My adored queen

20

The sun, from the height of its celestial home, generously sent us its rays, painting our exposed shoulders and arms with a light brown shade of natural tan. Aristocrats were supposed to have only snow-white skin, like clean paper, so the main attribute of every fashionista in the hot season was an umbrella, and resting in the fresh air was only allowed in gazebos. I never followed these traditions, adoring the hot touches of the sun, but court fashion forced me to obey: the straps of my dresses left white marks on my tanned skin, and the large number of different necklines didn't allow me to hide them. So growing up took away my childhood joy of being proud of my chocolate shade. And now, sitting in a luxurious gazebo in front of the palace, I watched with white envy the children, probably courtiers, who were running merrily around the garden without an army of servants with umbrellas, free to run wherever they wanted. That's life!

"You're lost in thought," Bert said softly, gently covering my hands, which were resting on the edge of the table, with his own. We had long finished our meal, put away the cutlery, and now we were just sitting opposite each other, almost without talking. We enjoyed this silence between us and the harmony.

"I think I overestimated my strength..." I shared with my friend, raising my eyes to his.

"Nonsense," he smiled carelessly, taking my face in his palms. His lips touched my forehead, involuntarily making me squint. My heart felt lighter, as if Bert had magically healed me, relieved my worries, instilled peace. Well, maybe Mom is right? Who can you love if not this completely perfect young man? Certainly not Daniel, who again accidentally caught my eye. He's always spinning right under my nose! "You'll manage everything! Don't you dare doubt yourself! You're Annie Wilson, you always succeed!"

"Thank you, Bert. I don't even know what I would do without you."

"I'm here, I'm with you," he whispered in response, allowing me to feel invaluable support.

The next day, big things awaited me. The best teacher in all of Lantonia, the respected Nicholas Nauer, the strictest, most demanding, and hated by me and other academy students, invited me to one of the king's offices in the morning, which His Majesty used for audiences, and which the esteemed Vitelia had now turned into a classroom. I prepared diligently.

I deliberately wore a dress of a strict style to fully match the occasion and look like an exemplary student.

"Well, good luck," my mother saw me off from my chambers, as if it were my first day of school. Bert was waiting at the door with a large bouquet of various herbs (it probably contained all the flowers that bloomed in the garden, and their fragrance was mixed and ambiguous) and a cheerful smile.

"This is for the beginning of your queenly education," he said instead of a greeting and handed me his gift, kissing me gently on the cheek (me, not the gift). A quiet, touching sigh from my mother was heard behind us. The young man hurried to her, taking another bouquet from his personal servant along the way, which he immediately handed to the duchess. He took care of everything.

"Thank you, Bert," we chirped in unison, and I handed my bouquet to my mother. Since I'll be learning diplomacy, not biology, it's better to leave this beauty in the chambers.

"It's customary to give flowers to teachers," I remarked, taking the handsome man by the arm and leading us down the corridor to my mother's joyful chirping to her servant about how we (Bert and I, not my mother) would be a cosmic-fantastic (I say so because in space, those chirps can probably be heard too) couple (although I agreed with her more and more).

"Flowers should be given to beautiful people, because beauty attracts beauty. And when was the last time you saw teachers? What's beautiful about them?" the count retorted, causing my cheerful, ringing laughter. The tall and therefore somewhat intimidating (I felt like a first-grader) office doors appeared before us, so I kissed my friend's cheek and took those few steps towards my future.

"You can do it, chin up!" the young man whispered, winking at me. I smiled, took a deep breath, and disappeared behind the doors. Although, in fact, the very next moment, I should have hidden from the one who was waiting for me in the office.

"My lady, welcome," a quiet male voice with notes of hoarseness was heard. There was more hoarseness than voice, so it could seem that it wasn't someone speaking, but just creaking furniture. However, it was hard to mistake it for furniture. Rather, just some strange sounds that I, by coincidence, understood. An irresistible desire to hide somewhere arose. At least in that light yellow closet near the door. I would probably fit in it perfectly. Or I would fit anywhere, just not to meet the esteemed Nicholas. But I had no choice, because queens can't hide in closets: they'll be laughed at.

Today we reviewed the state structure, powers, rights, and duties of the queen. It seemed that I already knew this perfectly well, but after this ordeal, I realized that I absolutely don't know anything anymore. So much new information didn't fit in my head at once, there just wasn't that much free space! But Nicholas tried to smooth and fold it all especially neatly, like freshly laundered linen, and shove it into my brain with force, like that linen into an overly small box. To make the lid close and the things... that is, the knowledge, not fall out, the professor gave me instructions: don't jump, don't bend sharply, don't squat, get some fresh air, drink herbal tea (the order of words may be reversed), and go to sleep until the body fully assimilates... both the tea, the air, and the knowledge. Or maybe the recommendations were from the doctor my mother called after I complained of a headache and slight nausea? Yes, probably from the doctor. He, by the way, said: "Such overwork is very dangerous!" Duchess Wilson understood the command and solved the problem by giving me to the tyrants (the teachers, that is) only for the first half of the day, and in the second half, I was asked to work on books and documents on my own. On my own... In silence... After the lesson with Nicholas, I began to appreciate this word. That is, not the word, of course, but the meaning.

Today, for the first time, I fell asleep without thinking about my uncle, for whom my heart was still crying out in pain, and my own destiny. Today I didn't think about anything at all, because I fell asleep somewhere in the middle of the road from the bathroom to the bedroom. A good thing is inertia! Only thanks to it, I was able to reach the bed!

Despite the fact that I had nightmares all night in the form of a strict teacher, I woke up in a wonderful mood, and there were two whole reasons for that. First, today, instead of boring lessons with the overly meticulous Professor Nauer, an interesting lesson on the basics of my royal security awaited me, where I would learn many useful things, and second, Robert would finally leave the capital. Not yesterday at dawn, as he promised, because he was busy with charity all day yesterday (oh, how kind! When I found out, I almost cried!). Before leaving, he asked the cardinal for permission to personally help the temples and our foundations, because, you see, he couldn't take care of it before because of the mourning for his father, and only now realized his mistakes and wants to correct them. Of course, I didn't believe him, but a day earlier – a day later is not so significant, but maybe this cry of despair from my cousin will help those who need it, so I wasn't against it. However, no one asked me, frankly demonstrating that my opinion doesn't matter here. For the first time in my life, the fact of disobedience annoyed me, but yesterday I didn't have time for that, and today I wasn't going to spoil my wonderful mood with pointless negative feelings.