* Closing story – When two people are meant to be together *
“It wasn’t a month – it was a month and two days.”
Carl climbed onto the carriage with a face full of discontent. Sienna was sitting in the carriage.
Shortly after the royal prince’s birth, Pavenik had told Carl to wait a month, saying that things in the past would be sorted out and that their workload would be reduced with stabilized state affairs.
But there were two days of delay in his plan. Sienna thought it was only two days, but Carl had great dissatisfaction.
“Someone would think that the emperor worked in captivity for a month and two days without a single step out of the Oval Office.”
In fact, Carl did not skip meals and walked with Sienna. In a way, his work increased by two days because he abandoned his work under the excuse to come see Sienna.
“It’s like imprisonment. I should have spent as much time as I could with kids growing up day by day.”
“You can start that now. By the way, I am so glad that we could go to Roman today together. You were so busy that I thought I might have to go alone.”
Carl swallowed the words that if he could not go to Roman, Sienna would not be able to go either. It would be too disturbing for him to let her go a long way alone.
Carl asked, holding her hand.
“Are you feeling better? we have to go a long way.”
The Roman estate which the two were trying to go was about a half a day away, which was not too far.
They were scheduled to leave today, spend a day there, and come back. It wasn’t a tight schedule, but it’s only been a month since Sienna had twins. Carl was worried that much of her physical strength has not yet come back.
“It’s all right. Hain made me drink the potion instead of water… Oh! The Chancellor brought me a whole bunch of that potion. So don’t be so mean to him.”
At Sienna’s words, Carl smiled bitterly and nodded his head.
‘Pavenik…you said you could only get two bottles of potion by wiping out the black market…’
Carl finally managed to clean up the black market. His idea of finding potion began with the doctor’s suggestion that after the empress gives birth to a child, she would need a lot of care and attention due to her becoming quite weak.
Immediately after that, Carl ordered Kissinger to clean up the black market. In particular, he ordered to bring back all the potions that can be found by focusing on potion trade. But because the transactions occurred so secretively, it needed time. In the end, Kissinger managed to get only two bottles of the potion even though he had a hard time cleaning it.
‘He wouldn’t have been too fearless and taken the potion for himself…. then did he save it before I robbed the black market?’
Regardless of how Pavenik found the potions, Carl was very satisfied that those potions were used for Sienna. Carl was pleased with Hain’s loyalty.
“This is fortunate for us. It’s an achievement you’ve made, and it’s a pleasure to attend the ceremony together.”
“I’m really looking forward to finding out how the orphanage was built, what kind of children would stay there, and what teachers are working there, you know?”
The royal couple headed for Roman to mark the first day of the orphanage project that Sienna has been working on.
The first place to start the orphan relief project was Roman Territory. Roman was close to the capital, so it was good for Sienna to take part in the work.
One of the reasons for such selection was that the land was reclaimed as state ownership when the owner of the land was killed in the rebellion of Arya and Count Ferrer. Now, it became one of the Imperial Household’s territories and was managed by a deputy lord sent by Carl.
The carriage rolled smoothly along the straight road.
The way to Roman territory was very peaceful—farmers sowing in spring were occasionally seen.
Sienna gazed out of the window with a fluttering curtain drawn aside.
Spring began, but the wind that came into the running carriage was cool. Carl took a thick blanket out of the basket under his feet and put it on Sienna’s lap. She gave him a smile of her gratitude.
“It’s peaceful. I hope this kind of peace continues.”
“It’ll keep going. I’ll make that happen.’
Carl’s tone was arrogant as usual. Sienna laughed a little but she didn’t take it weirdly.
“Of course, Sir Carl could make that work.”
To a pleasant reply, Carl clasped her warm hand. It seemed that he could remain a benevolent and strong emperor forever if he went hand in hand with his wife like this. Even if he falters, she’ll lead him in the right direction.
Sienna looked out the window again. Carl kept her in his eyes for a long time.
*
Carl and Siena settled down in Lake Aaron.
When Sienna was fascinated by a large lake they met on their way to Roman, the party decided to take a break there for lunch. This was possible because it was not a tight schedule.
“We won’t be there until late evening.”
“It’s okay because today’s schedule just had dinner with Lord Roman anyway. He won’t blame you for a little delayed dinner.”
“What kind of person is Lord Roman? The only thing I know is that he used to be in the army working for you. Considering how you entrusted him with Roman estate and the correspondence you exchanged over this incident, he seems to be a competent person.”
At Sienna’s words, Carl took a bite of his bread and nodded.
“In a way, he’s great. He was in charge of supply in the army. I’ve come to notice him because his unit of soldiers stood out among all. Their military uniforms and weapons were in the best condition, and above all, they were fed well that they even looked greasy.”
“That’s great. He must be a competent and a very strong man.”
When in charge of the supply, the posts were lower than those who directly commanded the military. However, many people wanted to be in charge of supply when they had connections or had strong families.
The position has the advantage of a safe work environment as it was away from the front line, but most of all, it was because it makes a lot of money. Since it dealt with items so many people had to use, most of them were collecting wealth by receiving back money from merchants or secretly siphoning off supplies.
If they do not deviate too much from duty, doing so was secretly allowed. Therefore, the good supply of soldiers meant that the person in charge of the supply was clean-handed.
“He’s a meticulous guy. In the meantime, if you look at the way he runs supplies, you’ll be amazed by how precise he is. That’s why I’m leaving Roman’s estate to him. He’s never going to screw up. Rather, I will have to worry about him increasing the land so much that it might be a headache.”
“I’m really curious about what kind of person he is. I can’t wait to meet him.”
“When you actually meet him, you’ll wonder why a nerd is sitting there. He looks quite normal. Oh! I heard his wife is a vigorous beauty.”
“Beauty?”
When Sienna looked at him, Carl put down the bread he was eating and shook his head.
“I don’t mean anything. I’ve just been told that, and I’ve never even met that lady in person.”
Carl strongly denied it, but Sienna still spoke with a sulky face.
“But still, you shouldn’t call someone beautiful or something in front of me…”
“It was my fault. I won’t do that again.”
Sienna told him not to do that again before she started eating.
“By the way, Lord Panacio, or Delhi, must have arrived in the Holy Empire by now.”
Jamie asked for Delhi’s life, but there was no way to save him as he was the only heir to the Panacio family that led the rebellion.
The beheading of all the blood relatives of the ringleader, who caused the rebellion, was needed for a strong punishment, but another reason was that Carl had to cut off the buds of the fire. It doesn’t necessarily require Delhi Panacio’s neck, but by cutting his throat, he could wrap up the case neatly.
But Carl did Siena’s favor to save Delhi. Of course, it was not an official exile. In the Leipsden Empire, Delhi Panacio was a fugitive, and if caught, he would not be able to avoid the true sentence.
So, Sienna made him flee to the Holy Empire. From now on he had to abandon his name and live in a sacred empire under a different name.
For that, she wrote Roy a letter. If Delhi’s status was revealed, Leipsden would officially request his extradition, and the Holy Empire had to show a corresponding political performance. Rather, it would be better to have a thorough camouflage status from the beginning so that there would be no problem.
To Carl, the fact that Sienna was writing to Roy bothered him more than having to let Delhi flee. But at the time, Sienna was about to give birth, so he had no choice but to allow her to do what she wanted because he didn’t want to displease her.
That was two months ago. Because of that, Jamie couldn’t stand by Sienna until she gave birth and hurried back to Heidel.
He felt sorry for it, but it was inevitable. He just felt bad about Marie, who learned of the loss of her family and the condition of her brother, and Jamie, who would be watching her grieving.
The two had a conversation, wondering about the meeting between Delhi and Roy, and eventually switched the topic to the two children they had left behind in the Imperial City.
The most precious and important thing to the two now was their children, so whatever they saw and felt, they ended up talking about the children at the end.
“I wonder how Sharillo and Leah are doing.”
“Don’t worry. They’ll be fine.”
They gave the boy who came out first the name Sharillo. Although Carl was embarrassed because he didn’t have a name for the girl, Carl gave her the name Leah after several nights of contemplation.
The word meant “ruler,” and Carl really thought the name was suited to the child. When Sienna heard the meaning, she asked if he was going to hand over the empire to Leah. Carl shook his head and said, “It’s just a feeling, but I think this girl will feel that the Leipsden Empire is too small for her.”