Chapter 115
The place the person from the Sultan’s palace guided me to was Hürrem’s greenhouse.
I had been there before, but as the seasons had passed, the atmosphere had changed a little.
She and I walked along the neatly maintained paths of the greenhouse, chatting about this and that.
After a while, as Hürrem brought up light topics like recent happenings and food, she smoothly shifted the subject.
“By the way… you still haven’t found out why Suleiman’s curse grew stronger in the end?”
Rather than reproach, concern showed clearly on her gentle face.
She must have been worried that something like this might happen again to Suleiman.
Feeling a little tense, I nodded and answered.
“Yes. The high priest said it seems the curse was strengthened by taking advantage of the moment when the barrier stone weakened. The method was so meticulous that it’s impossible to trace back.”
“I see. We’ve already tried every method available over the past ten years. I never thought we’d be able to find the culprit or evidence so easily.”
“But someone who would go this far must be…”
I stopped myself mid-sentence.
Hürrem also gave a bitter smile, as if someone had come to mind.
There was only one person who would so persistently torment Hürrem and Suleiman—Roxelana.
“It seems I’ve made you worry unnecessarily. I’m sorry, Ishtar. This happened because I lacked the strength to prevent it.”
There was an unusual honesty in Hürrem’s eyes as she met my gaze.
It felt as though she was apologizing not as a sultan, but as one human being to another.
“You don’t need to apologize to me. I don’t really understand politics or power, but I’m sure there are problems that are hard to explain.”
“Yes. It’s something old and complicated.”
Hürrem waved her hand slightly, dismissing the surroundings.
When all traces of people were gone, she stopped walking.
She quietly looked up at the glass ceiling of the greenhouse, dyed blue by the sky, and spoke softly.
“In truth, for someone sitting on the throne, eliminating an enemy is easier than you might think. You suppress them, silence them, and take their life. That’s how I became sultan.”
“…I heard that wasn’t something you wanted to do either. You said the former sultan abdicated to you out of necessity.”
“Yes. But the sins I committed do not disappear. And if possible, I don’t want Suleiman to follow the same path I did. It’s a selfish wish, I suppose.”
A selfish wish.
After a brief silence, the words that had risen to my throat finally spilled out.
“Is that why you leave Roxelana alone?”
At my blunt question, Hürrem let out a small laugh.
“Yes, that’s right. You could say there’s also a bit of old pity mixed in.”
“Pity…?”
Seeing my puzzled expression, she replied with a bitter smile.
“Roxelana wasn’t like this from the beginning. It’s a very personal reason. One that would be hard to understand unless you were her or me.”
What kind of past could make someone pity a person who tried to kill her only son?
As she said, I found it difficult to understand the woman standing before me.
“I’ve left Suleiman with a difficult problem, but that child will handle it wisely. He was born and raised to become a sultan. I believe in him.”
“…I believe in him too.”
Hürrem chuckled lightly and muttered that her son had found a woman far too good for him.
As time passed and it neared the moment to part, she suddenly said something unexpected.
“The real reason I called you today is because Aziz left a message.”
“Aziz…?”
“Yes. He said to tell you not to be too sad. He said that despite how you look, you’re actually a crybaby.”
Had I ever cried in front of Aziz?
As I thought about it, I remembered my past life, always lamenting my fate in front of a cat.
“…So you knew everything.”
“Yes. I thought you had the right to know, too. I considered telling you several times, but Aziz stopped me, saying it would only hurt you.”
“Was his disappearance… an unchangeable fate?”
“Yes. But he always said he was glad he could meet you again. I’m sure everything happened just as Aziz wished.”
I couldn’t continue speaking.
Tears welled up in my eyes and spilled over.
It was the first time I had truly cried since Aziz disappeared.
“Oh dear, I suppose you really are a crybaby.”
Hürrem gently patted my shoulder.
Being able to share grief with someone and be understood was not as trivial as one might think.
“Hic…”
I sobbed in Hürrem’s arms, as she comforted me like a mother I had never known.
“Aziz was special to me too. But he always looked unhappy. Until he met you.”
“Until he met… me?”
“Yes. In all the decades I watched him, he looked happiest when he was with you. Cry as much as you like, and send him off peacefully. He must be grateful to you.”
Hürrem, smiling gently, comforted me until my tears completely stopped.
Tears had a strange power—they washed away even the old sorrow buried deep inside me.
In the clean space left behind, gratitude and longing settled instead of pain and regret.
Meanwhile, Roxelana, whose plans had completely collapsed, was plagued with headaches.
The curse she had barely maintained had lost all its power, and the palace’s barrier had returned to normal.
Not only had she failed to kill him, but it had now become difficult even to threaten him.
“Everything was cleaned up perfectly, right, Hans?”
At her question, Hans shrugged.
“Of course. Even if Aziz were to come back alive, he would never be able to trace anything to us.”
When the attempt to kill Suleiman failed, Hans had immediately left the palace with the priests.
Only after disposing of all the evidence to avoid leaving any clues.
Roxelana too had visited the temple after a long time, pretending nothing had happened.
Reassured by Hans’s confidence, she let out a sigh of relief and dragged her long, splendid dress to the sofa before sitting down.
“Now that that eyesore Aziz is gone, isn’t it a more suitable environment for you to show your abilities?”
“Unfortunately, no. It seems all the power he possessed has transferred to a woman called Ishtar. The strength I sense from her is on an entirely different level than before.”
“Then what use are you, exactly?”
At Roxelana’s sharp words, Hans swallowed dryly.
To become useless to her was no different from death.
If I’m no longer needed, she’ll definitely kill me.
Aside from his exceptional power, Hans was also one of the more clever priests.
That was how he had managed to survive at Roxelana’s side despite her temperament.
He composed himself and replied in the calmest voice he could manage.
“Having a lot of holy or divine power doesn’t automatically make someone superior. Even if one has immense mana, it’s useless if they don’t know how to use magic.”
“…Go on.”
“The new guardian of the kingdom has many weaknesses. We should aim for those.”
After hearing the explanation, Roxelana sank into deep thought.
According to the information she had obtained, only a few months remained until Suleiman became sultan.
Rumors had already spread throughout the palace that Hürrem was secretly preparing the succession ceremony.
There wasn’t much time left to wait idly for the hourglass to turn.
“Hans, continue searching for a method. And what is Theron doing these days?”
One of the attendants who had remained silent bowed and answered.
“Since meeting Suleiman alone a few weeks ago, he hasn’t taken a single step outside the prince’s palace.”
“Hah.”
She could clearly imagine what kind of conversation they must have had.
Probably babbling about some ridiculous romance.
Romance only exists when two people like each other.
What use is love to someone who has been pushed aside?
To them, Theron was nothing more than an obstacle—nothing more, nothing less.
Knowing this better than anyone, Roxelana found her son’s actions unbearably foolish.
If I want to bring Theron back to his senses, I’ll have to touch that woman after all.
After all, the key to every problem was Ishtar.
To move a ship floating on a calm sea, the wind must blow.
“It doesn’t matter whether the wind comes from the east or the west.”
She giggled softly and called an attendant closer, whispering an order.
This will be interesting.
No matter which direction the wind she summoned would blow, it would be enough to change Theron.
Whatever happened, hoping that her son would choose a path even more broken than normal, she hid her vicious smile behind her fan.
