“Evan would be your second son?”
“Yes. I brought my second child to the capital to visit my parents this time.”
“If it’s your parent’s….”
She described her family as Baron Camiller.
Baron Camiller’s was not a family of high titles and authority, but a family of knights who had long been loyal to the imperial family. They were given noble titles a few generations ago, from a family of commoners in recognition of loyalty to the emperor, and they were also close to Carl’s maternal family.
Baroness Chaser said she had come to see her family after a long time and brought her second child then was invited to a royal banquet. Her story was that she was sorry to bring her second child without knowing that she should not bring children to the banquet because she had never participated in the royal banquet other than a coming-of-age banquet.
The problem now was that while she was briefly distracted by the banquet hall, the child had disappeared.
“It was only for a short time, but I don’t know where the kid went.”
Sienna soothed her, whose eyes were getting wet, worried that something had happened to her child.
“Don’t worry too much. There’s a lot of employees in the imperial family, so I’m sure you’ll find him soon. Evan will be safe because the imperial heirs are always all over the palace, so we’ve put away all the dangerous things.”
At that time, an actor came up to the stage in the middle of the garden and explained the purpose of today’s banquet and the play. Sienna looked at Carl, who was far away and chatting with the nobles. She felt better because he looked a little surprised.
The host of the show said, “The play will be on soon,” and asked everyone to sit down. Sienna had to quickly take Carl to the designated seat.
However, she could not ignore the mother who lost her child. Sienna called in a knight who was escorting her close by and ordered him to help her find the child.
“It would be too much to look by yourself, so tell the knights in the Imperial Palace that I ordered them to find the child.”
The knight took Sienna’s orders and Mrs. Chaser said thank you to Sienna repeatedly. Sienna asked her how long she was staying in the capital.
“It’s been a while, so I’m thinking of staying for about a month.”
“Then bring Evan to the palace when you have time. So I can take a look at that troublemaker.”
Mrs. Chaser smiled widely and nodded.
Evan would be the same age as the heirs. Sienna thought it would be good for them to gain another friend since they only knew two-years-younger Anna, Pavenik and Hain’s daughter, as their playmate.
After sending her with the knight, Sienna hurried to Carl.
“You turned the Petrio War into a play?”
Asked Carl with a smiley face. Sienna replied, pulling his hand.
“A hero’s story is always charming. There may be some adaptations, but please enjoy it.”
“I was roughly guessing that you were preparing for a play, but I never thought I would be the main character in it.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I wanted to give you a surprise gift that you didn’t expect, but I couldn’t think of anything for so long.”
Carl gently kissed her forehead, admiring her.
“I’m happy even if you just pick a flower that bloomed on the street.”
“But that’s not how I feel. I want to do something very big for you.”
The two sat in the front seats closest to the stage. The nobles followed them to the seats set in front of the stage.
The band conductor’s hand movements spread magnificent music.
Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-
The sound of the drum made the audiences’ hearts beat.
Soon dozens of actors were running around on the big stage, showing the urgency of the war. As the actors rolled over and played vividly the scene of their injuries and deaths, some aristocrats avoided their gaze or made sounds of grief.
Soon their movements stopped as if time had stopped. Backstage, an actor playing the role of Carl came out to agonize and announce his participation in the battle, and the actor playing the role of Pavenik stopped him.
“Your Majesty the Emperor, no. I am afraid that your participation in the war will damage your health. If you get hurt, it’s like the sun won’t rise in the Leipsden Empire again.”
“How can I only think of my safety when my people are in pain?”
“But the Emperor is the Sun of Leipsden.”
“I don’t want to remain only the reigning sun over the people. I want to be a campfire beside the people shivering in the cold, a lamplight for those who are frustrated by the darkness, the moonlight for those who walk in the dark, the light that people need.”
The nobles were thrilled with his lines clapped at Carl. Carl swept his face roughly as if embarrassed and whispered to Sienna.
“I’ve never said anything like that. Apart from that, I don’t talk like that!”
Sienna burst into laughter at his embarrassed reaction.
“And Pavenik said that? Rather, he pushed my back to go because it was a battle with so much to gain.”
“It’s a play. This kind of thing needs to be exaggerated. So stop whining.”
“When did I ever whine… what!”
But Carl’s words didn’t go on to the end. The actor who played Carl began to sing.
Originally, Sienna was thinking of making this into an opera, but she prepared a play because she was pressed for time. But she was full of regrets. She had always wanted to have fancy music with it.
Fortunately, there were already songs written for the emperor on the market, and some of them have been included in the play. The song that was being sung now was one of them. Fortunately, the actor’s voice was not bad, so it was good to hear.
Carl covered his face with his hands as if he could hardly bear it. Originally, it was a banquet to see his touched face, but it was also fun to watch Carl struggle with embarrassment.
Sienna didn’t know this when she was preparing, but when she saw the performance, it was a gift that the recipient couldn’t just feel sentimental about. In other words, if the actor over there was herself, not Carl, she might have turned around in embarrassment and ran away.
Sienna was grateful for Carl, who was in agony but remained in his seat. Nevertheless, she felt like making fun of him.
“When this is over, I’m going to have it screened every day at the opera house in the capital. I’m going to show a lot of people this nice stuff.”
At Sienna’s words, Carl sighed and said, “Please don’t. If you do, you might sign a document that Pavenik put forward, expelling all the actors out of the capital.”
His words did not seem like a joke, so Sienna stopped teasing him and focused on the play.
The play ended with Carl winning the war and returning to the palace with the support of the people. When it was over, the nobles who were watching the play rose from their seats in unison and applauded. The nobles chanted “His Majesty the Emperor” in unison.
Although the war was fought, it was so far away from the capital. The nobles knew that war had broken out and that Carl had successfully led the war, but never thought much about how terrible and hard it was.
To them, the emperor’s victory was taken for granted, and the damage of the war had nothing to do with them. They just hated paying relief money for the area.
However, after experiencing it indirectly through the passionate performances of the actors on stage, their thoughts on the war seemed to have changed a little.
Sienna went up on stage after the play. She spoke to the purpose of today’s banquet.
She prepared the stage to commemorate the day when the war ended in victory, saying that peace came but they should continue to be wary of the surroundings, and thanked the emperor for keeping the peace and all the soldiers involved in the battle.
At the end of her words, Carl came onto the stage. He gave Sienna a meaningful gaze and continued after her words.
“I would also like to take this occasion to thank my soldiers for their participation in the battle of that day.”
He looked again at Sienna’s expression and said, “And there’s an important announcement.”
Sienna looked at him with a puzzled look at the words of the announcement. The nobles were also nervous and waited for him to speak.
“Everyone here also knows that the imperial family is preparing an academy for the children of noble families.”
After setting up orphanages across the country, Sienna found that each aristocratic family was also troubled by educational problems.
Usually, aristocratic children invited scholars to their homes to take classes at a high cost. So the rich could invite a reputable scholar, but the children of financially challenged aristocrats could hardly get a proper education. The illiteracy rate of the aristocracy was actually quite high.
Sienna suggested to Carl that they create an academy for aristocratic children. Carl gave a pretty positive response.
-It’s better to lead the people who can think than to lead the brain-dead and run state affairs. It will also be much more useful for children to rule the empire later.
Since then, he has actively purchased land and called in scholars to map out education curricula. Of course, this process was with Sienna.
In fact, Carl actively devised the academy because he believed it was necessary to strengthen the imperial power rather than for educational purposes.
He didn’t want another revolt to happen. So he wanted to keep his aristocratic children near the capital and take them as potential hostages. He also judged that it was a very appropriate institution to educate them about loyalty to the royal family at a very young age.
But there was a gap between Sienna and the central nobles. Sienna, who had studied on her own in the northern land without the help of a scholar thought many people would respond positively, but the nobles were more indifferent than expected. They reacted as if they did not understand the need for education itself.
Some responded that they could let their subordinates do the difficult task that required education, and others were tired of studying, while some high-ranking aristocrats disapproved that their children should receive equal education from children of low-ranking families.
These complaints were resolved more easily than expected, with the announcement that Sharillo and Leah would be admitted to the academy and given the same classes as other children.
The nobles agreed because they could make a connection with the imperial heirs, and even receive the education together. Since then, more and more people have asked when they can send their children to the academy and what levels there were.
The establishment of the academy was going smoothly and was scheduled to be completed within a year and receive students. The nobles took their necks out and waited for Carl to open his mouth, hoping to get information about the academy.
“The academy will be completed in 10 months, and applications for admission will begin in six months. And the most important thing is this: The academy will be named ‘Sienna Academy’ after the one who proposed the establishment and made the most contributions.”
The nobles at the banquet cheered. The cheers were loud because the excitement they felt after watching the play was still lingering.
Sienna’s face froze in surprise at Carl’s announcement. Carl whispered in her ear, “Return the gift!”
