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"That's enough for today, Your Imperial Majesty."
Urduja is panting when she drops the sword to the ground and lays in the grass. Her morning routine has been adjusted as she has to train with Azarius for sword fighting.
She has done the bizarre training under Azarius's care. She appreciates that her body can keep up with the training but she likes it more if her previous body as Corinne will be with her. Her body as Corinne is as well physically fit as this Urduja's body who needs to work it out more.
But her efforts to toughen this body she was at had paid off after several months of exercising and undergoing obstacle courses every morning. If she keeps this up, she can manage to have the equality of body built from when she was Corinne before.
"How old were you when you first unleash your magic armament, Azarius?" Urduja asks, looking at the sky blue hue sky. The same sky she was looking at when she was Corinne, going back to her flat from the graveyard shift. "Graveyard shift, huh..." she murmured under her breath.
"I was thirteen when I first unleashed my magic armament, Your Imperial Majesty," Azarius says politely as he patiently stands there, looking at Her Imperial Majesty.
She gasps softly. "Really?" She looks at him and sees him nodding. "That's impressive!"
According to the statistics she read, an average of teenagers in fifteen years of age could manage to unleash their own magic armament after a year of training to enhance matching the soul, body, and mana in one. Strictly, the people of the empire must go through training again once they have their magic armament. This is to serve that once a war breaks out, people of the empire have the capability to protect their own selves.
That is why Urduja plans to put some of the budgets here for the training in the imperial academy. Regardless if you are a noble or a commoner, you need to enter the Imperial Academy for two years of training.
Their fate will be decided if they choose to live back in their previous life or serve the empire to earn income.
"It is nothing compared with my cousin, Gertrude, Your Imperial Majesty."
Urduja blinks. "Oh? How old was she when she unleashed her magic armament?"
"She was ten at that time."
Her jaw drops. "Whoa..." She can't believe at such a young age, Gertrude can manage to unleash her magic armament. "What a child prodigy she is!" she exclaims happily. "I wish I can unleash mine soon."
'I envy them...' She sighs. She looks at her hands. 'Come on now, Urduja's body! Match your wavelength with my soul already!'
"I am very sure you will manage to unleash it someday, Your Imperial Majesty. We must be patient for that," Azarius states with a smile.
She gets up, frowning. "Oh, I really have a small patience as I had been ridiculed by those scoundrels." Azarius has a look of surprise from the words chosen by the empress. Urduja stands up, grinning. "But you are right, Azarius. We must be patient. Sooner or later, I might have it. Patience is a virtue!" She cheers up.
After that, they return back to the palace only to meet one of the concubines of Alistair, Odette Averil. She is the third eldest daughter of Viscount Alden and Viscountess Ruth.
Urduja scoffs upon seeing her in the doorway. It looks like she is waiting for someone but she can foretell Odette is waiting for her.
When Odette spots her, she curls her lips into a smirk as she exchanges her glance between Urduja and Azarius.
"Greetings, Your—"
Urduja cuts her off. "You are early to get up today, Consort Odette. I wonder what schemes have you prepared for today?"
Odette's eyes widened a little from Urduja's remark. She squints her eyes before she huffs. She curtseys before the empress.
"I have no idea what you are talking about, Your Imperial Majesty. You seem to be judging me when I have nothing to do with you," she says with a malicious smile.
Urduja arches her eyebrow. 'This bitch... Did she really think I would fall for her words? Does she think I'm that gullible? Well then, I've lived in the twenty-first century so this kind of acting innocent when they scheme something doesn't work on me.'
"Well, then, since I have no business with you, I shall take my leave. Let's go, Azarius," Urduja says as she passes by her.
Azarius bows his head before Odette which Odette clenches her teeth. "Your Imperial Majesty, I have thought that Dame Gertrude is your personal knight. How come she is not here and Sir Azarius is here with you? Don't you think it is suspicious that you usually meet with him?"
Urduja halts from walking and smirks when she hears Odette's stupid remarks. 'She is trying to make a fuss about it then she will bring it up to Alistair,' she utters in her mind.
"Ah, yes. Is this what you came for, Consort Odette?" she asks, turning her head slightly so she can take a look at her bitchy face. "Why don't you report it to Alistair first?" She challenges.
Urduja smiles when she sees Odette's annoyed expression. She watches how Odette squints her eyes at her.
"I shall tell it to His Imperial Majesty then. I wonder how he will punish you for committing adultery."
"Halt." Urduja raises her hand to Azarius who is raising his hand to appear his magic armament. Azarius halts and respectively sets aside. She cocks her head from side to side before she exhales sharply. "I dare you then. Let me know what my cowardly husband tells you. Come and visit me in my study room if ever he utters anything about something disgraceful towards me, Consort Odette." She stretches out a ridiculed smile. "I would be happy to listen to it. Let's have some tea some other time."
She gracefully turns her back and takes a stride to leave. Azarius comes and follows her. As soon as she reaches her chamber, she takes her pillow and strangles it.
"That woman... I am close to strangling her," she says through gritted teeth. "What do you think, Azarius? What can you say about my words against that bitch?"
Azarius chuckles but he excuses himself after laughing. "You did great, Your Imperial Majesty. But are you sure you want to collide with one of the concubines of Emperor Alistair?"
She shrugs. "He no longer favors me even though I am the first wife and the empress of this nation." She really doesn't care about it. If that trashy husband no longer cherishes his wife, then why shouldn't he divorce her already? "His actions will lead me to gather more people to side with me, the empress. So that if in time that Alistair decides to divorce me, I still have my power intact regardless of having no noble title. Right?" She wriggles her eyebrows.
'I'm impressed she already thought about it ahead of time...' Azarius says in his mind. "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. You are right."
Urduja lays in her bed. "I wonder how Gertrude is now. I haven't heard anything from her."
"She will be alright, Your Imperial Majesty. I assure you that."
She sighs, nodding. "Right... Please summon my ladies-in-waiting. I am already famished as I want to take a bath as well."
"As you command, Your Imperial Majesty."
When Azarius leaves her alone in her chamber, Urduja decides to walk to her desk and writes down what happened to her in the journal. She just had a fiery conversation with Odette. She is annoyed that they will make a fuss about her and Azarius.
'But I have done nothing wrong...' She hisses.
But she almost forgets that this is the society she is living in right now. Every move she makes is being watched since she is starting to rise from being a shy type of empress to a bold one.
She needs to contribute to the empire. She has to be acknowledged by their subjects. Urduja has to do everything so some people will decide to side with her.
"I must pursue the Lucelence Scholarship Program," she mutters. "But it must be under my name, not on Alistair's..."
She does not want Alistair to take all the credits because she worked hard for it. Plus, she needs to implement it as she will start to disembark her journey to visit every district so she can start distributing the donated funds personally. She will attend personally and distribute them herself because she can't trust the funds to be handled by the provincial magistrates.
But the provincial magistrates highly disagree with her decision as they want to handle the funds on their own. In the end, when they discussed their disagreement with Alistair, Alistair sided with her so they cannot do anything to oppose her anymore.
Urduja scoffs. "I know how corruption runs to every government official back in my days as Corinne so they cannot fool me. Those old men... It's obvious how they work on it."
She must start investigating these government officials and expresses her opposition to Alistair as soon as she pays every district. Now, she will witness how everything is going to the districts under the provincial magistrates and the nobles.
"Let's see the corruption I am about to witness soon." Urduja grins.