6 – 6. Moonrise
Sienna and I, riding in a carriage, left Thames Palace and headed towards the imperial palace where the emperor and empress resided.
In each palace where the nobles resided, there were high-level wizards capable of teleportation.
However, we chose to travel by carriage to the palace to give Princess Jin-yeong of the Third Imperial Princess Camp time to prepare. It was to welcome the princess.
“How do you think Anais will appear?”
“Well… I know that she has a lot of contact with the nobles, especially the influential ones involved in banking or trade.”
“Those people move for their own interests.”
“To make a good impression on the Third Imperial Princess, there must be nobles who actively respond.”
Sienna nodded her head, looking forward to meeting her step-sister.
What if I hadn’t intervened? Sienna would have entered the Empress’s chamber alone, carrying op*ium.
If the Empress had been cautious, Sienna would have shown her audacity by smiling and saying, “You don’t trust me, do you?” She would have boldly taken a sip of op*ium wine, showing her recklessness. Pressured by her boldness, the Empress would have quickly succumbed to op*ium and fallen into corruption.
“But this is better, definitely.”
Sienna looked at the elegant medicine cabinet, silently rehearsing the scenario she had prepared in her mind.
There was a moment of silence.
Only after the view of the palace came into sight beyond the window did Sienna glance at me without wiping away the smile on her lips.
“Allen.”
“Please speak.”
“If things go wrong this time, you will definitely take responsibility. If the Empress… Silovin? If she eats it and has even the slightest reaction, I will pretend to be surprised and deny responsibility. So, you handle it.”
“Yes. If something goes wrong, I will immediately resign from my knighthood.”
“Don’t worry, there won’t be any deaths. If possible, I will strip you of your official position and have you continue working under me. Of course, unofficially and in secret.”
“…”
“What about managing the kennel?”
Even if the plan fails, the gracious words promising to take care of my livelihood.
The consideration from my superior didn’t suddenly move me. After all, it was a suggestion to play the role of a praying servant in the secret gambling den he owned. It was a life mingling with the bottom dwellers, occasionally watching dogfights.
Still, it was much better than being pushed into the dru*g trade.
The thought that the worst was already behind me served as motivation of sorts.
“I will willingly accept.”
“Relax your expression. I’ll keep my promise if we succeed. I’ll give you not the requested 1 million dollars… No, the equivalent value in goods.”
Not cash but goods? I found it peculiar, but I didn’t dwell on it.
Dealing with the impending matters took precedence.
“Your Highness, we have arrived.”
The carriage had reached the grounds of the imperial palace.
To welcome the Emperor’s direct descendant, a crimson-clad royal guard was lined up, even the chief courtier was present. Perhaps Sienna judged that it’s better to have a lot of spectators as she nodded with a bright expression.
“Second Princess, would you like to greet His Majesty? He is currently in the office.”
“I want to meet the Empress first. Lead the way.”
Sienna, too, had erased any traces of a smile by now.
She was wearing a dress that somewhat complied with the imperial protocol. A ball gown with a combination of white and red.
Even her neatly arranged silver hair was adorned with a cute tiara.
Externally, she was the beautiful princess worrying about her ailing mother. To me, she was nothing more than a target to sever ties with as soon as possible.
Tension filled the air on the way to the Empress’s chamber.
It wasn’t because of my mood. The courtiers looking at us all had lowered eyes, and even the royal guard soldiers supporting their guns with a rigid posture had stern expressions. It was evident that they knew something was about to happen.
I confirmed the reason for this tension upon reaching the audience room.
“It’s been a while, Unnie.”
It was the Third Princess Anais who personally welcomed us.
With mixed blood, her hair was black. Perhaps because she was one of the heroines of the original work, she was naturally beautiful. It’s not like I’m in a position to appreciate someone else’s beauty at the moment.
The fact that a girl who should be attending classes at the academy is here… It’s probably because they obtained intelligence about Sienna, my half-sister. Noble supporters surrounded her like a screen.
“They must have deemed witnesses necessary.”
This meant that they decided to make a move.
I casually noticed Sienna suppressing a laugh, but fortunately, she didn’t burst into laughter. It seemed like she was holding back for greater enjoyment.
**
What’s needed now is acting skills.
After a brief confrontation, Sienna stepped forward. It was something we had agreed upon in advance.
From Noble mtl dot com
“Anais, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Sienna greeted with a trembling voice.
An awkward smile lingered on her lips, and there was tension in the hand that held the hem of her dress. Like someone holding a hidden agenda.
“That’s about right. Don’t shake too obviously; it might raise suspicions.”
The coordinated movements were natural as well.
Sienna glanced around, saying, “I guess we’ll have to wait for the next opportunity,” and gradually withdrew her foot. She even glanced at me, signaling me to do something. She looked like a woman in distress who wanted to escape.
Thanks to that performance, the Third Princess seemed to gain courage.
“No need for that, Unnie. We can’t take two steps for the same mission, right?”
“It’s not important anyway.”
“Not important? I heard you found a cure for Mother. I was delighted when I heard that and came all the way here.”
“What… no, what are you trying to do?”
Sienna hesitated for a moment, then opened her eyes wide and growled. Anais laughed warmly as if finding her amusing.
“I’m not trying to do anything, I just have something I’m curious about, sis.”
“What is it?”
“It’s just strange to me why you’re being so cautious. If you’ve found such a good medicinal herb, you should hurry up and give it to me, instead of being so careful.”
Sienna’s attitude was one that could never be seen unless she thought I brought her a poisonous plant.
It was also evidence that Bonno, whom I had sent as a decoy, did a great job. Did she even pretend to be a conscientious whistleblower while crying?
“Sis. If it’s such a good medicine, I hope you give me a chance to broaden my horizons.”
“I don’t really understand what you’re trying to say.”
“I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but it’s the first time I’ve heard that there’s a medicine for nostalgia. I was so curious that I asked the professor who teaches herbal medicine.”
“And?”
“The professor said there is no such medicine. But… in the midst of that, I heard something interesting. …Sis, do you happen to know what they do if a mentally ill person comes out of the impoverished district where people struggle to survive?”
“I don’t know. You’ll have to enlighten me.”
As the two princesses became more and more serious, the air in the room became colder.
Unlike the smoky Sienna, Anais looked truly tense. Sweat even formed on her forehead. It was the hesitation before administering the poison.
No matter what, it wouldn’t be easy to confront her step-sister head-on. But she had already said a lot that couldn’t be taken back.
Finally, Anais slowly opened her mouth.
“It’s often said that they give the patient a herb called ‘toxic plant’ to make them obedient. They even feed it to babies. …They say that if you take it for a long time, you’ll go blind or get lung disease, but do poor people even have the luxury to worry about that?”
With these words, silence fell in the room.
‘She knows that we actually brought the toxic plant.’
This statement was equivalent to a princess sniping at another princess, asking, “Are you going to feed poison to our mother?” It happened in front of an audience of double-digit dignitaries. It seemed that a public spat between the princesses would cause less controversy.
I hadn’t expected it to go this far.
However, since Anais had set the stage, there was no need to hold back. No, it would be more accurate to say I couldn’t hold back.
“Third Princess, may I speak?”
I broke the silence and intervened.
“Just a mere knight.”
“I truly apologize. However, I couldn’t continue watching the harmony of noble individuals being disrupted. With Your Highness’s permission, I would like to ask just one thing. Do you intend to suggest that this potion contains poison?”
“It’s not necessarily like that.”
“I believe you won’t provide an answer like ‘I tried it without any evidence.'”
As I kept pressing, the Third Princess frowned, lips curling in an expression of annoyance.
Normally, in such situations, the attendants on the other side would intervene, trying to defuse the tension, but the Third Princess’s screens remained tense, observing without interference.
They all seemed like heavyweight figures, perhaps akin to bank executives or stock exchange presidents. Or maybe they were just cautiously assessing the situation.
“It’s regrettable, Your Highness. Are you accusing me of a plot to poison?”
“When did I…!”
Anais protested, but I ignored her.
Now I had to teach the truth to the Third Princess, who was entangled in this baseless conspiracy. After all was said and done, she might face difficult times, but it couldn’t be helped. My own life was no walk in the park either.
“Alan Maydoff? I’ve heard your name. What do you plan to do after confronting me like this?”
“I don’t have the confidence to handle the aftermath. I honestly fear what retaliation I might face. But as a knight, I’ve stepped forward only because I must protect my lord’s honor.”
I opened the medicine cabinet with a brief melancholic smile. Inside, there was a white pill made of hallucinogenic mushrooms. However, not all of them contained psilocybin; more than half were just fake pills made to resemble them.
Naturally, these were prepared for deceptive purposes.
I immediately grabbed one and swallowed it.
“Alan, what are you doing!”
“There’s only one way to prove that it’s harmless, isn’t there? I may not experience any effects since I’m not a perfume addict, but that’s beside the point. Your Highness, Sienna, if tasting it myself is not enough…”
In response to my call, Sienna, with a disappointed smile, also took one of the fake pills.
“So, you’ve brought this upon me as well. I won’t forget, Anais.”
She looked straight at Princess Anais and put the pill in her mouth.
“Huh…?”
“Now that your suspicions are cleared?”
Princess Anais’s face contorted in realization that something was wrong, but it was already too late.