Walter was greeted by an
unexpected visitor.
“It’s been a while.”
Walter, who had been
staring blankly at Sienna, quickly realized his rudeness and bowed his head.
“Ah, welcome. But I must
inform you that the master is currently away...”
Walter's nerves were on
edge. Could it be that Silver King was unaware that Kuhn was on an extended
journey? Internally, he screamed, ‘Kuhn, you didn’t leave without a word, did
you?!’
“I know. Glyn... can you
call for Levan? I have an important message for him.”
“Oh! Yes!”
Relieved, Walter responded
loudly. Unsure where to guide Prince Eun, he decided to lead him to the sitting
room next to Kuhn’s bedroom, as he always did. After excusing himself, Walter
returned with tea.
“I’ve sent word, so if
Levan is at the merchant guild, he should be here shortly. Otherwise, you may
have to wait a bit...”
“I’m not in a rush.”
“Yes. If you need anything,
please call.”
Left alone, Sienna looked
around the room. It would have been quicker to go directly to the Rad Merchant
Guild to meet Levan, but she had wanted to come here.
It had been over a month
since she last visited the Ivy Mansion. That much time had passed since Kuhn
left for the desert. She hadn’t received any news from him yet.
‘He may not have time to
leisurely write letters, but at least a simple note saying he’s safe would be
nice.’
She gazed down at the
half-empty teacup. Around this time, he always opened the door and entered. But
today, the door remained closed, and the tea slowly grew cold.
With a sigh, Sienna put the
cup down and stood up. She hadn’t been waiting long, but for some reason,
sitting idly made her feel restless. She began to pace slowly around the sofa.
As she aimlessly looked around, her eyes fixed on a corner of the room.
‘That really looks like a
wardrobe.’
Every time she waited in
this room, the dark brown furniture caught her attention. A wardrobe in a
sitting room seemed unnatural.
Sienna was someone who
strictly adhered to etiquette. Rifling through personal belongings in a private
space was impolite. She hadn’t been curious enough to ask Kuhn about it either.
But this time, she couldn’t
just pass by. She walked over to the wardrobe, her hands reaching for the
handles. After a quick glance at the closed door, she pulled the handles. Her
heart raced as if she were doing something she shouldn’t.
Inside, there was a single
outfit, almost displayed like an exhibit. A woman’s dress hung on an elegant,
three-dimensional hanger, the kind used in upscale boutiques to prevent
wrinkling.
‘Whose dress is this?’
It wasn’t a luxurious,
ornate dress meant for a ball. A cloak was draped over the shoulders.
Sienna reached out and
touched the fox fur trim on the cloak’s hem. The soft texture felt oddly
familiar, as if she had touched it before.
"That cloak. It's very
expensive. Even if a commoner saved for a year without spending, they couldn’t
afford it."
‘Huh?’
Her hand froze.
“What?”
She gasped aloud, quickly
pulling her hand away from the cloak. She took a closer look at the dress.
“My goodness...”
There was no doubt. It was
the same dress she had worn on her first covert outing. She had tried to
disguise herself but ended up getting scolded by him and changed into a
different outfit. This was that very dress.
After changing into
different clothes in a closed shop, she had returned to the palace. She had
briefly considered that she had left her original outfit at the shop, but she
hadn’t paid much attention to it afterward.
Who would have thought the
dress would end up here?
“That man, really.”
He had taken the dress and
stored it near his bedroom. What a cheeky man. She couldn’t help but laugh at
the absurdity of it. Chuckling, she closed the wardrobe. When Kuhn returned,
she planned to tease him thoroughly. He would have to pay for the crime of
stealing a lady’s dress.
“What should I ask for in
return?”
Sienna murmured playfully,
her earlier resentment toward Kuhn for not sending any word melting away.
“Your Highness, it’s
Levan.”
A knock came from outside
the door. Sienna quickly returned to the sofa and wiped the smile off her face.
“Come in.
Levan entered the room and
bowed respectfully. Sienna couldn’t help but feel strange seeing him.
In the future that Levan
was unaware of, he had been a dead man. This time, he had narrowly escaped a
fatal crisis. While another danger might come his way, Sienna felt that she had
done everything in her power to help him.
‘Thank goodness it turned
out well.’
“Come, sit.”
“Yes, Your Highness. I was
planning to contact you within the next couple of days.”
Levan placed a leather
pouch on the table in front of the sofa.
“This was sent by Kuhn
through a courier.”
Sienna took the pouch in
her hand, expecting a letter, but instead felt something hard inside. She
cautiously tipped the contents into her palm, and out tumbled a red object
about the size of a baby’s fist. Curious, she checked the pouch again, but that
was all it contained.
“Do you know what this is?”
she asked.
“Ah…” Levan’s expression stiffened
for a moment before he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
“It’s a seed. A safflower
seed.”
“This is a seed? It’s quite
unusual. Do you know why Kuhn would send this to me?”
“Safflowers are one of the
flowers that bloom in the desert.”
“Flowers bloom in the
desert?”
“There is a rainy season in
the desert, with torrential downpours. When that happens, the desert floods,
and the seeds that have lain dormant in the sand begin to sprout and bloom.
It’s a breathtaking sight.”
“So, does this mean he
wants to show me that flower?”
“Not exactly…”
Levan’s hesitation was
apparent. He looked as though he wanted to avoid answering but was forcing
himself to do so.
“In the desert… when a man
proposes to a woman, he gives her a safflower seed. It’s said that the seed
resembles a human heart. So...”
Levan internally screamed
at having to explain such an embarrassing custom. When the courier had told
him, “Kuhn asked me to deliver this to Silver King in person,” Levan had
wondered why Kuhn insisted on such a direct delivery. Now he knew. He silently
cursed Kuhn for assigning him such a task.
“It means, ‘I offer my
heart to you,’” Levan finally said, suppressing the urge to scratch his entire
body in discomfort.
The reason safflower seeds
were used for proposals was due to their rarity. Outside the rainy season, they
were nearly impossible to find. The desert’s rainy season typically occurred in
the fall, making this time of year, just before summer, the hardest period to
obtain safflower seeds. Because of this, desert folk believed that couples who
exchanged safflower seeds during the summer were bound to each other, even in
the afterlife.
‘How on earth did he get
this?’ Levan wondered. Whether Kuhn had found it by chance or dug through the
sands to retrieve it, it must have taken a great deal of effort. In a time when
war could break out at any moment, it seemed like a reckless endeavor.
Sienna, touched by the
sentiment, quietly gazed at the large seed in her hand.
“And how do women in the
desert respond when they receive such a seed?” she asked.
“If they accept the
proposal, they take the seed and brew it into wine. The wine is then drunk on
their wedding day.”
“The desert customs are
quite romantic. What if they refuse the proposal?”
Sienna’s curiosity was not
easily satisfied, and she pressed for more details.
Levan flinched, clearly
reluctant to continue. After a long pause, he answered reluctantly.
“They return the seed.”
With a deep sigh, he added,
“Your Highness, please don’t reject it.”
Sienna narrowed her eyes at
his bold statement. It was an overstep, but the pleading look on Levan’s face
made her pause and listen to what he had to say.
“When a man offers his
heart, he cannot take it back. Without a heart, he cannot give it to someone
else. It’s an old custom, and not many people follow it these days, but... Kuhn
probably would. He’ll live alone and die alone if you reject him. I don’t know
how I could stand by and watch that. Think of it as saving a life, Your
Highness.”
Levan’s expression was so
pitiful that Sienna couldn’t hold back her laughter. She laughed aloud, her
amusement echoing through the room.
‘Wow…’ Levan was stunned.
He had never seen Prince Eun laugh before. The memory that stood out most
vividly in his mind was of the prince commanding the knights with an
authoritative presence on a ship, an image that had left a lasting impression
on him. The sheer intensity of it had overshadowed Sienna’s beauty, making her
seem more like a distant painting than a real person.
Now he realized that she
could laugh like any other person. Suddenly, he understood why Kuhn had fallen
so deeply for her. Levan, lost in thought, quickly lowered his gaze.
‘I wasn’t looking with
improper thoughts, Kuhn,’ he thought, feeling as though Kuhn might burst into
the room from the desert at any moment.
When Sienna’s laughter
subsided, she smiled and said, “I will take your words to heart.”
She placed the seed back
into the leather pouch, then handed Levan a small box she had brought with her,
signaling the real reason for her visit.
“I would like you to
investigate these tea leaves.”
The tea leaves were from
the blend Patricia had given to Violet, which Violet had consumed before
falling ill.
“They’re supposed to be
good for easing the nausea of pregnancy. I want to know if that’s really their
only effect, whether there are any harmful components, and if there’s any
unusual interaction when consumed with other foods. Please investigate
thoroughly.”
“Yes, Your Highness. I
can’t say exactly when I’ll have the results, but I will contact you as soon as
the analysis is complete.”
“I may send other things to
you through a messenger in the future as well. Even if there’s no specific
explanation, please investigate those too.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
"The reason I called
you was just for that. Any other… news? Is Kuhn doing well?" Sienna asked,
her voice tinged with concern.
Levan inwardly answered, If
he's wandering around looking for safflower seeds, he’s probably perfectly
fine.
“I haven’t received any
news. He’s not one to regularly send updates. We generally assume ‘no news is
good news.’ But if I hear anything, I’ll let you know immediately.”
Sienna nodded, accepting
the response. She left the marquis’s residence and returned to the palace. Upon
arriving, she summoned a maid and instructed her to bring a bottle of clear
alcohol and some clean water.
Sienna carefully washed the
safflower seed with water in a silver bowl. Then she placed it into a
cylindrical glass bottle filled with clear liquor.
She wasn’t familiar with
the proper way to brew safflower wine, but she didn’t think it mattered. To
her, the sentiment behind it was more important than following a strict
procedure.
The seed didn’t sink to the
bottom of the bottle nor float to the top. It moved slightly up and down before
settling in the middle. The clear liquor filled the transparent bottle, with
the bright red seed suspended in the center, as if floating in midair.
Sienna placed the bottle in
a visible spot, though out of direct sunlight.
Someday, I hope Kuhn and I
can share this wine together.
This was his heart. As long
as it remained in her possession, Sienna had a strong, almost certain feeling
that no matter what, Kuhn would return to her.
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