妻子的秘密

I stared at the passing blue sky as the carriage I was in slowly made its way back to my estate. My drawn out sighs could not be blocked as I watched the clouds floating aimlessly by. “I wish I was a cloud….” I muttered to myself, causing a certain Princess at my side to chuckle.

“Is it really that bad?” Adel asked.

“Well… I am not so sure, to be honest. I just don’t like the idea of being forced into it. Everyone else got land and boosts in their titles, but I was basically told: hey, you are now a royal!”  I answered as I sat back in my seat. Adel leaned her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes.

“I am glad you got the title. It is well deserved. You have done so much for this kingdom and can be considered the strongest person in it. You are worthy of the title of queen, and my father would be happy to give up the crown, but since he knows you would not want that, he has decided to give you the title princess. He also knows you wish to work your way up through the ranks of knighthood as well, which is why he did not give you such a title.” Adel replied, her voice going soft. She seemed overly tired. I guess she had been busy as well lately.

Adel fell asleep on my shoulder. Her beautiful face was close to mine. I could see the dark circles that had been forming under her eyes. She tried to hide it with a bit of light makeup, but up close, you could see it. I guess with this new title, I can now at least share more of her burden and help this friend of mine when she needs it the most.

When we arrived at the estate, I did not wake Adel. I picked her up and carried her into the house and up to her room, where I then laid her on the bed with her feet hanging over the edge. Only when I got her shoes off did I put the covers over her and leave the room.

“You seem tired.” A voice came from my side. I turned to see Jen standing there, smiling at me.

“You can say that. That damn old man made me a princess.” I replied with a sour face. Jen chuckled and shook her head at me.

“Only you would whine about such a thing,”  Jen replied.

“Where is Grace?” I asked.

“Grace is still very busy. Because of everything that had happened, she had to put off her parent’s meeting. Now she is in full swing again. They are expected to be here in two days.”

“Yeah, they had to cancel before due to an incident with one of their companies. Let’s hope we can finally get this situation handled once and for all.” I still had no idea how Grace’s parents would react to their daughter’s new look. Grace had not met them at all since her change. She seemed reluctant or maybe nervous. She still loved her parents, after all.

—

Two days passed by quickly, and right now I was standing waiting for the Dollen’s to arrive. Grace was not to meet them until we arrived in the room we had prepared to receive them in. I wanted them to be sitting down and at least have some calming tea in case they end up having a stroke. The last thing I need is to have one of the few marquesses that the kingdom has left dying in my house.

Surprisingly the carriage pulled ten minutes earlier than the said arrival time. I guess maybe they were in a hurry to meet Grace. I guess this could be considered a good sign? The two people who got out were a middle aged man and a woman who looked to be in her late twenties. This was normal for nobles as most older men married younger women.

“My name is Niel Dollen, and this is my wife, Frera Dollen. It is our pleasure to meet the newly appointed Princess Cyrilia.” Grace’s father bowed his head and following after him, as did his wife.

“Please raise your head. In my house, status matters not. We are all one big family here. Whether it be commoner,  noble, or royal.” I answered with a smile. Grace’s father looked up at me. He was a man with a squarish face and short black hair. He looked refined, and his eyes seemed to hold deep wisdom.

“I see..” He only answered with these two words. It was hard to tell what he was thinking as he remained expressionless. And his wife seemed to be tight lipped. Or maybe she was afraid to speak?

We walked into the room that Grace set up for her parents so they could be seated comfortably. When we walked in, I saw a slight twitch in the expressionless man’s expression. I am not sure if it was bad or good, but since no complaints were uttered, we will just go with good.

“Please have a seat. Annie, serve us some tea, please.” I called out to Annie, my ten star maid. Annie nodded and quickly went to work brewing tea. I then turned to Grace’s parents and looked them directly in the eye. “Before I call Grace here, I would like you to drink the tea. It will help you relax a little. I must say, please be ready.” While Grace was with me at the castle, her parents were not there. And the king forbade anyone to talk about her appearance. I made him do so as her parents had not seen her yet as she was. Although I am not sure, they even recognized her at the trial. It was hard to tell with how they were not talking much.

“Princess… You do not need to worry about us. We already know about our daughter’s new appearance.” Grace’s father suddenly spoke up.

“I see… Then this will make things easier. There is a lot to explain as well. So I will have Grace come in now.”