The next day, Aura used some of her free time to summon Lucretia to the palace.
“It is the first time we have met in an unofficial situation,” the queen said. “It is rather belated, but I should introduce myself. I am Queen Aura I of the Kingdom of Capua.”
“I am Lucretia Broglie of the nobility of the Twin Kingdoms of Sharou-Gilbelle. I am honored that you are willing to hear my request today.”
While the younger woman kept the polite noble’s smile that was expected of her, it was possible to see she was somewhat overwhelmed by the queen’s overbearing presence. There was a distinct difference between a queen who had managed to win out through a great war and a barely-grown young woman.
Aura reclined on the sofa, crossing one leg over the other as she continued forcefully. “I have little time. Let us dispense with the formalities. What is it you want, Lucretia?”
The younger woman visibly gulped at the intense look from the queen but managed to gather herself and speak. “Of course! I shall get straight to the point. Please tell me what needs to happen so that I can marry His Majesty.”
The queen murmured slightly, somewhat amused by just how to the point her question was. The girl was quivering like some small animal, but managing to so plainly show her desires despite that was demonstrative of fairly impressive courage.
So Aura told her, “Everything.”
“Ever...ything?”
“Indeed,” Aura replied, offering some extra explanation. “The country must benefit. The people—or at least the upper echelons—must accept it. I must benefit. Finally, my husband should be emotionally fulfilled.”
It was harsh counsel, but Freya actually fulfilled all of those conditions. International trade benefited the country as a whole. She had persuaded Zenjirou—who until that point had stubbornly refused all such offers—and gained understanding and acceptance from the nobility. The trade was with the royal family rather than the country as a whole, so it benefited Aura. Finally, as Freya had been rather proactive, she had managed to get close to Zenjirou and earn his favor.
Asking the same thing of Lucretia could certainly be called cruel, but since Zenjirou didn’t really want to accept even Freya, it was certainly the bare minimum.
“The country’s benefit can be left to the Twin Kingdoms. Unlike Princess Freya, your country will take the lead in any negotiations rather than you doing so personally. Any benefit to me personally will also come from that. However, the understanding from my country’s nobility along with my husband’s favor are things you will have to earn personally.”
“Of course!” Lucretia nodded happily.
At this point, she was completely taken in by Aura. Stating that the benefit to the country and its queen was the responsibility of the Twin Kingdoms could conversely be taken that if talks between the nations fell through, Lucretia would never become his concubine.
Assuming the political landscape allowed it, Aura would prefer to follow Zenjirou’s hopes and avoid taking a concubine from the Twin Kingdoms. Thus the trap in her words. However, her keen intuition from the war told her there was a strong chance that trap could go to waste.
Either way, the blonde in front of her seemed to have completely missed the implication and was instead burning with motivation.
“Very well. So I need to gain the acceptance of the Capuan nobility as well as His Majesty’s favor, correct?”
The younger woman’s tiny clenched fists and expression made Aura think of a dash drake running headlong into a mud pit, so she gave her a warning to avoid hurting her husband emotionally at the very least.
“A word of advice. Focus less on ‘scoring points’ and more on not losing them. As people who may share their lives, that would be for the better. Carelessly chasing what seem like good opportunities could have the opposite effect, and undoing that is by no means easy.”
Zenjirou would vastly prefer to spend time with someone who had relatively few things he liked about them but nothing he disliked over someone with many things he liked, but also many things he disliked.
Of course, Aura was not Zenjirou, so this was only her personal estimation, but she was fairly confident in it. It was certainly what she had perceived from him.
“Thank you for your valuable advice,” Lucretia said with a serious look, bowing deeply.
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