ODBP 04

Chapter 4

In the end, it was all revealed to be the Countess’s scheme, but Athanasia had already died an unjust death. What’s more, Claude—who had never loved anyone but Jennette from the very beginning—felt not a single ounce of guilt or regret over his deceased first daughter.

Jennette, the angelic protagonist, did feel guilty thinking about Athanasia, but she was quickly comforted in the arms of her lover, Ezekiel, and brushed the matter aside.

And then the story ended with “And they lived happily ever after.” Can you blame me for being furious? Of course not.

“Ugh.”

Just thinking about it makes me angry again. What on earth was the author thinking, putting in a side character who dies such a pointless death?

According to a middle schooler who seemed to be an avid fan of that novel, all of that was to emphasize the tyrant father’s obsessive love for his daughter Jennette.

She went on and on about how that was the charm of a princess-raising story, how it was the perfect novel that gathered all of women’s fantasies, but it all sounded so ridiculous that I just tuned her out.

It’s not like I particularly liked Athanasia, but she was still better than Claude or Jennette. Sure, I’m also the type to prioritize my own happiness over others, but this is different. Why? Because I think I’ve become that very Athanasia from the novel!

“Waaah!”

Suddenly overcome with sorrow again, I wailed loudly. I kept trying to tell myself it wasn’t true, but there’s a limit to escapism. For one thing, there are way too many similarities to that damned novel! No matter how hard I try to ignore this unsettling sense of déjà vu, it’s impossible.

“Princess!”

At my tearful cries, Lily opened the door and came in.

“Why is our princess crying?”

I buried my face in the familiar arms that lifted me up and kept sobbing. My emotions have been all over the place lately, but seeing Lily’s face made me even sadder.

“Are you hungry?”

Lilian York. The only person in Beloved Princess who believed in Princess Athanasia’s innocence until the very end and defended her. As a result, Lilian was killed by Claude alongside Athanasia.

Lilian had volunteered to come to the Ruby Palace and become something like a nanny to Athanasia. The reason was Athanasia’s late birth mother, Diana.

Diana was a dancer everyone looked down upon, but she was a beautiful woman with moonlight-like platinum blonde hair and mysterious purple eyes. Moreover, her skills were outstanding—she even performed a solo dance at the front of the imperial banquet.

Lily, weary of the stifling palace life, saw Diana at the banquet and admired her, envying her bird-like freedom. But in the end, Diana died shortly after giving birth, her body too weak.

“Waaaaaah!”

You bastard, Claude! Sob, sob. As I wailed even louder, Lily looked utterly flustered.

“Oh my. Princess, whatever is the matter?”

But how can I not cry? No matter how many times I think about it, it really seems like this world I’m in is that damned novel’s world!

Lilian and Diana’s friendship was only mentioned very, very briefly in the novel, but it left a deep impression on me.

A beautiful, enduring friendship between women, like Anne of Green Gables and Diana, which I’d seen at a classmate’s house when I was invited to their birthday party as a child! Yes, the truth is, I didn’t have any friends. So I’d always yearned for that kind of wonderful friendship!

But in the end, Lily—this big sister—also died because she sided with Athanasia. Waaah!

“Is it time for a diaper change?”

Ah, wait! I didn’t pee!

“Not milk, not a diaper…”

Waaah, my innocence! Forcibly stripped, I now started flailing my whole body and crying. Of course, this isn’t the first time I’ve been through this since becoming this body, but it’s still quite a shock to the system!

“You’ve been particularly fussy lately.”

Lily seemed frustrated that she couldn’t figure out why I was crying. But I was just as frustrated as she was.

Even if I wanted to explain this situation, I can’t! No dreams, no hope! I mean, being reborn or transmigrated as a princess is nonsense to begin with, but this is really too much.

Oh, Lilian. Why is your name Lilian? Why is Diana, Diana, and Claude, Claude? And why am I Athanasia? Why! I’d rather be Jennette. I don’t want to be Athanasia!

“It’s alright, Princess. I’m here.”

Hearing Lily’s soothing voice, I cried for a while longer. As always, the only way is to grow up fast so I can get out of this godforsaken palace. Please, time, just hurry up!

It was a clear, sunny spring day. Even though no one tended the Ruby Palace’s garden, the flowers that had grown wild were blooming brightly. Dodging between the swirling petals, I ran and gently grabbed the hem of a maid sister who was just passing through the hallway.

“Sister, sister.”

Today was the day when the various ingredients for the week’s cooking—vegetables, meats, seafood, etc.—arrived at the castle, so she must have just finished checking them and was on her way to do other work.

At my call, the maid sister looked down at me. I tried my best to make my eyes sparkle and put on a cute expression.

“Ati, choco pwease.”

I’m five years old. I’m five. So it’s not embarrassing. Not shameful… yeah, right. Ugh, so cringey.

“My cute princess, shall I give you some chocolate?”

“Yes! Ati wuv choco. Give wots and wots.”

But the maid sister, seemingly won over by my cuteness, flushed her cheeks and was rummaging through her apron pocket. She was Hanna, who worked in the kitchen, and I already knew she always carried chocolate or candy on her.

“Do you like chocolate that much?”

“Ati wuv choco! Dis much!”

I raised my arms and made a big circle. It’s a little embarrassing, but if a bit of aegyo can get me snacks, it’s worth it.

“Ati wuv Hanna too!”

“Oh my.”

Gimme! Gimme the chocolate!

“Hanna, what are you doing?”

But my grand plan to get chocolate from the maid sister was foiled by someone else.

“Seth!”

“Didn’t you hear Lady Lilian? You’re not supposed to give the princess snacks without permission.”

The maid sister who appeared at the end of the hallway was a tall, slender beauty with a cold impression, like she had a name tag reading “Ice Queen” on her forehead. This maid sister named Seth had done this before—appearing like this and preventing other maids from giving me snacks.

“Just one wouldn’t hurt.”

“That’s the problem—there’s more than one of you who thinks that way.”

Urgh, don’t stand between me and chocolate! Unlike Hanna, Seth looked like she emitted a chilling aura and was hard to approach, but I wasn’t intimidated.

“Sister.”

This time, I gently tugged at Seth’s skirt and launched my eye-beam attack.

“Ati wanna eat choco.”

I looked up with the most pitiful expression I could muster, and the maid sister’s expression began to shift subtly.

“No, Princess.”

But I know! Your heart is wavering right now!

“Really, you can’t…”

In the end, I won. A moment later, the maid sister bent her knees to lower herself to my eye level and handed me a handful of chocolates.

“Keep it a secret from Lady Lilian.”

Since Lily, who has been in charge of almost all my daily care for a long time, recently worried about my cavities and banned sweet treats, it was a secret between the maid sisters and me that I occasionally extorted chocolate from them like this.

“Thank you, sister!”

I beamed and gave her a kiss on the cheek. I could see her face soften at my cuteness. See? This sister may look cold, but she’s actually a softie, isn’t she? Urgh. A cold beauty who’s only warm to me. Nice.

“Ah! Seth, that’s cheating! You only interfered so you could do this, didn’t you?”

“Hmph. What are you talking about? Do you take me for someone who acts out of personal greed?”

“Then why are you giving the princess chocolate? Ugh, the princess’s kisses were supposed to be mine.”

The two started bickering behind my back. Afraid that Lily might see me, I ran off again, dodging out of the hallway. I feel a bit like a hit-and-run, but for now, it’s important that Lily doesn’t find out!

Time flowed like water, and before I knew it, I had turned five.

Whenever Lily saw me like this, she’d nag that I shouldn’t speak informally or act too friendly with the palace staff, but this was my way of surviving a bit more easily and comfortably in this palace.

Besides, what need does a princess stuck in this remote, neglected palace have for dignity? Thanks to my desperate efforts, even the maid sisters who used to ignore me now often give me snacks or speak to me warmly first, so I’d say I’m doing pretty well.

Of course, under normal circumstances, it would be lese-majesty for maids to speak to me first, but there were no such rules in my palace. I decided I needed to win their favor around the time I started toddling.

Before that, I used to be annoyed at the maids who ignored me and would cry for no reason or pretend to spill water on them out of spite, but I realized that a mutually friendly relationship would be far more beneficial to me.

My lifeline is already hanging by a thread because of Claude, so why would I want to make enemies of the maid sisters and live under their abuse?

Besides, if I keep on like this, there’ll be no difference between me and Princess Athanasia from the novel!

What played a decisive role in putting these thoughts into practice was the realization that the disappearance of the gold items in my room was not my imagination. Don’t make fun of me for liking money. People who have never lived without it don’t know this pain. Hmph.

Everyone who works in the imperial castle is from noble families, but the palace attendants currently assigned to the Ruby Palace were from the humblest of those families.

After Emperor Claude had killed off all the palace staff, no one wanted to come work here anymore. So the people who were tearfully assigned to my palace were from the lower-ranking noble families, like barons and viscounts.

In other words, only powerless people who couldn’t complain even if they died were sent to my palace. Even among barons and viscounts, they were mostly from families on the verge of ruin, and they were said to be palace attendants who usually did odd jobs anyway.

At first, even they were cautious in the Ruby Palace, which still reeked of slaughter.

But after a month, then a year passed, they realized that the Emperor had not even a speck of interest in me, stuck in this palace.

From then on, my situation became worse than that of a sack of barley left out in the rain.