I just Wanted to Make Money (5)
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The queen’s face, which was full of anger and irritation, instantly brightened.
“Hamill is here?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the court lady replied, turning a little to the side.
The queen’s attention turned to the doorway, instead of the court ladies who were prostrated on the floor. As expected, the queen looked at the door, her eyes filled with anticipation.
In fact, after the name ‘Hamill’ was mentioned, she completely forgot about the court ladies who were the target of her anger.
“Where is he right now? Since he just arrived, is he in his palace?”
The queen couldn’t remain still and paced around the doorway.
“I should go see him…No, he must be tired from the long journey so I should let him rest, right?”
Despite saying that, she looked like she wanted to run over to Hamill’s palace right away.
“There is no need to worry about that, Your Majesty,” the court lady smiled and bowed her head, “His Highness Hamill said he would come straight here.”
“Really?”
Joy spread across the queen’s face.
“No but still, I don’t want him to push himself too hard. Even if he used the last portal, the journey to the portal would have been tedious.”
“He must be coming here first because he wants to see Your Majesty, the Queen even if he’s tired.”
“You’re right, my Hamill is very filial,” the queen nodded proudly.
The court lady quietly lowered her head.
In truth, Hamill was coming straight to the queen because of a different reason. It had been conveyed to Hamill that the enraged Queen was harassing the court ladies.
However, the court lady didn’t tell the Queen. She didn’t know what disaster would befall her if she told the truth.
The court ladies who were prostrated on the floor quickly caught on and began to clear up the messy room.
The queen looked at this sight and turned away.
“Let’s go to another room. The sunlight is too strong here.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
* * *
The room was cool and refreshing due to the magic power keeping the midsummer heat away.
The table, made of coral rose-stone shimmered clearly, and in the middle of it, was a modestly blooming hydrangea in a pristine white vase.
The queen rapped her hands on the table, her face a mixture of anticipation and restlessness.
Soon, the door opened.
‘Finally!’
The queen immediately got up and walked to the door.
“Hamill, my son!”
“Queen Mother.”
Hamill smiled and bowed to her. His platinum blonde fluttered with his movement and glistened in the sun.
Unlike the average Irugoian who had dark hair, Hamill’s hair color was very light. This was because of his maternal grandmother, who was a noblewoman from another country.
Due to that, his face also looked more delicate than other people, and he gave off the air of a scholar or literary study. His overall impression was soft but his detailed features looked rather sharp like they were drawn one at a time.
“Come here. Wasn’t it tough on the way here?” the Queen began.
Hamill escorted the Queen to the table before replying, “Of course not, I used the portal, after all.”
“Still, it must have been a long journey from the manastone mine to the portal. It has been a while since they said you were coming but you hadn’t come so I was getting worried.”
Hamill didn’t reply but smiled and pulled out the Queen’s chair.
The queen smiled at the caring gesture and sat down. Once Hamill sat down too, the court ladies came out with tea.
“Aren’t you tired? After going through so much trouble, you should get some rest.”
“I’m fine, Mother,” Hamill smiled softly, “It was no trouble at all. The distance from the mine to the nearby portal might be long but it is nothing compared to the distance from Silvanus to here.”
The queen’s hand, which was lifting the teacup, froze slightly.
Hamill paid no attention to that and continued talking freely, “I heard that the Princess of Silvanus used an old-fashioned carriage instead of a portal.”
Clack, the Queen placed the teacup down loudly on the saucer. She was no longer in the mood for tea so the glass didn’t even touch her mouth.
“Ha, that’s true. So unfavored by the emperor that she couldn’t even use a portal…”
Yet she dared to act arrogant.
The queen’s eyes flashed sharply.
“The Emperor of Silvanus was against it? The rumors say a different thing,” Hamill replied.
At those words, the queen scoffed in ridicule, “What, do they say the princess purposefully chose such a difficult path to see the people affected by the war with her own eyes?”
“I’ve also heard that the toll on her body was nothing compared to the suffering of the people.”
There were even more aside from that.
The queen’s fingernails scratched the rose-stone table, “That rumor has spread so far?”
It was humiliating. Because the queen herself was the reason those rumors began.
She deliberately pointed out the old-fashioned carriage and asked if it was difficult in order to attack Aristine.
—You might be called a princess, but without any recognition by the Emperor so you’re just an empty husk.
With that meaning in mind.
But then, Aristine calmly replied to her without blinking an eye:
《It was a journey to stop the spill of blood in the war, how can one possibly call it hard? 》
《The war has devastated the lives of citizens in both countries. It breaks my heart, and my exhaustion is simply nothing in comparison.》
《As you say, the portal is comfortable. But even if it took a little toll on my body, I believed it was worth traveling to Irugo from Silvanus to see things with my own eyes.》
It wasn’t enough that she fended off the queen’s attack, she even took advantage of it.
Claiming that traveling in an old-fashioned carriage was not because the emperor wanted to torment Aristine but a path that Aristine chose herself to look after her people despite the inconvenience.
Thanks to that, Aristine became someone who thought of peace more than anyone else and a beacon for the people.
Even Nephther took Aristine’s side, and it was solidified as an established fact.
The queen picked a fight with Aristine and ended up with nothing but benefits for her opponent. Of course, she knew that rumors would spread but finding out this way made her feel foul.
