When she opened her eyes, she naturally thought it was a dream.
She wasn’t in the storeroom under the stairs where she’d curled up last night.
For the first time in her life, she saw luxurious furniture and dazzling decorations that sparkled almost blindingly, and there were even nobles in front of her. Before she could make eye contact with them, she turned her gaze to the floor.
She was still dressed in the same ragged clothes she wore before falling asleep, and the smell of rags lingered as she hadn’t properly washed them.
On the shimmering marble, she saw her dirty hands and desperately tried to hide them.
The thought that this was a dream flew away and was replaced by instinctive fear. Since a ragged child had entered a place where the nobles were, there was no telling whether an immediate beating would follow.
She had to beg for her life, but her voice didn’t come out.
“Child.”
She felt someone kneel in front of her. The owner of the tender voice slowly lifted her up.
“My beloved youngest daughter.”
The voice was filled with sadness. She knew it was a woman by her voice, but she couldn’t bring herself to look her in the eye.
She heard that if she made eye contact while talking to a noble, her head would be cut off. Her small body began to tremble. It didn’t matter what the other person was saying.
“Please…. just look at your mom.”
Mom? Her mom was in the farthest corner of the slum, in a ramshackle two-story shack that looked like it might collapse at any moment.
Was it curiosity or some strange attraction?
Under normal circumstances, she, who was usually timid, would never have raised her head in front of a noble. But this time, without even realizing it, her gaze went up.
Although her neck was still hunched like a turtle, she could see the people in front of her.
There was a middle-aged woman who helped her up to her feet, accompanied by a middle-aged man standing behind her. There was also an identical-looking man and woman who looked to be in their twenties or thirties. The four nobles resembled each other like family.
Even though she confirmed that they were nobles, she didn’t lower her head but it wasn’t because of their affectionate gazes.
She couldn’t take her eyes off them due to their hair and eye color.
“We don’t have much time. The first manifestation of your powers will only last a moment.”
The middle-aged woman wiped away her tears as if she didn’t even have time to shed them. Even when she was crying, she was graceful and beautiful.
“My dear, it must have been very difficult for you, but just remember one thing.”
The woman touched her hand.
She tried to pull back her dirty hand from the white and delicate noblewoman’s hand, but it wasn’t easy. Her touch was very careful, as if she was touching something precious.
“We will meet soon. We are your real family, and we are the ones who will love you more than anyone else.”
Real family…? It was beyond confusing. The person in front of her was a noble, so it was hard to believe. Then on second thought, she remembered this was a dream.
“It’s not a dream.”
The young woman who had been standing behind the middle-aged man approached her. When she hesitated and backed away, the woman looked at her with a sad gaze.
“I’m someone you’ll meet in a little while….”
The woman gently ruffled the child’s poorly washed and tangled hair. She felt like she was dirtying the precious person with her dirty self, but no one seemed to mind.
“So…. Your sister and brother might bother you a lot. They might make you sad.”
It was a series of words she couldn’t understand.
“But please be patient. There will come a time when your sister and brother will love you more than anyone else.”
They all had a gentle and warm tone of voice and affectionate gazes. They were all beautiful and handsome, the kind of people you wouldn’t find in the slums. She felt strange being called family by them.
At that moment, a large and firm palm covered her eyes with a thud. Her body was lifted by a strong force, and at the same time, she could hear people shouting.
“What is someone who should be preparing for the coronation doing here?”
“You promised to give up her first manifestation for our family!”
“Be careful not to show your face. She shouldn’t know too much about the future.”
When everyone shouted loudly, both men and women, her small body reflexively hardened like ice.
“How could I give up when I could see my beloved’s childhood years?”
With his low voice and strong arms, the child realized that the person holding her was a man.
The man walked on, unmoved by the others’ protests. He must be going somewhere, she thought, trembling slightly.
A creaking sound was heard, and a gust of wind blew. The child found herself seated somewhere like a railing, feeling the firmness of a chest against their back.
“Today is the day I become emperor and you become empress. How does it feel to be in the future?”
The question of how a 10-year-old child from a wretched slum could become an empress did not come out.
The man removed his hand covering her eyes and she was presented with an incredible view. As a child who had always seen dirt and ugliness, she was mesmerized by what she saw.
The entire palace was adorned with colorful flowers and draped in silk. The people in the grand plaza were shouting and dancing with excitement.
Music could be heard all around, and the imperial flags hanging from the flagpoles fluttered in every direction. Alongside the imperial flags, there were also flags of various colors swaying in the wind.
She wondered if this was the festival she had heard about.
“You made me the emperor and made us love each other.”
The man’s calm voice and the scenery in front of her felt unreal yet made her heart race.
She had never trembled like this before. Perhaps it was because she was seeing things that were too beautiful.
What kind of spectacle is this? She felt like it was something she would never forget in her lifetime.
“When you return to your time, there will be many difficult moments. The things you will achieve will attract all sorts of dangers and the palace will try to get you. But still…”
In the distance, the castle gates opened, and people dressed in navy uniforms and others wearing white robes started lining up on both sides.
As the people at the front blew their trumpets and beat the drums, spectators began to gather.
“You will continue to walk the path of greatness. Countless people will look at you with admiring eyes, and your path will never be questioned.”
The marching group, like a well-trained army, was getting closer and closer. When she looked closely, she could see that the red carpet below led up to a large podium.
“And in the end, we will fall in love and be happy.”
It was at that moment that her body began to tingle.
“Oh no, I guess it’s time.”
Feeling bewildered by the golden light surrounding her, she tried to look at the man, but her vision was once again obscured.
“I’ll see you in the future, my lovely Gratia.”
Even though her eyes were covered by the large hand, she could sense that the surroundings were shining brightly as the man left his final words.
“Oh, and don’t learn how to play chess. It’s annoying when father constantly calls you.”
And that was the end of a strange and beautiful dream.
××××××××××××××××××××××
She felt a change in the air around her.
Instead of the refreshing breeze, a damp moldy smell tickled her nose. For some reason, tears welled up in her eyes. It wasn’t because she had dreamt of an unattainable future.
She couldn’t explain it, but it was an instinctive feeling. It felt like finally discovering a land after drifting aimlessly in an endless sea, or like she had remembered something she had forgotten.
Rather than blindly believing the words she heard in the dream, her heart simply felt relieved, as if she had naturally recovered something that was rightfully hers.
Her heart was still pounding. She wondered if all she had to do now was wait.
When she opened her eyes, she saw the storage room where she had fallen asleep.
Well, can this be even called a room? It was a small space with only a worn-out blanket spread on the floor.
A space under a staircase that would creak and squeak and kick up dust if people walked by. Still, she loves it.
It was common for children in the slums to have no home and sleep on the street, and although they were scary, she had parents and two older brothers.
She was grateful to have a family and a place to sleep.
“Hey!”
A loud knock on the door shook the already fragile space even more. Jumping to her feet, she hit her head on the ceiling of the staircase, but she didn’t have time to feel the pain.
She had to get out before the other person got even angry.
“How dare you!”
However, it was too late, and violence quickly erupted. She fell to the floor on a thump, but quickly got back up. her older brother stood in the doorway, his face full of anger.
“I told you to wash the clothes! Shouldn’t you be thanking me for giving a useless girl like you a place to sleep?”
There was nothing more useless in the slums than a girl. Even if they were fed properly, they still lacked strength and couldn’t find a job.
Older children find their way to the pleasure districts, but until then, they were mere scavengers. If they had been beautiful from a young age, they could have gotten a lot of money in the back alleys, because even in the back alleys, there are plenty of customers who need women.
“Why don’t you move now?”
She saw the kick coming, but she didn’t avoid it. Because if she did, she’d get hit more.
She quickly picked up the clothes that needed to be washed on the floor. As she cautiously moved, she saw his piercing gaze directed at her. Terrified, she took off running.
××××××××××××××××××××××
As winter approached, the water in the creek quickly turned cold.
The winters in the slums were harsher and colder than in other places, so even if her hands were cold, she couldn’t help it. She washed her older brother’s clothes, then blew on her soon reddened hands.
The creek itself wasn’t very clean, so the clothes would stink no matter how much she washed them. What could she do? She wished she had soap, but finding it in the slums was like picking stars from the sky.
There’s nothing she can do, so she has to wash harder.
As she was washing, she suddenly saw her reflection in the running water. As she looked at her face, she remembered her dream. It was a beautiful dream.
She remembered the people in her dream telling her they were her real family.
Among the four people who looked similar to each other, all of them had the same color of hair and eyes except for the middle-aged woman. The middle-aged woman had soft brown hair and brown eyes, while the others all had the same hair and eye color. How could they resemble each other so much?
She knows that not all family members should have the same hair and eye color.
Back home in the slums, her mom has dirty brown hair with a reddish tinge, and her dad and brothers have dirty blonde hair.
The three people in her dream have shiny black hair and although her hair was disheveled and unkempt, she, herself, has black hair. Her dad’s eyes are brown, the color most common in the Empire, and her brothers’ are blue, slightly less common. Her mom has brown eyes with a reddish tinge, like the color of her hair.
The three people she saw in her dream had jewel-like purple eyes.
And her…
“Purple eyes.”
Her eyes reflected in the water have the same color as theirs.
