Even on the day when Sienna, unable to bear it any longer, went to the meeting, nothing was different. The leader greeted her with a fairly polite attitude, but he didn’t listen to her words at all.
[Your Highness. We cannot overturn the law that has governed the empire for a long time just for your selfish desires.]
Instead, he only gave her a reproachful look with a pitiful expression.
Although he didn’t say it, his eyes clearly said, “Now that Joseph has officially begun his successor training, you must be feeling the heat.” But Sienna didn’t back down and retorted.
[Isn’t it more nonsensical to use a law written centuries ago when the world has changed?]
[That’s enough. As you can see, this is not a place for Your Highness to step in.]
Only then did Sienna glance around. All the nobles gathered for the meeting were men. They were looking at her with faces no different from the man who had just reproached her.
Sienna pressed her lips tightly and handed over the documents she had personally prepared.
[It shouldn’t be too difficult to review them.]
The other party still looked displeased but accepted the thick file Sienna handed over. She had to be satisfied with just that.
Having read nothing but the dense text of the law for days, barely sleeping, she didn’t feel like continuing the argument any further.
Besides, as long as the Emperor didn’t know, it would be fine. It was unlikely to reach his ears anyway, as he was said to be bedridden and drifting in and out of consciousness.
Just as she was about to turn around, she heard it.
–[She’s doing exactly what her mother did, it’s chilling.]
Sienna involuntarily stopped at the whispered voice behind her.
–[Where else would that blood go? Watching her carry on without knowing her place, it’s like we’ve gone back ten years.]
–[She should know well what kind of end the Empress met, yet she doesn’t seem to tire of this.]
–[If she had just stayed quiet, His Majesty would have surely found her a good match, but here she is, stirring up trouble for nothing.]
–[Well, I suppose even if it’s his own child, it must be chilling to see a daughter exactly like the woman he killed with his own hands.]
The snickering sounds numbed her reason. As she turned around stiffly, she could see the figures of those already walking far away.
Her fingertips trembled. She felt the urge to go and slap their faces right away. But she knew it would only end up holding her back.
Even though he was just a noble, he was the head of the council, and she, despite being an imperial princess, was in a precarious position like a candle in the wind.
Instead of calling out to stop the nobles, Sienna clenched her fists tightly and started walking again. She took a deep breath to calm her anger, but there was no way to control the emotion welling up from deep inside her.
It was clear that with her father’s death, her half-siblings’ blades would turn towards her, and with no one on her side, she was only trying to find a way to survive on her own. Was that wrong?
If Joseph ascended to the throne, Marianne’s safety would be assured. The same would be true for Dahlia. But not for Sienna.
As the nobles said, her father, who usually treated her like a non-existent child, was unlikely to look after her situation now, and she had no maternal family to support her. So in the end, the only one she could trust was herself.
But even so, was this the right thing to do?
She had even thought about going into exile abroad where Joseph’s hands couldn’t reach her.
But isn’t exile just a glorified escape? Moreover, even if she fled abroad, it didn’t seem like she could guarantee her safety completely. Hadn’t the exiles of powerless royals in history always ended miserably?
It seemed that no matter which direction she took, there was only a cliff at the end.
Unable to sleep, Sienna had wandered the rear garden all night, glumly watching the clear dawning sky before returning to the castle.
In the dark dawn, the corridor where soldiers should have been standing guard was empty, not an ant in sight. Feeling slightly puzzled, Sienna entered her room and only then realized the reason when she saw a figure standing inside.
[Where have you been at this hour?]
The news that the Emperor’s condition had been unsettling lately wasn’t entirely a rumor, it seemed. Her father, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time, was noticeably aged. Sienna, frozen in shock at the unexpected visit, hastily bent her knee.
[I greet Your Majesty.]
[I asked where you’ve been until now.]
Unable to understand the intention behind this sudden question, Sienna couldn’t answer immediately and rolled her eyes.
She couldn’t fathom why someone whose condition was so severe that rumors said he might not last the year was in her room without a single guard.
Seeing her trembling lips and terror-stricken face without a proper answer, the Emperor’s brow furrowed deeply with displeasure. As his contemptuous gaze bore into her, Sienna blurted out an excuse like a hiccup.
[I was just returning from a walk.]
[From before dawn, before the sun has risen?]
The Emperor sneered, his face showing how preposterous he found it. Then silence fell for a moment.
Only the occasional sound of long fingers tapping on the table broke the silence.
The longer the silence stretched, the harder it became to maintain composure. Sienna’s body was already shaking, consumed by fear. The sound of her racing heart echoed in her ears, and her breathing grew increasingly erratic.
This was the father who had never looked at her since her mother’s death. At the same time, he was His Imperial Majesty, a being who could twist her neck at any time.
Even the careless tapping on the table was enough to fray her delicate nerves. It was a kind of fear deeply imprinted in her instincts.
Throughout this, the Emperor’s face remained consistently indifferent. At the end of the suffocating silence, he finally spoke.
[Stop this foolishness now.]
The words that flowed at the end of the silence were hard to understand. Sienna opened her mouth with a trembling voice.
[What do you mean…]
[I heard you went to the council today.]
She tried to maintain her composure as much as possible and responded as if nothing was wrong.
[I didn’t do anything to cause concern.]
[Cause for concern, is it? I suppose you decided that standard.]
As if he never expected to hear the truth, he snorted roughly. Then he threw something in front of her with a thud.
A thick bundle of papers fell at her feet with a dull sound of friction.
Her face turned pale as she looked down at it, not understanding. The identity of the paper was the proposal she had handed to the noble council member earlier.
It was a document she had written all night, thinking that the Emperor’s mind wasn’t sound enough to read it. It was her desperate attempt to survive, but in the Emperor’s eyes, it would just appear as a writing full of arrogance.
When the evidence of her unseemly actions was thrown before her, the fear she had been barely suppressing burst forth. Her whole body trembled uncontrollably. It wasn’t hard to realize that something had gone terribly wrong.
The Emperor looked at the trembling Sienna with a cold gaze and asked.
[Have you truly forgotten how your mother died?]
[That’s not… it…]
As the Emperor’s voice grew louder, Sienna seemed to return to the seven-year-old child who had witnessed her mother’s death. No. The moment the bundle of papers was thrown in front of her, her fragile mental state, like a thin glass wall, had already completely shattered.
[If you’re so dissatisfied with your current situation, fine. I’ll grant your wish. Do you think a man who has already discarded two wives would hesitate to cast out his child?]
Terrified by his stern voice, Sienna fell to her knees at his feet.
[Your Majesty! That’s not it at all.]
[Then what is it? Did you covet the throne?]
Sienna couldn’t answer the direct question. Denying it would be a lie, but admitting it would be tantamount to confessing treason with her own mouth.
As she just moved her lips without giving any answer, the Emperor’s face hardened in a different way than before.
[Foolish child.]
At his muttering, which sounded contemptuous, her frantically trembling body suddenly stopped. The Emperor rose from his seat as if he had no more time to waste.
[I’ll overlook it just this once. So don’t ever commit such a foolish act again.]
He warned in a menacing tone. His intention was so clear that Sienna inadvertently let out a bitter laugh. In the end, the reason her father had personally come here was just one thing.
Don’t covet your brother’s position. Just to give such a warning.
Indignation welled up inside her.
[Am I such an unqualified being? Just because I’m a woman? I’m the only child born from Your Majesty’s only legitimate wife…]
[And at the same time, the daughter of a traitor. Your mother tried to kill me to put you on the throne.]
Tears fell from Sienna’s eyes as she looked up at the Emperor. Yet his face remained cold.
[Is that all? You took advantage of my illness to present this absurd law to the council. And with that, you want to be Emperor?]
[Your Majesty, I just…]
[You are excessively arrogant.]
Sienna froze at the cold rebuke.
[It’s also unwise to openly display that and make enemies. In every aspect, you are unsuitable as a monarch. You’re dull-witted and blinded by revenge.]
There wasn’t a shred of warmth in his icy face. Sienna felt deeply hurt by his coldness.
[…Do I have any other path?]
Although she already knew her status as an abandoned child, it didn’t mean that her father’s contemptuous gaze didn’t affect her.
Thanks for the chapter
Sad, sad 😔🥺😭