In Place of Me, Please Take This
“The queen is taking an extended leave!? That’s unheard of!”
“For health reasons, I believe it’s not so unusual to rest in a distant location.”
“For health reasons? You?”
The sneer in his voice made it sound as if Clementina—me—would never need such a thing.
I had plenty of thoughts about that attitude, but I decided it was best to end this conversation quickly and continued speaking.
“All the necessary parties have been informed, and the details have been arranged.”
“You’ve been running nearly all the kingdom’s affairs because you pushed your way into them. And now you’re suddenly abandoning them? Hah… Isn’t that irresponsible of you?”
(You have the nerve to say that——!?!)
If it were allowed, I would’ve grabbed him by the collar and shaken him violently.
Of all people, I refuse to hear about responsibility from you. You abandoned your duties, dumped your work on your wife, and busied yourself entertaining your mistress.
I wanted to throw those exact words right back at him.
But losing my temper here would be a mistake.
I know from my previous life that it would only give him an opening to twist my words.
Suppressing my boiling anger, I smiled at him. Though the corners of my mouth twitched despite my best efforts.
“… Are you saying, Your Majesty, that you can’t manage without me?”
He clearly didn’t want to admit that.
But perhaps the thought of the chaos that would ensue if I were gone made him hesitate.
After a brief pause, he replied.
“… In some ways, yes.”
(What is this, a game of Akinator?)
As I pondered his words, an idea came to mind.
I bent down slightly, parting the skirt of my dress without him noticing, and reached for my thigh.
I always wear a garter belt. Just in case, I carry a small dagger for self-defense.
Feeling around, I pulled one out and stood up.
The moment he saw the blade in my hand, he recoiled in alarm.
Did he really think I’d stab him here…? Even I wouldn’t be so foolish as to do that in the middle of the castle, with so many witnesses.
(Throwing my life away just to kill you isn’t worth it.)
Seeing his flustered face and the tense stance of the nearby knights made me chuckle bitterly. I shrugged and spoke.
“No need to be so wary. This dagger is not meant to harm you.”
… So you do realize you’ve done enough to deserve that kind of retaliation.
Suppressing another bitter smile, I turned the blade toward myself.
(This dagger is for me. If it’s to harm anyone, it would only be myself.)
As I thought that, His Majesty, still looking stiff, asked.
“… Then why did you pull that thing out?”
“Well, Your Majesty.”
I smiled, and in one swift motion—
I grabbed a handful of my long black hair and slid the blade through it.
I thought it might be difficult to cut such fine hair, but I’d taken good care of it, and it was neatly bundled. Pulling with enough force helped too.
Shk, a heavy sound filled the air, and my shoulders felt lighter.
“──!?”
He was completely unprepared for it.
The queen—me—cutting the long hair that symbolizes a noblewoman.
Strands of black hair fluttered down onto the carpet.
I held out the severed length of hair toward him.
His face was frozen in shock.
“Since it seems you can’t manage without me, please… take this in my place.”
In other words: Take this hair you hate so much and pretend it’s me.
A scathing bit of sarcasm, but given how much of it he’d thrown my way already, I figured I was allowed at least this much in return.
For a noblewoman, long hair is everything.
To cut it is practically a declaration of death as a noble.
(… Long ago, in the age of dragons and constant strife, it wasn’t uncommon for castles to fall under siege. When that happened, the lady of the castle would cut her hair and send it with a retainer as a sign of her death. Perhaps that’s why noble daughters still value their hair so deeply.)
As I considered that, I felt not even the slightest hint of regret for cutting mine.
But His Majesty clearly felt otherwise.
The daughter of Duke Clausenitzer, the queen of this nation, had just cut off her own hair.
Shock and fear flickered across his face.
Fear—in short, the look you give someone you think has lost their mind.
“The other day, I had the pleasure of witnessing your true love… Thankfully, it opened my eyes. Therefore, I’ve decided to step down as queen.”
What do you think about this chapter?
