The smell of fragrances that have different smells and is very striking on the nose so that it can turn off the olfactory function. The sound is so loud that it can rupture the eardrum. The conversation continues and never ends. Every utterance that contains spicy words for the interlocutor. Nervous warfare directly for women. Unfortunately now Esther was in the midst of such a deplorable state.
If she followed her heart, Esther was very unwilling to participate in an event that was more pathetic than seeing this person beheaded. But with her position as the young concubine of the king, she inevitably had to join in this event.
Initially Esther attended this event with the Queen. The Queen wears a special dress worn only by queens with flashy jewelry and of course with her hair rolled up. In contrast to the Queen who wore luxurious clothes and accessories from head to toe, Esther only wore an ordinary long-sleeved and pastel brown dress without any accessories or jewelry on her body.
When she arrived at the venue for the monthly meeting between the concubines and the queen, the queen's face turned sour. At that place, Esther saw that all the concubines were already there except for her. They were all wearing luxurious clothes and accessories. Looks like this event is an opportunity to show off their jewelry.
Esther and the queen immediately joined the concubines there. Esther deliberately chose a seat close to the queen. As she sat down, all the eyes of the concubines were on him. Now up close Esther could see their appearance clearly. There were two concubines whose stomachs looked distended, it looked like they were pregnant. Come to think of it, Queen Caroline must have been very sad to see her beloved husband impregnate another woman besides her.
"I will introduce this woman. Her name is Beatrice Valentina de Nightingale. I hope you can treat her well as I treat you. If there is one person who dares to hurt her, then that person will face me directly," said the queen who gave an ultimatum .
A concubine in a pink dress and blonde hair giggled at the ultimatum from the queen. "You are exaggerating, Your Majesty. How could we possibly bother a young concubine like this."
"It's good that it is," replied the queen coldly.
After Esther's introduction as Beatrice to the concubines was over, now was the time to show off the king's position and affection for them as well as a war of nerves. Esther was just silent and listened to their bickering while drinking tea and eating snacks on the table.
"Yesterday His Majesty the King came to my palace and gave me a handful of jewelry and new dresses that were very luxurious. He seemed very happy because I was pregnant with his child," said one of the concubines.
"Maybe he just gave you wages because you were pregnant with his child. Unlike me, who was treated special by your Majesty. A few days ago the king stayed at my palace for days. He didn't even want to leave my palace until his secretary came to pick him up."
"Two days ago His Majesty the king was playing so fiercely in bed. To the point that he said he wanted a little daughter to be born to me."
"Wow, how can they say such intimate things. That's ridiculous," Esther thought.
"Then from what I heard it seems like on the first night, Your Majesty didn't come to your room, Beatrice. Is that true?" asked a concubine wearing a pink dress named Averia.
Esther just replied with a smile. "Yes, you're right. After all, neither me nor your Majesty love each other. Our marriage is only a rope that is useful for restraining my family."
"Even so, you still have to love Your Majesty because from now on you are his. From the start as women we are not our own but we are only assets of our respective parents. Therefore, to get a good and comfortable and luxurious life we must as hard as possible to make Your Majesty fall in love with us and give birth to his child. That is my advice to you as a concubine who has been here for many years."
To be honest, Esther strongly disagreed with that pathetic stereotype. Since childhood she has been raised with the understanding that the only thing she has is her body and dignity. The so-called parental assets for him are only the wealth and power of her parents.
However, Esther did not want to be hated for not hearing the proposal from the Concubine named Averia. So, she just smiled sweetly.
"Then I am very grateful that you are willing to give me very useful advice. I really respect your advice," replied Esther.
Concubine Averia just smiled with satisfaction at Esther's answer. The event continued. Waiting for an hour to pass is like waiting a year. She don't know why time goes by so slowly when she is in such a situation.
After a very long wait for him, the event was finally over. Before Esther returns to her palace, Queen Caroline invites her for tea together at Rose's palace. Of course, Esther, who was already weak and helpless, immediately became excited and accepted the invitation.
The two of them walked together to Rose's palace. Arriving at the palace, the Queen immediately ordered a maid to prepare tea and snacks in the greenhouse in Rose's palace. The two of them immediately went to the greenhouse and sat there while waiting for the servant who was ordered to come to serve tea and snacks.
A few minutes later the waiter pushed a food trolley that already contained a tea pot, two cups of tea, and several snack plates. After finishing serving it on the table, the waiter bowed half his body and left the two of them.
"Lucky you invited me here. At least I'm in a better mood now. That damn event is boring," Esther complained.
Queen Caroline was silent as she studied the tea. Esther was getting confused and started guessing. Did the Queen's mood change because she had to deal with the concubines just now?
"Esther, actually since the first time I met you and seeing the way you are now, I've been feeling a little confused. Will you promise me to answer all the questions I'm about to ask you honestly?"
Esther who was eating a snack that you casually replied, "I will answer honestly as long as you also promise not to tell anyone about my answer later."
"Okay, I promise."
Esther cleaned her hands of the former snack she had just eaten and leaned forward. She looked at the Queen seriously. "So what do you want to ask me?"
"You know the etiquette you showed on the event was perfect. As you said yesterday, you only learned etiquette, science, etc, in just one day. It's impossible if a commoner's child who can learn the etiquette of a famously complicated nobleman to perfection. Even your etiquette is better than mine. Tell me exactly what your real identity is! Which noble's daughter are you actually from?"