Shogun Erika

(Erika's Perspective)

The next morning after spending the night in my luxurious new bedroom on set, Shiina led me back to the throne room where she had me sit in that fancy chair from earlier. I wasn't entirely sure what exactly was going on, but there were lots of people in uniforms running around frantically. I guessed they were probably stage hands or something. With Mr. Takashi's sudden retirement, they were likely caught off guard.

Shiina stood beside me as she spoke,

"Listen Erika-sama, it's very important that no matter what, you don't break character. You need to act as though you actually are the Shogun. You wouldn't want to disappoint our fans would you?"

"No, of course not. No need to worry, Shiina. I'll make sure to do my best." I responded.

She smiled as she handed me a stack of papers.

"Excellent, now how about you sign these 'pretend' edicts to raise everyone in the kingdom's taxes."

*Scribble* *Scribble*

Luckily Brandy recently taught me how to write my name. I didn't really know what "taxes" were nor what the papers actually said, but that didn't really matter since this was all part of the show.

Shiina took the signed documents and handed them off to some old guy.

"Make sure this goes into effect at once." She said.

The man nodded as he hurried out of the room.

"So what do I do now?" I asked.

"I suppose I should give you a tour of the palace, since this is where you'll be living now." Shiina replied.

Shiina showed me around the various rooms and quarters around the palace. This included a kitchen with my own personal chefs and a massive bath that was just for me. It seemed like being a famous actress really had its perks.

Eventually she led me down a very long flight of stairs deep under the palace into a dark corridor with stone walls and metal barred rooms.

"This is probably my favorite part of the palace. I'm not sure what it is, but I feel very at home here in the dungeon." She said.

"Ahhhhh!"

A blood curdling scream echoed throughout the chamber.

*Klink*

A cross-eyed man wearing rags suddenly pressed himself up against the bars of one of the cells.

"Just put me out of my misery. I can't take this anymore!" He shouted with a crazed look on his face.

I laughed.

"These guys are really good actors. If I didn't know any better, I would think they were actual prisoners that were being beaten and tortured."

Shiina grinned.

"Yeah..."

Next Shiina brought me back up to a separate structure that was beside the palace. This one was filled with a bunch of serious looking men wearing armor.

"This is the barracks. This is where all the 'actors' playing the palace guards and military advisors are housed. In fact, there are some people in particular that would like to meet you right now." She said.

She escorted me into a room with a big circular table at its center. A bunch of old guys were sitting around it. As I entered the room, they all stood and bowed.

"On behalf of your military cabinet, It is an honor to meet you, Erika-sama. I'm Hondo Tendo, your top general." One of the old men said.

He was bald and had a long gray beard. His face looked very stern and he wore ornate blue and gold armor.

"It's really nice to meet all of you too....so... um... what exactly do you guys do?" I asked.

"We advise you on all matters related to the military and the defense of our great nation. Our input is only suggestions though, as supreme commander you have final say on all matters."

It seemed like these guys relied on my direction for their roles. Since it appeared like I was in charge of them, an idea popped into my head to make their costumes a bit more appealing to the audience.

"From now on I want all of you to wear cat ears."

I giggled a bit under my breath.

All the old men had confused looks on their faces.

"Uh...cats ears, my lord?" Mr. Hondo said.

"Yeah, like those headbands with cat ears on them. I think it would make you guys look a little bit less dull and maybe you guys can add in some cat noises and stuff when you talk."

Mr. Hondo nodded, looking a bit unsure.

"If that's what you really want...meow."

Shiina laughed.

"You heard her. Don't forget the Shogun's word is absolute."

The men all looked at each other and suddenly began making meowing and purring noises as they spoke.

After watching them for a bit, Shiina and I took our leave. There was still something that I wasn't exactly sure about though, that I was wondering ever since I arrived last night at the palace...

"Hey Shiina, who exactly are those big guys that have been following me around this whole time?"

Tailing behind us were a group of very plump men who wore scary white masks and black Armor.

"Those guys are just your personal security. Don't mind them, they're just around to protect you in case you get swarmed by your adoring fans."

"Huh, that's pretty neat. Can we make them look a little cuter? Maybe we could make their armor pink or something." I said.

Shiina pointed at the guards.

"Erika-sama wants your armor to be pink. Go paint them."

They all simply just nodded and went off for a few moments. Shortly after they returned with their armor now colored pink.

I tilted my head to the side.

"It's better... I think they're costumes still need a bit of work, but we can figure that out later."

Shiina smirked.

"So do you have any other stylistic changes you want made to the set?"

I touched my finger to my forehead as I thought.

"Hmm. I think we should paint the interior walls of the palace pink and maybe switch out the rugs to be a bit more vibrant. It seemed like Mr. Takashi liked things to be kind of gloomy. I think our audience would prefer things to be a bit cuter."

Shiina ordered some servants to begin the renovations I suggested. They proceeded to bring me paint swatches and carpet samples to choose from. The remainder of my afternoon was quite busy with the plans for my renovations.