Chapter 6: Live To Sienna Pt.6

“If God doesn’t do it, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Eventually, she spread out on the bed, exhausted, and closed her eyes. Her face was wet.

Months had passed since Sienna had been locked in the tower.

Sienna, who used to curse Arya every day, was no longer able to do so and spent every day lying on her bed. All she could do was think about the past or worry about Carl and Joseph.

“By what means would he be able to get in here? Like Arya said, as long as Carl’s army doesn’t have a hole to go through, there won’t be any open doors.”

Suddenly, things turned noisy outside. The clamor did not subside quick enough to dismiss it as just a mere disturbance. The two soldiers guarding Sienna also seemed nervous about the noise outside.

A soldier went down to check on the situation, but even after a long time, the soldier who had gone down did not come up. Only the screams and the heavy footsteps got closer.

The seemingly anxious soldier checked on Sienna. Sienna, who hadn’t had a good meal in a long time, looked tired. The soldier left the door. Whether he thought it was impossible for Sienna to flee even if he wasn’t sure.

“Carl…”

Sienna thought that Carl might be the reason for the commotion.

Once he returned, she expects Queen Arya’s and her own head to be taken shortly after. She was sure he thought that she and Arya had joined hands in the rebellion, and that he resented both of them for Bluebell’s death. In fact, Sienna herself had never dreamed that Arya would prepare a rebellion, nor had she wanted Bluebell to die in that way. She shook her head.

“Whoever saw it would’ve thought Arya and me to be together. I was blinded by jealousy and tried to kill Queen Bluebell and make Joseph the emperor. That’s what it should’ve looked like.”

Sienna smiled grimly.

“Rather, it’s better this way. It wouldn’t be too bad to die by his hands because I’d be able to see Carl for one last time.”

If he had entered that door and swung a knife at her neck, she would’ve received it with a smile. That, of course, if it could put an end to that painful nightmare.

“But Joseph is…”

What wrong had the child done?

“My ignorance and folly have led to the Arya’s rebellion, and I deserve to die, but Joseph has done nothing. He’s a toddler who can’t even speak yet… At least, he won’t kill Joseph with his own hands.”

Joseph was now the only important heir to the imperial line of the Laifsden Empire. Of course, the child had been used in the rebellion to take the emperor’s seat, but Sienna still believed Carl would spare him.

“Because he’s your child… you should at least spare him that.”

Sienna rose from her seat, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. And with trembling hands from the lack of strength, she brushed her disheveled hair. It was funny that she wanted to look beautiful in that situation, but she couldn’t help but feel sorry that all she had was a white sleeping gown.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror.

There was a scar on one of her cheeks from the tears streaming down her face. Her pale lips already looked like those of the dead.

There was nothing she could hide of her shabby self. In the past, maids had groomed her hair, dressed her in fancy dresses, and decorated her with beautiful jewels. Now, all she had was a wooden comb.

“Obviously….”

Even when she had met Carl in her full attire, he had not looked at her properly. She had put a lot of hard work into her dresses and accessories to impress him, but that had not worked. He had done nothing else but care about himself.

She stopped brushing and sat on the bed, staring at the door.

If he went in there, he’d cut her head off. She would congratulate him with a pleasing expression. His revenge and the throne he’d recovered…

‘Koong, koong!

She could hear the sound of a bunch of soldiers stepping in unison.

Soon, the door opened.

“Ah, ah…”

Far from saying congratulations, her mouth froze when the door opened and she saw him.

Sienna had wanted to see him. Even if she died, even if she had died by his hands, she wanted to see his face and have him close her eyes. But the man now standing at the door looking at her didn’t seem like the man she loved.

He looked thin and tired, more than he had when she had last seen him. No well-kept hair, no shining armor nor red velvet cloak could cover his weary face.

Above all, his eyes.

It was terrible to see his eyes. His eyes were no longer shining as before. They were the eyes of the dead. She couldn’t feel any life coming from him.

Carl slowly drew his sword, and Sienna, who couldn’t face him, bowed her head.

The knights knelt her down in front of Carl. Sienna did not feel afraid to die even though the tip of his sword lay on her neck. His eyes, which seemed to have given up everything, rather than make her afraid to die, choked her heart.

Carl was a tough guy. He had lost his mother at a young age to grow up in the arms of his guardians, survived the numerous murder attempts perpetrated by Queen Arya in that vicious palace, and experienced the battlefield from the young age of eleven. In all those circumstances, he had never appeared like the way he was now.

Even if he chopped the head of his nemesis, Arya, he was the one who had lost everything.

“You…” His voice cracked. It was not his original voice, which was heavy and soft, but a dry, split voice. “Is there any reason why I should keep you alive?”

Sienna couldn’t give him an answer.

“Because of you… I lost my wife, my child was… lost.”

Carl had a hard time trying to voice the deaths of Bluebell and the child within her belly.

“I’ve lost both the people I trusted and those who supported me, so why should I save you? Will you be worth it?”

“….”

“Why the hell did you do that? Did you want to make your son emperor? So, what did you get? Getting locked up in this tower like a prison. Were you still comforting yourself with thoughts about Joseph, who became a puppet emperor in Queen Arya’s arms?”

Carl laughed at Sienna to his utmost. What had she gotten from the blood of so many people?

If she protested that she’d never wanted to do it, that she had just been a tool played by Arya, would she soothe his mind? Sienna closed her eyes tightly.

“Can I tell you a funny story?” Carl said sarcastically. “Your child, I mean, the one you wanted to raise to be the emperor…”

Carl was talking about Joseph as if he were dealing with a child he didn’t know, as if he were not his own. Sienna, forcing open her parched mouth, said, “It’s Joseph. Though there was never a time you called him by his name, he has one.”

At Sienna’s words, one side of Carl’s mouth curled up.

“Huh, Joseph…That’s right. Your son, Joseph… Do you know what happened to the child? The child you wanted so badly to make emperor?”

Hearing his words, Sienna raised his head and asked, “Don’t tell me you’ve already killed him?! He’s your child, too! Your blood is mixed!”

When Sienna tried to stand up and run at Carl, the soldiers behind her pressed down on her shoulders.

“I didn’t kill him.”

“Then, Joseph… Carl… No, Your Majesty. Joseph did nothing wrong. He can’t speak; he can’t walk. He was just used as a tool in Arya’s devious plot. So, cut me at the neck, but save Joseph. Please.”

Sienna hit her head on the floor and begged him to spare Joseph. Her forehead open with the impact, and she started bleeding. Nevertheless, she could not feel any pain. If only his own child could be safe…

Carl dropped to one knee and put a hand on her shoulder.

“You don’t have to that.”

Sienna looked up at him. The blood caught her eyes, the contrast of the red against the paleness of his face.

“Are you saying you’ll let Joseph live?”

“No. I couldn’t do that even if I wanted to because there’s no way to save a child who’s already dead.”

“What’s that…”

He looked down at Sienna. His expression still bore a grudge against her, but there was a greater feeling of compassion mixed into it, which made her even more anxious.