At that time, Sienna was feeling troubled having to avoid Hain’s gaze. Narrowing her eyes, she looked impatient to ask what had happened yesterday with Carl.
Even though it was Bluebell’s wedding, Carl slept in Sienna’s room and left late in the morning. It was no doubt Hain would be curious about that, but Sienna didn’t want to explain the situation to Hain.
It was like a dream to herself, too. Carl also had the same heart as herself.
There was anxiety that all this would disappear like a bubble if she explained out of the mouth. That’s why she avoided Hain’s questions by looking at documents that she didn’t even read.
Hain wandered near Sienna, wiping the table again, which had already been cleaned several times. Eventually, tired of waiting, she said, “Your Majesty, you know…” At that moment, a servant from outside informed me of Carl’s visit.
“Hain, will you bring me some cold tea for his Majesty?”
“Not warm, but cold?”
Hain asked back because they usually enjoy warm tea, even when the weather was hot. Sienna thought of cold tea, knowing that today was the day of a political meeting.
“Yes, something cold for him. I’d like something warm myself, please.”
Carl stepped inside. Unlike when he left the room in the morning, he looked very angry. Carl didn’t change his face much, but Sienna noticed his temper at a glance.
“You look so upset about the political meeting today.”
Carl laughed at Sienna’s words and flopped down on the sofa. Sienna also sat next to him and handed him the cold tea that Hain had brought her. Carl gulped down his tea and laid his glass roughly down on the table.
“Now that the war against Castro is over, the officials want to reduce the number of the Central Army.”
When Carl said, Sienna wanted to say, “They are not in the right mind. Did all of the nobles go crazy?’ but she barely swallowed the words.
“Why on earth did they say that? We won the war against Castro, but we only received war compensation. Still, Castro is an enemy, and due to the nature of the war last time, their strength will remain the same…”
The last war was faster and easier to end than it was to return, thanks to Carl’s use of the waterways to lead the navy to the very front of Castro’s capital.
However, Castro’s power has not been seriously damaged as the war ended quickly. In the meantime, it was nonsense to suggest reducing the number of troops in the central region.
Carl sighed deeply and lay his head on Sienna’s lap.
“I am glad you understand what’s going on with just one word. How come the high-ranking aristocrats who run the country don’t understand what they say? We’re desperate for immediate profit, and we don’t know what kind of risk we’re going to face.”
Carl lamented them. Sienna said, carefully turning over his golden hair.
“No matter how stupid they are, they wouldn’t be unaware of Castro’s threat. But do they just want to reduce the number of troops in the center?”
“They insisted that if I cut taxes, they would expand their forces within each territory on their own. I can’t believe they said in front of me that they would train their own soldiers!”
It occurred to Sienna that things would not go easy.
From Carl’s point of view, who aims to strengthen the imperial power, he never welcomed aristocrats expanding private soldiers. These soldiers were both able to protect their land, but also dangerous elements that could always raise their swords against the Imperial City.
“Who brought up that argument?”
“Count Ferrer—ever since he made Bluebell the empress, he acts as if he were the emperor. The old man must have seen me for nothing.”
Sienna’s expression hardened at Carl’s words. Now that Count Ferrer was holding hands with Empress Arya, this would not have been his own argument.
‘There must be something going on between Arya and Castro…’
With the help of Aunt Marie, Sienna looked through what Arya had done after becoming the empress but found no evidence that she was linked to Castro. It occurred to Sienna that she had to revisit Arya’s past.
“You’re thinking about something else in the meantime?”
Carl said, tapping Sienna’s cheek with his finger.
“I didn’t think about anything.”
“Lies. I could tell from your face that you have been thinking about something else.”
Carl’s conclusive tone made Sienna burst into laughter. Just as she sensed a small change in Carl’s facial expression, she felt better because he also seemed to recognize her feelings easily.
“By the way, what would you do? You’re not really going to scale back the Central Army, are you?”
“Never. I’m going to make them take back what they said themselves so that they regret bringing it up.”
Sienna smiled at Carl, who said evil things. A man she loved was not a weak man easily frustrated or swept away by the mere aristocracy.
*
The incident in which the gunmen raided the temple was not completely finished. Carl’s man, Rufus Kissinger, revealed before the divine knights sent from the Holy Empire arrived in the capital that the Bitray Merchants were behind it—but the owner of the Bitray Merchants’ Association committed suicide and the real criminals who did it died.
When their bodies were found, the Knights of the Holy Empire had already crossed the border, and they could not be told to go back. Finally, today, a group of sacred knights arrived at the temple of the capital.
Roy visited the imperial family to announce their arrival.
“Your Majesty the Emperor.”
Roy was from the Leipsden Empire, but not the citizen of Leipsden. He belonged to the Holy Empire and was a priest loved by the goddess of the earth. He did his courtesy just by bowing, and the nobles looked at it with an unsavory look.
“So, the Knights of the Holy Empire have arrived?”
“Yes, they are in the temple now.”
Roy tried to bring them into the palace so they could meet the imperial family but was stopped by the Imperial Knights guarding the palace. The reason was that knights from other empires, not envoys, could not come into the palace with weapons.
The Knights of the Holy Empire also refused to come in because they could not take the sword from their bodies. This was only a small argument between knights, but it was an issue that could never be taken lightly. This could lead the two countries to fall into an uncontrollable relationship if they make a mistake.
Roy visited the emperor to convey the will of the temple, which did not wish for war.
Neither did Carl want war. Already, the Empire of Leipsden had been tired of a long war. Moreover, there was a flood last year, and there was a prediction that the floods would continue this year. In the midst of this, proceeding with the war was obviously a heavy burden.
Not only that—the opponent was a divine empire. If a war with other countries were won, Leipsden would gain land or compensation to cover the loss. However, there was nothing to gain from the deterioration of relations with the Holy Empire. Although the territory and wealth of the Holy Empire were only as much as one territory of Leipsden, their influence was as great as that of Leipsden.
A victory in the war by treading on their holy ground would not mean the end. The war against the Holy Empire was not a war between just two empires. It was a tiring and arduous task of having to wage war against many countries under the influence of the goddess of the earth.
“Now that we have caught the perpetrator in the incident, your knights may leave our empire. If you’re going back, I’ll give you my big banquet. To make sure the steps that have come all the way here are not wasted.”
Roy answered Carl without giving in.
“Thank you for your hospitality. I will receive a banquet later that the Emperor will hold. However, nothing’s been solved yet.”
“The criminal is also caught, so isn’t it a solved problem?”
“We couldn’t figure out the exact reason why they did this. I’m not convinced that it’s not going to happen again, so I’m not going to withdraw the knights.”
“They were just orphans…”
One of the officials, unable to bear anger, tried to scream. But fortunately, Pavenik stepped up and forced his mouth to shut before he could utter the word to the end. The official was angry that no matter how much Pavenik was favored by the emperor, he was trying to touch him But Pavenik whispered into his year.
“You’d better shut up when you’re ignorant. If the relationship with the Holy Empire worsens because of you, the Emperor will surely cut your throat and throw it to that priest as a gift of reconciliation. The Emperor would certainly do that for Scylla.”
At the chilling remark, the Count shut his mouth with a face full of discontent. He had no intention of stepping forward here and found himself hated by the Emperor.