The Empror's Trap

Kenji stood in front of the girl, who was officially the eldest young lady of the Anos family and his own little sister, Siyue Anos. But there was a secret only the two of them knew:

Even in Kenji's original world, they had been siblings.

Both of them found this baffling. As far as they knew, when people crossed over into another world, it was usually just one person. Two people crossing over at the same time was already rare enough, but being siblings both before and after the jump? That was downright bizarre.

Back in their previous lives, they were a brother and sister duo. Now, they had arrived in this strange world, and they were still siblings. It made zero sense.

Siyue had been a popular artist in their old world, though her popularity came from a type of art she wasn't exactly proud to announce in public… in other words, she drew adult-themed illustrations. She only truly came alive when she was sketching 18+ content. Outside of her drawing habits, she mostly gamed and read manga. Her game list was big: she played everything from that sci-fi game where you could can starfish to something super wacky, along with terrifying war simulations. She liked all kinds of twisted strategies that made you wonder if she'd be sentenced to death by Gatling gun if those tactics played out in reality.

Clearly, his sister, who relied heavily on modern technology, had a harder time here than Kenji did. The moment Kenji arrived in this world, he adapted, figuring out how everything worked. Siyue, though, was endlessly hung up on the tragic fact that she had to use ancient brushes to draw erotic images.

"Give it up. This world has no tablets, no fancy pencils, and definitely nothing like watercolors… could you please stop burning through the supplies so fast? Paints aren't cheap here, you know." Kenji's heart ached as he watched her push a wolf-hair brush over a piece of paper. Sure, this world did have ways to produce paint, but not in large quantities, and she wanted all kinds of colors no one could easily get. Doting on his little sister, Kenji had paid a fortune to import a set, the total cost nearing the price of gold.

"This place is such a dump."

Siyue angrily raked her fingers through her hair.

"Keep your voice down. Don't let anyone hear," Kenji warned.

Siyue hadn't stopped complaining since she arrived in this world. She constantly blurted out phrases from their previous life, forcing Kenji to pretend he thought she was sick and call in the imperial doctors.

After one look, the doctors sighed and said, "Your Grace, your sister's condition seems like hysteria. She might never recover."

And so, Kenji had to announce with a straight face: "Everyone, my sister's gone crazy!"

That way, any weird things Siyue said could be blamed on her hysteria. Of course, Siyue herself hated it. She was perfectly fine, but everyone else thought she had some incurable disorder.

"Whatever. This world is so awful I want to explode half the time. There's nothing I want, and where's the coffee? Seriously, a household as grand as Anos's estate doesn't have coffee?"

"Come on, my dear sister, that stuff's in the hands of the demon tribes right now. No matter how much power I have, I can't exactly storm demon territory just to get coffee beans…" Kenji said.

"Fine, guess I'll just deal with it," Siyue muttered, setting her brush aside. "So I heard our dear Pluvia invited you for tea?"

"Yeah…."

Kenji didn't hide anything from his little sister and recounted exactly what happened.

After listening, Siyue took a sip of tea. "Tsk. Not bad, she's pretty good at holding back. Interesting."

"She's the emperor, Siyue. We can't judge people in this world from a modern standpoint. You should show a little respect and not act too arrogant."

"I'm not being arrogant. I'm just saying she's patient," Siyue said with a mocking grin. "Think about it, with how recklessly you keep provoking her, anyone with a shorter fuse would have chopped your head off by now."

"Then what? No one else in the court could control the ministers. A female emperor was already rare in this place, no matter how they claim men and women are equal. Deep down, centuries of tradition taught them to reject a female on the throne. So I'm sure there are far more officials who secretly oppose her than we realize. If she just killed me, how would she keep them in line?"

Siyue stretched and moved closer to Kenji, her hair still smelling like the special ink she used. She gazed at her brother and spoke softly:

"Hey, you ever think about usurping her throne?"

"Shhh—" Kenji slapped his hand over his sister's mouth.

Being bold was one thing, but that was pushing it. Even if everyone believed she was hysterical, that sort of talk could get them both killed.

"Let's drop that topic. Yes, maybe our thinking is more advanced, and we've seen more of the world, but we can't just force our original beliefs on this place. No matter how forward-thinking we are, you still have to respect the local culture. On that front, I'm not necessarily better than anyone else here."

"Ugh, Kenji, I'm telling you, I think the empress might've cast a love spell on you."

"Right. If she had, I'd kind of appreciate it. Right now, all I can do is keep us both alive… And maybe you shouldn't stay cooped up in the house every day. Aren't you a giant fan of messed-up strategies? This era's perfect for that."

Kenji laughed.

"Nah. I know the difference between games and real life. Ruling a country isn't about tapping a few policies. That's more your thing, anyway. Dirty work comes natural to you. I'll just live out my days as a carefree young lady."

"…You're such a slacker."

Kenji gave a helpless grin and reached out to pat her head. Siyue frowned and slipped away. "Ugh, you and your obsession with white hair."

"I…!"

Today was just not my day. Even my sister was messing with me now.