I wake up and slowly open my eyes only to see an unfamiliar ceiling...

Well this is to be expected by now, I guess.

I look at my body which is covered in bandages and remember the battle.

"Ion? Where... Is Ion?" (Hayden)

I look around the room but don't see him and when I try to get up my wounds stop me and I fall onto the bed again.

"Guess I still can't move... Where am I first of all? Then where is Ion?" (Hayden)

I look at the room making out all the details.

"King-sized bed... Room is huge as well... Double-doors to the right of me... Three huge windows on the wall to the left covering it entirely... Can't see behind me but on the wall infront of me are a lot of art works but I can't see their contents well... Two sofa's and a table are here as well and nothing else I can really see...

Everything is hugely white. Even this bed I am on is mostly white..." (Hayden)

I hear footsteps past the wall to my right and I immediatly turn my head towards the double-doors.

The doors open a while after and a maid walks through with a cart full of new bandages and some other tools to possibly help with curing the wounds.

She walks closer to me until she notices I am awake and looking at her.

What should I say here? Hello? Why must my communication skills falter at such moments...

She suddenly runs out leaving the doors open and the cart next to me.

I hear running and a lot of shouting.

The first one who enters my vision is Ion with a lot of magazines and my pistols hanging on him.

The second is... Princess Emilia and three men I have never seen.

I stare at Ion for an explanation.

"Fine fine I get what you want, Hayden. You could just ask! Those three men are Princess Emilia's three brothers, Samuel, Kain and Marcus. The ones who sent the Elite army after Princess Emilia." (Ion)

"Thanks Ion. Where the hell am I?" (Hayden)

"The actual capital of the empire, in the guests sleeping room. Before you ask, yes. The Civil War is over. The King's Faction had no troops left so the three brothers came to surrender shortly after, The Commoner's Faction took notice of the defeat of the Elites and submitted to the Princess's Faction hence Princess Emilia is technically now... Empress Emilia." (Ion)

"Technically?" (Hayden)

I question Ion as I look at the three brothers who are staring at the ground, heads lowered and at Emilia.

"She has yet to be crowned by the Church. Also it seems the church quite hates us as well... They keep shouting something like: 'The Infidel Humans are not allowed in our sacred lands! They should just cower in that mountains of theirs!'. The Church in this world has decided Humans are basically the 'demons' and 'devils' since a long time ago, before the humans went into the mountains." (Ion)

"I'll read on the history of the humans soon, it's getting really interesting and well... I am a human. So... Should we expect a ball and a party soon?" (Hayden)

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Ion floats towards me.

"Indeed. The Grand Ball, which is the same time as the Princess's coronation, will be held in her honor. Which means two days from now the Princess will become the Empress and we will be hated by even the masses if we show up." (Ion)

"Why?" (Hayden)

Ion floats really close to my face.

"Because the future Empress has fallen for you, Hayden. The oh so brave warrior who saved her Faction and helped her become the Empress. The oh so intelligent human who will assist her in advancing technologically. The oh so great future Knight." (Ion)

"Wait what Knight?" Hayden)

"Yes. You are going to be made a knight by the Empress right after her coronation. So you must go to the ball... Even in your state. Which by my scans is god damn horrible, I really should've kept a check on your vitals during that battle. Really should've." (Ion)

A scientist from the future made into a knight from the past by an Empress.

Sounds fun but troublesome, I mean becoming a knight is basically like entering the realm of aristocracy if the texts from the old times are correct. That would mean that a lot more aristocratic women would take note of me and try to catch me.

Truly troublesome.

"Also... Why are the three brothers here?" (Hayden)

"They've been designated as the Three Ministers. This Empire has always had three ministers who rule over three portions of the land, The Minister of the Shadows, The Minister of the Military and The Minister of the People.

The Minister of the Shadows does all the financial and the shadowy stuff like sending spies. Minister of Military explains itself and so does the Minister of the People.

Also don't ask me why Emilia wants them to become the three ministers. I have no clue myself. They were her opponents in the Civil War. Also before you ask why there are three brothers... One of them was adopted shortly after the civil war begun and he joined the King's Faction which had the blood-related brother leading them until well... We happened." (Ion)

I nod as a signal that I understand what Ion meant.

Three Ministers huh...

I look at Emilia who is silent but I can see her fidgeting and has a worried look on her face.

Ion turns around and floats behind her and away from me and gives her a slight nudge in my direction.

After Ion nudged her she came closer to me until she was near my bed and then suddenly started crying and hugged me.

"Give give give! This hurts!" (Hayden)

"Bear with it, Hayden. Look! A woman who isn't your sister is crying for you! Isn't that great!" (Ion)

"I... Will... Make... You... Into scraps!" (Hayden)

She hugs me for five more minutes before letting me go.

"How long was I out for to make her worry this much?" (Hayden)

"Twenty three days. Well it is understandable. You got a high fever three days after the battle and that fever got cured just yesterday. Your body wasn't fully accustomed to this world and after the battle the body faltered and let in the bacteria from the surroundings." (Ion)

Emilia looks at the three brothers behind her with an angry look.

The three brothers understand the mood a tad too late and leave the room in a hurry.

Emilia sits on the side of the bed and says something.

"She said that she thought you were dead. You had weak vital signs for most of the twenty three days and only during the last two did you begin recovering. The church, who has healing magic users, refused to assist you." (Ion)

She thinks for a while until she says something again.

"She said that she will go and ask the church one more time but this time not one of the lower priests but from the Empire's highest priest, the Pope." (Ion)

She left but I could see her hesitating to leave my side.

"Ion. What the hell happened while I was unconcious? There is no way Emilia would worry about me this much just because I helped her out during the Civil War. Otherwise she would be in love with 1000 men. Is it just because I am a powerful human?" (Hayden)

"No. Her feelings towards you are true, I scanned her every time she was near you and when she was not near you. When she was near you she was relieved but when she was away from you she was scared, afraid. She also had all the characteristics of what you call 'true love'. What caused this, I don't know. Women are a mystery even to the super-computer of the Flagship ISS Harpy. And yes, the super-computer from our world onboard the ISS Harpy actually tried understanding women's mind processes with all it's capability but failed." (Ion)

I laugh with Ion for a bit until I remember about the ball.

"Ion... There's a slight problem... The ball is in two days right? There is no absoloute way I'll heal in two days. Even if I had nano-machines healing me for two days straight with no recharging... They would only cure about half these wounds." (Hayden)

"Hence the need for the Church. They have most of the healing magic users from all over the World under their control.

Without them your wounds will heal in a month if you don't do anything and just rest. You were beaten up pretty badly durning that battle, an entire sword went into your side. Luckily it wasn't life-threathening but even in our world you would be in a Nano-Chamber for an entire week just in case." (Ion)

"So we are just waiting for Emilia to get a healer over here to assist me?" (Hayden)

Ion floats around a bit.

"Yes." (Ion)

And now... For the waiting game.