Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World - Chapter 38

In the royal chamber, the sobbing of Queen Katarina was the only sound that echoed.

This was unexpected.

My intention was to coax a smile from Queen Katarina.

A comic skit featuring myself and the Second Princess Valiere.

A story I heard from a minstrel, about Queen Katarina and Knight Commander Reckenber.

I acted it out in front of Queen Katarina, tracing the episode.

“Ah, the time we stole roses with Reckenber. Such memories.”

I intended to elicit laughter from those memories, but it seemed to cut deeper into Queen Katarina’s heart than imagined.

Queen Katarina, probably until this very moment, could not comprehend the depth of Reckenber-dono’s affection.

I felt a deep empathy for that.

Perhaps, Queen Katarina and I are similar.

“Ah, ah, ah.”

Queen Katarina still could not stop crying.

The Second Princess Valiere was flustered.

So were the high-ranking officials, nobles, and knights standing in this royal chamber, unable to do anything.

No, there was one.

An old woman.

She approached Queen Katarina and spoke.

The Minister of Military Affairs, a figure whose age is indeterminate and who is reputed to be the most cunning and not to be underestimated in Virendorf.

I recalled the information heard from First Princess Anastasia before coming to Virendorf.

“Queen Katarina. The guests are troubled.”

“Ah, I understand, I understand.”

Queen Katarina removed her hands from her face and lifted her gaze.

“Why can’t I stop these tears? Why couldn’t I reciprocate Reckenber’s affection in the slightest?”

Far from eliciting laughter, I made her cry.

Perhaps, I should not say anything more.

Especially since I am in the position of having killed Reckenber.

It might provoke her anger, unnecessary though it may be.

Yet, my words would not stop.

“Your Majesty Queen Katarina.”

“What is it, Faust von Polydoro? Do you still have something to say?”

“Yes.”

I remained kneeling, only nodding my head.

“May I share a bit about myself?”

“About yourself?”

“A story of a fool who could not understand his mother’s love until her dying moments.”

Queen Katarina’s tears did not stop.

With a voice that felt almost self-deprecating, she responded.

“Is that about me? The one who only realized Reckenber’s affection two years after his death?”

“As I mentioned before, it’s about myself.”

“You?”

Yes, my story.

The tale of a foolish man.

“I hope it can help stop your tears, Your Majesty.”

It’s something I’ve kept in my heart.

The regret never ends.

It’s about my mother.

The tale of a fool present here.

“Very well. Let me hear your story. Stop these tears if you can.”

“Understood.”

With Queen Katarina’s permission, I begin my tale.

“My mother was Marianne von Polydoro. She gave birth to me as her eldest son, lost her husband thereafter, and then remained single.”

“Didn’t she take another husband? I’m aware of the culture in the Kingdom of Anhalt. Without an eldest daughter to inherit the lands…”

“It’s the duty of a noble lord to take a new spouse. However, she did not.”

As told by Commander Helga.

“My mother was frail, perhaps thinking it difficult to bear another child. Or maybe, she loved my deceased father too much to take a new husband. I can’t say for sure which it was. Either way, she did not.”

My mother’s thoughts are still unknown to me.

Now that she’s dead, it’s too late to ask.

“Eventually, she began teaching me how to use a spear and sword.”

“In the culture of the Kingdom of Anhalt?”

“Yes, it is unusual.”

I answered clearly.

Even in the Kingdom of Virendorf, precious male children are born only one in ten, and they are treasured and raised within the household. It is preferred to teach them swordsmanship for self-defense and to train their bodies. However…

“In the culture of the Kingdom of Anhalt, it is distinctly abnormal. ‘What’s the use in training men? Isn’t your son dear to you?’ Such was the scorn I received. It’s terribly harsh.”

“That would be the case.”

“Eventually, out of deep anguish, it was said She had gone mad. Cut off from her husband’s family and the neighboring lords, my mother became an outcast. Shunned by all nobility in Anhalt.”

This, too, I heard from Commander Helga.

I learned everything after my mother passed away.

Helga’s confession of guilt, admitting she too had scorned Lady Marianne, and saying she wouldn’t mind being slain right there for it.

Ah, my mother.

How much she must have suffered.

“Yet, my mother Marianne never ceased to teach me the spear and sword rigorously.”

“She must have seen your talent. Convinced you were the only one in the world who would become a superhuman, a hero, in the future.”

“I believe that was the case.”

Otherwise, my mother might have stopped the training midway. Perhaps she was making efforts to find me a good bride.

Yet, it’s too late to ask my deceased mother now.

“I, at the time, thought that rigorous training was only natural.”

“Wasn’t it hard?”

“Not at all.”

The hardship was on my mother’s side.

How difficult it must have been, without the understanding of those around her.

“Without understanding even a bit of my mother’s hardship, how my frail mother, with her heavy body, trained me with such heart-wrenching effort.”

My mother’s suffering.

At the time, I hadn’t thought about it at all.

“Not understanding at all, not finding it hard, just thinking it was the natural education for a lord knight.”

Because there was a previous life.

I took for granted that the education of a lord knight was supposed to be strict.

Especially with my superhuman body.

“I was a fool. There were times, albeit rare, when I innocently rejoiced in defeating my mother. How foolish. I cannot forget my mother’s face, enduring the pain yet smiling.”

“Your mother, Marianne, must have truly been happy then.”

“How does that serve as any excuse?”

Shouldn’t I have considered my mother’s body? Knowing she was frail?

A fool, arrogant because of his superhuman birth. That was me.

“Despite her frail body, my mother continued her duties as a lord, as a noble. She did not neglect my education, attended to military service every year, probably while facing the scornful eyes of the surrounding nobles.”

She must have struggled.

I heard that much of my mother’s military service involved merely bandit suppression.

But she had to face other nobles inevitably.

How they must have scorned her, not outwardly but in their hearts.

How much she must have suffered.

“When my mother went to other towns for military service, she always bought me souvenirs. Hair ornaments and rings.”

“A good mother indeed. I, too, received gifts from Reckenber upon her return from military duties. I still keep them safe.”

“Yes. But at that time, I couldn’t understand that.”

Even if the rings didn’t fit my bulky, calloused fingers.

Even if the hair ornaments were too small for someone of my 2 meters stature to notice.

Even if, by the sensibilities of my previous life, I was averse to wearing them.

They were gifts from my mother.

“I gave them all away to the villagers. I didn’t keep them safe like Queen Katarina does. Now, I have nothing left that was given to me by my mother.”

The only thing left from my mother is Flügel, the beloved horse she gave me when I was 12. Nothing else remains.

What an unfilial son I am.

“It’s only because you cared for your subjects.”

“I say, how does that excuse anything towards my mother?”

My mother never said anything, but she must have known that the gifts she bought were all given away to the villagers. To see a man from the territory wearing the gifts she bought for her son, how much it must have hurt her. Too foolish, it makes me want to die. My emotions surge.

“My mother Marianne’s body was worn out from educating me, from her annual military duties, and from the disdain from those around us. When I was 15, she fell ill.”

“Lord Polydoro. You are—”

“Queen Katarina, please, just listen now. To the tale of a man more foolish than you!”

I scream out. Queen Katarina’s tears had already stopped. Instead, tears overflow from my own eyes.

“Five more years passed. When I was 20, my mother Marianne could barely drink soup and had become frail.”

I continue my story. No one tries to stop me.

“Her last words on that bed were, ‘I’m sorry, Faust.’ I let her die with the terrible regret of having given her son a cruel fate.”

Ah, why.

Why did I make my mother apologize?

I didn’t do anything…

“The foolish me didn’t realize my mother’s love until she died. I was too pleased with the powers that seemed to have been bestowed by the gods, and with those powers, I couldn’t perform a single act of filial piety.”

During the five years I took over her military duties after she fell ill, I did what was expected of a successor.

It didn’t help at all.

“I truly love you as a mother. I love you. I couldn’t even tell her that.”

Faint sobbing sounds can be heard. They were from the nobles of Virendorf, quietly crying.

And then…

“Faust von Polydoro. You are me.”

Queen Katarina’s tears began to fall quietly again. Ah, is she crying for my mother?

If so, then there was value in telling this fool’s tale.

“We are both fools, Faust von Polydoro.”

“Yes. But I believe this, Your Majesty Queen Katarina.”

“What?”

Queen Katarina asks from her throne.

“Love that seeks return is not true love. You were loved by Knight Commander Reckenber. I was loved by my mother Marianne. Did those two ever seek anything in return?”

“They did not, did they?”

“Perhaps for those who have passed, that is enough. I believe that. And then…”

And then, what can we, the living, do for those who have passed?

“Perhaps there is love that reaches the deceased, even after their death.”

“Is there? Our loved ones have already departed from this world. Valhalla and heaven are too far.”

“I believe there is. Otherwise…”

Otherwise…

“It would be too sad, don’t you think?”

“So it is.”

Queen Katarina wipes her tears with her fingers and stands up from her throne.

“Faust von Polydoro.”

“Yes.”

I remain kneeling, responding to her voice. Queen Katarina walks over briskly and offers me a bouquet of roses, a gift, in front of me.

“Claudia von Reckenber. I want you to visit her grave. And offer this bouquet from you. You have the right.”

“I am the man who defeated Knight Commander Reckenber.”

“Don’t underestimate Reckenber, Faust von Polydoro. Do you think I was not close to Reckenber?”

Queen Katarina places the bouquet in my hand.

“If you do not offer the flowers yourself, I will be scolded by Reckenber. That’s what I believe.”

“Understood.”

I reply briefly. Queen Katarina then returns to her throne and sits down again.

“Everyone, I’ve caused a commotion. Let’s resume the negotiations. Faust von Polydoro, our conversation ends here for now.”

“Yes. The rest is with the Second Princess Valiere.”

“I understand.”

The official envoy, who should originally be speaking with Queen Katarina, turns their attention back to her as she resumes the negotiations.

“Second Princess Valiere. I’m willing to accept a 10-year peace negotiation.”

“Really?!”

“Yes, it’s true. But here’s my condition.”

Queen Katarina points at me and mutters.

“Faust von Polydoro’s child must be conceived in my womb. That’s the condition.”

“What?!”

The voice of the Second Princess Valiere echoes through the royal chamber, but the nobles and knights of Virendorf do not react. Instead, they seem to understand this development.

As for me…

“Why?”

Understanding Queen Katarina’s heart is beyond me.

While my initial intention to amuse her might have been off the mark,

I thought I had firmly grasped Queen Katarina’s heart, just as Queen Liesenlotte said, fulfilling the role of ‘cutting through the heart’.

All that was left was for Valiere, the second princess, to carry the conversation forward.

That was the plan, anyway.

“No, really, why?”

Why would Queen Katarina desire his progeny?

Faust von Polydoro couldn’t begin to fathom.