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Keyless Queen HD 720p
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00:06Leon finally noticed that I had gone three days without asking Lydia for a single key.
00:11He thought I had finally learned to be an obedient queen.
00:15So he sent a servant with a message that sounded more like a royal favor than an apology.
00:21His Majesty says,
00:22Tonight he will have someone bring you the key to the royal apothetory.
00:26He will also send the royal physician to check on your father again.
00:30But I didn't react at all.
00:32Listening to the royal servant's announcement, I just sat quietly at the table, without the joy he had expected.
00:39His Majesty reminds you to abide by this rule.
00:42Never again employ crude theatrical ploys to threaten the crown.
00:48The gold the late king awarded your father will remain under the royal household's care.
00:54People of your black race should not hold that much gold all at once.
00:57It only invites trouble.
01:00I stood in the grandest chamber of Whitestone Palace and listened quietly.
01:04What Leon did not know was that by the time I received that message.
01:08I had already filed a petition to dissolve our marriage in the archbishop's court.
01:12My father had died three days ago in his blacksmith shop.
01:16After three years in the palace, the only things I could take with me were the old dress I had
01:20worn when I first entered the palace and the little iron hammer my father had forged for me with his
01:26own hands.
01:26The servant waited for me to cry, shout, or beg for the king's mercy.
01:31I did none of those things.
01:33I only folded the message once, placed it on the table, and looked toward the locked wardrobe across the room.
01:39No one would believe that Aaliyah, the queen everyone envied, lived in the grandest chamber of Whitestone Palace yet could
01:46not even open her own wardrobe.
01:50My gowns were locked in the west wing wardrobe.
01:52My jewelry was locked in the queen's jewel room.
01:55My carriage sat in the Eastgate carriage house.
01:58My father's reward money was sealed inside an iron coffer at the bottom of the royal treasury.
02:03Even when I wanted to call a royal physician for my father, I had to ask Lydia for the apothecary
02:08key and permission to leave the palace.
02:11And every one of those keys was in Lydia's hands.
02:14She was the king's chief court lady.
02:16And she had grown up with Leon.
02:18Before I appeared, everyone believed she would become the woman who ruled this palace.
02:23Later, on his deathbed, the old king insisted that Leon marry me.
02:27Because my father, Thomas, had saved the old king during a winter hunt.
02:32But Leon looked down on my low birth.
02:35He always believed that if a poor family suddenly received wealth, we would waste it the moment it reached our
02:41hands.
02:42The gold will stay in the royal treasury.
02:45It will be released whenever your father truly needs it.
02:50I believed him then.
02:52I thought being queen meant I had finally earned a place where my father would be safe.
02:57Instead, I found myself standing before locked doors, waiting for another woman to decide whether my needs were proper enough.
03:05Three days ago, my father was dying.
03:08I begged Leon to give me the key to my father's gold coffer.
03:11I also begged him to let me take medicine from the royal apothecary.
03:15Lydia kept holding back the treasury key and the apothecary key.
03:19Again and again.
03:20Until my father died in his bed.
03:23All these years, I endured everything so my father could keep receiving treatment from the royal.
03:29Physicians and medicine from the palace apothecary.
03:32Now my father was gone.
03:33There was no reason for me to stay.
03:36When I asked Leon to end our marriage, he refused.
03:40He was in his study, reading the border tax ledgers.
03:44His eyes never left the parchment.
03:46His voice was as cold as if he were scolding a maid who had broken a cup.
03:52Stop making trouble.
03:54He treated it like nothing more than a childish error, not realizing for a moment that I meant every word.
04:00I'm not making trouble.
04:02I've already submitted the petition to the archbishop's court.
04:05I stood before his desk and said calmly.
04:08Only then did Leon look up at me.
04:10His eyes were cold, as though my words were a waste of his time.
04:15About your father, I was the one who told Lydia not to give you the apothecary key.
04:21It had nothing to do with her.
04:23She was only following my orders.
04:26My fingers twitched at my sides.
04:29In the past, the moment he mentioned my father, I would lower my head.
04:35My father's old wounds flared up every winter.
04:38Village healers could not help him.
04:41He had to rely on the royal physicians and medicine from the palace apothecary to stay.
04:46Alive.
04:47That was the reward the late king had promised him.
04:50But after the old king died, Leon said my father did not know how to manage money.
04:55He said a blacksmith who suddenly possessed that much gold would only be cheated, robbed, and perhaps killed for it.
05:02So he locked my father's gold coffer inside the royal treasury.
05:06He said he would release it whenever my father truly needed it.
05:10But every need had to go through Lydia.
05:13His majesty's commands are absolute.
05:15I have no special privileges even when my own father's life was hanging in the balance.
05:21My father was burning with fever.
05:24His old wound rotting open.
05:26I knelt outside the apothecary door and begged Lydia to give me the key.
05:30She wore a pale blue court gown and held a ring of keys in her hand.
05:34Her smile was gentle.
05:36Almost regretful.
05:38Your majesty.
05:39The apothecary key cannot be handed over carially.
05:44Vise de Thomas, the group in Trescolis.
05:47Master Thomas is only a commoner.
05:50He does not fall under royal emergency care.
05:53That treatment was promised to him by the late king.
05:56King, I'm not denying the late king's generosity.
06:00But rules are rules.
06:02Have the village healer write a note describing his condition first.
06:09Then have it sealed by a church physician.
06:12Only then can I open the apothecary.
06:17I brought back the note.
06:18She glanced at it and frowned lightly.
06:20I brought back the note.
06:22She glanced at it and frowned lightly.
06:26The date isn't clear enough.
06:28It only says fever.
06:29It doesn't specify whether his life is in danger.
06:32Your majesty.
06:33I'm not trying to make this harder.
06:36Every bottle in the royal apothecary must be recorded.
06:40You are queen now.
06:42You cannot act like you are still in a blacksmith shop,
06:45taking whatever you want whenever you want it.
06:47After that, she made me bring a travel permit,
06:50a physician's certificate,
06:52a written reason for withdrawing from the gold coffin,
06:55a statement explaining why my father
06:57could not be treated by a village healer.
07:00I ran back and forth again and again.
07:02My father's breathing grew weaker each time.
07:05I returned.
07:06The village healer pressed the last certificate into my hand
07:09and whispered that there might still be time if I hurried.
07:15By the time I returned with the paper,
07:17my shoes were soaked through with mud,
07:20and Lydia only asked whether the church seal
07:22was placed in the correct corner.
07:29By the time the key finally arrived in the blacksmith shop,
07:32my father never opened his eyes again.
07:41So now, when Leon said he would have someone
07:43bring me the apothecary key tonight,
07:46I found it absurd.
07:47The apothecary no longer mattered.
07:49My father had no use for it anymore.
07:51Leon watched my silence
07:52and thought I had finally learned to be afraid.
07:55He closed the parchment in his hand,
07:57impatient.
07:58Alia,
07:59if you hadn't stormed into the household office
08:01a few days ago and shouted at Lydia,
08:03I would never have let her hold back the keys
08:05to teach you a lesson.
08:07You are queen,
08:08not some little girl throwing a fit
08:10in a blacksmith shop.
08:13Last night,
08:14I already told her to give you the apothecary key.
08:17My time is precious.
08:19I don't have the patience to watch you lose your temper.
08:21With that,
08:22he stood and turned to leave.
08:24He was certain I would lower my head soon enough,
08:26just like I had for the past three years.
08:29Even when he said in front of the nobles
08:31that I looked desperate to please,
08:33I only smiled and said nothing.
08:35Even when Lydia smiled and took one key after another away from me,
08:40I endured it.
08:40I once thought that as long as my father was alive,
08:44I could endure anything.
08:46Now my father was gone,
08:47and I did not need to stay anymore.
08:49But Leon did not know that he had never been willing
08:52to let me finish a sentence.
08:53Later,
08:54a maid brought me the celebration ledger Lydia had sent.
08:58His majesty asks your majesty to write a line of praise,
09:02so no one Mr. Stan's Lady Lydia.
09:05I sound that joke and laughed.
09:08The maid lowered her eyes,
09:10afraid I would tear the ledger apart.
09:12Instead,
09:13I took the quill with steady fingers.
09:16I picked up the quill and wrote carefully.
09:20Lady Lydia is diligent indeed.
09:23With one ring of keys,
09:25she rules over both the queen and the servants.
09:35Aladia.
09:38May she keep guarding every door,
09:40and may she keep guarding the place she hopes to move into one day.
09:45Your majesty,
09:47should I really deliver this?
09:49The maid's face went pale.
09:53Deliver it exactly as written.
09:55His majesty wanted praise.
09:58I gave him praise.
09:59After writing it,
10:01I closed the ledger.
10:02Then I returned to my chamber and began to pack.
10:05There was not much to pack.
10:06Everything that seemed to belong to me in the
10:08palace was locked in someone else's hands.
10:11The only things I could take were the old dress I wore when I entered the palace.
10:15A few faded shirts,
10:17and the little hammer my father had given me.
10:20For all these years,
10:21I had lived in the palace like a temporary guest.
10:24Only now did I understand.
10:26Even a guest could at least open a door for herself.
10:30I folded the old dress carefully and placed my father's hammer on top of it.
10:34The iron handle was cold,
10:36but the weight of it steadied me more than any crown ever had.
10:40Outside,
10:41the bells of White Stone Palace rang for Lydia's private dinner.
10:45Inside,
10:45I closed my trunk and finally felt something like peace.
10:49No longer a queen,
10:50no longer in need of anyone's keys.
10:52I am just me the me who can make any decision.
10:57Leon came back very quickly.
10:59Whenever it involved Lydia,
11:01he was always prompt.
11:03He strode into my chamber and did not even notice the small leather trunk at my feet.
11:07I said flatly,
11:08I heard.
11:10I didn't want to.
11:12Leon looked as if I had said something outrageous.
11:15I already told you.
11:17Lydia has managed the palace household well lately,
11:19so I held a dinner to reward her.
11:22There are already enough people in the palace misunderstanding her.
11:26After what you wrote in the ledger,
11:28how is she supposed to face anyone?
11:30I could not help laugh.
11:34So not everyone is blind.
11:38If people misunderstand her so easily,
11:41maybe they already know what she's been doing.
11:43Leon's face darkened.
11:46Aaliyah,
11:47when did you become so vulgar?
11:50You know exactly how hard it is for a young woman without a noble title to rise this far.
11:55Why would you smear another capable woman like this?
12:00Lydia only manages the palace for me.
12:04If you hadn't made a spheda scene in the household office,
12:07would people be talking about her now?
12:09He looked at me with exhaustion and blame in his eyes.
12:12If you want to be a queen who knows nothing except how to hold out her hand for keys,
12:17I won't blame you.
12:20I gave you a crown,
12:22a palace,
12:23and status.
12:25What more do you want?
12:26For three years,
12:27I had wanted him to ask that question sincerely,
12:30now that he had finally asked it.
12:33But now,
12:33there's no point in my answering anymore.
12:37But if you keep targeting Lydia,
12:39don't blame me for being harsh.
12:42Think about your father.
12:45I finally laughed out loud.
12:49It hurt my throat.
12:51Then I opened my trunk right in front of him.
12:56A crown?
12:58A palace?
13:00Dignity?
13:01Leon,
13:02look at what my life in your palace has been.
13:07I'm leaving,
13:08and I can't even pack four decent dresses.
13:15If I wanted to change into a ball gown,
13:18I had to ask your lady of the court for a key.
13:23If I wanted to visit my father,
13:24I had to explain the reason to Lydia first.
13:28What queen has to live at the mercy of her husband's favorite court lady?
13:32There was not a trace of guilt on Leon's face.
13:34He only frowned and asked,
13:36genuinely baffled.
13:39All this over that?
13:43So you were jealous of Lydia
13:45and deliberately tried to ruin her name?
13:47My heart went cold,
13:48inch by inch.
13:50If he truly thought this was wrong,
13:52he would not have let Lydia take my keys again and again for three years.
13:56He would not have allowed the entire palace to know
13:58the queen had no right to open her own doors.
14:01I lowered my eyes.
14:09Leon laughed instead.
14:11There was a knowing look in that laugh,
14:13as if he had finally seen through my cheap little trick.
14:16Enough.
14:16I don't have time to coax you through another tantrum.
14:21You're doing all this because of Lydia, aren't you?
14:25Don't assume every woman is like you.
14:28Always fighting over a man.
14:30As he spoke,
14:31he smoothed the wrinkle from his sleeve as though making a great concession.
14:36Tomorrow,
14:37I will send the royal physician to see your father in person.
14:42In a moment,
14:44I'll have Lydia give you the keys to the queen's quadro,
14:47the jewel room,
14:49and the carriage house.
14:51From now on,
14:52your daily expenses won't need to go through the household accounts.
14:56After three years as Leon's wife,
14:59I understood him well enough.
15:00For him,
15:01this was already the greatest compromise he could offer.
15:04Under normal circumstances,
15:06I should have known when to stop.
15:08But I was tired of this marriage of three people.
15:11Just like now,
15:12he had made so many promises,
15:15yet he never mentioned Lydia holding back the apothecary key.
15:19I don't want anything,
15:21except to end this marriage.
15:22Leon finally realized I was not acting poor.
15:25His impatience instantly turned into anger.
15:29Aaliyah,
15:30don't forget how you became queen.
15:33Your father saved the late king.
15:36That is why the late king rewarded your family with honor.
15:41If you leave me,
15:44those rewards,
15:45that gold,
15:46those properties,
15:48you won't get a single copper oil.
15:50And your father's illness.
15:53Without the royal physicians and the royal apothecary,
15:57how long do you think you can last?
15:59Not long at all.
16:01I knew that better than anyone.
16:03Now everything was only returning to where it should have been.
16:06I fastened.
16:07My trunk again and said lightly,
16:10Do whatever you want.
16:13Leon froze.
16:14He seemed unable to understand why a threat
16:16that had always worked on Aaliyah suddenly had no effect.
16:19But his pride would not let him lower his head again.
16:24So he watched her drag her trunk toward the door with a cold face.
16:27When Aaliyah pulled open the chamber doors,
16:30he seemed as if he wanted to call her back.
16:32In the end,
16:33he said nothing.
16:34Only later did Aaliyah learn that Lydia went to his study that night.
16:38Your majesty doesn't need to humor her.
16:41Leave her alone for a few days.
16:44She'll come back and apologize.
16:46Her majesty has simply grown too comfortable as queen
16:49and wants to make a scene.
16:52Leon believed her.
16:53He even found a honey mint in his study and thought of Aaliyah.
16:56His throat always hurt in winter.
16:59So Aaliyah had once learned to make those candies for him.
17:02Leon turned the candy between his fingers for a long while.
17:07She is not completely useless after all.
17:10Lydia lowered her eyes to hide the shadow of jealousy in them.
17:14Even now,
17:15even while he was angry,
17:17one small candy was enough to make Leon think of Aaliyah first.
17:20He told himself that Aaliyah was not completely useless after all
17:24when she came back.
17:25He would make her apologize sincerely
17:27and she would never again threaten him with a petition to dissolve their marriage.
17:33After leaving the palace,
17:35I did not leave the kingdom.
17:37I first went to the archbishop's court to confirm that my petition had been filed.
17:42Then,
17:43carrying my father's ashes,
17:45I went to the armory camp on the northern border.
17:47That was where my father had worked when he was young.
17:50He used to say that in the north.
17:52People did not ask where you came from.
17:54They only asked whether you were good with your hands.
17:57I did not understand that before.
18:00Now I did.
18:01When I arrived at the armory camp,
18:03dragging my trunk behind me,
18:04the soldier at the gate looked at me with obvious suspicion.
18:11Who are you looking for?
18:13Madam Martha.
18:15Madam Martha was the old blacksmith of the armory camp,
18:18and she had once trained with my father.
18:21Before I married into the palace,
18:23she had come to persuade me not to go.
18:26A place like the palace isn't meant for people like us,
18:29people who live by our hands.
18:31I did not listen then.
18:33Now when I saw her again,
18:35her hair had turned white.
18:36She looked at the trunk in my hand and the urn in my arms.
18:40She did not ask a single question.
18:43Come in.
18:45She simply stepped aside.
18:50My nose stung and tears fell before I could stop them.
18:54For the first time since my father's death,
18:56no one asked me for a permit,
18:58a seal,
19:00or a reason.
19:01One door opened because someone chose to open it for me.
19:05After I had cried enough,
19:07Madam Martha set slow.
19:13Done crying?
19:15Then wash your hands.
19:19I'm sure to lock repairer
19:20and someone who can mend armor.
19:22If you still remember what your father taught you, stay.
19:25I stared at her.
19:28You're not going to ask why I'm here?
19:31Madam Martha snorted.
19:33Anyone who can walk out of the palace alive
19:36is lucky enough.
19:38What is there to ask?
19:39Or did three years as queen
19:41make you too delicate to hold a hammer?
19:44I smiled through my tears.
19:49I can hold one.
19:50For myself, I can hold anything.
19:53At first, I was not used to it.
19:57The wind in the north was hard.
19:59The furnace was scorching.
20:01And the armory camp was nothing like the palace.
20:03No maids came to make my bed.
20:05Blisters soon formed across my palms.
20:08A young apprentice saw the blood on my fingers
20:10and held out a strip of cloth.
20:14Miss A'lelia, maybe you should rest.
20:17I wrapped my palm and picked up the hammer again.
20:24If I stop every time I bleed,
20:26I will never make anything strong.
20:28But as time passed,
20:30the skills carved into my bones slowly returned.
20:33How to hear the quality of.
20:35Metal, how to tell where a lock's inner teeth were stuck.
20:38How to shape a horseshoe with the right curve.
20:41How to mend a broken sword.
20:47The steadier my hands became.
20:49Once.
20:50I repaired a cracked bracer for a night.
20:53He tested it twice and raised his thumb in surprise.
20:56I smiled.
20:59I thought someone from the palace would only know how to wear rings.
21:07I couldn't afford rings before.
21:11The soldiers around us froze for a second.
21:14Then burst into laughter.
21:16That was the first time I laughed easily after leaving the palace.
21:19Then an unwelcome voice sounded behind me.
21:22A'lelia?
21:23I looked up and saw Lydia.
21:25She wore a white fox fur cloak and stood not far away.
21:28Several servants behind her.
21:30Her gaze swept over my hands.
21:32Stained with coal and iron dust.
21:34Then over the soldiers beside me.
21:36The corner of her mouth lifted.
21:41So this is why Her Majesty suddenly made such a fuss about ending the marriage.
21:46You came back to a place like this.
21:49Some people can wear a crown and still never forget they came from a blacksmith's shop.
21:55I would breast on your face.
21:58My face went cold.
22:00The people of the northern armory mended armor.
22:02Forged swords.
22:03And repaired gates in wind and snow to protect the border.
22:07They did not deserve her contempt.
22:13I set down the tongs in my hand.
22:17Lydia.
22:18Do you not have a room of your own?
22:20Why are you behind every door I open?
22:23Lydia's expression changed.
22:24At that moment.
22:25A familiar voice came from behind her.
22:29What happened?
22:32So.
22:33He had come to inspect the northern border.
22:35And of course Lydia had come with him.
22:38Her eyes reddened as she lowered her voice.
22:40Nothing, Your Majesty.
22:44I only saw Her Majesty away from the palace for so long.
22:49Surrounded by soldiers and smith.
22:51And worried she might be taken advantage of.
22:54I tried to advise her.
22:56But she misunderstood me.
23:00Only then did Leon notice me.
23:03His brows drew together slightly.
23:05There was that familiar certainty in his eyes.
23:12I looked at him once.
23:19Then turned away without wasting a word and picked up my tools.
23:22The young apprentice beside me whispered.
23:27Miss Aaliyah.
23:28Who is that?
23:29I said coldly.
23:30My blind, brainless husband.
23:33Leon's face darkened.
23:35Aaliyah!
23:38You followed me all the way to the north.
23:40How long do you plan to keep this up?
23:44You've been away from the palace for so long.
23:47Ignoring your father completely.
23:54Are you really trying to force me to never give him the apothetry key again?
23:59I looked at him.
24:00Tired of him to the bone.
24:04Then don't give it.
24:06That's what you're best at, isn't it?
24:11Something in my eyes must have cut Leon.
24:14He turned sharply to the servant beside him.
24:17Send orders back to the capital.
24:19From today on, Thomas is not to be given the apothetry key again.
24:25And the gold coffet is not to be opened.
24:28Panic flashed across Lydia's face.
24:31Your majesty.
24:33Perhaps we shouldn't.
24:35Leon coldly pressed down the hand she had placed on his arm.
24:38She needs to be taught a lesson.
24:41Otherwise, she will never learn how to be queen.
24:44The servant's face went deathly pale, and he did not answer.
24:49Leon frowned.
24:50What?
24:51The servant lowered his head.
24:53His voice tightened.
24:55Your majesty.
24:57Master Thomas has passed away.
24:58Leon froze.
25:00What did you say?
25:02The servant forced the words out.
25:05Three days ago.
25:07Her majesty.
25:10Requested that the apothory be opened.
25:13But the key was never delivered.
25:15By the time the physician arrived,
25:18Master Thomas had already...
25:19He did not finish.
25:22Leon stood there as if he had suddenly forgotten how to understand language.
25:26A long time passed before he murmured.
25:29How is that possible?
25:34Why didn't anyone tell me?
25:39The servant looked even more troubled.
25:42Someone did report it to your majesty at the time.
25:45Leon stared at him.
25:48What did I say?
25:50The servant clenched his jaw.
25:52You said that while you and Lady Lydia were watching the Winter Lantern Parade,
25:57you did not want to hear anything related to the queen.
26:00In that instant, Leon's face went white.
26:03I watched him finally remember.
26:05That day, I had burst into the household office and begged Lydia to give me the apothecary key.
26:11He said I had shamed the crown.
26:13Later, to comfort Lydia after she had been frightened,
26:17he lit winter lanterns across the capital for an entire night.
26:20The nobles all said his majesty truly favored his chief court lady.
26:24My father took his last breath at the same night.
26:28Leon turned sharply toward Lydia.
26:31Tears welled in Lydia's eyes as if she had suffered a great injustice.
26:35Leon, I didn't mean to keep it from you.
26:39I only thought Master Thomas had already received so much grace from the late king.
26:44And her majesty always makes things sound worse than they are.
26:48I was afraid she would influence you.
26:51I froly.
26:53Give me your key ledger.
26:55For the first time, Leon cut her off.
26:58What?
27:00Lydia froze.
27:04The record from the apathetic key.
27:06The treasury key.
27:08And the carriage house key from the past few days.
27:12All of them.
27:14The blood drained from Lydia's face.
27:18Leon, these are household affairs.
27:20You've never investigated me like this before.
27:23What was left to explain?
27:25Everything I had said was true.
27:26I had not been jealous of Lydia.
27:28I had not used my father's illness to threaten him.
27:31I had truly wanted to leave.
27:33The way Leon looked at me finally began to change.
27:36But I only felt tired.
27:38I looked away and lowered my head to sort my tools.
27:41Three whole years had been wrong.
27:43Leon took one step toward me.
27:45But the soldiers of the armory camp shifted almost at the same time.
27:49No one drew a weapon.
27:51They only stood there, silent and solid.
27:54Between the king and the woman he had cornered for too long.
28:24Leon looked at her and for once he did not immediately believe her.
28:28Then you will explain them in writing.
28:31Every missing hour.
28:34Every delayed key.
28:37Every sealed door.
28:38I heard those words and felt nothing like triumph.
28:41There was no victory.
28:43In being believed after the person you loved most was already dead.
28:51Late that night, I came out of the armory camp to dump furnace ash and saw Leon standing not far
28:56away.
28:57The firelight was dim and snow rested on his shoulders.
29:01I had only seen him that afternoon, yet he looked as if his soul had been drained out of him.
29:06When he saw me, he stepped toward me at once.
29:09Aaliyah!
29:09I frowned and stepped back.
29:11He stopped.
29:12His voice was hoarse.
29:14I've taken all the keys back from Lydia.
29:16She is no longer the chief court lady.
29:19About your father, I didn't know.
29:21Give me a chance to make it up to you, alright?
29:24My heart did not soften.
29:25I only found it absurd.
29:26Once, I had begged him to listen to one sentence, and he found me annoying.
29:31Now he stood in the snow, finally willing to bow his head.
29:34But it was too late.
29:35I looked at him calmly.
29:38Leon, do you think Lydia is the only problem between us?
29:41He seemed caught off guard.
29:43I know I was wrong.
29:45He seemed caught off guard.
29:46I shouldn't have let her control your keys.
29:50I shouldn't have used that method to teach you rules.
29:54I just thought the palace had always been like this.
29:57Noblemen manage their common-born wives this way all the time.
30:02I never thought it would hurt you.
30:05And I never truly meant to abandon your father.
30:09I looked at him.
30:11Leon, even now, you still think that if you are willing to give,
30:16I should be grateful enough to take it.
30:18You made me queen, then handed my wardrobe, the apothetry,
30:20and my father's life-saving money to Lydia.
30:22You saw my humiliation.
30:23You just believed someone of my birth had no right to feel humiliated.
30:26His face turned paler by the second I went on.
30:30We are over.
30:31I don't want anything.
30:34When the Archbip's court asks for your response, don't stand in the way.
30:37That's all.
30:38Confusion filled.
30:40Leon's eyes.
30:41He seemed unable to understand why I refused to forgive him
30:44when he had already lowered himself this far.
30:46Carefully, he asked.
30:48What will it take for you to come back with me?
30:51I can give you the keys to the queen's wardrobe,
30:54the jewel room, the treasury, the apothetry, all of them.
30:58From today on, no door in the palace will stand in your way.
31:03I could not help laughing.
31:05If all you needed was a vase beside your throne,
31:07you should never have been kind to me in the beginning.
31:09Yes.
31:10I had loved him once.
31:12During my first year in the palace,
31:14Leon had not always been cold.
31:16He taught me my first court dance.
31:18He taught me my first court dance.
31:23When noble ladies mocked my accent,
31:26he took my hand and walked me across the entire ballroom.
31:29She is my queen.
31:32In that moment, I truly believed I had been chosen.
31:38Leon began to say I did not understand the rules,
31:41that I was too sensitive,
31:43too petty,
31:45too embarrassing.
31:46That Lydia was only helping him.
31:48His tenderness was like winter fog on a window.
31:50The moment I touched it,
31:52it disappeared.
31:53I looked at Leon and said softly,
31:56I don't need your compensation.
31:58I only need this marriage to end.
32:01Leon looked as if he had been struck.
32:03He stumbled one step forward and reached for me.
32:06I avoided him.
32:08His hand froze in the air.
32:12Aylia, even a prisoner dragged before a court
32:15gets to defend himself once.
32:16His voice was almost pleading.
32:19You can't deny me even one chance to explain.
32:22I gave you many chances.
32:24I said calmly.
32:27Every time I waited outside your study.
32:30Every time I went to the household office to beg for a key.
32:35Every time I was told you stake for me when key.
32:39Every time I told you Lydia was delaying me on purpose.
32:44Every time you said listen to Lydia.
32:47Those were chances.
32:50You were the one who threw them all away.
32:53Leon had nothing left to say.
32:55I knew how stubborn he was.
32:57I also knew dissolving our marriage would not be easy.
33:00But I did not expect him to arrive at the armory camp the next morning with a train of carriages.
33:05They were loaded with silk, medicine, gold coffers, and food.
33:13The northern armory is always short on funds.
33:17I've already ordered the treasurer to allocate money to you.
33:23Leon stood in the snow when he saw me.
33:25There was even a careful smile on his face.
33:30These medicines and iron supplies are for the camp as well.
33:33Then he took a small box from a servant.
33:36These are candid figs.
33:38I remember you used to ask for them late at night.
33:41Eat while they're still warm.
33:42I did not reach for them.
33:44You don't like them?
33:45The hope in Leon's eyes stiffened little by little.
33:48I don't like candid figs.
33:50Lydia does.
33:51I said lightly.
33:53Leon froze.
33:54I looked at the box and remembered long ago, for a period of time.
33:58He often asked me to have the kitchens make candied figs late at night.
34:02I thought he liked sweets while working late.
34:05Only later did I learn they were for Lydia.
34:07Once I saw her sitting at the small table in the king's study with my own eyes.
34:14Your Majesty, please have the kitchens make another serving next time.
34:18At Leon tried them and thinks they're good too.
34:23That day, I argued with Leon.
34:28It's just a bit of food from the kitchen.
34:30You are queen, and Lydia runs the palace household for me.
34:34What's wrong with rewarding her? Stop acting so small-minded.
34:37Now, thinking back, I found myself almost laughable.
34:41So I had once been that devoted.
34:44I'm sorry. I remembered wrong.
34:46Leon gave a difficult smile.
34:49Then what do you like?
34:51I'll wish to hurt it. I'll have someone prepare it.
34:54I lowered my head and continued inspecting a broken sword.
34:58No need.
34:59But Leon did not give up over the next few days.
35:03He kept sending gifts.
35:05Sometimes it was a sapphire necklace.
35:07Sometimes a gold-threaded shawl.
35:09Sometimes white roses from the royal greenhouse once.
35:13He even sent a pair of ivory gloves set with tiny pearls.
35:16I looked at those things and became genuinely curious.
35:20How did a man who listened this badly manage to rule a country?
35:23When the armory finished repairing a batch of border longswords,
35:27Leon came again.
35:28This time he carried a delicate wooden box.
35:34I did not let him open it.
35:36The palace keys?
35:39His eyes lit up.
35:40How did you know?
35:42I looked at him and gave a small smile.
35:44Because you finally remembered that keys were what I lacked most for the past three years.
35:49A hint of joy appeared on his face.
35:51As if he thought he had finally done something right, he opened the box.
35:55Inside lay a ring of golden keys, the wardrobe, the jewel room, the apothecary, the carriage house, the treasury, the
36:03inner chamber.
36:04Each key bore the queen's crest.
36:08From today on, you can open every room in the palace.
36:14A'Lelia, I will make up for everything I owe you.
36:20I looked at those keys, so late in coming, and suddenly felt exhausted.
36:25Leon, you still don't understand.
36:27Leon, you still don't understand.
36:29I wanted keys before because I was still trying to survive inside that palace.
36:35I don't need them now.
36:37I never wanted the keys to every door in the palace.
36:41I never want to go back to that palace at all.
36:45The color drained from Leon's face.
36:47I continued.
36:49The sapphire you sent is what Lydia likes.
36:51The gold-threaded shoal is something she wears often.
36:56White roses sit in her room all year.
36:59The ivory gloves are what she wears before every winter hunt.
37:03See?
37:04You remember another woman's taste so clearly.
37:07So why not dissolve this marriage smoothly and marry her?
37:10Leon answered almost without thinking.
37:13Thinking.
37:13She cannot be queen.
37:15Her birth is not suitable.
37:17She only likes power and the things inside the palace.
37:20I suddenly understood.
37:21He saw Lydia clearly.
37:23He had simply never considered her someone who could stand beside him.
37:27As for me, I had the late king's command and the title of the savior's daughter.
37:32My birth was low.
37:33But I had no noble family that could threaten him.
37:36I was suited to be a queen placed beside his throne.
37:39Perhaps there was love in his attachment to me.
37:42But more than that, he could not accept that I had chosen to leave him.
37:47I looked straight at Leon.
37:49So you think I walked away with nothing because I loved you?
37:52Because you broke my heart?
37:54Because I wanted you to regret it?
37:56Leon looked away.
37:57I said softly.
38:00You're wrong.
38:02I married you because my father needed the physicians and medicine the late king promised him.
38:08I stayed in the palace because he was still alive.
38:14Now he is dead.
38:15I don't need your money.
38:16I don't need your keys.
38:18I don't need your love.
38:22And I don't need you, Leon.
38:27The ruling from the archbishop's court came sooner than I expected.
38:31Perhaps because Leon did not interfere again.
38:34Perhaps because too many people in the capital already knew that before the queen's father died.
38:39The apothecary key had been delayed again and again.
38:43The marriage is dissolved on the grounds that it was arranged by the late king's command.
38:47That there are no children and that the relationship has broken beyond repair.
38:54Leon did not appear, Dot.
38:56Royal judges handled everything on his behalf.
38:58To my surprise.
38:59He did not leave me with nothing as he had once threatened to do.
39:03He sent all the reward money my father should have received to the north.
39:06He also gave me an estate near the border.
39:09A box of jewels.
39:10And everything that had once belonged to me in the queen's chamber.
39:14I returned to the palace once.
39:16Nothing in that chamber had been moved.
39:17The wardrobe stood open.
39:19The jewel room stood open.
39:21Even the inner room I could not enter for three years had its door wide open.
39:25On the table lay that ring of golden keys.
39:28Each one had been polished until it shone.
39:30But I no longer wanted them.
39:34I spent two days handing the gowns, jewelry, and properties in the capital over to the merchant's
39:40guild for auction.
39:41Part of the money went to repairing the northern armory camp.
39:44Part went to the families of fallen border soldiers.
39:47The rest, I used to build a small workshop in my father's name.
39:51One that would take in girls with nowhere else to go and teach them a trade.
39:54On the third evening, a royal servant came to the armory camp.
39:59He carried a small gold chest and looked uncomfortable.
40:02Miss Aaliyah, His Majesty said the earlier compensation was not enough.
40:09These are new deeds and letters of credit.
40:12I looked at the black carriage parked in the distance.
40:14I took the chest and walked over.
40:17After a while, the carriage window lowered.
40:20Leon sat inside.
40:22He had lost a great deal of weight.
40:23Dark stubble shadowed his jaw, and his eyes were full of exhaustion.
40:30I handed the chest back through the window.
40:36Leon, I am grateful you didn't truly send me away empty-handed.
40:40What you have already given me is enough.
40:44But I will still sell the gowns, the jewels, and the houses.
40:51I have enough money.
40:54I simply don't want to keep anything from the palace.
40:57Leon's voice was hoarse.
41:01Aaliyah, I only want to make it up to you.
41:06You've already made up enough.
41:13Leon's voice is hoarse.
41:14We owe each other nothing now.
41:16Leon suddenly grew agitated.
41:19How can we owe each other nothing?
41:22Your father, and the way I treated you before, I wronged you.
41:28I was silent for a moment.
41:32I did hate you.
41:35My father saved the late king.
41:37But the reward he earned was locked inside the palace.
41:40When he needed those things to live, I couldn't even get a key.
41:45There was a time when I wanted to burn that palace down.
41:48Leon's face turned pale.
41:51I went on.
41:52But I also have to admit,
41:55Leon, that my father survived those three years
41:58because of the royal physicians and the apothetry.
42:01That was what the old king promised him.
42:05And it was something you never completely own.
42:10He never completely took away.
42:13Before my father died,
42:14he held my hand with the little strength he had left.
42:20Alia,
42:22don't spend your whole life inside hatred.
42:26My greatest regret is not that I never lived in a grand house.
42:31It's that I never got to see you return to the forge.
42:36My daughter could have made the finest keys.
42:40Win the finest keys.
42:43At that moment,
42:45the person I hated most became myself.
42:47I hated myself for being useless.
42:50I hated that even though I knew the palace was not my home.
42:53I still endured three years there for my father.
42:56And I hated that in the end.
42:57I still failed to save him.
43:00So now everything is only returning to where it should be.
43:04And it was something you never completely own.
43:09You never completely took away.
43:11Something seemed to shatter in Leon's eyes.
43:17We sat in silence for a long time.
43:19In the end,
43:20there was no unnecessary farewell.
43:23When the carriage left,
43:24I did not look back.
43:26Over the next few years,
43:27I poured almost all my time into the armory camp.
43:31I repaired gates,
43:33adjusted crossbows,
43:34redesigned horseshoes for the northern cavalry.
43:37Eventually,
43:38even the minister of war in the capital heard that there was a female armorer.
43:42In the north,
43:43who could make ruined plates of armor look new again.
43:46When Madam Martha grew older,
43:48she often sat by the forge and watched me train for an asses.
43:53Choose your students carefully.
43:55I'm too old to rescue you first
43:57and then rescue your useless little apprentices, too.
44:01My apprentices and I all laughed.
44:05That winter,
44:06I suddenly received news.
44:08Leon had been injured.
44:09A fire had broken out in the old queen's chamber.
44:12And he had rushed in to save someone.
44:17Half his face had been burned.
44:19The messenger said Lydia had set the fire.
44:23After she was driven from the palace,
44:24she never accepted it.
44:26She believed his majesty refused to marry her
44:28because you were still alive.
44:31And because he had kept the queen's chamber
44:34untouched.
44:35She used an old key she had secretly copied,
44:38slipped into Whitestone Palace,
44:40and tried to burn the chamber down.
44:42Maybe she wanted to kill Leon.
44:44Maybe she wanted to kill me.
44:45The woman she believed would one day return.
44:48After hesitating for a long time,
44:51I went to see him once.
44:52My heart had not softened.
44:54Something simply needed a real ending.
45:00Leon lay in the palace infirmary.
45:02Half of his face was wrapped in white bandages.
45:05The physicians whispered that the scar
45:07would likely be deep.
45:08When he saw me,
45:09he gave a smile uglier than crying.
45:12You came.
45:13I nodded politely as if visiting an old acquaintance.
45:17I heard you were hurt.
45:18He said,
45:20Lydia will stand trial.
45:22Falsifying the key ledger.
45:24Holding back the apothetory key.
45:26Hiding the queen's travel permits.
45:28And arson.
45:30She will pay for all of it.
45:31I did not ask further.
45:33None of those things had anything to do with me now.
45:36I only asked.
45:37A few polite questions about his injuries.
45:44Will the burn affect your sight?
45:50The physicians say one eye may blur in winter.
45:53It doesn't matter.
45:56Then follow their instructions.
45:59When the next group of nobles came in to visit,
46:01I took the chance to leave at the door.
46:04Leon suddenly called my name.
46:10Aaliyah.
46:11I stopped but did not turn around.
46:14His voice was low.
46:17That chamber is gone.
46:22Everything from before is gone too.
46:24I said calmly.
46:26That's alright.
46:28I never wanted any of it.
46:31I said calmly.
46:34Behind me, there was a long silence.
46:36I opened the door and walked out of the infirmary.
46:39The sunlight outside was bright.
46:41Like my new life.
46:51Lydia's trial was held in the old judgment hall of White Stone Palace.
46:55She no longer wore pale blue silk or white fox fur.
46:59Her wrists were bound.
47:01Her hair was loose.
47:02And smoke stains still clung to the hem of her gown.
47:05Lydia, former chief court lady.
47:07You are accused of falsifying household ledgers,
47:10withholding royal keys,
47:12concealing travel permits,
47:13delaying royal medicine,
47:15and setting fire to the Queen's chamber.
47:17How do you answer?
47:19Lydia lifted her head and laughed shortly.
47:23Queen's chamber?
47:24She was never worthy of that chamber.
47:27The nobles whispered at Leon sat behind the carved screen,
47:30half his face hidden beneath bandages.
47:33He did not speak.
47:35The recovered ledger shows that the apothetery key
47:39was requested five times on the night Master Thomas died.
47:44Each request was delayed under your seal.
47:48I followed palace.
47:50Die followed palace rules.
47:52The travel permit was also hidden under your seal.
47:56Because she always wanted to run back to that filthy forge.
48:02Not the furls.
48:05Leon closed his eyes.
48:07Lydia suddenly turned toward the screen as if she could see him.
48:11Leon, if Allelia had not appeared,
48:13I would have been Queen long ago!
48:17You kept that chamber untouched
48:19because you still dreamed she would return.
48:21If she died,
48:23everything would go back to how it was!
48:27The judgment hall fell silent.
48:30Then you admit you set the fire,
48:32knowing she might return.
48:33Lydia's face twisted.
48:35I admit nothing,
48:37except that she stole what should have been mine.
48:46After the trial,
48:47Leon dismissed every guard
48:49and walked alone to the ruins of the old Queen's Chamber.
48:52The corridor still smelled of smoke.
48:55The portraits of past Queens remained on the walls,
48:57but the place where Allia's portrait had once hung
49:00was black and empty.
49:02Your Majesty,
49:04the physician said you should not be near Ash.
49:10Leave.
49:11The guard bowed and retreated.
49:14Leon stepped over burned silk,
49:16broken beams,
49:17and melted glass.
49:18The wardrobe that he had finally opened for Allia was gone.
49:21The jewel room was gone.
49:23The table where he had placed the polished golden.
49:26Keys was split in half.
49:28A half-melted key lay in the ashes.
49:31Leon picked it up with his bandaged hand.
49:36Your Majesty,
49:38your wound will reopen.
49:39It should.
49:40He looked at the twisted key
49:42and suddenly remembered Allia
49:43standing before him
49:44with a small trunk at her feet.
49:50Allia's voice seemed to return from the fire.
49:53I don't need them now.
49:56Leon pressed the key against his palm.
49:59Four years,
49:59he had believed that if he kept the chamber,
50:02kept the gowns,
50:03kept the keys,
50:04he could keep the possibility of her return.
50:08But the chamber had burned,
50:10the portrait had burned,
50:11even the keys had lost their shape.
50:14Only then did Leon understand
50:16that Allia had not disappeared from his life
50:18because a door had closed.
50:19She had left because
50:21he had never given her one worth opening.
50:25The palace corridor looked as brilliant
50:27as it had before,
50:29with portraits of past queens
50:30hanging along the walls.
50:32There had once been a portrait of me there too
50:34after the dissolution.
50:36Leon never ordered it removed.
50:38Now that portrait had burned with the chamber.
50:41Good.
50:41Some things should never have been kept later.
50:44I heard that Lydia cursed my name
50:46throughout her trial.
50:47She said that if it had not been for me,
50:50she would have been queen long ago.
50:52She said that if it had not been for me,
50:55she said that if I died,
50:57everything would go back to how it was.
50:59I only found it ridiculous.
51:01In the end,
51:02they really were a perfect match.
51:04One believed that as long as he kept the old chamber,
51:07I would one day return.
51:09The other believed that as long as I disappeared,
51:12she would be able to walk through that door.
51:14They were both stubbornly guarding things
51:16that did not belong to them.
51:17Both of them were trapped in the past,
51:20refusing to move on.
51:21What a shame I had not seen it sooner.
51:23One regret in a lifetime was enough.
51:26A young girl at the work table glanced
51:28at the messenger's letter in my hand.
51:31Teacher, is that news from the palace?
51:34I folded the letter and pushed it into the fire.
51:40No, it is only ash.
51:42Madam Martha snorted from the corner.
51:45Good answer.
51:46Now teach that girl how to file a clean edge
51:49before she ruins my tools.
51:51After that,
51:52I never went back to the palace.
51:54I never followed any news of Leon again.
51:58Several months after Lydia's sentence,
52:01the Minister of War placed a Northern Armory report
52:03before Leon.
52:04Your Majesty,
52:06the Border Cavalry requests more horseshoes
52:08from Miss Elia's workshop.
52:10Their design has reduced winter injuries
52:12by nearly half.
52:14Leon's fingers paused on the seal.
52:17The capital armory could use her skill.
52:19We may invite her to Whitestone
52:21for a royal commission.
52:22For a moment,
52:23the chamber was silent.
52:25Then Leon said quietly,
52:26Send the invitation.
52:27He told himself it was for the kingdom.
52:30He did not tell the minister
52:31that he had read every Northern report.
52:33With her name on it,
52:35he did not say that each mention of Aaliyah's work
52:37hurt worse than the scar across his face.
52:40Days later,
52:41a royal messenger arrived at Thomas' workshop.
52:44Miss Elia,
52:46His Majesty invites you to the capital
52:47to oversee a new lock system
52:49for Whitestone Palace.
52:51I did not stop filing the iron plate in my hand.
52:54Tell the ministry to send the measurements.
52:57I will design what the palace needs from here.
53:00His Majesty hoped you would come in person.
53:02I finally looked up.
53:04I am an armater,
53:05not a memory he can summon.
53:07That evening,
53:08I wrote a formal reply.
53:11Thomas' workshop accepts commissions
53:13for tools,
53:14hinges,
53:16armor plates,
53:17locks,
53:17and keys.
53:18It does not accept invitations
53:20to reopen closed doors.
53:22When Leon received the letter,
53:24he read the last line three times.
53:26Then he folded it carefully
53:27and placed it beside the ruined golden key
53:30he still kept in his desk.
53:33The winters in the North were long,
53:35but the forge fire never went out.
53:37One of the new girls held up a broken lock
53:40and asked softly,
53:41Teacher,
53:42what should I do if this won't open?
53:44I glanced at it
53:45and pushed a bar of iron into the fire.
53:49If it won't open,
53:50replace it.
53:51Same with doors.
53:53Same with people.
53:54The fire rose.
53:56The red-hot iron slowly took shape
53:58beneath the hammer.
53:59I suddenly thought of the night.
54:01I left the palace three years ago,
54:03back then.
54:05I thought I had lost everything.
54:07Only now did I understand.
54:08I had simply carried myself
54:10out of a palace where
54:11I had never been given a key.
54:15From then on,
54:16my life would only move forward.
54:18I would never look back.
54:20The new girl stared at the broken lock
54:22in her palm,
54:23then looked at the iron glowing
54:25in the furnace.
54:27Teacher,
54:28can I make my own key?
54:30I handed her the smaller hammer
54:31my father once made for me.
54:35You can make a key.
54:36You can make a door.
54:37You can even decide
54:39there should be no door there at all.
54:40Less talking.
54:42More hammering.
54:43The apprentices burst into laughter.
54:45I laughed with them.
54:47Outside,
54:48the northern snow
54:49covered the road to the capital.
54:51Inside,
54:51the forge burned brighter
54:53than any palace chandelier
54:54I had ever seen.
54:55I raised the hammer.
54:56The first strike rang clear.
54:59Then the...
54:59Second,
55:00then the third.
55:01A new shape began to form
55:02beneath my hands.
55:04I went down a little from there.ューニ
55:04receber a little bit
55:05more after more.ivoluz,
55:05the woods. I foi an Device Ävenly,
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