The Emperor’s muttered words made Sienna’s body stiffen. She had already experienced that dark and unpleasant space he mentioned. After all, this man standing before her was the one who had thrown her in there.
A sudden sense of déjà vu sent chills down her spine.
The Emperor read the fear on Sienna’s face and smiled coldly. His expression clearly conveyed his thoughts: ‘For all your proud behavior, you’re no different from the rest.’
In the end, they had come full circle.
Feeling helpless, Sienna silently clenched her fists. Her unkempt nails dug roughly into her delicate skin.
“The exact date will be set soon. Until then, behave yourself and don’t cause any trouble.”
With this thunderous announcement, the Emperor stood up as if he had said all he needed to say.
“Oh, and I’m planning to hold a banquet soon for the army returning from war. You should make an appearance too.”
“Why don’t you play such pointless games with your sisters?”
Despite her cold response, the Emperor didn’t lose his smile.
“Even without your saying so, both Marianne and Dahlia are planning to attend.”
“Ha…!”
A bitter laugh escaped her lips before she could stop herself. The Emperor let out a slight sigh.
“There are some nobles who harbor resentment because I sent you to Lopwell. They were quite displeased that the first person I punished upon ascending to the throne happened to be my own blood relative. They probably thought, ‘If he treats his own family like that, what would he do to us?'”
“So you want me to participate in this pathetic family charade to salvage your damaged reputation? Why should I?”
“You. It’s been quite a while since you visited the Ricata mansion, hasn’t it?”
Sienna’s body stiffened at these seemingly unrelated words.
After the Empress’s execution, all property owned by the House of Ricata was returned to the imperial family. This naturally included the Ricata territory that the Duke had ruled.
The Ricata mansion, which had rivaled the imperial palace in grandeur, was completely shut down. The previous emperor had nailed plain wooden boards above the mansion’s grand entrance, as if to serve as a lasting reminder of what happens to houses that plot treason.
Moreover, the place where Sienna had once spent half of each year had become inaccessible without the Emperor’s approval.
Her mother’s remains were buried there. Under that land, which even her own daughter could no longer visit, lay her mother.
As she looked at the Emperor with confusion, he slowly leaned forward. The siblings’ gazes locked at close range.
“Sasha. Don’t you miss your mother?”
With a gentle voice more suited for his beloved sisters, Joseph once again placed a noose around her neck.
****
Hearing the heavy door close behind her with a deep thud, Sienna slowly began walking.
As she walked alone through the palace’s wide corridors, Sienna traced the hazy memories emerging like fog from the distant past.
[You must obey His Majesty in any situation, Sasha.]
Is this all that resulted from that?
Not only had she lost her mother’s inheritance and been branded a murderer who killed a child, but now she was being sold off to a country she’d never even visited. And to top it all off, she was being threatened with her mother’s remains.
Sienna gritted her teeth. That damned bastard Joseph. His way of thinking had always been consistently vile.
“Princess?”
Just then, a delicate voice like a lark’s stopped Sienna in her tracks. When she turned her head, two surprised-looking women were staring at her.
These were the two people Sienna least wanted to meet right now. Her mouth, twisted with anger, twitched slightly. However, after assessing the situation, she erased her expression and gracefully curtsied, as she had been taught her entire life.
“Your Majesty, the Empress.”
As she practically mumbled the still-unfamiliar title, a benevolent smile spread across the Empress’s face.
The Empress, who was said to be a princess from some foreign country, seemed to share none of her husband’s personality traits, at least in terms of character. The way she always read the atmosphere and her inherent cautiousness didn’t strike Sienna as artificial.
Despite knowing that Sienna was someone her husband despised, she had always been kind to her.
Above all, considering how much Marianne had been fond of the Empress, despite her somewhat lesser origins, her character seemed far more noble than her husband’s.
“I heard you had returned to the capital. I was just wondering about you, and here we meet.”
With a face full of joy, the Empress brightly grasped Sienna’s hands.
Standing there with her hand suddenly grabbed, Sienna’s gaze fell upon another figure. There was no way she wouldn’t recognize the woman frozen stiffly beside the Empress.
When her eyes met Dahlia’s, Sienna’s face colored with yet another emotion. Perhaps misinterpreting this, Dahlia, who had been carefully observing from beside the Empress, hurriedly curtsied.
“G-Greetings, Your Highness.”
Only then realizing what her expression might look like, Sienna quickly composed herself. She slightly nodded in response to Dahlia’s greeting.
Even amid the awkward atmosphere between relatives, the Empress alone maintained a warm smile, gently easing the tension.
“Were you just visiting His Majesty?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You must not have had proper rest. I heard your health wasn’t good, and your face looks quite worn.”
The Empress’s eyes showed genuine sympathy, which was hardly welcome to Sienna.
“I heard you’ll be staying at the palace for a while. Lady Dahlia of Lowell is also staying here, so perhaps the three of us could have tea together sometime. What do you think?”
At the Empress’s words, thousands of emotions flickered across Dahlia’s face.
Curiosity, bewilderment, and inexplicable fear.
Her inability to properly hide these emotions made her no different from any child. She was completely unlike Sienna’s half-siblings, who had lived their entire lives suppressing their emotions.
The difference was stark between those born and raised in the ice-cold imperial palace and one raised in a normal noble family with loving relatives.
Dahlia, who had been glancing at her with curiosity, quickly lowered her head when their eyes met directly.
‘What have I ever done to make her so nervous?’
Sienna let out a brief sigh.
“Your Majesty, I truly apologize, but I’ve just arrived and am quite fatigued. If it’s not discourteous, may I take my leave?”
At this purely businesslike attitude, the Empress’s smile momentarily froze. But she quickly recovered her natural smile and replied.
“Oh my, you must be exhausted from your long journey. How thoughtless of me. I’m sorry.”
“Your Majesty needn’t apologize. It’s just that my health hasn’t fully recovered…”
Feeling it was somehow an inadequate excuse, Sienna let her words trail off. The Empress responded with a gentle smile of understanding.
“There will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Please return to your room and rest well, Princess.”
Sienna nodded compliantly.
Only then did the Empress resume walking. Dahlia, as if she had been waiting for this moment, curtsied politely once more before passing by.
Sienna remained standing there for a moment instead of leaving immediately. From the corridor in the opposite direction where the two had gone, she could hear cheerful conversation. Occasional laughter could be heard as well.
Only after the sounds gradually faded away completely did Sienna finally begin walking again.
The anger that had been rising against the Emperor until just moments ago suddenly cooled upon meeting those two. In place of anger came melancholic feelings from childhood that she had forgotten for a while.
Memories surfaced: of her father, usually cold towards her, melting with warmth in front of Dahlia; of her mother whispering tender words while wearing the Empress’s crown.
Did that kind-hearted woman know? About the fate that befell the woman who once wore her crown? Whenever she saw this woman smiling brightly while wearing her mother’s crown, indescribable emotions would well up.
Dahlia and the Empress were, regardless of their intentions, reminders of painful memories.
Sensing a breeze from somewhere, Sienna suddenly turned to the side. The scent of flowers from the nearby garden seemed to drift in with the wind. It was a sweet fragrance.
This was the beautiful, enchanting space where she was born and raised. And Sienna’s feelings here were always similar. In this beautiful space, she was always terribly lonely and desolate.
Her steps felt heavy as she walked again along the vast corridor.
It was a sense of defeat she hadn’t felt in a very long time.
****
The banquet celebrating the army’s safe return was the first to be held this spring.
It was also the first banquet Joseph had personally hosted since ascending to the throne, as the empire had been at war for a long time and the previous emperor’s funeral had intervened. Perhaps because of this, the palace seemed to have made thorough preparations for this banquet.
Red velvet curtains embroidered with the imperial crest in gold thread were hung throughout, and fresh flowers were placed along the paths where guests would walk. As a result, the palace was filled with the fresh scent of flowers.
However, the reason this banquet caused an unexpected stir in social circles was different. It was because of two people who would be making appearances after a long absence.
It was surprising enough that the Grand Duke who had returned from ending the war would attend, but now even the princess who had been exiled would be present. All the nobles’ attention was focused on the fact that they could see both people who were currently at the center of social gossip.
Among the imperial family, Princess Sienna was the first to appear in the hall.
