HPBUY Chapter 136

Despite receiving an affirmative answer from Jeremiah, Sienna couldn’t readily accept it. She wasn’t convinced whether accepting the Empress’s request to return to the Empire was the right thing to do.

“Should I go?”

“Wouldn’t you regret it if you didn’t?”

Jeremiah murmured that she would know best, causing Sienna to fall silent again.

Meanwhile, Jeremiah seemed to have a general understanding of the current situation in the Empire. Or more precisely, he knew perfectly well that the Empress must be in a dire situation if she needed to use Sienna to persuade the Grand Duke.

After being lost in thought for a while, he suddenly spoke.

“Even if you go to the Empire, everything you’ve done won’t be in vain.”

“How can you guarantee that?”

“Didn’t you know? From the moment you crossed the Empire’s border, you’ve been under my protection. Even if things go wrong, they can’t treat you carelessly.”

Sienna chuckled at his brazen remarks.

“You’re saying that even though my Imperial citizenship hasn’t been properly renounced yet. I don’t know how to respond.”

Though he was deliberately showing off to ease her mind, it wasn’t entirely a bluff.

Currently, the relationship between the Empire and Parma was like standing side by side on thin ice.

Although the Empire was in a superior position, this wasn’t a situation where blame could be placed on just one side. While Sienna had clearly committed a grave crime, the Emperor wasn’t innocent either.

Moreover, judging by the Imperial Palace’s silence about the Hunting Festival incident, they also seemed well aware that they weren’t in an advantageous position in this situation.

The Empress needn’t be mentioned. The fact that she secretly came to the border to request Sienna’s participation in the hearing meant she was likely already in a desperate situation.

If so, there was no reason to stop Sienna.

“So go. You know that thinking about it too much won’t solve this problem.”

As Jeremiah said this, an unpleasant face flashed through his mind, but he didn’t show it.

Having fled in haste, the Princess still had matters to settle in the Empire. About Ricata, and about that man. There was still a possibility for Sienna to resolve these issues herself, so it was right to leave it entirely to her.

Jeremiah swallowed a bitter taste and pulled up the corners of his mouth. Only then did Sienna, with a much more relaxed expression, smile quietly and nod.

****

Declan’s gaze, which had been fixed somewhere in the empty air of the prison, turned back toward the door. Passing by the guard who was dozing while standing, it settled on the quietly closed iron door.

It’s been too quiet for too long.

For a while, he had expected someone to rush in through that door and drag him out, but it was taking longer than anticipated. As he pondered the reason, a memory from a few days ago suddenly flashed in his mind.

‘…Could it be?’

A faint laugh escaped through the teeth of his otherwise expressionless face. Even upon reconsideration, the word was simply ridiculous.

Regent, of all things.

Declan couldn’t understand how the Empress could bestow such a position on him.

For someone who had spent half his life in harsh lands and experienced the despicable nature of Imperial nobles firsthand, it was an implausibly unrealistic proposition.

The regent is virtually the same position as the Emperor’s proxy, and he wondered if the Empire’s proud nobles would truly acknowledge him.

Declan leaned his head against the wall, exhaling a stifled breath.

Nevertheless, if the Empress truly succeeded.

If, as she said, Sienna would not be charged with any further crimes, that might be enough.

And what would remain for him?

Declan’s fingertips, habitually brushing through his now-lengthened hair, gradually slowed. Neither the rose scent emanating from her crimson skin nor the blue eyes displaying various emotions existed by his side anymore.

As he recalled this fact again, a strange intersection of relief and emptiness crossed within him. Even as he kept telling himself it was better for her, he dared to imagine what if.

What if his family had safely returned from the capital that day? What if his beginning with Sienna hadn’t been in Lopwell?

Time that could not be turned back remained permanently preserved in his mind, becoming more vivid the more he reflected on it. Declan arbitrarily rearranged the parts of his life where things began to go wrong.

Cutting out all unhappy memories, obsessively painting over increasingly blurry memories in his mind.

The way Sienna’s lips tilted slightly when she smiled at him and the soft feeling of Soliet collapsing into his arms. He overlaid them with crude imagination.

How that child would have grown into a young lady if she had grown up healthily, and what he and Sienna would have looked like if they had aged safely.

Memories from reality mixed with pointless fantasies, ultimately creating a paradise. Only after being immersed in memories filled with futility did he finally feel peace and close his eyes.

****

Even after returning to the Imperial Palace, the Empress continued her breathless daily routine without pause.

Caught between nobles who shouted loudly without finding any points of agreement, when time permitted, she visited her husband’s chamber to check on his condition.

That day, too, was no different from any other, and it was late at night as she was returning to her bedroom. As she walked with a rigid posture, the Empress suddenly felt as if her vision was darkening and she lost her balance.

“Your Majesty!”

As her body swayed greatly, the head maid approached in alarm. Thanks to barely managing to grab a pillar, she avoided the disgrace of collapsing on the floor. The Empress raised her hand and weakly said.

“I’m fine.”

Despite her words, the Empress’s complexion was visibly abnormal. The head maid looked at her with concern.

“Your Majesty. Instead of pushing yourself, wouldn’t it be better to postpone tomorrow’s schedule…?”

“I said I’m fine.”

When was the last time she had properly rested? She was extremely tired, both emotionally and physically.

There was no room to catch her breath now. Even if she were to rest, she felt her anxiety wouldn’t subside for fear of what the nobles might do behind her back.

‘Still, it won’t be long now.’

Once the hearing was over, a conclusion would be reached one way or another.

However, only upon reaching her bedroom door did the Empress belatedly realize that there was still one issue she hadn’t properly addressed. Marianne, who was shouting irritably at the maids in front of the door, also discovered the Empress almost simultaneously.

The Empress’s dry gaze, which had been fixed on Marianne, turned to her own maids who were pleading in front of her. Judging by the maids’ bowing heads with pale faces, it seemed a commotion had already taken place.

Marianne rushed to her and grabbed both her arms.

“Please let me see the Grand Duke, Your Majesty.”

It happened so quickly there was no time to point out that the behavior violated protocol.

The Empress’s eyes slowly moved toward the hands gripping her arms, then back to Marianne.

The person in her close view was not the woman who had always been as beautiful as an early summer rose. If forced to compare, she was closer to a mouse frantically struggling without realizing her desperate situation.

The Empress, still expressionless, quietly asked.

“What do you intend to do if you meet the Grand Duke, Princess?”

“The order has been wrong from the beginning, Your Majesty! What do you intend to do with the Grand Duke now?”

Marianne cried out as if venting her frustration. Her sharp voice was chilling like nails scraping against metal, causing the Empress to briefly close her eyes tightly.

But Marianne continued to pour out her indignation, regardless.

“It’s clearly Sienna who planned all this, so why is an innocent person suffering in prison?”

“A hearing will be held soon. The Grand Duke’s guilt or innocence will be properly determined there.”

The Empress, having barely contained herself, managed to smile.

“I will ensure news is delivered to the Princess as soon as the hearing is over. So please be at ease, Princess.”

Her voice was gentle as always. Because of this, it took Marianne a little longer to notice something strange in the Empress’s words.

Marianne, who was about to turn around with a relieved face, belatedly stopped and looked back at the Empress.

“Deliver news? Shouldn’t I be participating in the hearing?”

“The Princess has no need for that. You didn’t participate in the Hunting Festival and have no authority to judge this matter.”

The face that had not yet properly assessed the situation looked so confused it almost appeared stupid, causing the Empress to inadvertently let out a snicker.

“You’ve been through a lot, Princess. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a task I requested, but I should also add a word of thanks for standing by His Majesty the Emperor in my stead and for taking care of young Leo.”

“……”

“So I think it would be better for you to quietly withdraw at this point.”

The Empress’s soft voice gained strength as she continued.

“Go to the Sendelk villa right now.”

Marianne, who had been dazed, had her eyes filled with shock. At the sight, the Empress’s mind rapidly flashed through the contempt and disdain she had suffered from Marianne over the past years.

She had originally thought of her as an unbreakable entity. The Emperor’s beloved sister. A robust relationship that nothing could shatter, leaving no room for her to intervene. So she had considered it a burden she would ultimately have to bear.

But seeing how things had turned out, it was an easy matter, making all her previous worries seem insignificant.