Chapter 002: I Became a Concubine
"I can only hope that you are well there, Esther. Please forgive our selfishness for involving you in our family matters that have absolutely nothing to do with you," said Countess Arbellion who hugged Esther while accompanied by sobs.
Esther just smiled and returned the hug. "It doesn't matter. After all, you guys are like my own parents after all. Think of this as my return for treating me so well all this time."
"Take good care of yourself there, Esther," said Count Arbellion.
"Okay then I'll go first." Esther also boarded a horse carriage that looked luxurious which had been prepared earlier, accompanied by her two maids.
The inside of the horse carriage was no less luxurious than the outside. A soft chair and a small table with a teapot and a few small cups were also there. In addition, the inside of the horse carriage is engraved with several ornaments with a touch of gold and black so that it adds to the impression of luxury.
Inside, Esther sat with the two women who would be her maids. The two of them were people who had been sent by his own father to always be with him since she was a baby. One is an old woman who is about 70 years old named Anne, and the other is a young woman who is 15 years old and is the granddaughter of Anne, namely Helena.
"I thought the horse carriage used would be more luxurious because it would be ridden by the king's concubine. It turns out the horse carriage is just like this. Not as luxurious as I thought," complained Helena.
Esther just chuckled hearing Helena's complaints about the horse-drawn carriage they were riding. "Never mind the important thing they have been kind enough to send a horse-drawn carriage for us to ride."
"But are you sure, lady, to replace Lady Beatrice as the king's concubine? If the lord and the Emperor and the Empress knew they would be furious," said Anne.
Esther kept chuckling "Come on, Anne. Don't scare me like that. You just stay quiet and don't report it to my father."
Anne sighed and looked at Esther's face. "You know my lady I always weak with that pitiful look of yours. Well, I won't report it to the lord or the Emperor."
"Thank you, Helena.You know how much I love you," Esther said.
It took several hours of traveling to reach the palace. Arriving at the palace, there were already palace guards lined up neatly and the king wearing his king clothes who were getting ready to welcome Esther.
The woman who wears a white wedding dress with flirty tiers accents tied at the back in a floral motif with dazzling beads. The length of her tail that reaches the floor makes the dress she wears even more elegant. Don't forget the medium-sized veil with a length only to the tip of the finger. Now her play as Beatrice had begun after she entered the palace.
After she got down from her chariot the king walked up to him and took his palms gently and walked together into the palace. There was already a priest who was ready to bless their marriage. Their wedding blessing procession took an hour.
Esther was brought to the queen before her veil was removed by the king. Somewhere, from her veil she saw a woman in a long-sleeved dress and her hair was rolled up, sitting on a throne chair. According to Nightingale royal etiquette, a king's concubine must be reunited with the queen after being blessed by a priest. The queen would bless the concubine with all kinds of blessings so that she could live happily as the king's wife. In addition, according to royal etiquette, it was the queen who opened the veil of the king's concubine, not the king.
Esther walked gracefully toward the throne where the queen was. The queen had a smile on her face. Even so, Esther knew very well that the queen must be very sad. After all, seeing her own husband marry another woman must be very sad.
The queen began to say a blessing to Esther. "From now on your name will be Beatrice Valentina de Nightingale. May the Goddess Nightigale continue to bless you and keep you under her wings. May you continue to be happy and produce many offspring."
After finishing blessing Esther, the queen removed Esther's veil. Finally Esther could see the queen's face clearly. When Esther lifted her head and looked into the Queen's face, both she and the Queen were equally surprised.
"Sister Caroline," shouted Esther, pointing at the queen.
"Esther!" shouted the queen who also pointed at Esther.
"Why are you here? Gosh! It turns out that you are a queen, no wonder I couldn't find you in the last few years," said Esther, looking enthusiastic.
The queen immediately hugged Esther very tightly as if she had been waiting for Esther for a long time. "Oh my, Esther! I finally got to meet you too. You know as long as I'm queen, I can't even get out of the palace so busy."
The Queen let go of her embrace and looked at Esther's face intensely. "Wait a minute. Why did you come to the palace as Lucius' concubine? Wasn't the one Lucius married was Count Arbellion's daughter named Beatrice?"
Esther looked away and replied, "Yes, actually Beatrice has run away from home and ran away with her lover after finding out that she is going to be married off to Lucius uh I mean Your Majesty the king."
The king from behind hugged Esther and ruffled Esther's hair which was already neatly arranged. "Hey, kid! Just call me as usual. Didn't you always just call me Lucius?"
"Don't hug me like this Lucius! Let me go!" Esther started to rebel because she didn't like herself being hugged by the king.
"I don't want to! Besides, I haven't seen my very sweet sister in a long time."
Queen Caroline laughed at the childish behavior of Esther and King Lucius II. "Hey, you guys! From the past until now you've always been fighting like this."
"Then since we've known each other for a long time and you only think of me as your sister I don't think we need to do the first night. Right?" said Esther.
"Yes, you are right. How could I have the heart to fuck my own sister," replied King Lucius II.
Actually, when Esther was 7 years old, she had met two boys and a girl in a forest. At that time they introduced themselves as Caroline, Lucius, and Jeremy. At first Esther thought they were just the children of lower-middle class aristocrats judging from the clothes they were wearing.
That's why Esther started seeing them often and making friends. Their friendship is going very well. In fact, once Esther had deliberately sneaked out with Beatrice into the forest to introduce her best friend to the three people she considered like her own brothers and sister.