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Chapter 1.7 - The Princess's Dream




Chapter 1.7: The Princess’s Dream
Sienna’s eyes widened .
“It’s too soon for that . ”
“What do you mean? I was pregnant with you when I was twenty-one . ”
“But it’s too soon for me . ”
“I only said he’s a candidate . We don’t know much about him yet . ”
One’s gender didn’t matter when it came to the succession of the throne . Therefore, it wasn’t uncommon for a princess to inherit the throne of the emperor .
In kingdoms, the men usually sat on the throne, so their spouses would be called ‘queens’ . However, the Holy Empire was different . Depending on who the emperor was, the spouse could either be a man or a woman .
The spouse of the emperor was granted the title of ‘king’ . A wife would become the Red King and a husband would become the Blue King . This title couldn’t be passed on, and they had no claim to any territory or subjects . It was in name only .
However, they still had more power than the king of a kingdom . On top of that, Patricia was Princess Sienna’s biological mother . According to the Holy Empire’s history, there weren’t many instances where the biological mother of the future emperor was also the Red King . Just from that fact alone, Patricia’s power was unshakeable .
 
“Princess, it is your duty to produce progeny . ”
“I understand . ”
Sienna was a difficult daughter to handle, but Patricia knew how to get through to her .
“I’ll take care of matters dealing with the Blue King . I’ll make sure to select those that aren’t lacking in anything . Of course, the final decision will be yours . All you have to do is pick one from among the candidates . ”
” . . . ”
“Please say something . Don’t you trust me?”
“It’s not that . . . ”
“No mother would do something to harm their child . Sienna, you are the child I gave birth to . A mother is someone who would die for her child . You know that, right?”
” . . . Yes, Mother . ”
Satisfied with Sienna’s answer, Patricia laughed . Sienna, who called the Emperor ‘Your Majesty’ without fail, had called her ‘Mother’ . Patricia’s efforts to get closer to her daughter were not in vain .
“Didn’t you have something to discuss with me?”
“Yes, I heard that you have taken an interest in my birthday banquet . ”
“Yes . Is something the matter? You usually don’t care about something like this . ”
“The scale of the banquet is too large . ”
Patricia’s smile froze .
“I feel that we’re wasting too much money . . . ”
“We’re not . ”
At Patricia’s sullen expression, Sienna closed her mouth shut .
“This birthday marks your coming-of-age . We need to expand the budget to express its importance . Must you call a mother’s efforts to raise her daughter’s prestige a waste?”
Unable to respond, Sienna lowered her gaze . She was always weak to Patricia’s way of bringing up their relationship .
Patricia always brought this up . ‘My daughter, my lovable daughter, my amazing daughter . Mother loves you . There’s nothing I won’t do for you . ‘ Shackled by Patricia’s sweet whispers, Sienna was unable to fight back .
Sienna knew how much power she held . The people around her were like beasts swarming around a piece of meat . They all wanted a piece of her influence . She could see the hidden desires of those who bowed their heads to her . She began to keep an eye on those who told her what she wanted to hear .
Sienna was all alone . She had no one to confide in . Patricia was Sienna’s only ally . Because she was her mother . Because she would never harm her .
Whenever Sienna called Patricia ‘Mother’, she felt as if they were just a normal mother-daughter pair, and she didn’t hate the feeling .
“To think that the Princess is now an adult . . . I’m deeply moved . You’ve grown so much, and I want to show you off to the world . Are you still going to say that I’m being too immodest?”
“No . ”
Patricia relaxed her expression and spoke softly .
“I’ve received a carte blanche from the Emperor himself . Mother will take care of it, so don’t worry about anything . Understand?”
Sienna let out a small sigh and replied .
“Yes, I understand . ”
 
Sienna’s heart felt heavy as she left . She wasn’t able to solve the problem she had come here to discuss and only left with one more thing to worry about: having to meet the many husband candidates .
Why did she have to do this? It wouldn’t matter in the end . They would all be the same anyway .
Everyone lost their minds in front of Sienna, no matter their gender or age . Sienna wasn’t happy at the thought that her future husband wouldn’t even be able to properly look her in the eye .
A young man was walking in her direction . When he saw Sienna, he became startled and quickly stopped and lowered his head . After walking past him, Sienna turned to look at him . This was the hallway leading to the Red King’s palace . She watched the fading back of the young man . She had never seen him before .
 
“Who is that?”
“That is Baron Alphon . ”
The lady-in-waiting replied after a moment’s hesitation . Sienna narrowed her eyes . She had never heard of that family . At this hour, all alone, a young man from a humble family was going to meet the Red King .
“What about Viscount Herrings?”
Cold sweat began to form on the lady’s forehead .
“I haven’t seen him . . . for a while now . ”
Sienna observed the frightened lady’s reaction with little regard .
“He did last for a while . ”
Sienna turned back and continued on her way . That young man was the Red King’s lover, and it hadn’t been long since he began warming the Red King’s bed . For as long as she could remember, the Red King had lovers .
Her father the Emperor also had many women . Between the Imperial couple, it was considered an open secret . They knew about the other’s infidelities but turned a blind eye to it .
For the sake of producing well-born progeny, they entered into marriage . However, other than that, they lived their own lives separately . They had never run into a problem . They completed all the duties required of them, but still enjoyed the pleasures of extramarital relationships .
It was cold and logical, and they were the only example of a married couple that Sienna had .\n