Chapter Text
It has been a month since you were sent on a mission as a hunter to recover a protocore, only to pass out after carelessly touching it and then waking up in this... star-wars knock-off environment.
You woke in a luxurious room, surrounded by servants and people that began screaming and scrambling after you sat up like they had just seen a ghost.
They said you were "sick" and that the royal doctor had just declared you "dead" before you suddenly sat up like you just woke from a nap, and you couldn't help but gasp, you clearly were alive and well!
Things only went downhill from there. People kept calling you Empress. Servants followed you anywhere, and apparently there was a war??
How were little old you, just a normal hunter back at Linkon, supposed to handle all that stuff? It didn't help that you kept getting dragged to all these meetings, and all you could do was smile and pretend you were understanding something from all of those complicated political talks.
You sigh when you walk into your chambers, letting your body fall flat onto the bed. You've been trying to find a way back, however, protocores didn't seem to be a thing in this place, and when you asked your maids, they only looked at you weird.
It didn't help that the you of this world seemed to be quite different from you, despite sharing a name and a face.
When you simply threw the royal work at your advisors, or when your oppositors questioned some decision you made and all you could do was just go "alright", since you figured they'd probably know how to go about ruling better than you, you could always hear faint gasps of shock or mild surprise from the people around.
Was the you of this place some kind of intergalatic tyrant or something? How were you supposed to pretend to be this person?!
Not only that, but this dimension's you sounded pretty competent, how could you even compare when you could feel your brain spin whenever you tried to read a single line of the paperwork that was brought to you?!
You flip onto your stomach, groaning into your pillow. Was this your life now? Even though you can eat as much as want, live in luxury, always wear nice clothes, and if you throw your political work at other people you can just lazy around all day, that doesn't mean—
Wait.
You quickly sit up.
That actually doesn't sound that bad! It's not like you were THAT much of a fan of your life back at Linkon, especially after being left alone when you grandma and gege died in that explosion, you might as well stay...!
Oh, but there's a war. What if your Empire loses and you get decapited??
You fall back onto your bed, your plan to just give up and stay already failing, no way you're risking your life for a war you have nothing to do with in the first place...
Unless.
You sit up again.
What if you manage to somehow stop that war?? Then you can stay here and continue to lazy around, right? Right?!
Oh. But how exactly stopping a war works?
You stand up, ignoring the confused gazes of your maids as you begin walking in circles around your room.
Probably something to do with negotiations and stuff, right?
But you are terrible at negotiating! And from what you managed to catch at those boring war meetings you're forced to partake in, the High Marshal of the opposition is very intelligent and cunning, you just know he'd gag you in a second if you tried.
"Haaah..." you deflate again, falling beside your bed and dramatically resting your head onto the bedsheets.
"Is everything alright, your majesty...? Is the bedding not to your liking?" A maid asks, the concern obvious in her tone.
You look up, realizing you totally forgot they were there the whole time, and quickly standing up again. "Uh... no, they're fine."
An awkward silence extends. The lack of privacy was probably one of the top things you couldn't get used to in this dimension.
"Can you guys... leave...?" You try, making the two maids share looks of confusion, but yet not dare to question your wish, bowing their heads politely before heading out.
"Ah, one thing, your majesty." One of them look back, stopping at the door. "We know you're good enough at defending yourself, but be careful, the opposition has been pretty quiet recently, it makes us think they might try an attack soon."
You blink at those words, not even managing to formulate a response before the door closes behind the maids.
You've heard something about it on yesterday's meeting, you realized. How the High Marshal has been pretty quiet this month, despite previously using every means to provoke your Empire and specially you... well, provoke the you from this dimension, actually.
You finally climb back onto the bed, crossing your arms in thought. Weirdly enough, the time he got quiet overlaps a little with when you became this empress, but no way that's related....? After all, if you were in a war and knew the head of opposition got switched with an incompetent fool, you'd jump at the opportunity, right?
You shrug, deciding that it's only a coincidence and resting your head on the pillow, pulling the blanket all the way up to your neck and ready to sleep away your worries, an infallible coping mechanism, you'd say.
You didn't know for how long you slept, but it was still nighttime when a sound made your eyes sleepily flicker open.
You sit up, rubbing your eyes as you step off your bed, going to your door to check outside and ask the guards stationed there if everything was alright.
However, when you peek out the door, both of your guards where crumpled on the floor, unconscious. You gasp, quickly stepping back.
No way! An assassin?! So soon?! Already?!
It's alright, it's alright, you are a hunter, you know how to fight, you fought wanderers three times your size, a human assassin has nothing on y—
"How long are you going to stand there, trembling like a newborn fawn, baby sister?"
This voice made the hairs of your neck stand on end. This can't be. You knew exactly who it belonged to, but how could he be here??
You quickly turn back, and there he was, Caleb. Your Caleb. Your beloved gege that you had lost in an explosion, sitting on the edge of your bed like he owned the place.
"Big-" you take a step closer, but pauses.
Wait... no. Your gege is dead. Just like there's a "you" in this place, he must be this dimension's "him".
The thought makes a bitter feeling bubble up inside you. He wasn't him.
"You don't look all that happy to see me." He muses, but stands up again, looking through your chambers with an casuality that made your stomach ache with longing. "But then again, you were not that happy to see me in my previous visits too."
You need to focus now! What was he doing here? Why did he feel the need to knock out your guards? What's with these clothes? They look pretty regal, so he seems to be someone important in this dimension;
If he's also your gege here, then why did he take so long to contact you? You've been here for a month and it's the first time you're seeing him!
You are now trying to think of how to respond, figuring he's probably the closest person you have here and he'd definitely notice if you acted much different from this dimension's version of you, but the thing is that you had no idea what to do.
You only knew that the "other" you was competent but power-hungry, but that's only what you'd eavesdropped from the servants and whatnot, so it doesn't really help much on pretending to be her.
You don't have time to think more as he turns to you again, a confused frown on his face. "Why are you just standing there? Why..." he sighs, messing his hair in exasperation.
"What exactly are you doing, baby sister?" He finally asks, making you step back and blink.
"What's with this clueless look?" He deadpans, "I haven't seen you make this type of expression since we were eight."
He begins walking closer and closer, and you instinctively back away with each step of his, but soon got crowded against the wall anyway.
"I've been really trying to make my moves according to your actions, but they aren't making sense." He finally says.
"Huh?" You couldn't help but let escape.
"Why are your advisors doing all of the important decisions? Ever since we were kids you'd throw tantrums over having to give over even the slightest bit of any authority. Why, exactly, did you order your men to step out of the fight at the border and let the Federation have that territory? What are you even doing??" He speaks so quickly you could barely process it.
You slowly begin talking, a little embarrassed at having your apparently flawed decisions being so blatantly rubbed on your face. "... In the last reports of that fight in the border, I saw that lots of people were dying over there, and... uh... the border didn't seem that important, so I figured it wasn't worth... the trouble...?"
You just felt bad, knowing that so much people were dying because of decisions made by the other you and the opposition, you figured that letting the Federation have a win would make them quiet down for a bit, though that was more of hopeful thinking.
"The border didn't seem that important??" He echoes while stepping back, looking completely thrown out for a loop with what you said. "Since when do you care about the men lost? The result were always what mattered–" he gives up his rant midway, sighing while looking away from you.
"I don't know what you're planning, baby sister, but this new "pretending to be dumb" strategy doesn't seem worth it. Specially because lots of people already are against you being in that throne." He rubs his temples like he was trying to soothe away a headache, then suddenly looks back at you, making you jerk.
"Tell me what you're planning. After a month, I got tired of trying figuring it out and came to personally ask." He grabs your shoulders. "I will work out on a way to naturally make you recover that border, but I need you to be transparent with me so you won't catch me by surprise again."
He seems restless, and you remembered the gege from your world acting similar when you went through puberty and would be constantly switching taste, one day you loved something, the next one you hated it...
Yes, that look was the same one as your gege's back then. It was the same panic of a Caleb that thought he could perfectly read you, understand everything you were thinking and what would be your next steps, only to realize that wasn't the case.
"What if I say that I'm not exactly planning anything, and I've only been trying to do what I think is best...?" You try, but only gets answered with a scoff.
"Then I wouldn't believe you." He simply says, those violet eyes intensely staring into yours.
Yes, you figured that'd be the case.
You shift nervously, not knowing what to do now.
He seems to notice your restlessness, and that only irks him more. "Why are you so... what happened, baby sister?" He gently takes your chin, making you look up at him. "That naive expression really isn't like you. Are you trying to make me let my guard down?"
That makes you pause. "Why would I want to make you lower your guard...?"
He blinks in confusion at the question. "Because you've been trying to kill me for a long while now?"
"Kill you?! Why would I—" you let escape, only to realize this reaction would make much too obvious something wasn't right with you, so you quickly rein yourself in.
"Did my baby sister hit her head in this month I hadn't seen her? It's only natural you'd try to eliminate the head of the Federation opposing yours." He tilts his head.
Your eyes widen. "YOU are the High Marshal?"
He steps back, that reaction only confusing him more.
"But— but why?! Why are you at the opposing— WHY ARE WE EVEN AT WAR?!?!"
He quickly tries shushing you. "Hey- hey- you're going to attract people over here-" he places a finger against your lips, looking over at your doors to check for any new intrusions.
He look back down at you, and after realizing your confusion is genuine, carefully starts: "I left to study at the Federation when we were younger, as you know, and slowly climbed up to the position of High Marshal. Baby sister, why are you acting like you don't know that?"
So your gege was alive in this dimension, but he was your enemy. It almost seemed like some kind of cosmic joke.
"Now it's your turn. Tell me what's wrong with you." He insists, yet there's a softeness in his tone that he can't help but let escape, thanks to the unusual way you're acting.
You could try and tell you're not from this world or that this dimension's "you" died from a sudden fever and that you somehow occupied her place, but you weren't sure how he'd react. He looks and somewhat acts like your gege, but something about him seems dangerous.
"I...." you rub your head nervously. "I don't know if you know that I suffered from a grave fever a month ago...?"
"Yes, I'm aware." He motions for you to go on.
"The thing is... after I woke up I... uh... I lost my memory."
You're so creative. You could almost pat yourself on the back now.
He sits down again, processing the new info.
".... And... How much do you remember?"
"... very few things."
He rubs his temples again, a habit he'd probably do many times from now on. "So the ruling lessons you've had since you were a kid in preparation for the throne....?"
"Yeahh..." you nervously scratch your head. "I don't remember any of them." That technically wasn't a lie, right?
He groans, burying his head in his hands. "No wonder you were doing so much bullshit."
You gasp in realization. "Wait, is this why you haven't made any moves this past month??"
"What do you think?" He deadpans.
You supposed this situation was the equivalent of when a profissional chess player went against someone that didn't know how to play chess.
Your entire Empire was panicking, thinking the Federation was coming up with this big evil plan, but it was actually just Caleb trying to figure how to work around your completely nonsensical, random moves.
Would you be okay here? You are happy to see Caleb again, but not sure how to deal with this version of him. He didn't do anything to you yet, but his eyes lacked that constant restraint that you saw in your original gege's eyes, and that somewhat scared you.
What were you even going to do...?!