Still, even while complaining, her eyes were shining. Leveling up meant unlocking more seeds, more land, more options. That was what mattered.
After finishing everything, Sienna Vale left the space and returned to her room. She walked to the window and looked outside.
The sky was still dark blue, but the eastern horizon had begun to lighten. A pale line of white was forming, like the belly of a fish appearing in the distance.
Dawn.
It was still early. Harold and the others wouldn't be awake yet, and even the slaves would still be sleeping.
Sienna Vale couldn't sleep anymore. Her body was too excited, and her mind was too awake. She sat in her chair and took another bite of the radish she had pulled out earlier, chewing slowly.
She had eaten nearly half of it before she realized she couldn't eat anymore.
But something strange happened.
A warm feeling spread through her stomach, then moved outward through her body. It wasn't like the heat of alcohol, and it wasn't like the burning rush of spice. It felt more like her blood had suddenly become stronger, smoother, as if energy was being poured into her veins.
Sienna Vale blinked, then flexed her fingers.
She felt refreshed.
she felt… powerful.
Not in the way a warrior felt powerful, but in the way a man felt after a deep rest. her eyes were clear, her limbs light, and the sleepiness that should have remained in her body was completely gone.
Sienna Vale frowned.
"This isn't normal."
Sienna's memories made it clear that after drinking the Water of Nothingness, the body often became weak. The person would feel tired, like their vitality had been drained. Yet Sienna Vale felt the opposite.
She felt like she could run around the castle ten times without stopping.
Her gaze slowly fell to the half-eaten radish in her hand.
"Don't tell me…" Sienna Vale muttered, half-amused and half-stunned. "This thing isn't just food. It's medicine."
She sniffed and quickly checked her nose, afraid of some ridiculous side effect like a nosebleed. But nothing happened. She was perfectly fine.
Still, the strange vitality was real.
Sienna Vale didn't want to waste the radish. She stored the remaining piece in the warehouse immediately. If this radish truly had special effects, then it was even more valuable than gold.
By the time she finished, the horizon outside was brighter. Dawn was spreading slowly across the wasteland.
Sienna Vale didn't want to wake anyone up. But staying in her room was too suffocating. There was nothing to do, and the quiet made her thoughts too loud. So she decided to walk outside and properly explore the castle.
She left the inner fortress and stepped into the courtyard. The stone ground was cold under her boots. The air was crisp, carrying the smell of earth and old walls. She passed through the small square and moved toward the outer fortress.
The outer area was simple, almost military in design. Rows of stone houses lined the walls, meant for storage and for soldiers. The ground was paved with bluestone slabs, worn smooth by time. Everything looked sturdy, but there was a sense of abandonment, like the place had been holding its breath for years.
The city wall itself was thick and tall, rising more than ten meters. Sienna Vale walked toward the main gate and studied it closely. The gate was huge, made of heavy metal, likely pig iron. A thick iron bolt ran across the center, and beside it was a rotating mechanism with gears and handles.
Sienna Vale stared at the structure with surprise.
"This is actually… well designed."
She reached out and touched the cold metal. The mechanism was simple but clever. Turning the handle would rotate gears, which would push the bolt in and out to lock or unlock the gate. It was the kind of design that looked rough but reliable.
She looked around the courtyard. Supplies were piled in large stacks, just as she had seen earlier. Boxes, sacks, tools, bundles of wood, and countless other items. It was enough to make a small merchant jealous.
Sienna Vale couldn't help smiling.
Harold had turned nearly all their money into materials. From one angle, it looked foolish. Gold could be used to buy anything. But supplies could only be used until they ran out.
Sooner or later, everything piled here would be consumed.
Sienna Vale's smile deepened, but her eyes became thoughtful.
Harold had been acting like a man preparing to seal the gates forever, building a small, isolated world that would never need outside contact. If Sienna Vale had not transmigrated into Sienna's body, if Sienna had remained the useless noble brat she once was, then Harold's approach might have kept them alive for a while.
But only for a while.
Supplies ran out.
Seeds ran out.
Tools broke.
Even slaves would die if sickness came.
Without trade and growth, this castle would become a grave.
Sienna Vale understood it clearly now. Harold was loyal, but she wasn't a businessman. She didn't think about expansion. She only thought about survival.
Sienna Vale climbed the stone stairs beside the gate and walked up onto the wall. The iron-blue stone beneath her feet felt solid, cold, and heavy. The wall was wide enough for several men to walk side by side, and the craftsmanship was better than she expected. On each corner stood an arrow tower, built for defense.
From here, the entire castle was visible, and it was obvious that this place had been designed to withstand attacks from all directions.
Sienna Vale turned outward and looked beyond the wall.
A moat surrounded the castle, about five meters wide. Clear water flowed inside it, and Sienna Vale could tell it was living water, not stagnant. A suspension bridge stretched over the moat. Thick iron chains, as thick as a man's arm, held the bridge. The bridge itself was made of an iron framework with wooden planks on top.
The planks looked new.
Someone had repaired it recently.
Directly ahead of the gate was a stone-paved road leading outward. It stretched into the distance, but weeds had grown between the stones, showing that no one had walked it in a long time.
Beyond the road was only black soil.
Endless black soil.
Not a tree, not a bush, not even proper grass. The land looked rich like oil, but it carried the silence of death. It was as if the world ended there.
The sun began to rise.
Golden light spread across the horizon, and the first rays fell onto Sienna Vale's body. her shadow stretched long behind her across the stone wall.
Sienna Vale stood there, hands resting on the cold stone, watching the sun climb higher.
For a moment, she felt a strange calmness. The kind of calmness that only came when a person had accepted their fate, but refused to surrender.
She smiled.
"This place is mine," Sienna Vale murmured. "This castle, this wasteland, this cursed land… it all belongs to me now."
Her voice grew steadier, and her eyes sharpened as she stared at the rising sun.
"It might look dead today," she said softly, "but it won't stay dead forever."
She lifted her chin slightly, as if speaking to the land itself.
"One day sooner or later… I'll make this place shine again."
Sienna Vale didn't notice it, but down below, in the courtyard, several figures had already gathered.
Harold, Mirella, Tiara, and even Wood and Stone were standing there quietly, looking up at the wall.
The golden sunlight fell on Sienna Vale's body like a cloak. From below, she looked tall and distant, like a lord truly standing above her territory.
Harold's old eyes were wet again.
Mirella's lips curved into a rare smile.
Tiara stared silently, her gaze fixed on Sienna Vale, and for the first time, there was no fear in her eyes.
Sienna Vale stood on the wall for a long time, staring at the rising sun until the heat on her face slowly calmed her blood. Only then did she realize how emotional she had been. Those words she had shouted earlier sounded like something from a play, yet at that moment, they had come out naturally, as if the sunrise itself had pushed them out of her chest.
When she finally turned around, she froze.
Below the wall, Harold was standing straight, and behind her stood the one hundred slaves.
They were lined up neatly, almost like soldiers. Half were men, half were women. Their bodies were strong, their faces clean, their clothes surprisingly tidy. It was obvious Harold had carefully chosen them, not just grabbing weak and sick people to fill a number. These were people who could work, who could survive, and who could endure hardship.
The men had something else on their faces.
On their foreheads was a dark imprint, a mark burned into the skin. It looked like a wild dragon with claws spread wide, fierce and proud. It was the House Vale's crest, a symbol that didn't just show ownership but also sealed their fate.
Sienna Vale's heart tightened slightly.
She had seen slavery in books, in movies, in stories. But standing above them now, seeing real people branded like cattle, she finally understood what it meant. It wasn't just suffering. It was a cage placed on the soul.
Harold noticed Sienna Vale looking down. His eyes shone as if he had been waiting for this moment. He stepped forward and shouted loudly, his voice echoing against the stone walls.
"Young Miss! The glory of the House Vale will one day shine across the entire land! Please give us your command!"
The moment her words ended, the slaves dropped like a wave.
A hundred bodies knelt. A hundred heads hit the ground.
Not one of them dared to look up.
Sienna Vale's throat went dry.