The Gentle Queen

Chapter 9

Vyriana didn't even the chance to explain as she took her mother's hand in hers and used her other hand to draw an imaginary, oval-shaped door as she mumbled something that Hyejin couldn't understand. The little princess' efforts were not in vain as the door glowed with an exit for the outside of the large garden.

"Wait! I could've done that all this time!" Did the servants trick her?

"No, you can only do it in the garden. It was a spell that was placed a long time ago." Vyriana explained as she opened the door. So the servants didn't trick her because Hyejin entered without any supervision. Hyejin just wished that she knew about it sooner without having to walk so much. The little faeries didn't tell her about it, either!

Seeing Vyriana a bit sad at their time interrupted, Hyejin suggested something she would regret deeply later. "How about you bring the snowball outside and play with it for a bit until I'm finished with my business."

"R-Really? But you've never let it leave the garden." Vyriana's voice filled with hesitation and a bit of concern that Hyejin waved off.

"It's just a bunny? What's the worst that it can do, poop on the castle ground?"

Seeing Vyriana speechless, Hyejin shamelessly and jokingly added, "If it does, I'm too lazy to clean it." She didn't allow for the princess to reply and opened the door.

They both walked in and it disappeared the moment that it closed behind them. The servants were patiently waiting and breathed in relief when they saw their queen. They were a bit surprised at the pet being released for the first time since it was an infant, but none uttered a word.

"Your Majesty, there you are! The guests are here to pay their respect!" Isleila reminded frantically trying to get their queen to greet them. They couldn't afford to be tardy as it could offend the king and the representative. She eyed the bunny but focused on the bigger issue at hand.

"Lead the way!" Hyejin turned to the princess. "Vyriana, let's talk more when I finish and don't tell anyone about that." The little princess' eyes shined with excitement at the first part of what Hyejin said and she slowly nodded at the second part. The princess was clever enough to understand what her mother meant. It was obviously in regards to her amnesia. With the escorting of another servant, she left in the opposite direction with Blanche in her arms as Hyejin was guided by other servants, including Isleila.

How do I entertain a royal?

Hyejin wasn't the original queen. She had no memories of the original queen, either. One slip from her in front of Regent King Levih could lead to an offense and a declaration of war!

Maybe not that dramatic, but her brain was frazzled either way.

"Isleila..." Hyejin's sentence faltered as she couldn't think of what to say. Her amnesia had been decided to be kept a secret, even if she didn't consent to it, so she couldn't ask the servant about anything. "Never mind."

She would wing it. Thanks to her lazy tendencies, it usually succeeded. This time, it would too.

What's the worst that could happen?

♚♚♚

"My deepest apologies!"

Hyejin was ready to bow in embarrassment in front of the older man, Regent King Levih. It was fortunate that the older man, seemingly in his late forties, was pretty lenient and found the situation very humorous.

Everything started like this: Hyejin walked inside where the regent king was waiting, expecting the representative from the other kingdom to be there too. When she saw an old man, she immediately labeled him as the regent king. However, she also saw a young man that couldn't be older than his mid teens standing there as well. Both dressed in extravagant black, once again to solidify their respect for the deceased king.