Previously
During a high-level council meeting, Joseph announces his plan to marry Sienna to the King of Parma, framing it as a diplomatic necessity despite the objections of Declan and other nobles. Declan realizes that Duke Lowell conspired with the Emperor to sacrifice Sienna's future to protect Dahlia from such a marriage.
How to Break Up with You Completely, Chapter 25
Traveling from Lopawell to the capital took several days.
All throughout the journey, Jane, having never ridden in a carriage before, bounced unsteadily with the rocking motion, while Sienna was absorbed solely in watching the scenery blur past the window.
It took a good while before Jane felt a strange sense of dissonance looking at her. Only belatedly noticing Sienna’s red cloak, she asked with a curious expression,
“I do not believe I have seen that cloak before. Where did you purchase it?”
At those words, Theo, who was riding alongside the carriage to match its pace, leaned down to check her attire through the window. He looked just as perplexed as Jane.
There wasn't a shop in all of Lopawell where one could procure fabric of such fine quality.
“The Abbot’s priestly vestment.”
Resting her chin on the window frame, Sienna replied in a matter-of-fact tone. Then, as an afterthought, she added something that sounded like an excuse:
“I could hardly enter the imperial palace in rags, could I?”
Only then did Theo recall the Abbot’s ostentatious garments. Come to think of it, the cloak the princess wore looked precisely like his robes, stripped bare of all the colorful decorations and insignias.
The realization brought an involuntary burst of laughter from him. Though he felt Sienna’s displeased glare on him, he couldn’t suppress the chuckles leaking out.
He had not an ounce of sympathy for that old man; picturing his face, stripped of his fine clothes and left utterly despondent, felt immensely satisfying.
After snickering to himself for a long while, Theo gave a clearing cough and spoke in a solemn voice.
“Your Highness. No matter what His Majesty says to you in the palace, you must never react as you did last time. Understood?”
Here he went again.
Sienna answered by letting pure irritation wash over her face, but Theo carried on lecturing, undeterred. Even Jane shooting him warnings with her eyes had no effect.
“Even if you hear something unreasonable, let it go in one ear and out the other. Honestly, it’s not as if His Majesty getting on your nerves is anything new. Though, of course, nothing could possibly happen that would enrage Your Highness more than what happened back then…”
Theo repeated the same warnings over and over all the way to the capital. The gist was simple: do nothing to get on the Emperor’s bad side. Letting Theo's relentless chatter wash over her, Sienna merely looked out the window.
Leaving the desolate grounds of Lopawell behind, trees gradually began to appear one by one. The greater the number of lush, green-leafed trees grew, the clearer it became that Lopawell was fading into the distance.
Sparse clusters of houses began to dot the landscape. Unlike Lopawell, these were villages where vibrant, living people gathered and lived.
Only when they passed through a dense forest and entered a well-maintained road did Sienna finally pull the window shut.
The capital was drawing near.
As the carriage passed through the fortress gate and the clamor of people drifted in from outside, her heart turned even more tangled.
Having already died once, death itself held no fear for her now. Whatever reason the Emperor had to kill her, it could hardly be framed with a disgrace as terrible as the false charge in her past life.
She felt no particular attachment to this life, nor did she hold any lingering regrets toward the world. If she could simply bring an end to her life like this, Sienna would be more than content.
“We have arrived, Your Highness.”
The instant the coachman finished speaking, Jane swung the carriage door open and hopped out in a single leap. She had evidently suffered terribly from carriagesickness.
Following her, Sienna took Theo’s hand and carefully set foot upon the ground.
Only after standing firmly on the earth did Sienna slowly look around. The imperial palace was just as she remembered it.
Invariably lavish and severe, this castle was the place where she had been born and raised.
As she gazed blankly up at the imperial flag fluttering in the wind, the Chamberlain appeared out of nowhere and approached her.
“Her Highness the Princess. His Majesty is waiting.”
Only then did Sienna turn her gaze upon the Chamberlain.
Nodding in lieu of an answer, she fell into step behind him as he led the way. Behind her, Theo’s booming voice shouted after her: ‘Your Highness! You must never forget what I told you!’
* * *
The long corridor leading to the central palace was paved with smooth, pristine white marble, flanked by stately, towering arched columns. At the end of that hall lay the Emperor’s office.
To Sienna, it was a path both unfamiliar and hauntingly familiar.
After her mother’s death, she had never once set foot in the Emperor’s domain.
The Emperor never sought out Sienna again. Yet in her childhood, she had clung to the naive illusion that she could be loved by her father once more.
Desperately wishing that his tender gaze would fall upon her again as it once had, she used to wander around the building where her father resided day after day.
Never once possessing the courage to step inside.
Consequently, this building held few pleasant memories for her.
Crossing the endless corridor, the Chamberlain halted before an enormous set of doors. When the guards recognized her face and opened them, the Chamberlain stepped aside to clear the way.
“Please, enter.”
As she slowly stepped inside, the sunlight poured over her, unfiltered.
One entire wall was comprised of glass windows, draped with red curtains embroidered in gold thread with the imperial crest.
With an entire wall made of glass extending all the way to the soaring ceiling, a bright, sun-drenched view unfolded before her eyes.
At the desk in the center of the office sat a slender man. Stepping inside, Sienna spotted him and stopped in her tracks despite herself.
The pale blond hair bathed in sunlight glittered brightly. It was the very same shade as her father’s, who used to sit there long ago and welcome her.
‘Sasha. Come here.’
The tender voice that used to whisper those words still echoed vividly in her ears.
“You’ve come.”
At the indifferent voice, the gaze she had fixed on his golden hair immediately lowered to the man’s face. He still had not lifted his eyes from his papers.
“Have you reflected on your conduct during your absence?”
“I have no idea what I'm supposed to reflect on…”
Sienna muttered with a flat look.
“You ought to count yourself fortunate instead. Back then, it took all my restraint not to set fire to your face.”
“I grow weary of pointing out your insolence at every turn.”
Releasing a long sigh, the Emperor closed the book he had been reading with a crisp snap. Only then did blue eyes, matching Sienna’s own shade, fix directly upon her.
Dry glances, devoid of the slightest trace of familial affection, met across the room.
“I did some thinking while you were gone.”
“…”
“The thought occurred to me to simply have you killed, but it seemed a waste. That bloodline you hold in such high esteem, I mean.”
The Emperor looked at her with an ambiguous smile. Sienna’s face twisted in irritation at his pointless preamble.
“If you have something to say, say it plainly.”
The Emperor gave a light shrug.
“As the late Emperor’s only recognized legitimate daughter in life, you ought to serve your country’s purpose. That was surely the only reason Father kept you alive, wasn’t it?”
The remark was an obvious provocation meant to needle her, but Sienna only let out an incredulous chuckle.
“What could the likes of you possibly know about what the departed thought…?”
At her mocking tone, the Chamberlain standing by the door cut in, turning pale.
“Princess! Please mind your words before His Majesty—!”
“Leave it. Our princess is not someone who can be reasoned with.”
Instead, the Emperor merely rested an arm over the sofa and clicked his tongue with an air of composure.
“There is only one reason I summoned you to the capital. I have finally found a task where you can be of use to this empire.”
Languidly resting his chin in his hand, he turned his gaze toward the window.
“The empire’s territory has expanded, yet conflict continues to stir across the continent. Frankly speaking, the imperial political landscape is hardly stable either.”
Sienna released a silent breath.
What did the empire’s affairs have to do with her? Just having to look at the man before her was agony enough, and listening to him babble in riddles was wearing her already shallow patience down to nothing.
Just then, a dreadful premonition flashed through her mind.
“Do you know what the most certain method is to bring a disgruntled enemy to your side?”
The Emperor’s perpetual, pleasant smile, and the endless stream of vague words. Belatedly catching onto his line of thought, Sienna parted her lips blankly.
“Don't tell me…”
“Yes. It is precisely what you are thinking.”
As the Emperor nodded without hesitation, Sienna’s face turned ghastly pale.
“I want you to marry the King of Parma.”
Though he had finally laid bare his true intent, Sienna was struck so speechless that she could not utter a word.
The moment she returned from the monastery, she had never dreamed she would be confronted with marriage to yet another man. In her haste to avoid Declan, she had entirely forgotten that at this age, she was right in the midst of entering the marriage market.
Only after some time had passed did Sienna manage to force open her mouth, looking dazed.
“…And if I refuse?”
“Refuse?”
The Emperor gave a harsh scoff, as though the thought were utterly absurd.
“Do you truly believe you have a choice?”
“…”
“If you refuse, I have no reason to keep you alive. Wherever my influence reaches, there will be no land left on which you may breathe.”
So in the end, it was a threat.
Either die, or marry whoever he chose. Presenting only the most petty, detestable options was truly typical of Joseph.
Even so, she had no other recourse.
Had she inherited her fair share of the estate like Marianne or Dahlia, her situation might have been somewhat better, but with practically nothing to her name, she lacked the luxury to be stubborn.
And yet…
The sudden image of a man surfacing in her mind drained the color from Sienna’s face.
Watching her expression, the Emperor smiled coldly.
“Or perhaps rotting away the rest of your days in a stone tower prison wouldn’t be a bad option either.”