The Abandoned Empress

Obviously, only someone with previous experience in the field would have done it skillfully, except for those with a high position in the intelligence organization.

If so, it’s logical to think that they have been doing it for a long time. Why? Normally, the knights’ divisions are created for a combat mission, not this kind of job. Of course, as they are assigned various assignments, they would become proficient at it. To be so skillful now, they must have been doing this for a long time.

Then, is my guesswork correct?

When I asked him curiously, my father nodded slowly with a light smile.

“Yes, I’m the Robin Hood-like thief.”

“I see. That’s why you …”

Now I know why my father had an embarrassed expression when I asked him if I could use the Robin Hood-lie thief to steal Duke Jean’s family seal. He made a strange expression when I was so happy after receiving the stolen seal from him, praising the Robin Hood-like thief’s exceptional skills.

Now that I uncovered the identity of the thief, I began to solve the questions about all the events that I could not understand until now.

For example, I came to understand why the successor of the Jena family stared at my father when he mentioned the thief at the banquet. I now know why the two dukes and the current emperor who had known the thief’s identity didn’t mention him to me.

As expected, if the culprit of the arson incidents in the capital was really my father, I now understand why the late emperor just overlooked it when he heard the news.

But why did my father do it?

Suddenly, I looked up at him and asked, “By the way, why did you set fire during the drought?”

“At that time, I heard that the noble faction was planning to kill you. So, I sent them a warning that the righteous thief was watching them.”

“I see. Then, why did you do it after the current emperor took office?”

“Well, I wanted to take revenge on those who tried to harm you and to gather the evidence. ”

“Oh, I see.”

My father, who smiled at me watching him bashfully, gently stroked my hair and said, “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you in advance. However, if I revealed my identity, you would know all the things that I have been doing. I didn’t want to let you know because it’s all I could do behind the scenes.”

“Ah…”

When I nodded in a rather subdued mood, the torch flames got big and shook heavily.

“Be careful, my lady!”

Sir League hurriedly held the sparking hem of my skirt and put the embers out with his jacket.

“Don’t you know that anybody who goes to sleep after playing with fire urinates in their sleep? So, please go back and take rest.”

“Yes, that’s right. We’ll take care of it here. So, please go home and relax.”

“Please go back. It is still autumn, but the night air is quite cold.”

Although I couldn’t see my father’s expression because I stood with my back to him, I could clearly see the knights in the darkness, who were pounding on their chests, asking me to trust them.

I smiled at myself, touched by their loyalty to my family, and said, “Okay, then. Let me leave now. Let’s go, Daddy.”

“Good night, my lady.”

“Have a good dream!”

Flames flared up against the darkness.

After looking at the formal dresses burnt black, I headed to my house with my father, returning their greetings. I felt secure and warm while going home.

***

I had a dream, which was very long.

The dream was so vivid that I was scared about it, but I missed it so much.

I wanted to go back to the old me who knew nothing because I was innocent.

I regretted it. I vowed that if I had one more chance, I would never make that mistake again.

However, when I finally woke up from my dream, all that remained of me was deep regret, longing and the cold reality.

***

“Sis, don’t you want to see this? It’s a published book.”

I had a distant old memory of my peaceful times with my younger sister Jisu, whose face I can hardly recall now.

“Hey, I don’t want it. What is so funny about that? I’d rather sleep than read it.”

I quickly glanced at the book that Jisu showed me, then turned my head. I wondered what kind of book fascinated her today.

But she kept speaking to me while I was switching to other TV channels with a sullen expression.

“This book is really fun. Listen to me. An ordinary high school girl picked up a coin on the road one day, and at that moment, she picked it up, she suddenly flew somewhere. So, she fell into a gorgeous place, where she saw people with colored hair speaking a foreign language. Then, all of them looked at her and began to say she was the messenger sent by God and worshipped her.”

“What the heck is that?”

Well, I don’t see any interesting TV programs today. Let me watch the weekend entertainment special that I missed last week again. If Mom finds me, she will complain that I’m watching TV instead of studying as the senior student, but I want to take a break sometimes. She keeps telling me about studying to prepare for the college exam. Well, there are thousands of colleges here, so all I want is to enter a four-year college, right?

My mom still seems to think that I’m a genius, but I can not score a better grade than I have so far. I was dumbfounded whenever she preached to me about a top school. If she looks at my grades, she will know I can’t make it to a top school. I can’t understand why she still insists that I should go to a top school.

“Well, that girl moved into another dimension! Anyway, there is a handsome guy who is really cold-hearted, but he is the emperor! The emperor falls in love with Yoju and makes her the empress, but she is harassed by a bad woman trying to kill the emperor, and she finally confirms his love. That’s the end of the story. They lived happily ever after.”

Oh, that program, the Yuhan Challenge, seems interesting. Let me watch that program.

After squinting at Jisu holding the book with a hazy expression, I fixed my eyes on the TV screen. Without caring about me at all, she was already getting carried away with the story.

“Wow! I am envious. She doesn’t have to struggle to go to a top college like you. She is rich, she has power, and her husband is handsome. Don’t you agree, sis’?”

“Hey, don’t bother me. Okay?”

“Is it possible for us to move into another dimension?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, I agree. Dang it! I wish I moved into another dimension. Then…”

I turned up the remote control volume silently. I could not hear her voice anymore as I was focused on the seven men’s laughter and noisy chatting in the entertainment program.

So I passed over what Jisu said.

Why did I do so? If I had known it would be the last time I saw her, I would never have wasted my time watching the TV program. If I had known what Jisu told really would happen to me, I would have listened to her more carefully.

Then, I might not have been thrown into the cold reality as it is now…

***

“What did you do to me?”

It took only four years for our fake relationship to fall apart.

“If I had been sober, I wouldn’t have embraced you. Answer me. What did you do to me?”

Only

When I looked into his contemptuous eyes, a smile came to my lips.

We only had four years of ‘happily ever after.’

When I first fell into this strange world, I thought maybe I could live like the protagonist in the story that Jisu told me about, but it wasn’t that easy for me. In the novel, the supporting actress was only a bad woman. In reality, she was a perfect bride with all the qualifications. But Cinderella, who thought she could live happily with the prince, hit a wall of reality and finally realized that she was a total wrack.

Yes, the fiction was so different from reality.

Four years can be short, but long. But during those four years I constantly reassured myself that I was happy, but in fact I was not happy at all. Cinderella, who thought she would live happily with the prince for a long time, was unhappy down to her bones.

“How come you fed me this medicine? Are you crazy? Let me forgive you this time, considering our relationship. But if you do it one again, I won’t overlook it anymore. Just behave yourself as the empress!”

“Yes, I will do so.”