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She rang the bell on the bedside table and a servant entered her room. "Good Morning, Baroness."

"Good morning," she replied. "It seems like my work clothes are missing."

"Lady Tyra asked me to pass the message that now the Baroness—"

"You can just call me by my name," she interrupted.

The servant smiled but shook her head. "How dare a commoner like me address you by anything aside from your title, my lady? Lady Tyra would be furious."

"We are still friends, regardless," Esther said. "I insist. You should tell the other girls as well."

"All right…Lady Esther," the servant let out a helpless laugh. "Oh, as I was saying, Lady Tyra wants me to let you know you do not have to serve the Queen anymore," the servant informed her.

Though Esther had already expected it, hearing those words made her feel empty, as she had nothing left to do now. It had been several months since she entered the palace as a personal servant of the Queen, and she had long gotten used to her duties by now.

"Her Majesty wishes you to accompany her for a stroll after her morning meal with the King," the servant informed again. "For your meal, would Lady Esther want me to bring them to you here in the guestroom or would you like to dine in the hall?"

"I will eat in this room."

Upon hearing her reply, the servant bowed and left.

Esther sighed as she kind of missed eating together with the other servants in the kitchen, but she knew she was now a guest of the Queen and it would be rude for her to demand a different treatment. After eating breakfast, she wore one of her better dresses among those she owned and was informed by another servant that Queen Theodora had already returned to the Queen\'s chamber.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," she greeted.

"Esther," the Queen said merrily. There was a wide smile on her lips seeing the young blond lady wearing one of the dresses she gifted her before. "I hope you don\'t  mind accompanying me for a stroll." There was a teasing smile on her face.

Esther smiled as she knew the Queen was teasing her and replied with a gentle bow as if showing she was obliged to listen to whatever the Queen wished from her. "Not at all, Your Majesty."

Queen Theodora looked at her ladies-in-waiting, "I would like to visit the lake."

One of the ladies nodded and left to arrange for their ride.

As they walked along the hallway towards the lobby of the residence, the Queen said amiably, "Esther, now you are a baroness. How do you feel? Do you like it? You have your own mansion in the capital and your own land in the eastern territory."

"I am overwhelmed. Thank you for the generosity, Your Majesty."

"Ah, don\'t mention it. What you did is far greater than what we could do for you," the Queen said. "Your residence is ready with the ten servants appointed to serve you. You can go there whenever you wish to. There is also a carriage and a coachman given to you so you can go anywhere whenever and wherever you want. As for the crest of the House of Burton, you may make one yourself or hire one of the royal painters to design one for you, and then you only need to apply it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for it to become officially recognized by the kingdom. "

"Thank you, Your Majesty." She could only thank her for the older lady\'s concern.

The Queen was happy to inform Esther of anything she should be aware of as a noble, but at the same time, her smile held a hint of sadness at the thought of them parting. "I want to keep you with me all the time, but I guess it will be too selfish of me to bind you to my side when you can live a good life of independence and enjoy freedom outside of the palace."

"I too wish to be around you, Your Majesty. I would like to keep serving you as long as I am here in this kingdom," Esther told her with a sweet smile.

Her words delighted the Queen. "Do you mean it?"

"Yes, of course, Your Majesty," she replied. "Did I not promise to stay by your side for years?"

The Queen sighed. "Oh, sweet child. You are still young, and you shouldn\'t waste your good years serving by my side. It is my fervent wish to let you have your freedom and live your life freely, that is why when my husband asked about how to reward you, we thought of raising your status as a noble. We want you to live a good life, a life of your own choosing. Though you appear to have adapted well, being tied here in the palace doing small chores when you have been living unconstrained before must have been hard for you."

"No, Your Majesty. In fact, I am thankful and honoured to be given the chance of being by your side," Esther explained. After all, Esther would not have followed Queen Esther from the start if she had no good feelings towards the kind Queen.

The sincerity in her words widened the smile on the Queen\'s lips. "Good to know it. Then I will make sure you will be appointed to a task that is suitable for your position as a noble lady. I will have Tyra inform you once we see which positions are available. Until then, I wish for you to visit your new home. Explore this city and go anywhere you want. You could also head to the eastern territory and develop your land. From what I heard, the isles given to you are filled with resources."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Which reminds me, later in the afternoon, I will be hosting a small tea party. Ladies from the ducal, marquisate and count houses of the kingdom are coming to visit me. I wish you to be there as well, that way you will get to know the people around you. It\'s good to have friends when you live in the palace, especially since you are a titled noble now."

"I will be there, Your Majesty."

The royal carriage of the Queen was waiting for them at the entrance of the Queen\'s residence. Esther helped Queen Theodora get inside the carriage and then followed her inside.

While talking about the view outside, the two reached the lake in no time as the lake was not far from the Queen\'s residence. After stepping out of the carriage, the two women walked towards the bridge leading to the gazebo with the Queen\'s servants following them from behind.

"With winter almost ending, we can look forward to nicer weather in the upcoming days," the Queen commented.

"During the peak of winter, there was not much snowfall in the capital," Esther added to it. "I expect that spring will be warmer too."

Both continued idly chatting with each other, and soon, they reached the gazebo where someone was already present inside, staring at the lake. The young man looked to be in deep thought; he even failed to realize someone else had entered the gazebo.

The knight standing outside, Sir Galien, greeted the newcomers. "Good morning, Your Majesty the Queen. Good morning, Baroness."

Prince Theron heard his knight\'s greeting and turned to look at his mother and the pretty woman standing next to her. Esther was wearing a lovely light blue dress, the kind that noble ladies wore, instead of her usual servant clothes. To his surprise, he realized that he couldn\'t seem to judge whether he liked her more in a noble lady\'s dress or a servant uniform–Esther looked lovely either way, even in simple servant clothes. The sight of her never failed to cause a ripple in his heart.

"Good morning, Mother," he greeted and he heard Esther also greet him, "Good morning, Your Highness."

"Theron, may I know what my son is doing here early in the morning instead of tending to your work?" Queen Theodora asked.

"I was reminiscing the memories from the last time I was here," he replied as his gaze passed towards Esther, who in turn had suspiciously kept her gaze pinned to the ground, avoiding his line of sight. Of course, she knew exactly what he was referring to.

The Queen found her son\'s vague response interesting. "May I know what there is to reminisce about that my son sidelined his work to come here?"

Esther felt her heart beating faster with anxiety as she was worried that Prince Theron would say something inappropriate in front of the Queen.