Tears That Only Queen Knows (1)
Chapter 22 – Tears That Only Queen Knows (1)
"My apologies, Lady Rashta, but I am already exhausted."
Prince Heinley smiled and turned away.
"I cannot dance twice in a row. The handsome man has a surprisingly weak constitution."
"Then what about after you take a break? When you get your strength back."
"Then…"
Prince Heinley suddenly looked over and our eyes met, and his gaze softened.
"There’s someone I want to dance with again."
I pondered his repeated refusal towards her. He was determined to cut her off, far different from how most nobles presented themselves. Rashta didn’t expect to be rejected, and she touched her hair, disconcerted, and turned away. Our gazes met, but she didn’t acknowledge me and instead turned to Sovieshu with her eyes shimmering with tears.
"Your Majesty, Rashta has no one to dance with."
"Take a break. You cannot dance with the same person twice in a row."
Rashta was similar to Prince Heinley. He, too, had no qualms about expressing his feelings, when most nobles would be too proud to voice their thoughts out loud.
"Hing…"
She whined like a baby, and the surrounding nobles chuckled, not out of mockery, but of endearment. Rashta was not noble, and her behavior was rude, to say the least, but to everyone else she was like a fresh and pure novelty.
"Lady Rashta, would you like to dance with me?"
Several other noblemen approached Rashta, but she weakly replied, "No thank you," then trudged towards the edge of the room. Sovieshu stiffened, as if he wanted to run towards her. If the music hadn’t started at that moment, he might have really gone after her, but he stayed on the floor.
Coincidentally, the music was calm and the dance required some distant from one’s partner. Sovieshu and I had been dance partners since we were young, and we were used to falling into the rhythm together. As children, we held onto each other with laughter, complaining that the steps were awkward.
‘Those days will never come anymore.’
When I remembered holding a large map and discussing new construction projects, I felt a chill in the corner of my heart. How stupid and naive I was at the time to believe Sovieshu and I would be together for the rest of our lives. When the dance finally brought us close to each other, I still felt like we were far apart.
"Earlier."
Sovieshu spoke in a low voice.
"What did you talk about with Prince Heinley?"
"We had a normal conversation."
"…"
"…"
"Have you heard the rumors about him?"
What did he mean by that? I didn’t say anything for a while to focus on the complicated steps, but I didn’t miss the crease between Sovieshu’s eyebrows.
"What do you mean you had a ‘normal’ conversation with him?"
"He was very entertaining."
"He’s a womanizer, so of course he’s entertaining. People like funny men."
The distance between us grew apart again. As I turned around, I saw Prince Heinley standing near a table and watching me. He smiled and waved one hand when our eyes met.
"I have Rashta as my concubine, so I won’t tell you that you cannot take another man as your lover as well."
"?"
"Still, I don’t believe it should be Prince Heinley."
"I don’t know what you’re talking about."
"If you are with Prince Heinley, he will not be your concubine, but you will be his."
"!"
"Wouldn’t that be disgraceful to the Empress of the Eastern Empire?"