Sienna
The moment morning broke, I headed for Thames Palace.
I was going to report a massive new order to my shareholder. I had no intention of raising a toast. This was risk management, nothing more.
"Come in, Allan."
Sienna happened to be at breakfast. For royalty, the meal was absurdly spare. Morning or not, it was a single bowl of oatmeal—hardly better than the liquid diets they fed patients. The bowl itself was porcelain imported from Jin, and the table was marble, but that was as far as the luxury went.
It didn't make me see her any differently. She simply took her pleasure somewhere other than adorning herself, papering a vast palace in finery, and putting the rarest food in the world into her mouth. A villainess who only indulged in extravagance would have been easier to handle.
"Will you eat with me?"
"Thank you."
"Good."
My portion arrived soon enough. That she had offered to share the table suggested her mood wasn't foul. I took a few perfunctory spoonfuls, then made my report.
"The Ministry of War ought to be discussing the adoption of morphine as we speak."
"Calling it a discussion is generous. It's as good as decided. Her Highness Victoria is pressing for it while opening her own purse—how could the Minister of War refuse? Before long I'll be settling delivery terms with the Ministry's quartermaster."
"They want morphine supplied not only to the military hospitals, but to every regiment-level unit. Not as powder. I intend to manufacture it as tablets, easier to handle, and deliver it that way. It won't take long."
The point, in the end, was that I would be handing morphine to a whale of a buyer and making a fortune—and that half of it would go to Sienna.
"So I get to sit still and earn a fortune."
"Yes."
"At that price, it's worth more than the same weight in gold…"
"Far more. As it should be."
I answered, then studied her face. Fresh from washing, her skin looked soft; her silver hair was loosely gathered up; there was even a smear of oatmeal at the corner of her mouth. Pointing it out wouldn't make her blush and wipe it away. She'd just lick it off with her tongue and look at me like, what?
Cute, if you only looked at her face—and not cute at all, which was precisely Sienna's nature. Fortunately, she didn't seem displeased. Even so, with an opponent like her, letting my guard down was out of the question.
Sienna was no fool. She wasn't likely to blow up a military contract in the open. Her sister had opened her own purse for the welfare of the troops; overturning that would only make Sienna look ridiculous. She wouldn't merely be a villainess. She'd be a stupid one.
But tormenting her sister indirectly—that, she could do all she wanted.
Using the staff of the military hospitals, for instance. It wouldn't even be difficult. All she had to do was provoke the army surgeons and nurses now handling a medicine worth a thousand thalers a gram. If Sienna worked from the shadows, greed would do the rest, and someone was bound to get ideas. People who had watched morphine's ferocious effect with their own eyes would be all the more vulnerable. Let things go wrong, and the drug would spill into civilian hands in no time.
And the whole mess could land squarely on Victoria.
My responsibility ended at delivery. If something went wrong in the handling, the one who had championed morphine's adoption would be the one in trouble. Victoria could easily find herself rushing about putting out fires, her private fortune spent for nothing. Even so, would she really go that far against her own sister? If it was Sienna, yes. She hadn't hesitated to cast aside her younger sister, had she?
I was turning over one possibility after another when she spoke.
"Well done, Allan."
"Pardon?"
"I said well done. The results exceeded my expectations."
She had finished her meager breakfast and was staring straight at me. I hadn't expected praise to fall from that mouth. What was this?
"Allan. I know what you're thinking, and you don't need to suspect me. I mean it."
"…"
"If we'd simply sold it as opium, the whole lot wouldn't have fetched three million thalers. You worked some magic, and the value shot up to something absurd. …And half of it is mine anyway. Why would I dislike that?"
"If that's how you see it, I'm grateful, but—"
"It's fine. Relax."
Of course, sitting idle and collecting dividends of several million thalers every month was in Sienna's interest too. Reinvestment would be necessary at first, but before long the venture would become an excellent cash cow for her.
Does she really mean to sit still?
Every measure I had prepared to keep the villainess reassured was turning meaningless in a single moment. If she had genuinely changed her mind, I ought to be grateful—but Sienna was not that sort of person.
My suspicion of Sienna hadn't faded. I could hardly force her to bare her thoughts, so I ate the rest of breakfast in awkward silence.
"As promised, the business is yours to run. I do have something to ask, though."
After the meal, she had a maid bring something in. Lemon juice, to be precise. Drink that as a palate cleanser and you'd be writhing. I couldn't tell what she was after, so I simply watched—until a suspicion flicked across my mind.
"Your Highness. Don't tell me—"
"Whatever you're guessing, you're right."
"…"
"The other day, on the way back from offering psilocybin to Mother—ah, I've decided to call her that now—I asked you, didn't I? That it tastes unpleasant on its own, so wouldn't it be better with lemon?"
"I remember."
I answered, and unease rose in me all the same. Surely she hadn't—
"You hedged. Said you weren't sure. You even used the elves as an excuse. I let it pass at the time without thinking… but looking back, something about it bothered me. I started to wonder whether a remark I'd tossed out without a thought had actually hit the mark."
"What is it you wish to say?"
Sienna, with a look that said what else, had the psilocybin brought out as well. Not fresh mushrooms—carefully dried, and ground to a fine powder. She then had the powder stirred into the juice. At a glance, it was only a strange drink of lemon juice clouded with powder.
But this was a lemon tek.
Left like that for about twenty minutes, the unpleasant taste eased, and once it was taken, the effects came on far faster. It was even gentler on the stomach. Up to this point, I could have called it a lucky guess. Sienna, though, seemed to have taught herself the principle behind it, if only dimly.
"I asked the cook something recently."
"About lemons?"
"Yes. I heard they're often used to take the smell off fish, or to tenderize meat. That property of lemon seems to affect psilocybin somehow… Am I right, Allan?"
"Yes."
At my answer, her face turned meaningful. Not content with that, she murmured, just loud enough to hear, "Limes or grapes would work too, then. I think I roughly understand how." That, too, was true. I hadn't expected her to get this far on a handful of circumstances.
"Allan. Would it be all right to give it to Mother in this form?"
"It would."
"Really? That's useful for me to know as well. The effect changes, but not in a way that harms her health. Mother will be pleased. …She's complained to me before that the smell bothers her."
"Do as you like. I don't mind."
I kept answering obediently, thinking that Empress Yeonhwa—happy enough already—might enjoy herself a little more.
A silence followed. Only then did I begin to understand why she was doing this.
"Allan. I'll be honest. Victoria's moves irritate me. I can take the money back, but in exchange she gains an intangible political asset, doesn't she? With this, the army's favor has gone over to her completely."
"Most likely. Then why did you promise not to interfere?"
"Because whatever I do, you'll stop me. You can."
"How could I—"
"Don't bother being modest. I'd had my suspicions since the psilocybin, and this military contract made me certain. You… how should I put it? You prefer the safe road. If I get in the way of that, you'll stop me somehow."
"…"
"Am I wrong?"
She was already convinced. Denying it would be pointless.
"You're not wrong. I want to avoid risk past a certain point. If what I've done has displeased Your Highness—"
"I'm not angry, so relax, Allan. If anything, I'm pleased. The person under me has proven herself competent. …You're someone who can manage even me, and toy with my own sister besides."
"You flatter me."
A promise not to obstruct the business, and recognition of my ability on top of it. I ought to have been glad. I couldn't smile. I was supposed to be the one playing above Sienna's head, and that was growing harder by degrees. She seemed to value me. Whether that was a happy thing was another question entirely.
And now, as if she weren't enough, I had to mind the First Imperial Princess, Victoria, as well. Running a business between imperial princesses who differed in everything from looks to temperament—the thought of it filled me with dread.
"Don't worry. I will never do the thing you're afraid of."
"…Thank you. Then may I proceed with the contract as it stands?"
"Of course. There is one thing I want to make clear."
"What is it?"
Sienna rose slowly and came toward me. What followed was simple: she set her hand lightly on my head. I felt nothing in particular. Lending her my head wouldn't wear it out. So long as she kept her promise, I wouldn't have minded even if she petted me.
"Of course they will be."
"Thank you. It'll be easier for you, too. I'm more capable than my sister."
Victoria was the one who had given me the military contract. Denying it felt awkward, so I nodded. Sienna must have taken the nod for a halfhearted answer. She let out a short laugh and added, "Within a few days, you'll admit it yourself."
She had no need to prove anything to me. I decided to let it go. This was far better than her taking an interest in crime.