Someday, Love to His Majesty - 2

“Cyril, did I behave badly?”

“No, ma’am, not at all. It’s just that when His Majesty asked you your name, you referred to yourself by your honorific title.”

“The ‘Black Princess’?”

Cyril called me that, so I thought that was my name, but it seems that I have to say “Black Princess” instead of “Black Princess”. I guess there are still many things I don’t remember. (TN: in the original Japanese, the MC uses “黒のお姫様” (kuro no ohimesama) first, then “黒の姫” (kuro no hime) second.

“Who is that guy? The big guy who talked to me earlier.”

“That’s His Majesty. He’s the king of this country.”

Apparently “Your Majesty” was not his name. Is that the king? This is the rear palace, so the king might be the only man who enters here. Come to think of it, it was a gorgeous outfit. He was wearing a white jacket embroidered with threads of various colors. There was no expression on his unsmiling face, and he seemed to be a scary man.

After dinner, His Majesty came to my room.

He said, “Your name was not written in the documents at the time of the dedication. You will be given the name of Naphafistea. You may use that name from now on.”

Expressionlessly, His Majesty sits on a chair in the room as he speaks.

“Nafa…?”

Didn’t you hear me say at lunch that I was learning the language? Do you think I can understand a word with such pronunciation at once? I only speak Japanese, so foreign languages are very difficult for me to understand, she thought, and it must have shown on her face. She looked at His Majesty with a disgruntled expression.

“You seem to be dissatisfied.”

His Majesty’s face looked unchanged, but he seemed to be in a bad mood. His voice seems to be a little lower, so perhaps it is.

“That name is difficult. Please say it again.”

“Naphafistea is difficult?”

“You’re speaking too fast. Pronounce it a little slower.”

“Naphafistea.”

His Majesty pronounced it a little slowly. I stare at the mouth. It should be difficult for Japanese people to pronounce it here using their tongue (I’m sure I’m not the only one).

“Nafa, fi, su, thea.”

Anyway, I try to pronounce them. I’m aware that my pronunciation is in katakana. But I’m sure I’ll be able to pronounce it soon. I walked up to His Majesty with a piece of paper and a pen, and give them to him.

“Please spell it out for me.”

I said. His Majesty just stared at me and did not move. I wondered if he hadn’t heard me, or if he hadn’t understood my words, so I urged him again.

“Please write my name on this piece of paper.”

Finally, he looked from me to the paper and pen, and picked them up. The pen, of course, needed to be inked to write, so I opened the lid of a small jar of ink and held it out for His Majesty to insert the nib. His Majesty’s hand spelled out the words on the paper. The letters were connected like a writing system, and I couldn’t make out what was written on it. I vaguely thought that if I showed Cyril, she might be able to figure out what the words were. His Majesty turned the paper over, looked at me and asked, “What is this?

“What is this? It’s a map of this place. It’s just the part I know.”

I had presented the paper to his majesty, on which I had written a map of this rear palace. In order not to get lost and to avoid encountering other beautiful women as much as possible, I wrote down the layout of the buildings, gardens, kitchens and other rooms in the palace. It is so useful that I keep it at the top of my drawer. Since I would never throw this paper away by mistake, I thought I would ask him to write on it.

“What are you going to do with it?”

His Majesty’s voice was somewhat muffled.

“It will come in handy, won’t it? I asked Cyril for it as soon as I arrived here, but she wouldn’t give it to me, so I made it myself.”

When I tried to take the paper, His Majesty began to tear it up in front of me.

“What are you doing?”

I tried to take the paper back, but His Majesty shoved me hard with one hand on my collarbone and I fell backwards.

“Who were you going to give this to?”

“I don’t plan to give it to anyone, sir.”

“What country do you belong to?”

It was becoming clear that the map was a very bad idea. I wondered if I was being accused of espionage or something like that.

I just drew a map because this place is so intricate.

“You don’t need a map. Why are you drawing one?”

“I’ll get lost.”

“The lady-in-waiting will guide you everywhere. You don’t have to remember.”

“So, am I a bad person for drawing the map?”

I didn’t know the right word for spy, so I just said “bad person”.

“Don’t draw any maps. I’ll let you off the hook this time, but I won’t tolerate any suspicious behavior, even from children.”

His Majesty told me such, but in reality, there were a number of words that I didn’t understand, and at first I couldn’t make sense of what he was saying.

“I don’t understand ‘suspicious behavior’ and ‘will not tolerate’. What do they mean?”

He seemed to be saying something harsh in a strong tone at first, but after a few words, he explained the meaning. Finally, I understood what he meant and answered.

“Please tell me what kind of behavior is suspicious. Oh, please write it down on a piece of paper. If there are too many, I won’t be able to remember them. Also, many of the words you speak are difficult for me to understand. Next time you talk to me, please bring someone who can explain it to me.”

Cyril was not in this room. I was alone with His Majesty. Most of the time, Cyril was by my side, talking with the kitchen staff and so on, and if there was a word I didn’t understand, she would explain it to me. Today, as soon as I came to the room, His Majesty made Cyril exit the room, and that’s how I ended up in this situation.

“It seems you haven’t studied the language enough yet.”

His Majesty said with a sigh. Did you just realize that? I told you so at the beginning, but it seems you forgot.

“I’ll assign you a teacher. You’ll have to study starting tomorrow.”

After saying that, His Majesty left the room. Well, Cyril and I had conversations and I learned a few words from that, but only in between Cyril’s work. If I had a dictionary, it would be different. Anyway, he probably thinks I’m a spy or something, but I didn’t expect him to give me a teacher. The king may not be very friendly, but he may be a better person than I thought.

(TN: Sorry for the insane delay. I suppose the update schedule is more “when I have time” than a real schedule….)