Chapter 19

I couldn't speak from my heart and answered politely instead. The emperor's face brightened like a flower. She took a chair and sat near my bed while in a good mood. Garam himself was a hassle earlier, but the emperor is just looking at me right now.

It was evident she was used to vertical relationships. (Vertical relationship means where one member has greater standing in terms of power and authority or knowledge and wisdom.) That's why I have to speak first.

"Thank you for the gifts you have sent me, Your Majesty."

First off, I'm going to say the most standard thing. I also added that I had no choice but to say hello because I was sick. The emperor opened her mouth at my words.

"The quality of the goods have gone down because I was in a hurry to prepare. If you wait a little longer, I'll get you better presents."

My mouth opened without realizing it. More things? It's clear that the emperor has lost her sight because she lived in the imperial palace all her life. If the items you sent are of poor quality, then what's considered perfection here? I feel like my fever was secretly coming back at her added words.

"I appreciate the gifts, but it's too much for my humble palace to obtain even more presents."

I calmly blocked her from speaking more. Once again, I need to remind myself my first goal, and that is to not be seen with the emperor too much. Right now, Garam seems to be doing me a favor, but those shallow words will change once the emperor's interest in me outweighs his. Then, once again, I'll die. My determined eyes made the emperor look enlightened.

"Oh, right. This palace is small."

I pressed my mouth close to prevent any words spitting out. I'm not talking about the palace. She then looked like she was pondering on something. I don't know what you're thinking, but I doubt it'll help me out one bit.

"Okay. I'll take care of it."

She said while laughing. I lowered my gaze. She then reached out towards me carefully. The hand, which had gripped swords and became rough, swept past my forehead and patted my head.

"Your fever is gone."

Well yeah. If I was still sick, it would've been dangerous. If I had known my fever was going to last more than one night, I would've woken up the court ladies instead of trying to go back to sleep that night. While I was thinking about this, I felt a chill and goosebumps formed on my arm. The emperor then asked quietly.

"Do you usually have nightmares?"

I blinked a couple of times at her words. Besides facing the monkey's eyeballs in my dream last night, no. The original Sanya had nightmares, but I didn't have any since I didn't go through her past torments. I only knew how terrible she lived in the past by reading the original book, and no matter how much I'm into the story, I wouldn't have dreams about it.

I was going to say no, but stopped. She asked me if I had a lot of nightmares, which meant that she had seen me while I was asleep. While I was searching through my memories, I remembered her visit on the night I was sick.

"… Yes, that's right."

I said positively with zero hesitation. I'm glad she misunderstood the situation that night or else if she really knew what I meant, my neck would be cut off by now. For the first time, I thanked the emperor for her tactlessness. She then looked at me with an indescribable face. It was a mixture of compassion, guilt, and other things that's making me confused and lower my head.

"… Come see me when you have a nightmare in the future."

She whispered quietly. The day I enter the emperor's bedroom with my own two feet will probably be the day the countdown for my life starts.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

I tried not to yawn while saying those words. Since I'm young, I would feel more sleepy than usual, making me want to take naps more often. Right now, my eyelids feel heavy as I was overcome with drowsiness.

The emperor laid me down when she noticed my complexion and covered me with a blanket. If the other palaces (she meant concubines) knew that I was being treated like this by the emperor, they would probably kill me.

"Don't worry. I won't leave until you fall asleep."

She said in a low voice while looking at me as if I will have another nightmare. I wish she could just leave quickly, but I didn't have any strength left. I drifted off with a peace of mind, and she wasn't there when I woke up. However, there was a small pouch by my bedside. What was the point of leaving this here?

After pondering for a while, I pulled the string and was left speechless. It was almond cookies. The hardest things to bring from the West were fresh fruits and food, because they mostly get damaged while at sea. It was even hard for the emperor to obtain something like this.

"She must've found it and gave it to me."

I mumbled with a frown on my face. I wouldn't think much if it was a random gift, but it makes me uncomfortable if I knew it was something difficult to obtain. I sighed deeply.

***

"We're all set."

That's what I heard on a peaceful afternoon while Seo Yeon was sitting in the garden by the gate. Most of the time, she had an expressionless face, so I couldn't tell what she's thinking. But Heesa, who was standing next to me, exclaimed.

"Finally, come here!"

"… What are you talking about?"

I questioned her words. We're all set, and we're finally leaving.

To where?

Heesa grinned. It was her unique playful smile.

"Miss, it's a secret!"

"… Seo Yeon."

I turned my head at her and frowned. However, Seo Yeon also avoided my eyes. The same was for all the court ladies beside me. What's the story where you can't tell me? I thought deeply.

"Am I going to die?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

Heesa leaped at my absurd question. She then snapped at me with a contemplated look on her face.

"Dying! Our Miss wouldn't die! It's just that – oops!"

"… Ha-ha. It's nothing bad at all."

One of the other court ladies said while covering Heesa's mouth. Heesa's eyes opened wide while she was being dragged away before saying more.

What. What is it?

"Miss, I beg of you, can I hug you?"

Seo Yeon quietly asked me. When I turned to her, she was reaching out to me with open arms. I shook my head because it looked quite awkward.

"That's okay. I don't know where I'm going, but I can still walk."

"Miss…"

I flinched at her pathetic voice. Seo Yeon looked desperate. Sighing, I eventually opened my arms and hugged her.

"Close your eyes."

Seo Yeon's body was harder than I thought. After a moment of hesitation, I nodded and closed my eyes. I don't think anything bad will happen since I have lived with them for a while and grown attached to them. While I was sighing softly, Seo Yeon slowly began to walk while carrying me.

I felt her move forward, then turn right, and then left…

When I finally gave up after trying to memorize where she was heading, Seo Yeon stopped and dropped me off.

"You can open your eyes now."

"Okay. What the-"

I was speechless at the sight that unfolded before my eyes. It was a large and colorful palace that was not even comparable to my old palace. Not to mention the splendor of the pavilion, but there was even a dimly visible garden accompanied by a pond. But the most noticeable of them all were the attendants carrying boxes.

"Surprise!"

Heesa shouted. I had an ominous feeling in the back of my head.

"… Where is this place?"

"It was the former palace of His Highness Mirina, and now it's our Miss's palace!"

I feel like my soul just left my body at the confirmation. It was a palace favored by the emperor. Suddenly, I remembered her words.

'Oh right. This palace is small.'

I should've said something back then. I wasn't asking for a new palace! However, it's too late for me to regret this, so I had to accept the reality. I now looked devastatedly at the brilliant palace given to me.

"I wanted to surprise you. Are you happy?"

I looked as if I was crying at her cheerful words. No, I'm not happy at all. The concubines were always jealous of the emperor's love and fought each other to death, and there was no way that I, who had no power, could intervene and win.

The other concubines were almost as strong as Mirina, who has a healing ability. Garam's ability was pretty much the opposite from his. Suddenly, I frowned at the thought of him. In fact, maybe he's the scariest, but I can't let that affect me right now.

… I hope I'll be okay. But why do I keep having this ominous feeling inside of me?

***

No matter how much I think about it, tonight was a crisis. Due to the emperor and Mirina, there were quite a lot of luggage in this place, but all of them were being carried. This meant that I was the only one who found out today, while everyone else had already known much earlier.

The original Sanya had a way with words and a smart mind, while I had nothing. All I had was a cute face, but what can I even use that for? It's not like my face can save my life. I have to find someone eventually to protect me. At that thought, a person's face automatically came into my mind.

'… To the emperor. Let's go.'