Empress of Another World

One Hundred Seventeen

That night was the night that light and darkness got mixed up. It was also the night when everything died for a moment and then was reborn.

It was the first as well as the last night, and it was the time when I gained everything but lost all I had at the same time.

I felt the greatest happiness and the worst grief at the same time. I cried and laughed again and again.

His body was wet with sweat, and I was in his arms. It was early in the morning when I saw the sunlight coming through the window.

I realized what I meant to do.

My decision was made. It was over.

It must have been too much for an injured man. Lucretius was deep in his sleep.

I tucked him underneath a blanket and got out of the bed. I put on my gown to cover my naked body when I realized I had to borrow something.

I walked up to him again and watched the golden royal seal on his finger.

“I will borrow it just for a little while.”

He was sleeping so soundly he didn’t even hear me. I kissed his cheek and took the ring from him to put on my own finger. It was still heavy and loose, but there was one thing different.

I was ready and willing to take on this weight of responsibility.

“Your highness?”

In three days, the chancellor’s eyes were covered with dark circles. He looked at me in confusion when I entered the room.

I came to Lucretius’s personal office. The emperor might have been down, but someone needed to continue to do the cleanup. This elderly man was taking on everything by himself.

I smiled gently and replied, “I came by to check how things are going.”

He asked in confusion, “Your highness came to check? Not his highness?”

I nodded and raised my hand to show him. The gold ring shined radiantly.

“Yes. I came on his highness’ behalf.”

“Ugh!”

He woke up from a vicious nightmare.

He couldn’t recall the exact details, but he remembered something being stolen from him. In his dream, he tried his best to get it back, but…

He couldn’t remember if he succeeded.

He also couldn’t remember what was stolen from him.

***

In confusion and darkness, he looked up at the ceiling and realized he was in an unfamiliar tent. He blinked a few times to clear his vision.

An annoying noise that sounded like a fly bothered his ears. Then, he realized it was a voice. Someone was shouting happily beside him.

It took a while for him to understand the situation. He was definitely not well.

Lucretius turned to the man shouting at him. It took a lot of effort to do so as he was feeling very weak.

Who was this man? He looked familiar.

“Your highness!”

When he could finally hear clearly, Lucretius realized who it was.

He remembered what had happened before he lost his consciousness.

Lucretius sat up quickly.

“Your highness!”