TGW Chapter 31 Part 2

 

"The Sacred Tree’s blossom..."

The Emperor lifted his gaze, but all Sienna could see was the dark ceiling above them. Even so, she could sense what the Emperor was recalling: the day of his glorious coronation. How she wished she could see the scene unfolding in his memory—the breathtaking sight of the Sacred Tree blooming, and the overwhelming emotions that must have accompanied it.

The Emperor closed his eyes as if to erase the vision. The darkness behind his eyelids stretched on. When he finally reopened them, he looked at the Duke.

"The previous Emperor, too, experienced auspicious phenomena. You remember, don’t you?"

"What do you mean, Your Majesty?"

"When the previous Emperor led his procession around the capital, a mysterious beast appeared. It happened right in the heart of the city, witnessed by thousands. To the people of the Empire, he must have seemed like a ruler blessed by the heavens."

"Ah…," the Duke coughed awkwardly.

"Well, I should tell you now, Your Majesty," the Duke’s previously indifferent expression shifted, revealing a hint of discomfort.

"That whole event… it was staged."

"Staged?"

"The previous Emperor had weak political support. He needed every possible means to strengthen his base, including garnering favor among the common people."

"You’re saying the entire incident, the sudden appearance of the beast, and its calm submission before the Emperor, were all planned?"

"...Yes."

The Emperor burst into laughter, a sound full of genuine amusement.

"My mother wasn’t entirely wrong, then. She always claimed it was a farce, but with no way to prove it, she eventually gave up, muttering to herself."

The Duke, now slightly embarrassed, glanced away.

"So, that wasn’t the first time the Emperor met that beast, was it?"

"No. The previous Emperor spent a long time taming it. It wasn’t easy. The creature was extremely temperamental, especially around men—it hated having anyone approach it."

―Wait, is that...?

Sienna’s eyes widened in realization, letting out a quiet chuckle.

―Could it be...Rit?

It had to be. The creature they were speaking about seemed unmistakably like Rit, the unicorn that now belonged to her.

―Rit originally belonged to the Iron King? How curious.

She smiled at the thought, then sighed as it sank in.

―How foolish of me. I was simply delighted to receive such a rare creature.

Sienna now understood the significance of Kuhn's gift. In some countries on the continent, wars were fought over obtaining a sacred unicorn. Kuhn couldn’t have presented such a rare creature at her birthday banquet, in front of all those nobles, without a deeper meaning behind it.

―It was a gift to elevate my status.

She also realized why he hadn’t explained the significance—had he done so, she would have refused it outright.

"And how did the previous Emperor manage to tame it?" the Emperor asked.

"He tried everything he could think of, but in the end, he starved it," the Duke answered, his expression sour at the memory of it.

"The creature only accepted food from the Emperor when it was on the verge of starvation. As intelligent as it was, it was still just a beast, and it followed whoever fed it. But it never allowed him to ride it."

"Ah, so that’s why we never saw the Emperor ride it. I always thought he was simply being protective of the creature."

The Emperor chuckled, but after a brief moment of amusement, his expression grew more somber.

"Still, it was a blessed creature. After the previous Emperor passed, the beast starved itself and died shortly after. My mother had always coveted it. That was when I first realized how shameless she could be—coveting a creature like that. I should’ve thought more carefully about her back then…"

―Sigh...

Sienna sighed inwardly. Whether in the future or the present, thoughts of her mother always left her feeling weighed down. In both realities, her mother was a source of constant worry.

"The previous Emperor should have dealt with my mother more firmly. Take the greenhouse, for example. After he ascended the throne, she lost her title as Red King. Naturally, she should have relinquished the greenhouse. But instead, she went on a hunger strike, and my mother ended up keeping it. It was her fault for being unreasonable, and his fault for giving in. That’s how she learned that she could get away with anything."

The Emperor’s words spilled out in frustration, like a long-held grievance. Then, silence fell over the room once again. Just as the tension was about to become unbearable, the Emperor spoke again.

"Duke."

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"I believe that the previous Emperor, too, could have caused the Sacred Tree to bloom. I…"

The Emperor repeated the word I several times, as if struggling to express himself.

"I am guilty of failing him."

"Your Majesty, please don't dwell on the past. The previous Emperor never blamed you."

The Emperor shook his head, his expression firm.

"No. If he had known of my betrayal, he would not have forgiven me. Sometimes, silence is more deceitful than outright lies. I knew the truth, but I hid it from him. If he had known… about his greatest wish, he could have become one of the greatest emperors in the Empire’s history."

 

***

 

It had been a few days since Jeffrey Acheron, the last surviving member of the Acheron Ducal family, had made his public appearance under the Emperor's introduction. The most notable change was the restructuring of the investigative office, previously under the sole leadership of Marquis Rad. Now, the office had been split into two sections, with two heads: Marquis Rad and Investigator Acheron.

Though Jeffrey had yet to officially regain his title, the mere fact that he now held a position of power within the imperial investigation office signaled a shift in authority, with Marquis Raad’s power seemingly diminished.

Sienna was deeply unsettled by the news.

‘Jeffrey is the Iron King’s uncle and a key figure in these past events, so it makes sense he would join the investigation,’ she thought. ‘But shouldn’t that mean he falls under Kuhn’s authority? How can the Emperor allow this without giving Kuhn full control?’

The door opened quietly, and Beth entered.

“Your Highness, a servant from the Iron Palace requests an audience,” she said.

Sienna’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

Kuhn had been busy lately, working from early morning to late at night due to the changes in the investigation office. She had only been able to meet him briefly a few days ago, and they hadn’t spoken much. Kuhn had mentioned, “Soon, we’ll have a meeting between you, me, and the Iron King.”

“Let them in,” Sienna replied.

A servant from the Iron Palace entered and bowed deeply.

“Your Highness, the Iron King invites you to join him for tea. He says he’s come across some fine tea that he would like to share with you if you have time to visit the Iron Palace.”

Sienna nodded. “Tell the Iron King I will be there shortly. I have some time to spare.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As the servant departed, Sienna immediately stood up. She chose not to ride in a carriage and instead walked to the Iron Palace. Her mind was troubled. The last time she had visited the Iron Palace, it was to help save Countess Pope from her mother’s schemes, and she felt similarly unsettled now.

‘The Great Wish… What could it be?’ Sienna wondered.

After her dream, she had scoured the imperial archives, searching for any mention of it. Since she had never heard of it before, she assumed it wouldn’t be in any public documents.

She had searched the archives once before after her initial dream, so there wasn’t much new material to review. Yet, she found nothing. No clues about what the Great Wish could be.

Whatever it was, it seemed to play a crucial role in causing the Sacred Tree to bloom. Based on her dream, it appeared that the Emperor had withheld this information from the Iron King.

‘But then, where did I—where did the future me—learn it?’

Some vital knowledge was often transmitted through word of mouth rather than written records, especially if it was too dangerous or secretive to document. If the line of transmission was broken, the knowledge could be lost forever. But if this were such a secret...

‘Could it be something passed from Emperor to the next Emperor only?’

If that were true, it would mean the Emperor had shared it with Sienna but not with the Iron King, which didn’t make sense. The Emperor had supported the Iron King in the future, even to the point of fabricating his false maternal lineage. Why would he reveal such critical information only to Sienna?

As her thoughts raced, Sienna arrived at the Iron Palace. A servant was already waiting at the entrance to escort her directly to the reception room. As she entered, the two men inside stood up to greet her.

Sienna sat down beside Kuhn, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Dian, who was seated opposite them, gave the two a peculiar look before clearing his throat and speaking.

“I’m not sure where to begin,” Dian said, his voice slightly strained. “Sienna, I heard that you called for this meeting.”

“Yes, I did,” Sienna replied.

Her main concern for the meeting had been the growing tension between Kuhn and the Iron King. She didn’t want the situation to escalate because of her. But now, things had become even more complicated with the arrival of Jeffrey Acheron and the unsolved mystery of the Great Wish.

“You’re upset with me, aren’t you?” Sienna asked, her voice calm.

Dian chuckled bitterly.

“How could I not be? All this time, you’ve been working behind the scenes to become Emperor, yet here I was, thinking we were just competing over the Sacred Tree’s Crown. Turns out you knew far more than I did, and I must’ve seemed like a fool.”

“That’s not what I thought,” Sienna said earnestly.

“You say that, but I can’t help wondering if, deep down, you weren’t thinking I was being naïve. Not that I can blame you,” Dian replied. His usual lighthearted smile was absent, replaced by a somber expression.

“But what if I told you that I still plan to become Emperor?”

“If you’re entitled to the throne according to imperial law, I have no right to interfere,” Sienna said plainly.

“You’d just step aside?” Dian asked his tone one of genuine curiosity rather than suspicion.

“Do you know how many times imperial succession has been contested in the history of this empire?” Sienna asked.

Dian frowned. “I’m not sure.”

“There hasn’t been a single instance.”

“Really?”

“The Emperor’s successor has almost always been clear. Only once was there a time when a pair of siblings vied for the throne, and they had a significant age gap. So, even if you were to wear the Sacred Crown tomorrow until you have an heir who turns seven, I’d still be first in line for the throne. That gives me at least seven years to undermine you however I want. And since there’s no precedent, you’d have a hard time finding any guidance in history on how to deal with me.”

Her words, though spoken calmly, carried a chilling weight, and Dian found himself sweating under the tension.

“But I won’t engage in such a destructive battle. Because in the end, the ones who would suffer most from such a fight are the people of this empire,” Sienna added.

Dian stared at her for a long moment before lowering his gaze with a weak smile.

“Sienna, I’m not as noble as you. My world is much smaller. To me, my people matter more than anything. And when I say my people, I mean my wife and my child. I’d do anything to protect them. Can you understand that?”

For a brief moment, Dian’s gaze flickered toward Kuhn. It was quick, but he caught the surprised look on Kuhn’s face.

“Wait, Kuhn… You didn’t know about Violet being pregnant?” Dian asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I didn’t,” Kuhn replied, his voice flat.

Dian frowned, clearly having assumed Kuhn had known.

“Sienna, you didn’t tell him?”

“No, I didn’t,” Sienna admitted.

"Why?"

"I told the Iron Queen to keep her pregnancy a secret for now. But I can't go around telling everyone, can I?"

Dian, who had been staring blankly at Sienna, let out a few strange, hollow sighs that could have been laughter. The sighs turned into muffled laughter.

Dian laughed for a while, chuckling. He didn’t want to engage in a futile battle, as the Silver King had suggested.

But it wasn’t out of concern for the suffering of some nameless citizen. No, it was because he truly admired his strong and resilient sister, who would break before she ever bent.

"I'm about to tell you both a story that happened in some nameless country. It’s going to be a long story. Until I'm done, Silver King, Lord Rad, I hope you can both listen patiently, even if you have questions. Don’t ask anything."

Dian looked between Sienna and Kuhn, waiting for their response. Both nodded.

"It happened a long time ago, many decades ago. The royal family of that nameless country had a peculiar bloodline, passed down for generations. Because of this lineage, their place on the throne was guaranteed."

Not a single word from Dian’s story directly referenced the empire, the previous emperor, or the Acheron family.

It was merely a tragic event that took place in a nameless country decades ago. A king, out of jealousy for his subject, ended up killing him and crushing his entire family—a story perhaps too common.

At first, Sienna and Kuhn listened with puzzled expressions, not understanding Dian’s intention. But they soon caught on to the hidden meaning. Though they had promised not to ask questions, their expressions gradually hardened.

Kuhn had long wondered why the former emperor hated the Acheron family so much. He had thought it might be because they knew some dangerous secret about the royal family, something they were silenced for. It couldn’t be explained otherwise.

But to think this was the truth? It was frustrating, but at the same time, he understood.

He recalled an incident he had witnessed during his stay in a kingdom on the continent. A prestigious noble family had collapsed in an instant, embroiled in a scandal. The slightest pretext could lead to catastrophic consequences. Such cases were surprisingly common.

For Sienna, however, the shock was on a different level. To Kuhn, it was just a distant story about others. To Dian, who wasn’t particularly proud of his royal lineage, it was merely bittersweet.

But for Sienna, it was the devastating collapse of her world. Everything she had learned until now was a lie.

‘The supposed uniqueness of the divine race—was it a forced truth, not a natural one?’

She applied the story to her own situation. If the divine race truly lacked emotions, how could she explain the love, pain, and jealousy she felt? If the divine race were truly perfect, why did she, in her dreams of the future, experience regret and despair?

At the dawn of the empire’s founding, perhaps the royal family had indeed been special. Maybe they really were descendants of the gods.

But countless years had passed. By now, the divine race had mingled so deeply with humans that they could no longer be separated. They had children with humans, and learned their emotions.

‘Was it the obsession with the divine race’s perfection that drove the former emperor to hate Duke Acheron so much?’

In the past year, Sienna’s heart had broken and healed countless times, growing stronger with each break. She quickly steadied herself again. She had seen the future through her dreams. No strange event in this world could surprise her more than the miracles she had experienced.

Dian's story, which began in the distant past, flowed into the tale of a servant’s grandson, who, despite having royal blood, had to live as if dead.

"The child didn’t know who he was growing up. He was a mischievous boy, playing with the other children in the village."

He had to dye his hair constantly, lie about his age, and hide the secret of his identity from everyone. But as a carefree child, such matters didn’t seem serious to him. He believed the old man caring for him was his grandfather, and the middle-aged man who occasionally visited was his uncle.

Dian recalled the familiar face of the old man he used to call ‘Grandfather.’ That old man was the last butler of the Acheron family. Despite his frail body, he did whatever harsh labor he could to raise his master’s last bloodline.

The ‘uncle’ was a servant of the Acheron family. He wandered from place to place, searching for the family’s surviving members. When Dian turned ten, the ‘uncle’ met the surviving retainers of the Acheron family. They decided to take care of Dian.

The old man calmed Dian, who stubbornly refused to leave, by promising he would follow soon. But Dian never saw him again.

It was only years later that he heard the news. After sending Dian away, the old man had passed peacefully in his sleep, as if he had completed his final task. No one told Dian right away, fearing he’d be too shocked. Even now, Dian regretted not being by the old man’s side in his final moments.

The remaining Acheron survivors weren’t well-off either. But compared to the life Dian had lived in the slums with the old man, he was better fed and educated. He learned who he truly was.

All they wanted was for Dian to survive. The loyal retainers of the Acheron family clung to life with hearts full of sorrow, living only for the hope that Dian would remember his identity and keep the bloodline alive.

"The child hid his maternal lineage and was recognized as royalty. But he was always under threat, always fearing for his life. So he decided the only way to survive was to become king. Then, one day, he reunited with the uncle he thought had died. What happened after that... I don’t know. My story ends here."

Dian drank his now cold tea, moistening his parched mouth from all the talking. He glanced at Sienna, who was deep in thought, then turned to Kuhn.

"Lord Raad, is the division of tasks at the Investigation Bureau complete?"

"More or less."

"Anything different?"

"I’m not sure of the details, but the new investigator has been incredibly busy, meeting many people. If you summon him, I’m sure he’ll have a lot to tell you."

Dian let out a bitter smile.

"Several times I sent people, but each time, they refused with various excuses. They’re avoiding me."

"They're probably just being cautious."

Dian let out a sigh.

"...What are they planning?"

"It’s one of two things, I imagine."

"How so?"

Kuhn started to speak but then closed his mouth.

"Let’s hear your thoughts, Lord Rad."

"It’s nothing, I misspoke."

"Say it, whatever it is."

Dian stared at Kuhn, who pretended not to hear him and lifted his teacup.
"Are you really going to be this petty?"

"What good is it to hear my thoughts?"

"It’s not just your thoughts. I’m sure it’ll be one of those two outcomes you mentioned."

"Thank you for the overestimation, Your Highness."

"Hey!"

Dian, now irritated, shouted loudly. Then, startled, he slowly turned his head. Sienna was watching the two of them with a peculiar expression.

"Oh, Silver King. I got a little carried away..."

Sienna chuckled softly.

"You two seem to be closer than I thought. No need to watch your words just because I'm here. Did you two make up?"

Dian and Kuhn exchanged glances. Then, with a low, awkward cough, Dian spoke.

"Silver King, we never fought."

Kuhn added,

"We just let go of each other’s hand, that’s all."

Dian shrugged as if he had no intention of disagreeing.

Sienna looked at the two men, who resembled stubborn teenage boys and burst into laughter. At first, it was a small laugh she kept inside, but soon she was laughing heartily out loud. The two men couldn’t take their eyes off Sienna, who laughed so brightly.

Dian felt a lump in his throat for some reason. He had only ever seen Sienna’s cold, stern face. It felt like his unrequited desire to grow closer to her was finally being rewarded, even if just a little.

‘This guy has probably seen that smile often, huh?’

As he watched Kuhn gaze at Sienna with softened eyes, jealousy began to rise in Dian. He wanted to assert his authority as her older brother, to warn Kuhn to stay away from his sister. He imagined Kuhn’s troubled face and found it satisfying even just thinking about it.

After her laughter subsided, Sienna’s face remained full of smiles.

"It’s a strange thing," she murmured. The current situation, which felt like a comedy, was amusing to her. It was even better because this was reality, not some play that would end when the curtain fell.

"We can talk like this without raising our voices or hating each other."

Both men awkwardly shifted their gazes away.

"I want to ask the child in the Iron King’s story. Do you seek revenge?"

Dian’s eyes widened before he quickly shook his head.
"I feel sorry for those who have passed, but... I don’t know them. I’ve never met them. I don’t even remember my mother’s face, as we were separated when I was young."

Dian naturally shifted the story’s child to himself. It didn’t feel out of place, and no one pointed it out.

"My past doesn’t matter to me. But... the people around me think the past is important. And I don’t trust myself not to be swayed by their thoughts. They are people very precious to me."

Dian looked at Sienna with a sad expression and smiled weakly.
"Maybe there’s something wrong with me. I can’t be as clear-cut about right and wrong as you, Silver King."

Sienna realized that the real Dian and the one from her dream were indeed the same person.

When she first dreamed about him, she couldn’t understand his contradictions. The Iron King, who had become emperor, had spared his half-sister, even though she was a potential threat to him.

If he had seized the throne prepared to turn her into an enemy, he should have been a ruthless ruler, without mercy. Yet his worst cruelty had been stripping her of succession rights through forced marriage. That was the extent of his malice.

‘Not everyone can be like me.’

Though she pitied the Iron King for his soft heart, she didn’t find him pathetic. On the contrary, she was relieved to be able to have this conversation with him. If he had been just like her, they might have been forever at odds.

"Iron King, you need to find your own answer."

Dian stared at the floor in silence for a while before answering.

"...I know. I’m aware that I’m being rather shameless, clinging to you and complaining like this."

"But even if you find the wrong answer, as long as you realize it was wrong, it’s not a failure. I’ll make sure you snap out of it and help you find your way back."

Dian lifted his head. He looked at Sienna, wide-eyed. She smiled gently, despite her harsh words.

"You said it before, remember? If we go down the wrong path, we’ll call each other out."

"Right... I did say that."

"I still believe the divine race is special. After all, we’ve inherited the spirit of those who built this great empire. And you are one of their descendants. Be proud of that."

"..."

Sienna believed Dian needed time to think deeply and find his own answers. She tugged at Kuhn’s sleeve, signaling that they should leave.

The two rose quietly, without offering formal goodbyes. Dian silently watched them go.

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