Previously
In a flashback, Sienna insults Joseph and Marianne after the former Emperor's death, leading Joseph to exile her to the desolate Lopawell monastery. Life in Lopawell is horrific, marked by famine and cannibalism, which severely affects Sienna's mental state.
How to Part with You Completely - Episode 20
I peered down through the window at the men bustling around the perimeter walls.
Was I destined to spend the rest of my days here, enduring cold and starvation every winter? Without a shred of hope?
Leaning against the wall, I let out a faint sigh and closed my eyes.
Compared to the depths of winter, it was peaceful enough, yet the days remained dreadfully dull. It was the tail end of spring, on the cusp of summer.
Though it seemed a bit early, the monastery had slowly begun preparations to face the brutal cold season. Even so, those preparations amounted to nothing more than patching up the ramparts to keep out the draft and stockpiling as much food as possible.
Because of that, Theo had been busy lately helping the male priests repair the walls.
Perching on the windowsill to idly watch them work, or exchanging brief pleasantries with Jane whenever she dropped by my room, was virtually the sum total of what I could call my daily life.
Lately, I had been spending more time with Jane than with Theo. It had been that way ever since she stayed by my side during my bout of high fever, when the monastery’s healers were all preoccupied tending to the wounded soldiers.
Even after I had somewhat regained my health, Jane still stopped by my quarters at regular intervals to check on my condition.
Her presence was far from uncomfortable. She possessed an extensive knowledge of therapeutics and medicinal herbs, and she never pried into other people's affairs beyond what was necessary. In that regard, she was actually much easier to bear than the fussing Theo.
“Your Highness. Surely you don’t intend to stand there all day, do you?”
Hearing the voice from behind me, I turned my head from the window.
“Sir Monches has been worried sick because you haven’t properly eaten in days. It’s gotten so bad that he even ordered me to stand watch and ensure you finish your meals.”
“I told you, I have no appetite.”
“Even so, you must eat well to take your medicine.”
I watched with a bored expression as Jane sorted out the herbs for the healers, then abruptly asked a question.
“By the way, how did you learn the healing arts when you aren't even a healer?”
Healers were typically selected from a small portion of the clergy, granted their credentials only after completing a separate, rigorous regimen. They wore garments distinct from ordinary priests and devoted themselves entirely to treatment rather than ministering mass. Jane, however, looked no different on the outside from any ordinary priestess.
Yet judging by her deft hand with the herbs right now, or how practiced she seemed in attending to the sick, she was undeniably different from the rest.
“I was in training to become a healer before coming here.”
“Before you came here?”
“Yes. I was dismissed from my apprenticeship for acting against church doctrine, and then cast out to this place.”
At her calm response, I simply nodded.
“I see.”
Jane raised her head, taken aback by my equally indifferent reaction.
“Doesn’t it bother Your Highness?”
“Doesn’t what bother me?”
“You don’t even know what sin I committed to be sent here.”
“Well, I hardly think you did anything so heinous to end up in this place.”
Replying nonchalantly, I let out a quiet snort.
“Besides, having experienced it myself, imperial justice isn't particularly fair either. I doubt the church is any different.”
It was a rather brazen remark, but Jane merely held her tongue.
She resumed preparing her herbs in silence, and I turned my gaze back out the window.
A tranquil silence settled over us once more. It was then that a knock sounded on the door.
“Come in.”
Assuming without a doubt that it was Theo, I answered without even bothering to look around.
The person who opened the door and stepped inside, however, was a dashing man clad in a crisp white uniform. It was the distinctive attire of the Imperial Guard, adorned with an array of dazzling medals. Catching sight of this untimely intruder, my brow furrowed faintly.
The reason for a member of the Emperor's direct unit coming all the way out here was always obvious. I was well aware that behind the superficial pretense of checking on my welfare, their real purpose was to coax Theo into returning to the capital.
The man strode forward with measured steps, halted before me, and bowed his head.
“I greet Her Highness the Princess.”
“If you’re looking for Sir Monches, he stepped out for a moment.”
I answered without so much as sparing him a glance. Despite my cold demeanor, instead of withdrawing, he retrieved a piece of mail from his satchel and presented it to me.
“My apologies, but His Majesty commanded that this be delivered to Your Highness the Princess, not Sir Monches.”
At those words, my gaze snapped back to the man, then settled upon the parcel thrust before me. The moment I slowly accepted it, he withdrew his hand with practiced precision.
“The Imperial Guard will arrive in the near future to escort Your Highness.”
“…”
“It should provide an adequate window for you to prepare for your return to the capital.”
I had been examining the sleek envelope, but my head jerked up.
“The capital?”
Instead of answering, the man merely gave a faint, enigmatic smile.
“I shall attend to you again shortly, Your Highness.”
Without satisfying my confusion, he offered a curt bow as if his business were concluded and walked out of the study. Watching him go blankly, Jane turned to me with an unsettled look.
Yet I was just as clueless as she was. Weary and bewildered, I looked down at the envelope in my hands. Made of smooth parchment, it was sealed securely with the imperial crest.
[To Her Highness the Second Princess, Sienna Malony, at the Monastery of the Lopawell Domain]
My heart began to hammer with ominous foreboding.
* * *
That afternoon, Theo returned earlier than usual, lugging in a hefty bundle and bustling about on his own.
Jane was busy penning prayers for the weekend mass, and I was lost in my own thoughts as usual, neither of us paying him much mind.
As I sat by the window staring vacantly outside, Theodore suddenly thrust a cup of water toward me.
Taking it without much thought, I scrunched my brow at the sharp, sour scent stinging my nose.
“What is this?”
“Water mixed with lemon juice.”
That wasn't why I had asked.
Fruit was a rare luxury that only the wealthy could afford even in the capital, let alone in a desolate place like this. After staring down at the cup Theo offered for a long while, I remarked wryly,
“Seeing something like this set before me, has the Abbot finally gone senile?”
Theodore stared down at me blankly.
“Not at all. The Grand Duke left it behind before his departure.”
“…What?”
“He gave it to me upon hearing that Your Highness had lost your appetite. He said mixing lemon juice and sugar in water works wonders when one’s body is frail.”
Then, with a somewhat sheepish look, he added,
“Sugar is so hard to come by out here that lemon juice was the best I could do. Still, it should go down easier than plain water.”
With an uneasy expression, I mumbled a word of thanks and accepted the glass. Yet rather than drinking it right away, I merely stared at it for a long while.
Jane looked at Theo with a puzzled glance.
“Where could a man fresh from the battlefield procure fruit?”
“Well… His Majesty must have sent it. Unlike his disregard for the common folk starving to death in this remote frontier, the Emperor is always exceedingly attentive to the Grand Duke.”
“You certainly know how to speak treason, Theo.”
“I only spoke the truth.”
Theo replied with effortless cheek. Even so, the frown on my face refused to lift. Brow furrowed, I kept staring down at the cup in my hands.
“You didn’t just toss it in after he left you rotten fruit, did you?”
“As if I would! I can tell the difference between rotten and fresh fruit, thank you very much.”
Though Theo protested with feigned offense, I brought the cup to my lips, my expression still thick with suspicion.
A crisp, bittersweet flavor burst across my palate. It was a taste I had craved almost addictively while lying on my sickbed in my past life.
Whenever my health deteriorated severely, swallowing anything became sheer torment. Even plain water tasted foul and fishy to me, leaving me unable to drink properly; at that point, Declan had ordered all manner of fruits sent to the grand ducal estate to be infused into my water.
Even after my body was ruined and we lived apart—I in the estate near the capital, and he at the Monferrato estate—he continued to send vast quantities of fruit with every turning of the season.
And so, separate from the refreshing ease settling into my stomach, a question began to bloom in my mind.
Was this mere coincidence?
Taking a few more sips, I wiped my lips with the back of my hand and narrowed my eyes.
‘What else could it be if not a coincidence?’
What on earth was I expecting?
It was just a lemon. Spinning such absurd fancies over a piece of fruit was frankly pathetic. Glaring needlessly at the innocent cup, I set it down on the table.
This was surely nothing more than a passing gesture of courtesy. An incidental kindness born of his ingrained habits.
Gnawing gently on my lower lip, I cast about for an appropriate topic to distract myself. Then, letting out a faint gasp, I turned toward Theo.
“By the way, have you heard anything from the Count?”
“From my brother? About what…?”
“Joseph sent me a letter. He claims he has something to say and told me to return to the capital.”
Theo blinked his large eyes, utterly bewildered. As if searching through his memories, his green gaze drifted upward in thought, only to harden into sudden gravity.
“For what reason, out of the blue?”
I shrugged as if to say, how would I know?
“The letter said nothing more than to return to the capital.”
He had thrown a raging fit when I went back to the capital in defiance of his orders, so what game was he playing now? No matter how much I turned it over in my mind, no answers came to me.
“It seems I'll have to pay a visit to the Abbot before long.”