Draco had come over to give his sister-in-law a piece of his mind about her attitude towards Felicia.
Though he could not bring himself to remain mad at her after everything that she had been through.
However, at the same time, he could not just stand by and watch as the mother and daughter drifted further apart.
He did not know whether the damage done until now could be rectified but he did not wish for the relationship between the two to further worsen in the future.
Therefore, he knew that something needed to be done to remedy this situation.
From what he had heard, he could deduce that the Queen did not hate her daughter despite what others thought or even if she tried to pretend that it was true.
There certainly was misplaced anger and animosity but it wasn't to the extent where she despised her child.
He had witnessed a sight in the past which proved that he was right to think in this way.
When he had first returned from the Roschester fief with his etcher in his arms around the time when the plague was rampaging through the Kingdom, he had seen the Queen glaring at Astolfo who had bared his fangs towards the Princess.
She had even tried to protect the girl from harm's way which proved to him that the Queen still felt those maternal instincts flaring up when she saw her child in danger.
You would not try to protect someone you hate, instead, you would be pleased that they were hurt.
However, the Queen, contrary to what everyone thought, had tried to defend the child which was enough for him to determine that she still cared for Felicia.
What the Queen had experienced was tragic and she had every right to be mad at fate for playing this cruel joke with her.
Nevertheless, the child was blameless in what had taken place all those years ago.
Felicia had not damaged her mother's body on purpose and even now, she had no clue that she had hurt her mother back then.
She was still ignorant of the reason why the Queen did not look after her as she did for her elder brother.
The poor Princess always assumed that the Queen preferred boys over girls, just like her friend Glennise's father who disliked her for being born a girl.
For many years now, Draco had felt the same way but today, his false assumptions had been corrected.
He was glad that he had come here today to have this conversation with the Queen as now he knew better about the reasons which explained the Queen's unfeeling behavior towards her second child.
This was nothing but her coping mechanism to keep her fragile heart safe while also trying to protect her child whose very appearance brought up bad memories for her.
However, if this continued then Felicia would remain under the same misconception that he had been until now.
Right now, she was only disheartened that her mother favors the boy but keeps her at a distance.
Though if this continued then there was a high chance that she would assume that her mother hates her and maybe someday, this would sprout the seedlings of hatred in her heart as well.
He knew better than anyone what the consequences of the actions taken by someone with a tainted heart were and that was the last thing that Draco wished to happen to his loving family.
Therefore, he hoped that something could change before they committed similar mistakes done by the previous generations.
The first step of change was to reach out to his sister-in-law who was hurting deep within.
There was not much that he could do but at this moment, realized what he needed to say to her.
"Sister-in-law, are you happy?" He questioned after the long silence that had engulfed them.
Queen Zena gazed at the greenery around her, the fruit of her labor then nodded after a while of pondering.
He knew that the Queen was a woman with complex thoughts, even when most thought otherwise.
Sigma and Horace often worried that she was wary of him and feared that he would steal her son's throne away from him in the future.
However, Draco had promised that he would never do anything to harm Fritzen or attempt to take away what was rightfully his.
She still felt insecure at times but he never did anything that would go against the promise he had made back then which strengthened the belief she had in him due to the trust that they had built in the past.
When he was younger, he had spent a lot of time with her, listening to her stories about the Kingdom she was brought up in.
Therefore, he knew things about her that not many were aware of.
"Didn't you once declare that you would never neglect your children?" He reminded her of a certain conversation they had in the past.
Queen Zena frowned upon hearing his words because she knew just where he was trying to lead the topic.
When she had first arrived in Rosenhyde, she did not know many people here and had come with just a few maids from her motherland.
Her husband was the Crown Prince and was busy most of the time so it was her young brother-in-law who often accompanied her during the day.
He would end his classes with his nanny, Governess Bloom, before rushing over to her Palace.
Being a curious young boy, he would ask about the place where she was born and she too was happy to speak about it.
During one of their conversations, she explained about the Royal family that she was a part of.
In her father's Kingdom, polygamy was acceptable, especially in royal and noble families.
Her father had three wives, one was his Queen while two were his concubines.
However, only the Queen was allowed to get involved in politics while the concubines existed for the King's pleasure.
Princess Zena was the youngest child of the Queen and after her were a few born from the concubines.
Though the rules stated that all the sons of the King were given equal stake at the Throne, as always, the Queen's son had higher precedence due to her involvement in political matters.
Her mother had only one son but four daughters, the youngest being Zena.
The first concubine had only one son while the second concubine was favored in the later years and had given birth to two girls and the youngest child was a boy.
As one would assume, with so many children, the competition to gain the favor of the King was fierce.
The two elder sons were already competing for the Throne from a young age and the last born son had no place in the fight at all.
The girls, on the other hand, had to keep themselves prim and proper until they were shipped off to a distant land when the King saw fit.
The Princesses knew that they would be entangled in a political marriage decided by their father and most had no opinions about it.
Zena too was the same but what she hated the most was the lack of attention she gained from her parents.
Her father was busy with the Kingdom while her mother was too focused on the son in order to make him the next King.
Throughout her adolescent years, she had spent time with her sisters and was glad that there wasn't much in-fighting among them.
As they grew older, each sister was married to a different Kingdom in order to strengthen their alliances, and Zena was also bestowed a similar fate.
On the last day in her Kingdom, her mother had called her aside to have a little talk with her.
The bride-to-be was expecting to hear some kind and supportive words from her mother but was bound to disappointment.
The Queen urged her to keep the Crown Prince of Rosenhyde happy so that he might support her brother in the fight for the Throne later on.
Not a single word was said about her well-being and neither was there a word of encouragement for the young girl who would be moving to a different Kingdom soon.
Disheartened at this final goodbye between them, she gave up all hope.
When she had arrived at Rosenhyde, she discarded all thoughts about her mother who chose to focus her attention on the son while ignoring her daughters.
Therefore, when she narrated this incident to the young prince, she had declared that she would not behave in a similar fashion when she gave birth to her children.
Being reminded of this memory made the Queen frown as she muttered her defense.
"Things are different now." She retorted because back then she did not know that she would only have two children.
"But isn't it the same as what your mother did?" Draco did not give her any chance to make up excuses.
The Queen's mother, for whatever reason, focused only on her son while ignoring her four daughters.
Wasn't that the same as what she was doing right now?
She was ignoring Felicia while focusing her entire attention on Fritzen.
"It's not!" She glared at him before mumbling, "not the same…"
However, her wavering voice displayed that she too could not entirely believe what she had just said.
Draco did not want to pressure her into anything so he chose a softer approach.
"When the time comes for Felly to leave, would you still be content with how things might turn out?" He inquired in a gentle tone so as to not agitate her any further.
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