I closed my eyes.
When I finally reopened them, I was in a carriage. I was too stressed to even admire the paysage or feel the ride.
When I opened them again, I was already inside the palace. I neither knew how long I'd been there nor remembered how I managed to get out of the carriage and enter the halls. Maybe it was what you'd call muscle memory — it came naturally, like this body had done it countless times before.
The palace was too bright, too polished, too loud.Every step echoed through endless marble corridors, bouncing off gold-trimmed walls and jeweled lamps that glowed like captured stars.
It was beautiful — in that overwhelming, "I could die here and it would look artistic" kind of way.'Wasn't it here that the Duke died at the end of the game?' I wasn't even sure anymore.
And I hated it already.I hated the idea of meeting my future murderer — and even more, the idea of being murdered.
The North was silent, brutal, honest.Here, everything smelled like power and politics.
My new body seemed to react instinctively; anger bubbled up from nowhere. I didn't know why, but I hated everything — and that wasn't like me at all.
Two imperial guards led the way, their armor shining like mirrors. I swear they were walking faster than normal — like they couldn't wait to drop me off and escape before something exploded. Was it because the Emperor demanded haste… or was there something even deeper?
Whatever it was, they knew something I didn't.
We reached a massive set of doors, taller than a house and carved with dragons. I recognized them instantly — the doors of the throne room. I'd clicked on them a dozen times before.
One of the guards bowed low. "His Majesty awaits," he said.
Those words alone made my heart ache. Was I scared? No. I was terrified. I hadn't spoken to anyone since arriving in this world aside from John and a few maids.
What if the Emperor found something strange about me — or worse, what if I died here just because my smile wasn't bright enough?
'Did the Duke even smile?' I asked myself, but I wasn't sure of the answer. I didn't know the relationship between the Duke and His Majesty.
'Screw it. Just act normal.'
Finally, the doors creaked open. The throne room swallowed me whole.
Light spilled from the glass dome above, scattering across black marble floors. Tall banners fluttered in a breeze that shouldn't have existed indoors.Everything in that room seemed designed to make one person look divine — and that person sat at the far end, on a golden throne, watching me.
The Emperor.
'I don't want to die.'