Chapter 42

Dawn Scarlett







"And when you two first met, you were shocked that the person you saved is the Emperor. Then my brother is asking what payment do you want because he can arrange everything for you but you did not ask for anything. And after that meeting, the two of you started to meet secretly - my brother is disguising himself to be another person in public so that no one could ever recognize him. And of course, that setup went on for a few months and eventually the two of you developed feelings for each other and it is only just recently that he decided to make you enter the imperial palace as a doctor to cure his legs. But again it was only just for a show, you are not going to cure his legs because he does not have any injury in the first place, you came to the imperial palace because you two are starting to plan on how your engagement will go" Trajan added which made me frown.



So basically, what he is saying is that I and the emperor are already dating for six months secretly. Also, it seems like no one knows that they are trying to make it look like the rumor that the Emperor had become a cripple is nothing but just a rumor and that none of those were true - and to make sure that the people will believe that claim they are going to need my presence as a doctor and of course, as the person, he secretly dated for six months.



"We are going to reveal that my brother acted to be a cripple to the people who wanted to assassinate him but unexpected things happened that made my brother decide to stop his disguise as a cripple and proceed with the engagement and that is what happened to you days ago. To protect you because the assassins who entered the imperial palace saw you and unfortunately one of them escaped and that my brother is worried that you will be the target of his enemies. Another thing is that he wants to be engaged with you already for the nobility to stop arranging marriages for him and also you are the only girl that he wants to marry anyways" Trajan continued and that made him let out a sigh.



I do not like some parts of what Trajan had said but again, I cannot do anything about it because I also think that everything that he had just said is the most plausible thing that will not make anyone doubt my very existence in the life of the imperial family. Those who will doubt my existence will have no choice but to believe our story the moment that they'll investigate around the city because first I did arrive in this city a year ago, I am a doctor and I have already cured a lot of people and third is a lot of people as well knew that Trajan is continuously visiting my clinic for reasons that they are not aware of.



Although it is quite obvious that they have just come up with this plan only a couple of days ago, I cannot help but admire every detail because there are no obvious loopholes in the information that they have said. Aurelius Shen is a calculative and clever bastard because I admit even if I have acquired certain skills fit for undercover I may not be able to achieve the level of skill that he has acquired right now. The differences between our skills are way different.



"Those are the basic things that you need to say if someone approached you during your and my brother's engagement party. Anyways, here is your copy so that you'll be able to familiarize yourself more with your character" Trajan said once again and as if on cue a piece of paper appeared right before me - it is actually placed on top of the table and when I read what is written I cannot help but be amazed again because all that he just said is on the piece of paper and he used magic to make it happen.



Although I always think that technology is far more superior because it made the lives of human beings easier, right now I am not going to lie but I am starting to have doubts that technology is indeed superior. I cannot help but think that the number one spot should go to magic since it can do a lot of things that technology cannot such as what Trajan did where everything he said is automatically replicated on a piece of paper. Magic literally can be used to make the lives of people easier and also it can be used as a means of self-defense however, I am also not saying that magic is all good. It also has its negative sides such as it could be used to harm other people, do crimes or such, and just like what I have learned - people may or may not have magical abilities so those who have magical abilities are considered as privileged ones.



Magic is the great example of the annotation "With great power comes with great responsibility"



"Now, everything is up to you Dawn. The reaction of the people that will attend your engagement party and how well they will believe every information depends solely on how convincing you act and sound on that day. The preliminary results of our plan greatly depend on you" Trajan said once again and I cannot help but let out a deep sigh once again. He doesn't have to say it in an obvious manner because right from the start I agreed to their plan and to become the Empress until Aurelius Shen can settle everything that he needs to settle that I am indeed the key to their success. That my actions and the things I will say will have a great impact on whatever route we are about to take next and of course, the success rate of the plan.



I have the biggest burden in this situation but I do believe that I can get over this, I am going to make sure that there will be no problems and that all of them will never have the audacity to be suspicious of my relationship with the Emperor. I am going to prove myself useful to keep my head intact and that I will be able to have a peaceful life after everything has been settled - of course, breaking all ties with the imperial family. Indeed, my motivation in whatever is bound to happen in the future is to be alive and live a long life in this life.



"I know" I simply replied and Trajan smiled at me - a wide smile to be exact.



"Since we are clear now about your identity. Let's proceed on the things that you should know and you should be able to practice as a noble lady, the future duchess of the Machiavelli duchy" he once again stated and since I cannot do anything about it I just nod my head. It does not matter if he is going to give me a break or not because either of the two is fine with it. The thing is that I am pretty curious about how a proper lady should act in this world, I need to make sure that everything about me is the same or as much as possible exceeds what is expected to that of a noble lady.



I admit that there are a lot of things that I do not know about this world, the customs, and traditions, and I could still even get confused with their way of living. Indeed everything is very different from the previous world that I have lived in. To make sure that no one will doubt me in the engagement, I do need to make sure that everything about me screams lady-like because I do not simply want the emperor, Aurelius Shen is disappointed in me - I fear that once I disappoint him or made him angry, he will surely be able to do something to make me experience hell or it could be an instant death as well.



"As I have said a while back, your name is already Dawn Scarlett Machiavelli, a noblewoman and by being a noblewoman that means that you are a woman of noble ranking, title, or status. It is also safe to say that you are already an aristocrat - but not of Xinan but of the Eastern Kingdom which also goes by the name Elysian. People of Elysian are different from the other kingdoms in one manner and that is the names of their citizens. As you have noticed in Xinan we only have one name than our family name but in Elysian, they have two names and their family name. That is the first reason why we chose that kingdom to be your disguised birthplace. The second reason is that it is because the emperor is a close friend of my brother and we have always maintained a close diplomatic relationship with them ever since my brother became the emperor. We have helped them achieve so many things that made the imperial family of that kingdom stays in position." Trajan said once again and that made me come up with a specific conclusion on why exactly they chose that kingdom when in fact they could also choose the other kingdoms and make me just not use my second name which is Scarlett. Well, I cannot help but remember as well why did I not actually change my name, and I just basically removed my surname because I found out that there is no 'Johnson' surname that resides in this world - it was basically a gamble that I had to take and I believe that I did made the right choice in not including my previous life's surname.



"In short, they are indebted to you and your brother, the Emperor that is why the Imperial Family of that kingdom is willing to help even in just a short notice," I said and in an instant, Trajan let out a big smile and then he raised his thumb to give me, obviously, a thumbs up.



"Woah you are indeed smart, Dawn you have guessed it right! The Imperial Family of the Elysian Kingdom is indeed indebted to my brother because he saved their asses a few times now" he ecstatically said which eventually made me roll my eyes subconsciously. Seriously? anyone could guess it right because of first the words he chose to speak and second because of the fact that in my previous world, and even in this world there is no such thing as free - everything comes with a price and it just depends on what will the price be. It could be money, fame, a return favor, or even or a few lives.



It does not matter because debt is still a debt and it will never be erased or forgotten by both parties. Sometimes these debts are the reason why strong bonds are created - just like what Trajan said that the Emperor of the Elysian kingdom is Aurelius' close friend. At first, of course, the previous emperor ordered his son to be close to Aurelius at all costs in order to make sure that he cannot do anything against them. In short, it was all for the sake of their security and benefit but then again, as time passed by from being a, let's say contractual friendship it sure turned out to be something greater than that - a real friendship.



It could also be identified as major character development. How would I know if my assumption is correct? Of course, knowing Aurelius Shen, he wouldn't actually consider that person his close friend if everything was just for the sake of the debt or something like that - he obviously hates fakeness. Most probably if their relationship continued to be contractual in a sense, Aurelius Shen would have probably ordered Trajan to do something in order to make sure that the Imperial Family of the Elysian Kingdom will be removed from their position and that a new family will rise from the ashes to replace them - or conquering that kingdom is also possible for the Xinan. There are a lot of things that could happen and that is also the reason why I am so careful not to get busted that everything about me in this world is fake - that I have been lying the moment that we met.



*To be continued*