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"But how? How did that happen?" Gertrude asks Harold. Although she is happy to hear the news that Her Imperial Majesty has mana, she can't help but ask how the Empress got it.
"Could it be from the lightning dragon?" Camila concludes.
"I have the same thought!" Polly agrees. "That means Her Imperial Majesty's aura element is lightning!" she exclaims.
"What do you think, Imperial Physician Harold?" Ingrid turns at Doctor Harold who nips his chin, trying to understand the situation.
Urduja watches them in silence. She is trying to understand their panicking situation. She suddenly remembers her co-workers way back at the convenience store.
'I wonder how Mia and Noah are... I missed my night shift task.'
She sighs and calmly comprehends the tongue-tied condition of this body and the mana they kept on saying. Even the word, aura element. She doesn't understand but she is trying.
"It is possible that the lightning dragon bestowed Empress Urduja some mana. Perhaps, the lightning dragon healed her tongue-tied condition," Harold concludes. "Even so, that is good news for the empire. I shall tell His Imperial Majesty."
There is a splitting image appearing in Urduja's mind. It is a situation about her having low mana and how she stammered due to her tongue-tied condition. In the memory she sees, the previous owner of this body has been looked down on by other people... Corinne gets it now and decides on what to do next.
"No." Urduja rises from her seat. "Don't tell them about my healed tongue-tied condition and me having mana, Doctor Harold."
Confused, Harold asks. "But why? Your Imperial Majesty, this is a great sign you can earn the Emperor's favor again." He also pities the Empress as how everything went South for her.
He has been her Imperial Physician ever since she married their Emperor and was crowned as the Empress. Having a tongue-tied condition is difficult, especially in speaking, which may cause stuttering or getting tongue-tied the moment you speak for so long. Additionally, their Empress has low mana which the Emperor discovered on the day of their wedding. Everyone despises her when she does nothing to them.
The eagerness of his expression and the sympathy that he is showing makes Urduja smile. "I get it that I lose his favor," she says and almost huffs. She doesn't even need it. "But I can manage. I need you all to keep this a secret."
"What?" They are shocked by her words.
Urduja smiles. "I don't need his favor to be focused on me. I want to utilize this mana you are all saying." She can feel the electrifying feeling inside her. Maybe, this is the mana they have been saying.
'I have powers! OMG!'
"Let me earn the empire's hearts. They have been looking down on me, aren't they?" They nod their head. "Exactly. I want to create a big surprise for them. That the once a loser Empress gets to rise and be an Empress of the empire."
Before she became a dropout student, she has been joining some organizations in their university. As expected, she is a good leader. Maybe she can try her leadership skills here and she will prove that she can lead...
Or she can try joining the military here. She can endure hardship training because she already did them on their PE before. Their professors put them in strict training so she can apply it to herself. She needs to train this weak body she has right now. She will train herself so she can be physically fit as to what she had before on her previous body as Corinne Fallen.
"I see your point, Your Imperial Majesty. But as of right now, we can feel your overwhelming mana. You can hardly control your mana yet. Even your aura element can wreak havoc in the palace," Harold utters, sighing.
"Doctor Harold is right, Your Imperial Majesty," Gertrude says with a nod.
She thinks about it. How can they feel her mana? Can she also do that? All she feels is the energy from the plants and trees around her. Maybe she can work that out later.
"Is there any way I can hide that I have mana already?"
"You want to conceal it?" Polly asks with a shock.
Urduja nods her head. "Yeah. Is there any spell or what?" She understands a little bit that maybe she is in some sort of magic world. Like she is in a fantasy book! "Do they have a wizard here?" She can't help but ask.
"There is. He is living in the tower." Harold is astonished about how the Empress asked a question. As far as he knew, he knew that the Empress knew that there was a wizard here in the Lucelence Empire. But how come she asked as if she didn't know?
"Tower?" She can't believe it! There is a real wizard here! "Is there any way we can contact him so he can help me?" She gently bites her lower lip.
'Shit... I thought I was dreaming that there was a wizard here. I didn't know my joke would be real. Damn!'
Camila steps forward. "Your Imperial Majesty, the wizard has bestowed you with a bell made of ice in case you need his help someday. You kept it in your wardrobe."
'Oh... That's cool! Bell made of ice!'
"Okay. I will call him later," Urduja says. I wonder how she will be able to contact him. Through ringing the bell?
'Don't they have a cell phone or telephone here?'
"Empress." Urduja turns her head to Imperial Physician Harold. She gives him a perplexed look. Harold smiles and shows a simple non-ornamental bracelet. It is a simple wire that made her huff mentally. "I remembered the wizard whose name is Auguste Raeburn who is living from the tower," he pauses. "He bestowed me with this bracelet a long time ago. He said that this can conceal someone's mana and minimize the overwhelming power. And that, I shall give it to you when the time is right."
She takes the bracelet. Then she gets baffled by his words.
'Why will this wizard give the real Urduja a bracelet by passing it to someone? Does he know that this is going to happen to her body? Does he also know that there is a different person inside of this Urduja's body? '
That wizard is making her more interested. The intention of the wizard is weird for her and very suspicious.
"Why would he give you this as if he is expecting me to have mana soon?" She can't help herself but ask. She is curious to know the answer to her question.
Harold lowers his head. "That, I cannot know, Your Imperial Majesty. After he bestowed that to me, he vanished into thin air."
She narrows her eyes and settles it to the bracelet. "I'll wear this since you said that it will conceal my so-called mana." She shrugs, dropping the curiosity, and wears the bracelet to her left wrist. "How is it now? Can you still feel my mana?"
They all shake their heads.
"Great! This is cool!" she exclaims, clapping her hands.
They exchange glances at the way their Empress acted. This is so not her. They never see the Empress being so joyful to something.
'Maybe she is happy because she finally has mana that she has been longing for,' that is what Harold thought. The four ladies know better than the Empress might have lost her memories because she can barely know them. But they are happy their master has mana and her tongue-tied condition is no longer helping her to great weakness.
Once she enhances it, the people of the empire including the Emperor and his three concubines will recognize her.
"I remember something," Urduja says and turns to Harold. "Since you need to deliver a message, tell them that I don't have my tongue-tied condition. But don't tell them about me having mana. Is that okay?"
'She talks differently.' Harold says in his mind. Gone is the soft-spoken Empress he remembered. 'Has the Empress been like this lively and bubbly before? Before she met Emperor Alistair?' He wonders.
Harold understands her and nods his head. "Your wish is my command, Your Imperial Majesty. I shall relay a message to His Imperial Majesty. Worry not for I am your loyal servant."
'I will help Her Imperial Majesty with everything I can so she will be recognized by the Emperor again.'
"I shall take my leave. You can take a rest for a day or two."
"Thank you!" Urduja beams and waves at him.
"Camila, you shall go with the Imperial Physician and escort him until he leaves," Gertrude orders. "Ingrid, you need to take our Empress's evening meal so she can rest later."
"I will." Camila and Ingrid nod their heads and leave the chamber.
Urduja lifts her eyes to the study table and carefully approaches it. She sees a heavy red book entitled 'The Combination of Mana and Magic Armament'. The title has a gold cursive style that makes it unique. It piqued her curiosity.
"That is your favorite book, Your Imperial Majesty."
She flinches from the speech of Polly who suddenly appeared beside her, peeking at the book she is looking at.
"I-I see." She is planning to study this. She needs to understand what mana is. But first, she needs to be alone so she can explore this luxury room she was in. She glances at the window. It is already dark now. "What time is it?" she asks and approaches the bookshelf displayed in the chamber.
"It is already eight in the evening, Your Imperial Majesty," Gertrude answers.
She stops at the painting again. "Can you tell me more about Emperor Alistair? How did I end up marrying him?" She wonders.
Polly and Gertrude exchange glances. Then they start to tell her the story she wants to hear.
They say that she was from a lower rank noble family and ended up as a dancer from a tavern. She entertained men and was taken by the Emperor. The Emperor showered her with so much affection until something happened between them and they married after that.
"What? One-night stand?!" She can't help exclaiming.
"Pardon me, Your Imperial Majesty but what is a one-night stand?" Polly asks in curiosity.
'Oh. They didn't know about that term...'
"Nothing. Just never mind."
'A one-night stand and Urduja was forced to marry this man... The fuck is wrong with this timeline I was at.'
She shakes her head.
She listens and understands everything. The Emperor found out about her condition and low in mana after they got married. Her ladies-in-waiting say that she lost the favor from His Imperial Majesty. The Emperor has taken three concubines to live in the palace. All the attention she deserves is now focused on his three concubines.
'What a fuck up love story.'
She already has an inkling about concubines from the empire. She reads books about how messed up the royal and imperial family was when she was a Corinne Fallen.
'Concubines are just sugar-coated for mistresses. It's like legalizing having an affair. This Emperor is an asshole as well! The audacity!' She feels sorry for the real Urduja who experienced hardships. 'Her life has become miserable because of this stupid Emperor...'
"Where is that Emperor now?" she asks, gritting her teeth. She darts her eyes to the image of Emperor Alistair in the painting.
"That Emperor?" Gertrude is shocked by the way Her Imperial Majesty addressed their His Imperial Majesty. She looks at Polly who has the same expression as hers.
They can't believe that their Empress can say something unpleasant. They know how their Empress cherishes His Imperial Majesty right now. With her memory lost, she forgets that she is in love with their Emperor.
Polly speaks. "He has been on an expedition for five days already, Your Imperial Majesty."
'An expedition, huh?'
"I see." She wants to meet him and makes him realize how stupid and asshole he is.
Her other ladies-in-waiting, Camila and Ingrid arrive. Her evening meal is served. She hurries to take her meal and finishes them.
"Girls," she calls them.
"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty?" They kneel a little while bowing their heads.
She looks at them. Urduja already has some plans to gain what this real Urduja deserves in the first place.
"I hope no one knows about me having mana. I am only hoping the four of you who know this news won't tell this to anyone."
"But what if Her Imperial Majesty oppressed you by the three concubines again? They should know that you are not as incompetent as of right now," Polly cries.
Her heart softens. The real Urduja has some very trusted companions. As Corinne in the soul, she only trusts herself. She has no companions to be with ever since she studied in college. She is adventurous and sometimes reckless, yes, but no one wants to befriend a weirdo like her even though she has the capabilities to be a leader. She has led many organizations yet her classmates are a bit afraid of her.
"I know that. But don't worry, I will not let them oppress me again. I need to work on my powers first. Then earn the respect from the people of the empire. I hope you understand my whims."
She needs to convince them not to tell anyone. She likes giving out full of surprises. She will do her best just as she always did for her school projects and be a part-time worker.
'This is for the sake of real Urduja. This is the rise of the fallen Empress!'
"We understand, Your Imperial Majesty."
Urduja nods. "You can go back to your..." she pauses. 'How do they say 'room' here? Chamber? Quarter?' "To your quarters. I would like to take my rest."
They nod and leave her chamber. She waits for a moment before she finally strolls around this spacious room.
"I can open a lot for sale here," she says to herself and opens the bathroom door. "Wow! Bathtub!" She almost squeals. "Shit... I have been wanting to have my bathtub." She giggles.
She goes to the wardrobe and sees a bunch of dresses. Some can be worn in summer and winter. There are some clothes that she doesn't need to wear.
"Cool!" She checks every clothes she sees as her eyes sparkle in fascination. She even kneels to check underneath them and feels something hard. She pulls it out and opens the antique box. It is in a hidden place so it cannot be found by anyone.
She slowly opens it and sees the bell together with a stationary. She touches the bell and it feels bitterly cold. "Is this the bell made of ice? I can call the wizard through this?" She tilts her head. Can she call the wizard through this?
Before she can even try to ring it, her eyes glued to the stationary notebook inside of it. She carefully places down the bell and with curiosity getting the best of her, she flips the pages then opens it to the recent pages that it is handwritten.
"Must be from the real Urduja," she says and checks the real Urduja's handwritten words. She is awed seeing how nicely written her paragraphs are. "Whoa... It's like I used a computerized font from Microsoft Word," she says through chuckles.
'𝐼 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝐸𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇𝑜𝓇 𝒜𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓇 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽. 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓊𝓅 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝑜 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝓋𝑜𝓇 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃. 𝐼𝒻 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝐼 𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝒻 𝐼 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒶, 𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝐼 𝒹𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓇𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐸𝓂𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝑒𝓂𝓅𝒾𝓇𝑒...'
She caresses a certain page. She can feel how broken Urduja is. How she wants to beg for his attention but she can't do it.
'𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒... 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝒶𝓁𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓎 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝓀𝑒𝑒𝓅 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈. 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓊𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝒸𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒽𝒾𝓂. 𝒜𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓇 𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝓃 𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝒹𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝓌𝑜 𝒹𝒶𝓎𝓈. 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝒹𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃...
𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝒾𝓋𝑜𝓇𝒸𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝓂.'
She gasps.
'What? Divorce?'