Oh! My Empress

"Hey, hey, hey! This is not fair. You did not explain this rule," Ivan was laughing while complaining about some stupid rule in the game the kids were playing.

"Ayyy… Young lord Whittemore… why are you talking like a loser?" Prince Aaron took a jab jokingly and everyone laughed with the two. It was a congenial atmosphere, like spring had just bloomed.

"Ah! If only it was not sweltering hot outside today, we could have had a tea party in the garden," Kim Su Won lamented, looking outside the window. The glaring sun was making the flowers and trees dry. It would have been great if they could play like this in the lap of nature.

But here was as good an atmosphere as it would have been outside. The young boys here had turned into kids. There was no animosity, no ranking, just a few kids having fun. She had never imagined she would see the stone faced Alex making faces when he would forget a rule.

Or Ivan, who was always about strategy, pout when he would fail to take her down. From the novel, the crown prince was ruthless. But here he was just a child who would smirk when he would win and whine when he would lose.

The frowns, the concentrations, the chit-chats and not a worry about the world. They all had even sat down on the floor as the games became more intense and heated. No wonder the world in the books looked so dreary, especially the ones set in historical eras.

There were all those intellectual games like chess and whatnot. Or there were discussions on issues over teas. When did the kids get to be kids? Modern world was becoming like this too.

Too much pressure on kids to excel in multiple fields. Everyone wanted their kids to be better than others at at least one thing. If everyone were to be an Olympic champion, then what about normal people who could not afford to go those expensive classes?

And what about the kids who were taking up all those extracurriculars? Where was the time for them to play?

This was how she was going to make sure that the crown prince, her favorite character, had a few friends before she was to leave this world four years later. Should she introduce games like cricket, football etc. in the field?

That could be her next task. She could research into what kind of outdoor games people in this era played for fun. Not swordsmanship tournaments or martial arts, something just for fun. She had to visit the knights.

"Anna, can you go bring a few more snacks?" Kim Su Won asked her maid who instantly got up from her seat and left for the kitchen.

"But how did you get all these ideas, lady Whittemore? These are brilliant!" Prince Aaron finally asked as they paused for Anna to come back.

"What do you think? Am I not a genius? I just wanted something to pass my time. It gets a bit boring, just the three of us here," Kim Su Won shrugged and also dodged the question. She could always say she dreamed about them but maintaining mysterious appearance was good too.

"Heh! You certainly have changed after your accident," the crown prince murmured. The other people in the room were still talking about strategies to beat Emmeline in the games she developed.

She was sitting right next to the prince to help him out with the rules. He could not lose the games terribly after all. He the crown prince, he had to be somewhere in the middle, if not first.

Since everyone was busy talking to each other, no one heard what Prince Aaron and her were talking about. But Kim Su Won was stunned to hear him blurt out something like this.

"H-How do you know what I was like before and after? I have never met you?" she questioned him, her aqua eyes staring straight into those golden orbs.

Crown Prince Aaron Chadbourne had never had anyone look into his eyes in such a straightforward manner. He averted his gaze instantaneously, it was a weird sensation. It was as if she could look right through him and he could drown in that blue ocean like deep hole.

"Prince Aaron?" she called and immediately covered her mouth. She was just not used to saying 'your highness' to him all the time. She was still a reader. "I am sorry, your highness. I did not mean to disrespect…"

"It's okay. We are all friends here. We should speak informally in such a setting, what do you think?" he smiled, his whole disposition bright as sun. Kim Su Won stared at the kid for a whole. He was indeed mesmerizing when he was happy. Why did the author have to put him through so much pain the novel that he was only described as a depressed maniac, something like a wilting flower?

Ah! Kim Su Won felt sudden pity for this character. She, inadvertently, raised her hand and patted his straight as a rod back. It was like the two kids were in their own world.

Prince Aaron closed his eyes, her tiny hand felt so soothing. He so wished he could take this puny girl home. She could entertain him a whole lot, they might even become friends. She did not deny that they were not really friends earlier.

"What is happening here?" the voice that had stopped the brawl between the royal guards and the two ladies suddenly opened the door and yelled, freezing every kid in the room.

"Emmeline Whittemore! How could you make his royal highness sit down on the floor? Where are your manners?" Harold Whittemore yelled before anyone else could blame him for not raising his kid right.

Ugh! Why did this girl not have any manners at all? Who makes the crown prince sit on the floor? This girl was going to be death of him. In just one day she had embarrassed him enough times that he needed to ground her and suspend all the activities planned for her.

He should have listened to his wife, she was correct in gauging their youngest daughter. They were sitting at the same level as the servants too! He was gone!

"Uncle!" Prince Aaron got up from his seat and exclaimed as he saw the grand royal tutor and his uncle on his mother's side, Lewis Spinster.