Tangled By Fate

Chapter 445: AN APOLOGY

Lady Arisa and Lady Rebecca were mad at their own stupidity. But they pushed their anger on Lady De la Pole.

They viciously cursed her in their minds while having pitiful expressions.

Since Ovior helped Veronica, she was able to calm down before he was done taking care of the two ladies.

She controlled her expression.

‘I should have dealt with this, not him. I pushed my responsibility at him. I have to be stronger and smarter.’

She tightened her fist.

As she was about to leave, she heard a voice, “What is going on?”

.....

The voice belonged to none other than the Queen.

The Queen came forward with a smile hanging on the corners of her lips.

Everyone bowed slightly as she walked toward Veronica, Ovior and the two ladies.

For some reason, Veronica wasn’t surprised by the Queen’s sudden attention.

“It’s nothing much, Your Majesty,” she replied politely. “Some ladies had some misunderstanding toward me.”

“Misunderstanding? How unusual!”

The Queen covered her mouth with her decorative fan.

“To face something like that in a ball in this kingdom, you must be surprised.”

Veronica replied, “Well, it is true that it is my first time at a Royal Ball in this country. I was excited to find out more about new people. I was quite surprised by the lack of manners of the nobles of this kingdom.

“The interesting part is, here in this kingdom, nobles try to humiliate each other using their brains. I’ve never seen anything like that in other countries.”

The Queen narrowed her sharp eyes. “Other countries? Which other countries have you been to, Mistress Silverstar?”

‘Is she trying to figure out where I went so that she can send spies to gather information about me?’ Veronica wondered.

“Are you interested in me, Your Majesty?” she asked.

The Queen’s sharp eyes stared at her. ‘Not replying to my question. Very well...’

She said, “Most certainly I’m interested in the most powerful woman after me. How can I not be curious about you?

“I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time but your husband is utterly protective toward you. I thought there could be some reasons behind it.”

Veronica chuckled. “It’s not entirely his fault. It was I who was having a hard time coping with the responsibilities. The work of the Mistress was much more than I had prepared myself for.”

“Is it? How are you coping up now?” the Queen inquired.

“Things are getting easier now that there are people to help me out with the tasks I don’t need much attention. I supervise their work while working on the important matters myself,” Veronica flatly lied.

She didn’t feel an ounce of guilt when she lied despite knowing that the Queen had spies in the tower and she might know everything.

The Queen was rendered speechless.

She already knew about Veronica and her lifestyle and didn’t think she would be able to lie like that without batting an eye.

To think she would lie right in front of her and so many people were beyond her expectations.

She could only go along with her lies.

“I had no idea you were struggling so hard. Do you need any other spare assistants? I’ll gladly let you lend some of mine.”

Veronica smiled. She always had her excuse ready. “Your Majesty is kind. Thank you for your generosity; however, I’m fine with the assistants I have.

“Furthermore, I cannot have assistants from the Royal Palace. Only people from the Magic Tower can work on the tower.”

‘Not as dumb as I thought she was,’ the Queen thought.

Most of the time when Arthur acted overprotective of Veronica, she thought that the woman was utterly useless and brainless. She had nothing but her beauty to seduce Arthur. That’s why he married her.

Now that she met her and had a conversation with her, she realized that Veronica was someone she didn’t imagine to be.

‘Why was that bastard trying to protect this woman? She doesn’t look like someone who needs a man’s protection. She can handle any conversation with me very easily. Should I try pressing her more?’

Just as she thought in her mind, she told Veronica, “You are the Mistress of the Magic Tower. You can change rules.”

Veronica calmly responded, “Rules are there for a reason, Your Majesty. I cannot randomly change the rules for my own benefit. That will make things worse and more complicated.”

The corner of Her Majesty the Queen’s lips raised slightly. “Master Silverstar must have high expectations of you.”

Her eyes weren’t amused at all. They were sharply gazing at Veronica as though she was trying to read Veronica’s mind.

Veronica faced worse gazes when she traveled the world. She wasn’t fazed by the Queen’s sharp gaze.

She said, “Not at all. It’s quite the opposite.”

The Queen was surprised. “Oh?” She waited for more information.

Veronica explained, “He doesn’t even care if I spend my time lazing around all day. It’s me who has high expectations of myself.”

“Mistress Silverstar is truly an amazing woman. Your beauty and intelligence go beyond my expectations,” Her Majesty the Queen suddenly praised her.

Veronica respectfully said, “Thank you Your Majesty for your kind words.”

“However, wouldn’t it be better if you were generous enough to forgive these two ladies?” the Queen pointed at Lady Arisa and Lady Rebecca.

‘What a sudden change of event. Did she have a long conversation with me just to talk about them?’ Veronica pondered.

She replied, “Them? I already did. I don’t think they will be too happy to see me in the future. So, it’ll be better if they don’t come in front of me in the future. It’s for their own good.”

“If you behave that way, how will the nobles treat them?” the Queen showed concern for the ladies.

Veronica found the Queen’s behavior laughable. She arrogantly smirked.

“It’s not like nobles curry favor for me anyway. From what I saw tonight, I don’t think they were too eager to meet me anyway.

“They were too busy trying to spread malicious rumors about me. Why would they even care how I treat some people who tried to wrong me?”

The Queen didn’t imagine that Veronica would criticize the nobles right in front of their faces. ‘She has guts. I give her that. What else does she have?’

She scanned the facial expressions of the nobles. They looked awkward. They all heard Veronica’s complaints.

They all knew that the Queen didn’t favor the Magic Tower. At her birthday party, they couldn’t openly support the Mistress of the Magic Tower.

Moreover, Her Majesty the Queen was dominating the noble women’s world in Tybu for many years.

The Mistress of the Magic Tower recently came to this kingdom and it was her first time meeting the nobles.

She had no power or support from the nobles.

How could they openly support her?

Wouldn’t they face the Queen’s wrath at this rate?

The Queen stated, “Mistress Silverstar’s tongue is sharp. I understand your feelings. I apologize on the behalf of all nobles for their poor behavior.”

The nobles were stunned when the Queen apologized to Veronica. They whispered among themselves.

“How could she let Her Majesty apologize to her? Just who does she think she is?”

“I can’t believe Her Majesty apologized!”

“Her Majesty has done it for our sake. As I thought, no one is more caring than our Majesty the Queen!”

“The Mistress of the magic Tower is too arrogant. I can’t believe she is letting Her Majesty apologize to her. Does she have no shame?”

Veronica looked around. The nobles shut their mouths when her gaze grazed their faces.

Afterward, she calmly stated, “I cannot accept your apology, Your Majesty.”

The nobles gasped as they couldn’t believe that she would reject the apology in front of the Queen’s face.

‘She dared to do this?’

‘Unbelievable!’

‘Is she just brave or stupid?’

‘What a nerve!’

However, they dared not to share their thoughts loudly.

The Queen smiled slightly when she heard Veronica’s rejection.

“Why is that, Mistress Silverstar? Care to explain?” she inquired.

.....

Veronica replied, “That’s because you have done nothing wrong. You are a wise person. You mustn’t apologize on behalf of others.

“If you do this, you will only lower yourself for some worthless people. Everyone gathered around here are adults. They all need to bear the consequences of their actions. Someone else shouldn’t do it on their behalf.”

She continued, “If you do this, Your Majesty, what will they learn from it? How will they teach their children?

“You are the mother of the nation. Your actions will be followed by many. You shouldn’t do something that might lead others astray. Don’t you think so, Your Majesty?”

This was something she learned from Ovior. Tonight, she shared it with the Queen to justify her action.

She added, “I’m sorry that I had rejected you. You are someone I respect, Your Majesty. I cannot allow you to lower yourself from some brainless people. They need to face the consequences.”