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Chapter 6.4




Chapter 6.4
A lady-in-waiting was saying something.
“Your Imperial Majesty, the Gong King is requesting an audience.”
Sienna was dreaming again. This was the fifth one.
“Denied.”
The lady-in-waiting nodded before leaving the room. Sienna remembered seeing this before. The first dream had started off this way.
Was she having the same dream again?
— No, the location is different.
In that dream, she was in the Emperor’s bedroom. Right now, as she looked around the room through the emperor’s eyes, she could see that she was in a large sitting room. The emperor was sitting on the sofa.
— Gong King? Who is that?
At the present time, there was no person called the Gong King. The Empire was in one piece, and its only master was the emperor.
Most lords ruled over their own dominions, so they were similar to kings in a sense. However, they had not officially received that title by declaring their submission to the emperor.
— It must be someone new who appears sometime in the future.
Who could it be? And why did the future me refuse to see them?
“Your Imperial Majesty, The countess is here.”
“Let her in.”
The emperor’s gaze turned to the closed door. A few moments later, the door opened and two women entered the room.
They were both people Sienna was familiar with. An older Emma was helping the elderly Countess Pope inside.
Sienna was shocked to see the countess with so many wrinkles on her face. The outgoing and diligent countess was now so old that she couldn’t walk without assistance.
The emperor sprang out of her seat and approached the countess. She grasped the countess’s hands inside her own.
“Welcome.”
“Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty. To what do I owe the pleasure of being greeted personally by the emperor?”
“You were too slow, so I became impatient and couldn’t wait any longer.”
The emperor’s voice was filled with joy. She gently grabbed the countess’s arm herself.
“Aigoo, Your Imperial Majesty. There’s no need to honor me like this.”
The countess tried to reject the emperor’s help, but the emperor seemed to become even more delighted and helped the countess to the sofa with Emma. The emperor sat down next to the countess. The smiling face of the old woman was right in front of her eyes.
“Your Imperial Majesty, have you been well? I must have gotten lucky in my old age. I wanted to see you one last time before I died, and my wish has been answered.”
“Don’t say that. You will be vigorous and lively for ten more years.”
Sienna was a bit shocked. Countess Pope was definitely one of her closest aides. However, that just meant that Sienna preferred her over others. They never had a relationship where she emotionally depended on her.
However, in the future, the two of them were a lot closer. Seeing as how they were sitting so close together, it seemed that their hearts were close as well.
“Your Imperial Majesty, you seem quite troubled. I understand that ruling over this vast empire is a difficult job, but it hurts me to see your lovely face so exhausted.”
“Oh, stop it. I haven’t seen you in so long, and you’re already starting with the hurtful words. Of course my face has changed. I’m well over forty now.”
The countess’s eyes widened.
“Already? It seems that the older one gets, the faster time passes by. Nowadays, I seem to be forgetting things more often.”
As they continued their warmhearted conversation, the emperor turned her head and looked at the door. She heard a commotion outside. She heard a man’s angry voice along with the high-pitched voice of a woman.
“Go and see what all this noise is about.”
A lady-in-waiting received the order and went outside. A few moments later, the door burst open with a loud bang.
“Your Imperial Majesty!”
The sonorous voice of a man rang out. The man was enormous, reminding Sienna of a bear. It seemed that his strength was as great as his stature.
Attendants were hanging onto each of his arms in their attempts to stop him. They could barely restrain him.
“You mustn’t do this!”
“Please leave at once!”
— 
What’s going on?
Sienna didn’t know whether she should laugh or be dismayed by this sight. It looked like a bunch of small animals were hanging off of a large beast.
How dare this man present himself before the emperor without permission? Sienna glared through the emperor’s eyes as the man panted with exertion.
“Let him go.”
The emperor wasn’t mad. It didn’t sound like she was suppressing her anger either. The attendants all took their hands off of him and stepped back. The man scoffed as he brushed himself off.
Sienna observed the man with reddish-brown hair. He was so large that the palace attendants all looked like dwarves next to him. He looked quite old. However, his eyes gleamed like that of a young man.
— I’ve never seen this man before.
There were two types of men. A warrior and a writer. This man was definitely a warrior among warriors. She could see that he trained his body extensively from all the muscles that could be seen through his shirt.
“It’s been a long time, Your Imperial Majesty.”
“Sir Kali, what is the meaning of this? Everything needs to be done according to the procedures set in the Palace.”
“Yes, I know all about that. If I want to see the emperor, I need to request her audience and wait for my turn before receiving permission. But what can I do? I’m such a blockhead and have a quick temper, so if I have to go through all that, I feel like I’m going to die of frustration.”
“How insolent! How dare you speak to the emperor in that manner?!”
A middle-aged man yelled out. From his uniform, Sienna guessed that he was the Grand Chamberlain.
“Even if the emperor doesn’t kill me today, my master surely will. Therefore, before I die, I’d like to get something off my chest.”
The man didn’t even look at the Grand Chamberlain as he spoke. He merely stared at the emperor as he raised his voice.
— He’s quite an ignorant man.
Sienna was so shocked by the stubborn man’s disrespectful behavior that she wasn’t even angry. This was the first time she’d seen such a rogue.
“Grand Chamberlain.”
“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty?”
The emperor shook her head. The Grand Chamberlain pressed his lips together, and the strange man shouted out in triumph.
“You’re truly too much. Why are you being so cruel to my master? At this rate, my master will shrivel up and die. Why won’t you just go and slap him across the cheek or say some spiteful remarks so that any affection left inside him disappears without a trace? Not this and not that
 Why is it that you always leave him by himself every morning and night?!”
— Why this rude scoundrel

Sienna felt that this man’s disrespectful behavior had gone too far.
“
I’ve never done that.”
“Exactly!”
The man pounded his chest with his fist as he expressed his burning frustration.
“Aigoo, seriously. You’re both as stubborn as an ox. You’re both exactly the same. I need to hear an explanation from you today, Your Imperial Majesty. I won’t take a step outside this room unless you do.”
“Your Imperial Majesty!”
A group of knights ran into the room. The leader of this group walked up to the emperor and lowered his head. The rest of the knights surrounded the large man. They all put their hands on their swords, ready to unsheathe it at any moment.
“Your Imperial Majesty, please punish me for being unable to defend you properly. Please allow me to apprehend this scoundrel who dared to trespass into your presence. Just give me the order, Your Imperial Majesty.”
— It’s him.
Sienna was familiar with the knight’s face. He appeared in the dream where she met her maternal uncle. She had also seen him among the recommendations from Patricia a few days ago.
“You’re going to apprehend me? Try it. It doesn’t matter whether there are ten or twenty of you. All you do is talk big, but we all know you’ll faint after one blow.”
The rude man seemed incredibly relaxed despite being surrounded by the knights.
“Why you little
!”
The man pretended he was going to lunge at them, and the knights quickly moved back at his sudden movement. Seeing their reactions, the man began to snicker.
“You dare!”
The knight roared out. Suddenly, the man repeated those words in disbelief, ‘You dare?’ He tilted his head and began to shout out his biting remarks.
“You’re all grown up, aren’t you? Who was the one pissing his pants and begging for someone to save him when he was being attacked by the desert mantis? And who was the one who saved you?”
“Shut your mouth!”
— This is an absolute mess.
Sienna clicked her tongue. In addition to the rude man who just burst in through the door, all the knights who had followed behind him were screaming their accusations in front of the emperor.
It was obvious that the emperor wasn’t in any danger. Watching this situation unfold in the future, Sienna couldn’t understand the emperor at all.
— Pathetic.
Why had her future self turned into this? This isn’t what she had wanted to become.
“Your Imperial Majesty.”
A new character entered the scene.
Sienna’s eyes alternated between the cocky, disrespectful man leaning on one leg and the other man who brushed past him as he entered the room. The two of them looked identical.
— Twins?
The color of their hair was different. The man who had just entered had darker brown hair. He kneeled on one knee and placed one hand on his chest as he politely lowered his head.
“I apologize for the disturbance, Your Imperial Majesty. If you allow it, I will personally take care of that scoundrel and put him on probation. I’ll make sure he gets punished.”
“Hey! On whose orders?!”
Although they looked the same, their behaviors were the complete opposite.
“Take him away.”
“Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty.”
“I’m not leaving! I won’t leave! Your Imperial Majesty! I won’t budge until you give me your answer!”
The man with the reddish-brown hair plopped down onto the floor like a child throwing a tantrum.
The man who had bowed before Sienna stood up and walked over to his brother.
“Russ.”
“
”
“Get up.”
“
”
“Russ!”
“Over my dead body.”
“Then die.”
“Hey!”
“Will you be satisfied once I slit your throat and plunge a sword into my own stomach in repentance for this crime against the emperor? This is my final warning. Three, two
”
“Damn it!”
The man with the reddish-brown hair burst up onto his feet. The brown-haired man watched as his brother walked out of the room before turning back to the emperor and lowering his head once again.
“Sir Kali.”
“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty?”
“Tell your master to just leave.”
“Your Imperial Majesty, that isn’t a message I can deliver to him.”
The emperor watched as the brown-haired man walked away.
“Your Imperial Majesty, please allow me to punish those wicked men.”
The knight’s voice pierced through the silence. The emperor didn’t look at the knight as she replied.
“You may leave. I will not pay any heed to this matter.”
“Your Imperial Majesty, that man has scorned your prestige.”
“Didn’t I tell you that I wouldn’t pay any heed to this matter?! What do you take my words for?! The one who is holding me in contempt is you!”
The emperor shouted at the knight. The knight’s eyes widened before he lowered his head.
“Y
Your Imperial Majesty, I just
”
“Leave.”
“
Yes, I will take my leave.”
“And you need to watch your mouth. Sir Kali is not your subordinate.”
“I will keep that in mind, Your Imperial Majesty.”
All of the knights left the room, and it was now completely silent.
— I don’t know what’s going on anymore.
Sienna murmured in frustration.
The emperor’s breaths became ragged. Her vision began to shake. It seemed as if the carpeted floor was getting closer before everything turned dark.
“Your Imperial Majesty!”
As soon as she heard the scream, Sienna woke up.
It was morning.\n