Chapter 124

Ah.

Siena let out an involuntary exclamation.

It was because Alan had taken off his coat and slowly approached her.

Alan, wearing the uniform of an army officer. Despite his tall stature and good physique making it fit well, the outfit seemed strange considering his past. The idea of Alan, once a member of the Royal Knights, wearing a military uniform was absurd.

“Of course, someone like him probably doesn’t care about such things.”

Every member of the royal family, whether direct or collateral, even those betrothed to the royalty, held honorary military ranks. Alan must have registered his name to maintain a minimum level of propriety.

Alan, looking uncomfortable in the stifling uniform, took it off and hung it up. Siena noticed his well-trained physique, a result of long-time discipline.

Compared to knights of similar experience, Alan seemed to have trained far less—but his body still appeared solid and sturdy.

If an apothecary had such a physique, one would assume they had wasted time building muscles. Fortunately, Alan wasn’t the kind of apothecary who fiddled with herbs but was instead a drug supplier.

“Thanks for the help, Siena.”

“Are you praising me for behaving myself?”

“No, not at all.”

Since earlier, Alan had been subtly using casual speech with her. It made her feel closer to him. Of course, he would never use such language with Victoria, so this must be his way of signaling that he’d treat her differently.

This was a reward in itself.

But it wasn’t over just yet.

“Thanks to you, I’ve come up with a way to satisfy Victoria—within limits, of course. Honestly, it’s not really moderate. This method alone can still harm the empire, but it’s gentler than just flooding everything with crack.”

What kind of thing is crack?

Before Siena could ask, Alan donned gloves and a mask.

And then he suddenly began making medicine.

Was he going to teach her something?

That wouldn’t be bad, but it wasn’t exactly what she was desperate for. During the two days Alan had been dragged around by Victoria, they’d already experimented enough with drugs. She’d managed to extract 200 grams of morphine and 100 grams of ephedrine, just as a way to pass the time.

Right now, she wasn’t desperate for new knowledge about drugs.

‘Not that it would be a bad thing.’

Thinking it was going to be a standard lesson, Siena stood beside Alan.

But…

Alan didn’t teach her anything. Instead, he refined the cocaine paste Siena had recently made for fun by reacting it with acid, then weighed the result on a microbalance.

The end product? 0.4 grams of cocaine. Compared to the usual amounts Alan produced, this was an extremely small quantity.

“Alan, what exactly are you trying to do with this?”

In place of a reply, Alan showed her the cocaine packaged in wax paper.

Was he giving her cocaine as a reward for being good?

Siena didn’t know much about the effects of cocaine. She only knew from rumors that the elves, while addicted to heroin, occasionally paired it with cocaine for “stimulation” rather than “sedation.” Ephedrine, favored by drug users, was said to be far weaker in comparison.

She wasn’t interested in trying it.

Had Alan noticed the question in her gaze? He quietly added,

“Victoria won’t change her mind. She’s already approached the elves through the Foreign Ministry to purchase cocaine leaves growing wild around Medelin. The elves would probably agree if given sufficient payment.”

“Probably, since you already drained their treasury with heroin.”

“And they’re going to set up plantations gradually. If we can’t sway Victoria, then we need to consider selling drugs in a way that causes less harm to people. I hope you’ll help me find a better method.”

“Selling drugs with less harm…?”

Siena tilted her head, then let out a defeated laugh.

So, Alan thought she had become really nice, didn’t he?

Of course, she had every intention to be compliant in front of Alan. After all, her sister was borderline insane, and her estranged, half-sibling, also insane, was soon returning to The State anyway. There would be enough chaos to enjoy without needlessly antagonizing Alan.

But she had no intention of helping the entire empire.

Her personal goal was simple: to see the Great Eastern Kingdom, now slowly decaying because of Victoria, fall further into ruin.

Surely, the greater the damage, the greater the amusement.

She didn’t particularly care about the empire, but she found watching their suffering entertaining.

‘And I can’t say no anyway, can I?’

As she was hesitating awkwardly during that moment,

“Siena.”

Alan, sitting on a chair, tapped his knee to get her attention.

Only then did Siena realize that Alan’s question wasn’t out of a desire for wisdom but a playful chance to reward her good behavior. His gaze was unusually soft and curved.

Siena instinctively looked at Alan’s lap.

She wanted to sit there, and maybe even hug him. But she held herself back for a second.

“Not here.”

“Then let’s go somewhere else.”

If she was going to get his affection, she didn’t want it to be in the production facility with the lingering smell of solvents.

Alan nodded with a smile and lightly placed his hand on her small shoulder. Siena’s heart started fluttering, wondering what behavior would earn her proper praise.

She tightly held onto the sliver of cocaine Alan had handed her. Initially uninterested, it had now become her assignment.

—

Of course, Alan didn’t take Siena to the bedroom.

Instead, they went to the guardroom just outside the bedroom.

Where the maids waited during the day and her guards kept watch at night.

Only knights or female officers were allowed to guard here since just through one door lay the sleeping quarters of an Imperial Princess.

Right outside the bedroom.

“Siena, have a seat here.”

Considering the maids were watching, Alan reverted to formal speech, unlike in the production room.

Still, her dignity as a princess was not going to be preserved.

Because the seat I offered her was not a chair but my lap.

Siena hesitated for a moment, then lightly placed her bottom on my thigh. She seemed uncomfortable at first, only fidgeting with my shoulders. The maids exchanged glances, then quickly turned to face the wall.

“To all of you, just leave.”

As I lightly embraced Siena’s waist to prevent any comments from the maids, her body tensed slightly under my touch. I gave her a gentle pat.

“Tell me.”

“Hmm?”

“How are we going to distribute the drugs to The Empire going forward?”

“Ah.”

She responded only with an exclamation.

Even she can falter sometimes, it seems. I had expected her to think about it on the way here, but it appears she was just daydreaming. Her flushed cheeks betrayed her. Fortunately, it seemed her sharp mind hadn’t disappeared. Siena quickly composed herself and began to mumble.

“We could sell it as tea instead of refined cocaine… but it’d be hard. We were the ones who introduced tea culture to The Empire, after all. They probably won’t buy any tea we sell. Unless it was so instantly addictive that just drinking it could cause dependency, but I don’t think raw coca leaves could do that.”

“…”

“Was what I said… correct?”

It was the right answer.

Instead of replying with words, I pulled her closer onto my lap and kissed her cheek. Just a light touch, but her body tensed quickly.

Clearly, she expected other forms of praise when she said something to my satisfaction.

“Yes. Very accurate.”

When I patted her bottom to encourage her, she started offering more thoughtful suggestions.

“Maybe… wine? Keep going with that.”

“Do you mean mixing the cocaine with wine?”

The idea of lacing cocaine into wine.

It was inevitable.

The old Siena would have suggested mixing heroin and selling it instead. In comparison, cocaine wine was a much gentler option.

It was practically a kind gesture and potentially good for business as well. It would allow for a relatively natural infiltration into a country that was already wary of drugs.

“What about something like this…?”

Siena looked at me, her gaze filled with both anticipation and unease.

She seemed to be pondering if this was the kind of answer that would satisfy me and whether she needed to elaborate further.

She was likely also distracted by my hand on her butt and the existence of the maids, who were now standing by the wall, observing from afar. For someone who usually ignored palace attendants, this situation probably made her uncomfortable.

I let the silence stretch for a moment, then tilted my head as if dissatisfied.

“Huh…?”

Her purple irises darted nervously around.

Then, Siena leaned closer to me and hastily added,

“The higher-ups… even my sister?”

Her pronunciation was already a mess at this point.

Still, I understood what she was getting at.

She was suggesting selling fine wines laced with minute amounts of cocaine to the upper classes of the empire as an incredible stimulant. Or perhaps suggesting a strategy to corrupt the upper crust first to persuade Victoria.

“Compared to other methods, this is pretty gentle.”

Siena was anxiously waiting for my response, her face tense.

The hand that had been fidgeting was now hidden between her thighs. She seemed completely unaware of how inappropriate her posture was, her anticipation clearly outweighing her embarrassment.

I had one final question.

“Siena, however, this way fewer people will get hurt. And the lives of the users won’t crumble as quickly as expected. Since cocaine simply has slower side effects compared to heroin. People will stay relatively happy for a while.”

Siena shook her head, saying it didn’t matter. Even though this method would mitigate the size of the disaster coming to the empire, she appeared to find it acceptable. She even looked at me with an impatient gaze, questioning if this wasn’t enough for me.

There was no need to torture her further. A simple show of affection would suffice.

“Good job.”

As I leaned in, Siena quickly closed her eyes.

“Hmm.”

Our noses touched first, then there was a soft “click” sound as her soft lips were gently pressed against mine. Her lips tasted faintly sweet, probably from drinking sugary coca tea earlier.

Siena’s arms around my neck gradually tightened.

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