As she took a sip of the tea that suited her tastes perfectly, Sienna suddenly frowned. Emma, who had been watching the Princessâs expression carefully, became shocked and nervous.
âIs the tea not to your liking, Princess?â
âHmm? No, itâs good.â
Sienna placed the teacup down and became lost in thought. Not wanting to disturb her, Emma stepped back.
âI feel as if a gust of wind just passed by.â
Sienna sighed. She had finally managed to calm down. After having seen the shocking future, she was in a state of extreme confusion for a while. Unable to confide in anyone, Sienna wallowed by herself.
From the outside, nothing had changed. Sienna continued to go about her day and remained devoted to her duties. She didnât easily express what she was truly feeling inside. Therefore, nobody around her was able to notice the anguish that was brewing inside her heart.
âThere are too many things I donât understand.â
She didnât know why her future self was so opposed to her uncle. The ducal house of Rimone was one of the six ducal families in the Empire. They served as the Emperorâs shield. The status held by these ducal families couldnât be compared to the status held by other noble families.
Only the kings of the Empire were allowed to attend Imperial Council, but six seats reserved for the six dukes. In other words, the six dukes held power that rivaled the kings of the Empire.
On top of that, the Rimone family even produced the Red King and was also Siennaâs maternal family. Once Sienna became the emperor, more than anyone else, the Rimones would have to support her and make her power absolute. Sienna had believed that they would definitely do so. However, that faith was now shaken.
âIs it because of Mother?â
Sienna assumed that her relationship with her mother had greatly deteriorated. However, it still didnât make sense.
The Red King and the ducal family were separate from one another. If the Rimones had to choose between the Red King and Sienna, they would choose Sienna. No matter how powerful Patricia became in the future, Sienna was still the emperor. It would be foolish for the Rimones to oppose Sienna by siding with Patricia.
âOr is it because of the Blue King?â
The man that would marry Sienna would have to come from a ducal family. Did that mean the ducal house of the Blue King and the ducal house of the Red King would clash?
âOr maybe⊠Does it have something to do with Prince Dian becoming the emperor?â
Sienna surprised herself by finally beginning to accept a future where Prince Dian became the emperor.
After having heard her future selfâs guilty confession in her dream, Sienna couldnât feel upset or angry. She was now only curious about how Prince Dian had become the emperor.
âShe said that we met for the second time at my coming-of-age party.â
Everything she had learned in her dreams usually came true. Even if she changed the present through the information she learned in her dreams, the future she saw in her dreams never changed. The dreams of her future were slowly becoming irrelevant.
In her dreams, it seemed that she had never gone into the maze garden before her coming-of-age banquet. Unlike the current Sienna, dream Sienna had never met Prince Dian after their first meeting as children.
âAnd that manâŠâ
The real Sienna had also met Kuhn.
What about her future self? Did she ever meet that man?
Sienna recalled the night of the masquerade. Lately, she found herself thinking about that man every single day.
She had truly been furious that night. She couldnât remember feeling that angry in all her life. There was no reason to become that upset in the past. Exploding in rage and even hitting a person⊠those were all new experiences for her.
Looking back on that night, Sienna didnât know why she let her anger get the best of her. There was no reason for her to get mad at a man who had lost courage once he realized he had taken it too far with someone as noble as the Princess. It is what it is. She should have just shrugged it off and left it there.
âThat was⊠How should I put it? It was very strange.â
Her first kiss wasnât unpleasant. She felt an unfamiliar joy when she felt the heat radiating off his body. She felt a thrill as his tongue entered her mouth⊠as she felt him suck on her own tongue. She felt her body heat up. She felt a tingling in her stomach. When his sturdy arm wrapped around her hips, her heart began to race.
She rubbed her lips with her fingers.
âWill it be different next time?â
If she tried it with another man?
Sienna thought about Joseph before shaking her head. She really didnât feel like doing that with him.
Joseph and Kuhn. Both were handsome men, but they gave off completely different auras. Joseph was shiny and handsome, nothing out of place. As a man who grew up as the young master of a noble family, he seemed weaker.
Kuhn was like a rough gemstone. She couldnât quite figure him out. Whenever she met him, she was always wondering about his identity. When he said he was a mercenary, he seemed to be a mercenary. When he said he was a knight, he seemed like a knight. When he said he was a noble, he seemed like a noble.
Joseph would be easier to handle. That much was obvious. However, if she had to choose between the two, she would pick Kuhn. She didnât realize this until now, but Sienna had a type. She didnât like rude men, but she hated men that groveled even more.
âPrincess.â
Emma called out hesitantly. She wasnât able to keep her hand still and kept fidgeting. Sienna could feel the anxiety coming off of her.
âI have something to tell you.â
âSpeak.â
âIâm so sorry. Itâs truly an honor to serve you my humble tea. However, it is too much for me to handle, so please accept my resignation.â
Emmaâs thin voice trembled. It seemed that she had been reciting these words countless times inside her head.
Sienna closely observed Emmaâs nervous expression and behavior. Then she bluntly asked her a question.