29. What’s Left in the Box (2)
[Chapter 29] – What’s Left in the Box (2)
After entrusting the princess to Ellie, I headed to the ‘room’ where the bang show was located.
When I arrived at the front of the room, I saw a contrast with the room that was always empty and tightly closed. The two large doors were wide open, and the hallway was crowded with knights who came to inspect the room.
Among them, I saw Bangsho quietly sobbing while holding my face as if he couldn’t believe this situation. After taking a deep breath, I stood next to Bang Shaw and looked around the room.
…The room was no different from the last time.
The room was filled with paintings drawn by the king, and the king’s withered corpse was lying on the bed. If there was a difference from then, it was only the body of the first queen who was found lying on the floor.
The knights who saw the room for the first time couldn’t help but frown at the grotesqueness of this place. A picture of Aurora hanging from the ceiling. The corpse of Aurora, the first queen, should be in the tomb.
And then, the two corpses withered to the point where there was almost no blood. Even the doctors who came to investigate the king’s death could only shake their heads as they looked at the king’s corpse in the room.
“The cause of His Majesty’s death is…”
Simply, the doctors examining the king’s body had no choice but to come to this conclusion. The reason why the king died was a simple ‘weak death’. The king, who loved the first queen so much, died of love sickness.
It was unclear why the body of the first queen was here, but judging from the amount of paintings of the first queen in the room and hanging in the main palace, the doctors had no choice but to come to this conclusion.
I looked around the room moderately, let out a deep sigh, and tapped the shoulder of Bang Shaw standing next to me. Perhaps he was distracted, Bangshaw, who had just realized that I had come, looked at me with tired eyes.
“Your Highness the Queen…”
“…Hey, are you okay?”
“His Majesty’s visit hasn’t been open for four days, so I forcibly opened it to check on His Majesty’s safety… In the end, His Majesty…”
I didn’t say anything, just nodded.
How am I supposed to react here? Should I be surprised or sad, like Vivian, who was said to have loved the king? Or should she be mad with jealousy over why the first queen is here?
…It was just awkward to act out emotions that I couldn’t even understand. I didn’t say or do anything, just looked at the room with a bitter expression on my face.
As I looked around the room without saying anything, Bang Shaw started to comfort me. Whilst wiping away the tears, Bangshaw held out a new handkerchief to me.
“Your Highness the Queen… Are you all right…?”
“…I’m fine, so wipe your tears. And…”
Perhaps, even Bang Shaw knew about it. Looking at the rotting food in front of the door, Bang Shaw must have expected this situation to some extent. I let out a small sigh and looked at the room far away.
“Haven’t you already guessed that a day like this would come someday.”
“That, that is…”
As if he couldn’t deny my words, Vinshaw somehow found an excuse with his trembling lips, but in the end he couldn’t say anything. I patted Bangshaw on the shoulder and ordered the knights and doctors in the room.
“…After a thorough investigation of His Majesty’s death, the corpse should be cleaned and a solemn funeral prepared. And tell Her Highness the Queen Mother and the Council of Elders quickly.”
“Yes, Her Highness the Queen!”
“And… Regarding the first queen, I issue a silence order. For now, don’t tell anyone except Her Highness the Queen Mother.”
Everyone who heard my order started to move busily.
During a day, the doctors, who were said to be the best in the kingdom, checked the king’s body, but in the end, everyone turned their heads and concluded the king’s cause of death as a simple ‘weak death’.
The day after the death of the king was confirmed, he lowered the national flag on the highest spire of the palace and hoisted a black flag to announce the death of the king.
A flag was hung on the steeple, and outside the palace gates, knights on horseback began to run with black flags and national flags on their backs. It was to inform the nobles in the provinces of the king’s death.
So, in a solemn atmosphere, the king’s funeral began.
*
The king’s funeral continued for ten days under the direction of the queen consort and the temple.
Originally, the king’s funeral took a long time, basically half a year at the shortest and a year at the longest. When the Queen Mother said that her funeral would take only ten days, the nobles objected, saying that ten days is too short for the royal family.
However, the Queen Mother said, ‘I thought that Your Majesty was as good as dead from two years before you went into seclusion. Since two years have already passed, ten days will be enough for the funeral.”
In the letter she sent to the local nobles, she added that they should mourn there, and that she should not come to the royal castle. However, even saying that, there were local nobles who rode horses for three days and nights.
As a queen, I also had a lot to do during the funeral. She basically had to attend the whole funeral procession. Like cleaning the king’s body, or praying all day long.
I had to deal with such a busy schedule that I did not know how the funeral went, such as greeting the nobles who attended the funeral. It was even more difficult because the nobles I met didn’t look at me well.
After such a hectic time, it was the last day of the funeral. The last procedure was carried out in a larger, grander temple than the cathedral-like building I had seen at Vivian’s funeral.
All those who attended the funeral gathered in plain clothes to commemorate the death of the king in a solemn atmosphere. I also attended the funeral while holding the princess’s hand in plain clothes.
…For the past ten days, the princess has not cried once.
I did not shed a single tear at the death of my parent, the king. Even when the death of the king was announced, the princess was just locked in shock. He didn’t say anything, just had sad eyes.
I felt sorry for him.
I feel like I’ve given up on everything to the point where I can’t grieve even for the death of my parents. It feels like a child who struggled to receive love from his parents until the end gave up everything.
“Princess. Let’s go say goodbye one last time.”
The final procedure of the funeral has begun.
The process of placing flowers on the coffin where the king is lying and giving final greetings. I put a white lily in the princess’s hand. Then, the princess stared blankly at the white lily she was holding.
The princess and I went to the king’s coffin with lilies. While heading to the coffin, numerous gazes were focused on me and the princess, but I tried to ignore their gaze and walked away holding the princess’s hand.
When I arrived at the coffin, I saw the king’s corpse with a white cotton cloth covering his face. I gently placed the flower on the king’s hand and finished a short prayer in my mind.
The princess hesitated for a moment, then laid the lily on the king’s chest. The moment she waited for the princess’s prayer to end, tears fell from her big eyes.
The princess, holding my hand, looked up at me with her tears streaming down her face.
And then, as if it were strange, he asked me.
“Wow, like Her Highness… You don’t wake up… Boo, sure… Like Her Highness… I thought that if I gave you flowers… You would wake up… Whoa, you don’t wake up. …”
Ah.
Seeing the princess’s expression, I gnashed my teeth involuntarily.
I thought I knew why the princess hadn’t cried until now.
The princess did not give up. Just like I woke up at a funeral, the king seemed to harbor speckled expectations that the king would also wake up during the funeral.
But that didn’t happen.
Even though the princess put down the flower, the king did not get up from the spot.
When the last, only one line of hope collapsed, the only thing left for the princess was a miserable heart. In the end, just as the heart of the princess who had endured collapsed, the princess’s legs also collapsed.
The princess who was standing holding my hand collapsed on his knees on the floor. Wiping the tears pouring down like a shower with the back of her hand, the princess wept in front of the coffin where the king lay.
Saying ‘Daddy, Dad.’
The princess mourned the death of her parents, calling for a father she had never called. I lifted the princess from the floor and held her in my arms, and continued to sweep her back.
The only thing I could do for the princess, who couldn’t even breathe properly and sobbed all over her body from crying, was to hold her in my arms like this or rub her back.
They are parents who have never loved the princess.
It seemed that the princess was the only parent in the world.
Looking at the weeping princess in my arms, I thought this was the first time I came here.
I want to be by this child’s side too.
Beside this child who has no place to turn to.
From noble mtl dot com
I want to be someone this child can rely on.
I thought this for the first time.
*
After the ten-day funeral was over, before I could take off my mourning clothes, I was called by the queen and headed straight to the great meeting room of the royal palace. Not only me, but all the nobility of the kingdom’s council of elders, including Vinshaw, were summoned.
Originally, it was not easy for the nobles of the Senate to gather together.
When the national emergency of the king’s funeral came, they were only able to gather in one place. Seizing the opportunity, the queen convened a grand meeting before the council of elders left the palace.
…I had no idea what kind of meeting they were going to have.
A meeting to fill the empty throne.
The Queen Mother must be trying to run state affairs with convergence and purity on behalf of her young princess. Honestly, there was no other way than this. ‘Cause even if she’s old the Queen Mother, she wasn’t something I could replace.
In the first place, I had no confidence in managing state affairs. And even I didn’t receive the ‘surname’ of the royal family, ‘Liliansol.’ So, it was clear that there would be no talk of asking me to take charge of state affairs.
‘Thinking about it now, it might be fortunate that ‘Vivian’ didn’t have a first night with the king… No, isn’t that so…’
…Actually, the most important thing in this meeting was not about the convergence of the Queen Mother, but about me.
At least, when the king was alive, even a corner king like that could become my back boat.
Well, if the king were alive, there would be a chance that one day I would receive the king’s seed and give birth to the ‘little sun’ of this country. Even if the king was an unemployed man, the opportunity existed because he was alive.
However, the king died and the second queen did not even spend the first night with the king for two years.
From the perspective of the royal family, the reason for me to be here seemed to have completely disappeared.
It was strange that at this meeting, the words ‘Get rid of the second queen who did not receive the royal family name!’ Did not come out.
I undid my hair in frustration and arrived in front of the conference room with disheveled hair. The moment I got nervous and took a deep breath and went in-
As soon as the chief chamberlain at the door made eye contact with me, I did not have time to stop and loudly announced my arrival to the conference hall.
“The Second Queen! Her Highness Queen ‘Vivian Liriansol’ is entering!”
No!
The moment the shouting ended, the large door slowly opened with a scratching sound. The door opened, and what was revealed was an unbelievably large round table.
In the middle of the round table sat the Queen Mother in black mourning clothes, and around her sat a row of nobles who looked like old raccoons in mourning clothes.
All of them were ministers who were in charge of the kingdom’s administrative departments. The Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs, etc. Many ministers glanced at me as they entered the meeting room.
And, my seat was on the opposite side facing the queen mother. I unknowingly swallowed a dry saliva at the burdensome seating arrangement.
I glanced over at the meeting room, and everyone except me was seated, as if I was the last one. What? You came 30 minutes earlier than the scheduled meeting time?
First, I bowed my head and apologized.
“Sorry for the delay. Her Highness the Queen Mother.”
“No, you came just in time. Hurry up and have a seat.”
…What is it?
First of all, I quickly sat down as the queen beckoned.
As soon as I sat down, the pressure from the nobles around me was no joke. Fortunately, the queen raised her hand and beckoned her, and in an instant, the eyes of the nobles were drawn to the queen.
“Then, since everyone is here, let’s start the meeting.”
