Episode 59. The Villainess and the Kidnapping Cliché (2)

In Percy’s memories, his father was always hysterical.

-This is strange! Isn’t it strange, Percy?

His father, who always found the world strange and unreasonable, suddenly became gentle as if he were a different person.

-Forget everything I’ve said. I’ve done terrible things to you. Just forget them all.

And not only that, he remarried, giving Percy a sister named Lady Grania. He claimed to be happy, but to Percy, it seemed different. His father always seemed frightened, even until his dying moments.

‘Why was he so afraid?’

He had always hated Zulatán and insisted on reclaiming the kingdom from them. But one day, his father acted as if he couldn’t even remember saying such things.

‘As if hearing those words would cause great trouble.’

But who would relay the conversations between a father and son at the Stewart Ducal residence to the Emperor? And now that Percy had become the Duke of Stewart himself, he understood even less. The Emperor didn’t scare him at all.

As Percy was lost in his past, one of the three dukes who had summoned him, Duke Powell, spoke up.

“It’s been a while, Duke Stewart.”

“Indeed.”

Despite always keeping an eye on his movements, why did he suddenly say it had been a while? Percy’s indifferent reply prompted the young Duke Bernande to speak.

“They say you’ve fallen in love with the daughter of Zulatán? The rumors are rampant in the marketplace.”

“She’s not from Zulatán. Her name is Sienna Liata.”

“Huh? I don’t see what difference that makes. It just means she’s a worthless royal who had to take her mother’s surname.”

“Indeed.”

If he didn’t understand that, it meant he couldn’t comprehend it at all. Percy didn’t particularly dismiss him since he himself hadn’t known the significance of the names until recently. To them, names were roles. Julius was Zulatán, but Sienna couldn’t be Zulatán because their roles were different.

Bernande’s irritated voice sneered at Percy’s indifferent response.

“You keep saying ‘indeed,’ but it doesn’t make you seem more knowledgeable than us. It only provokes our resistance.”

At Bernande’s words, Percy’s eyebrow arched. He asked coldly,

“Don’t you ever wonder why our ancestors helped build the Empire? Wouldn’t it have been enough to simply maintain their own beautiful kingdoms?”

No one willingly wants to be someone’s servant. Yet, the Empire was formed that way. The other four dukes surrendered their kingdoms directly to Emperor Zulatán and were content with their ducal titles.

Bernande folded his arms and responded bluntly to Percy’s question.

“Because the union of the five kingdoms could wield great power.”

“In a continent without enemies?”

“That’s…”

Bernande was stumped, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. The Empire was the only nation on the continent. Without any invasions from other countries, why did they need to consolidate power?

Instead of finding the answer himself, Bernande asked Percy,

“What are you trying to say?”

Percy sighed and replied calmly,

“I’m asking if it isn’t time for us to seek independence.”

“Percy Stewart!”

When Bernande and Powell were about to burst with outrage at the blasphemous remark, another voice interjected lazily. It was Duke Vermouth, who had been quietly sipping his drink the entire time.

“Hey.”

Vermouth pointed with his finger at Sienna, who was struggling against two men.

* * *

After that, the details became hazy. The moment Percy realized Sienna was in danger, he used a power he rarely revealed in front of others. He regained his composure only when he saw Sienna’s pale, terrified face.

‘I should have covered her eyes first.’

Although he belatedly covered her eyes, her pounding heartbeat echoed in his ears. Percy impulsively picked Sienna up, focused only on leaving the blood-soaked scene he had inadvertently created.

“Sienna.”

Much later, when they reached a secluded garden, Percy realized another mistake.

‘No wonder it was so quiet!’

The woman who should have been anything but quiet was silent because he hadn’t removed the cloth covering her mouth.

“I apologize. I should have untied you first.”

Lowering his head, Percy removed the cloth from Sienna’s mouth. As the cloth fell away and her lips, red and swollen from being pressed, parted, she exhaled loudly.

“Phew! I almost suffocated.”

“?”

Her exclamation, completely unlike her usual demeanor, escaped her lips. Percy, momentarily taken aback, quickly recognized the sweet scent of grapes emanating from her lips and understood the situation.

“You’ve been drinking again, haven’t you?”

“Hehehe, it just sort of happened.”

“‘Just sort of happened’…”

It was ridiculous, but a part of him felt relieved.

‘She didn’t see it. Even if she did, she probably won’t remember.’

That was fortunate. Percy generally didn’t care how others perceived him, but for some reason, he couldn’t bear the thought of Sienna being afraid of him.

As Percy sighed in relief, Sienna, misunderstanding it as a sigh of exasperation, pouted and grumbled. Her words, however, were somewhat odd.

“Still, it was because I was drunk that I was able to call for you. A villainess can’t crawl around pathetically or struggle in vain.”

Villainess.

Her tone, as if identifying her role, struck Percy as strange. His eyes narrowed.

“You too…”

“Too?”

But looking at Sienna’s innocent face, tilting her head in confusion, left Percy speechless. He eventually trailed off.

“Never mind.”

If his guess was right, there was no problem, but there was a chance his guess could be wrong. He didn’t want to put Sienna in danger by jumping to conclusions. Not knowing what was on Percy’s mind, Sienna poked at his chest with her finger and said,

“People in our country can’t stand when someone speaks slowly or leaves things unfinished. Hurry up and tell me. What’s the point of making me so curious?”

“I can’t say. I don’t know what’s real and what’s an illusion.”

Percy grabbed Sienna’s hand. Her wrists, chafed by the rope, were red. As he carefully brushed over her wounds, he lowered his eyes and added,

“Even people who have had the same experiences and stand in the same position as me don’t think the same way I do. How could you…”

Sienna cut him off mid-sentence,

“So you can’t talk to me because you think I’m an illusion?”

“……!!”

Sienna closed the distance between them and suddenly thrust her face toward Percy. As Percy tried to turn his head away, her small hands firmly gripped his cheeks. Her eyes, meeting his, sparkled like stars. It was a look entirely different from her usual self.

“Look at me, Percy Stewart. I’m alive here. Do I still seem like an illusion to you?”

There was no need for her to say it so explicitly. He could already tell from her heartbeat, the warmth of her body slightly heated from the alcohol, and the sweet scent emanating from her lips.

But right now, these were not welcome stimuli for him. Percy gently took her hands off his cheeks.

“…You really need to quit drinking. You become reckless when you drink.”

Sienna, usually a challenging conversationalist who made him guess her true feelings, was oddly more difficult for Percy to handle when she was straightforward due to alcohol.

“I think you’ve injured your ankle too. Let’s go back and get it treated.”

As Percy was about to pick Sienna up again, she spoke in a soft, subdued voice,

“I’ve never been able to assert my opinions confidently to others. Since I was a child, I got scolded whenever I expressed my thoughts, so I ended up constantly reading other people’s faces.”

It felt like he was finally hearing her true voice.

Percy stared at Sienna in silence. She continued, fidgeting with her fingers,

“But here, people only listen to me if I yell, do bad things, and talk crookedly. Now, I can’t even remember what I used to be like.”

She finished with a faint smile, looking as lovely as lily of the valley under the moonlight. Percy, who had been gazing at her in a daze, furrowed his brows and asked seriously,

“Are you saying your role isn’t bad?”

In response to Percy’s question, Sienna chuckled as if she didn’t understand.

“Haven’t I changed enough?”

“…!”

Percy’s red eyes widened in surprise.

Changing one’s role. It was the first time he’d heard someone say that.

‘But she’s right.’

The Sienna Liata he first encountered was undoubtedly a villainess. But at this point, who could still call her that?

‘She thinks it’s a bad joke, but there are plenty of people who want to be her friend. Even at tonight’s banquet, the atmosphere toward her was clearly friendly.’

This was different from the past, where people’s kindness relied solely on the reputation of the Stewart family. It was a change she had achieved on her own.

‘How can she be so strong?’

Percy had always thought in grand terms. He believed that without breaking inherent limits, no change was possible.

But Sienna had shown him a new possibility. That change could start from small things.