Reborn: The New Empress

"What were you two doing strolling in the middle of the night?" She asked playfully. Yukio and I smiled at her.

"Nothing, mom. We just had a talk." Yukio said. Empress Yukina smiled and let us in. Yukio took me back to my room but before he could leave, I pulled him in for a hug. His chest vibrated and I felt at ease in his arms. He knew I didn"t want him to leave so he went inside my room with me and as I sat down on the bed, he sat next to me.

"What happens now?" I asked. He looked at me and smiled.

"Now, we have to worry about your engagement with Eiji." The moment he said his name, I felt an unexplainable anger. He lied to me about his intentions. I knew he was up to no good. But what I can"t piece together is, how did he know that I lost my memories? He managed to manipulate me into thinking that he"s a good guy when in fact, he was the bad guy all along.

"What can we do about it?" I asked. Yukio held my hand and looked me in the eyes.

"I"ll ask my father to break the engagement." He suggested. I sighed. It won"t be easy. Something"s pushing Eiji into marrying me but I can"t seem to figure out what it is. I"m not someone who has a very big influence in the Empire. Unless… A thought immediately popped into my head. It was a possibility we can"t ignore. I immediately looked over at Yukio.

"I think I know why Eiji wants to marry me." I said. Yukio grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to him.

"What is it? Do you remember something?" He asked.

"The oracle!" I said.

"What about the oracle?" he asked. I was too excited to tell him. I felt like I was in the right this time. Everything started to make sense.

"I was destined to become a princess, right? If he marries me and then I become a princess, that"ll make him a prince. That means he will be the same as you. I think they"re planning on overthrowing your father so that Eiji can become Emperor." Everything I thought about just fell out of my mouth. Yukio"s eyes widened.

"That seems a bit too much, but I think they"re confident enough to do it. I"ll talk to my parents tomorrow. You should get rest." He said. He placed a kiss on my forehead and went out of the room. I sat down on my bed thinking of the possibilities of what I said. It was ridiculous I admit but it"s the only explanation I can think of.

"You won"t be able to sleep if you keep stressing over things like that." I turned to see the Empress standing by the doorway. I was completely engrossed in my thought that I didn"t even notice her. I quickly stood up from my bed and greeted her.

"Good evening, Empress. I"m sorry I wasn"t able to greet you when you came in." I apologized. She just giggled and went up to me. She put her hand on my shoulder.

"Sayori, I know how much Yukio means to you and I want you to know that I support whatever you two have. I just want to warn you of the dangers that you are currently in. YOur situation is different from the others. You were chosen by the G.o.ds to become a princess and up until now, no one knows what this holds. You have to think about the people who are close to you because in this era, those people who are willing to get to you, hurt the people you love." She said. I felt as if her words were quite heavy and it left an impact on me. She was right, nonetheless. I knew that once I started to fight back, everyone close to me will be targeted.

"I understand, Empress." I answered. I didn"t know what else to say. I don"t want to be away from Yukio any longer. I want to spend more time with him to make up for lost time but I also don"t want to endanger his life for me. I was conflicted. The Empress looked at me with loving eyes. She pulled me in for a hug and I was surprised when she did. I wasn"t expecting this from her. It felt weird hugging her because I felt a slight b.u.mp by her belly. My head started making up different scenarios. I even thought that the Empress was pregnant.

"I know where you"re coming from, Sayori and I understand that you must be confused as of the moment. I was once an orphan too but I was saved from my life of loneliness when I woke up to find that I was the Empress." I was confused by her words. What did she mean that she woke up to become the Empress?

"What do you mean?" Everything I"ve been speculating throughout the month was starting to solidify.

"What do you think I mean?" She said with a smile on her face. My jaw dropped when I realized that I was right. Empress Yukina is from the future like me. She knew I was from the future too. I was so excited that I didn"t know what to say. I was about to say something when Empress Yukina put a finger on my lips.

"Please keep this a secret from my family." She said. I nodded my head and she put away her finger.

"I can"t believe it! Did you belong to the same ear as me or you"re probably a few years from where I"m from." I said. I got so excited to talk about something we have in common.

"What year were you from?" She asked. I pulled her into my room and we sat down on my bed.

"I"m from 2019. How about you, Empress?" I asked. She looked at me and smiled.

"I"m actually from 2019 as well." She said. My eyes widened.

"So, we existed in the same time but somehow you got here first. I wonder if we are the first to experience this." I said. EMpress Yukina looked at me and placed her hand on my head.

"What is your real name? And how did you die?" She asked. I remember my name very clearly. I knew who I was before I accepted my fate as Princes Sayori.

"My real name is Shiromi Hanako. I was an orphan growing up and when I grew older I left the orphanage to seek a better life. The last thing I remember from my past life was when I was walking down a dark alley. I was walking home from going around town looking for a job. I didn"t know that I was being followed and I remember him stabbing my in my stomach. That was the last thing I could remember. I must"ve died from that." I explained. I placed my hand on the part of my stomach where the wound would"ve been.

"That was unfortunate but there must"ve been a reason for you to be reborn in this life." The Empress told me. She put her hand on top of mine and that made me feel at ease. She was like the mother I wished I had.

"How about you, Empress? Who were you in your past life and how did you die?" I asked. She looked out the window and smile started to form on her lips.

"Well, I was a spy for un underground mafia. I did all sorts of dirty jobs for them. My name was Tojou Miu and I was also an orphan when one of the people from the mafia saw my potential. They took me in and trained me. I was the best out of all the spies but I didn"t know they were planning to kill me once I got what they wanted. The helicopter I was on exploded and I died. I woke up as the Empress." She said. My mouth was agape. That"s why she was so fluid in her movements when we were on that mission to retrieve my mother"s amulet.

"That explains a lot." I said in a whisper. Empress Yukina giggled from what I said.

"It was different for me because the old Empress was weak and timid. They were shocked when all of a sudden, the Empress became a fighter in just one night. You should"ve seen the Emperor"s face." She said while trying to hold back laughter. As I looked at her, I realized that it must"ve been difficult for her to keep her secret. I could see that she"s having fun telling me her stories of when she first came here.

"How did the previous Empress die?" I asked.

"She was poisoned at first then she was pushed into the lake where she drowned. When I arrived in this time period, I barely had her memories but I gradually retained them bit by bit. It was frustrating because aside from trying to find the culprit, I had a hard time trying to avoid the Emperor. In the end, I fell in love with him and this is where we are now." She said with a smile on her face. Seeing her this happy with a family of her own, made me happy but a little envious. I wondered if I could become as happy as her.

"What about you, Sayori? Have you fallen for my son?" She asked. I was caught by surprise and I didn"t know how to answer her. I felt my face getting hotter and I tried to look away but she already knew. She laughed and apologized.

"I"m sorry, I didn"t mean to tease you." She said. I sighed and giggled.

"It"s alright, Empress. I was just fl.u.s.tered. But I do have a question. I don"t know if what I"m feeling for Yukio is my own or am I being influenced by Sayori"s feelings towards Yukio?" I asked. It was difficult for me to understand how I truly feel. I don"t want to lead him on and then in the end, I don"t really feel anything towards him. That"d be too cruel and there"s the condition that I can"t tell him why I feel this way. Empress Yukina put her hand on my shoulder.

"Whatever Sayori felt for Yukio before, that doesn"t matter. She"s no longer here. You are Sayori now. What you feel in your heart at this moment, is your actual feelings. It"s true her memories reside along with yours but that doesn"t mean that her feelings have also stayed. What her memories do now is just to justify what kind of person Yukio was to Sayori. It"s up to you if her memories of him has an impact on your feelings for him." Empress explained. I was set on ease when she rea.s.sured me. I couldn"t believe how wise Empress Yukina is.

Maybe her wisdom comes from the fact that she"s from the future but also because she"s seen what it"s like to live as someone else. I went up to Empress Yukina and gave her a hug.

"Thank you Empress. I wish I had a mom like you growing up. Then maybe I could"ve been a better person." I blurted out. I didn"t mean to say those but I was too engrossed in my emotion that I let it slip out. Empress Yukina caressed my back which made me feel even more vulnerable.

"Don"t think about the past anymore. Think of what lies ahead of you. You"re still young and you have the potential to make your life better. Do not drown yourself in the mistakes of the past but bathe yourself in the sunlight of tomorrow." She said. Just then, Yukio entered the room. When he saw us hugging, a smile formed on his lips.

"Can I join in?" He asked jokingly. Empress Yukina let go of me and looked at Yukio.

"Hi sweetpea, are you done speaking with your father?" She asked. Yukio blushed when Empress called her "sweetpea". I couldn"t help but giggle at how adorable he looks.

"Yes mother. I"m done speaking with father. May I stay here with Sayori for a while?" He asked politely. I"ve always thought this but Yukio and Sumire as very well-disciplined. Empress Yukina did a good job raising both children and if I were her, I would be extremely proud of them.

"Of course. Don"t stay up too long you two." Empress said just before she left my room. Yukio sat down next to me.

"What did you and my mother talk about?" He asked. I knew he"d be curious about that but I can"t tell him. It"s a secret between the Empress and I.

"We talked about how much I wanted her to be my mother." I said. Yukio held my hand and I rested my head on his shoulder.

"She will be… soon." Yukio said. I knew what he meant. I suddenly remembered what Empress Yukina said about my feelings. It"s true that I"ve fallen for Yukio and it"s something I don"t want to deny. I let go of his hand and I cupped his face.

"Yukio, you have to promise me something." I said. He looked at me intently.

"What is it?" He asked.

"You have to promise me that if something happens, I want you to think about yourself. I can"t forgive myself if you get hurt." I said. I don"t even want to think about the possibility of that.

"Only if you promise me the same thing." He said. I nodded and gave him an honest smile. I"m sorry Yukio but you"re my first priority. Your safety is much more important than mine. Someone has to be the Emperor in this Empire and I don"t want it to be someone who"s not worth it. The thought of losing Yukio scared me. I felt as if what I"m holding in my arms will only be temporary. I looked into his eyes and he looked deeply into mine. I pulled him close to me until I felt his warm lips crashing onto mine.

He pulled back and I saw him blush. I felt my face getting hotter as well. He wrapped his arms around me and I did the same. I think he knew how I felt about losing him and I know he felt the same way.