The further Kasser thought about it, the further he realized he couldnāt explain very well just how complicated the situation he found himself in truly was.
Three years ago, when he entered the contract with the queen, he only expected that their relationship would begin and end once a child is born. His greatest concern about her memories returning out of nowhere was the fear of her suddenly turning back on her words.
Additionally, he never planned to tell Marianne about it, especially now with her old age. Heād be compromising her health if he were to tell her now. Sheād be quite astonished, and he might give her the shock of a lifetime.
āDonāt worry, Iām taking care of it,ā he reassured her, but Marianneās eyes narrowed in a reproachful way towards him.
āYour Highness,ā she began, her tone taking on a reprimanding tone. By her expression, Kasser could see the impending scolding he was about to receive, and so he let out a loud sigh. Disregarding his distaste, Marianne continued without care.
āYour Highness, how can you keep things from me? You are already very busy with the affairs of the state night and day.ā She pointed out. āNeed I remind you that despite your schedule, you still found a way to visit the queen in her bed chambers every night?ā
Kasser had had his fill of Marianneās nagging as a child, he had hoped now he was king he would be spared of such things.
Should he answer recklessly and ask her to back off the situation, sheāll only give him that look of hers, which conveys she was greatly disappointed with him and just up and leave without letting him explain a word edgewise.
AndĀ soĀ he opted for silence. He didnāt want to say anything that would give him away to Marianneās scrutinizing eyes. Sheād notice anything was amiss with him in a heartbeat.
And to be even more honest, her suggestion on improving his relationship with the queen was rather tempting. But could he make it happen? Could they?
Could he even disregard the past, build a new one from the ground up? Would she stay as she is should her memory return without warning?
Itās only until recently he began feeling he was married, three years after their union. Only recently, he even began to entertain the notion of the queen being more than just the bearer of his heirā¦
However, he couldnāt help but feel a little suffocated. Despite their growing closeness, he couldnāt deny that there was still an undeniable gap between them either.
They donāt normally run into each other, and the nights he would spend with her was full of passion. She smiled a lot, talked a lot, and didnāt show any signs of dissatisfaction whenever they were together. There was no problem, but at the same time, there seemed to be one.
Only, he couldnāt figure out what was wrong.
āIāll tell you, donāt worry,ā he told the Baroness, āAs soon as everything is over.ā
āYour Highness.ā Marianne sighed exasperatedly. āI do not mean theĀ country,Ā the state of affairs can wait! Why are you insisting on putting this discussion off? You can start wherever you want, I wonāt judge,ā she implored him, clasping his hand like she would a child, āYour Highness, the kingdom wonāt fall apart if you were to loosen up just a little. Youāre not a god. How do you expect to do everything?ā
Marianne was surprised she even said those words to the king, but she believed them to be true.
But despite her words, the kingās expression only remained calm, which only made her frown further. She knows sheās overstepped her boundaries, but still heās not angry at her. She realized sheās at the mercy of the kingās kindness, right there and then.
Eventually, Marianne reluctantly backed down, bowing her head towards him.
āForgive me, Your Highness. It was too presumptuous of me. Please punish me as you see fit.ā
Kasser gave her a slight smile. He found her naggings annoying yes, but he didnāt hate them. Even at the height of his rebellious stage, when he was fourteen to fifteen years of age, despite the fact he found everything she said tiring and irritating to listen to, he never hated it.
He remembered those times rather fondly, especially now that thanks to his experience before, heād learned to stop talking back at Marianne whenever she scolded him.
Suddenly there was a cry from outside the kingās office.
āYour Highness! There has been an emergency!ā
It was the Grand Chamberlain.
He had ordered expressly that his meeting with Marianne was to be private, and left undisturbed. It was highly unlikely they were to disregard his commands for anything trivial. Both of them exchanged glances, their expressions wary and alert.
āCome in!ā Kasser commanded without a moment further.
The doors burst open as the Grand Chamberlain hurried in, accompanied by another man. When he reached in front of the king, the man immediately dropped on one knee, bowing reverently, and offered up to him a single red envelope.
āYour Highness, urgent news from the Central Storage General!ā the man exclaimed.
Kasser quickly got on his feet and hurried to the man. He plucked out the red envelope from the manās hands and opened it, before scanning the contents quickly.
Inside the red envelope, contained a small piece of paper. They made use of carriers when sending out urgent messages so that they wonāt be able to contain much confidential information, or top secrets.
ā Accidents, Lark seed cracked, Yellow
No matter how carefully people manage the storage, the accidents that broke the lark seeds still happen frequently. They get broken, and therefore unleashing a lark, even from the tiniest of causes, especially during the active period. In rare cases, there were times that they would still break despite the presence of safety devices.
Kasser immediately turned back to face the carrier, commanding him urgently.
āMake your way to the General and tell him to send the warriors to the Central Storage.ā
āYes, Your Highness!ā he immediately got up and ran out of the room.
āGrand Chamberlain,ā he called out, immediately facing the other man, āTo the chancellorā¦ā Kasser paused. āI must go myself,ā he amended.
It would take too much time to send someone to call and wait for Chancellor Verus to arrive. If he were to wait a little longer, he would be able to get a more detailed report of the accident, but the time was of the essence.