CHAPTER 312: THE QUEEN’S SECRET FEAST

[What is this? Am I dreaming? How could I possibly get the chance to see the Queen from this close?!]

[Damn, my seniors were right! Her Majesty really is beautiful! She looks like a Goddess! And her voice ... it sounds like an angel’s!]

[After weeks of seeing nothing but sweaty, greasy men, I finally get to see a beautiful woman!!]

[Wait—did she just say she brought us lunch? Oh no... now I’m even hungrier! But if His Majesty finds out I secretly ate, he’ll probably make me run a thousand laps!]

Primrose immediately felt a little dizzy as she heard so many thoughts at once flooding her mind. She thought she had learned to endure it, but when too many people were gathered in one room, it turned out she still couldn’t handle it completely.

She shook her head slightly, as if that would shoo the voices away. But of course, it wasn’t that simple. No matter how hard she tried to block them out, they slipped through anyway. In the end, all she could do was try to act normal.

"Your Majesty, is something wrong?" Marielle asked gently when she noticed Primrose had gone quiet.

Primrose shook her head again and forced a small smile. "I’m fine," she said softly. "I was just looking around the training building. It looks ... a bit rusty, doesn’t it?"

Solene chuckled. "Since the soldiers only care about training, no one bothers with the appearance of this place."

Primrose nodded slowly, still forcing her smile as she glanced around the room. "Well, then I suppose it’s a good thing I came with food instead of decorations."

Her words made several of the young soldiers exchange nervous glances, their throats bobbing as the smell of the fresh bread and warm pastries filled the air. None of them dared move, but their eyes betrayed the hunger gnawing inside them.

Primrose slowly walked to the very front row of the soldiers, then lifted the basket until it was level with the nose of the nearest young soldiers. "Sir Callen told me that my husband has kept you starving since this morning. How about you eat just a little?"

The young man’s eyes widened, his throat tightening as the warm scent of bread drifted right under his nose. His hands twitched at his sides, but he didn’t dare move. He glanced nervously at his fellow recruits, then at the door, as if Edmund might appear at any second.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty!" the young recruit blurted, his voice loud and panicked. "We can’t disobey His Majesty’s orders!"

[He’s been furious with us since this morning. If I make him any angrier, he’ll only give us even harsher punishment.]

[Why did I ever join the military in the first place?]

Primrose frowned, curiosity getting the better of her. She turned to Callen. "What did they do that made my husband so angry he wouldn’t even let them eat?"

Callen leaned closer, lowering his voice to a whisper. "His Majesty ordered them to run a hundred laps around the training ground in ten minutes. But every single one of them failed. The fastest only managed to finish it in thirteen minutes."

Primrose’s eyes flew wide open. "A hundred laps? In ten minutes?" Her jaw dropped. "That’s impossible!"

The training ground was enormous. If she were the one taking that test, she was sure she wouldn’t finish until the sun rose again.

Callen scratched the back of his neck, looking awkward but speaking casually. "I can do it in under five minutes."

Primrose’s mouth fell open again. "... What?"

But after thinking about it more carefully, it did seem possible for Callen to do it in under five minutes. Back when he carried her away from the tiger tribe, he had run so fast that the world around them had turned into a blur.

If these recruits couldn’t run at even half that speed, then of course they wouldn’t be able to catch their enemies or escape from them either.

No wonder Edmund had been furious.

In his eyes, these boys were only marching themselves straight into death if they couldn’t toughen up to military life.

Still ... how could they possibly have the strength to run again if they hadn’t eaten anything?

"How about this ..." Primrose leaned closer to the line of nervous young soldiers, her voice dropping to a whisper. "You can eat a little before His Majesty comes back. He won’t know, right?" She pressed her finger against her lips. "I’ll keep your secret."

The soldiers’ eyes went wide. One of them swallowed hard, his thoughts practically screaming into her head. [Her Majesty really reminds me of my mother whenever my father punished me to cut the lawn! Mother! I want to go home!]

Primrose kept a polite smile on her face, but inside she was grinding her teeth. She didn’t even have children yet and she was still so young! How in the world could she possibly remind them of their mothers? The very thought made her want to stomp her foot.

She took a quiet breath, choosing not to scold them for the ridiculous comparison. Instead, she lifted the basket a little higher and gave them a bright smile.

"Come on, the faster you take this food, the smaller the chance His Majesty will ever find out," Primrose said with a bright, encouraging smile. "Besides, you’ll need all the strength you can get to keep training through the day."

Of course, she knew Edmund had his ways of spying on her, but Primrose wasn’t about to let him ruin her little surprise. Before changing clothes, she had asked Marielle to cover every shiny object with dark cloths, just in case any of them were being used as his hidden eyes.

To make matters worse, Edmund had forgotten to return her wedding ring. This meant that he wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on her through it.

Yes, it might have looked suspicious. But Primrose had thought ahead. Before covering everything, she had told Edmund through the spying device that she simply wanted a bit of privacy today.

They had talked about this before, so she knew he wouldn’t argue too much about it.

"I promise, not a single soul will hear about your little disobedience today," Primrose said with a gentle smile.