Chapter 123

I was strolling through the indoor garden of the Imperial Palace, flanked by two imperial princesses.

On my left was Siena.

Unlike her haggard parents, Siena looked fresh and lively.

She had a cute face that hadn’t yet lost its baby fat. She was even wearing a pink bell-line dress.

Her skirt billowed in a bell shape with every step she took, fluttering gently. It was probably because she needed to play the part of the emperor’s beloved second daughter.

“Alan. I don’t actually want to sightsee.”

“I understand. Then what would you like to do?”

“What we always do, just the two of us.”

What we always did… It was the production of narcotics.

Though to call it something we “always” did might be a stretch, given Siena’s limited experience under my supervision—so far she had only extracted morphine, ephedrine, and caffeine.

I knew why she was making a show of her bond with me.

“It’s probably because of your sister.”

Walking beside me, separated by my presence, was Victoria. If Victoria had not decided to join us at the last moment, I would have been entertaining Siena by now.

But due to Victoria’s interference, our illicit activities were interrupted.

Victoriate sighed, clearly frustrated at Siena’s behavior, and even shook her head for emphasis.

“Siena, this isn’t the time.”

On hearing Victoria’s correction, Siena came to an immediate halt.

She wasn’t merely putting on a serious face out of nowhere. After all, for the past ten minutes, Victoria had been telling her that this wasn’t the time, that there were many important matters to discuss, and that she would be borrowing Sir Alan for a while in order to restrain Siena.

She was right, of course—not the moment to engage in such frivolous behavior.

I decided to first listen to what the two of them had to say.

Though the fact that they had mutually agreed to a joint engagement was true, there had been no sudden improvement in their sisterly affection. In reality, Victoria had made the sacrifice for the greater good, and Siena had only allowed it because she didn’t want to lose me.

Determined to find a solution, I began by observing.

“Sister, do you even know what we usually do and still believe this isn’t the time?”

“It’s….”

“You remember what you said yesterday, right? About wanting to ease father’s burdens from now on. Actually, come to think of it, you even referred to yourself as the next emperor. That hasn’t been officially announced yet, but I’m not here to quarrel with you. Just keep your word.”

“That’s why I need Sir Alan.”

“You can’t do anything without Alan?”

Siena’s sharp reproach.

“What?”

“Why don’t you start by handling tasks you can manage on your own? I’ve also promised to be engaged to Alan, and I can’t even spend a little time with him?”

“…”

“And if you can’t work alone, that’s unfortunate. That insignia is wasted on you.”

Siena cast a regretful glance at the insignia pinned to Victoria’s uniform.

Victoria, responsible as a senior staff officer in not one but four divisions, was not just wearing an honorary rank but actually held the position of division commander.

Perhaps because there was no flaw in Siena’s argument, Victoria was unable to promptly rebut and fell silent.

She glanced alternately between Siena and herself for a moment.

Perhaps comparing Siena’s cute pink dress with her own red coat. Although wearing a military uniform, Victoria’s natural beauty was not diminished; if anything, Victoria held the upper hand in terms of sensuality, even in such attire.

‘Still, it must bother you.’

Dress versus uniform.

The heavily burdened heiress apparent and the imperial princess with time to play.

And even more significant was that Victoria herself had taken on all these responsibilities voluntarily.

The obvious reason for why even Victoria didn’t gracefully step back was clear: she couldn’t bear the fact that, immediately after the emperor’s approval, the first person I spent time with was Siena. Though she couldn’t outwardly show it, her face plainly stated, “Something’s wrong with this.”

This situation, which I myself had created, wasn’t going to be easily harmonized between the two of them.

‘How should I handle this?’

At that moment, for some reason, Siena let go of my hand which she had been holding lightly. She also reclaimed the choker she had shown me earlier. What’s more, as if signaling her intention to let Victoria have her turn, she nodded generously.

“It’s fine, go with my sister, Alan.”

“Eh?”

“Go ahead. And once you’re done with this important state business, come visit the production facility.”

“…”

Why was she yielding so easily?

Had she fully grasped the gravity of the current situation? It didn’t seem like that. If this was purely out of a desire to let her sister take her turn, that would be even stranger. Unless her attachment for me had suddenly vanished altogether.

“Go with sister. And listen to her madness.”

“Did you call my words madness?”

“After listening, you might think you have to treat me even better. I’ll be waiting.”

With that, Siena bid us farewell with a promise to see me later and left the scene. Although looking surprised, Victoria didn’t refuse this act of courtesy from her younger sister.

***

Contrary to Siena’s warning, Victoria didn’t spout any nonsense.

Instead, she continued to discuss practical matters only.

“The announcement of our engagement… I believe we should hold off until after the envoy delegation from Chinguk arrives. That should be in about three weeks.”

“It might leak before then.”

“Yes, rumors are inevitable, considering you have been awarded an imperial title today. …Therefore, I’m considering preemptively spreading the rumor and imposing silence on the palace attendants. Specifically, that our engagement is imminent. I don’t think anyone will suspect that Siena will also be engaged to you concurrently.”

A relatively rational statement.

Though the notion of a future emperor being engaged to his half-sister and another person seemed absurd, it was the best way to minimize backlash in the current circumstances.

Especially given that Victoria, until recently, had not even considered the idea of a ‘joint engagement.’ In contrast to Siena who had cooperated despite understanding the situation, Victoria had accepted Siena’s presence purely out of the necessity not to send me off to Chinguk.

“Though I admit, her composure is somewhat unsettling.”

Following this, Victoria and I carefully agreed on several sensitive issues.

“Sir Alan, your family will be shocked by this news. It’s truly unfortunate, but with only around five hundred people, their village might become too dangerous for them to continue farming. The regional nobles certainly won’t leave them in peace, will they?”

“Come to think of it, I wish to meet your family before this engagement becomes public. They will bear a great burden due to me and Siena, so it is only right to look after them personally.”

“…And here’s another matter. There’s someone you should meet. I will assign a bureaucrat to assist you, and through them, you will formally greet the imperial family. Additionally, I’ll order the Military Affairs Ministry to grant you an honorary military position. All members of the imperial household are expected to also hold officer ranks.”

Each of these was a necessary step, both ceremonially and practically.

I couldn’t see what was so crazy about it, but soon enough, my doubts would be cleared.

“Sir Alan, is the crop called coca easily mass-cultivated?”

This sudden question.

“Your Highness…?”

“I heard Siena mention this, but I wanted to verify with you. I have learned that this land usage privilege you’ve been granted—Thiria Valley—has an abundant water supply. How large a farm can be established there…?”

“Your Highness, hold on for a moment.”

What exactly was she talking about?

When I interrupted her, she blinked in surprise before sheepishly acknowledging her mistake with a somewhat apologetic smile.

And then she continued,

“I’m sorry, Sir Alan. I momentarily forgot that I hadn’t consulted you ahead of time. As you know, I have been incredibly busy…”

“That’s fine. Please continue now.”

After a slight pause, Victoria began speaking.

“I intend to export drugs to Chinguk.”

“Your Highness…?”

“I would appreciate it if you would call me by my name. The reason I granted you a supplementary title and the usage rights to Thiria Valley was for this very purpose. There’s hardly anywhere besides the Great Forest preserve where such plants can be cultivated secretly.”

“…”

Cultivate large quantities of coca in the Great Forest and export them to Chinguk. That was the gist of it.

Could this be a business idea Victoria had conceived after falling for Siena’s persuasion?

A single glance at Victoria’s expression was enough to confirm that it was not Siena’s doing—it was certainly her own idea. Siena had likely just smiled and offered some advice.

‘This is why she was called crazy.’

Victoria’s plan was on an entirely different scale from Siena’s antics. It was clear she wasn’t doing this out of malice or mischief.

“I know this isn’t proper. We are talking about selling drugs that are strictly prohibited within the empire to the people of Chinguk for profit. But if it succeeds, it will benefit the empire immensely.”

“Victoria… is there a reason you came up with this idea?”

“Would it be a lie if I said I wasn’t resentful of Empress Lianhua? The main reason I had to reluctantly accept Siena was because she intervened, claiming compromise. If you suspect my intentions, please evaluate them yourselves. …Am I acting out of emotion?”

No, it was worse because she wasn’t.

“I ask for your help regardless of the difficulty. I have already accepted my younger sister in order to protect you. Everything I do is for the sake of the empire, including this.”

Victoria then began explaining the rationale.

She even mentioned Anais. “Do you think Chinguk would forgive Anais’s pardon for free?” she questioned.

Given such a compelling explanation, I couldn’t refuse. After conditionally agreeing to proceed carefully, Victoria finally nodded, visibly content.

…

It was two days later that I found Siena.

I was delayed because of the tasks Victoria had ordered.

Siena spent those two days patiently waiting in the production facility. When I arrived, she was still working. Outside, the staff of Medoff Pharmaceuticals were busy dividing the morphine and caffeine she had extracted.

When I entered the production room,

I noticed Siena lowering her mask and sipping tea.

Next to her was a tube of coca paste she had made herself. When I glanced at it cautiously, she smiled and shook her head from side to side.

“It’s just brewed leaves.”

“That’s fine.”

Siena mentioned that she was taking a short break due to the shortage of hydrochloric acid, casually sipping tea brewed from coca leaves. Even someone with a sweet tooth like her seemed to find it to her liking. However, the reason she was grinning at me wasn’t because of the tea’s taste.

“How did it go with your sister?”

Not responding, I remained silent. Siena smiled knowingly and nodded.

“A shame. Is there anything I could help with?”

Siena, who had spent two days making drugs as a hobby and now even offered her assistance. I understood why she had let Victoria take her place. She clearly wanted to outshine Victoria, who had become even more radical than herself in the interim.

If that was her goal, she had succeeded.

Siena did indeed appear relatively more virtuous.

And I was even somewhat grateful, as the sight of the coca tea in her hand inspired a solution to Victoria’s request.

“Thank you, Siena.”

“Sure, but is that all?”

Of course, I had no intention of dismissing it with mere words.

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