Chapter 36

I wish time could just stop here.

This was the murmured thought of Princess Siena, the Second Princess, as she felt her heart flutter.

Her lips wouldn’t stop twitching, out of her brain’s control, her heart was racing uncontrollably, and her face felt flushed despite not touching a single glass of wine.

Siena was intoxicated by an indescribable sense of accomplishment. It could also be called a sense of relief or even euphoria.

One thing was certain: very rarely in her life had she felt this happy.

“Still, I need to calm down,” Siena told herself.

If she didn’t, she’d likely end up swaying like the Empress Lianhua who had once been intoxicated by psilocybin. To properly enjoy this crucial moment, she needed to keep her wits about her.

“Mom… I really didn’t know…”

nearby, Princess Anais was babbling incomprehensibly, her eyes misty as she sought her mother. Her pitiful state, which would have normally annoyed Siena, now struck her as endearing.

Just twenty minutes prior, Anais had been full of bravado, mocking everyone within range. Now, she stumbled over her words, reduced to mere stammering—truly a sight to behold. While it amused Siena to watch, there was another reason for her silence.

It was because of the Emperor.

“What in the world do you intend to do about this?!”

The Emperor seemed equally distraught, his sorrow no less than Anais’s. He had always been deeply devoted to his daughters.

When Victoria was newly promoted to lieutenant and stationed near the Great Forest’s border, the Emperor had pressured the military into sending daily status updates three times a day. He had also once executed the Madain Kingdom’s ambassador for calling Anais a half-breed during a banquet in a drunken stupor.

Siena herself had benefited from the Emperor’s protection. Six months ago, when she had taken one of the Emperor’s hunting dogs without permission and gambled with it at a dog-fighting arena—an act almost no royal would tolerate—the Emperor had worked tirelessly to suppress the news. When the storm finally subsided, all he did was call her in and ask her to exercise some restraint.

But now, he seemed unwilling to protect Anais.

Had his affection for his youngest suddenly disappeared? Certainly not.

“He can’t shield her because it’s an unforgivable act,” Siena reflected.

The Emperor, who ruled the continent’s strongest nation and had ruthlessly diminished his own royal lineage to secure the throne, wasn’t without limits—even if such an admission seemed unlikely.

Anais wasn’t just guilty of carelessly distributing dangerous drugs but had also neglected her own mother in a moment of crisis—a betrayal of filial duty.

Because the Emperor knew there was nothing he could do to excuse her, he sat slumped as if the world had collapsed.

Siena, for her part, was biding her time. Mocking Anais in front of the Emperor now would likely bring tears to his eyes.

Fortunately, someone else stepped in to calm the Emperor.

“Your Majesty, please compose yourself,” came a gentle voice.

It was none other than Empress Lianhua. Placing her hand upon the Emperor’s broad shoulder, she began to soothe him.

“You, too, must be deeply disappointed.”

“Of course, I am! I had pinned my hopes on her until the very last moment, and now it feels like a betrayal. But now, more than ever, we need to remain steadfast.”

“… Very well.”

“Shall we do this instead? Even if we decide the punishment later… let her stay at the main palace for now. We need to supervise her so she doesn’t make matters worse, don’t we?”

Siena found herself nodding in agreement but felt a strange sense of dissonance upon hearing Empress Lianhua refer to her own daughter as “that child.”

While the moment was tense, and it might have seemed trivial, it struck Siena as odd. How could someone remain so composed after suffering from mental illness just a few months ago?

“Maybe I’ve made the right choice in getting closer to her,” Siena thought.

As she reflected, the Emperor slowly nodded.

“Let’s do as you say. We must find the right path together.”

“You’ve made a wise decision.”

Grasping the Empress’s hand, the Emperor let out a sound of affirmation before turning his now calmer gaze toward Anais.

“Daddy…!” Anais, attempting a pathetic grin, started to say something, but—

“Anais, you will take up residence at the eastern wing of the main palace temporarily. Until we decide your punishment, all external activities and your privileges as royalty are suspended. Do nothing without my permission.”

The Emperor’s decision seemed final.

“Huh?”

“Let’s go.”

With that, the Emperor exited the dining room alongside the Empress. Just before leaving, he glanced at Victoria and Siena but gave no further instructions. Empress Lianhua had gently advised, “The children need time to talk.”

After their departure, Victoria hesitated only a moment before following the Emperor, likely driven by her sense of duty as the eldest daughter to console her parents.

“As for me, I’m grateful,” Siena thought privately.

Now, only the two princesses and the palace attendants remained. With nothing left to restrain her, Siena finally let out a bright smile as she turned toward Anais.

“Anais, we have so much to talk about. I’ll call Alan soon.”

Anais’s eyes widened, glaring at her as if daring to challenge her.

Siena was relieved to see her sister still had some fight left in her.

—

It seemed the situation had finally come to a close.

“Sir Alan, Princess Siena requests your presence.”

That was definitive proof that Siena had summoned me. In fact, the reason I had followed her to the palace was for this very moment. I couldn’t leave the judgment of Anais solely to the Empress and Siena; their intervention was helpful, but I needed to ensure the matter’s resolution brought me the necessary leverage.

“Despite the inconvenience, since I’ve jumped in, I need to help clean up.”

The punishment Anais would receive wasn’t my concern, and I wasn’t particularly interested in it. Having ensured her life would be spared, the rest was something the imperial court could manage. She could be exiled to a remote rural area or sent to a monastery near the capital.

However, Anais had one final task to perform before receiving her punishment: personally mitigating the damage caused by the health syrup. I intended to make sure she cleaned up the chaos she herself had created.

Soon after, I faced the princesses.

“Your Imperial Majesty,” I began, only to be interrupted.

“Cut the formalities. There’s no one else here.”

“Understood.”

Lifting my gaze, I saw the two princesses staring at me with entirely different expressions: Siena, clearly satisfied with her plan’s success, and Anais, hanging her arms lifelessly while glaring daggers at me.

The unopened syrup bottle on the marble dining table told its own story of what had transpired.

“So, it seems Princess Anais didn’t partake in the counterfeit health syrup, correct?”

“Exactly as you expected, Alan. Imagine if she had drunk it without thinking? Her father would have surely tried protecting her, and who knows how that would have played out. Mrs. Chandler might have been the only casualty.”

“I previously informed Princess Anais about the side effects of ephedra in detail. She wouldn’t have dared consume such an amount recklessly.”

“Thanks to you, everything worked out smoothly.”

Their interaction irritated Anais, who muttered under her breath, “Fucking hell…”

I didn’t mind her swearing. What did a few curses matter?

“Princess, is this something you arranged?”

“Yes. Had you heeded my warning earlier and ceased the health syrup enterprise, none of this would have happened. By now, perhaps we’d be discussing artificial cultivation of psilocybin instead.”

“You’re mocking me…!”

“I’m not mocking you. I merely have a question for you. A response would benefit you greatly.”

The absurdity of my words prompted Anais to thump her own chest in disbelief. “What kind of jerk are you?”

I wasn’t immune to fear where royalty was concerned.

Why else would I have agreed to cooperate with Siena? If they decided, they could always endanger my safety.

I’d involved the Empress precisely because I couldn’t impeach Anais alone.

Even now, Anais was no longer a figure to fear.

“Thinking about it, this is all because of you, Alan Medoff!”

“Feel free to blame me. There will be ample time in the future for that. For now, I need an answer.”

“Why should I?”

“If you refuse to answer, I’ll simply take my leave with Princess Siena. Is that what you truly wish?”

“What’s going to happen next, huh?”

This comment made Anais’s eyes flicker.

She’d already suffered enough, but she surely wanted nothing more than to tear both me and Siena apart. However, she must have realized that making a fuss while her political career was over wouldn’t be prudent.

“If you don’t understand…”

Finally succumbing, Anais bowed her head deeply.

Moments later, the faint sound of sobbing reached my ears, but I chose to ignore it.

“Princess, how many people know the recipe for the health syrup? More specifically, how many know that its key ingredient is ephedra?”

This was the most critical question.

The health syrup’s rapid success was largely thanks to ephedra. Though a naturally occurring plant within the Empire, its precise efficacy was little known.

However, with knowledge of its source and growing conditions, replicating a similar product could be simple. They could label it under different names like “Strength Syrup” or “Heart Syrup,” or even mix it into wine or honey liquor. This cycle could potentially repeat in other forms.

“There’s no way she’d openly announce something if she thought critically about it…”

Unfortunately, Anais’s reply dashed my hopes.

“…The investors.”

“Pardon?”

“I’ve discussed ephedra’s procurement with some investors, suggesting cultivation for steady supply. …That’s when I mentioned its efficacy.”

She had already divulged ephedra’s properties to Chandler Syrup’s investors—twenty-six of them in total.

“Your Highness, this means people who already know the commercial value of the syrup, including those about to lose large sums of money, are also aware of its recipe. And you didn’t take steps to ensure their silence, correct?”

In response to my question, Anais merely nodded.

“If we hadn’t acted now, this could have been a disaster.”

The situation was more complicated than anticipated. I’d hoped to quietly resolve the matter, but that seemed unlikely. To minimize backlash, I had to push Anais harder.

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