"Oh, such a girl would not be accepted as a female subordinate by Henry. You are not telling the truth, Girl."
Susan's heart tightened. The old man refused to let it go. Why was he so persistent on the matter of the female subordinates?
Susan bowed her head, not knowing how to deal with the situation.
Then she heard a slight cough from the nobleman and said:" She is indeed a useless girl, except that the face, and your grace, spending time on her is such wasting of your time."
"No, no," the old man stared at Susan with interest, "Henry, on the contrary, I think you made an excellent decision. She is a good girl. She just needs a little directing and teaching..."
The nobleman gave a short laugh and interrupted the old man: "Teaching? Even a good tamer can't teach a cow to walk a tightrope. What else can a country girl do other than warm the bed?"
Susan looked down, secretly gritted her teeth, and silently murmured: "You're the cow. Your whole family is a herd of cows. "
"Bed-warming?" The old man looked at Susan and then at the nobleman and chuckled, with a bit of relief in his tone, "Bed-warming is good! Henry, I have recently heard some whispers spreading around the court about you. Some people say they saw Fleck walk out of your bedroom at the court early in the morning..."
There was low laughter around. Susan looked up and saw the old man's entourage winking at each other with a profound expression of meaning.
And the nobleman's entourages mostly looked angry.
Is the rumor alluding that Henry loves men? That's not acceptable in this era, is it?
Susan looked at the nobleman and saw that his face was flat and that he did not seem to have paid attention to the rumors.
But beside Susan, Daniel frowned and stared angrily at the old man, saying: "The stupid women of court gossip and your grace believe such foolish talk?"
How can an entourage talk to a nobleman like that? Susan was astonished.
But the old man didn't get angry and looked at Daniel mildly: "It doesn't matter whether I believe it or not and whether Fleck spent the night in Henry's room, son. What matters is that the country desperately needs a male heir."
There was an instant silence in the room.
The sensitivity of the subject was so obvious even to someone as politically illiterate as Susan. Susan couldn't help but gasp, muttering to herself why she didn't leave early.
"But the king left no direct male blood, and Her Majesty has driven away all suitors..." Daniel murmured.
"Yes, so that's the problem we have to solve, isn't it?" The old man turned to the nobleman and smiled: "Queen Elizabeth is young and kind, but she is a woman, the first female ruler in the history of the Silver Moon Kingdome. It is natural for people to be upset. And more, With the recent abnormal weather in the north and crop failures, the country desperately needed a male heir to appease its people."
The room was silent, and all seemed to fall into silence. It was as if they were thinking about what the old man had said, or they were quiet because they were scared about what would happen.
Susan looked up secretly to see the nobleman staring calmly into the eyes of the old man, who was still smiling amiably.
Susan, however, sensed an undercurrent moving between them as if they were engaged in an invisible battle.
A moment later, the nobleman broke the silence first: "So any advice, your grace?"
"Henry, Henry, you know there is only one solution," the old man patted Henry kindly on the shoulder, "either you will be a regent or king."
What about the Queen?
This is usurpation!
Susan screamed in her head. What was she involved? She shouldn't be here. She should leave right now.
"If you'll excuse me," Susan murmured, turning away.
But Daniel took hold of her arm and held her in place without looking at her.
"It's too late," he said coldly.
Susan lowered her voice and said desperately: "I didn't hear anything. I just want to go home."
"From the moment you show your face, you can't get away anymore. If you leave now, those men will not hesitate to cut your throat open."
"But I am useless to stay here. I'm just a country girl," said Susan, chilled with frightened.
"According to how you've been acting, I don't think you're just any country girl," Daniel glanced at Susan. "And, I've never seen Henry lie for a woman."