My adored queen

15

After exchanging glances with Lucy, who, as always, didn't leave my side for a moment, I confidently walked into the royal wing. Well, in general, I planned to organize everything myself, but since the former manager will be out of a job anyway, let her do it. I'm not going to increase the servants' salaries for pretty eyes, so... Besides, Vitelia faithfully served the queen dowager, so she should be kept in front of my own nose. Like everyone you don't trust.

I could feel the woman's dissatisfaction emanating from her. She probably hoped for a more prestigious job, but overseeing the servants' work has always been her responsibility. I don't see any reason to be upset.

"What do you wish, milady?" she asked restrainedly and respectfully when we found ourselves in the royal apartments. I pondered. Should I change everything completely? Probably yes, because otherwise, I won't be able to fall asleep here, I won't be able to call these chambers my own, without constantly calling them the late king's property. "Milady?"

I came to my senses and looked at the woman in surprise. I went into a trance, and Lady Vitelia clearly doesn't shine with patience.

"I want a combination of gold and soft violet in all the rooms. On this wall, Yelieno's painting 'Dawn', and over there, 'May Paradise', I think it will look nice..."

"Very nice," Lucy chirped, agreeing with me as usual. Vitelia nodded in agreement as well. I've never had any problems with taste; that's the pure truth.

"The bed over there, and here I want a table and two sofas around it. And a couch by the fireplace. A bookcase against that wall where the mirror used to be. I want it to be cozy and homey, without unnecessary pomp and gloss..." I said softly, allowing myself a light, dreamy smile. It seems I dreamed of being a queen all my childhood, barely realizing the weight of this title. I thought everything would be like in a fairy tale. Let at least some of my dreams come true, for example, beautiful chambers and luxurious clothes. In other ways, the real life of a ruler is not at all what it might seem. I'm only now starting to understand this.

"Is it possible without gloss?" the manager was surprised, rolling her eyes dramatically.

"It's necessary," I remarked with emphasis. "Work. I'll come and check."

And while I'm not here, I'll leave Lucy to check. Just in case.

I walked down the corridor with my head held high, majestically nodding to the occasional lords I met. Well, being in charge isn't so bad... Said the not-yet-crown-princess, who hasn't seen anything in governance yet. I should be studying state affairs now, but the day turned out to be emotional, stressful, and very long. My nerves are out of order, my attentiveness betrayed me and ran away somewhere, my mind is hysterical, and my moderation is drunk and fast asleep. I need to rest. Take a walk alone. Breathe fresh air...

Tall trees whispered with their leaves, lazily sending greetings to each other. The cool evening breeze swirled through the palace garden, stealing the last gossip of the few groups of courtiers who were slowly returning to the palace. The palace, like a giant lantern, slowly came to life with the hum that poured from the open windows and doors to the terraces, and flared up with the glow of countless torches. Their owners were returning to their rooms, servants were hurrying somewhere, faceless silhouettes were flitting before the light-filled windows. In contrast, the garden was getting darker, and the tops of the fir trees merged with the black sky. Even the torches carefully lit on the main paths by the guards didn't help, but only added to the mystery, giving ordinary objects in daylight strange shadows, as if filling them with magical properties.

I nodded in response to the bow of the next worldly ladies hurrying to hide from the night in the palace and continued on my way, enjoying the intoxicating aromas of matthiola and evening primrose. Flowers that bloom only at night have their own unique beauty. They bloom not for everyone, but only for those who come to meet them, who recognize their unique fragrance and overcome the path in search. They open when ordinary passersby who cannot appreciate them sleep soundly. When passersby sleep, the night kings lead their own lives.

I sat down on a lonely bench with an elegant patterned backrest right in front of a blooming ipomoea, long called the moonflower. The air, heated during the day, became cool, making it so easy to breathe. The wind tore a few strands of my chestnut black hair from the complex hairstyle that Lucy spent an hour on, and the thin fabric of my black dress seemed clinging and cold. A cape wouldn't hurt right now, but I won't send anyone for it. And I won't go back yet either. Who knows when I'll have the chance to sit alone like this carefree again. I had no idea what to expect from my new life.

As if overhearing my thoughts, warm, thick fabric of a rich caftan with gold buttons and embroidery, which dimly glittered in the moonlight, carefully lay on my shoulders. I looked around in surprise, noticing a slender male figure two steps away from me.

"You're cold, Your Highness," the "figure" said softly in the velvet voice of the kingdom's head of security.

"Count Arron," I nodded, accepting the caftan. I was wrong to consider him not a gentleman at lunchtime. A true knight. "Thank you..."

"You should return to the palace; it's late," the light-haired man informed me in a teacherly tone, making me raise a cunning look to his face.

"But my safety is your headache, not mine."

The man paused again for a moment, amusing me. I decided to wait for an answer with my head held high, guessing this handsome man's favorite manner of mockery. And there was no point in lowering my eyes: first, I'm the future queen here, and second, in the moonlight, all men change their guise. As if the dark half of the day forces people to take off their masks, to become more sincere, to allow a glimpse if not into the soul, then at least into its anteroom, behind the scenes.

The handsome man's light hair, washed by the dim glow of the celestial body, seemed even silkier and somewhat magical, shiny. His facial features became softer, as if all the sharp corners were washed away, and in his dark eyes, among other emotions, fatigue was visible. It seems that I wasn't the only one who had a difficult day. It was unusual to see this man without his usual uniform, in which Daniel always appeared before the eyes of strangers, including me. The black shirt hugged the perfect cubes of his abs on his stomach and chest, and his arms seemed quite pumped up, although, of course, the sleeves didn't allow me to see his biceps. However, it would be a mistake to expect folds of fat on the body of the head of the royal guard: everyone knows about the enhanced daily training of every guard on duty in the palace. How can you protect the king if you are a clumsy, overgrown with fat boar? That's a job for the kitchen, not the royal guard. Yet Dan could have been ordinary, not the owner of a luxurious male physique.

Calm down, Annie. It's not appropriate for you to drool over a servant, even if he's a nobleman.

"Your safety is a matter of state importance, and of course, I would give my life for you, milady," he said restrainedly, but immediately added: "But it's desirable that you at least manage to become queen. You'd better be more careful."

"Oh, do you have a plan to prevent me from being crowned?" I flashed my green eyes.

"Enough of that; I'm not an enemy. If you want to sit longer, I'll have to protect you. With your permission," the man replied softly, surprisingly sitting next to me, albeit at a considerable distance. I scoffed, and he didn't react at all.

"Moonflowers... They bloom with the appearance of the moon and close the moment the first rays of the sun touch their petals," the young man said softly, not taking his eyes off a whole row of unique plants. I also fixed my gaze on them.

"They're so unusual... In nature, everything happens the other way around, and they live according to their own laws..."

Dan smiled, suddenly rising from the bench and approaching the fragrant flower bed in a few steps.

"What are you doing?" I wondered, looking at the man's back. And he, without wasting a moment, returned, holding a delicate white flower in his hands.

I couldn't understand why a smile spread across my lips when the count, glancing at the plant he had pulled out, handed it to me with the words:

"This is for you... Without reason or hint. Just because you are a young girl on whose shoulders such a burden has fallen. I hope this burden will be light for you. But don't forget that you are not only a queen."

Completely shocked, I took the flower in my hands and brought it to my face to inhale its magical aroma.

"Thank you, Dan," I tried to make my voice sound normal, but I was really surprised.

"May I?" I had no idea what he was talking about, but I allowed anything in advance. It was very interesting how else the head of security decided to surprise me. And most importantly – why.

Count Arron carefully took the flower from my hands, leaning towards me a little with his whole body. I froze in bewilderment, allowing him to touch a strand of my hair that had come out of my hairstyle, "accidentally" barely touching my neck, and tuck it into a hairpin near my temple, carefully inserting the moon beauty into the construction, while slowly approaching me with the most preoccupied look possible.

"That's it, it suits you very well," Dan said almost in a whisper, in some intimate voice, without increasing the distance between us, but rather slightly decreasing it. His eyes looked straight into my soul, periodically glancing at my lips, numb with shock. And I couldn't help but do the same maneuver, so as not to lower my gaze to his crimson lips, which, surprisingly, didn't even have a skeptical smile playing on them. It seemed that he was really going to kiss me now, and I, like the last fool, would sit and blink, or even worse – respond to this kiss. Worse or not worse, but little Annie somewhere inside me jumped for joy and clapped her hands. Not that I liked kissing so much, but Daniel Arron was always the one who caught me in my worst moments, and therefore I always felt uncomfortable. Now it would be very funny to pretend that he managed to seduce me, and then back away, maybe even slap him. In other words, to take revenge for the fact that he constantly ruined my romantic episodes, and that I couldn't even fall in love because of him, because what kind of love is there if from the first date I remembered the count's spectacular appearance better than the long conversations and courtship of the gentleman. I involuntarily leaned forward, imitating as if Dan had won, already enjoying the continuation of the performance, when suddenly a familiar male voice sounded behind me, and everything became unimportant:

"I have just arrived. Can I inform Her Grace Marchioness Wilson about me?"

"The marchioness is now Crown Princess Annie, Your Grace. I will inform milady immediately," replied the one who was clearly a guard.

"What? Crown Princess?" the palace guest was surprised. And I, instantly forgetting about revenge and Daniel, quickly jumped up and ran to the main entrance, where another light-haired handsome man stood illuminated by a torch, in the company of his own servants.