A Game of Schemes & Fortune

7: Deals

It's been 2 days since the dinner incident. I apologized to my father and mother but they made me send a letter of apology to the crown prince, Jun De responded with a letter of his own. He accepted my apology, but he seemed rather distant. Eh, I couldn't blame him. Him and Daiyu were distant enough as it is and it must have hurt for him to see me rip the painting of him to shreds.

But my thoughts keep circling to what my father said. What did he mean by marriage? By the way Jun De treated me, you'd think we were only business partners-

"Ugh... That explains it..." I groan as I massage my temples. "Even the author forgot about Daiyu so often that Daiyu's prior engagement with Jun De was only mentioned 3 times in the earlier chapters." I sigh and bang my head backwards against my bed's headrest. "It's understandable, though. It's not like Jun De's engagements matter unless it's with the innocent female lead." I roll my eyes. "Jun De only married Daiyu because he was forced to, anyway. Daiyu didn't mind and Jun De tried to be polite until Mei stepped into the picture."

'Oh how easy things would be if I just reincarnated as Mei Guam instead.' I jolt when I realize something. 'But wait- I think I quite like being reincarnated as Daiyu Jin. Because if I really did reincarnate as Mei, things wouldn't be so easy! Why? Well it's because Mei had a weakness-'

—

"This is your plan?" Chen raises an eyebrow. She's in human form. For some reason, that brings me relief. I feel more comfortable talking to a human than a cat. Because while I love those feline creatures, talking to a cat makes me feel crazy.

"Yes! If my calculations are correct, this is before the time Mei falls in love with Jun De!" I clap my hands together in excitement. "Mei would do almost anything for Jun De, and vice versa. They would do so much for each other, maybe they would even run away just so they could be together."

"But isn't Mei already in love with Jun De? And what's stopping them from just getting married and just staying together here?" Chen sounds suspicious of my idea and with good reasons. Well, one problem at a time then. My first goal is to convince Chen to help me with my plan. My second goal will happen soon if I manage to achieve my first.

"To answer your first question-" I stop pacing and finally sit on the futon, where Chen is lounging. "Mei is only trying to get in the Empress' good graces in hopes that she will get special treatment. Later on in the story, Mei acts nice towards the Empress once more but with a different motivation- She attempts to be the perfect picture of grace and kindness so she can marry Jun De. And the effort is much needed, Mei needs all the favor she can get because Mei is simply the daughter of a foreigner and her mother has little money left from their inheritance." I sigh. "Alas, Mei and Jun De can't be together until the end of book one. They can't marry until they convince society on how much they love each other, until they prove that Mei would make a worthy Empress, and-" I gulp. "Until they kill me."

Chen pounces on my chest and I fall backwards on the futon. Her green eyes glare into my red eyes. She bares her teeth.

"You didn't tell me that you were destined to die once more." She hisses.

'Ah... Once more. Right. I'm destined to die again. Ha! Fate is a cruel thing. They gave me a second chance but this second chance comes with the possibility that I will die before I even reach my goal.'

I clear my throat. "Yes. I am afraid Daiyu is later killed for even daring to pour a glass of wine on Mei's white dress on the day of their wedding. The punishment was ordered by Jun De himself, and Mei didn't argue." I try not to cry and clench my fists. 'So much for Mei being a saint.' What Daiyu did was wrong, but it was too harsh of a punishment. I refuse to be punished for crimes I didn't commit in the first place. "There are risks in trying to get Jun De and Mei to fall in love earlier than the author plotted, but there are risks in stalling as well. I'd rather prevent my death altogether than stall the inevitable for more time, so I think it would be best for us to take action sooner than later."