The annex was peaceful as usual. The sun was particularly bright today, and maids were walking around carrying their laundry baskets. While giggling and engaging in idle chatter, one maid glanced toward the princess’s bedroom and whispered.
“Don’t you think she’s been cooped up in her bedroom a lot lately?”
The other maids also glanced at where the princess was staying. They quietly nodded in agreement.
“Of course she’s troubled – she’s practically being sold off.”
“Enough. It’s not our business to worry about. Meddling at a time like this won’t end well for us.”
Despite her delicate and pure appearance, this princess had an eccentric side. Usually quiet, but when her mood turned sour, she would become furiously angry – she was by no means an easy master to serve.
Another maid shuddered with a disgusted expression.
“Let’s just focus on our work instead of stirring things up.”
Sienna lay on her bed, blankly staring at the ceiling.
While she couldn’t believe everything, given that Jeremiah knew about someone being sent to the annex before her father’s death, it was clear there had been some kind of deal between the two.
Sienna let out a bitter laugh.
‘Then what about the will?’
If the former emperor’s will had truly been fabricated and their marriage was specified in the real will, Joseph would surely have known. If he had known this fact earlier, he wouldn’t have tried to send her to become Queen of Parma in the first place.
According to Jeremiah, her going to Parma would be dangerous for Joseph in many ways. If she were to join forces with Jeremiah to reclaim her lost inheritance, it would become troublesome in various ways.
Of course, the prince could be lying.
Even if there had been some conversation between the former emperor and Jeremiah, who knows if it had anything to do with her?
Her brow furrowed deeply.
‘Well, if that were the case, he would have given a different token. Not just that ring…’
The prince had no motive to tell such lies in the first place. He might dislike having a young woman become his stepmother.
But he didn’t seem like someone who would stage such a fraud for that reason. Especially not while daringly involving the imperial family.
It was clearly a scheme where the risks outweighed the benefits.
Sienna let out a long sigh and curled up under the blanket. The more she thought about it, the more complicated everything seemed to become.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
“Your Highness. His Majesty the Emperor asks if you would join him for breakfast.”
Sienna, lying with her back to the door, slowly opened her eyes. Her body and mind were still in tatters. She wasn’t in the mood to face Joseph.
About to decline, Sienna stopped mid-sentence. No matter how messy she felt inside, there was no need to show it to the Emperor.
She answered in a hoarse voice.
“Tell him I’ll get ready and join shortly.”
****
The breakfast gathering was small.
It was just Joseph, Jeremiah, and Sienna. Joseph sat at the head of the table, with Jeremiah and Sienna facing each other on either side.
Jeremiah glanced at Sienna’s poor complexion. Though she felt his gaze, Sienna kept her eyes downcast, not looking forward.
Various dishes began to be served on the long table. Sienna, who usually didn’t eat much breakfast, felt bloated just looking at them.
The Emperor smiled and spoke.
“Have you two greeted each other as future family members?”
“Yes. Thanks to Your Majesty’s kind consideration, I had a meeting with Her Highness previously.”
Jeremiah answered with an easy smile. In contrast, Sienna just stared blankly at the soup in front of her. The Emperor’s gaze, which had been smiling at Jeremiah, turned to her.
“The Princess seems to have no appetite.”
Even in that brief comment, disapproval was evident.
Only then did Sienna show slow movement. As she picked up her spoon sluggishly, the Emperor clicked his tongue with a displeased expression. He soon turned away and began chatting with Jeremiah.
“Your Majesty, actually, there is something I’d like to request.”
“Speak.”
“I heard that the Empire’s army recently acquired Serojan in the north.”
Sienna’s hand, which had been forcing spoonfuls of soup, stopped abruptly in mid-air.
“I’ve long heard about the Grand Duke’s reputation, and if it’s not too presumptuous, might I observe the imperial army’s training?”
The Emperor nodded with a hearty laugh.
“I have no reason to refuse. I’ll send word to the Grand Duke in advance, so visit whenever you wish.”
He even gave his approval cheerfully. For the first time since arriving here, Sienna’s gaze turned toward Jeremiah.
Despite feeling her piercing stare, Jeremiah paid no attention.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
He smiled brightly at the Emperor.
Sienna felt the soup she had swallowed beginning to rise back up.
****
As soon as Sienna returned to her room, she vomited everything she had eaten. Though she hadn’t eaten much, the nausea wouldn’t easily subside.
“Your Highness, what did you eat to make you like this?”
Jane asked worriedly while patting her back.
Just then, someone knocked on the door. Theo and Jane, who had been worriedly discussing whether to call a physician, both turned toward the door simultaneously.
Theo, opening the door, immediately stiffened upon seeing the visitor’s identity.
“What brings you here?”
At Theo’s rigid voice from behind, Sienna weakly turned toward the door.
It was Jeremiah.
His expressionless gaze brushed past Theo and landed on Sienna.
“You looked quite pale during the meal, so I was worried.”
At these words, Theo’s face hardened even more. It was an understandable reaction.
The prince was officially visiting the Empire as an envoy of his country, and privately, he was the son of Sienna’s fiancé.
Coming to her quarters so abruptly like this was inappropriate. Especially now, when people who loved to gossip about the Grand Duke had their eyes on the princess.
“So why would the Prince…”
“Theo.”
Sienna intervened.
“He’s my guest, so there’s no need to go that far.”
Yet her gaze toward the visitor wasn’t particularly friendly either.
“I have urgent matters to discuss with the Prince regarding the ceremony, so you two should step out.”
Though Theo remained suspicious until the end, when Jane pushed his back, he reluctantly stepped away.
Even after the two left the room, Sienna just glared at him silently. Jeremiah glanced at where Theo and Jane had gone and mockingly joked.
“You have quite an impressive knight.”
“You know Theo’s behavior was correct. If you had something to say, you should have sent word through someone.”
At her cold response, Jeremiah raised an eyebrow. He seemed unable to understand her reaction.
He let out a bitter laugh with an irritated expression.
“Yes, yes. I’ll be more careful next time.”
“Just tell me why you’re here.”
Jeremiah glanced at her harsh voice. Her complexion seemed even worse than during breakfast.
‘It must have been quite shocking for her.’
Though he felt somewhat guilty, this wasn’t the time to be considerate of the shock she might have received.
“As I said earlier, I was concerned about your condition. And there were a few things I hadn’t had the chance to ask before.”
Since their last meeting days ago, Jeremiah had done his own thinking.
But the more he thought, the more it felt like trying to fit together mismatched puzzle pieces. No matter how hard he tried to piece things together one by one, nothing improved – it felt like a situation without answers.
He needed to find something that could be a breakthrough. And in the current situation, the former emperor’s will was the only clue that could end all this trouble.
“According to your father’s will, you received no inheritance, correct? Is this fact certain?”
“The imperial legal officer personally announced the will in front of me and my blood relatives, so yes, it’s certain.”
“How do you know if what that person announced was real or not?”
Jeremiah questioned like an interrogator.
“I know well how an imperial emperor’s will is announced. But I heard the imperial legal officer was a lower nobleman – I wonder how he could have become the notary for the will in the first place.”
“You really know the Empire inside and out.”
Sienna said in a half-mocking tone. Jeremiah narrowed his eyes at this.
“Don’t look at it so distastefully. Think about it coldly. Would they entrust a will that would determine the great empire’s future to just anyone? Unless that lower nobleman was an incredibly loyal servant to the former emperor, they would have entrusted it to a noble of certain status and trustworthiness.”
Every word made sense. There were many suspicious aspects about the will. Whether it was real or not, she simply didn’t have the ability to investigate the truth.
Sienna felt anger rising at her own incompetence.
Unaware of her inner thoughts, Jeremiah added indifferently:
“For instance, the highest-ranking noble outside the imperial family. Wouldn’t that be the most likely candidate?”
Sienna’s face hardened at these words that clearly indicated someone specific. Noticing this subtle change, Jeremiah raised the corner of his mouth.
“That man is worth suspecting, I’d say. Though I heard there were quite complicated circumstances, in the end, wasn’t he so loyal to the former emperor that he was called the imperial hound?”
“That’s different from this.”
“It’s not different. His being called a hero is public recognition of his great contributions to the Empire. And as they always say in the Empire, the Empire’s glory is the Emperor’s glory.”
His voice, pointing out each detail, somehow felt cold.
“Do you know what countries outside the Empire in the Kralto continent call the Grand Duke?”
