Extra 1 — The Court Lady Called Yumiko

Often seen accompanying the Empress, it's not hard to wonder who exactly that young lady is.

Well, it's none other than Yumiko Tachibana.

And what exactly does she do?

It's easy to simply assume that all she does is stand beside her Majesty.

But that's far from the truth!

Let's take a look at a day in her life as a court lady!

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

With the sound of roosters and birds chirping from afar, Yumiko rises from bed.

Yawning, she tidies up her bed before taking a quick cold bath to wake up her senses.

After that, she gets ready and wears her beautiful black kimono with intricate white details, matching her Majesty's black hanfu.

It's something Yumiko takes great pride in!

Once dressed, Yumiko makes her way to the Empress's chambers.

"Your Majesty."

Knocking, Yumiko speaks in a moderate voice.

After receiving no response, she enters the bedroom.

And there, on the big queen-size bed, the Empress sleeps curled up.

Today, she's wearing a black nightdress, hugging her pink bunny plushie that Yumiko gave her during a festival in Yamashiro.

"Well, it makes sense why you are still sleepy."

Yumiko walks over to one of the windows to check outside.

It was still dark.

She then walks towards Vanny and pokes her cheek.

"Empress, time to wake up."

Poke.

Another poke.

"Hnggg... 5 more minutes.."

"No can do! You must wake up now."

Yumiko continues poking Vanny, making the Empress curl up even more.

"Nooo! As the Empress of Tianluo, it's my royal decree to sleep a little—ah! Heyy!!"

Vanny's face scrunches up as she tries to swat Yumiko's finger away from her cheek.

This is how Yumiko wakes up the Empress.

By utterly annoying her!

It's only when it's very early in the morning that this Empress acts this way, when she's groggy and half awake!

"I said 5 more minutess!"

Vanny grabs her blanket and hides herself underneath it.

Yumiko can only sigh.

"If your Majesty doesn't get up, I'll leave."

As Yumiko turns around and is about to step away, something tugs at her sleeve.

She looks back and sees Vanny poking her head out from underneath the blanket, her pink irises reflecting only her face.

"D-Don't go... I'm getting up, I'm getting up, okay?!"

Vanny says, with a faint blush appearing on her face and tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

The feared Empress of Tianluo looked as though she had been utterly bullied!

"Hah.. I wonder where that cute Empress went? Every morning she would be up and ready, calling me big sister and all."

"Stop! Stop! Don't say anymore! Death sentence! You're getting the death sentence!"

Vanny sits up and gives Yumiko a barrage of punches, but they're far too weak to hurt her.

"Pfft! Alright, alright, let's get up, Your Majesty."

Yumiko grabs Vanny by her underarms and pulls her out of the blanket.

Afterwards, Yumiko accompanies Vanny to the bathroom.

"What would you like for your shampoo, Your Highness?"

Yumiko looks at Vanny, who's laying in the bathtub and making bubbles in the water.

"The usual."

Vanny says as she continues making underwater bubbles.

Yumiko looks at the array of fragrances and shampoos.

What the Empress said had to be the strawberry-fragrant shampoo.

And so, Yumiko grabs it and pours some onto her hand.

She walks closer to Vanny and proceeds to lather up the Empress's scalp.

"Hnggg... there, right there!"

Vanny beams, her mouth curling into a smile as she closes her eyes.

If there's one thing Yumiko knows, it's that Vanny seems to like it when you massage deep into her hair.

How others would fare if they tried what she does, however, she doesn't know.

After helping the Empress out of the bath, the daily ritual begins.

"Have you prepared them?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Yumiko nods as she brings out 5 items wrapped in cloth.

Seeing this, Vanny nods with satisfaction.

"Very well, let's begin."

After helping the Empress wear her iconic black hanfu, Yumiko kneels down and offers these items to the Empress.

Pink irises stare at the cloth-covered items before she begins unfolding them, each revealing a beautiful dagger with black handles, adorned with a golden dragon design.

Vanny picks one up, inspects each angle, and nods.

"Fine craftsmanship as always."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Yumiko bows.

As the Empress's court lady, it is Yumiko who makes and prepares Vanny's blades.

All done with love.

The Empress then places the dagger under the sleeve of her right hand.

She then takes out another and, in the same routine, hides it in her left sleeve.

She takes another dagger and hides it on her leg strap.

Then another on the other leg.

Then the Empress takes the last dagger.

She looks at Yumiko and smiles.

"I hope they finally learn their lesson and stop sending me assassins."

Yumiko simply shakes her head.

Her Majesty's enemies are too determined. Ever since she became Empress, she had already been dealing with assassinations.

But all were in vain.

She remembers clearly when the Empress had said that she killed her father, the late emperor, by pure accident.

Her mother was the one who witnessed that paralyzing situation before she took over as the court lady.

But to Yumiko's surprise, Vanny showed signs that she was very good at aiming.

Ever since her rise as an Empress, she had been killing implanted spies.

Each one received a precise hit right in the middle of their forehead.

Some were even doing acrobatics to escape her!

Yet they all died in utter vain.

Yumiko looks at Vanny, her eyes scanning Vanny's face as she remembers some hidden history, before letting out a sigh.

"If only that were the case, Your Highness."

Vanny gives out a small giggle and shakes her head, placing the last dagger on her hairbun.

Thin and small enough to be mistaken for a hairpin.

After looking at her image in the mirror, the Empress gives a simple nod and proceeds to walk down the hallway of her palace.

As soon as the sun rises, the Empress's palace comes to life.

Servants all go to their designated tasks, and for Vanny, her most important part of the day has always been food.

And Yumiko, as always...

"Yumi, where's the food?"

"It's coming already, Your Highness."

Seeing Vanny cross her arms, playing with her hair occasionally, one could only sigh.

This has been Yumiko's prime reaction.

Ever since Vanny became Empress, her pride and ego had increased.

Though intelligent, she's very petty.

Though more mature than adults, she can be pretty childish.

She can never be one thing.

That in itself makes Yumiko want to slam her head against the table as she thinks of this.

As the food trays came to the table and the servants opened them, revealing the food underneath, Vanny's eyes sparkled.

But her demeanor?

She kept it under the guise of her regality.

"Perfect as always."

Yumiko looked over to Vanny, who said those words flatly.

Back then, Her Highness wouldn't respond like that.

She would be beaming, happily eating.

But now?

She became more reserved.

It makes sense, though.

Yumiko just wished that she hadn't chosen this path.

But this is what Her Majesty chose.

As her best friend, she could only abide.

After breakfast, the Empress would then handle the current affairs of the empire.

It ranged from economic, military, logistics, taxes, and also pleasing some nobles.

For these, Yumiko often doesn't follow the Empress, for the matters are too sensitive even for a court lady like her to hear.

So where does she go on her downtime?

Yumiko looked at the clock.

As soon as the hand pointed at 8:30am, she walked down the maze-like hallway.

"Hey, isn't that.."

"Shh! Don't talk too much, Yumiko-sama is quite strict, you know! What if she made you do the dishes as punishment?"

Turning her head at the gossip of the other maids and servants, they instantly froze in place and proceeded to do their tasks.

As the court lady, she, aside from the Empress and Prime Minister...

Takes command.

As Yumiko continued walking, she approached a servant dusting off the furniture.

"The vase still has some dust. Please double-check."

"Hiekk! Hai!"

The servant bowed her head and began dusting off the vase twice as fast.

Like an overclocked machine.

Yumiko shook her head as she made her way to the garden.

She could never get why people feared her just as much as Vanny.

What Yumiko didn't know, however, was that her neutral face looked as if she was staring in utter disappointment and disbelief every time.

Whenever the Empress has things to do where she is not needed, this is where Yumiko comes.

Every flower, every tree, is taken care of by her.

"You're just as beautiful as always."

Yumiko whispered to the rose as she caressed its red petals.

Her eyes drifted away to the sky.

"Her Highness should be about done.."

The sunny sky had turned into a somber purple.

The Empress was done with managing her empire, so Yumiko was on her way to Her Majesty when—

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

"Kyahh!"

"Get awayy! Assassins!"

Many servants came running down the hallway.

Yumiko narrowed her eyes, grabbed a dagger hidden in her sleeve, and came running against the flow of servants.

When she turned the corner, there she saw it..

"Your Highness!"

Yumiko shouted, wide-eyed, ready to attack at any moment.

"Stay back."

The Empress showed a confident smile.

It was 5 against 1.

The usual petty tricks of her enemies.

The Empress was backed into a corner, surrounded by five assassins.

Yet she hadn't shown a single hint of fear in her eyes.

One assassin stepped forward.

"Your life ends here, Empress."

Vanny tilted her head.

"Does it?"

The assassin raised his dagger.

"Kill her!"

The first assassin lunged.

Vanny moved.

SWISH!

She slipped past the blade, grabbed the assassin's wrist, and twisted.

The dagger dropped from his hand.

Before he could recover, Vanny pulled one of her own daggers from her sleeve.

SHING!

One clean slash.

The assassin collapsed.

"One."

Vanny smiled.

The remaining four assassins froze for a brief moment.

Then they attacked together.

"She's just one person!"

"Don't let her escape!"

Two assassins rushed from the front while the other two vanished from sight.

"Heh."

Vanny reached into her sleeve.

A dagger appeared between her fingers.

"You talk too much."

She threw it.

FWOOSH!

The blade flew straight through the air.

The first assassin barely had time to widen his eyes.

THUNK!

The dagger struck him directly in the center of his forehead.

He dropped instantly.

"Two."

The second assassin charged from the side.

Vanny ducked beneath his swing and drove her elbow into his stomach.

THUD!

The assassin staggered.

Vanny spun around and kicked his knee, sending him down.

Before he could even touch the ground, she grabbed another dagger.

SHING!

A flash of steel.

The assassin fell beside his companion.

"Three."

The remaining two assassins finally revealed themselves.

One appeared behind Vanny.

The other descended from above.

"Now!"

Both blades came down at once.

But—

Vanny smiled.

"Utter fools."

She stepped forward.

The first blade missed her by a hair.

She turned her body sideways, letting the second blade pass beside her shoulder.

Then she spun.

Her long red hair whipped through the air like a crimson ribbon.

SHING!

Her dagger flashed across the first assassin's throat.

He froze.

Then collapsed.

"Four."

The final assassin stared at her.

For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.

Vanny slowly turned toward him.

The assassin raised his dagger with trembling hands.

"You... monster..."

Vanny tilted her head.

"Me? a monster?"

She smiled.

"I'm the Empress. Not a monster,"

The assassin charged.

Vanny waited.

One step.

Two steps.

Three—

Then she disappeared from his line of sight.

The assassin swung wildly.

Nothing.

"Where—?!"

Vanny appeared beside him.

She spun on one foot, her red hair following behind her.

Her dagger was already in her hand.

But instead of striking him directly, she simply flicked her wrist.

FWOOSH!

The dagger flew.

The assassin's eyes widened.

THUNK!

The blade struck the exact center of his forehead.

He dropped like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Silence.

Vanny stood there for a moment.

Then she placed her hands on her hips.

"Phew..."

She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead.

"That ought to teach them, hopefully."

Five assassins.

Five bodies.

Not one had managed to lay a hand on her.

Vanny then looked at the dagger still pinned into her beautiful red hair.

"Thank God I left one."

She smiled proudly.

Across the hallway, Yumiko stood completely frozen.

Her black hair neatly arranged against her kimono, her expression somewhere between disbelief and resignation.

The Empress noticed her.

"What are you doing there, nano ja?"

Vanny smiled.

"Nothing, not at all, Your Majesty."

Yumiko coughed, straightening her kimono.

"Well, is that so?"

The Empress looked into her eyes, which now closed as she relaxed.

"Fine."

Yumiko walked beside the Empress as she began walking.

Behind them, servants were already rushing in to clean the scene as if this were simply another ordinary day in the palace.

"What would you like for dinner, Your Highness?"

"Me? I want barbeque."

"Barbeque, huh? Okay."

As the two continued walking, talking like nothing had happened, Yumiko had a passing thought..

Her Majesty had grown up.