Chapter 17 - Anastasia
Anastasia looked at her mother who looked anxious after the day changed.
The invitations to the royal family party had been distributed, and today was Anastasia's lucky day, a celebration of her successful cure by the Elixir liquid.
Anastasia knew why her mother who became the Queen of the Aurora Kingdom looked anxious and panicked. It was because the Royal Palace had been decorated with piles of corpses from the spy and assassin units owned by the Crown Prince of the Aurora Kingdom.
Her mother's anxiety became even more obvious when the family flag belonging to Marquess Rommel fluttered covered in blood stains and the furious attitude of the Royal Palace troops who began to prepare to give a surprise attack on Marquess Rommel when he came to attend the royal family party.
"Uhm, Mama, why do you look so pale?" Anastasia asked after seeing her mother who suddenly bit her fingers when she was anxious.
"This is a big problem, Anastasia! Our kingdom is in great danger!" her mother exclaimed, her panicked expression not letting up.
Anastasia actually knew her mother's feelings had changed slightly after returning from Marquess Rommel's territory. Her behavior as the Queen of the Aurora Kingdom seemed different from usual when talking about the girl named Lily.
Before the royal family party took place, Anastasia and her mother attended a small meeting to bind all the nobles present to be bound by the internal politics managed by Anastasia. Because her body had improved and was more in good shape than before, Anastasia was now more active in working outside the room and observing people more closely.
What made Anastasia curious was the Marquess Rommel family itself.
The attack carried out by the Marquess Rommel family had attacked the pride of the royal family, but because it was a unit that came from the Crown Prince of the Kingdom, something had changed thanks to the anger given by her mother as the Queen of the Kingdom.
"What should I do, Anastasia?" Her mother grumbled a little when her anxiety and fear of Lily came back to her mind.
"Calm down a little, Mama. That's not like you usually are," Anastasia said to ease her mother's anxiety.
"How can I be calm when things are like this!"
Anastasia looked at her mother who seemed resigned to the situation. It was so sad to see a Queen of the Kingdom who had no dignity and saw her life being cut down bit by bit.
"My life as lovely pet is over!"
Baaaakk!!
Taaaakk!!
Anastasia's hands shook violently when her ears heard something that a Queen of the Kingdom should not have said.
"P-Pet? Who became a pet?" Anastasia shook violently as she tried to calm down at her mother's statement and tried to confirm what she had heard was not a mistake.
"Mom, you didn't become Marquess Rommel's pet, did you? He doesn't have any strange hobbies like those that often happen to the new generation of nobles, right?"
Anastasia tried not to think too much about the possibility of her mother becoming someone's pet because of the noble's strange desires. But, she then know her mother talking about Lily.
"Hey, do we still have a dog collar or leash for walking?" her mother said with an embarrassed expression.
Pufffff...
Anastasia who was almost drinking a cup of tea choked seeing her mother's behavior who looked like a girl who was drunk with love.
Deep in Anastasia's mind, she could not understand how a little girl dared to make her mother, the Queen of the Aurora Kingdom, became her pet.
"M-Mom... why do you look so happy!"
"Erase that disgusting happy expression on your face!"
"How can you look so happy after becoming a little girl's pet!"
Anastasia tried hard to bring her mother back to her senses who had deviated from common sense. Although Anastasia understood something about adult sexual activity pretending to be a pet, it felt excessive when her mother looked happy as a little girl pet.
"Ah! That's right! I still have a leash for dogs, right?" Mother Anastasi immediately got up from her seat and walked towards her main closet.
As if searching the entire contents of her closet that stored several dresses and formal clothes as a Queen of the Kingdom, she saw her own mother pulling some secret drawers and taking out a secret box containing strange equipment. From behind the secret box, Anastasia could see a whip, blindfold, chains, and various other torture devices.
"Um, Mom? What are you planning to do with all that?" Anastasia asked curiously after seeing the contents of the secret box that her mother kept.
"Oh, this is just an old tool for your father who often ran away before finishing his duties as a King. If you need some tools to restrain a man, I will be happy to lend you this."
"No, that's not what I meant but never mind. Dad seems fine after receiving the restraints from this tool, right?"
"Yes, he looks happy after being restrained by his wife. Doesn't that sound very romantic, Anastasia?"
Anastasia suddenly saw her mother's expression which was now covered by a nostalgic blush after seeing her restraints. Anastasia's instincts told her that if she continued this conversation, then she would suffer by listening to the old story of her parents who were drunk with love as a couple.
"Forget about that, Mom. What are you looking for?"
"Wow! Finally found it!"
"Gaah!!"
Anastasia could only express her surprise when she saw her mother take a neck restraint with a very long rope. The black and pink design looked very cute as if showing extraordinary dominance to remain submissive.
"T-That... isn't that..."
"Hehe... Your father used to wear this before when he ran away from me. Now it's my turn to wear it... Huufftt... Haaahhh... I can't wait for my owner to come here and put this in my neck..." Anastasia's mother was seen letting out a heavy breath and a blush that was difficult to express with words.
Anastasia looked around her which was filled with her personal Maids.
With one small hand movement, Anastasia gave a signal to keep this incident a secret from anyone including the royal family.
Several of her personal Maids only nodded respectfully while bowing their bodies in agreement with this secrecy.
"Mom! What are you doing? I almost had a heart attack seeing you like this!" exclaimed Anastasia who didn't know what else to do when her mother acted like a teenage girl who had just known love.
For Anastasia, the assumption about the girl who had just known love was not wrong. That was because her mother's appearance was much younger than before, which was filled with wrinkles from aging. Her mother's appearance this time was not much different from the painting of her youth as the Head of the Royal Academy.
The more Anastasia was annoyed, the happier her mother was when she was shouted at by her daughter.
Braaakkk...
Braaakk...
Tiinngg...
A roar of the sound of the Royal Palace troops' boots was heard. As if called by the sound, Anastasia immediately rushed to her bedroom window with her mother.
"What happened?" asked Anastasia who wanted to see the conditions outside her bedroom window.
From a distance, Anastasia and her mother could see a horse-drawn carriage wearing the symbol of the Marquess Rommel family.
"Isn't that..." Anastasia seemed to narrow her eyes to focus on seeing the distance.
"Kyaaa!! My owner has arrived!" her mother exclaimed with a happy scream.
"Huh?"
Before Anastasia knew the situation, a word that came out of her mother's mouth had become an answer for her.
"Marquess Rommel, huh? Let's see how you deal with a situation that has tarnished the royal family," Anastasia said with a wry smile.
A small conflict broke out outside the Royal Palace. Anastasia understood the commotion was due to Marquess Rommel's excessive actions by leaving a message threatening the royal family. Thanks to the diversion managed by her mother, the pile of corpses was successfully cleared and the punishment of the Crown Prince of the Kingdom continued indefinitely.
Anastasia saw a grown man come out. From his sturdy stature and muscular appearance in terms of his military attire, Anastasia could tell that it was Marquess Rommel.
"So that's Marquess Rommel."
When Marquess Rommel's sword was drawn, Anastasia's facial expression suddenly became more serious.
The pride of the royal family seemed to be just a toy for Marquess Rommel who seemed not to hesitate to draw his sword in preparation to attack the Royal Palace's troops.
"This will become an internal case between nobles who support the royal family."
"I hope this doesn't develop into an internal war between nobles."
Anastasia observed the situation further with her mother who seemed to be humming happily.
"Really? If they find out that the Queen of the Aurora Kingdom is like this."
"How am I going to solve this problem if there are too many witnesses here?"
Swuusshhh...
A small wind blew through the glass window of the room and slightly blurred her vision as she observed the atmosphere.
At that moment...
An strange feeling had befallen her...
Without a clear rational and neatly arranged explanation.
Anastasia felt her heart pounding when she saw a girl coming out from behind the horse-drawn carriage.
Her clothes clearly showed the party dress given by her mother and the long cape that carved the symbol of the Marquess Rommel family with pride as a noble.
Her clean brown skin invited curiosity about how to get to know her.
Her white hair which looked like silver gave a calm and cold atmosphere.
The look in her eyes which looked red from a distance was a perfect symbol that indicated orders and absolute command.
Seeing the variations of the three beauties, Anastasia felt strange and uncomfortable.
Her hand held her chest she felt hot and excited. Anastasia made sure she didn't get sick again by loosening her party dress a little and feeling her heartbeat that was beating uncertainly.
"What has happened to me?"
Every movement of the girl was observed fully by Anastasia's eyes. Starting from her first step down from the horse-drawn carriage to her small movements that seemed cold.
When Anastasia saw the little girl disappear from her sight and managed to slash one of the Royal Palace soldiers' crotch, Anastasia felt a sign of danger that was full of respect for her.
The figure looked cold and threatening.
Somehow it was warmer.
Anastasia didn't know what she was feeling,
Whether it was admiration, respect, or curiosity to get to know the little girl.
What was certain was that Anastasia had to be able to survive the unexpected case where her mother screamed and ran towards the girl while kneeling like a pet.
"Oh, Mama, what are you doing?"
"If you have a owner like this, at least involve me too!" said Anastasia in an annoyed tone after being left by her mother and closing an opportunity to get to know the little girl.