Princess Lia sat in the corner of the cell, curled up to generate body heat. Her shoulders were shaking and her sobs echoed through the underground palace cells. Her head lay against her knees. Although her body was freezing, she could feel the heat radiating off her head.

She knew little of what happened, how could the boy she met earlier, Prince Noah who happened to be the only heir to the Luminian Empire had fallen ill after consuming the so called muffin that the princess had made?

After Lia gave a muffin to Rose, she was resting in her room after a long day of running around when palace guards knocked and escorted her to the palace's jail, simply stating that she was responsible for poisoning the young prince.

Despite Lia's pleas and objections, she was still locked up. As the sun fell down, the room soon turned freezing cold. No blanket, no water, no heat, and no food was given to her as the palace erupted in panic of the sudden illness of the prince of the allied empire.

Although the prince wasn't from this empire, he resided here for the time being due to the war threat that was happening between his empire and the fourth ranked empire. The second and the third were trusted allies so due to the friendship that the two empires had, they agreed to take the boy in until peace returns to the third.

Lia quietly cried, feeling overwhelmed and for the first time, homesick. She longed for her old life back, even if her family didn't love her. She didn't want to deal with the magic and royalty shenanigans of this world. She wanted to go back whatever it would take.

As the thoughts of the prince being poisoned clouded her head, she soon came to a realization. What if Cora was poisoned? What about Rose? And soon she began to cry even more. Her hands trembling either with fear or from the cold.

It felt like an eternity has passed when she was locked up until the doors finally opened, bringing in light to the room.

"Your highness!" Lia's head immediately snapped up, revealing the tear stained face of Jennett. Lia got up and stumbled towards the bars of the cell and upon seeing Jennett's face, she began to cry more.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she cried like she never did before.

"No, no, no, your highness. Everything is okay," she said getting up.

"You heard the emperor, let her out!" Jennett yelled. Soon two guards walked towards the cell, taking out their keys and unlocking it. Jennett pushed the cell's door open and walked inside. She hugged Lia's trembling body.

"Oh god, you are as cold as ice," Jennett said, taking off her long black cape and using it as a blanket to wrap the princess. Jennett looked tired, almost as if she had just returned to the palace to find the princess locked up.

"I-Is he okay? What about Cora and Rose? I didn't know, I don't know what went wrong," Lia stuttered.

"Everyone is okay," Jennett said walking the princess out of the cell.

"What?"

"The muffins, as you called them, they didn't harm anyone. In fact they healed them. His highness, the prince of Luminia, he was born with weak mana that always gave problems to his body. It was his body reacting to the healing, he is resting all well now."

"What do you mean they healed?"

"Both Miss Cora and Miss Rose testified on your behalf, they too ate the muffins but claimed they healed their scars or bruises," Lia's eyes widened, she knew she had no magical powers yet how could this happen. Was it Cora?

"The muffins are being tested right now. Cora is also being questioned further since she helped you. By the way miss, where did you get that recipe?" Lia stumbled to find an excuse, she didn't want to cause trouble for Phiona since she did bring her name up to Rose.

"I-I read it in a book? I was going to surprise you! You've been teaching me so well that I was able to read and understand many words. Miss Rose told me that you were visiting family and so I thought that making some mini cakes would cheer you up!" She tried to change the subject the best she could, without throwing suspicion at herself.

"My lady, you shouldn't worry for a mere commoner like myself," Jennett said, although her words didn't match the soft expression on her face.

"B-But Jennett...I consider you as family," Lia's voice trailed off, although she never said it out loud, Jennett took on a motherly role that even Lia wasn't aware of. She looked up at Jennett who stopped walking, her face had shock written all over it. Soon her eyes began to tear up.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

"My lady, being considered as family by you can't make me any happier," she said, bending down and wrapping her arms around Lia, embracing her with warmth and love that she longed for.

"We mustn't make the Emperor wait, let's go," Jennett said, taking a hold of the princess's arm.

"The Emperor?" Lia's happy moment was ruined by the memory of the way her father looked at her the first time she saw him.

"It's okay, I'll be by your side the entire time."

They finally reached their destination, after walking through the empty dark halls for ten whole minutes. The two guards took notice of the two figures walking down the hallway, being escorted by two other knights. The doors were pushed open and Lia had to squint her eyes at the sudden bright yellow light that filled the room.

She immediately was able to recognize Cora, who stood next to a couple of other maids, each with a fearful look on their faces. She saw her to brothers standing on the other side of the room, with a couple of adults beside them, royal advisors. And right across the door she had just waked in was the Emperor, sitting on a grand chair that looked to be made out of gold with a man by his side.

When the doors flew open, everybody turned to look at whoever had just entered, all eager to solve this mystery. When they saw Princess Lia enter with her maid, everyone was able to notice her tiresome state. Dark circles under her eyes, pink flushed cheeks, and red eyes that made her emerald ones stand out even more.

Lia immediately began to feel lightheaded at the sudden change in room temperature and being attacked with questions didn't help. Although, half of her mind was paying attention and carefully answering their questions, the other half was elsewhere.

"Your majesty, my lady claims that she didn't know. She was simply making a gift for me because she heard about the sudden illness of my brother," Jennett defended her. Lia glanced at her weakly, she wasn't aware that Jennett's brother had fallen ill.

"A seven year old cooking you say? A princess at that!"

"Pardon me for speaking roughly but cooking is one of the easiest tasks there is, especially when it comes to making mini cakes. Simply mixing all of the ingredients together and throwing them in the oven could make a delicacy that even a blind man can accomplish," Lia snapped and said to the man who doubted her. Her ability to think twice before speaking has vanished as soon as she walked through the doors but she wouldn't let anyone talk poorly to Jennett for something that she did.

"The prince was there by a coincidence. He asked for one, and so I gave it to him."

"And you expect us to believe that!"

"Don't raise your voice at a child!"

"Why you-,"

"Silence!" A loud voice echoed through the room silencing everyone. They all turned around to face the Emperor whose expression was emotionless. Yet behind that little mask, the eyes told a different story. Lia couldn't figure out if he was angry or if he was enjoying this. He turned his head to the direction of his two sons.

"Everyone who comes in and out of the palace is inspected. Nobody gets in or out due to the high security. Even the food that comes through those gates is made sure that it is up to its finest quality. There is no way it could have been caused by magic. Princess Emilia has none, and her helper doesn't have enough to perform a task even the most powerful of magicians couldn't accomplish. It is possible that maybe an ingredient that was used could have been enchanted and accidentally slipped through the perimeter. This so called dessert caused no harm, in fact it even healed, therefore there is no need to make it into a bigger issue than it is. You are dismissed," Prince Noah said with authority in his voice. The Emperor nodded, looking pleased.

"You heard his highness, everyone out!" As the crowd began to dissolve, Lia felt the weakness in her legs and Jennett sensed so. Before she could hit the ground, Jennett managed to grab her arm, calling her name.

"You know...mother...she would have been disappointed," it was a faint whisper but yet many were able to hear. The gasps of those who heard Lia, echoed through the room.

"Forgive her your majesty! She's a sick child and burning with a fever, she doesn't know what she's saying!" Jennett yelled out, on her behalf. The Emperor looked down at the sick child and looked away. The twin boys held shocked expressions on their faces while the Emperor's was concealed. He too was able to tell how his youngest held a strong similarity to his diseased wife. A pang of sadness filled his heart as he walked away.

* * *
For the next two days, maids were running in and out of the princess's bedroom as they took care of the sick child. Lia has been sentenced to bed until she gets better. The only thing she was able to do was read the countless letters and invitations that were addressed to her while maids always stayed by her side. She didn't remember much after she entered the conference room and the interrogation, and she sure didn't remember saying those simple words that could have potentially ended her life if the Emperor was in a bad mood.

"I like this one, the girl has such a beautiful way of expressing her feelings," Lia said, pointing out to Rose and setting the letter aside  in a separate pile. Rose has told her that as an Imperial princess, she didn't need to address and reply to all of the letters however Lia thought that it would be impolite so she decided to divide the letters into two piles, one for the ones that she liked, and others for the ones she didn't.

She didn't want to have to exchange many letters, she was also aware that being in a higher rank would want everyone to get on her good side, she didn't need any fake friends like before.

As she spent her three days reading letters, sleeping, and occasionally reading the history book that she kept hidden underneath her bed, she had a lot of time to gather her thoughts. She decided that it would be for the best of her interest if she left. Either find a way to return back to her old world or run away to live in another land, where nobody knows her name or face. There is no place for her in the palace considering how easily she was thrown in jail.

It's her second life after all, why not try to find a way to live happily, even if it means being alone.