As Sienna's fever broke,
her recovery was swift. Within half a day, her body temperature had returned to
normal. The physician, after confirming there were no lasting effects from the
fever, finally withdrew.
Despite having been
unconscious for days, Sienna showed no signs of the typical frailty one might expect.
Her skin still glowed with vitality, and her eyes were clear and sharp. However,
Beth noticed something different about her—a subtle, indescribable change.
It could have been that
Sienna, who had never experienced such a severe illness before, was merely
reacting to the unfamiliarity of it all. Beth dismissed her feelings as just
that—her imagination.
By evening, Sienna had
already risen from bed. Beth, concerned, advised her to rest longer, but Sienna
shook her head, insisting she was fine. After a bath and a change of clothes,
Sienna seemed to have completely returned to her usual self.
"Your Highness, until
just before you woke, the Red King was here, tending to you," Beth said,
hoping that this might help mend the cold relationship between mother and
daughter.
“Was she?” Sienna replied
with a detached tone.
"She was terribly worried
about you, Your Highness. It was the Red King who insisted on using the
medicine that ultimately brought down your fever. Without her determination,
the physician would never have used it," Beth continued, trying to paint
Patricia in a better light.
Sienna simply looked at
Beth for a long moment before letting out a faint, almost mocking smile.
"You’re quite the
optimist, aren’t you?"
Beth flushed, feeling
slightly embarrassed by her obvious attempts to praise the Red King.
"She’s not an easy
person, I’ll admit," Beth murmured, her emotions conflicted. "But
that’s how she has managed to secure and maintain her position. In comparison,
most of the Blue Kings or Red Kings in history were largely irrelevant."
Sienna listened without
reaction, her face unreadable.
"Your Highness,
forgive me if I overstep, but some of the Red King’s ambitions were not just
for herself, but for you as well," Beth said, her voice soft with sincerity.
Sienna remained
indifferent, unmoved by Beth’s words. They had no impact on her heart, which
remained distant from her mother’s actions.
“Your Highness, perhaps
visiting the Red King and offering her some comfort would…” Beth began, but Sienna
interrupted.
“Did you inform her that I
had woken?”
“Yes, Your Highness. I
assumed she would rush back immediately, but it’s been quiet. The maid who went
to the Red King’s palace wasn’t able to meet her.”
“Then that’s enough,”
Sienna said, brushing aside the suggestion.
“Your Highness …”
Sienna rose from the sofa.
“I feel stiff. I’ll go for
a walk.”
“Your Highness, you’ve only
just recovered… It’s getting late,” Beth cautioned.
“What does it matter if
it’s late?” Sienna replied, dismissing the concern.
Beth watched helplessly as
Sienna left the room, unable to stop her.
Is there something more
going on between them that I don’t know? Beth wondered. Sienna’s attitude toward the Red King seemed even colder
than before, and Beth felt a growing sense of unease. But it wasn’t her place
to interfere in the complex relationship between mother and daughter.
Sienna walked with a maid
by her side holding a lantern, and several steps behind her, knights followed
in silence. There was no set destination in her mind—she simply walked, letting
her feet carry her where they would. The feelings of loss, emptiness, and
sorrow from her last dream still weighed heavily on her heart.
The truth she had learned
in that final dream had been shocking. At the same time, she scolded herself
for her foolishness. Why hadn’t she considered that the two of them might have
had a child? It wasn’t as though children were born only out of love. Most
noble families in the Empire married and had children for far more practical
reasons.
Had she learned the truth
much earlier, perhaps when she first started having those dreams, it wouldn’t have
shocked her as much. The knowledge might have surprised her, but not devastated
her as it did now.
The day after the dream,
Sienna had shut herself away in her chambers, thinking endlessly about the fate
of the Emperor and the Sky King. She analyzed every detail, trying to piece
together what must have happened. She placed herself in the Emperor’s shoes,
understanding how she would have acted.
The Emperor in the dream
was her, after all. She could predict what would have happened. That meeting
would indeed have been the last between them. The Sky King would never have
returned to the capital, and the Emperor would never have gone to Blackmist
Castle to see him.
But the child… Did she ever
see him, even once, after that day?
Sienna didn’t know. As much
as she could imagine herself as the Emperor, she had no idea what kind of
mother she might become. But there was one thing she understood clearly now—why
the Emperor had distanced herself from her son.
If a child were born
between Kuhn and me, he wouldn’t be of divine blood.
A child of the emperor
without divine blood would face a miserable fate. They wouldn’t be recognized
as a royal, nor would they be entered into the imperial family’s records.
The imperial family valued
lineage above all, so while celibacy wasn’t expected, any relationships had to
result in offspring of divine blood. Many past emperors had lovers, much like
the current emperor, but no child born from a non-noble lover was ever
acknowledged. Whether such children existed at all was uncertain, but none were
officially recorded.
Sienna stopped walking and
lifted her gaze to the sky. Her attendants halted behind her, mimicking her
actions. The night was clear, and the sky was littered with stars that
glittered like precious jewels.
Was that dream a true
vision of the future or just a possible outcome?
Even after the last dream,
the will of the gods remained a mystery to her. But perhaps it wasn’t some
grand divine prophecy. It could just be a glimpse of one potential future.
Regardless, the sight of the emperor and the King of the West drifting apart
deeply troubled her.
Her future self had been
blind to Kuhn’s worth, unable to see how wonderful and lovable he was, even
turning her back on their child. The thought filled her with fury.
The reason for the tragedy
was clear: her mother. Even in reality, Patricia had plotted to separate her
and Kuhn. In this timeline, her mother had failed, but in the future, she had
succeeded.
Sienna began walking again,
her thoughts swirling. She didn’t know how long she had been walking when she
saw lights in the distance.
“Where is that?” she asked.
“It’s the Iron King's
palace,” the maid replied.
When Sienna had started her
walk, she had headed in the opposite direction from the Iron King’s palace.
Somewhere along the way, her steps had unconsciously turned her toward it. It
was as if her feet had led her there without her even realizing it.
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