Chapter 320: The Reason Of Being Accepted
Even though the soldier who yelled was far away, I had this sudden worry of losing my hearing forever. Ruby was massaging her own ears in hope of getting them back to life.
"Her Highness is here?"
"If I had not had this box in my hands, I would have covered Your Highness\'s ears," Perita grumbled. "These shameless idiots!"
"I am fine, Perita. Calm down," I chuckled, patting her on the shoulder.
The knights all gathered in front of me and greeted me together. I waved them to get up. They were training since they had to do so for most part of the day. They also greeted Ruby, the mistress of the magic tower. For some reason, it felt like she was taken aback.
"How have you guys been?" I asked.
"We are fine, Your Highness. Thank you for asking."
"But Your Highness needs to take care of yourself now that there are two lives," one of the knights said.
"What?" Ruby exclaimed in shock.
"What does that mean?" Perita asked. Since she knew very less things other than swordsmanship, she could not have a conversation with regular people.
"That\'s a rumor, you guys. If that was the case, Her Highness would have told us herself," Calix clarified.
"A rumor?"
"Yes, it is a rumor," I nodded. "Trust me, I would have told you all if that was the case. I mean, it would be happy news. Obviously, I would have shared."
"Haha, I knew it!" the big knight who got me a beer in the competition said loudly as he came forward. He asked for my hand which I gave and he kissed his own thumb. He was very respectful. "Please take a seat in the shade, Your Highness. As Your Highness\'s knights, we cannot let our master stand under the sun."
I was pretty close with the knights even though we did not spend too much time together. They were very friendly and I liked the way they spoke. It was very free-spirited, but not rude.
"I brought something for you all," I said. "Calix and Perita will help you get them."
Calix and Perita handed each of them a brooch. It was made of pure gold and black diamond to represent our Royal color. It also had the design of the Queen\'s stamp to represent my knights. They all seemed to be very fascinated.
"Aren\'t they very costly?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, but it\'s fine," I said.
\'Well, I have too much money. I need to spend some on my knights too.\'
In the other box, I brought sandwiches, pumpkin cakes, and cold mango juice for them. Last time, one of the knights wanted to taste the special sandwich that Dem and I were served. It was a very famous sandwich and the people who tasted it always bragged a lot to the others. Only our chef could make the great taste of this sandwich. He had some secret ingredients.
"Wow, is that the Royal sandwich?" Perita exclaimed. "I did not even know..."
"The chef had to work all night to make this many. I promised to give him a grand raise," I said.
The knights were very happy to get the gifts. But it was not for the gifts that they accepted me so easily.
It was very surprising to me that almost everyone accepted me as their Queen so quickly. No matter how much they respected their King, it was still too good to believe. Then, Dem told me the reason.
"You see, the people in Querencia are realistic. That\'s the reason, religion almost doesn\'t exist here. People will choose what\'s best for them here. Usually, Queens don\'t work much. They just care more about beauty and dresses and join social events. So, even if I married a werewolf, it would be the same.
It has been like this since the beginning. So, people did not expect much from whoever I was going to marry. They just thought of their Queen to be a doll or someone who doesn\'t exist even if she does. When I married you, people did not mind much since a human Queen and a werewolf Queen would be the same if none of them worked.
But then, you started working very quickly and brought some major changes which helped you gain popularity very quickly. Yes, people expect a lot from you now since you have shown potential. But your position is very powerful now." he had told me.
The people of Querencia saw that I was working for the kingdom. So, they did not have any reason to oppose someone who was helping them. According to them, it was better to have a human Queen who worked for them, rather than a werewolf Queen who was more of a living doll.
Dem said it was the reason he never even thought of facing any difficulty in marrying me. He just knew that everything would be alright.
The knights were no different. They would follow someone who was worthy of being their master. If the Queen was incapable, they would still have to follow her. But they would be brave enough to betray her if needed. That was why I was trying hard to be worthy of someone who they could follow and would not even think of betraying.
I did not know how I was doing since, in the front, they looked loyal to me, but I did not know what was in their heart.
"Wow, the sandwich is truly amazing!" Ruby exclaimed. "It has been a long time since I tasted it."
Ruby knew the taste of it rather well since sometimes, I invited her to have food with me if Dem was not present. I would get bored.
"Haha, the chef just did not make it for quite a while now," I chuckled.
Actually, Dem got tired of eating this sandwich every three days, so he told the chef to make something else. I did not mention it since it would sound too out of touch.
We had a great time with the knights. Ruby\'s view towards them seemed to change drastically as well.
"Will you be leaving right away for the academy, Your Highness?" Calix asked.
"Yes. You will stay at home," I said. "Inform Dem for me, will you?"
"Sure," he nodded. "I will do so, Your Highness. Please come back safely."
"Of course."
The knights even escorted me to the carriage. Not just one or two knights, but all of them. Every single person was looking at us in shock.
"There was no need for all of you to come all the way here," I said.
"We practice all the time, Your Highness. If we can\'t do this much, then you can call us dirt," Christophen said. He was Perita\'s mate.
"Thank you, everyone," I smiled. "I will be leaving now. You all should go back to train."
Perita got the box of academy supplies for the academy students. I liked kids. Their innocence and cuteness always fascinated me and gave me peace.
"Your Highness, can I ask you something?" Ruby asked as the carriage started.
As usual, Abel was going with us. I told him to join us in the carriage. But he preferred to sit with the coachman.
"Yes, sure. You don\'t have to ask for my permission," I said.
"Well, how did this rumor even start?" she asked, a bit hesitantly.
"The one about me being pregnant? Well, it has been more than half a year since Dem and I got married. Werewolves usually take kids right after getting married- you told me so. That\'s why they are just looking for proof that would tell them I am pregnant. And voila! As soon as they see some signs, they start spreading rumors.
Trust me, you can show signs of pregnancy even if you are not pregnant. For example, I have vomited in the morning the other day because of the chips and salsa I had the night before. But they assumed it is morning sickness. Then, I had a stomach ache which the doctor said was because of gastric. But they thought I am pregnant. Also, I suffered from dizziness since I worked at a stretch for hours.
But again, they thought I am pregnant. You see, they will assume literally anything," I said.
"... I hope this rumor doesn\'t affect Your Highness much," she muttered.
I knew what she meant. After losing my child, pregnancy had been a sensitive matter to me for quite some time. But it did not affect me as much as before. It must be because of what Dem told me one night when I cried and confessed that I wanted my child back. He was very supportive. He made me believe that I should not be sad since my child would not want that.
I should try to be happy and start building up hope for the future.