Chapter 005: The Truth Of Me

Esther laughed loudly. "You seem very sensitive. No wonder you became queen. I think it might be a long story to tell. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"Of course."

"Have you ever studied or heard of the Maurice empire, sister?"

"Yes, I have studied the history and culture of the Maurice empire because their customs are very unique and different from other kingdoms. It is said that if a prince who ascends the throne as emperor is still unmarried then his sister will take the throne of his empress to assist him in imperial affairs. In the empire, women are highly respected for their opinions, even an empress has the right to manage the affairs of the empire. Besides, women there can also inherit their parents' nobility and wield a sword," said Queen Caroline talking about everything she knew about the Maurice Empire

"Then do you know the physical characteristics of the descendants of the Maurice imperial family?" Esther asked.

"From the history books I read it says that the ancestor of the Maurice imperial family was a god who secretly married a fairy. Therefore, each of his descendants chose golden yellow eyes that symbolized fairies and silver hair that symbolized gods. E-Eh wait a minute... don't you also have silver hair and golden yellow eyes?"

"Huh? Did you just realize now?" said Esther, narrowing her eyes.

"W-What? You really are Maurice's imperial family?" asked Queen Caroline, looking surprised and not at all believing what Esther had said.

"I knew you would be surprised. I am the crown princess of the Maurice Empire," Esther said firmly.

Queen Caroline was even more surprised. "Crown Princess?"

"Yes, you are right. I am the daughter of the previous Empress Maurice who is the younger sister of the current emperor Maurice and my father is a Grand Duke in the empire."

"No wonder your face immediately turned weird when Averia said that women were only her parents' assets. I think I understand the reason for your sudden change of expression."

"You see the change in my expression?" Esther giggled when she heard that Queen Caroline was a very sensitive woman. "You know as an imperial family, I was always taught by my father that my body is my own. So, I'm free to do what I want as long as it's not against the rules. That's why I strongly disagree with this depiction of a woman in the Nightingale Kingdom."

"In this Kingdom, women are only used by their parents as buying and selling tools to reach agreements with people in higher positions. Then the opinions and suggestions of a woman are never heard by men. Women are only considered one eye. So pathetic!" continued Esther.

Queen Caroline nodded her head as a sign that she agreed with all of Esther's words regarding her Kingdom because after all it was an unavoidable fact.

"So was the name 'esther' your fake name when you disguised yourself to go to the Nightingale kingdom?" asked the Queen.

Esther shook her head. "No! My name is Esther but my full name is Esther Adelyn la Maurice."

Queen Caroline clutched her head. She looked very dizzy when she learned the truth about Esther's true identity. "Somehow I regret asking you this. How could I know such a big secret?"

"Yes, that's a consequence of your enormous curiosity. The point is you have to keep this secret of mine until you die," joked Esther.

"I'd rather just die because your secret is so scary," replied Queen Caroline jokingly.

"You idiot! If you die Arthur will be cared for by who?"

"If I died sooner, I will write a letter of inheritance that Arthur will be raised by you until he grows up. Because in the palace no one else can be trusted other than you," replied the Queen.

Esther laughed for a moment. "You bastard! How can you bother me like that."

"How could a crown princess of a venerable Empire swear like that," the Queen criticized.

While they were both joking, Arthur suddenly came to his mother. Before hugging his mother, Arthur bowed in half and said, "Nice to meet you, madam Beatrice."

"Hi Tiny. It seems I haven't seen you in a long time. May Goddess Nightingale always pour out her grace on a child as sweet as you," said Esther with a friendly smile and ruffled Arthur's black hair.

Arthur's cheeks turned red like boiled crabs again. The child immediately buried his face in the arms of the mother. Esther just laughed at Arthur's reaction.

"I don't want to disturb your very peaceful mother-son relationship. So I'm going back to my palace first. See you sis and goodbye Tiny." Esther waved her hand and then left the two mother and son.

"What's the matter that you came looking for mother all the way here, Arthur?" asked Queen Caroline as she stroked her son's hair gently.

"I just want to go around the park with mom. May I?"

"Of course. Come on, let's go around together!" Queen Caroline got up from her chair and took her son's hand and began to walk around the garden.

"You seem to like him very much," said Queen Caroline, looking at the red roses.

Arthur immediately looked embarrassed. "No, mother. I never liked madam Beatrice. I'm just a little annoyed that she keeps playing me."

"It's true that you like her even though Mother didn't say that she was Beatrice you know."

Arthur was silent embarrassed because the feelings he had been hiding were discovered by his mother. Moreover, for him to love his own father's concubine is a very wrong thing.

"I think we'd better talk about something else. How about the sword lessons?

"Still the same as usual and nothing special. Sometimes I get bored and lazy to enter the class," Arthur replied casually.

"You can't be lazy like that. No one knows when I will die or when you will stick with your position as crown prince," said the Queen, who looked worried about her child's future.

Arthur looked at his mother's face and hugged her tightly. "Come on, mother! You will be alive for a long time even the god of death would be afraid to pick you up."

Queen Caroline was made to laugh by her child's little joke. "That's what you are. How can you joke like that when your mother is worried about you. As long as you know son, in this palace there is no one you can trust, including your father. If mother died, I hope you can live happily and stay alive."

"Why do you talk as if you are going to die soon. Are you in trouble? If there is, you can tell me," asked the cute boy.

Queen Caroline stroked her son's head. "There's no problem. Just forget everything I said just now. Come on, let's go back to the palace for dinner!"

The mother and son walked back to Rose's palace and went into the dining room to have dinner together as usual.