2 – 2. op*ium
Temsgung.
The palace where my superior, the Second Princess Siena, resides. It was a place she received from the emperor when she turned sixteen.
In the past, there were over five hundred people residing in the palace, which was as large as a palace and served as a hideout for Sienna’s evil deeds.
But for now, it’s my workplace.
As soon as I entered the spacious office, I let out a sigh. I kept replaying Alan Maydoff’s disgusting life in my mind.
“This guy is really trash.”
He’s a murderer who has killed or disabled more than eighty people without any combat experience.
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His business card might say “bodyguard,” but he was no different from a violent thug. Whenever Sienna’s secretly-owned businesses encountered problems, I was the one who stepped in to solve them.
But still… it wasn’t the worst yet.
Right after possessing him, I made a joke about turning a master into a half-wit. It was funny, but it actually happened. Sienna hadn’t fully engaged in evil deeds yet. My notorious reputation as Sienna’s closest confidant was still manageable.
“Alan Maydoff, I’m disappointed. Did you really have to turn a defenseless master into that? I’m not pointing it out just because of this incident.”
Suddenly, a knight dressed in uniform stared at me like I was filth.
He had a somewhat unfair appearance, a physique reminiscent of a dachshund.
He was ‘Bono,’ my fellow academy student.
He was a diligent knight who had been selected as a noble bodyguard through tremendous effort, although his talent was just above average.
But perhaps it was his innate nature of being kind and innocent.
He resisted within Sienna’s ranks, but eventually suffered retaliation. Not just being driven away, but witnessing his family being slaughtered in front of his eyes and dying miserably himself.
“The one who massacred their entire family was Alan Maydoff.”
The fact that he stood before me unharmed was a positive sign.
“Thank goodness.”
In response to my words, Bono approached me with a smirk.
“Thank goodness? …Alan. Weren’t things different back in the academy? Why did people change like this?”
“I simply followed the Lord’s orders.”
“Orders vary, you know…! Even when I was transferred from the front lines to be the Princess’s escort, my acquaintances were all worried. I, too, have heard plenty of ominous rumors about him, not that my ears are clogged, and I’ve encountered his sinister reputation.”
“You dare speak ill of the Lord in my presence?”
“I came here because you have a stake in this place too. Despite your filthy reputation, I believed that someone deliberately tarnished it.”
“But it seems everything that happened today proves it to be true.”
Instead of a reply, Bono nodded silently. Looking at his stern eyes, it seemed he was genuinely angry at his friend’s corruption. I had nothing to say in this situation.
“Should I handle this delicately?”
Knock, knock.
A timid knocking sound interrupted the anger in Bono’s eyes, but I couldn’t ignore it. I wondered who could be knocking on the door.
Could it be a servant sent by someone? Or another colleague here to rebuke my misdeeds? Or perhaps…
“There’s no need for unnecessary adventures.”
Assuming Siena was eavesdropping from outside, I spoke up.
“At first glance, my actions might seem repugnant to you, Bono.”
“And you call that an excuse…!”
“But there’s one fact you overlooked. The informant I dealt with this time was a noble from the faction following the First Princess. He received 800 dollars’ worth of gold from them. In a situation where the credibility is in doubt, we can’t just ignore the responsibility, can we?”
“Just for that amount.”
“Just for that? Is it only ‘just’ now?”
“…”
He stiffened his expression and stood up.
“To His Majesty, who ascended the throne with the blood of countless noble families on his hands. Half-brothers, step-brothers… Even several palace officials who were peacefully staying at home were ruthlessly killed. After that, he ascended the blood-stained throne.”
All of this is true.
The current Emperor was a man who caused a bloodbath to become Emperor.
At that time, so many nobles died that the palace was left in ruins. Even the three step-sisters, who were also his half-sisters, each took possession of a palace and declared independence. The human who came to power like that is now living as a doting father, though.
“Why are you suddenly talking about that…?”
Bonno’s momentum slightly waned, perhaps because a sensitive topic came up.
“The bloodstains haven’t been erased even now.”
“……”
“The three princesses, each with a different mother, are fiercely competing for the position of Crown Princess. And at this sensitive time, ‘we’ have a court official who serves in close proximity to His Majesty and has colluded with the opposition. Is that not a crime?”
“Whether it’s a crime or not should be determined by the investigation of the Royal Guards. Just speculating…”
“It seems that His Majesty has caught an innocent person. I don’t know if that is a proper attitude towards our lord.”
Unable to retort, Bonno averted his gaze.
He must have been taken aback, as he had come in a fit of anger, only to be suddenly suspected of his qualifications as a knight. Honestly, it’s not something to be proud of to badmouth our lord to our colleagues. If I let it go, he might shoot a remark at me.
However, he was not given a chance to escape.
“Allan, are you here?”
Siena suddenly swung open the door and appeared. With a faint smile on her face.
“Your Highness.”
“Since there was no response to the knock. Was there a prophet?”
“I apologize.”
I naturally greeted her. After all, I had been suspicious since earlier.
On the other hand, Bono’s complexion was pale and sickly.
“Your Highness…?”
He looked so surprised that he forgot his manners, with only his lips mumbling. By now, various dark scenarios must be crossing his mind.
Sienna didn’t even glance in that direction.
Pretending not to hear and overlooking the king’s curses from the unseen is… certainly not something this woman would do.
‘She probably sees confronting him directly on the spot as a humiliation. She might be slowly plotting to corner Bono and kill him.’
Aligning with Sienna’s subtle intentions, Alan decided to speak.
“Your Highness, this friend here has shared interesting insights about personnel management at Thames Palace. If you permit, may I bring up the details later?”
“Sure. But Alan, from what I know, Bono’s father is…?”
“He’s a veteran sergeant of the 7th Infantry Division. Though his rank is low, his loyalty to the royal family is exceptional. I know this because he’s a friend.”
“The son of an army sergeant becomes a knight. Quite an unusual turn of events.”
Sienna nodded with a pleased smile, nodding her head.
Bono, with a pale face, just observed silently.
Luckily, it seemed he had no intention of stirring up trouble by questioning Sienna’s authority in her presence. Not that it mattered much at this point.
“Alan, I need your advice. Will you come with me?”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
Leaving Bono with a blank expression, we departed.
“P-Please inspect it carefully!”
Written all over his face was the sense of defeat as he hastily bowed, knees trembling. It was a pitiful sight, but there was nothing to be done.
The place Sienna took me was the vast garden on the outskirts of Thames Palace.
For a normal aristocrat, it would be typical to create a facility where they could enjoy flowers from around the world throughout the seasons by making a fuss about money.
However, in Sienna’s garden, there was only one type of flower being cultivated.
“What do you think?”
“Impressive.”
It was the poppy.
A poisonous variety with black spots on the flowers and round fruits. I once saw a grandfather in the countryside growing poppies in a greenhouse to make liquor, but this scale was too large.
Everywhere you looked, it was all poppies. If you squeeze the unripe fruit, juice would ooze out. Collecting that and drying it would turn it into op*ium.
Of course, Sienna insisted that she didn’t grow op*ium to enjoy the flowers or op*ium itself.
“When I first entered Thames Palace, the first thing I did was to overhaul the garden. I didn’t want to grow flowers or plants while paying wages to ten gardeners. …But after seeing the desolate garden, I felt a bit regretful.”
“So you decided to cultivate poppies.”
“They have various uses, don’t they?”
A garden originally created to produce op*ium.
It was hard to consider this alone as a tremendous evil.
Even in a fantasy world like this, where sacred magic existed to attach severed limbs, the benefits could be enjoyed by a very small number of people. Only a few holy maidens chosen by the heavens could use divine power. Potions also had extremely high hurdles.
For those with ordinary economic means, even for most bourgeois, op*ium was considered a good medicine. It was a world that could be likened to roughly the 17th century. Perhaps there were many people who couldn’t even obtain op*ium.
The problem was that the op*ium produced here was related to the original’s plot.
Sienna was already boasting about it, proudly expressing herself with a satisfied expression.
“Alan, as you know, the Empress is originally from a country in the East. She was one of those who tried to take advantage of the dowry right after her father ascended to the throne. But for the past few years, she has been suffering from severe nostalgia. It’s probably because she has been isolated for a long time, away from her homeland, I suppose?”
“She must be going through a lot, I imagine.”
The current Empress was an Easterner, more precisely, a princess from the country that held power in the East. She was also the mother of the third princess, one of the two main female protagonists in the original work.
When she first married the Emperor, she was the third Empress, but now she was the only Empress. The mother of the first and second princesses had already passed away at different times.
“But still, she’s like a mother to me, isn’t she? It’s not like we never see each other. I’ve been thinking about what I can do for her.”
“You’re really considerate.”
“Thank you. This is the result of that thinking.”
As she said this, Siena showed a small bottle.
It was a medicine that contained a moderate amount (just enough to get addicted) of op*ium dissolved in wine. It was something that didn’t exist in this world originally, but Siena came up with it.
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“If she actually drinks this, her symptoms of nostalgia should be alleviated.”
But in return, she would be thrown into a world of infinite joy that had taken root in the abyss, with side effects that would make her restless.
Originally, Siena didn’t intend to offer op*ium wine to cure the Empress’s nostalgia. Maybe if she wanted to play a trick on her.
“What we should worry about more is that Siena will become interested in the op*ium business because of this.”
The original development of the story was that Siena, who got ideas from watching the Empress fall into addiction in an instant, would start a systematic op*ium business. Eventually, she named it “Ambrosia” and began distributing op*ium wine in the Academy.
If left alone, it would become a world where students, professors, and graduate students could easily access op*ium.
Unfortunately, I was very likely to become the manager of that business. If various accidents happened at the Academy because of op*ium, the protagonist, who was nosy, would track me down and start a fight. Then I would be done for.
“She’s a pitiful woman, so I have to do at least this much for her.”
Siena seemed excited at the thought of giving op*ium to the Empress. I could tell just by looking at the affectionate expression she had while gazing at the fully bloomed flower.
“Crazy woman.”
It was the moment I realized what kind of woman she was.