Chapter 201: Live to Sienna Pt.201

Sienna intuitively caressed her stomach. In hopes that Sharillo would be able to avoid this storm. Carl’s eyes were also fixed on Sienna’s stomach.

“Don’t worry. It’s not like we’re in the dark, we prepared ourselves more than them.”

“Since Count Ferrer lost a lot of his followers during the purge, there won’t be that many participating in the rebellion. And you had this in mind when you imprisoned Count Zebata and Baron Morrill, right?”

“That’s right. Count Zebata’s mines produce iron ore which could help in creating weapons, so I wanted to stop him in advance. Baron Morrill’s status may be lower but he has a lot of experience in the battlefield.”

Carl frowned at the thought of losing such a good warrior.

“Baron Morrill is especially talented in strategy so he comes up with very good plans when attacking the enemy with a limited number of soldiers. He’s actually one of the best in the empire when it comes to efficiently attacking enemies in cramped space.”

“If he’s such a great resource, wouldn’t it be better if you use him under your command?”

Sienna said, feeling sorry about losing a good human resource. Carl also shook his head with a sad look.

“He is tied to the Ferrers through political marriage and his loyalty to the empire is not so great. And he is also a greedy man so if Count Ferrer offers him something attractive, there’s a very high chance he’ll accept it.”

“That’s too bad. Even a great planner and warrior is useless and dangerous if they lack loyalty.”

“Exactly. So that’s why I had to clean them up before anything happened. And there are other nobles that didn’t come up in the list this time. They were very sly in hiding their people in the palace, but now most of them are cleaned up. There were so many…”

Carl said with a tone of amazement.

Sienna asked again, “How many were there?”

“More than 20 mid-level experts.”

At Carl’s reply, Sienna reacted in shock.

“Does that mean that Arya’s entire Black Eagle Knights were Castroite knights?”

“If only that, I wouldn’t have been so surprised. Not only knights but servants, gardeners, chefs… there was no specific profession in the dispersed personnel.”

“Wow, you somehow managed to find all those hidden in the palace.”

At Sienna’s question, Carl shrugged his shoulders and replied, “If it wasn’t for Kissinger, it would have not been so easy. Also, he looks like a big, brawny guy far from details, he has really keen senses. He pointed out that Castroite knights receive different types of sword training so they have different callouses in their hands. Of course, it’s not easy to see with bare eyes, but he was able to pick them out.”

“He is an amazing person.”

“Definitely, he really is. And Pavenik went through all the documents of the people that Kissinger picked out, and made connections through that. It was a time-consuming task but very accurate.”

“I’m so glad. That such able men are supporting you.”

At Sienna’s compliment, Carl lifted his chin proudly.

“Of course able men come under an able leader.”

At Carl’s humble brag, Sienna smiled and replied, “Yes, of course.” Carl scratched his face in embarrassment.

*

One month has passed since Sienna’s trial.

While Carl and his men were busy cleaning up people they suspected were Arya’s, Sienna was busy with work herself. She was focused on the orphan rescue project of her own.

Both during the time she was locked up in her palace and when she was staying with Carl, she never stopped working and made slow progress.

While continuing to monitor Arya’s expenses, she found out that Arya was spending as much money on tea and spices as on her clothes and jewelry. She especially spends an unimaginable sum of money on expensive tea and spice.

Finding it suspicious that Arya was spending as much money on tea and spice as wheat, Sienna soon found out that Arya was faking her invoice in tandem with her merchant association and secretly taking money out.

When Sienna pointed out those expenses, Arya put the blame on her merchant association and let them take the punishment for fraud. Even though it was certain that she took the money the association claimed, she pretended that she had nothing to do with it, which drove Sienna mad.

But using her anger as a driving force, when Sienna reduced Arya’s next budget, Arya’s expression was the best revenge taken. Sienna acquired dark money circulating in the palace in this way little by little, and it accumulated much more than she had expected.

Plans for how to use the sum were gradually being completed. It was not enough to accommodate orphans from the entire empire, but it was enough money to build orphanages sequentially from at least close to the capital for them to survive for a while.

Hain contributed greatly this time, because she pitched good ideas whenever Sienna was struggling with something. Since Hain was the head maid, she was already good at budgeting for running the castle. She has done a great job of reducing spending and raising funds.

“I’ve asked to find a place for the land purchase, so you’ll get a call soon.”

“That’s great. Her Majesty the Second Empress and the Dowager Empress is quiet these days too.”

At first, they seemed to be letting Sienna work on the project, but when Sienna pushed ahead with the work in earnest, Arya and Bluebell picked a fight with every detail. They seemed to be displeased that Sienna was doing a great job for her name, as well as reducing the amount of money they could spend.

They have disrupted Sienna’s work, saying that it was mandatory for them to maintain dignity as part of the royal family. Nevertheless, they seemed to have given up as soon as Sienna continued to push ahead with her work.

“I think the building will be built soon if we buy the land. We decided to unify the design of the orphanage. The problem is hiring caretakers and teachers.”

“First of all, I’m looking for someone with the help of the accountant team. And when I observed the temple children, the children who came in first and learned how to write, or those who were a little older, taught and led the children younger than themselves. We won’t need so many people.”

Hain nodded at Sienna’s words.

“We need more help from the temple of the land goddess. Since they have had experience with running an orphanage before. It would be nice if we could hear the difficulties and considerations they had when they were running it, or if we could meet the kids and hear what they needed.”

Sienna agreed with Hain’s remarks. Listening to her, Sienna wanted to meet the children.

Roy left the capital and a new priest took the place. Although Roy said he was a very good person, Sienna wanted to meet him in person and find out what kind of person he was.

“Oh! It’s already time. You have to be ready before the Emperor comes.”

“Yes.”

Sienna took a walk in the palace with Carl every day. They wandered from place to place in the imperial court under the pretext that walking the same path every day was getting boring.

For this reason, it was rumored to the people in the palace and nobles that the emperor was completely smitten with the First Empress and that their trust in each other was strong. It was natural since the emperor split his busy schedule for the pregnant first empress and went around the garden every day.

The relationship aspect was true, but they didn’t intentionally poke around the palace to make such a rumor. Carl and Sienna predicted that Count Ferrer or Arya would revolt sooner or later.

The success of the rebellion they would cause depends on the life of Sienna and Carl. Therefore, there was a high possibility that the two would cause an incident within the Imperial City where they resided. Just as Arya used imperial banquets to create a rebellion in the past as Sienna remembered.

Sienna and Carl did not take much into account the possibility that they might gather soldiers from outside the Imperial City and advance to the Imperial City. It was easier than attacking from within, and Carl was better at war than anyone else.

Carl’s army was not just inside the Imperial City. It also existed outside the Imperial City. If the rebels tried to slay Carl by siege of the Imperial City, his army would appear behind them and end them easily. Even if they weren’t good at war, they wouldn’t make such a foolish choice.

That’s why Carl and Sienna monitored how they would use the Imperial Palace in the event of a revolt and whether there was any problem with the defense of the Imperial City. They also re-examined the passages in case they tried to invade the area.

Of course, they could prepare faster and perhaps more efficiently if they thought about it with Carl’s men who were good at fighting and strategy. However, it was not possible to let many people know that a rebellion was about to break out.

Carl and Sienna had to move busily to prepare for the leaking of information. Outwardly, the two seemed to be taking a leisurely walk, but in reality, they were working their heads off.

Nevertheless, Sienna enjoyed the time with Carl. It was much better than just staying in the room because she felt like she was doing something.

Today, Sienna chose a white dress with a light, sky-blue small flower pattern for comfortable movements. And wore a wide-brimmed hat to keep her face from getting sunburned. The hat was decorated with quite a showy lace.

“I almost forgot my gloves.”

Sienna wore lace gloves given by Hain. Hain always pointed out that in order to show her dignity as the empress, she should not wrinkle her hands.

When she was ready, Carl came in.

“It’s a fine day today. Shall we go for a walk to the sunny east gate?”

Sienna followed Carl to the east gate of the Imperial Palace.

In the small courtyard just in front of the east gate, a short yellow flower bloomed brightly around a fairly large fountain. However, among the yellow flowers, there were dents in the area where a tree was planted.Before going for a walk with Sienna, Carl had the imperial physician and the gardener check to see if there were any harmful poisonous plants for pregnant women in the garden. And if they found a problematic plant, they removed it and had to plant a different one.

So there were times when Sienna found particularly awkward empty spots in the garden, and every time, Sienna smiled without saying much. It was because she could feel how much Carl cared about her.

“Now I think we’ve walked all the channels in the castle.”

Carl thought carefully about something and opened his mouth, perhaps understanding Sienna’s words as if she thought the walks were boring.

“Is it boring to explore the palace all the time? The palace has a lot of restrictions and there isn’t much entertainment. If you want, why don’t we invite a band to a concert? Or you can invite clowns or theater troupes. All I have to do is bring in people, so it can be done soon.”

Sienna shook her head at his words. She didn’t say it because she was bored cleaning up the palace with him.

Moreover, it was not an easy task as he said. As it was a matter of bringing people into the imperial palace, background checks were essential, and they had to verify each and every person’s identity. They also needed time to practice and organize the stage.