I’m Sorry I’m Not Qualified to Be Empress - Chapter 30

Chapter 30

“I see.”

Rose ordered Miriam to settle the things she had thought of one by one in her head while being guided to the castle a while ago.

“Give the maids and servants time to rest during the day, and never touch that free time.”

“I will.”

Miriam was surprised that the Queen even had such a small thing in mind while she was guiding her to the castle. She had thought that Rose was just pretending to take a look around the castle, but Rose was aware of details that the maid herself had never even thought of.

“When changing the curtains, remove all the dull and heavy brown fabrics from the window and change them to a cream and golden color combination. For rooms that have been vacant for a long time, open the windows wide on a sunny day for ventilation, so that all the bad air can go out.”

Miriam’s hand that was holding a quill wrote diligently on the notepad.

“All right.”

“For now, let’s stop here and change it when I think of other things.”

“Leave it to me.”

As Miriam left, Rose leaned back comfortably in the chair. She wondered if she might have missed something. She knew that it was not right for her to be involved in even the smallest things like this considering her status. It was something she had never thought of when she was in Solstern. Of course, she didn’t even need to care then, since everything went smoothly.

‘Still, I can’t stand it.’ Rose had completely changed her environment, which had been full of the touch and disposition of Mrs. Katrina and what she liked.

Even if Mrs. Katrina wasn’t there, Rose was desperate to get rid of that psychological pressure, since it felt as if Mrs. Katrina was just watching from somewhere else.

As soon as Rose arrived at the castle, she thought to herself. ‘Am I doing what I want?’ Rose shook her head immediately.

‘Maxim allowed me to do whatever I wanted. I’m sure it’s all right at this point.’

So she gave excuses and rationalized her actions appropriately. Rose remembered Maxim’s behaviour before, when he acted as cold as ice towards her. For some reason, her heart felt so heavy that a shallow sigh leaked out.

“I-I will change the water.”

Rose looked to the side, towards the small voice speaking shyly. Hannah was holding the vase that was on Rose’s desk. Yellow and orange flowers fluttered in the vase.

‘Come to think of it, since when was that on the desk?’

Rose only now realized that fresh flowers were placed on her desk every day.

“Do you happen to bring flowers every day?”

When Rose asked, Hannah blushed and nodded her head slightly.

“Uh….. I hope you get well soon.”

“Ah…. Well. Thank you.”

As Rose smiled, Hannah’s face turned even redder.

“N-no. T-then. Please drink your water…!”

Hannah tried to step back, but Rose quickly called her back.

“Wait a minute.”

Rose got up from her seat and untied the ribbon that was wrapped around her wrist. It was one of the things that her home sent recently, a soft satin ribbon adorned with gold thread.

“It’s not new, but I’ll give it to you as a present because you give me flowers every day.”

Rose lightly tied the ribbon in Hannah’s hair as if she were doing it for her sister.

“Don’t be so shy.”

“T-thank you, Y-your Majesty.”

The Queen was touching her hair. Hannah, who suddenly became stiff, ran out of the room at a precarious speed. But the moment she opened the door, she collided head-on with Jansen, who was standing just in front of the door.

“Ah!”

“Be careful!”

Jansen barely caught the vase that had slipped from Hannah’s hand.

“Safe!” Smiling, he was relieved and returned the vase to Hannah.

“A pretty flower almost went to waste.” Jansen smiled at Hannah and said.

“Ah… Ahhh…… Ah!”

As if she had encountered a monster, Hannah made a strange noise and ran out of the room with the vase.

“……Huh?”

Jansen looked behind at Hannah in bewilderment as she ran down the hallway, as if she had just made a big mistake. He immediately knocked on the door and entered the room Rose was in.

“Your Majesty.”

“Jansen, what’s going on?”

Rose, who was standing by the window, looked at him.

“I have something to tell you.”

Rose watched him approach with curious eyes.

“I found this on the outdoor terrace you were on before .”

He pulled something folded out from the inside of his sleeve and handed it over. As soon as Rose saw it, she was startled and quickly looked through the books on the desk. There wasn’t anything. It’s definitely something that should have been within the pages of the books.

When did that fall out? She didn’t even know that it was gone!

“Thank you.”

She quickly snatched it from his hand and tucked it between the books.

“……”

Jansen wondered why Rose was looking so intently at it, but he didn’t bother to ask.

“What are you going to say?”

“A few days later, I will go hunting in the forest of Guagimolia with His Majesty Maxim and the knights. It’s an event that happens only once a year.”

“Hunting in Guagimolia…?”

“Yeah. I think I’ll be following along this time. If I go, I’ll be back in a few days.”

“I see.”

Rose nodded as if she understood. A hunting trip to the Guagimolia forest for a few days. She wanted to go too.

“Administrator Jansen. By any chance…”

*** 

Maxim casually raised his gaze and looked at Jansen. He wondered why Jansen was walking around, looking at him.

“If you have something to say, say it quickly. Don’t be so sly.”

He put the quill pen on his desk and relaxedly looked at Jansen with his arms folded. Jansen, who was blowing the dust off the bookshelf, looked back at Maxim with a calm expression.

“Yes? What do you have to say?”

Maxim narrowed his eyes at Jansen. He then picked up the pen again.

“If you don’t have anything to say, then leave. You’re a hindrance.”

“Ah! I just suddenly thought that….”

Jansen came to Maxim’s desk at the speed of light and scratched his chin as if contemplating something.

“It’s because I’m worried about the Queen being alone in the castle while everyone is hunting.”

“So?”

Maxim asked without raising his head.

“So the Queen wants to come with you…”

Before Jansen could finish speaking, Maxim cut him off.

“No way.”

“Your Majesty, but!”

“You think we’re going on a picnic in a carriage?”

“It’s not a carriage. Aren’t you good at riding horses?”

Maxim stopped writing and raised his head. He lowered his gaze and glared at Jansen.

“Did she ask?”

“No. It’s not particularly like that.”

“If we went together, it would only be a burden. I’m not in good shape either.”

“I’m sure you are.”

“Of course. I knew you wouldn’t allow it, but I’m still worried.” Jansen admitted bluntly.

“If we all leave the castle, you’ll stay with her in the castle. The guy who killed someone in prison and ran away is still somewhere in the castle.” Maxim’s eyes shook slightly, but he spoke as if it wasn’t much.

“I’m hiring an escort, so don’t worry.”

In the past, the Count of Monte was also killed by the escort knight he had hired.

“Jansen.”

Maxim glared at Jansen with warning glances, and Jansen finally resigned and replied, “Okay. I’ll go out.”

Jansen was about to walk towards the door when Maxim’s low sigh and blunt voice came from behind him.

“See if she can ride a horse.”

“Yep!”

Maxim, who was left alone in the room, got up and walked to the window. He pretended to allow it, but when he finally decided to bring her along, he felt much better. In fact, for several days, there also seemed to be something prickly and heavy in his chest. What happened last time, and the burden of leaving her alone in the castle made him worried. In that case, he thought it would be better to put her in a place where he could see her, even if it would cause some trouble.

‘What a nerve-wracking woman.’

It was the first time in his life that he had thought deeply and cared about someone, so this feeling was unfamiliar and a little tiring. The last time he went to the battlefield, the woman’s face kept popping up in his head while he was wielding a sword, and he was so embarrassed.

‘What is it?’

Maxim’s eyebrows rose slightly. Maxim’s eyes, which were looking down at the garden, noticed someone. He shifted his gaze slowly. She was picking flowers in the garden with Natalie and a young maid. Their faces were bright as they laughed. What could be so much fun?

‘Ha!’

An absurd snort escaped Maxim. He had been feeling down for several days because of her, so he was distraught when he saw Rose’s bright smile, which seemed carefree. Maxim was not the only one watching them. The shadows of two people flickered across the windows of another building.

“We underestimated that Stern Fox.”

Katrina looked down at Rose and said.

“I don’t know what kind of goal she has or what she’s planning to do.”

Prime Minister Pieri shook his head, remembering the humiliation he had been subjected to at the conference hall recently. What surprised Katrina more than reminding him that he was a foreigner was that Rose said the word ‘king’ in front of everyone. She knew right away that his nephew, Maxim Lanckert, had great ambitions, but even Maxim had never declared his intention to become king before his uncle Pieri. But how did she know of his ambitions and make such a bold statement?! As if she were throwing glue at the embers, she had confidently told Maxim to become king.

Don’t tell me Maxim trusts her enough to talk about it? The Maxim who doesn’t show his feelings to anyone?