Chapter 2.4 - To Open One's Eyes

Chapter 2.4: To Open One’s Eyes

A middle-aged noblewoman appeared before Sienna’s eyes . Sienna soon realized that the woman was a reflection in the mirror .

 

This was the first dream she had after realizing that she was the emperor in the dreams . The definite proof of her realization was right in front of her eyes .

—This is . . . the future me .

Even though she was much older, Sienna could tell right away .

Blue hair mixed with silver and golden eyes . Her cheeks were a bit more slender, and her eyelids were thinner, revealing sunken eyes . The fresh vitality of Sienna’s twenty-year-old complexion was nowhere to be found .

Twenty years . . . or maybe more time had passed . Sienna couldn’t tell what her exact age was .

The current Sienna was at the peak of her youth . Like every young person, Sienna never imagined what her older self would look like . She suddenly began to realize the universal truth that every person was marching towards their deaths .

Sienna felt strange to see her future self like this, but there was one thing that Sienna liked about what she saw .

Her eyes .

Within those eyes, she could see the many years of experience she had gained . It was something that the current Sienna could never obtain no matter how hard she tried . The wisdom of the years was reflected in her eyes .

Sienna could see the ladies-in-waiting walking back and forth behind her through the reflection in the mirror . They were helping the emperor with her wardrobe . Two ladies-in-waiting fastened a cape onto her shoulders . The elaborate embroidery on her coat was beautiful but intimidating .

 

The bustling ladies-in-waiting stood back and lowered their heads .

“Is it finished?”

“Yes, Your Majesty . ”

“Let’s go . ”

The emperor turned around . The sturdy door opened as the emperor approached it . She walked along a long corridor . There were circular, engraved columns along the passageway . The path went along the courtyard and stretched out to the side .

Sienna knew where this path led to . She had gone this way before .

—Are we going to the throne room?

The fragmented sunlight cast a shadow on the emperor . Sienna estimated the time of day by the length of the shadow .

—The midday break has ended, and now it’s afternoon .

She felt like she knew where the emperor was going and for what reason . It was time for the imperial audience . It was the basic responsibility of an emperor .

The way an emperor reigned was revealed in his imperial audience . How much time he devoted to the imperial audience, who he met with . . . This was all decided by the emperor himself .

In previous generations, there had been emperors that had never had an audience with a nonaristocrat . There were also emperors that spent all day listening to the requests of the common citizens .

They had almost reached the throne room when . . .

“Your Majesty! Your-”

An urgent call, a scrambling noise . As the emperor began to walk faster, the surroundings blurred as it passed by . Some distance away, she could see a group of knights and attendants dragging someone away .

 

“Halt!”

The emperor approached the group that was now standing still . A middle-aged man had fainted and was limp as he was being dragged by the knights by both arms .

“Who is this?”

A knight answered her .

“This man lied about his identity . He trespassed and dared to try and enter the throne room in order to scorn you, Your Majesty . ”

“What is this man’s identity?”

The knight hesitated before he replied .

“He’s an official that assists the envoy from the Kingdom of Peroh . ”

“The envoy? He could have just followed procedures and scheduled an audience . Why did he decide to deceive and trespass instead? Was he plotting to hurt me?”

“We will interrogate him and find out . ”

The emperor stared at the knight . Sienna couldn’t read the emperor’s thoughts, but she felt that the emperor was glaring at the knight . The emperor then spoke to the attendant at her side .

“Search this man’s pockets . ”

The attendant searched the unconscious man’s clothes .

“Did you find anything?”

 

“No, Your Majesty . ”

“Then are you telling me that a man trespassed all the way over here to hurt me without carrying a weapon?”

The knight couldn’t answer back .

“When he wakes up, bring him to me . I will question him myself . ”

“Your Majesty . ”

The emperor turned her head at the call .

“I rushed over here when I heard that a wicked man had caused a disturbance here . ”

—Hmm .

Sienna let out a groan . She finally saw someone she recognized . Of course, this person had also aged considerably . Still, he was the spitting image of his father, that old man, so Sienna was able to recognize him quickly .

Doug Rimone .

He was the eldest son of Duke Rimone as well as Patricia’s older brother . In other words, he was Sienna’s maternal uncle .

—You’ve aged a lot, Uncle .

Sienna laughed as she spoke the words her uncle couldn’t hear . Unlike her last two dreams, Sienna was feeling a bit lighthearted . This was because she realized she was experiencing a miracle from the gods . She was peeking into her future .

“You didn’t have to hurry over here for such a trivial matter, Duke Rimone . ”

 

“What do you mean by ‘trivial’? How can a matter related to your safety be considered trivial?”

Doug clicked his tongue as he looked at the unconscious man in the knights’ arms .

“That man came all the way here . . . ”

“Do you know him?”

“I heard that the Kingdom of Peroh is undergoing a crisis due to the monarch’s inadequate governing . The public sentiment is split, and half of the people want him dethroned . That man is a representative of those people . No matter how much one claims to be a loyal subject of the Empire, interrupting the emperor from doing her duties is not proper . I only worry that it will spoil your mood, Your Majesty . I will take him away . ”

” . . . Alright . ”

As Sienna listened to the conversation between the two, her heart sunk . For some reason, she didn’t feel these two had a good relationship .

As she saw her uncle through the eyes of the emperor, Sienna felt that her uncle seemed a bit cunning . She didn’t have any context about this situation, but Sienna felt that her uncle was trying to hide something . She couldn’t shake off this feeling .

—Can’t you notice it? Or are you just pretending not to?

Sienna criticized her future self even though she knew her words wouldn’t be heard . The emperor’s gaze fell on the envoy from the Kingdom of Pero for a moment before turning away . She was about to enter the throne room before she suddenly stopped .

“I will postpone the imperial audience . ”

The emperor turned around and walked back .

“Son of a bitch . ”

 

Sienna clearly heard the soft words that were spat out through gritted teeth .\n