Starting early in the afternoon, carriages bearing crests from different houses of upper nobility arrived at the Queen’s residence. Noble ladies respectfully entered the premises with delight and awe, and as common acquaintances of each other, those who met by the entrance easily made shallow conversations as they were led by the servants towards the back garden. It was public knowledge that Queen Theodora was fond of flowers, and the Queen’s residence had multiple gardens, out of which she loved to stroll in the front garden while often using the back garden to arrange such tea parties.

Queen Theodora was hosting her first tea party for the year, where the ladies from noble families from the rank of a count and up were given an invitation. The Queen had arranged this get together much earlier, but due to the incident that happened with the Crown Prince, the tea party was postponed. Now that her son was finally fine and things in the royal palace had resumed to normal, the Queen no longer delayed hosting the tea party.

Upon seeing familiar faces upon arrival, it could not be helped that the back garden was filled with chatter and laughter.

“Lady Ingrid!”

“Bless my heart, is this not Lady Walter?”

“What a fine day it is today, don’t you think?”

“Indeed. I cannot wait to meet Her Majesty. It feels like it has been forever since she last hosted a tea party for us…”

“But where is Her Majesty? There are only her servants around.”

“We came too early. Her Majesty should be arriving soon. I asked one of her ladies-in-waiting just a while ago and—”

All the ladies in attendance were excited to see the Queen, especially those with daughters of marriageable age. After what happened in the banquet, many of the nobles started harbouring selfish motives towards the royal family, thus, they looked forward to meeting the Queen as she was the birth mother of Crown Prince Theron, who was of the proper age to get married and yet without a betrothed.

Because of that, the number of guests who accepted the invitation on short notice increased. Many of the madames also brought with them as companions their female relatives who also have daughters that were of the same age as the Crown Prince.

This incident caused many of the royal servants to feel shaken, as they had to continually add seats and parasols to the long table arranged in the back garden. Fortunately, Lady Tyra was there to hold the fort, and she made sure that all the guests were seated based on the status of the peerage, with the wives of the dukes nearest the head of the table.

Soon, Queen Theodora arrived with her ladies-in-waiting following her. Esther was walking a step behind her on her right side, which caused many of the eyes initially watching the Queen to turn towards the young woman.

Among those ladies in attendance, someone was especially unhappy to see Esther next to the Queen. It was Aurora Walter, the middle-aged lady from the Walter family who has a daughter with the highest chance of becoming the next Queen of Megaris. The presence of Esther next to the Queen pricked in her eyes.

All the guests stood up and curtsied before the Queen. “Greetings, Your Majesty.”

Accepting the greetings with a light nod, Queen Theodora smiled pleasantly. “Good to see you all here, everyone. I hope you were not bored waiting for me.” She sat on the chair At the head of the table.

“Pleasure is ours, as Your Majesty spared her precious time for us,” said the Duchess of Candace, who was one of the ladies sitting nearest to the Queen.

The Queen gestured to them all. “Everyone, have a seat.”

Esther stood on one side as usual but then the Queen looked at her. “Someone, bring a seat for Esther as well.” She gestured to the place next to hers.

After a servant arranged for a new seat, Esther sat obediently, and for her to be on the receiving end of such benevolence from the Queen surprised the guests. Of course, they were aware that the young woman with honey blond hair was now a noble due to the King’s announcement. However, they got used to the fact that whenever they came to visit the Queen, this young woman was always serving them, and they subconsciously looked down on her.  Now, she was even allowed to take the place next to the Queen of this kingdom.

The noble ladies all threw subtle looks at each other, as a majority of them felt it uncomfortable that a mere servant was now placed on their level. This was especially the case for those who belong to the houses of dukes and marquises, as to have a lowly baroness be seated next to them made them feel they were being insulted.

However, only those who were sensitive enough could feel the strangeness in the atmosphere. To the undiscerning eye, the tea party looked lively and splendid, with the guests all enjoying themselves.

“Your Majesty, we have always known about your generous heart, and today, we got to see one more example of your benevolence,” Lady Aurora commented. Behind her sweet smile and words, there was a bitterness that she managed to hide with perfection.

Queen Theodora only smiled, and one of the countesses named Lady Ingrid said, “True! Your Majesty sure has a big heart to reward your servant generously, and you even allow them to sit next to you.”

Esther was not bothered by what these women said but she didn’t wish to cause any inconvenience to Queen Theodora.

The smile on Queen Theodora’s lips widened even more as if their words were a mere breeze to her ears. “Benevolence? Generosity? I am learning from my husband, the king of this kingdom. If you remember, Lady Ingrid, the father of your husband was a mere soldier, but in the past he saved my husband, not caring about his life. My husband showed generosity to him and made him a baron. With the combined military achievements of your father-in-law and husband, the House of Bane rose from being a countryside barony to a county. Not just you, the Countess of Bane, we have more such examples here, don’t we? How can I not learn such good things from my husband?”

Hearing the Queen’s seemingly nonchalant words, there was sudden silence among the guests.

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