The Shadow of Great Britain

Arthur almost reflexively took half a step back, his gaze quickly shifting from the desktop back to the center of the study.

The door was pushed open.

Cold air rushed in first, and when Victoria entered the study, her cheeks still carried a hint of redness that had not yet faded. Her dark cloak was still not undone, but her gloves were casually clenched in her palm.

Her expression did not appear tired, but rather had a clarity that comes after being blown by the cold wind.

”Sir Arthur.” She spoke first: ”I went for a ride, I kept you waiting.”

Arthur bowed: ”Your Majesty, you are too kind.”

Victoria handed the cloak to the attendant behind her: ”The air in the garden is nice enough to help me forget the unpleasantness I encountered earlier today.”

Perhaps feeling guilty like a thief, Arthur turned the topic to the desk before Victoria could speak: ”Has Your Majesty taken an interest in Shakespeare again recently?”

She was about to sit behind the desk and looked up at his words, her brow slightly furrowed: ”I have always been reading! Why do you ask?”

Arthur smiled: ”I saw a copy of ’King Lear’ on the desk, it looks like it’s newly bought.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the study immediately cooled down.

Victoria’s gaze followed his to the desk, where the dark-covered book lay quietly.

Her face changed in a flash, her lips pressed into a line, her shoulders and back involuntarily tensed up a bit: ”This book... was not brought by me.”

”It was given to me by my mother.” Victoria continued, with no trace of the earlier lightness in her tone: ”It was just a couple of days ago.”

Arthur’s heart skipped a beat.

The same gift, given by different people at different times, can have different effects.

’King Lear’ is undoubtedly a good book, even considered one of Shakespeare’s best works. As one of his four great tragedies, it is still often performed in London theaters to this day.

But the problem is, when the Duchess of Kent gives ’King Lear’ to her daughter at this time, it’s hard not for Victoria to overthink it. And Arthur knows that the Duchess did this intentionally to accuse her daughter of being ungrateful.

Victoria, emotionally downcast, lay on the table: ”I didn’t want to say it, but... Arthur, you know? Just her sending ’King Lear’ is enough to infuriate me, but after giving it, she even sent me a letter, angrily asking for more money, even though her allowance increased after I ascended the throne, she’s just tormenting me, on purpose...”

Arthur was quite helpless about the relationship between the mother and daughter. Clearly, although he had just managed to slightly smooth things over with the Duchess of Kent that morning, Victoria on her side didn’t seem willing to let the matter rest.

Honestly, while Victoria and the Duchess of Kent themselves might not know, their serious discord has long become a topic of conversation among the London nobility’s social talk. However, most observers are essentially clueless about the cause of the matter.

Greville, the Privy Council clerk who loves court gossip, even speculated that perhaps Victoria had been ”mistreated” by the Duchess of Kent and John Conroy in the past and ”privately suspected the nature of the relationship between her mother and Conroy.”

In some ways, Greville’s speculation isn’t entirely wrong, but considering that Greville’s guess was relayed from Eld’s mouth, Arthur had to carefully ponder what exactly the original meaning of this so-called ”mistreatment” and ”nature of the relationship” was.

On one hand, Victoria was deeply aggrieved.

But on the other hand, the Duchess of Kent also felt uncomfortable. She once confided to her confidante, Mrs. Levin, saying she was heartbroken over ”her own insignificance.”

In short, the mother and daughter are currently tormenting each other, neither gaining anything from the other.

Victoria obviously didn’t intend to continue the conversation in the capacity of a queen.

She didn’t raise her head to correct her posture, nor did she intentionally restrain her emotions, only letting her forehead rest against the table.

But at this point, Arthur clearly didn’t dare to provoke her regarding the mother-daughter relationship, as Victoria was still in a rage and wouldn’t listen to anything Arthur said.

Thus, he planned to take a different approach, not retreating but sidestepping.

”Your Majesty, there will always be many unpleasant things in life, even if you sort them out one by one, life won’t immediately get better. But no matter how unhappy it is, life still has to go on. The difference between being happy or unhappy lies in whether we choose to spend all our attention on the unhappy things or leave ourselves a little breathing room.”

”What about you?” Victoria moved slightly but still didn’t look up: ”Arthur, how do you usually adjust your emotions?”

”It’s not a clever way, to be honest.” Arthur smiled, not preaching but talking casually: ”I’m usually not very good at sorting out emotions when alone. If I sit down to reflect on life, I’d probably only make it worse.”

Victoria snorted, as if acquiescing.

”So I prefer... to get together with friends.” Arthur continued: ”Being with those interesting people, while it might not solve the troubles, at least it can make me forget them for a while.”

”Forget?” Victoria raised her eyebrow slightly: ”That doesn’t sound like a proper method.”