“You are the princess — the only daughter of King Adrian Benedictus Gracia y Lazuli of the Amari Kingdom where both Vendetta and Inamorata took place. That man you saw, he’s the King. The woman currently lying in bed with you is Concubine Luna from the Galagaia Kingdom and is one of the King’s wives. The three other women are Royal Consort Alicia, Concubine Mehia, and Concubine Avria. The older man is the head secretary of your father. The rest are the Royal Knights and midwives, as well as the ladies-in-waiting of your mother.”

So he wasn’t a prince, I thought. Then another thought pops into my head. “A princess who…?”

She cocks her head to the side, not understanding my question. 

“Is arranged or not with someone?”

“Oh, arranged marriage. No, no, you’re not.”

I nod my head. “I am also a princess who is…” I waited for her to continue but I got the same response as before. “Come on! Fill in the blanks. I need answers.”

“Oh, yeah, right. Uhm… you’re a princess who… uhm… ahh… I can’t think of anything. Sorry.”

I sighed and gave up. “You’re like a child… a nude child,” I comment as I look at her search for words. “Let’s do this my way, then. First, no arranged marriage.”

“That’s not on me. That’s on your parents, plus the queen.”

“Then show up in their dreams and tell them not to arrange one for me or write an oracle, or you know, send a sign or something. Your choice.” She opens her mouth to talk, but I proceed to tell her my other conditions. “Second: I do what I want. Do not meddle with what I do unless I tell you to. Never do anything that you think would help me or make me happy without consulting me, because let’s be honest, I won’t. No surprises. Third, since I’m not part of the story, I won’t experience the things that happened in the book, and that’s okay because everything was cringe-y and full of bull; I wrote it when I was sixteen. Fourth— What’s the first?”

“No arranged marriage.”

“And the second?”

“Do not meddle with your decisions.”

“And the third?”

“I don’t know. You just told me that Inamorata is a cringe-y story because you wrote it when you were sixteen.”

“Oh. Third! No spotlight. I don’t wanna be in the spotlight. I want to be the puppeteer, you know, manipulating everyone in the background. That’s cool. That’s cool. No spotlight. That’s the third rule. Fourth—” I stop talking again when I see her brows knit and lips tremble. “What?” I snap and she takes a sharp breath.

“There’s a problem with the third one. And the second and the first.”

“What?” My expression turns grim. “What did you do?”

“It’s… it’s only one thing, but it kinda overlaps with everything. You see, I kinda did something that I thought would make you happy, and that made me meddle in your business which is wrong because it won’t make you happy because you don’t like the spotlight… which is the third rule.”

I step back and squint my eyes at her, ready to bolt and run away from this place once again.

“Don’t. Don’t,” she pleads with me knowing what I intend to do. 

“What is it?” I say in a whispery, exasperated tone.

She mimics my tone and says, “I kinda made your birth... something?” An awkward smile is plastered on her face. I calm myself and ask her what she did, and she answers in a sing-song manner. “Just Janome birds crying and flying through the sky. Neverendin flower that never bloomed suddenly blooms aaaand constant rain throughout your mother’s pregnancy… something like that.”

“What?! Why would you do that?!”

“Because! That was when I thought you wanted to be here! I didn’t know that you thought otherwise.”

I slapped my forehead. “Fine. What else did you do?” 

Oh, I swear to god, this woman-thing-or-whatever is gonna be the death of me. And that came from an already dead person, so take that.

“Nothing? Nothing. I swear.” She shakes her head and makes a cross in her heart, her eyes popping innocently. “I promise. Peksman.” [1]

I rolled my eyes and sighed for the nth time. “No more. Stop whatever you’re thinking. I plan to live my own life, and with the way you announced my birth, responsibilities and expectations are already put on my shoulders, so enough already.”

“Just one little thing... you see... you are a princess, the only princess at that. Being born into royalty is already a hassle, but then I did what I did, so it became more hassle. But then... I kinda did more. You see, I wanted everyone to celebrate your birth, so I made it a little... special.”

“Please, not a prophecy. Please, not a prophecy.” I close my eyes and chant quietly for all of this to be just a dream.

“Not a prophecy per se... but a curse.”

My eyes snap open. “You put a curse on me?!“

“No, no. On the people, I did, yes, but you, no.” She rambles on and on, but I have no idea what she's saying as she paces back and forth, her gaze no longer fixed on me as she now talks to herself like a lunatic.

“Oh, dear god, no.” My eyes quiver as countless numbers of horrible possibilities flash through my mind.

“I cursed the whole Damaris nobility—”

“Damaris what?”

“The people of Amari Kingdom.” She answers quickly and then continues telling me what she is talking about. “—and of course that includes the royalty, to not bear a daughter, and that happened like decades ago.” Her lips twitch after seeing my deadly expression.

Realizing what she’s trying to say, I stumble back. “Oh, you did not.” I refuse to accept what she just told me.

“I kinda did.”

“Nooo.”

“Yeah.”

“No.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Send me back. Now.” I say sternly.

“But I’m not finished yet—”

“I don’t care!” I shout. “Whatever it is, just stop. I don’t wanna hear anything from you. Send me back now before I kill myself again just to run away from you.”

—

[1] Author’s Note: Filipino kids use this phrase to show how sincere they are about doing or saying something — mostly when told to keep things a secret. It is the equivalent of the English phrase: Cross my heart; hope to die.