes!!!” Sarah reflexively knelt. This majesty was so great that she knelt like a knight. Why was it that even though Victoria was a woman, she could produce such a low voice? Sarah didn’t really understand, but this was all amazingly amazing. Also the queen consort was amazingly pompous. More pompous than the king.

“Fine. I understand that you presented yourself before me to stop me for the sake of someone you treasure. I bestow my praises onto you for your devotion.”

“Eh? B-but I put poison…to give you a stomach ache…”

“Fine!!!!!!”

“Yes!”

“Only I know that you have poisoned the alcohol in the bottle. Keep that one thing locked in your chest and leave! There may be some who will denounce my decision as too lenient for the crime of attempted murder of the queen consort by poison. But I care not. If done for the sake of devotion, I shall allow it. If done for the sake of love, I shall allow it. Even if it is a crime, as long as you are aware of your wickedness, I shall allow it!!!” Queen Victoria said with a gravity like a demon king. Her thunderous voice rattled the floor and walls. She was extremely haughty and indeed pompous.

“M-MY QUEEN…!!!!!!”

That was wrong.

With this uncanny timing, the soldiers patrolling the hallways and a crowd of maids heard Victoria’s voice and clapped without knowing any of the context behind it. Why?

The queen consort turned around, the hem of her wine-red dress lightly flipping in the air. With only her back facing the young lady, the queen consort solemnly declared, “You may tell ‘that precious person’ of yours before the evening party that I will not withdraw! I will not run away! I will see her at the evening party!!!”

“A duel, perhaps?” thought several of the maids passing by.

The queen consort looked over her shoulder. The corners of her mouth were slightly raised to form a smile as she disappeared behind the door.

There were three more hours until the evening party, and in the meantime, a suspicious person dressed completely in black slipped inside the dressing room where the queen consort’s dress was stored. The figure aggressively threw something over every inch of the queen consort’s personal dress before leaving the room without a word.