30. Promise with the Senate (1)
[Chapter 30] – Promise with the Senate (1)
“Then, since everyone is here, let’s start the meeting.”
The Queen Mother raised her hand and announced the start of the meeting, and after sighing deeply, she looked at the faces of the people gathered in the meeting room. Nobles were busy bowing their heads whenever the queen met her eyes.
“First of all, I am deeply grateful to the ministers of each department for their hard work over the past two years. I am just grateful that His Majesty led the country without causing a major incident even though he did not manage state affairs in isolation.”
First of all, the meeting started with the Queen Mother’s thanks. Of course, I thought that the nobles of the Senate were scoundrels who quarreled over the words of the queen mother or found fault with them, but-
“”No!! Her Highness, Queen Rosaria!! We just did what we had to do as the main leaders of the kingdom!!”
The members of the Council of Elders who I saw in person were completely different from what I thought.
The gray-haired old men were busy trembling in front of the queen mother, like a new recruit in discipline. If ever pointed out, she would immediately stand up from her chair and raise her voice as she answered with her head held high.
The Queen Mother looked at it, smiled her cheeks, and pointed her finger at the minister in the palace. At that moment, the palace minister jumped up from her chair and listened attentively to the queen’s words.
“It’s the royal family’s fault for not taking care of you for the past two years, so I won’t say too much. But, didn’t you do it in moderation? Didn’t the head of Vinshaw, who was mediating you guys, move back half a step?”
“Oh, no, why is my hair…!”
At the Queen Mother’s joke, the old people continued their conversation with a harmonious laugh. Looking at the atmosphere of this meeting, which was somehow draining, I couldn’t get used to it for some reason.
In the game, the members of the Senate came out with a pretty snarky image. Old raccoons who have been in politics for decades. The image of the elders I think was like that.
However, the members of the council of elders standing in front of the queen mother reacted one by one to the queen mother’s words with a well-rounded posture, like new recruits in front of a company commander.
I poked the side of Vinshaw, who was sitting next to him and stroking his hair, leaving behind the chatter of the elders at the senior citizen’s home. Then he whispered in a voice only a bang show could be heard.
“Wow, Her Highness the Queen.”
“Bang show. I am very embarrassed right now, can I ask for an explanation?”
“What explanation are you talking about?”
“Why did the nobles of the Senate become new recruits in the presence of Her Highness the Queen Mother?”
“Ah. Her Highness the Queen doesn’t know.”
Bangshaw, who had been laughing at my question, smiled as he recalled the past. Then, while watching the queen converse with the other nobles, she whispered to me.
“I don’t know where to begin, but- First of all, most of the ministers currently seated in the Senate were taught by Her Highness the Queen Mother in their youth. Me too.”
“Teaching?”
“Yes, it was around the time when we had just entered the royal castle and started learning public affairs. At that time, His Majesty the King was seriously ill with a plague.”
As if he misses those days, Vinshaw laughed and continued the story. He turned his head to look in the direction of the queen mother, and saw the palace minister still acting like a puppy in front of the queen mother.
“At that time, it was none other than Queen Rosaria who took care of state affairs as Her Majesty’s representative. But that’s also, oh… In a way that makes no sense now that I think about it…”
Bangshaw, who smiled bitterly at him, stroked his stomach. Bangshaw, who gently stroked his stomach as if he were fixing a painful wound from his past, glanced at the Queen Mother and closed his eyes tightly as if he didn’t want to think about it.
“…Anyway, it wasn’t the normal way. It was a life of fists and kicks, abusive language and violence. For no reason, I realized that Her Highness’s family is not a ‘knight family’.”
“Your Highness, the Queen Mother, was the daughter of a knight family?”
“Did you not know? Before Her Majesty the Queen Mother married Her Majesty the King, she was a female knight. The story is famous that Her Majesty fell in love with the way the Queen Mother wielded her sword.”
It was a story that did not appear in the game. In the first place, the queen was just an NPC helping the princess in the game, and there was no personal story about the queen. By the way, Her Highness the Queen Mother is a ‘knight’…
“…She married the late King, and since Her Majesty the Queen Mother could not wield her sword, she brandished her fist at us. We, who were young at the time, did not have to participate in the state affairs meeting, but by order of Her Highness the Queen Mother, all of us had to attend.”
“Ugh, um…”
“At that time, if I made a mistake, whether it was a word error or the wrong data, the Queen Mother’s Highness would punch me in the stomach right away. There was no mercy.”
“That, that’s true…”
“…To be honest, the reason we were able to rise to the position of minister was the teachings of Her Majesty the Queen Mother, but… Fists… Kicks…”
Recalling the trauma, Bangshow shook his whole body. It was quite pitiful to see that, so I had no choice but to pat Bang Shaw on the shoulder without realizing it.
Then I suddenly realized that the surroundings were quiet.
Perhaps it was because she was so immersed in the story of Vinshaw, when she turned her head slightly to look at the queen, the queen and other nobles all came out and stared at her.
Bangshaw must have noticed it too, and he broke out in a cold sweat while looking at the queen mother in contemplation.
“Is the story of memories over, Bang Shaw?”
“Lord, I have committed a mortal sin. Her Highness the Queen Mother.”
“It’s enough to know. Then we will start the meeting again.”
Taking a deep sigh of relief, Vinshaw brushed his chest and leaned back in his chair as if he had lived. Feeling tired for some reason, I leaned back slightly in my chair and let out a small sigh.
*
The kingdom’s administrative department is divided into a total of 12 departments.
Ministry of the Imperial Household, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education,
Ministry of Land, Industry, Culture, Agriculture, Maritime Affairs, War.
The ministers of the administrative department are members of the Council of Elders, and in the old days it was often just high-ranking nobles who occupied ministerial positions. The top of the head is just a decoration, and only the people below work hard.
The Queen Mother, who did not like the system, raised her students with the idea of nurturing talented people step by step, starting with her 5 years in charge of state affairs.
Since then, decades have passed, and iron rice bowl ministers have resigned from ministerial posts in as many as nine departments out of twelve departments.
And, what filled that vacancy was none other than the queen’s disciples, whom she had personally raised for five years. Nine of them were appointed ministers.
It wasn’t even that the royal family pushed for it. Nine ministers who broke through the walls of blood ties, regional ties, and school ties and took the positions of ministers only with pure skills.
They now-
“I agree that Her Majesty the Queen Mother conducts convergence purification!”
“”I agree!””
“I haven’t even told you the agenda of the meeting yet.”
Busy wagging her tail at the queen.
Is this… The Senate of the Dwarfs I know of?
Especially, the Minister of the Ministry of the Interior was busy waving the missing tail. I already knew that the palace minister was the Queen Mother’s puppet, but her old man’s wagging tail was unsightly.
The palace minister bowed her head and begged the queen mother.
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“Your Highness, the princess of royal blood is still six years old. It is natural for the princess to ascend the throne, but since she is still young, please let Her Highness the Queen Mother converge and take care of the princess.”
“Your Highness the Queen Mother! You must!”
“Right! It is for the sake of the country that Her Highness, the Queen Mother, converges and purifies! Majesty!”
Eight ministers, excluding Bangchaud, pleaded in front of the Queen Mother as if wailing loudly. What on earth makes them so?
The Queen Mother waved her hand in annoyance, and her ministers fell silent. And after letting out her deep sigh, the Queen Mother slowly lifted her head and looked at her ministers.
“…I see. All right, shut up and let this agenda end here. Then the next agenda is-“
…? Is it something that can be skipped over?
However, before I had time to worry about that, the next agenda strangled me. The moment they said it was the next agenda item, the eyes of the ministers, who had been shining while looking at the queen mother, turned sharp as if tearing people apart.
“About the treatment of the second queen ‘Vivian Liriansol’.”
“……”
The atmosphere of the ministers who had been talking hahahaha hoho until just now froze in an instant. I thought it was an animal tamed by people, but in fact it was like a beast. As if showing sharp teeth, the ministers watched me.
Silence fell, but that was only for a moment.
An old man sitting in front of a sign reading Ministry of Foreign Affairs raised his hand to gain the right to speak. When the Queen Mother gave permission to speak, the Minister of Foreign Affairs rose from her seat and looked at me like she was going to tear me apart.
“First of all, before we begin, raise your hands if you think Her Highness, the Second Queen, should remain here.”
At the words of the Foreign Minister, several ministers raised their hands. Queen Dowager and Vinshaw, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Minister of Education. It was four like this.
As if there was nothing more to see, the Foreign Minister told the other ministers to lower their hands.
“As Her Highness the Queen has seen, her Highness in the Council of Elders is not very high. To be honest, I want you to leave this place right now.”
“……”
Even though it was a remark that completely insulted the royal family, the queen mother said nothing. As if telling me to get through this situation on my own, the queen mother just silently looked at me.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs continued the story as if it wasn’t over yet.
“For two years, Her Highness has not received Her Majesty’s ‘Jeong’. She couldn’t even download the ‘surname’ of the royal family. Now that Her Majesty is dead, is there any reason for Her Highness to be here?”
“……”
“In the first place, you probably don’t know why we took Her Highness the Queen as the ‘Second Queen’. Before you became the second queen, we definitely asked for it. He wants the ‘little sun’ of the kingdom.”
It was a theory. I couldn’t say anything because it was so sensible. As if waiting for my answer, the foreign minister looked at me eagerly. Facing his gaze, I raised my head.
“I… No, I am currently in charge of education for the princess. More princess-“
“I know. However, we can always bring in an educator with the skills of Her Highness the Queen. No, rather than Her Highness the Queen, there are more wonderful young ladies and her aristocratic wives.”
“Uh, uh…? No way…”
“On the contrary, many are concerned that Her Highness the Queen is educating the Princess. A lot of people are concerned that learning the personality of Her Highness, the princess might also become eccentric.”
“That, that is…”
“There is even a suspicion that Her Highness the Queen is a ‘witch’. Its adverse effects are at a level that can even affect the princess-“
I sensed malice from the foreign minister who interrupted me. Even after this, my excuses didn’t work. As if to catch my words, the foreign minister ignored all my excuses.
As if it was already confirmed that I would be kicked out.
“That-“
“Me!”
The moment the queen couldn’t see it and raised her hand to stop, I couldn’t control the emotions boiling inside her, so I got up from my seat and hit the round table with both hands.
All excuses didn’t work. No matter how I said it, the foreign minister did not intend to listen to my story. If so, I had no choice but to beg for the last time.
“…As the ministers wish, I will give up everything the queen can have. You may take the jewels in my room, and you may not give me any more grace maintenance fees.”
“……”
“If that isn’t enough, I will really step down from the position of queen. Instead, give me a chance to work in the royal castle. The princess’s fight is good, and the maid who takes care of chores in the palace is also good.”
The Foreign Minister said nothing further. Instead, the Queen Mother, who had only looked at me until now, asked me. As if the words were true.
“If I really want you to work as a maid, what are you talking about?”
“Did you say that without any resolution? I would even lick the feet of Her Highness, the Queen Mother, in order to remain here.”
“Dirty…”
The Queen Mother sighed in amazement and then, holding her chin, covered her mouth with her fingers. To be honest, she was now letting herself be.
If you really want to kick me out, I was thinking of holding onto the ankles of the queen here. That much, he could never leave the princess alone like this.
The Queen Mother asked me, frowning.
“…Why do you want to go that far? If the temple is scary because of rumors of witches, I will personally send a letter to my temple. That way, even if you leave the castle, the temple won’t touch you.”
“…I’m not doing this because I’m afraid of the temple. Majesty.”
“Then…”
I just…
I lifted her head, showed her a big smile, and looked at the queen. The Queen Mother opened her eyes wide as if slightly surprised when she saw my smile, and she met her gaze with mine.
“I just want to be someone the princess can rely on. She wants to be by his side and help him even until he grows up.”
“……”
“That is all I really want.”
After that, silence fell in the meeting room for a while.
As if the Minister of Foreign Affairs had nothing more to say, he sat down and waited for the Queen Mother’s choice. Can’t I beg like this? Do I really have to lick the queen’s feet?
The moment I thought about how to dig up this situation, something flashed through her mind. I immediately looked at the “Minister of Education” Sitting at the round table.
“Your Excellency Minister of Education.”
“Yes, yes. Her Highness the Queen.”
“As far as I know, the royal family enters the ‘Academy’ where the Minister is the principal in the year they turn 15, but am I right?”
“Yes, yes… That’s right. When the princess turns 15, she will enter the academy. After entering the academy, socializing with royalty from other countries-“
I can’t stay with the princess until she comes of age… But if I get down on her knees, won’t she let the princess stay until she enters the academy?
Until the admission to ‘Academy’, the main stage of ‘Autumn’ in the game.
As long as she saw the princess enter her academy, she seemed to be able to leave her side at some level. Because there are many other people who help the princess besides me.
I immediately looked at the queen and begged.
“Your Highness, could you please let me stay here until the princess enters the academy?”
“…Until the princess is 15 years old?”
“Yes, as far as I know, I heard that even if you are a member of the royal family, you cannot come to the ‘Academy’ for three years from admission to graduation. So, after the princess enters the academy, I will leave the castle myself.”
The Queen Mother stroked her chin as if she was thinking for a moment, then glanced at the ministers beside her. Her ministers did not respond to her queen’s gaze, but silently sent her gaze to her.
Then, with her heavy sigh, the queen beckoned to the scribe who recorded her meeting at her door. The scribe quickly ran and took a seat next to the queen.
“Write down the scribe right away.”
“Yes. Majesty.”
“The 2nd Queen, ‘Vivien Lilien Sol’ is stripped of her title as the 2nd Queen after the princess’ academy ‘graduation ceremony’. After that, Vivian Lilien Sol forbids her from entering the castle. Until then, she is faithfully engaged in the education of the princess.”
“Thank you. Her Highness the Queen Mother.”
“…This is a ‘promise’ between you and the kingdom, and you will have to keep this promise faithfully.”
