Moonlight Ball

“Your Highness, I, Elena In Sethang, greet the benevolent Queen.” Elena In Sethang entered the audience chamber and knelt on her knees in front of Iris, kissing her delicate hand. Iris reflexively recoiled from her touch as her mind was full of thoughts about Elena, who’d been scolded numerous times the day before by the King. Elena had done nothing wrong, and she’d been correct when she’d said that even if the people were dying, one should not consider that path.

Rosemary was someone everyone envied. Although the people feared the King, they adored the Queen. Because the two of them were completely different individuals, the people tried everything in their power to make their existence known to the Queen. If the Queen looked their way when they were dying, they would risk their lives to appeal to the Queen for help.

Especially now that the current queen was so beautiful and kind, the love she received had increased. As commoners, the people would never know how much of a crazy bat Rosemary had been. The Queen, who occasionally showed her face in public, was beautiful, and with the virtuous King, they made the perfect couple; her existence was enough for them.

“Your Highness, I ask for your gracious forgiveness for putting you in danger yesterday,” Elena spoke seriously.

Iris shook her head. “It’s okay, I understand.” She had heard from the handmaiden that Elena and the King had spoken, with just the two of them present, and he’d been angry at the time. It must have been an awkward situation in which she’d found herself.

Elena was not forceful, and she had been trying her best to help the Queen with her duties. But because she was not the true queen things had gotten complicated. Had she been Queen Rosemary, things wouldn’t have turned out this way, and Iris felt regret.

But of course, words were just words. If it had been Rosemary, she wouldn’t have fulfilled her duties and would’ve thrown a tantrum instead. She wouldn’t have given a second thought to the people dying and would’ve even said that their hands, which reached out to her for help, were dirty.

“I didn’t consider that Your Highness was not yet fully recovered, and that is my mistake. I beg for your forgiveness,” Elena added.

“Honestly, it is alright, Elena,” Iris replied kindly.

Elena looked up at her blankly, making Iris realize that she wouldn’t get up until she received her forgiveness, so she hurriedly spoke, “I forgive you.” When hearing her words, Elena’s face radiated happiness, and she stood up.

Elena stared at Iris in amazement when she was eye-level with her. The name Iris Elaine didn’t refer to the Great Wizard. And Iris had also had the nickname the “Princess of the Tower,” and since she was the only child of the tower’s owner, this nickname wasn’t wrong – the Princess of the Tower, Iris Elaine.

Most wizards called her by her first name once they reached a certain rank because she was a princess and not a queen. The Princess was under the King’s protection and would not exist without the existence of the King. This girl was the “Princess of the Tower.”

There were rumors that Iris hated people, but this seemed to be unfounded. She may not have been the most skilled at socializing, but to say she hated people didn’t make any logical sense. When Iris had been in public recently, the incident with the mother and her baby had been evidence of her kind heart.

The lady had seemed to have come from far away, and her appearance was awful. She looked homeless, and her hands were black from grime. The clothes she’d worn had been tattered and torn, and even her child’s skin had become scaly, but Iris didn’t bat an eyelid at the way they looked. Only someone kind at heart could turn a blind eye to their filthy appearance.

“Your Highness, your memories seem to be a little mixed up. Shall we recall what you learned so we jolt your memory?” Elena asked.

“I beg your pardon?” Iris replied, looking perplexed.

“Do you remember this language?” Elena asked, not in En Letaire, but Lo Letaire. Within the borders of the Letaire Empire, the seven kingdoms each had their own language. Because the royal families could become the Imperial family at any time, they were obligated to master all seven languages. Even the foolish Rosemary cried and struggled to learn it and barely managed to master it conversationally.

“I do remember,” Iris answered in Lo Letaire. The tower’s people were all well-versed in all seven languages. That was because people from all seven empires visited the tower, and eventually, everyone spoke in all seven different languages. Also, the teachers each came from various countries and taught their lessons in their language.

Of course, each country had its tower, but the most famous of them all was the tower in Letaire. Elena marveled at her perfect pronunciation, there was no flaw whatsoever, and she calmly examined Iris Elaine’s current situation.

For some unknown reason, as Iris wrote the phrases, Elena ordered her to write in the various languages. She felt like she was being tested because this was how the tower did their examinations too. Elena demanded responses on various topics; an example of this was: ‘Write what you know about Ruthna, but in Lo Letaire.’

In no time, Iris was writing her answer as if she were a student in the tower again. There were also questions, which the tower did not ask in their tests. Mathematics was something that Iris was confident in, as a wizard, but the law was not a subject with which she was too familiar. Law was something that had practically annihilated her.

Also, she couldn’t draw a map when asked to do so. Elena asked her to draw each country and identify the leaders of each region, but after she drew the capital, her mind went blank. Iris didn’t know if it was possible to etch all the estates from memory and write each owner’s name on them, and she frowned at the question.