Your Regrets Are Late

That night, after Arensis’s birthday banquet. Even after seeing it in person, most people responded that they couldn’t believe Arensis had cried. Some people were curious about the contents of the letter given by Royal Prince Luensir. In the aftermath, it was popular for a while in society to give handkerchiefs embroidered with parent’s birth flowers and handwritten letters.

* * *

“His Royal Highness Prince Luensir has arrived.”

“…Lur alone?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Let him in.”

Charelize wondered that Luensir had come alone, but she welcomed him without showing her wonder. “Our Lur is here. Welcome.”

“Greetings to Your Majesty Mother, the glorious sun of the Elioter Empire.”

“Feel free to call me mother.” Charelize, who smiled at Luensir’s greetings, laid down a quill pen.

“Before you are my mother, you are the empress of all people.”

At some point, Charteron began to call her ‘Your Majesty Mother,’ following Luensir. However, when she couldn’t control her joy, she often called her ‘Mother’ or, more conveniently, ‘Mom.’ Because of that, Charelize couldn’t get used to the extreme honorifics given to her by Luensir, no matter how many times she heard them.

“What are you going to do if it’s my wish to hear it like that?”

“That’s…”

It was cute to see him speechless because he was embarrassed by her words, to the point that she wanted to keep teasing him.

“It was a joke.”

“…Your Majesty Mother.”

Charelize grinned mischievously and stopped because Luensir’s face was red like it was going to explode. Even the way he frowned slightly was lovely when she told him it was a joke.

“Now… It’s time for Charon to be in the training ground. Did our Lur come alone because you have something to say to this mother?”

Since they always went together, Charelize became curious as to why Luensir left Charteron behind.

“Instead of Baron Rustel, I’d like to learn from someone who graduated at the top of the Department of History at the Eralpier Academy.”

“…Are you aware that the top graduate is a commoner?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you like Baron Rustel? He’s a pretty good teacher, even though he says a lot of unnecessary things.”

“…Baron Rustel compared Charon and I back then.”

“If she’s tired, she can sleep for a while. It’s natural. So the last time I listened to it, he just warned her about dozing off and ended it like that. But… Baron Rustel may have felt that she didn’t respect him.”

Luensir thought about it carefully, finding it odd that Charelize seemed to be siding with Baron Rustle. Soon, he noticed that Charelize wanted to be persuaded by his reasons.

“As Your Majesty said, he made too many ‘useless words,’ and it’s difficult. I want to use my time more efficiently.”

“Is there more?”

“If Charon takes classes from the teacher she wants, her achievements will naturally be higher than they are now. I will be right next to her—”

“W-wait. The reason I’m receiving reports on your studies is because I want to know you guys… I’m not trying to argue whether you did well or not.” Charelize added urgently. “I didn’t mean to put pressure on you.”

“I know.” 

Luensir nodded, knowing better than anyone that Charelize didn’t mean to do that. Also, even if it wasn’t for that, he had many excuses prepared in advance.

“Why don’t you be honest now, Lur.”

“…”

“Why are you bringing about the commoner who surpassed Baron Rustel and became the top graduate? You really can’t help yourself.”

“…Your Majesty already knew everything from the beginning.”

Luensir immediately knew what she meant and decided there was no point in hiding it any further.

“So, are you going to leave Baron Rustel alone?”

“No way. I tried to stop him from complaining about how unfair it was, but I could barely hold back. I was thinking of changing him soon, but… I didn’t know you’d mention the person to replace him by your own mouth. Honestly, I was surprised.”

Luensir, who thought that meant it couldn’t be done, made a sullen expression.

Even though he liked the fact that the commoner surpassed Baron Rustel, he didn’t enjoy being taught without knowing what kind of personality he had, so he looked into that person in advance. Then, he found it surprising that he managed to take the top spot despite coming from a more challenging environment. After that, he continued to be unusually bothered by it, making him more disappointed in himself.

“Is it not possible… because he’s a commoner?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Yes…?”

Luensir, who still didn’t fully understand, was confused.

“Your mother was born as the daughter of a princess and became the empress, but she was careful to look at talent before status. It was already a difficult position, but the fact that a commoner beat a noble to take the top spot… it probably means he’s a talented person who has worked twice as hard.”

“That means…”

“Rumor will be out, saying the teacher who teaches the imperial grandchildren is not a noble… He will be done if he’s not receiving even a single title. There are more knights from commoners in Duchy Marsetta.”

With a smile on her face, Charelize gestured to Luensir to come close.

Charelize stroked Luensir’s hair and saw it as an opportunity to solve a problem that had been bothering her.

“Your Majesty? What’s wrong?”

“…No-nothing.”

She immediately cleared her throat, reflecting on thinking like this in front of her child, and then hugged Luensir and made him sit on her lap. She then grabbed Luensir’s cheek and shook them.

“Yur Majesty…” Because of this, Luensir’s pronunciation was muffled, and he wrinkled his nose.

“Would you like to stop worrying about Baron Rustel and play with your mother?”

Luensir also wanted to spend time with her but was about to refuse because he thought it would interfere with her work.

“Your Majesty, the tea got cold, so I brought it back.”

“Thank you, Hailey.”

“Having some pudding, Your Royal Highness. I also added cherries, which is your favorite.”

Hailey brought hot tea with pudding. Only then did Charelize burst out laughing when she saw Luensir, whose eyes sparkled.

“Your father has been reading the letter you gave him every day before going to bed. He always carries the handkerchief with him too. I’ve never seen him enjoy his birthday so much.”

“…Ah. Right. I also made something for Your Majesty.”

“Huh?”

Luensir, who had been eating pudding in a combative manner, came to his senses as if she had never done so and took out his handkerchief from his pocket.

“Oh my. It’s not even my birthday. I’m so happy.”

Charelize kissed Luensir’s forehead affectionately and examined the handkerchief closely.

“I heard from Madame Lientil that you’re very good at embroidering… I didn’t know it would be like this. I’ll always carry it with me.”

Charelize touched the engravings of the symbols of Duke Marsetta and adonis. It was fortunate that Luensir didn’t resemble her embroidery skills.

“I liked the symbol of Marsetta. The fact that you’re embroidering it when you just saw it for a moment.”

There were several times when she took the children to the Duchy Marsetta, including Lari’s death anniversary. When she looked closely at the symbol engraved on the handkerchief, she was proud to have it embroidered on her handkerchief.

“Your Majesty likes it, so I like it too. Even if you don’t show it, I know you miss the duchy. It was there you were born and raised.”

“Lur.”

“So… When I grow up, I’ll protect the Marsetta that Your Majesty likes.”

Sometimes, Luensir acted and said things that seemed too mature for his age.

When Charelize was young, she lived like being chased. Her mother looked at her with pitiful eyes, pushing her to be perfect because she had nothing to protect her but her status as a princess.

“There are difficulties that others don’t know about… Your Majesty can’t say that because of your position as the empress.”

“That’s what you were thinking.”

She didn’t know what it meant at that time, but she became aware of it when she spoke with Luensir. Before she knew it, she looked in the mirror and saw that she had a similar face to her mother back then.

“I think I know why Aunt Veloche didn’t succeed to the throne. However… the reason why Your Majesty didn’t refuse… I honestly don’t know. To become Duchess Marsetta… ah… it’s nothing.”

“Well, I did it because I wanted to fulfill my personal wish.”

“Personal… wish?”

80% of her intention was to change the world for more people so no one would suffer like Lari and Lauren. The rest was her desire to make her mother rest in peace.

The first thing Charelize did when she became the empress was to restore her mother’s status as a royal princess. She wanted to relieve her heavy burden of being named ‘Duchess Marsetta,’ which had been bothering her mother for a long time.

“No pain to my people, no pain to my children… I wanted to make people want to live in a better world than mine.” She hugged Luensir tightly and carefully continued. “I’m thankful you’re growing up like this mother had hoped. But… Lur.”

“…”

“I’m upset as to what is making you so impatient when you’re still young.”

“…”

“…Are you doing this because you want to protect Charon?”

As if her prediction was correct, Luensir lowered his gaze.

She had never once pressured him to be dignified just because he was the first child. Still, she felt like she wanted to look back on her memory to see if she had said something like it, even if unconsciously.

“Why… did you think like that?”

“If… it… weren’t… for me… she could… have… received… more.”

Luensir mumbled something before wrapping his hand around Charelize’s neck and embracing her. Charelize noticed he didn’t want to talk more, so she didn’t say anything and quietly patted him on the back.

“I’ll be on my way because it’s time for Charon to return. See you in the evening.”

“Yes.”

Hailey came in to clean up the plate, said hello, and muttered as she looked at Luensir. “His Royal Highness Luensir… Really, he looks just like Your Majesty…”

“…Where?” Charelize asked with a bitter expression, knowing that she meant it wasn’t just about appearance.

“Your Majesty used to have that look on your face 360 out of 365 days. Still, I’m glad that His Royal Highness is the opposite.”

“…Then, how was I for the other five days?”

“You were like sunshine on a clear day. It’s very rare…”

“Sunshine?”

She looked up and stared straight at Hailey, wondering why she thought it was sunshine. Hailey’s face, which had been calm, suddenly heated up.

“What’s wrong?”

“Your Majesty… the day… we first met….”

“First met? Suddenly?”

“So…”

“Why is it…?”

She continued to tease Hailey, who was unusually surprised and shifted her gaze to the documents.

“…”

“It looks like there’s still a lot of talk about my husband crying at his birthday banquet, but everyone would faint if they knew that you, who is famous for being a strict headmaid in everything, make a face like this.”

“Actually, I didn’t expect His Majesty would cry. Well… I’m glad his relationship with Her Royal Highness is back to how it was before.”

“Really? Would you believe me if I told you that my husband is the one who sheds the most tears after Lari?”

“That’s really unbelievable.” As if she had been ashamed, Hailey responded quickly with a straight face.