He was about to sell a piece of land to the enemy, but the people opposed it. So instead, he decided to start a war—one in name only. He sent soldiers to the front lines, where they were killed by rats infiltrated by both him and the enemy.
He wanted it to look like we had lost the war so the enemy could conquer that land, and in return he would be handsomely rewarded.
"Wow. What a piece of crap."
"I know, right? Anyway, after that, the Duke killed the King and took his position. Then, in just one year, he rose to the rank of Emperor. He united all neighboring countries into one great continent, with our nation as the capital—and himself ruling over all the kings."
"Wow… what a founding story. I didn't know our Emperor was that cool."
She paused.
"And he's handsome too… and still unmarried… is he perhaps interested in someone?"
"He's twenty years older than you."
"So? Age is just a number."
Smack.
"Ow! That hurt!"
"Get a life."
"I am trying."
What she meant was that she was trying to create a life with the Emperor.
"Wow. This generation really has no shame."
"You're from the same generation."
***
BANG.
"What the hell—That scared the shit out of me!"
The Shadows and Miyeon were in the middle of a meeting when the door slammed open violently.
"YOU!"
The Emperor stormed in and pointed straight at Nephthys.
"Me?"
As always, Nephthys didn't lose her composure.
"HOW DARE YOU?!"
"I don't know… you tell me."
"COME WITH ME. NOW."
Even though the Emperor looked angrier than usual, the team barely reacted and continued working.
"Very well."
Nephthys followed him. Before leaving, the Emperor shot Miyeon a dirty look—then slammed the door again.
BANG.
The Shadows remained unfazed.
Miyeon, however, jumped.
"What was that?"
"You'll get used to it. They're always like that,"
Sophie reassured him.
"That's not what I meant…"
"Then what is it?"
"The Emperor was giving me dirty looks."
That caught everyone's attention. They stopped working and stared at Miyeon.
"What? Why are you all staring at me?"
One thing about the Shadows was that Nephthys hadn't only shaped their skills—she had shaped their personalities. Right now, Miyeon felt like five Nephthyses were staring him down.
"What is it?!"
"Well, we're not saying you did something wrong,"
Austin said carefully.
"But in the Emperor's eyes… you definitely did."
"What could I possibly have done to make him angry?"
Miyeon thought for a moment.
"Wait… is it because I fainted in front of him?"
"I don't think so,"
someone replied.
"The Emperor is… strange. From the looks of it, this has more to do with Nephthys. He's extremely overprotective of her."
"But I never did anything to Nephthys."
"Well…"
Miyeon waited for Carrin to finish—but she didn't. She simply turned back to her work. The others followed suit.
***
"Are you out of your mind? What do you think you're doing?!"
"Working…?"
Nephthys genuinely didn't understand what she had done wrong.
"Working? Yeah—I saw you working last night."
"Alright…?"
She was still confused.
"Why were you working with Daenerys?"
"Well, because he's useful."
She assumed he meant Miyeon Daenerys.
The Emperor stepped closer, his face expressionless, and pinched her ear.
"Ah—ah—ah! That hurts!"
Nephthys complained—then immediately pinched him back.
"AAH! You dare pinch the Emperor?!"
"And you dare pinch the Commander who helped you become Emperor in the first place?"
Neither of them let go. They walked in circles, still pinching each other.
The secretary could only watch, quietly hoping that one day these people would change.
Still—every time they fought like this, he couldn't help but feel happy.
The three of them had been through so much together. They shared victories and losses, laughter and grief. He wanted to keep seeing them like this—for a long time.
But he knew it wouldn't last forever.
That thought made him melancholy.
"Alright, that's enough. Stop acting like children and let go of each other."
He finally stepped in.
"LET GO. ALREADY."
He tried pulling their hands apart.
"Ah—ah—ah! Stop pulling, you idiot! You're making it worse!"