Oh! My Empress

"Uh… uh… aaahhh…," a very frustrated Kim Su Won threw the book in her hand away and dropped her obviously tired head on the table, hitting her cheek on the surface. Today was the last day before the big day tomorrow.

"Miss, are you hurt?" Anna came running as she saw the young kid just giving up. The six days had obviously flown by and Kim Su Won had kept herself cooped up in her room. Any books she had required, she had asked Anna to get them. She had even turned down any visitors including her mother on pretext of studying hard for the exam. The only company she had in her little wing was of Anna and Chris.

She had really been studying day and night, pouring over the books relentlessly. It was too cruel for a twelve year old but Anna could not stop her miss from not studying so hard. It was actually the first time she had seen her miss invested in something so passionately, she did not have heart to stop her miss.

The only way Anna could support Emmeline Whittemore was by providing healthy meals in a timely manner. She had even hand fed Emmeline while she was reading books and documents. After five days of this, the kid had even developed dark circles on her otherwise perfectly healthy face. Despite her trying really hard, Emmeline's face had become gaunt and sharper too.

"Miss, you should take some rest. You have been studying non-stop for past few days," Anna tried dragging Emmeline towards her bed.

"Mmm… If I don't finish this, I won't be able to answer the questions tomorrow," Kim Su Won replied, her eyes were just not opening at this moment. She wanted to gloss over this report and there was another pile she had to finish. But her tiny body was really failing her.

"But you don't really need to answer all his questions, do you?" Anna let Emmeline rest on the table. It would be much more efficient lest her miss wanted to read a few more papers.

"What do you mean? My and Chris's education are on line! You taught Chris whatever you could and everyone would understand his circumstances. But I am the third legitimate kid of Whittemore family! They will only make fun of me if I do not know something!" Kim Su Won immediately sat straight. The two hours sleep she was having everyday were all full of nightmares where either she was late for the exam or failing it in an epic manner because she was tested on math and she had only studied history, geography and politics.

This was such a stressful period for her, she had been trained to study and study and aim for that first rank or whatever since her childhood in her original world. And she had actually been looking forward to getting back to studying. But this was not what she had in mind. It was just too much to cram in a week.

Kingdom of Krislabet was, thankfully, not an ancient kingdom but it still had quite some history, especially with respect to policies and how ducal system was established as a means of balance of power. Unfortunately, the author had not really fleshed the history out in the novel like the books here. Nor did she remember much. She was an avid reader but it did not mean that she remembered everything about them.

"See miss, you do not need to be perfect in the exam tomorrow! You are working too hard! I mean, sure, your future depends on it, but as I said, I believe Sir Laurent already recognizes your virtues. Otherwise, do you think young master Laurent would have helped you out like that?" Anna's heart ached looking at the haggard state of Emma. She so wished that she could contribute to her success. But she could not really do anything, and it really upset her.

"I-I do not need to be perfect?" something clicked inside Kim Su Won. She sat there dumbfounded, almost unable to process the statement.

"No? Is that even something to ask? I am sure if anyone can understand young master Chris's situation, Sir Laurent will understand yours too. And with such exhaustion, will you even be able to understand anything tomorrow? I will suggest taking a good nap today," Anna cleaned up the room a bit. There were documents and papers and books lying all around the small table which her miss had made a study corner.

It was such a mess, but a good mess. Haizz, why did her miss not have such wisdom with respect to her own life earlier? It had saved them such a hassle. But better late than never!

"Y-Yeah, yeah! You-you are correct! I do not need to score a hundred! Oh my God, why did I not think of this earlier?" Kim Su Won got up from her seat and twirled. Yes, this was not her original world. She had to prove herself but there was no need for her to put this much stress on herself, she did not need to show her scores to gain anyone's affection or validation at all!

This was her life that she had a chance to live on her own terms! Why did she forget her true purpose anyway?

"Careful miss…," Anna immediately came forward to support the girl who was completely exhausted and was staggering in her steps.

"Alright, alright, let me just sleep then," Kim Su Won plopped into her bed, only to not wake up until next morning. Even though she had a huge burden life from her shoulders due to her conversation with Anna, she could not help but be anxious. Today was such a big day! Her whole next four years were going to rest on today's results.

She wore the best dress she could find in the closet, a gown with combination color of black and purple, bold colors to show confidence. Even though, she did not like jewelry, she used a brooch with purple gems and similar earrings to match with her gown. She completed the look with black ballerinas. The outfit was a bit bigger than her size, the hem of the sleeves were covering the palms of her hands. Similarly, the hem of the bottom of her gown was sweeping the floor.

But who cared? She needed to go there and use her knowledge to sway everyone to her side. Her body might be of a twelve years old, but her brain and understanding was of a twenty four year old from the modern world, after all!