The Great Wish - Chapter 40: I Can’t See an Inch Ahead (8)

A duke of the empire, a figure akin to a king, had extended a hand to lowly commoners. Even more shockingly, Doug publicly admitted his father’s mistakes and pledged to correct them himself.

The emperor knew Doug’s character well. Doug was neither merciful nor magnanimous. Something had shifted drastically.

The Acheron peasants, their bellies full, no longer looked upon the duke with anger. Their rage dissipated.

The foolish commoners began to praise the Rimone Duke. Despite the efforts of a few radical factions and the emperor’s planted agitators, the uprising’s momentum faltered. The Rimone territory gradually returned to peace. Doug was no longer in a precarious position.

The emperor had intended to maneuver Doug into attacking the rebels with the help of the dissidents, then charge the Rimone Duke with conspiring with the anti-imperial factions. But all those plans had crumbled.

The document the black-clad man had brought bore even worse news—the dissident factions had decided to withdraw entirely from the situation.

“Someone has clearly intervened.”

The emperor couldn’t figure out who. At first, he had suspected the Rad family.

But for months, the Marquis Raad had been entirely focused on affairs in the federation, with no time to meddle elsewhere. No evidence suggested that Raad’s resources or information had flowed into the Rimone territory.

The emperor briefly considered investigating the Silver King’s circle. But with her departure as an envoy, that lead had grown cold. Besides, he knew from the start that the Silver King had no meaningful alliances beyond the Rimone family.

The emperor sank back into his seat.

“I need to find out who’s interfering.”

The thought that there was something happening beyond his control enraged him. He couldn’t tolerate not knowing what was going on in his own empire.

“Who on earth could exert such influence over Doug?”

He refused to believe Doug had voluntarily opened his treasury. As the emperor looked at the man awaiting his orders, he began to speak:

“You must immediately—”

But he stopped mid-sentence, wincing. His hands felt a strange numbness. He clenched and unclenched them, but the sensation didn’t go away. Startled, the emperor glanced down at his hands.

“…Leave me. I’ll summon you later.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The man quietly disappeared as he had appeared.

The emperor’s attention, however, was now wholly focused on his hands. He flexed his fingers, staring at his nails. They had darkened, as though dipped in ink, but the discoloration gradually faded, returning to their normal hue.

He couldn’t take his eyes off his hands.

He recognized the symptoms. It was a sign of an extremely rare condition.

“Impossible… This can’t be.”

God-blooded beings didn’t get sick.

The emperor’s pupils trembled with shock.

***

Sienna awoke from her nap still feeling unrefreshed and irritable. Her stomach remained unsettled, and a lingering fatigue weighed on her. Despite this, she got out of bed, knowing she needed to catch up on everything that had occurred in her absence from the palace.

As she changed her clothes, she instructed her maid to summon her advisor. Soon after, Beth entered the room.

“Your Highness, shall I bring you a meal? You must be hungry.”

The mention of food only made Sienna’s appetite disappear further. She shook her head.

“I’m not in the mood right now. I’d rather receive a report from my advisor first.”

Beth hesitated before speaking again, carefully watching Sienna’s reaction.

“Your Highness, I’ve informed the Red King’s palace of your return.”

Sienna nodded silently.

“Perhaps you should visit the Red King’s palace for a brief visit?”

Sienna glanced at Beth, who awkwardly continued, “When the Red King heard that you had left as an envoy, she was deeply shocked. She canceled all her scheduled banquets and hasn’t left her palace since.”

Beth had assumed that sending a maid to the Red King’s palace would result in Patricia rushing over to see Sienna. However, the maid had returned alone.

Lately, the Red King had not been herself. Once feared to the point where even resentment couldn’t be voiced against her, Patricia seemed to have lost her sharp edge. No one could have predicted such a fall from grace. Beth couldn’t help but pity her. Sienna had once mentioned that her mother was ultimately a hollow person, and now it seemed truer than ever.

Sienna, who knew all too well why Patricia had been bedridden, found the situation almost amusing. Patricia had tried to harm the Iron King but had ended up targeting Sienna instead—how much that must have shaken her.

‘Mother hasn’t truly repented. She’s only lying low because her guilt makes her too scared to act.’

If Patricia had sincerely regretted her actions, she would have confessed and tried to make amends. But instead, she had done nothing but lie in wait for the storm to pass. Sienna felt nothing toward her mother—not even hatred anymore.

However, without betraying her thoughts, Sienna replied, “I’ll visit, as you suggest. I wouldn’t want to make you uneasy.”

Beth’s eyes widened in surprise, and Sienna smiled faintly.

“How could I refuse my nurse’s request?”

Beth, delighted, burst out in a joyful laugh. “They say travel helps a person grow. I can’t believe I’m hearing such words from you, Your Highness.”

“Shall I go on another journey then?”

“No!” Beth responded, sternly at first, but then broke into laughter again when she saw Sienna’s playful expression.

“Oh, and Your Highness, while you were resting, a servant from the Iron King’s palace came by. Upon hearing of your return, the Iron King hurried back to the palace.”

“Hurried back? Was he not at the palace?”

“Ah… the queen has been staying at the Duke’s estate. The Iron King has been visiting her there every day.”

“The Duke’s estate? Why?”

Beth had no further information to offer. What had truly happened—Violet’s sudden illness after tea with the Red King—had been kept secret by the Iron King.

‘It seems I should meet with the Iron King first.’

“I’ll go to the Iron King’s palace. If my advisor arrives, tell them to wait.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As Sienna was about to leave the drawing room, a maid entered, announcing that Baron Ben Stus had requested an audience. Sienna hesitated, then changed her mind.

‘Could something have happened in the territory?’

Ben had been given the task of overseeing the cultivation of special crops in Sienna’s fief after Kuhn had left the capital.

“Tell Sir Stus to wait in my office. I’ll be there shortly.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Sienna had previously sent Ben to the Marquis’s estate to deceive Patricia, making it appear as though he was betraying Sienna by leaking information to the Red King. The goal was to control the flow of information Patricia received while making her believe Ben was a trusted informant.

However, after Kuhn had left the capital, Ben’s role had shifted.

Sienna had Recalled the special crop cultivation project that Ben had been sent to oversee in her territory. It was a project Sienna was deeply invested in, and Ben’s task had become truly important. According to Ben’s reports, Patricia did not believe he had been demoted and was showing great interest in the cultivation project.

When Sienna entered her office, Ben stood by the door and bowed.

“Your Highness, I am honored to see you back safely. I’ve heard you successfully completed your envoy mission. It’s a great relief to see you in good health.”

“How have you been?”

“I’ve been doing my utmost with the responsibilities you entrusted me.”

“The Red King didn’t summon you to question why you didn’t know I had gone as an envoy?”

Sienna wondered if Patricia had reprimanded him for not knowing of Sienna’s departure.

“Fortunately, Your Highness, I was away on duty when you left for the desert, so no reprimands came my way.”

By chance, Ben had left for the fief just a few days before Sienna departed. As a result, he had not been in the capital when Sienna was dispatched as the imperial envoy.

“I have other matters to attend to. If this isn’t urgent, we can discuss it later.”

“It concerns the greenhouse. I’m unsure if it’s important or not.”

Sienna had instructed Ben to report anything related to the greenhouse immediately. She gestured toward the sofa and said, “Sit down.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Ben placed a small pouch on the table before sitting.

“This was removed from the greenhouse a short while ago.”

Sienna opened the pouch, finding several grains inside.

“What is this?”

“I believe it to be oats.”

“Oats?”

Sienna examined the harvested oats in her palm, realizing it was her first time seeing them up close. She had never eaten oats before, as they were generally unpopular due to their rough texture. Despite their lack of appeal, oats weren’t a cheap food, making them neither an everyday staple nor an affordable option. They were mostly used as a specialty meal for patients, often in the form of oatmeal.

“These came from the greenhouse?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“How do you know this?”

Ben hesitated briefly before replying.

“I happened to encounter someone from the greenhouse at the market. I recognized her from when I visited the greenhouse with the Red King.”

When Ben had first seen the woman pulling weeds at the greenhouse, she hadn’t stood out. However, seeing her again at the market, she had seemed out of place—isolated among the crowd, almost like someone who didn’t belong. That feeling of recognizing something familiar struck Ben, a sense of shared background.

He hadn’t intended to involve her. Sienna had warned him to approach anything related to the greenhouse with caution. Yet, after a few more chance encounters at the market, curiosity led him to strike up a conversation. During their talk, Ben had accidentally used street slang, something only someone from the back alleys would understand. The woman had responded reflexively but then paused, realizing her mistake.

Their eyes met, and they silently acknowledged their shared past without needing words. They quickly grew close, two lonely souls finding a connection.

“She told me it’s been a long time since any crops from the greenhouse were sent outside the palace. She ended up handling the transport herself that day because they were short-handed. There was little supervision, so she slipped a small amount into her pocket and later passed it to me.”

Sienna chuckled at the story.

“So, while I assigned you to this task, you found time for a romance.”

Ben’s face flushed red with embarrassment.

“…I apologize, Your Highness.”

“What’s done is done, so I won’t reprimand you. But be cautious. The Red King is not one to overlook carelessness.”

“Yes, Your Highness. I’ll be more careful.”

“You’ve done well.”

After Ben left, Sienna focused on the oats in her hand, examining them closely.

“Oats, from the greenhouse…?”

It was an odd combination. Why would the greenhouse be growing oats? It didn’t seem to make sense.

“It’s worth investigating.”

Sienna carefully stored the pouch, deciding she would soon meet with Levan to request a thorough investigation into this matter.

***