The carriage carrying all of us eventually arrived at the carriage stop in the royal castle’s gardens.
“Hmm, hmm… At first glance, this appears to be nothing more than an ordinary covered wagon, but it has the latest equipment installed. How very intriguing. And those horses are a specialty of the Western Margrave’s territory, too.”
For some reason, the Queen began examining our carriage and horses from all sorts of different angles.
What in the world was going on?
“Mmm, it’s an excellent carriage. Sue, simply acquiring a carriage like this is proof enough that you’ve become quite an accomplished adventurer.”
“Ah, t-thank you very much.”
“I’d like you to show me that warm-looking table inside the carriage later.”
The Queen smiled happily as she praised Sue, but her powers of observation really were incredible.
She must have assumed that Sue had the financial means to acquire a carriage valuable enough to be worth this much.
As for the fact that “I” was actually the one who bought the carriage and horses… I decided not to mention that for now. I should introduce myself to the Queen while I had the chance.
“Your Highness, my name is Shun. It is an honor to make your acquaintance.”
“Shiro is Shiro! And this slime is Ao!”
“I’m Fran!”
“I-I’m Horn.”
“Excellent. It is good to see such well-mannered children. I am Victoria, the Queen of this kingdom.”
After we exchanged introductions, the Queen dropped an absolute bombshell.
“And I am Sue’s adoptive mother.”
“Huh?”
“W-Wait a moment, Your Highness! You can’t just say that here…”
What exactly is going on…?
The Queen is Sue’s adoptive mother?
But isn’t Sue the daughter of a baron?
Sue herself didn’t deny what the Queen had said.
Shiro seemed to vaguely understand what it meant, but Fran and Horn were still too young to grasp the significance at all. As for Ao and me, we could only stand there frozen in shock.
“Mmm, I imagine you’re having trouble processing all this. I’ll explain everything, so come along.”
With that, the Queen briskly entered the royal castle, her attendants following close behind.
We followed Sue, who had already gone ahead.
I would probably learn the truth about Sue’s hidden identity. Even so, I felt that I needed to know.
And so, we entered a reception room inside the royal castle.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
“Shun-oniichan, these snacks are delicious!”
“They’re really tasty.”
“I-I see. Well, that’s good to hear.”
Even Shiro was unusually quiet for once, but Fran and Horn, who had no idea what was going on, had no qualms about helping themselves to the tea and snacks that had been served.
“You mustn’t remain tense the entire time. Shun, Sue, and Shiro, have some tea and relax.”
“Yes…”
The three of us obediently drank the tea as the Queen encouraged us to.
It was by far the most delicious tea I had ever tasted, and little by little, I could feel myself beginning to calm down.
“This black tea has a relaxing effect. I drink it quite often myself.”
The Queen took a sip of her own tea.It seemed that she, too, had made up her mind about something.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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I’ve been expecting this ever since Sue was introduced.
Well, this is actually more tame than usual. Usually they jump straight to “Surprise! Your traveling companion is the princess and now you have to marry her.”
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