“A few days ago, Lady Ferrer’s visit to the Emperor was a sudden thing. His Majesty didn’t invite her. Just in case you got him wrong…”
Sienna’s expression hardened at his words. Pavenik continued to look at Sienna’s countenance.
“I’m just worried because your Highness’s face didn’t look well when you left.”
Pavenik didn’t seem to know that she saw Carl and Bluebell hugging each other. Sienna said with a forced smile.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t get it wrong. What more has the Chancellor to do with me? You can get to the point right away because you’re busy.”
Pavenik said with an embarrassed smile.
“I could have just come to chat.”
“I’m saying this because I know how busy the Chancellor is. I heard that there are more days when you can’t be seen while eating simple meals such as bread and cookies at your desk. Since you came to see me at this time of day, I can’t help but think you’re here for an important matter. Or perhaps you wanted to see cute Hain so much that you couldn’t stand it?”
“Hahaha, the Emperor praised the Empress for her great insight, and I think you really do have one. I certainly wanted to see Miss Hain, but I came here to ask Your Highness a favor.”
“What can I do for you?”
“It took courage to come to you, but it’s hard to talk to you face to face. I think it’s too much of a shame.”
Sienna tilted her head at his response. What kind of request makes it difficult to even bring it up?
“Recently, the emperor is coming back later than before, isn’t he?”
Pavenik said as if it were natural for Carl to stay in Sienna’s palace. The palace of the emperor where Carl dwells and the palace of the empress where Sienna dwells was separate, but Carl still stayed in Sienna’s place, as he did when he was the prince.
Sienna nodded. After ascending to the throne, Carl kept coming back late recently. There were many days when she fell asleep while waiting for Carl.
“I know that His Majesty still has a lot of work to do.”
At Sienna’s words, Pavenik nodded. Because of his look of regret, Sienna asked if there was any other reason.
“That’s… there’s something recently that the officials have been arguing in one voice.”
It was only then that Sienna knew what he was trying to say. Pavenik seemed to find it difficult to bring it up first, so she said first.
“Bringing in Lady Ferrer as the second empress?”
“You knew.”
Sienna nodded. But she couldn’t easily understand.
“But I don’t know what that has to do with why the emperor is late for bed.”
Sienna thought it was natural that Carl would approve of their opinion. In the past, he’s asked Sienna to divorce him.
“Are you saying that Lady Ferrer said she will accept the proposal only if I divorce? Divorce is…”
Sienna had a troubled look on her face. She had thought about divorce many times. If they were going to divorce anyway, they could have divorced earlier than they promised to make it easier for Carl to get married. But she was going to wait until Empress Arya completely gave up her rebellious mind, or even if she revolted until she failed.
On the other hand, she wondered if it was all her excuse. It might be better to tell Carl about Arya’s plans and get a clean divorce. However, is it because of her selfishness that she was not able to do so?
“What do you mean divorce? That’s ridiculous. I didn’t mean to say that.”
Pavenik waved at Sienna’s words and said, “No matter how shameless I am, I don’t ask the Empress to do that. No, rather, if others insist on that, I’ll risk my place and stop it.”
At his words, Sienna smiled and thanked him.
“If not, I’m not sure what’s the problem.”
At Sienna’s words, Pavenik tilted his head.
“I’m having a strange conversation with the Empress. Your Majesty seems to be in favor of Lady Ferrer becoming the Second Empress.”
Sienna shrugged and said, “I don’t even agree. Because that’s what it’s supposed to be.”
“It is true that the Emperor promised to marry Lady Ferrer, but the one who married the Emperor is you, Your Highness. So the owner of the place is of course the Empress, not Lady Ferrer. Even if the Empress opposed this marriage with the Ferrer, I would have thought it had to be. That’s the Empress’s right. Your Majesty seems to have a guilty conscience towards Lady Ferrer. Shouldn’t it be the opposite? Whatever the promises of the past, the Emperor’s hospitality is yours now.”
Sienna laughed at this strange situation. Pavenik came to tell her to allow Carl and Bluebell to marry, but he was rather trying to persuade Sienna to keep her place. Pavenik and Sienna seemed to have reversed their positions.
“I understood what you said. But Carl has to marry Lady Ferrer.”
“May I ask why you think so?”
“Because she’s a member of the Ferrer family. It’s alright now that it has not been long since Carl became the emperor, but as time goes by, his relationship with Ferrer is bound to get even worse. No matter how well he is treated as Emperor, if he doesn’t have a support base, he’s going to have political difficulties.”
“Um…”
Pavenik nodded and muttered in an admiring voice.
“Your Majesty knows exactly what’s going on. Rationally… …It wouldn’t have been easy to make that judgment.”
Sienna was not at all pleased with his praise. She said to Pavenik.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with the Ferrer family if they didn’t ask for my divorce.”
“His Majesty the Emperor opposes the marriage to Lady Ferrer.”
“Carl?”
Sienna asked back with a surprised look. She heard rumors that Carl was against the marriage, but after seeing Carl and Bluebell hugging each other the other day, she thought it was just a rumor.
“His Majesty is so sorry to the Empress that she opposes the marriage to Lady Ferrer. He’s stance is quite hardline that the atmosphere among the officials is unusual. At this rate, even the people on his side might turn away. Moreover, Count Ferrer claims that the demotion of Count Panacio, the brother of Empress Arya, was excessive.”
Sienna’s brow frowned at his words.
“Count Ferrer said that?”
“Yes. The relationship between the Empress Arya camp and the Ferrer family is unusual. It was Empress Arya who brought up the issue of the marriage to Lady Ferrer.”
Sienna frowned. The alliance between Arya and Ferrer was limited to Bluebell’s marriage, and she thought that Arya, whose base had been reduced, offered a gesture of reconciliation to Count Ferrer, whom she had been at odds with. But it certainly didn’t bode well for Count Ferrer to mention the demotion of Count Panacio.
‘The two families that were at odds with each other so quickly…’
Sienna was dizzy. The relationship between the Ferrer family and Arya’s power should not be solidified. She spoke with a high voice.
“That’s a no-no. Empress Arya’s influence is less than before, but she still has a lot of influence. Her aides still hold key posts. If Arya joins hands with the Ferrer family, there will be too much power. If the forces that have been divided are brought together, it will be a major obstacle to the future of the Emperor, who has not yet settled down.”
“That’s why I’m here to ask you a favor. Your Majesty, please persuade the Emperor. Your Majesty is the only one who can persuade the Emperor.”
Sienna answered with a nod. But his expression was not very bright.
“I think I’ve put too much burden on the Empress.”
“No, that’s fine… I’ll have Hain bring the cookies to the Oval Office in the evening. It’s going to be hard for you to go home today because you’re taking the time out now.”
“Thank you for your acknowledgment. If this is the only thing that’s going to work out, my workload is going to be a little less.”
The increase in his work now was mostly related to this problem. In order to put pressure on the marriage to Bluebell, aristocrats from each institution, including Count Ferrer, delayed approval of issues that need to be dealt with quickly or put a barrier, hence slowing down all the processes. He was also overloaded with work to find ways to deal with the mishaps.
At the same time, because Arya and the Ferrer stood together on the marriage issue, it forced him to gather information on the changes in the game of the nobles. In particular, it was difficult in many ways because Carl insisted that he come up with a plan to strengthen the imperial power without marrying Bluebell.
Pavenik’s face looked more comfortable when he heard the answer he wanted from Sienna. On the other hand, Sienna sat down with a heavy face as he left.
“What on earth did the Chancellor say to you to make the Empress look worse?”
Said Hain, rolling up her arms as if she were going to confront him right away.
“No. By the way, could you bring cookies and sandwiches to the Chancellor?”
“What did he do to deserve that?”
“They’re skipping meals because of the heavy workload. But since you didn’t let him eat cookies…”
The truth was that she couldn’t eat because of the weight of the conversation, but Sienna made excuses for Hain.
“Oh, my! When did I not let him eat?… He really didn’t take a bite because I told him not to?”
Sienna replaced the answer with a shrug. Hain grumbled.
“I don’t know. I am not fond of him at all, so I don’t want to take care of him. But I’ll take care of the Emperor.”
Hain said so, but knew she would pack so much snacks that it would be hard for Carl to eat alone. Carl would have to share with Pavenik.