3 – 3. The Virtuous Lady
Fortunately, I had an advantage over the villainess when it came to narcotics.
The reason was none other than my younger sister.
Choi Yerin, an MD who had contracts with two clubs and worked there.
She didn’t just entertain a few female customers during the weekdays; her scale was much larger. Her target customers were those who spent over ten million won at the main tables.
She received a commission from the sales brought in by those high-end customers, earning around two million won per month. It seemed like she also met many celebrities.
The secret behind her impressive sales skills at such a young age was dru*gs.
She had been involved in the dru*g trade since high school.
In her first year of high school, she cultivated hallucinogenic mushrooms (successfully).
In her second year of high school, she smuggled ketamine internationally.
After that, she started supplying ecstasy and liquid marijuana to party rooms where high school students hung out. She even used two native English teachers as her suppliers.
Until then, she had only sold to her friends on a small scale…
“Her scale rapidly grew after she got a job at the club.”
All the people she used to supply dru*gs to in high school came from wealthy families. Yerin attracted her friends to become club customers and even controlled them, establishing a powerful network. The clubs competed to scout Yerin.
There were not just a few young dru*g dealers in Korea.
But what made Yerin frightening was that she wasn’t doing this just to make money.
Unlike me, who cut ties with my parents, she was still receiving a steady allowance. She could live comfortably without working for the rest of her life.
She simply enjoyed supplying dru*gs at a low price, taming people, and exploiting their weaknesses.
“There’s one customer who is a trainee and got caught by the police for simple possession. Even though I could have used my name to get him off with a non-indictment opinion, he insisted on enduring it until the end. He even begged me not to cut ties with him.”
“Yerin, someday you will get caught. Don’t regret it and stop.”
“I’ve even found a substitute in case of that. A plausible candidate.”
“What?”
“No matter the situation, I’ve designed it so that I can escape. Don’t worry.”
…There was a time when someone said something like that to me. I didn’t want to abandon even my younger sibling, so I just let it go, but it was a moment when I felt like cutting ties.
‘And then they blamed me when the accident happened.’
Come to think of it, I wondered why they singled me out when they could have passed it onto someone else. Did they worry that I would expose them to the police?
It was a strange role, but it didn’t seem to matter.
After all, I was already possessed.
“Alan. With this, even our pitiful Empress can escape from her obsession with perfume, right?”
In front of me, a wicked woman, incomparable to someone like Choi Yerin, was laughing.
It’s toxic, like my family, but she even had power over Siena. A kind of power that wouldn’t be diminished even if she turned a noble-born prince into a fool.
And now, she was asking for my opinion without even using a title with the Empress. She may not be my birth mother, but still, to belittle herself in front of her subordinate.
‘There must be some resentment.’
Siena’s birth mother was a tragic woman who became the wife of the Emperor and died not long after.
But the Emperor, just before getting hurt, received the esteemed princess from the East as his new wife. It was a strategic marriage to restore shattered foreign relations due to the succession war. It was something he couldn’t do to Siena, who was just a baby at the time.
And now, there is a competition between the third princess, Annais, born to the Empress, and Siena, over the position of the Crown Princess. It would be strange if Siena didn’t have any resentment towards the Empress.
Still, this is a bit…
“At first, I thought about making her smoke through a pipe.”
“That’s common. It can also be used in the form of a snuff.”
“Really? But it turns out the Empress wasn’t a smoker. I thought all Asians, including children and women, smoked, so I thought the Empress was a smoker. I was wrong. But it wouldn’t be appropriate to just force it on her.”
“So you’ve tasted the wine.”
“It’s not just any wine, it’s port wine. The 8-year-old Ruby Port that the queen usually enjoys. It’s probably the only thing she truly loves among the customs of this place.”
“….”
Port wine has a considerably high alcohol content compared to regular wine. It’s sweet and delicious, but if you sip it without thinking, the taste can easily fade away. It’s already a disastrous situation that the queen, who suffers from mental illness, relies on alcohol.
But mixing it with op*ium?
If things go wrong, there’s a high chance that the queen, who already lacks a sense of justice, will lose her sanity. That would be disadvantageous for me as well.
“I have to stop this somehow, no matter what.”
I needed a way to prevent the queen from descending into op*ium addiction and to hinder Sienna from recognizing the commercial value of op*ium.
I quickly started scheming.
*
After a while of silence, Sienna’s crimson eyes were fixedly staring at me. She probably wanted me to speak up quickly.
“It’s burdensome, really.”
A highly capable hunting dog.
That was Sienna’s perception of me, nothing more.
Alan Maydoff was fundamentally an excellent inspector.
The fact that he was a knight itself was evidence that he was not an ordinary talent. In this medieval world, guns and cannons had already become mainstream in the military. In such an environment, outstanding knights and wizards who could excel with asymmetric power were extremely rare.
But the reason Sienna insisted on raising Alan and making him her right-hand man was not just because of his skills. It was because he could accomplish any task without a word of complaint.
And if he also had the function of an advisor? It meant becoming an irreplaceable confidant.
“But that’s not what I want.”
That was why I hesitated now. If I wanted to prevent the predicted disaster, I had to actively voice my opinions, but I didn’t want to attract Sienna’s attention. It would make it even harder to escape from her later.
“Indeed, it seems like a troublesome situation. There was no need for it in the first place… Perhaps my expectations were too high.”
“Your Highness.”
“I understand, so step back. If I need you later, I will call for you.”
Princess Sienna gestured for me to leave, as if her expectations had been shattered.
In my heart, I truly wanted to leave, but it was not something I could do. After all, I had to prevent her from consuming op*ium, just as much as I could.
“Your Highness, before I go, I have something to say regarding the Empress.”
“Just call her the Empress.”
“…Yes, the Empress. I apologize, but offering op*ium to her will not benefit you, Your Highness.”
Sienna pretended to be innocent and tilted her head.
“Benefit? I only wish to cure her perfume addiction.”
“Perhaps the perfume addiction will improve. However, without op*ium, her body will become unable to withstand even a moment without it. Initially, it may be once a week, but before long, it will be every three days, and eventually, she will need to consume op*ium and wine day and night.”
“Isn’t that something we’ll see in due time?”
“There is no need to wait and see. It is certain. Once she starts, the dosage will increase rapidly. At some point, it won’t be about the effectiveness of op*ium itself, but rather the unbearable pain when she doesn’t consume it. That is the nature of such a dru*g.”
“……”
“Your Highness, I believe you are already aware of that future.”
Sienna couldn’t refute my words.
She probably didn’t have specific knowledge about the side effects. After all, it was a world without the concept of narcotics.
However, Sienna must have known that excessive op*ium consumption would make a person foolish. That’s probably why she had prepared so diligently in the first place. And now, as an ignorant knight, I had understood her intentions.
“It doesn’t seem unpleasant.”
I continued speaking without stopping.
“In my opinion, Your Majesty’s target should not be the Empress.”
“Why?”
“The current Empress lacks political power. She doesn’t engage in any external activities.”
“There are many who believe that the Empress doesn’t even know our language.”
“What good would it do to neutralize a quiet Empress? I believe it would only increase Your Majesty’s resentment. And if an accident were to occur due to op*ium, for example, Your Majesty would not remain silent.”
At this point, Siena’s eyebrows slightly furrowed.
“Just because of a little op*ium accident? It would only lead to a slight daze. That’s too much.”
“No. I dare predict here that once she starts using it, she will soon reach the point of seeking op*ium upon waking up. Chills, spasmodic sneezing, and severe stomach pain will prevent her from sleeping.”
“…Go on.”
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“With op*ium, she may be able to sleep comfortably. However, if such incidents repeat several times, there will come a day when she won’t wake up.”
Do you truly desire that, Your Majesty?
Siena did not refute. She simply touched her chin with her slender fingers, deep in thought. There was a sense of accomplishment in having even the Empress’s death on her lips.
“Siena doesn’t want to kill the Empress.”
No, of course, she would be grateful if she died. It would mean the elimination of a rival. However, it seemed that she didn’t want to incur the Emperor’s hatred because of it.
“Because she wants to become the Crown Princess.”
After contemplating, Siena finally hardened her expression and looked at me.
“Alan, so what do you suggest we do?”
“We should not addict the Empress to op*ium but rather provide her with treatment. It’s not just about helping out of goodwill. There is a way to erase political debts.”
“Really? Help her?”
She seemed reluctant. Of course, I anticipated such a reaction.
In times like these, he added a word to lure Siena.
“…In addition, the reputation of the third princess, who is also the empress’s offspring, can be dragged through the mud in the slums.”
Only then did Siena nod as if intrigued.
Indeed, he finds relief in tormenting others. Although Siena harbors no ill feelings towards Princess Anais, it’s undoubtedly better for her to be on this side than succumbing to op*ium and turning into a beggar, just like her mother.
“Alright. Give it a try.”
As soon as permission was granted, he revealed the plan he had just devised.
It was a plan to package Siena as a virtuous daughter.