*
“Are you absolutely sure about this information you bring?!”
At Arya’s sharp question, her loyalty said, bowing their heads, “I can bet my life on it. We tracked down the Green Merchants that helped the Empress prepare for the coming-of-age ceremony and found a number of matches with the Dark Merchants that were active during the soaring prices of grain in the capital. We’ve also confirmed that the people in the contract overlap.”
“As expected…”
Arya nodded when she confirmed that what she had guessed was right.
“And we found something new.”
“What is it?”
“Wasn’t there a bad rumor about Your Highness and the previous Emperor?”
Arya frowned at his words. How embarrassing was the rumor that Valore was not a child of the Emperor Rodbius?
At that time, it was clear that the seat of the emperor would have been lost to Carl if she had not quickly and put Valore on the throne. Although ironically, when Valore died early, Carl was crowned emperor anyway.
“What about the rumor?”
“We have found the source of the rumor.”
“Where was it?”
“It was an orphanage.”
“An orphanage?”
“It was a rumor from the children of an orphanage run by the temple of the Goddess of the Earth.”
“Huh, I thought she was an ignorant girl who knew nothing. I was fooled. I’ve been completely fooled!”
Crack-
Her fingernail, scraping down the table handle, broke and bled. Arya was so angry that she was deceived by someone she had looked down on.
“The abominable bitch! She pretended she didn’t know anything, and she was doing all sorts of things behind me!”
Arya started to wonder from what point it was Sienna’s plan.
The more she thought about it, the more she became angry. How much did she suffer from that bitch? The Southern Chamber of Commerce, which was her fund base, collapsed, and her brother Depine was demoted from a Marquis to Earl and returned to his own estate.
Not only that. When Valore was in the emperor’s position, Sienna set Valore and her apart and made him hold a knights’ contest. The knights planted inside the imperial family were replaced.
It wasn’t just this visible loss. Rumors that Valore was not the son of the emperor tarnished the reputation of Arya and Valore and even shook the foundation of her power.
“I thought she was an easy-to-play rabbit, but she was a wildcat with her claws hidden.”
Arya felt like her blood was spurting upside down when she thought Sienna would have laughed at her, who had to let go of power in her hands because of Valore’s sudden death.
The same was true of when she didn’t even care about what Arya said at the banquet a few days ago. Regardless of whether Arya was annoying her or not, Sienna was smiling as if she was the winner.
It wasn’t this dirty feeling, even when Valore died and her power was torn to shreds by Carl.
Arya was seized with a desire to tear Sienna apart. She wanted to see Sienna with her own eyes as she crawled under her feet and shed tears in pain.
“You must take back as much as you have given me, Sienna! It’s a great illusion if you thought I wouldn’t know this until the end. I’ll make you regret it. I’ll watch you cry blood.”
Empress Arya ordered her man to do something in a blood-boiling voice. How horrible the order was if it did not mean anything to her.
*
As soon as the Coming-of-Age banquet was over, Sienna was busy preparing for Bluebell’s wedding. Preparing for the coming-of-age banquet was no fun, but Bluebell’s wedding was even less welcome.
Although she insisted Carl marry Bluebell for political reasons, as if it didn’t bother her, but frankly she did not want Bluebell to be the empress. She wanted to own Carl, who was gradually giving himself to her. But Sienna knew it was all a useless greed.
Sitting in her study with a melancholy heart, mechanically preparing for the wedding, she took a letter out of her arms. It was a letter that the children of the orphanage wrote to her with their newly-learned skills of writing. Sienna read it over and over again, but she never got tired of it.
“Are you reading the letter again? You always carry it in your arms. Is it an important letter to the Empress?”
Shaylin, who was cleaning the vase next to Sienna, asked. This was because Sienna read it so often that the end of the paper was tattered.
“Yes, that’s right. It’s a very important letter for me.”
Sienna always carried letters from the children. Whenever she was depressed, she felt better when she took it out and saw it.
Sienna especially liked the letter from Kevin. Kevin’s letter showed his desire to be an older brother figure to the orphanage’s younger ones. Sienna was proud to know that the little boy grew up so much in two years and was now a boy who cared for his younger ones.
/When Lady Sienna handed me the lunch box, I knew it was food for Lady Sienna to eat, but I couldn’t refuse it. I was so hungry. All I ate for nearly a week was water from the fountain in the central square. So I knew it was bad to steal Coco’s food, but I couldn’t help it.
Thank you for handing out lunch boxes instead of scolding me. Thanks to Lady Sienna, I don’t get hungry anymore. I can eat the food that the priest Roy gives me every day. Priest Roy said it was all thanks to Lady Sienna. I think so, too. To me, Sienna is more like a goddess than the goddess of the earth./ (Gothic font)
Sienna read the part that Kevin said that she was like a goddess as close to her body as possible, as she was embarrassed to show it to Shaylin. Although she knew Shaylin couldn’t read, she felt embarrassed for no reason.
Sienna especially liked Kevin’s letter, not because Kevin praised her as a goddess, but because they had built that much relationship. It pleased Sienna that the child who ate Coco’s food now gained weight and learned to write to her.
Sienna was thinking about how to reply and thought it would be okay to put dried petals on the letter paper. While trying to ask Hain if she could get the dried petals, her eyes were on Shaylin, who was wiping the vase.
“So I don’t see Hain today. Where did she go?”
“Miss Hain is in the kitchen thinking about what wine and food to offer for the wedding banquet.”
Sienna answered with her eyes still fixed on Kevin’s letter.
“Really? I haven’t thought of anything yet. What would be good?”
“She’s making this and that at the restaurant right now. Why don’t you take a look and choose? I think that’s going to ease the burden on Miss Hain…”
At Shaylin’s words, Sienna rose from her seat.
“That’s true, too. So, shall we go down there ourselves?”
Shaylin looked at the letter Sienna was holding and said, “The letter could go bad because the restaurant has a lot of moisture.”
It occurred to Shaylin that maybe Sienna could drop the letter where there was water and damage the letter.
“Right. Then could you put it in the first compartment of the drawer next to my bed? The key should be under the lamp on the desk.”
“I will. Shall I clean up while I’m in your room?”
The owner’s room and bedroom had to be allowed in, even though she was Sienna’s maid. Sienna nodded at the thought of needing cleaning.
“Okay. It’s going to be hard to do alone, so call someone else and clean up together. There’ll be a lot of work to do alone.”
Just in time, the door opened and a maid came into the drawing room. It was Leia, who had worked at the palace as long as Hain. She was not of noble blood, so she couldn’t go up to the head maid’s level like Hain, but as a senior, she took good care of her juniors. Most of the newcomers relied on her since she was sociable and had a budding temperament.
When she found the two, she smiled as bright as her blond hair. She said that she had been told by Hain who was worried about Shaylin assisting Sienna alone. Sienna asked her, “That’s great. Leia, can you clean my room with Shaylin?”
Shaylin shook her head fiercely before Leia could answer.
“No! I can do it by myself.”
Shaylin’s voice cracked at the end. She was usually quiet, so Sienna looked at her with a puzzled look because she never made a loud noise. Shaylin’s face was red.
“But it’s hard to clean up alone.”
“No, I can do it alone. It’s okay because the room isn’t that spacious.”
Compared to the drawing room, it was small but not small enough to clean it alone. On the contrary, unlike places where dust was swept and cleaned every day, the room had a lot to pay attention to.
“It’ll be hard to do it alone because you have to change the curtains while you are cleaning. Shaylin, let me help you.”
Leia said in a cool voice.
“Yeah. I think it’s too much to do alone. Do it with Leia. I’ll be in the kitchen.”
It was obvious that Shaylin didn’t want to be with Leia, but Sienna stood up without hesitation.
‘I guess other maids are uncomfortable because I’m only with Hain. With Leia, Shaylin would open her heart soon.’
Sienna immediately went to the kitchen that was in charge of the meals of the empress’ palace. The kitchen was downstairs.
It was the first time she had come down to the kitchen herself, so Sienna was curious. She wondered where the delicious foods that were served on her table every day were made.
Following her, the Knight of Phoenix opened the heavy kitchen door. Then a sweet smell came in.
The kitchen floor was covered with dark blue tiles and a wooden sink. The maids huddled together on a large table in the middle of the kitchen and were talking with serious faces.
“Isn’t this too sweet?”
“It’s supposed to be sweet. Wedding food is supposed to be sweet.”
“But I think it’s still too sweet. I think it would be better to add a different scent than just sweet ones. It just looks different, it tastes the same.”
Hain was in the group of heated debates. Sienna called Hain. Hain, who was discussing fervently, turned around.
“Your Majesty! What are you doing here? Why didn’t you order Shaylin if you needed anything? Are you thirsty? Would you like a drink?”
“No, I’m here because I heard you’re worried about the food for the wedding.”
“I know I’ve been pondering, but…”
Hain had a troubled look on her face. It was food for Bluebell’s wedding, but she seemed sorry to ask Sienna.
Sienna smiled softly as if she read her mind. The final decision maker was Sienna herself, so it was something she had to do anyway.
“May not be of much help. What are you so worried about?”
When Sienna asked with a bright expression, Hain looked relieved. Sienna began to worry about the food for the wedding with her maids.