Lost In Character: Transmigration Chronicles Of A Nameless Heroine 29 Proposals Ii

"Let me get this out of the way, Prince…" the older woman began coldly as soon as the door of the private study closed. "Because of who sent you – nay, because of who sired you – I do not relish having you here." Queen Heloise had said all this while her back was to the young man who'd entered the room with her. Visibly impatient, she then sat on the chair behind her desk and, with only a nod at the chair that Lady Ilse had occupied earlier, added, "Could this not have waited?"

As he sat, Leal let out a subtle, cynical sigh. With all the things his father had told him, the old man just had to leave out the fact that their neighbor's Queen hated his guts to the core – and, it seemed, Leal's by extension.

She'd been so calm and civil in public, not even an hour past. After he and the other Lyseans parted with the Queen's party outside the throne room, royal attendants had brought the guests to the suites that had been so openheartedly provided for their use. Once they were rested, cleaned up, and fed, the three older men had elected to return to the company that would welcome them back only a slight smidgen, but that was better than staying away and being branded as cowards and sn.o.bs instead.

Leal, however, had told them to make excuses for his absence. If the Queen was in the throne room, he told the Viscount to signal to her that Madelon's son wanted to talk. From the Royal Palace's layout that his father had let him see, he knew where her private study was located. When Queen Heloise arrived and saw him waiting outside it, Leal had witnessed firsthand how her temper had exploded behind her serene mask.

He would honestly not have been prepared to handle her sudden hostility if he had not already spent time with the monarch's younger sister. Blood will tell, as they say, which was probably the same reason the Queen was so openly distrustful of him.

Would Leal prove to be a true son to Madelon of Lys? He himself didn't expect so, but the woman before him didn't need to know that – for the time being.

"My apologies at the timing, Queen," he answered her with a bland smile. "I am afraid I couldn't be certain of my continued existence some hours from now. If you would prefer to continue this conversation later, I must first ask you to guarantee my protection and those of my countrymen – for the entire remaining duration of our stay."

"Less than a day, I hope?"

"Queen Heloise, that would depend on your own wishes."

The Queen leaned back in her chair, her gray eyes that looked frustratingly familiar to Leal narrowing for a moment. Then she nodded.

"I'll see what I can do about keeping you alive," she said in a disinterested tone. "But I am only a Queen, not a G.o.ddess. I hope your father understands he signed all your lives away when he ordered you to come here." After a brief pause, she sat forward and stated, "I'll listen to what Madelon has to say."

Leal had been observing the room discreetly since the moment he stepped foot inside it, but now he swept it with a broad look. "Can you vouch for this study's security?"

"Yes," the Queen answered simply.

The young man lifted one shoulder in a shrug and spoke. "My father has spies in the northern states," he began without preamble. "Of course, he has them here too, but you already knew that. Compared to here, the ones up north are a lot more reliable – or so he said. He wishes for me to tell you: he has the information you are looking for."

Queen Heloise only stared at Leal for a long moment. Her expression was so cold, he imagined that the thoughts behind the unmoving mask couldn't be anything good.

When she finally responded, it was to ask, "Do you also have it?"

"I do not, Queen," replied Leal, smiling tightly. "My King didn't tell me the details – that's how I knew he didn't truly want my death."

The older woman sighed in disappointment.

"Perhaps he merely wanted to bargain with me badly," she replied. "Why would I need to deal with him, after all, if I could torture the information out of you?"

"Indeed, that makes better sense," Leal conceded with a suave bow. "Why waste all the ways you could make my death appear an accident while I'm here?"

The Queen smiled coldly. "Enough of this," she said. "What does he want in exchange?"

Putting on a clueless expression. "I only know I am here, Queen Heloise." He shrugged again. "A Prince of suitable marrying age."

"A bit on the young side."

"As you were when you married, if my memory serves."

"Ah, boy," she said, a slight look of condescension on her face. "Female bodies have time limits when it comes to bearing children. Men have no such restrictions – and many times, their minds take longer to mature."

Leal accepted the hit graciously. Dropping the bantering tone, he sounded as he normally did when he stated, "My father would have had me married in the crib, if there'd been a good enough reason for him to do it."

Queen Heloise noted the sudden change in manner and nodded sideways. "Hm," she said. In that, Leal understood that she conceded what he said to be true. "But did he have to risk YOUR life to make this offer?"

Some of his own brand of humor showed in Leal's eyes.

"I suspect he thinks, if I can't keep myself alive in an ocean of hostility, I would not be worth the years he spent raising me."

The Queen looked away at that. Shaking her head minutely, she muttered under her breath, "Fathers…"

After a while, she turned back to Leal and narrowed her eyes at him.

"You are very candid, considering who it was that raised you." When she shook her head a second time, it was more p.r.o.nounced, and the sentiment behind it was unmistakable. "But to actually come in person for a bride that's being bargained for with information – something that could have been shared in good faith. You'll understand, even that much casts your character in doubt. Why did you agree?"

'Because,' Leal wanted to have answered, 'before this day, none of it meant anything to me.'

But those were not words he was free to say at present.

Instead, he hedged, "Perhaps it is also a matter of upbringing. I had not been shown or told growing up that I had any choice in how my life will be – at least not until I am King."

"Hm," the Queen said again, the sound more laugh-like than the one before. "Perhaps not even then, Prince." She gave him a considering look that he fought not to flinch from. "And which princess did you come for, may I ask?"

Though he had known the question was coming sooner or later, it still managed to rattle Leal. 'It would depend on who you ask,' was his private answer. 'My father or myself – the names we each give will be different.'

Queen Heloise's smile became harsh and cynical the longer the young prince hesitated.

In a falsely solicitous tone, she asked, "Are you meant to decide after you've also acquainted yourself with the Princess Gisela?" She scoffed. "Well. Not completely without a choice, after all."

The young man's eyes widened. "No – Queen Heloise, that is not—"

"It doesn't matter, Prince. I would spend neither of those coins on your Kingdom."

It was probably the first time in Leal's life that he was completely and utterly at a loss. Granted, there were many firsts for him that hour alone, but even before the Queen had spoken those words, he had been painfully aware: the second-biggest obstacle to the future he and he alone had started to envision for himself was not his father or his plans – it was this monarch's judgment and those of the country she represented.

That she happened to be an elder sister as well was doubly unlucky for his cause. He also had one of these creatures; he knew just how formidable they were even under ordinary circ.u.mstances.

It occurred to Leal to wonder… Queen Heloise's deep dislike of King Madelon – was that another reason his father didn't even bother considering the Queen's sister as a match for his son?

Leal composed himself. He still had a task to do.

"Please permit me to say, Queen, that though my King's methods may be questionable at best, he IS making this offer in good faith. He fully intends to throw in our kingdom's lot with that of Arnica." He hesitated as another new consideration came to him. "My… presence, I would venture, is perhaps the best proof he could give of his sincerity. I would personally wish to remain alive, but even were something to happen to me or to any Lysean here, I do not believe my father would place blames or retaliate."

"We will have to see about the truth of that, won't we?" said the Queen after a loaded silence. She continued lightly, "Though one of us might no longer be around then."

The young man fought back a grimace and stoically nodded agreement.

"Another thing, Queen Heloise…" he began, hoping against hope that this time around, the bait would catch. "Upon further negotiation, King Madelon is prepared to include as a bride price Flieder, formerly your Queendom's domain."

He probably didn't need to include that last part, but it had the desired effect. The Queen's eyes had widened the slightest bit.

She was about to respond but an angry series of knocks interrupted her. She and Leal turned expectant eyes on the closed study door.

"It's me, Queen," said a familiar voice, raised and m.u.f.fled behind the thick divide. "It's Hilde," the speaker then clarified, though there was no need. "May I enter?"