Maculata went to the drawing room summoning, Prince Calcifer, along with the man named Zero, and Peachy.
Penzilvana's heart pounded, out of nervousness, the Queen was not amused by this unknown people and uninvited guest that suddenly appeared.
Reymond was the one that escorted Princess Peachy and Prince Calcifer to the drawing room.
Maculata was sitting on the sofa chair, her arms crossed, the three of them stood before the Queen.
"Princes Peachy, who is this man? He claims that you and Penzilvana gave him a job that involves courting me"
"Ah...the thing is"
"Is that the truth? Yes or No?"
"Yes"
"You did such action without asking my consent first?"
"...Yes"
"Didn't you think about the consequences that will befall you with these actions of yours?"
"I did"
"Then do you accept the punishment that I will give you and Penzilvana?"
"Yes"
Penzilvana heard everything, she was just on the shoulder of Maculata on her small fairy form.
'I can't believe that we would get caught so quickly like this'
"What about you Crowned Prince Calcifer? I have told you time and time again, to stop visiting here, and yet you still persist"
"Because I want you to forgive me, Queen Maculata, I have said this before, but I will return here every day even if I get kicked out or banned, I will still visit, to ask for your forgiveness"
"You are just doing this because King Zavan threatened to kill you if I do not marry you"
Crowned Prince Calcifer paled, he sweated in nervousness, Maculata's piercing gaze could stab his soul out of his body.
"I already have a lot of work to do and yet this incident made me cancel all of it, you all are wasting my precious time."
"But sister! Penzilvana and I did this for you!"
Peachy started explaining herself to Maculata, her expression was thoughtful at the words of her sister.
"The nobles always pressure you to already marry! But by having suitors that are courting you for potential marriage then they wouldn't be so repetitive with their words toward you"
"Peachy" Maculata called out "Did I not tell you to ignore the words of the nobles? You are not accustomed to political discussions nor do you know that topic, you shouldn't put your nose on something that doesn't concern you"
"But..."
"NO. Buts, Peachy"
"YOU WILL BE MARRIED TO A NOBLE IN THE HEXAGON EMPIRE AND I DON'T WANT THAT!"
"PEACHY!"
Peachy screamed those words to her sister, Maculata on the other hand had anger on her face because of those words she spoke, her eyes even became slits because of it.
No one dared to make a noise while the two sisters were arguing, even Penzilvana became silent, usually she is noisy on the shoulder of the Queen, but this time she did not speak.
"If this is the case then why don't you accept your sisters help, Maculata"
"Duke Ivan..."
Duke Ivan defused the tension inside the drawing room with his interjection. Maculata inhaled deeply.
'I'm so stressed that I am about to say something to hurt my sister if Duke Ivan hasn't interjected'
"My idea wouldn't hurt you see it will even help you, just please give it a try"
'Maculata never shouts or even get too angry towards her sister, this is the first time that she was about to explode...and I had partial fault in it...I want to see her explode but not towards her sister'
Penzilvana thought with a concerned expression on her face.
"Did you ever comment about the nobles words to you? What about when they mentioned the Hexagon Empire?"
"Of course I spoke when they spoke of the enemy overseas. However, I ignore the constant nagging of those nobles, for me to marry"
"You shouldn't have ignored their words for long Maculata"
"..." Maculata looked at the two men in front of him.
'One is a spoiled, obnoxious Prince while the other is a slave...'
"Fine, I will accept your help, Peachy"
"Yes!"
"Do not forget your punishment"
"R-Right"
"Um"
Penzilvana on her shoulder finally spoke, but she shut her mouth again.
'There are still more suitors, right? Or did they change their mind when they found out? That they will court the Queen?'
The fairy looked at Peachy, at that moment she remembered that there were two more suitors for Maculata.
"Sister, I forgot, there are two more suitors for you"
"...What?"
"Y-You see we made flyers and posters, around the City, the flyers contain information, 'searching for interested suitors to court a lovely lady' those are the words written on it."
"I...see"
Maculata says, she calls for Shadow who immediately appeared before them.
"Take those posters and flyers down, Shadow, that is not needed any more if there are four suitors that is 'interested' in courting me"
She gave a mock emphasis on the word 'interested' she knows that these men is far from being interested in her.
"Yes. My Queen"
"Would you like to meet them?"
"NO"
"But..."
"Not today" Peachy nods to her sister "I need to work with Duke Ivan first, then I will discuss to you and Penzilvana your punishments, this suitor fiasco will be settled tomorrow"
"I beg your pardon, but does this mean you accept me as your suitor, Queen Maculata?"
"Not yet officially, but you and the other three can stay here in the Palace for now"
Maculata explained to him, the Prince nods to her.
"All of you are dismissed, give them rooms for them to stay" she says to the maids that are listening to her, their heads were bowed down so that they don't cower in fear looking at Maculata.
"Peachy and Penzilvana later, both of you wait for me in my room when I am done with my work with Duke Ivan"
"Understood"
Maculata and the Duke exited first before they could leave.
When Maculata returned to her office, she heaved out a sigh, she then remembers that Duke Ivan was with her.
"I apologise for sighing, Duke"
"I know that you are already tired, Maculata, it is fine"
Both of them worked while the Duke looked over the reports the nobles have given and what Maculata signed.
Maculata on the other hand looks at the Dukes' reports of the training of the Knights, the food budget for them, and the equipment.
She is making sure the allocation of the money went to their proper places.
Even if the Duke is loyal to the Queen, she still needs to make sure of everything double-checking the placements of budgets.
"How are the Knights fairing?"
Maculata spoke, it seems like she wants a bit of small conversation so that the silence of the room does not get to her.
"They are all well, nothing out of the ordinary"
"I see"
"Do you want my younger son to join the suitors in courting you?"
"NO, I know that your sons are all afraid of me"
"I apologise for that, but my youngest isn't afraid of you as much as my eldest sons"
"No, Thank you, I don't need another addition"
"Maybe you do need an additional suitor"
"What do you mean...?"
"Shadow is still a young man, why don't you add him?"
"Why would I want to add my ninja? Is my situation desperate already?"
"No. It isn't you are still a young maiden, they just need to see past your outer exterior, Shadow is not afraid of you and can gaze at your cold piercing eyes without cowering in fright"
"...I feel better with your words now, Duke..."
"I sense the annoyed sarcasm, in your tone of voice Maculata"
"You cannot blame me, you know that I am very conscious of how I look..."
"I apologise if that hit a nerve, what I am trying to say is, you need a suitor that is already comfortable around you, that is why Shadow is the best option to become a suitor for you as well"
"I see you are siding with Peachy"
"I am just improving her idea for you to have suitors"
"Hmp"
"Besides, those nobles would not, squeak any more if you finally have one"
"That will be the case but, I will be the walking gossip around the social circles"
"You never cared for the social circles before, why would you care now?"
"You have a point"
"The people of the Kingdom maybe afraid of you because of how you look but, they are very thankful that you are here and is the one ruling the Kingdom, because of you this Kingdom is prosperous"
Maculata was just silent, taking in the words of the Duke.
"That is more important than being the centre of gossips inside the social circles, of course you are the Queen and you can silence them anytime as well"
"I do not abuse my power, Duke"
"That is just an option to use"
"I know, but I need to be smarter than all of them to counter what they would throw at me"
"You are very well-trained already in the arts of words, I do not doubt that you will be bested by anyone inside the Social Circles or in the Parliament"
"I am grateful when you step in, Duke Ivan from time to time, so thank you"
"It is my pleasure to help her majesty"
The two stopped chatting and continued with their work.
Meanwhile, Penzilvana, Peachy and Zero were still inside the drawing room, Prince Calcifer already went to his assigned room.
"What the hell Zero?!"
"I apologise for ruining your plans"
"We told you to stay inside the room"
"It was bad timing when you wandered around the halls of the Parliament, how in the world did you appear there when you were at the East End of the Palace!"
"...I apologise once again"
Penzilvana stayed when Maculata left the room, she then transformed to her normal human form at the next room of the drawing room to confront Zero.
"No matter, at least my sister accepted"
"Her mood is worse than before, she would have accepted this if she was in a better mood we wouldn't even get any punishment if she was in a good mood, she was about to explode in anger when you also shouted those words Peachy"
"It was out of line for me..."
"Don't do that again, the least I want to do is mend your relationship with your sister"
"I would always apologise to her first if that ever happens..."
"Zero, stay put inside your room this time"
"Yes, Lady Penzilvana"
"You, escort him to his room and make sure he stays there"
There is always maids on standby whenever there is still a gathering of people in a room.
"Understood"
"Peachy let's wait for our demise"
"Don't say that Penzilvana"