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"I have now pronounced you all as the protector of the empress. Serve your true and your only liege, Empress Urduja Croimont until the end of your last breath," Urduja states after she finished the knighting ceremony to Gertrude and the members of the Diamond Moon Knights. "I want to thank all of my subjects who have attended here to witness the appointment ceremony as per approval by Emperor Alistair." She glances at Alistair who is talking to Maximus. She gazes her purple orbs to the gallery of the throne room and sees something glistening from afar.
Then she realizes it is an arrow that is coming on its way to Alistair. Her reflexes move.
"Alistair!" She calls his name and blocks the arrow with her body.
The last thing she heard is the horrifying screams of the audience and Alistair's voice who is calling her name. She meekly flutters her eyes open to see the worried expression of her asshole husband before she succumbs to the darkness.
Urduja wakes up realizing she is already in her chamber and alone. She gets up, trying to recall what had just happened.
"Damn it... Did I just risk my life to that guy?" Urduja shakes her head in disappointment.
The door swings open and it reveals Gertrude. Gertrude gasps. "Your Imperial Majesty!" She immediately approaches her. Gertrude glistens with tears as she sniffs.
Urduja chuckles. "I'm still not dead, Gertrude." Gertrude helps her to drink some water.
"I will tell them that you are already awake, Your Imperial Majesty. I will summon Imperial Physician Harold as well. Immediately." Gertrude has a sense of panicking in her eyes but there is happiness and relief, glad that Empress Urduja is already awake after a week of remaining unconscious.
Urduja nods. "Please do." She withdraws a gentle smile.
She watches Gertrude leaving. Not long after her ladies-in-waiting came to rush to her chamber. Urduja sees the tears of joy from Camila, Ingrid, and Polly. They also feel relief just by seeing her and stating the situation she is in right now.
"Alistair is investigating the assassination that happened?" Urduja asks, surprised by the news.
Camila nods. "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty."
"What is the progress of the investigation then?" Her expression turns solemn. She wants to know about the progress or if they already had a lead. She questions herself why she had to catch that poisoned arrow to save Alistair.
'Police instinct. That must be it...' Urduja sighs. 'Probably my instinct to help people...' She castigates herself.
"Can you grab me some food? I am already famished." Urduja smiles wryly as she caresses her empty stomach.
Ingrid raises her hand. "I will take care of it, Your Imperial Majesty. I will ask the cook to prepare some nutritious meat and vegetable stew," she volunteers.
Urduja agrees by nodding her head.
"I will grab you some tea, Your Imperial Majesty." It is Polly who comes along with Ingrid.
She chuckles and nods. She turns her head at Camila. She sighs when she sees the worried expression at Camila. "That almost killed me, didn't it?" she asks seriously.
Camila politely bows her head. "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty." Her lips quiver. "But His Imperial Majesty froze your body to stop the blood from functioning in your body. This is to avoid the poison spreading quicker in the channels of your blood."
Her eyes widened. "He did?" 'Is that even possible?' "Isn't that dangerous?" As far as Urduja knows, back to the original world she was in as Corinne, reviving a cryogenically frozen person is still impossible even if they have the improved technologies for science.
'They don't have the latest technologies but they have impressive magical powers for elements. I'm impressed if they revived me.' She is slightly suspicious about it but still, she is impressed.
Imperial Physician Harold and Gertrude come in. Harold bows before her and checks her pulse.
"Your Imperial Majesty." Harold grabs her attention.
"Yes?"
Harold gazes up at her after he checks her pulse. "May I ask if you have done something in your heart?" he asks as he slowly removes the bandage that is covering her whole body to check the wound in between her chest.
Urduja covers her breasts with her hands as she looks at Harold. She feels a little uneasy having him close. But she is shocked that Harold notices something.
"Why?" she asks, sounding like she is challenging him to utter the things Harold noticed.
Harold lowers his head. 'She knew,' he says in his mind. "I'm impressed, Your Imperial Majesty." He forms a smile. He takes a new bandage from his medical bag.
Camila and Gertrude exchange glances. They don't understand what the Imperial Physician Harold and Empress Urduja talked about. Urduja takes a deep breath and glances at her personal knight and her lady-in-waiting.
'They deserve to know the truth.'
As soon as Harold is done changing her bandage, Urduja leans in her seat to explain the situation. She places her hand on top of her left chest. Then she looks up at them.
"I put some precautions for myself. I made a cage that is made from lightning to protect my heart in case something like this kind of assassination would have happened," Urduja says in her stoic expression. "The lightning cage I made will revive me after no more than sixty seconds if it detects that I am not breathing."
Camila and Gertrude's jaws drop from the revelation. Harold remains his neutral expression but he is impressed by Her Imperial Majesty's explanation.
"That explains now that it didn't take me long enough to revive you, Your Imperial Majesty," Harold says and nods his head.
That made him feel relieved as well. He was frightened at that time that he might be able to make her revive despite the fact that His Imperial Majesty froze her body to preserve the poison inside her. When Harold tried to revive Her Imperial Majesty, he was surprised that he managed to revive after a short amount of time.
"H-How did you learn that, Your Imperial Majesty?" Gertrude asks.
"I haven't known any lightning user who can do that, Your Imperial Majesty," Camila butts in and expresses her opinion.
"Um..." How will Urduja explain it? Should she say that she just improvised the part she learned from what she watched on the television as Corinne? "I made some experiments for myself." She scratches the back of her head.
"That's dangerous!" Gertrude exclaims. She is worried about that experiment. "If you didn't become careful, you might have to kill yourself, Your Imperial Majesty." She massages her temples, calming herself.
Urduja giggles. "I am fine, Gertrude. Look at me." Although Urduja admits that what she has done is a dangerous experiment, she has to take the risk to protect herself.
As someone who has advantages to what may happen in this setting from the drama she watched and read before as Corinne, Urduja knows that there might be some assassination that will happen. She was just surprised that it really happened.
Their conversation interrupts when someone knocks. There, Maximus opens the door and bows before her.
"Your Imperial Majesty, Emperor Alistair would like to pay you a visit."
Urduja glances meaningfully at Harold, Camila, and Gertrude. Then she returns her attention to Maximus. "Very well. But I would like Imperial Physician Harold to stay here in case Alistair asks some questions about my condition."
"Understood." Maximus bows and opens the door.
Urduja takes a deep breath. She doesn't want to see Alistair but she has left with no choice again. She just spares Imperial Physician Harold a glance. He nods his head back, understanding what she is trying to mean.
"Empress, I have heard you are already awake," Alistair says as soon as he enters her chamber with a stoic expression plastered on his face.