The Shadow of Great Britain

The disloyal will never succeed, but only those who know when to be disloyal can endure, because betrayal is the only political principle that can withstand the test of time.

——Arthur Hastings

When the attendant at Windsor Castle opened the inner chamber door carved with golden oak leaf patterns for Arthur, he did not walk in immediately but first took a glance at the interior furnishings.

It was quiet inside the door, with no maids, no attendants, and no escort; even the wall lamp burning in the room emitted a certain unorthodox, warm, dim light, which was not the brightness used to welcome ministers or entertain distinguished guests.

He stepped into the room, and the thick velvet carpet almost swallowed the echo under his boots.

Arthur had just stood firm when he casually took off his hat and slightly bowed in front of Victoria: ”Her Majesty the Queen.”

Immediately afterward, he heard the sound of the large door closing behind him.

Victoria sat by the fireplace, one hand supporting her chin, her knuckles brushing against the corner of her lips, her posture relaxed and indifferent.

She had changed out of her parade uniform, wearing a light blue-gray woolen dress, her hair loosely coiled.

Upon hearing Arthur speak, Victoria did not immediately respond as usual, but merely looked up at him, with an indescribable emotion in her eyes, somewhere between scrutiny and hesitation.

Under the calm surface, it seemed as though something was silently swaying.

”Today you...” she finally spoke, her tone light yet unexpectedly straightforward: ”You walked with Mother for quite a while.”

Arthur did not panic, as if it was not a big deal at all, he smiled softly: ”She wasn’t in a good state at the time, Your Majesty.”

However, this answer did not satisfy Victoria; instead, it secretly angered her: ”So you’re saying that if I were in a bad mood today, you would accompany me for a walk like you did with Mother?”

Arthur smiled and nodded: ”If Your Majesty requires it, I am naturally at your disposal at any time.”

”But she didn’t ’summon’ you, did she?” Victoria leaned back against the chair, muttering: ”She ran into you, and then you stayed, you actively stayed.”

This didn’t sound like a question, more like a complaint, with a hint of childish grievance, as if something had been taken from her.

She neither raised her voice nor got angry, simply staring into Arthur’s eyes, wanting to know if he was lying.

Arthur didn’t evade her gaze; instead, he stood upright: ”If you had seen the scene at the time, you would definitely have stayed too, I’m sure... no one would bear to see someone standing at the end of the corridor, crying like that. Indeed, she made many mistakes, but...”

”You’re always like this!” Victoria interrupted him, her pace quickening: ”You always make excuses for people! She’s Mother, so she’s worth pitying. I’m the Queen, so I must restrain myself. The London tabloids slandered you, and you said there might be misunderstandings. Mother cried, so you accompanied her for a walk. Conroy was so venomous, and you said he was blinded by ambition. But what about me? What about me! I stood by the window, watching you and her walk side by side, unable to say a single word. Can you not, even once, just once! Stand by my side?”

As soon as these words were finished, Victoria’s eyes immediately reddened.

Arthur was initially surprised, as if he hadn’t expected his student to be so angry with him; he remained silent for a while, without an anxious rush to explain, only a nearly gentle restraint and apologetic gaze: ”Your Majesty, in Ramsgate, I stood outside the gates of Albion Villa for two weeks.”

When Victoria heard this, she seemed to have been gently pierced by something.

The anger and grievance she had been suppressing suddenly burst out from a tiny crack.

”Of course I remember!” her voice trembled, not out of anger, but choked with emotion: ”Did you think I would forget? Those were the loneliest two weeks of my life! I knew nothing, couldn’t leave, couldn’t send letters, couldn’t go out, even Leisen didn’t dare tell me about the outside world. But you, you were still there at the gate! Conroy lied to me, saying you had already left, but I believed you hadn’t. Every night, in the dead of night, I could hear the sound of boots on the cobblestone path from my bed, hear you coughing, hear you pacing outside. At that time, it was this... it was this that kept me going!”

As she spoke, she wiped her eyes harshly with the back of her hand, but couldn’t hold back the tears, which fell one by one.

”I thought you were the most trustworthy person in my life.” she said in a low voice, biting her lip: ”I thought... even if one day everyone thinks I’m capricious, unfeeling, ignorant of politics, unqualified to be Queen, you would never doubt me. You clearly know why I hate her, you know! You know how she controlled me, confined me, threatened me with Conroy’s letters, saying she would send me to Coburg, saying if I didn’t obey, she would marry me off to the Duke of Cumberland’s son, marry me to cousin George... what does she take me for? A tool! A pawn! She doesn’t regard me as her daughter at all!”

Hearing these words, Arthur’s expression finally softened.

He did not open his mouth to argue; he didn’t use gentle words to soothe the emotional young girl, as he had in the past.

He simply slowly lifted his head, his gaze calm, like someone who had weathered a storm, waiting for the tide to recede.