Chapter Text
Chapter 26 of Empire’s Star
“Empress”
Empress Y/N scoffs and turns her head to the entrance of her throne room, only for a smirk to slowly form at the sight before her. A few meters in front of her stood the 7 people she had trusted the most, with determined expressions on their faces.
The empress smirks, “my, my, to what do I owe the pleasure of being visited at this hour?”
Being met with silence, the empress raises a brow, “well? Do you have any plans to tell me or are you just going to stand there?”
After a few seconds of silence, the once-loyal councilor, Namjoon, takes a tentative step forward, “your majesty, we have stood back and supported you for years, hoping you would change. But you’ve changed for the worse and we will not stand by and let you bring this empire down with you.”
Y/N smirks and slowly stands, “and what do you plan on doing Namjoon?”
He scowls and brings his sword out, with the 6 men following his actions behind him. Understanding the message long ago, the empress nonchalantly grabs her short sword as well and smirks, “And here I thought we were going to have a pleasant talk. I suppose it was wishful thinking on my part huh?”
Y/N continues making her way down the steps, “So I’ll be assuming you want me dead? I won’t stop you, you know,” Y/N continues to take confident strides towards the 7 men and smirks as she is now only a few feet away, “just know, I’m not going down without a fight.” In an instant, she swings her sword with precision, which gets blocked by Taehyung, the knight that had pledged his loyalty to her years ago when he was only a knight in training.
In a matter of seconds, chaos ensues as the sound of clashing swords is the only thing heard in the throne room, as a few of them go down. With her sword, she was able to defend herself against the 7 men, a testament to how she’s come to power.
From her peripheral vision, she can see a figure begin to approach her. She smirks as she faces forward towards two men attempting to distract her. And just as the figure is finally an arms reach, she turns, surprising the remaining men fighting, and plunges her sword into the person’s chest. She looks up to meet the familiar black eyes that used to make her heartbeat, “my sincerest apologies Yoongs,” she whispers, making sure only he had heard. His eyes widen as his brothers scream his name and slump over as the empress returns her attention back towards the others.
Yoongi begins panting hard as the youngest clutches his chest with tears in his eyes, begging him to stay awake. However, Yoongi only stares at the empress with sadness, “Yoongs, huh? How long has it been since you called me that… you cruel woman”, he takes one last look at the empress, before giving the youngest a sad smile and finally, takes his final breath.
Jungkook screams his name as he holds Yoongi’s lifeless body. He hears a thud to his left and watches in horror, as Taehyung falls to the ground, soon more of his brothers fall, unable to fight back due to their wounds until he is the last one standing. The empress finally turns to him with a sadistic smile, “and then there was one…”
Jungkook wipes his tears aggressively and stands, gripping his sword tightly. He rushes towards her and screams at the top of his lungs, for his brothers, for the empire, and finally, for the empress he once loved. Y/N manages to block his sword despite his strength, and counterattacks without hesitation. Jungkook grunts as he takes a hard blow, but nonetheless fights back with all his might. Just as it seems like the empress has the upper hand, she loses her balance only slightly due to a wound inflicted on her on her ankle. But that moment of weakness was enough for Jungkook to plunge his sword right into her chest.
For a moment, everything stills, those still conscious on the ground hold their breath as they watch the scene unfold before them. Suddenly, the empress softly chuckles sadly, “to think it’d be you of all people…” Jungkook gasps as if finally realizing what he’s done and pulls his sword back, resulting in the empress to fall to her knees.
She wheezes on the ground, “I hope you know… that I’ve never intended to hurt you… but I suppose that doesn’t matter now does it Kookie…” She coughs up blood and takes one last look at him, “…live well…” and soon, falls to the ground, taking her final breath with Jungkook standing before her with tears cascading down his face. He feels an arm hold onto his shoulder, he flinches and turns to find the oldest clutching onto the side of his torso. “You did good Jungkook.”
Jungkook’s tears continue falling, having no energy to wipe it away as he stares down at her lifeless body, “I-I hated her… yet… why does it hurt so much?”
Jin sighs, “you did what you had to do kid. The only thing that you can do.” He kneels before the late empress despite the pain he’s feeling and proceeds to close her eyes gently with a sad expression as he whispers, “sleep well, your majesty.”
[…]
And so, the end of the Astera Empire came when the star of the empire dimmed forever.
The End.
With a sigh, you close the book with a satisfied smile, “wow, I’ve practically memorized this entire book, and yet that ending never fails to bring chills.” you carefully place the book back in the bookcase.
You hear a snicker from behind you, “how many times have you read that novel Y/N?” you turn your head to find your roommate Seulgi leaning against the wall, staring at you with an amused expression.
You glare at her, “why must it matter? A book is meant to be read multiple times.”
She shakes her head smiling, expecting you to give excuses, “sure, but no normal person would read the same book a thousand times like you, honey.”
You shrug, “it’s a good book.”
“You’re only saying that cause the main character has the same name as you” she stares at you accusingly.
You scoff as you begin cleaning up after yourself, “I do not! The storyline is wonderful! The book is different from others that I’ve read! Where in this case the character development goes for the worse cause the main character actually goes from hero to villain as she-”
“As she falls victim to corruption and dies at the hands of the people she loved the most,” she interrupts you with a smirk, having memorized your monologue long ago.
You pout, “I do not talk about the book that often.”
Seulgi snorts, “Honey, I could tell you what happens in every chapter and I haven’t even read one thing from that book. I only know cause that’s practically all you talk about when you finish reading it for the hundredth time this month.”
You roll your eyes, “you’re overreacting.”
She smirks and finally turns towards her room, “Whatever you say, your majesty~” she laughs as she dodges a pillow that you throw her way and runs off before you have a chance to yell at her.
You scowl at her as you can hear her laughter from her bedroom. You trudge to the bathroom, and begin your nightly routine as you cleanse your face. You stare at yourself in the mirror as you start thinking about the book. Every time you finish reading it, you can’t help but feel pity for all the characters, as they were all victims by the end of the book despite having different endings. For the 7 men who had no choice but to kill the one person they looked up to, to the empress dying in the hands of the people she trusted. Despite the story having an intended happy ending as the tyrannical empress was finally killed, it was anything but that.
The author later released an after story due to the immense popularity the first book received. In the second novel, the story centers around the remaining men who are forced to rebuild the empire while mourning the loss of their loved ones, forever haunted by the pale lifeless bodies of Yoongi and Empress Y/N. Hoseok and Jimin, unable to get over the death of their lifelong friend and empress, ended their life one year later. At some point in the future, Jungkook and Taehyung begin to hate one another, what started with annoyance and frustration towards each other, led to both taking part in a gruesome duel, leaving Taehyung losing an arm and Jungkook running away, never to be heard from again. Jin blamed himself the most as he felt it was his responsibility as the oldest to care for everyone, but after seeing all his loved ones deteriorate right in front of him, he went insane and sadly took his own life two years later. Namjoon takes the throne as he was seen as best fit to be the successor and leads the nation, however, after losing practically everyone he’s ever loved in his life, he was never able to find someone to fill his empty heart, although he eventually led a great nation many years later, he did so without any ounce of happiness. On his deathbed, he had died a lonely and heartbroken man.
Although it was an after story, the author did not forget to include the main protagonist of the first book, as the empress was constantly mentioned, whether it was from backstories or from the lingering thoughts of the men as they were never able to forget her, no matter how much pain she’s put them through.
You tend to immerse yourself in every book you read, imagining yourself in their world. It certainly wasn’t hard in this case when the main character happens to have the same name as you. Maybe Seulgi was somewhat right to an extent after all, though you would never admit to that in front of her.
Even with the same name, empress Y/N was nothing like you. She knew what she wanted and knew exactly how to get things her way. She was an empress of an empire for goodness sakes, while you are a struggling broke college student whose parents never showed any love to you. However, from what you’ve read, she’s as stubborn and headstrong as you.
Although empress Y/N did turn evil by the end of the book, she became that way due to the people around her taking advantage of her to get what they wanted. They would gift her with more wine and prostitutes to satisfy her for a lifetime that she lost her light and her love for her empire ceased to exist as all she wanted was to drink the night away. While those who manipulated her secretly stole money from the empire to satisfy their needs.
Along the way, she lost many people due to her change of morals and beliefs, no longer thinking of the people she once promised to protect. Ultimately leading to her death.
When you read what was happening behind her back, you couldn’t help but grow even angrier over the whole situation as it seemed everyone was pointing her as the villain, when in reality she was the one hurting the most.
You finish in the bathroom and walk to your room, thinking that if only she wasn’t taken advantage of, she would have been the best empress the empire had ever seen. If only she was given more time to change.
Just as you close your eyes, ready to sleep the night away, you hear soft footsteps approaching your bed, thinking it was Seulgi, you open your eyes ready to kick her out as you needed to get up early for work. Except, instead of seeing your loveable roommate, you find a cloaked figure standing dangerously close to your side of the bed. You gasp loudly and find yourself unable to scream out of fear. Oddly enough you can feel a sense of familiarity despite only being able to see her mouth.
“Who are you,” you manage to blurt out as you back up against the headboard of your bed as if it would help you in any way.
Instead of answering, she smiles and presses a thumb to your forehead with a stone that seems to glow the closer it got, “Sleep well your majesty.”
You panic as the glowing of the rock increases and reach to grab her hand, but your attempts are futile as her other hand grabs both of your arms in one swift motion. You try to escape from her grasp, but her grip only tightens.
Before you even have a chance to yell at her, everything around you fades as the stone connects to your forehead until you are surrounded by darkness.
You groan, feeling as though your head is about to explode as the rising sun shines on you with birds singing in the morning. Normally you would swoon over the chirping of birds outside, yet now you can’t help but want to throw a rock outside, in hopes of getting some peace and quiet.
You grab your head, attempting to ease your pain. You sit up slowly, and finally, you open your eyes. You gasp as you look around the room, coming to the realization that this was definitely not your room back in Seoul. You look around the luxurious room, with colors of white, red, and gold everywhere. Your eyes catch sight of an emblem that you immediately recognize as being the cover of your favorite book. With wide eyes, you scramble off the large bed to the nearest mirror you could find. Only to see that the person staring at you, is not you at all. You grab at the unfamiliar face, inspecting your entire body, pinching the skin here and there to see if this was real.
“No fucking way…” you curse as you stare at yourself. Although skeptical, your appearance only confirms your fears. Staring right back at you were jeweled golden eyes, the same eyes that only Empress Y/N was known for all throughout her life.
You stumble backward, only to trip over from an empty bottle left on the floor. You let out a loud yelp as you fall to the ground. A second later you hear the door to the room slam open.
“Your majesty!” you turn to your right to find a young woman in a maid outfit. If you were truly empress Y/N, then based on the appearance of the woman in front of you, you can only guess who this is, “Uh? Joy?” you say hesitantly. Joy, Empress Y/N’s favorite lady in waiting when she had first begun her reign.
She gives you a confused look only for a second before it went back to concern, “Yes your majesty? I heard you yell, I was afraid something bad had happened to you.” Then just as suddenly as she appeared, her expression changed into fear as she instantly began to bow, “M-My apologies your majesty, for not receiving permission to open your door.”
You attempt to reassure her, but as you stand, she flinches away. This causes you to step back, shocked as you’ve never had anyone fear you like this before. But it doesn’t entirely surprise you as Empress Y/N had turned to violence when things didn’t go her way. Though you can’t help but feel sad as you remember reading how the old empress and Joy had been very close before she became a tyrant.
You clear your throat, “Joy?”
Despite being wracked with fear, she looks back at you, “Yes your majesty?”
“This may sound strange, but what is today’s date?”
She stares at you nervously, “Today is the 380th imperial year, May 16, your majesty.”
You widen your eyes, year 380, May 16, 3 months before the rebellion. You cough to hide your shock, “T-Thank you Joy, that will be all, sorry to worry you.” You were so immersed in your racing thoughts that you don’t notice the look of surprise on Joy’s face. She bows, her eyes still wide as she stares back at you one last time before leaving.
You curse as you realize this must be the doing of that strange woman that appeared in your bed last night. However, you have absolutely no explanation on how she got inside your room or how she transported you into this world.
You furrow your eyebrows since that woman could have done something to Seulgi after she was done with you. You desperately hope she’s fine and that she isn’t hurt or gets into trouble due to your sudden disappearance.
But if this is your new reality, you can’t help but worry over something else entirely.
If this is year 380, May 16, then that means the 7 men leading the rebellion had begun planning for my demise earlier this year. Meaning they have long since lost all hope in me that they’ve come together already. You rub your temples thinking that in a few months, you’re about to meet your doom.
“Unless..” you remove your hands from your face. Unless I do something to change the ending. You turn back to stare at yourself in the mirror. Even if you have the same name, is in her body, you are not Empress Y/N, you do not share the same personality, nor the same morals as the empress. You can change the ending.
Standing up, you are met with a new sense of purpose and determination. There is no way in hell that I am going to just accept dying like that. You pull a golden rope that you know calls for the maids to help you dress for the day. In order to make sure you live, you must act like an empress, must act like you belong in their world. In an instant, Joy along with two other maids appear, they must have understood what you wanted as they move around without you telling them.
Once you are fully dressed for the day, you thank them with a grateful smile as you begin making your way to the door. As you head out, your back facing towards them, you don’t notice the shocked stares and whispers.
You are approached by an extremely handsome knight that you seem to recognize, yet can’t risk using the wrong name on the person. He raises a brow when you don’t say anything, “Your majesty?”
“Um, yes?” you blush looking away briefly, before calming down and looking back at him.
His eyes narrow momentarily, you would have missed it if you had blinked because within a second his face goes blank, “I am here to escort you for the day your majesty, Sir Jungkook was unable to come.”
Jungkook? Then this must be Taehyung as Empress Y/N had only ever trusted those two to escort her. You hide your smirk as you know the real reason Jungkook was not present. The two would often place bets and the loser would always have to escort the empress the next day as they had detested being in her presence for too long.
You nod, “yes well, if you do not mind, but I have a bad headache that’s affecting my eyesight, can you lead me to my office please,” you say in hopes of him believing you.
His expression changes again for a split second but nods slowly nonetheless. You follow him around the large palace, looking around hoping to memorize the layout enough to make your acting more believable. Completely oblivious of the looks thrown your way by the knight in front of you.
After some time of walking in silence, he clears his throat, catching your attention. “We’ve arrived, your majesty.” He opens the door for you.
You nod and thank him, before entering the office, you are stunned as you are met with two people in the room. They stare at you and Taehyung with equally surprised and slightly confused expressions, “Your Majesty, you’re here?”
You tilt your head, “Am I not supposed to be here?” you look at the two men, and based on their appearance you can only guess the one sitting at your desk was the advisor, Namjoon. And the man standing beside him was another one of your advisors, Jin.
They continue staring at you as Namjoon speaks up, “N-No it’s just that you never come in here to do paperwork as you leave it to us.”
You shrug, “Then I suppose I’m failing at my duties as empress, shall we trade places?” you take careful strides towards the two as they blatantly gawk at you. Despite his appearance, Namjoon clumsily gets off the chair and steps aside for you. You sit down, somehow feeling like this was where you belonged.
You stare back at them, understanding their surprise at your presence as you know that by chapter 16, roughly a year ago, Empress Y/N had begun losing motivation to do any paperwork as she left the job to Namjoon, her only job was to sign and approve of any documents when needed.
You look up at the two men and gulp nervously, “As you know, it has been quite some time since I’ve done this, if it’s alright with you, may you give me a refresher?” you ask. The three men in the room seem stunned at your question and manner, though you notice something in their eyes that you can’t decipher.
Namjoon, albeit wary, clears his throat, “of course your majesty. Allow me to inform you.”
Although they were a bit hesitant, you had spent the rest of the morning with Namjoon and Jin updating you on what they’ve been doing and although it took some time, you’ve gotten used to it. You were incredibly surprised and amazed with yourself at how much of a fast learner you were. You had assumed it must have been muscle memory from being in the Empress’s body, as you know for sure you would have never been able to do this in your world.
They stared at you as you continued your work after some time once you finally got the hang of things. It’s not hard to notice their stares as you look up and make eye contact with them. They instantly divert their eyes, you sigh and lean back, “I know that there’s something you want to say,” you wave your hand, “speak” you don’t mean to sound demanding, but if you were going to be a convincing empress, you might as well act the part. They look back at each other, in a silent conversation, one that doesn’t take a genius to know what they’re thinking. “I won’t punish you if that’s what you think.”
Namjoon stares back at you with an emotionless expression, “How are you feeling your majesty?”
You raise a brow, “I woke up with a terrible headache this morning, but other than that I feel fine.” which was the truth, although you decided it was best to leave out the fact that you weren’t the empress, nor do you belong in this world.
Jin scoffs, not convinced in the slightest, “Is this another one of your schemes” he bites back at you. You stare back surprised at his tone, but in hindsight it shouldn’t surprise you as you read that regardless of how the men treated the empress, she would never have the heart to kill them, only going as far as imprisoning them for long periods of time. And as a result, knowing they wouldn’t die, would often speak in a rude manner and their hatred for the empress only grew from there.
Namjoon nudges his elbow with a glare, “my apologies your majesty, we just weren’t expecting your presence, if you do not mind, we will be taking our leave.” With a nod of your head, they bow and walk out.
You turn towards Taehyung, “Taehyung do you mind stepping out a bit? I need time to myself.” He hesitates by the door but nods his head and proceeds to follow your orders.
Once they close the door, you almost snicker as you can tell exactly what was going on in their minds and why Namjoon and Jin desperately wanted to get out of your presence. But you don’t dwell on that thought for long as you look around your office.
You’ve come to the realization long ago that you have a major advantage in all this. You have the power of knowing the future. You know all the major events in the future that will lead up to your death. Knowing how to prevent it will prove to be challenging, but you’re determined to protect yourself and live.
And so the real reason you came in here was to look through the documents and reports of the elite nobles that the Empress has come in contact with. You wanted to familiarize yourself with the very people that took advantage of the empress for their own selfish needs.
It’s been hours since you’ve stayed in that room, studying the documents you found and memorizing the names of the nobles involved. You immediately recognize one name in particular, “Grand Duke Lee Joong Gu” you hiss under your breath. The main person responsible for the empress’s demise. You glare at his name as though it would lead to his death somehow.
You wanted desperately to put him in jail, though you can’t do that without any sufficient proof of his corruption. You stand and make your way to more documents that seem suspicious in your eyes. Your first obstacle is cutting all ties to Lee Joong Gu, and you know exactly how to take him and the rest of the elite nobles that took advantage of you down.
It was later revealed in the after story, that during the Empress’ reign, the sly Duke had gone to the black market and purchased illegal drugs in which he would then slip into the wine meant for the empress. The Empress slowly became an addict, explaining her changed behavior and constant need for more wine. Where she would only find peace whenever the Duke presented to her his own drugged wine, resulting in her favoring the Duke more than anyone else. He would then later make a profit by selling the drugs to other elite nobles in hopes of receiving the same treatment from the empress. When the secret was revealed, it was the start of the remaining 6 men’s downfall.
You stare outside your window sadly as you recall how they had reacted in the book. How they were in complete and utter disbelief, soon leading to them wanting immediate revenge as the Duke and many nobles involved were executed right away. But even then, racked with grief and guilt, they were never able to fully recover.
Just then you can hear a commotion outside the door. Curious, you stand, walking quietly towards the closed door. Silently placing your ear on the side of the door.
“I need to see this for myself.” You hear a man’s voice.
“Yoongi hyung, you need to calm down.” You recognize this voice belonging to Taehyung’s.
Yoongi? You suck in a breath, knowing that he was the character you were least looking forward to seeing. Yoongi was another one of your advisors and in the book was known to give absolutely zero shits on how he treated the empress. He was the one character that wasn’t afraid to voice his opinions even if it meant opposing you, as he has known the empress the longest, ultimately leading him to visit the dungeon the most out of the men for constantly disrespecting you.
“This may be a big palace, but word and rumors circulate at lightning speed. I need to confirm it for myself. Let me speak to her.” You hear the intimidating voice of Yoongi and mentally prepare yourself for what’s about to come.
Wait? Rumors? You wonder what kind of rumors are circulating now as you’ve only just arrived today.
After a few moments of silence, you hear a loud knock, “your majesty, Advisor Min would like to have a moment with you, shall I let him in?” You hear Taehyung speak. You panic for a moment and attempt to silently speed walk your way back to your desk, briefly cleaning the mess and attempting to act natural.
Alright Y/N. Deep breaths. You got this. “Let him in.”
Just as the doors open, you are met with a pair of eyes glaring straight at you. You remain with a blank face but you are literally dying and shaking in fear on the inside. Yoongi walks right inside the room with Taehyung following him and closing the door behind him.
You and Yoongi stare at each other for some time, “do you have any plans on speaking Advisor or are you just going to stand there?” You have no idea where this tone came from, but you were honestly just putting a brave front. Maybe there’s still a little bit of the old empress in there somewhere.
Yoongi’s glare hardens and scoffs, “I knew the rumors couldn’t be true.”
You raise a brow, “What rumors?” You were actually extremely interested in what was said about you in your time at the office.
Yoongi continues staring down at you, “the rumor of you being back.”
It doesn’t take a genius to know what he meant. The rumors of the old empress coming back must have circulated fast if it reached him. Which means everyone in the palace must’ve heard about it.
You lean back on your chair, “and why would those rumors be circulating?”
“Well for one you’re actually sitting at your desk and doing your duties rather than sleeping with the first person you see and drinking a whole bottle of wine.” He says bluntly.
You shrug, “I guess you could say I’ve realized my wrongdoings and chose to change.”
“I don’t believe that for a second.”
You scoff, getting tired of his attitude, no wonder he was always thrown into the dungeons, “well it’s up to you whether you decide to believe it or not. It won’t change the fact that I need to step up as an empress and do my part.”
He keeps glaring at you, “You can’t expect me to believe that you woke up with this new mentality when less than 24 hrs ago you were screaming and throwing a tantrum in your room for more alcohol.” Though you put up a blank expression, you are currently internally scolding the empress for her behavior and putting you in a difficult situation.
You lean on your desk and stare back at him impatiently, “discussing whether the rumors were true or not, is that all you wanted?”
“Yes. Now I can see for myself that the rumors weren’t true at all, since you’re still a bitch.” He spats out.
Oh hell no. Normally you would be more patient and endure the humiliation if this was your boss in your world. But in this world, you’re the boss, and there’s no way you would allow anyone to disrespect you like that.
Taehyung’s eyes widen in an instant and turn to stare at Yoongi nervously. If you weren’t so focused on Yoongi, you would have noticed the fear in his eyes. You finally glare at the man before you, which must’ve had some effect on him as you see his fingers fidget slightly from his spot, a small detail the author included which indicates his nervousness.
Your eye twitches in annoyance, “A bitch you say?” you chuckle lowly, “Well behind every bitch, there’s a man who made her that way.” you pause and stare right back at him. “And I believe I’m speaking to that very man right here.” You would have smirked at his reaction, if only you weren’t so pissed off. “If all you wanted to do was disrespect me, then I’m going to have to ask for you to leave. As you may or may not know, I hate wasting my time on others that don’t deserve it.”
He stares at you for a moment without saying anything, as though analyzing you. You raise a brow, expecting him to snap back with a snarky reply. But to your surprise, he only glares at you fiercely and turns to leave without another word. Taehyung looks back at him, before turning his attention towards you.
You look up at him tiredly, “you have any thoughts on the situation Taehyung?”
He seems to look surprised that you had even addressed him, but shakes his head, “no your majesty.”
You hum and then stand up, “Today has been a long day, I will be retiring to my room. I will tell Joy to bring me my dinner to my room.” He nods and escorts you back to your room in silence. You try to ignore the stares from the castle staff, but it’s hard when it seems as though they weren’t making an effort at hiding it.
Day one and you’re already tired of living here.
It takes some time before you hear a soft knock on your door, and then you hear a quiet female voice, “You’re majesty, I’ve brought you your dinner.”
You look up from where you lay on the large bed, “come in,” you call out.
Joy walks in with a tray of a dish you weren’t familiar with, but can already tell you were going to love as it was some type of meat.
She places the tray on a table carefully by you and moves to cut the meat for you. You move and gently grab onto her wrist, causing her to flinch, dropping the utensils on the ground. Resulting in some of the food on the plate falling onto the table. You gasp and take your hands away immediately, “m-my apologies! I was just going to say that I could cut the pieces myself.”
But your apology gets left unheard as Joy begins trembling in fear with wide eyes. “Joy?” You reach a hand out, but when you do, she flinches and closes her eyes as though preparing to get hit, “my apologies, your majesty! I had no intention to drop the utensils! Please forgive me!” She starts tearing up, and it’s only now that you begin noticing small cuts and old scars all over her arms and a few on her neck.
D-Did the empress do this? The book had only mentioned some physical abuse, but never really went into detail on what was done. You try to hide your gasp, but can’t help but let out a small noise.
You had no idea what you were doing, but the next thing you know, you wrap your arms around the trembling girl and bring her close to you. She gasps loudly, frozen as you hug her. You whisper in her ear, “there’s no need to apologize Joy. It was an accident. If anything it should be me apologizing since I was the one that startled you. It’s alright.” You attempt to soothe her the same way you would normally soothe your younger siblings back in your world.
Just when you thought she was calming down, you feel a new set of tears falling on your shoulder, pulling back you gently cup the crying girl’s face, “why are you still crying?” You ask softly.
Her crying doesn’t seem to stop as she whispers, “I was so scared, your majesty.”
You wince, “that I would hit you? I assure you, you don’t need to worry about that anymore.”
Joy lets out a soft chuckle and leans against your hand, “N-no your majesty… I was scared that I had false hope. T-That this morning wasn’t real, that the rumors were wrong, I was scared that I would return to you and you didn’t change.”
You sit there stunned, not understanding what you had done to conjure up these emotions. You had thought that your actions this morning weren’t that big of a deal, but according to Joy, they meant everything to her. Just how awful did the former empress treat her for her to act this way.
She sniffs as you wait for her to continue, “I-I heard that Advisor Min had gone to see you, but he came back to inform everyone that the rumors aren’t true.” And after taking a few deep breaths, she smiles at you, “But your majesty, he was wrong, y-you’re back.” She whispers the last part as if still in disbelief.
And for the first time since you woke up, you give her a genuine smile, albeit a bittersweet one. You don’t have the heart to tell her that the empress she once looked up to and loved is no more. That if you hadn’t come into this world, she would still be a victim to the empress’s abuse. So for now, you allow her to believe, internally promising to never hurt her ever again.
“I’m back,” you whisper softly.
Joy cries even more in your arms, holding you tightly as if you would disappear at any given moment.