“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
When Marie thanked her, Sienna shrugged and sat in a seat Marie showed. Marie’s maid quickly cleared the table and brought out her favorite tea that Sienna enjoyed whenever Sienna came.
“Does the Empress come often?”
“No, she’s been so busy that she hasn’t been here for a while…I guess she was concerned about the Emperor’s health.”
Sienna thought the reason why Arya visited Marie was not because of the Emperor’s health, but because she was concerned about the direction of her own power, but Sienna did not spit out the thought out of her mouth.
“I’ve heard the Emperor’s health isn’t good but is it that serious?”
Marie’s face turned grey with Sienna’s question. Marie seemed unable to sleep because she was worried about Valore.
“He says he’s okay, but he’s not quite well.”
Sienna realized again how pure Marie was.
She was the wife of the present emperor and Sienna was the wife of Prince Carl, the first heir in line. If it were Arya, she would have said Valore was okay. Sienna would also never mention that the emperor was ill if she were in Marie’s shoes.
Regardless of all this, Marie was genuinely concerned about Valore.
“He recently coughed up blood when he was with me. He seems quite ill, but when I ask the doctor, he wouldn’t answer saying it’s the emperor’s order. I am so worried…”
Marie’s eyes moistened. Sienna moved to Marie’s side and comforted her.
“Your Majesty the Emperor will be fine.”
Even though she knew Valore wouldn’t be okay, Sienna had no choice but to say so.
*
Valore, who had been attending the political affairs meeting as the emperor, barely sat on the throne with a pale face as the days went by. Symptoms have been going on for too long to ignore it as just a cold. How can a cold not get better for months?
Whenever the emperor coughed, the nobles looked at him with anxious faces. As a young emperor, they thought he would get well from the disease soon, but they suspected that they might have taken the disease too lightly as the continuous coughing shows.
Even when the aristocrats tried to check the health of Valore by asking the doctor, he kept silent, saying it’s the emperor’s order. They decided to find out about the emperor’s illness even by threatening the doctor.
“Cough cough!”
Today, he coughed heavily. One of the nobles stepped up and said in a worried voice.
“Your Majesty, your illness seems to last too long. I don’t think the imperial doctor is doing the proper treatment, so call another doctor…”
Valore shook his head and said, “Don’t worry about it. Just go ahead with the meeting.”
“But…”
“I know my condition. I just have a long cold… Cough-cough.
Valore, who was talking, coughed again. It was a more intense cough than usual that his blood flowed through his hand covering his mouth. The amount of blood he vomited was so great that it soaked his collar.
The nobles and Arya at the meeting ran to him with astonished faces. But it was after he had already gone unconscious.
“Doctor! Bring in the doctor now!”
The sound of Arya’s hoarse voice resounded through the palace. The hurried doctor checked Valore’s pulse. He, who had been the emperor’s personal physician for a long time, calmly examined Valore’s complexion as if he had already expected it.
“Is the Emperor all right?”
A nobleman asked him. The doctor replied before Empress Arya could even shush the doctor’s mouth.
“The king has been suffering from lung disease for a long time, although he has kept it a secret for fear of possible confusion in state affairs. As you know, there’s no cure for lung disease, so…we’ve been using drugs to keep him energized, but that seems to have reached the limit. Looking at how much blood he’s coughed up… Your Majesty will not be able to get through today.”
The nobles roared and Empress Arya sat down.
“No way…no way…”
After muttering dismally, she crawled to the doctor with her knees. Arya grabbed the doctor by the collar instead of looking after Valore.
“You son of a bitch! How dare you talk like that?! Why would the king die? Why Valore! Save him right now!”
Arya raised her voice.
“I’m sorry, but there’s no cure for lung disease. Plus, he’s been suffering from overwork and stress…”
The doctor shook his head with a somber face.
His words amounted to a death sentence for Arya. Her power, which had been maintained through the strength of her son, had no power like the surface of a lake that had been frozen for a while in the cold of the flower spring. She let herself go unconscious, feeling the bottom of her feet collapse.
Eventually, Valore did not wake up and his heart stopped before the moon rose that day. Less than a year after his accession, he passed at the tender age of 22.
After his death, Carl’s coronation ceremony was quickly prepared. The aristocrats in the capital had no justification for opposing Carl, whom they have persecuted for a long time, to be emperor. All celebrated him with their true hearts hidden for fear of becoming his target.
Sienna began to have nightmares again after Valore died. The nightmare was different from before, and he kept looking at her with sad eyes.
She wanted to make some excuses, but she couldn’t talk. She had no choice but to look at him, who was crying sick.
As she was moaning with nightmares, Carl shook her up. The same was true on the eve of the emperor’s coronation.
“Are you sick?”
At Carl’s words, Sienna sighed and raised her upper body. Her body was drenched with sweat. She frowned with her tongue moistening her dry lips.
“Would you like a glass of water?”
Sienna nodded. After drinking the water he gave her, it became easier for her to breathe.
Carl opened the window and sat by the window. The stuffy air has gone away. Sienna asked him.
“Did I wake you?”
“I just couldn’t sleep.”
“Tomorrow, no, today’s the coronation. You should go to bed.”
“It’s not the best time to go back to sleep.”
The world reflected out the window was clearing the darkness. Soon it will be dawn.
Carl was so calm that one could not believe that he would be crowned emperor today. There was no joy or excitement in his face. Sienna asked because it was strange.
“You don’t look happy. Today you’re getting the throne you wanted.”
“Because it’s been expected. I’m just getting my seat back, so there’s no reason to be particularly pleased, no reason to be excited.”
That was an arrogant answer. That he’s describing as not inheriting but retrieving.
Sienna didn’t hate this arrogance of Carl.
“You don’t seem happy to see me in the throne either.”
“Same as you. I knew that you would be an emperor one day. It seems like the time has come a little earlier.”
“…”
“It’s only you, Emperor Carl, who suits the position better than anyone else.”
“I’m glad to hear it through your mouth, even though what’s happening is natural. If someone else said so, I would have thought they were flattering me. If you say it, it sounds sincere. Even when I feel like you’re talking nonsense.”
When she proclaimed she’d be Carl’s wife as well as when heavy rain came and she said there would be landslides in the Marel Mountains. He believed her words even though he thought it was nonsense. The amazing thing was that everything Sienna said became true.
“Because I mean it.”
Carl laughed at Sienna’s words. He was impatient with her secretive attitude that seemed to have hidden something, but he already knew he couldn’t get an answer even if he asked.
“You seem to have nightmares every day. Is it always the same dream?”
Sienna nodded at Carl’s question.
“I don’t know if I should say it’s a nightmare. But it’s true that it’s the same dream every day.”
“What kind of dream is it?”
“Emperor Valore is in it.”
Carl’s forehead wriggled at Sienna’s words.
“He’s in your dreams…”
Valore was only a dead man. Nevertheless, he didn’t like it that Sienna’s unconsciousness was occupied by Valore that he appeared in her dreams every night. Carl regarded it as an emotional discomfort after hearing the name of his dead brother.
“He doesn’t say anything. He just looks at me. With a very sad face. He doesn’t blame me in my dreams. Just… …has this very sad-looking face. So I want to talk to him, but I can’t talk. I can’t say anything and I’m just facing that sad face.”
At Sienna’s words, Carl felt an ache in his chest.
“It seems like you have a guilty conscience about Valore.”
“That’s right, guilt. I’m sure that’s what the nightmare is about.”
“Why do you feel guilty when you’re not responsible for his death?”
Sienna smiled faintly at Carl’s question.
Valore’s death progressed faster than in the past. Because she came between him and Arya and made him go against Arya… The weak mentality of Valore meant the stress speeded up the progression of the disease.
“I could have prevented that death, but I didn’t. My greed killed him.”
“You? How could you stop his death?”
Priest Roy. The one with a childlike smile must have been able to cure Valore of his illness. Just like he fixed Aunt Kelly on the brink of death.
“I know a priest who has the power of healing. He’s in the capital now.”
At Sienna’s words, Carl looked surprised. Priests with the power of treatment were rare even in the Holy Empire, where numerous priests were gathered. It’s surprising she knew such a person.
Suddenly Carl remembered one individual.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
When Marie thanked her, Sienna shrugged and sat in a seat Marie showed. Marie’s maid quickly cleared the table and brought out her favorite tea that Sienna enjoyed whenever Sienna came.
“Does the Empress come often?”
“No, she’s been so busy that she hasn’t been here for a while…I guess she was concerned about the Emperor’s health.”
Sienna thought the reason why Arya visited Marie was not because of the Emperor’s health, but because she was concerned about the direction of her own power, but Sienna did not spit out the thought out of her mouth.
“I’ve heard the Emperor’s health isn’t good but is it that serious?”
Marie’s face turned grey with Sienna’s question. Marie seemed unable to sleep because she was worried about Valore.
“He says he’s okay, but he’s not quite well.”
Sienna realized again how pure Marie was.
She was the wife of the present emperor and Sienna was the wife of Prince Carl, the first heir in line. If it were Arya, she would have said Valore was okay. Sienna would also never mention that the emperor was ill if she were in Marie’s shoes.
Regardless of all this, Marie was genuinely concerned about Valore.
“He recently coughed up blood when he was with me. He seems quite ill, but when I ask the doctor, he wouldn’t answer saying it’s the emperor’s order. I am so worried…”
Marie’s eyes moistened. Sienna moved to Marie’s side and comforted her.
“Your Majesty the Emperor will be fine.”
Even though she knew Valore wouldn’t be okay, Sienna had no choice but to say so.
*
Valore, who had been attending the political affairs meeting as the emperor, barely sat on the throne with a pale face as the days went by. Symptoms have been going on for too long to ignore it as just a cold. How can a cold not get better for months?
Whenever the emperor coughed, the nobles looked at him with anxious faces. As a young emperor, they thought he would get well from the disease soon, but they suspected that they might have taken the disease too lightly as the continuous coughing shows.
Even when the aristocrats tried to check the health of Valore by asking the doctor, he kept silent, saying it’s the emperor’s order. They decided to find out about the emperor’s illness even by threatening the doctor.
“Cough cough!”
Today, he coughed heavily. One of the nobles stepped up and said in a worried voice.
“Your Majesty, your illness seems to last too long. I don’t think the imperial doctor is doing the proper treatment, so call another doctor…”
Valore shook his head and said, “Don’t worry about it. Just go ahead with the meeting.”
“But…”
“I know my condition. I just have a long cold… Cough-cough.
Valore, who was talking, coughed again. It was a more intense cough than usual that his blood flowed through his hand covering his mouth. The amount of blood he vomited was so great that it soaked his collar.
The nobles and Arya at the meeting ran to him with astonished faces. But it was after he had already gone unconscious.
“Doctor! Bring in the doctor now!”
The sound of Arya’s hoarse voice resounded through the palace. The hurried doctor checked Valore’s pulse. He, who had been the emperor’s personal physician for a long time, calmly examined Valore’s complexion as if he had already expected it.
“Is the Emperor all right?”
A nobleman asked him. The doctor replied before Empress Arya could even shush the doctor’s mouth.
“The king has been suffering from lung disease for a long time, although he has kept it a secret for fear of possible confusion in state affairs. As you know, there’s no cure for lung disease, so…we’ve been using drugs to keep him energized, but that seems to have reached the limit. Looking at how much blood he’s coughed up… Your Majesty will not be able to get through today.”
The nobles roared and Empress Arya sat down.
“No way…no way…”
After muttering dismally, she crawled to the doctor with her knees. Arya grabbed the doctor by the collar instead of looking after Valore.
“You son of a bitch! How dare you talk like that?! Why would the king die? Why Valore! Save him right now!”
Arya raised her voice.
“I’m sorry, but there’s no cure for lung disease. Plus, he’s been suffering from overwork and stress…”
The doctor shook his head with a somber face.
His words amounted to a death sentence for Arya. Her power, which had been maintained through the strength of her son, had no power like the surface of a lake that had been frozen for a while in the cold of the flower spring. She let herself go unconscious, feeling the bottom of her feet collapse.
Eventually, Valore did not wake up and his heart stopped before the moon rose that day. Less than a year after his accession, he passed at the tender age of 22.
After his death, Carl’s coronation ceremony was quickly prepared. The aristocrats in the capital had no justification for opposing Carl, whom they have persecuted for a long time, to be emperor. All celebrated him with their true hearts hidden for fear of becoming his target.
Sienna began to have nightmares again after Valore died. The nightmare was different from before, and he kept looking at her with sad eyes.
She wanted to make some excuses, but she couldn’t talk. She had no choice but to look at him, who was crying sick.
As she was moaning with nightmares, Carl shook her up. The same was true on the eve of the emperor’s coronation.
“Are you sick?”
At Carl’s words, Sienna sighed and raised her upper body. Her body was drenched with sweat. She frowned with her tongue moistening her dry lips.
“Would you like a glass of water?”
Sienna nodded. After drinking the water he gave her, it became easier for her to breathe.
Carl opened the window and sat by the window. The stuffy air has gone away. Sienna asked him.
“Did I wake you?”
“I just couldn’t sleep.”
“Tomorrow, no, today’s the coronation. You should go to bed.”
“It’s not the best time to go back to sleep.”
The world reflected out the window was clearing the darkness. Soon it will be dawn.
Carl was so calm that one could not believe that he would be crowned emperor today. There was no joy or excitement in his face. Sienna asked because it was strange.
“You don’t look happy. Today you’re getting the throne you wanted.”
“Because it’s been expected. I’m just getting my seat back, so there’s no reason to be particularly pleased, no reason to be excited.”
That was an arrogant answer. That he’s describing as not inheriting but retrieving.
Sienna didn’t hate this arrogance of Carl.
“You don’t seem happy to see me in the throne either.”
“Same as you. I knew that you would be an emperor one day. It seems like the time has come a little earlier.”
“…”
“It’s only you, Emperor Carl, who suits the position better than anyone else.”
“I’m glad to hear it through your mouth, even though what’s happening is natural. If someone else said so, I would have thought they were flattering me. If you say it, it sounds sincere. Even when I feel like you’re talking nonsense.”
When she proclaimed she’d be Carl’s wife as well as when heavy rain came and she said there would be landslides in the Marel Mountains. He believed her words even though he thought it was nonsense. The amazing thing was that everything Sienna said became true.
“Because I mean it.”
Carl laughed at Sienna’s words. He was impatient with her secretive attitude that seemed to have hidden something, but he already knew he couldn’t get an answer even if he asked.
“You seem to have nightmares every day. Is it always the same dream?”
Sienna nodded at Carl’s question.
“I don’t know if I should say it’s a nightmare. But it’s true that it’s the same dream every day.”
“What kind of dream is it?”
“Emperor Valore is in it.”
Carl’s forehead wriggled at Sienna’s words.
“He’s in your dreams…”
Valore was only a dead man. Nevertheless, he didn’t like it that Sienna’s unconsciousness was occupied by Valore that he appeared in her dreams every night. Carl regarded it as an emotional discomfort after hearing the name of his dead brother.
“He doesn’t say anything. He just looks at me. With a very sad face. He doesn’t blame me in my dreams. Just… …has this very sad-looking face. So I want to talk to him, but I can’t talk. I can’t say anything and I’m just facing that sad face.”
At Sienna’s words, Carl felt an ache in his chest.
“It seems like you have a guilty conscience about Valore.”
“That’s right, guilt. I’m sure that’s what the nightmare is about.”
“Why do you feel guilty when you’re not responsible for his death?”
Sienna smiled faintly at Carl’s question.
Valore’s death progressed faster than in the past. Because she came between him and Arya and made him go against Arya… The weak mentality of Valore meant the stress speeded up the progression of the disease.
“I could have prevented that death, but I didn’t. My greed killed him.”
“You? How could you stop his death?”
Priest Roy. The one with a childlike smile must have been able to cure Valore of his illness. Just like he fixed Aunt Kelly on the brink of death.
“I know a priest who has the power of healing. He’s in the capital now.”
At Sienna’s words, Carl looked surprised. Priests with the power of treatment were rare even in the Holy Empire, where numerous priests were gathered. It’s surprising she knew such a person.
Suddenly Carl remembered one individual.
