Episode 79. What is Fate? (2)

‘Well, I guess I thought the same thing. How did someone as timid as Julius become Emperor?’

To be honest, Julius and I weren’t that close as siblings. We didn’t share the same mother, and we didn’t have any meaningful interactions during our childhood.

‘But for him to lean on me like this, it must mean that no one has ever truly been there for him.’

With that thought, my heart softened a bit. I looked at Julius’s profile for a moment before nodding my head.

“Alright. Let me just write a quick letter before we go.”

If Percy comes back and finds me gone, he’s going to be surprised.

‘Though I can’t really imagine him being flustered.’

I picked up a pen and started writing without hesitation.

<{To Percy,
My brother has asked for my help with something, so I’ll take care of that and return.
Be good and wait for me.]<

I considered writing more, but then decided against it. I didn’t think Julius’s loneliness would last that long, after all.

‘He’ll be busy with work soon enough. He’ll probably forget all about his annoying little sister at the palace.’

I neatly folded the letter in half and placed it on the table.

“All done.”

The moment I spoke, Julius grabbed my wrist and briskly led me out of the room.

“Then let’s go.”

“Huh? What about my things?”

“Did you forget where the Imperial Palace is?”

“The Imperial Palace is…”

It’s the home of Sienna Liata.

Only then did I realize how foolish it was to suggest packing.

‘Have I really gotten so comfortable at the Stewart mansion that it feels like home?’

As I lightly bit my tongue in self-reproach, Julius didn’t slow down. He continued to stride down the hallway, speaking as he went.

“I’ve already ordered your quarters to be fully repaired and renovated, so you’ll be able to stay comfortably from today onwards. Don’t worry.”

“Well…”

It’s not like I was worried about that.

I was only planning to stay for a short while, so whether the quarters were comfortable or not didn’t matter. I was confident I could live on the sofa for a week without even getting up.

I waved a reassuring hand to the Stewart mansion staff, who were watching anxiously, signaling that everything was fine. Then, I climbed into the royal carriage with Julius.

The carriage took off so quickly that I barely had time to sit down properly.

‘Is it just me, or does it feel like he’s in a hurry because he’s afraid I might change my mind?’

I tilted my head, pondering the thought. Regardless, the carriage was on its way, and since I had no intention of jumping out, I leaned back and glanced at Julius, who sat beside me.

‘He really does look like he hasn’t slept.’

As he gazed out the window, Julius’s skin looked rough, and his eyes were sunken. I tapped my shoulder and said to him,

“Go ahead and sleep.”

“What?”

Julius turned to me with a look of utter disbelief. I tapped my shoulder again and repeated,

“Sleep. You said you thought you’d be able to rest with me by your side.”

“It’s strange seeing you be so kind all of a sudden.”

“What are you talking about? Even unfriendly siblings can lend each other a shoulder to lean on.”

“Fine.”

Despite his words, Julius obediently crossed his arms and rested his head on my shoulder. It was heavier than I expected, and I briefly wondered if I had made a mistake by offering.

“Have I apologized to you before?”

Here we go again. I pouted and answered with a hint of exasperation.

“At this rate, you’ll hit a hundred apologies, so maybe you should stop. If you’re really sorry, just let me be with Percy Stewart and leave us alone.”

At my response, Julius straightened up with a serious expression. He turned to face me and asked,

“…What do you mean by that? Are you really that close with Duke Stewart?”

No comment.

After spending so much time together in the same house, of course, we’d end up doing this and that. While I looked away, feigning disinterest, Julius ground his teeth.

“How could you just snatch away someone’s little sister like that?”

Since when did you care so much about me to be grinding your teeth?

I slapped Julius on the shoulder as a way of telling him to get a grip.

“So why don’t you find a decent woman and get married before I do? You could give me a dozen nieces and nephews.”

“If I ask someone to have a dozen kids, no one’s going to want to marry me.”

Why does he suddenly have to be so reasonable?

I couldn’t help but burst into laughter. It was impossible to stay mad at Julius.

‘I guess there’s no helping it.’

He’s clearly having a hard time, so I’ll just think of it as helping him out for a bit.

* * *

Apparently, even though I told Julius to feel free to sleep while I kept watch, it was me who ended up falling asleep in the carriage. When I groggily opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the incredibly luxurious golden palace.

‘Wow, this feels different.’

Still half-asleep, I thought that absentmindedly. Then, suddenly, I snapped back to reality. The color of the walls, the color of the doors, even the scale of the palace buildings were nothing like the palace I used to stay in.

‘Wait, it’s not just different; this isn’t my palace at all!’

That’s right! This wasn’t Sienna Liata’s palace!

I immediately grabbed Julius’s coat, just as he was about to leave me there and get back into the carriage.

“Brother! No, Your Majesty! Something’s wrong!”

“What is it?”

“This isn’t the palace I used to stay in!”

“This is the Crown Prince’s palace.”

“Then why are you leaving me here?!”

Honestly, I wanted to grab him by the collar and shake him, but I restrained myself since other people were around.

Julius frowned at my outburst and questioned me in return.

“With all these empty palaces available, why would you use the old one? Use the best one.”

“But this place has a symbolic meaning!”

Why would he give me the Crown Prince’s palace?

I kept asking in confusion, but Julius just clicked his tongue at me. His long hand flicked my forehead sharply.

“Ow!”

It actually hurt. I let go of Julius’s coat to clutch my forehead with both hands.

Seeing me like that, Julius started lecturing me.

“Forget about symbolism or whatever. This palace has the most books. Take this opportunity to study. How can a princess know so little?”

“Seriously? You said I was a comfort to you before, and now you’re backstabbing me like this…”

He had just been mumbling about how my presence alone was comforting, and now he was criticizing me for being ignorant.

As I trembled with betrayal, Julius got back into the carriage, smirking at me. Just as he was about to announce his destination, the attendants surrounding us began clamoring all at once.

“Your Majesty, you need to head to the audience chamber immediately…”

“Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager is requesting your presence…”

“Your Majesty…”

Julius quickly barked out his destination and disappeared. Watching him leave, my mouth fell open.

‘Wow, he really is busy.’

Why on earth did he come to get me himself if he was that busy?

As I was guided into the Crown Prince’s palace, I thought to myself,

‘Don’t tell me he wants me to study so I can help him out?’

* * *

But that’s exactly what happened!

‘How much studying does he expect me to do?!’

I wasn’t joking—since the moment I entered this palace, all I’ve done is study. My vow to not leave the palace to avoid running into Beth was unnecessary.

I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to!

‘Where am I? Who am I?’

The tutors they assigned me were varied, to say the least. I had instructors in etiquette, finance, political science, history, and more.

‘I struggled with real-world history, and now I have to learn the history of a game world?’

What made it worse was that the history was incredibly detailed and plausible.

‘The game developers must have been history buffs, or maybe they were obsessed with world-building.’

Regardless, I had to study with tears in my eyes. The truth was, having nothing else to do was a big reason why I threw myself into the studies.

After days of nothing but study, study, and more study, I finally received a message summoning me to the Imperial Palace.

‘Yes! No studying today!’

In the past, I would’ve been like, ‘Ugh! What if I run into Beth? I’m not going out!’ But after being stuck studying for so long, I was just thrilled to be summoned by Julius.

That enthusiasm quickly faded once I reached the Imperial Palace.

“From now on, I want you to handle all the documents from here to here.”

“…What?”

Julius, buried under a mountain of paperwork, didn’t even look at me as he pointed to a desk in the corner of his office. I was too stunned to do anything but question him.

“Brother… I mean, Your Majesty. Are you seriously asking me to handle your work?”

Julius continued shuffling through papers as he replied.

“Your tutors tell me you’re quick with numbers. This is a good opportunity for you to lighten my workload and learn some things.”

“Ah…”

Well, he wasn’t entirely wrong. Finance was so easy it practically made me yawn. Even when I was just doing the math in my head, the tutor couldn’t stop praising me for being a genius.

‘Honestly, the math here is simple. It’s just tedious work.’

The idea of going through stacks of documents didn’t seem that daunting. Frankly, learning history or etiquette felt like a waste of time anyway.

‘I’ll just catch any mistakes I find.’

I sat down and began going through the documents. At the very least, I needed to be thorough in checking for any discrepancies since the books could be cooked.

‘But since I don’t really know the local prices, it’s hard to spot discrepancies, even if I read carefully.’

Usually, discrepancies in the books involved inflated prices. Still, I used my common sense to go through the accounts diligently.

After processing documents for a couple of days, I came in on the third day to find even more papers piled up on my desk.

“You’re working through them faster than I expected. Now, I want you to try drafting some proposals. Start by calculating the maintenance costs for the Imperial Palace and then allocate the budget.”

“Brother!!”

Now it was clear—he’d brought me here to dump his administrative work on me!