Chapter Text
The Imperial court had not fully recovered. Whispers still lingered between the pillars. The girl had not moved since appearing. She stood in the center of the hall like a misplaced fragment of another world.
Gabriella looked down at herself. Then the people staring at her. Then at the throne.
"...Okay," she muttered. "This is not a cosplay event."
A few ministers flinched at the word.
"Co...spay?"
The Emperor finally spoke. His voice was calm and controlled.
"What is your name?"
The entire court quieted instantly. Even the guards stopped breathing.
This was not a casual question. In here, names held meaning, identity, authority and fate.
All eyes were on her now.
Gabriella blinked.
"...My name?" she hesitated because something in the air felt wrong. Like saying the wrong thing would make everything worse. Which in her experience, it usually did.
So her brain did what it always did under pressure. It panicked.
She smiled awkwardly.
"Oh-un-Ga-..." she stopped. The court leaned in slightly.
"...Ga?" A minister whispered.
"Is that...a divine syllable?"
Gabriella coughed.
"No,no-" she waved her hands quickly.
"I mean...Wei Ying." The place was silent for a second and then it wasn't.
"The Wei?!"
"That is the name of the dynasty!!"
"Impossible! Why would she speak it as her own?!"
"Is she tied to the founding mandate?!"
Murmurs erupted instantly across the court.
Gabriella blinked.
"No, no, I didn't mean-" she waved her hands quickly.
"I just- like the name-"
But no one was listening to the clarification anymore. They were listening to the meaning. For prophecies and signs. The Emperor's gaze sharpened slightly.
Not in alarm, but in interest. Gabriella sighed.
"...Girl, I swear I was trying to get to class five minutes ago." There was a pause.
Realizing that the court was suddenly quiet, she quickly added.
"My name is Gabriella"
The word dropped into the hall, foreign and strange.
"...Gabriella," a minister repeated slowly, testing it like a foreign scripture.
"Is that... a divine designation?"
"Or a ritual name from beyond the realm?"
Gabriella closed her eyes briefly.
"No, it's my name."
But the court had already moved on. Meaning was being assigned. Interpretation had already begun.
The Emperor finally leaned forward slightly.
"What is 'class'?" Gabriella froze.
"...What?"
"You said it earlier," he said evenly.
"Is it a ritual? A training system? A sacred gathering?"
Gabriella stared at him, then at everyone else, then at the ceiling.
"...Girl," she sighed like a tired mother of five.
"I was just trying to get to class."
The hall fell silent for a moment. Then suddenly everyone started talking.
"What is 'class'?!"
"Is that a celestial trial?!"
"A divine cultivation stage?"
"A ritual of learning?!"
Gabriella buried her face in her hands.
"...This is so much worse than campus,"
While everyone was talking over each other, the imperial scribe, sitting to the left near the front of the court started writing.
Subject: Unknown Origin
Responds to 'Wei', possible dynastic resonance.
Refers to unknown sacred practice called 'class'
Name: Wei Ying
'Real' Name: Gabriella
Classification: Pending divine confirmation.
Meanwhile, the Emperor said nothing.
But he did not dismiss her either.
And that was the beginning of something irreversible.