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nMy father spoke with a slightly croaky voice. He straightened up and looked at me, taming his disheveled hair.

n“Good morning, Dad.”

n“Good morning. Yesterday you fell asleep as soon as you got in the carriage. Are you okay now? ”

nHe looked at me with concern. I burst into laughter when he looked around me carefully. My empty heart felt a bit warm.

n“I’m okay, Daddy. I’m sorry to have you worry about me, Dad. ”

n“Sounds good. Hmm, Tia.”

n“Yeah?”

n“Would you tell me what happened at the temple?”

n“That was…”

nI was speechless. What can I say? I was killed at seventeen on charges of treason, but when I opened my eyes, I was ten again? I was nothing but a substitute for the chosen girl? Had I heard God’s prophecy from the chosen among the priests serving God?

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nI shut up because I couldn’t say any of that. He would think I was crazy if I told him that because my memories as a seventeen-year-old girl only existed in my mind and have not yet happened yet.

nLooking at me in silence, my father said, “They received God’s prophecy when you were in the prayer room. Everybody at the temple was excited.”

nWhat the heck is he talking about?

n“Well, God’s prophecy was that he would give you a name.”

nCome to think of it, only when my middle name Pionia was given, I felt I heard the entire space vibrate in my mind. Was it God’s prophecy? Oh my God, was this his reward?

n“So…”

n“So, Tia. His Majesty wants to see you. ”

n“His Majesty?”

n“Yes.”

nAs I never received God’s prophecy, it was certain that the emperor would call me. I sighed in anxiety. In the past, I often had an audience with the emperor, but this time it was different.

nIn the past, the emperor was seeing me as the next empress and his daughter-in-law, but this time he would try to check God’s prophecy, my name.

n“Okay. When am I supposed to see him?”

n“He told me he wanted to see you as soon as you woke. ”

n“Okay, let me prepare to see him then.”

n“Yes, please.”

nAfter my father left the room, I urged the maids to make the necessary preparations for my audience with the emperor. As I couldn’t keep him waiting for long, I got ready as soon as possible.

n“Kairan, It’s nice to see you here. ”

n“Arkint.”

n“Yes, Captain.”

nWhen I was walking towards the Central Palace, two men in uniform approached.

nRed hair and red eyes and the same appearance: they were Duke Lars and his eldest son.

nI bowed and smiled gently. Every time I saw them, I felt the son was a chip off the old block.

n“Where were you going? Hmm, it looks like you are going to see His Majesty as you are with your daughter.”

n“Yes, that’s right.”

n“Don’t worry too much. Isn’t he wise? ”

n“I know that, but…”

n“Well, as I have something to report to him, let’s go now,” said Duke Lars, who patted his father on the shoulder.

nAfter saying goodbye, I headed to the Central Palace with my father and Duke Lars. When I arrived at the audience room, I looked around and took a deep breath. My heart began to beat harder.

n“The Sun of the Emperor, His Majesty is here.”

nWe all stood up from the seat. A heavy door was opened, and soon an elderly man with gray hair entered.

n“I’m honored to see the Sun of the Empire, Your Majesty.”

n“Come on in, Duke and Marquis. Is she your daughter?”

n“Yes, Your Majesty.”

n“Aristia La Monique is honored to see the Sun of the Empire.”

nThe emperor was Mircan Russana Castina, who revived the slowly declining empire. He entered proudly. In his eyes there was confidence, dignity, and an authoritative aura that could only come from the ruler who controlled the empire. Following him was a man with green hair.

n“Just go outside while I am seeing them.”

nThe emperor kept silent while all his staff including the Chief Chamberlain left. Then, he began to speak to them, “Welcome. In fact, I have something to consult with you. ”

n“Please go ahead, Your Majesty.”

n“It looks like there are still some kingdoms that are disloyal to our empire. Even if we don’t have to punish them, I think we should be prepared for their possible rebellion. So, I’m thinking of increasing knights and soldiers.”

n“Really?” Duke Lars said, frowning for a moment.

n“I don’t think recruiting soldiers is going to be difficult. For the past several years we managed to recruit them at a proper level, so I think we can recruit more without drafting them.”

n“But Your Majesty, you will need lots of money to increase the knights. Don’t you think it will strain the financial resources?” My father asked in a worried tone.

n“I think so. I’m thinking of receiving some donations. ”

n“How?”

n“There are several ways. For example, I can give extra points to the knights when reviewing their promotion based on their donation.”

n“But if you do so, the quality of the knights decline, Your Majesty.”

nI heard my father’s sharp voice. I could understand him because as a knight, my father couldn’t afford to see the quality of the knights decline.

nBut that wasn’t the point now. I tilted my head and looked at the man with green hair.

nWhy is he keeping silent? He was allegedly one of the brightest knights in the empire, and he must have found the problem in the emperor’s proposal.

n“Well, this is an inevitable situation. I’m going to give the benefits to those knights who won’t drive down overall competence too much. If you increase the intensity of their training, it won’t be a big problem.”

n“Got it, Your Majesty.” The emperor smiled at my father who reluctantly agreed.

n“And I’m going to raise taxes. Temporarily, I’m going to raise taxes by one percent. For those nobles with estates, I’m going to impose a 3% tax rate, and the top nobles are going to pay 4%.”

nWith a sigh, Duke Lars said, “You have tormented nobles since you were young, and you are still at it, Your Majesty. Increasing the number of knights will give you a lot of problems, and now you are going to increase taxes? This is too much. This man who is blindly loyal to you won’t take issue with your proposal, but it’s me who is sandwiched between the political factions complaining hard about such a proposal.”

n“That’s why I’m tipping you off in advance.”

n“You will face stiff resistance from the grumbling nobles, but you can’t help it. ” Duke Lars replied as if he had no other choice but to follow the emperor’s order, so did Veritas and his father.

nSomething came to my mind suddenly. In my memory of the past, it was a policy recorded as the fly in the ointment during Emperor Mircan’s rule. Because of the possible revolt of the Lisa’s kingdom, the empire decided to increase its military spending, so the emperor imposed more taxes on the nobles to avoid taxing its ordinary people more.

nHis intention itself was not bad, but it turned out that the increased taxes were shifted to the rest of the people in the empire, incurring their wrath. Three years later, when the new taxation method proposed by Allendis de Verita, Duke Verita’s second son who was called a rare genius, was adopted, many people wished that it had been implemented a little earlier.

nNo matter how smart Duke Verita or his second son was, they might not know the problem the additional taxes proposed by the emperor would cause, but even then there was nothing like the donation policy at that time. Nonetheless, why would Duke Verita keep silent about it?

n“Oh, I think I’ve been talking about a boring topic too long. I’m sorry. ”

n“You didn’t, Your Majesty.”

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n“By the way, I’ve heard that you are smart. I wonder what you think about what you just heard. ”

nThe emperor spoke, turning his attention to me.

n“I’m still young and dull, so I don’t know anything about it,” I replied.

n“Really?” The emperor turned to Duke Verita, looking at me suspiciously.

n“Duke, give it to me.”

nAfter receiving the document, the emperor took out the seal and asked again.

n“Are you sure you don’t have any objection to my proposal?”

nI closed my eyes at his question. Of course, I knew that he was testing me now.

nEven if I pretended not to know, he would not implement the donation policy as it was now because Duke Verita must have noticed its problem.

nBut what if he signed the proposal and the new tax policy would go into effect? In that case, I would not be affected, but the people of the empire would go hungry for several years and resent the emperor.

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