Mother took my hand, a glint in her blue eyes. "Is there a difference between Leon and Heinrich?"
I rested my chin in my hand, then turned to the attendant. "Select some handsome attendants who cannot have children and send them to Mother's chambers." As the attendant bowed to leave, I added, "Blonde and blue-eyed, like angels in Venetian paintings."
Mother flicked my forehead, laughing scoldingly. "You naughty child."
Marcus leaned in with account books, twirling a quill. "Shall I prepare more? If it's not enough—"
I shook my head. "Quietly ask the ladies and maidens of the palace. If they desire, send some their way."
He suddenly whispered, "To be close to the one you love, even taking sterilization medicine would be worth it."
I grasped his wrist. "If someone truly loves you, how could they bear to make you suffer?"
He looked up at me, golden hair spilling over his shoulders. "No one cares anyway."
"Nonsense." I pinched his nose. "It's your birthday today—how could I forget? I've prepared a gift."
Marcus's eyes lit up, though his mouth remained sharp. "You wouldn't dare fob me off with a random trinket, would you, Your Majesty?"
I summoned an attendant. "Is the carriage ready?"
As he helped me into the carriage, he kept peering out, his golden hair fluttering in the wind. "Are you sending me to Genoa as a slave, Your Majesty?"
The carriage stopped at the foot of a mountain. I gestured for him to alight. He looked up at the stone carving above the manor gate, his voice trembling. "Prim... Primrose Manor?"
"Yes." I walked along the gravel path. "I struggled to decide what to give you for your birthday. I remember the day we first met, your fan was painted with green plums."
"This manor is nothing special, but there's a green plum grove on the back hill, which blooms like falling snow." I turned to look at him. "Consider it a birthday gift."
Marcus stood rooted to the spot, his lashes quivering. "I... I dislike staying in the palace..."
"Which is why I'll stay here with you." I took his hand toward the warm pavilion. "Just you and me today—no reports, no courtiers."
He grumbled, "In the palace, someone always interrupts with memorials."
"Today, you're in charge." I pointed to the silver wine jug on the table. "You often brew honey wine for me. Try the wine I made for you today."
Outside the pavilion, green plums bloomed profusely, their scent mingling with snowflakes through the window. Marcus and I clinked cups, the wine clear and cool, mixing with the warmth of his blushing ears.
His eyes reddened from drink, his fingers hooking my sleeve. "What am I to you, Your Majesty...?"
I straddled his lap, my fingers brushing his Adam's apple. "Haven't you figured it out yet?"
He trembled all over, his whimpers soft as sighs. I bit his earlobe, speaking slowly. "The first time I saw you, in the Privy Council corridor. You crashed into me with account books, ink splashing my skirts."
"Even then, I thought—" I kissed the corner of his mouth. "I want to keep you by my side. Forever."
"Marcus, you are mine."
He looked up at me, blue eyes misty. "Yes..."
"For all time."
My true identity had long become an open secret in the royal capital. Rather than say no one dared speak of it, it was more that others were more eager than I to defend it—
"The chosen of the gods are not bound by convention. That the Queen deigns to rule as a woman is surely a divine revelation."
"Even the Madonna in sacred paintings has a thousand forms. Those who question divine will should be ashamed."
Before I knew it, portraits of the "Silver Rose Madonna" began circulating in the streets, said to be painted in my likeness and highly effective for prayers of fertility and peace. I suspected Marcus was behind it—he always loved mixing governance with missionary work.
Let him be.
"Your Majesty's body is now strong enough to bear children." The royal physician bowed and withdrew, the scent of herbs lingering in the warm pavilion.
I dismissed the attendants and pushed the daily medicine to the edge of the desk. "No more of this from today."
The attendant hesitated. "Lord Chancellor is waiting for you in the Mirror Hall."
I smiled. "I'll go to him myself."
I had always been fair. Each person by my side believed they were my favorite.
Leonhard buried his face in my neck, his chainmail tickling me. "You favor me most, don't you, Your Majesty?"
"Of course." I stroked the new arrow scar behind his ear. "In the Northern snows, you were the only one who remembered to send me cloudberry jam."
Marcus rowed a swan boat, flicking lake water on my nose. "No one else is allowed on this lake."
I leaned on his shoulder, watching the sunset gild his golden hair. "The ripples on this lake are meant only for your ears."
But Heinrich never asked questions. When I teased him, he would lower his eyes and smile, stars dancing in his gray-blue eyes. "Eleanor once said no one compares to me in her heart." There was certainty in that smile, along with a fragile caution.
I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind, resting my chin on his shoulder. "It's good to have you here."
After a moment of silence, I said softly, "Heinrich, I'm with child."
He spun around sharply, hugging me until I could barely breathe. "Truly... truly?" His Adam's apple bobbed as he asked again, "Truly?"
"Yes." I touched his burning earlobe. "The physician said my body is ready, so I stopped the contraceptive herbs." Since my coronation, I had ordered the compilation of the *Medical Compendium for Women*—half the world is female; why should only three out of ten doctors be women?
"I wanted you to be the first to know." I pressed my ear to his chest, hearing his heart pound like a drum.
Heinrich's eyes reddened. "Our child... It must be."
I nodded. "Of course." In any case, the child would call him "father"—wasn't that as good as blood?
Mother asked privately, "Whose blood is it, really?" I spread my hands and laughed. "The three of them took turns attending me that month. How could I possibly know?"
She looked at me, her expression both knowing and relieved—precisely the answer she wanted.
Leonhard thumped his chest. "It must be mine! Those two scholars have none of my Northern wolf's vigor!" He tucked me into his arms, eyes shining. "When she learns to walk, I'll teach her to train warhorses and hunt falcons. The Leon family title will go to my little wolf cub!"
Marcus stumbled into a rose bush in the royal garden, petals in his hair as he murmured, "Is this a dream?" When I laughed, he suddenly grabbed my hand, his fingers trembling. "We're having a child... Are you happy, Your Majesty?"
I kissed the top of his head. "What do you think?"
Children are a weakness. But emperors should have no weaknesses—except I was different.
I would make the Leon, von, and Marcus families mutually check each other in suspicion: none would abandon hope that the child might be their own blood, yet none would dare gamble everything. This was the balance I sought.
I gave birth to a pair of golden-haired, red-eyed twins.
The princess was like a little lion, giggling as she tugged at the nursemaid's necklace; the prince was a gentle lamb, always hiding behind his sister to pull at my skirts.
Thirty years later, the princess ascended the throne.
The court chronicler approached with parchment. "How shall we record Your Majesty's life?"
I looked out at the rose garden, recalling the day of my coronation—
The night before the coronation, as I changed into my ceremonial robes, my moon-white chemise was stained with blood.
The ladies-in-waiting panicked, wanting to summon a physician, but I smiled at my flushed reflection in the mirror. "Tell the archbishop that seeing blood on the night of a lunar eclipse is a divine omen."
The next day, during the coronation, a red moon passed over the church spire.
"Write—" I told the chronicler, "On the night of my coronation, there was a lunar eclipse, and the sky was dyed with blood."
"God declared: When the red moon shines, a dragoness shall rule the world."
"This is an auspicious omen."
(The End)