(From Blue's Perspective)
Tomorrow, we were going to Ataraxia for the banquet. Luc sent a letter saying that the necklace was ready. He asked if he should bring it here. I told him that I would go as it would be an excuse to get out of the palace for a while.
Since he did not find any clue about who the dark mage was after being around for quite a few days, Dem and I thought it would be better if he went back to the magic tower or it might raise suspicions.
"Why does His Highness not let Your Highness go out?" Perita asked on our way to the magic tower.
"Um... He is worried," I said.
"Worried? But I am here," she said. "If His Highness did not trust in my ability, he would not have assigned with this very important task- protecting Your Highness, the Queen."
"Don't think too much... about it, Perita. It's a-alright," I said.
"If Your Highness says so..."
Dem did not want to let go out today as well. But I made him agree and he said that he would et after a while on the palace ground since I wanted to et the knights.
"When Your Highness will go to et the knights, I can brag a lot," she grinned. "Actually, they are envious of because I am the one protecting Your Highness. Everyone wanted this position."
I chuckled. Not a single mont with her was boring. I was glad that she was my personal knight.
"By the way, how old... are you, Perita?"
"Twenty-two this year, Your Highness," she said.
'Four years older than , then. She doesn't seem so though...'
"Perita, do you have a m-mate?" I asked.
"Yes, I do," she replied.
"Really? Who... is it?"
"It's Christophen."
"That C-Christophen? White hair?"
"Yes, he is the one."
"But..."
"I know what Your Highness is thinking," she chuckled. "We are mates, but we do not have any kind of romantic feeling towards each other. That's why we planned not to let this re bond take over our life decisions. We are going our own ways. I know that this bond makes it hard for us to like another person, but it is not a problem for us.
Right now, my dream is to be a great knight and contribute to my kingdom. The sa goes for Christophen."
"That ans you will... never marry?"
"That is correct, Your Highness," she nodded. "It's not a problem. I am glad that my mate is soone who understands my situation and thinks the sa way as ."
'So cool! Amazing!'
"I see..."
"I don't know if I am wrong or right and I also know that I am in no position to say this, perhaps it's because of the way I think, but I didn't like it when His Highness did not let Your Highness take a walk in the garden."
"It might be for a reason I don't know," she added. "But His Highness could say it in a different manner. Rather, when His Highness said no, it felt more like he was trying to control Your Highness's movents. I know I am wrong; of course, His Highness would not do sothing like that. But I could not just accept it. I am really sorry, Your Highness.
I will take any punishnt Your Highness gives ."
"Raise your head, Perita," I said.
"Yes..."
"I like your view. Your thinking... is really praise-worthy. And I like your... independent nature," I said. "But in life, there is a line we s-should not cross.
If we want to, we can take the line... as far as possible, but no matter what, we must... not cross it."
I could not just tell her she was right and she should keep acting like that. I liked her attitude, but I needed to consider a few things before talking to soone or supporting soone. Before my right as a neutral person, I was the Queen of Querencia. If she was against the king in any way and if I supported a bright and determined person like her, it would an I was raising a rebel.
And as a Queen, I could not just let a person like her go against Dem. Even if she was on my side, if she started to hate Dem, then she would lose her interest in following as well. I was not a charismatic person. The only ability I had was that I could think a situation through. As a Queen, I was at odds here. So, in every step, I needed to be as careful as possible.
"The king respects ... as a person and never mistreats . Every person... has at least a single fault, let it be in their personality or sothing else. We cannot just judge a p-person based on a single... thing.
His Highness, the king, is a great leader... and he is doing a very good job as a king. So, isn't better if the subject also keeps... supporting him?"
"Yes, I understand, Your Highness. And my apologies for overstepping my boundaries," she said, bowing her head.
"Perita is a great royal knight. I hope you know... what's best for you and I also know that you will surely achieve your dream," I said. "Anyway, enough with the... heavy talk, let's get going."
I brought cookies for Luc again since he only stayed at the magic tower. He had a lot of work and did not go out much. And besides, it seed that he liked cookies as well. That was why, this ti, I made the servants get all the best types of cookies.
As we reached the magic tower, Luc opened the door earlier than I expected. Perhaps he was downstairs.
"Why did your husband let you co here? I thought he would surely..." he asked as soon as we entered. "Oh, you have company..."
"Ah, this is my new... personal knight, P-Perita," I said.
"I see," he muttered. "Oh, you brought cookies? So cool..."
Perita looked at as if she was wondering if Luc was actually the magic tower. Even I had to admit that he was acting like a child, taking the boxes of cookies from Perita.
"And the necklace is now fixed, right?" I asked.
"Yeah, co with ," he said.
'Ah, finally! Without the necklace, I was like a naked soul to Detrius. Finally, I can get my privacy back!'
"What's this necklace for?" Perita asked.
"For safety... purposes," I replied.
"But I am with Your Highness to protect you," she said.
"I know, but still, I can't just rely... on soone forever. There might be tis w-when I need to save myself," I said. "Don't worry, I know you can save well."
"Really, Your Highness?"
"Are you sure she is a knight?" Luc grumbled.
"I can say the sa about you," Perita snapped. "I have never t you before. If Her Highness was not with , it's impossible to know that you're the master of the magic tower..."
"Is that the tone you use to talk to the master of the magic tower? Did you forget your rank?"
"Hey, hey... Quit it and let's get doing what... we're supposed to do," I said quickly. It was the benefit of being a queen. Any quarrel could be solved if I stepped in. Though I still did not fully get used to it, I was trying.
"Yes, Your Highness, and I am truly sorry for misbehaving," Perita said.
"I am sorry too," Luc said.
"Alright, let's go now," I said. "Oh, did you pierce... your ear? I didn't see it before..."
"Yeah, it's new," he said, touching the helix of his right ear.
Detrius had his ears pierced as well and he wore earrings quite often. His ears were pierced from a lot of places unlike who had only the lobes pierced.
"It happened partly because of you...," he muttered.
"Because of ? I an, you pierced... your ears because of ?" I asked, surprised. "I don't understand..."
"Actually, I tried to practice a different type of magic so I could see how much black mana you have inside yourself. It would help know what kind of mage you would be. What I an, how powerful you would be. But it's actually not possible. It's theoretically possible, but not in reality. I tried nonetheless.
And it was too much for and when it happens, then it's hard to control my real power. That's why I needed to pierce. Piercing helps balancing. Mainly, any kind of scratch on the skin helps."
"Ah, I see... But I didn't tell you to do... so," I said.
"Do you expect to remain quiet when there is literally a human with black mana in front of ? It's the first ti I heard of soone like this. I need to find out as much things as possible."
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