The Monster Princess

Chapter 9

What the Monster Princess Needs

Knock, knock!

“Your Highness, Lord Bobby Montera has sent a letter.”

“Again?”

I was in the middle of poring over literature on Magician’s Fever when Marina entered my room carrying a letter. She paused for a moment, apparently startled by the disorderly state of the room, then passed me the envelope on a tray.

I nonchalantly took it and opened it. Like magic, flowers spilled from the envelope while butterflies fluttered into the air. To top it off, a young man’s voice began to wail.

“Take me into your lovin’ arms, Princess Arbella!”

I was shocked.

Of course, the effect wasn’t just “like magic.” It was actually magic. As mentioned, aside from the members of the imperial family, there were other nobles who could wield magic as well.

Marina giggled as the “singing” went on. “Oh, my. Lord Bobby must have sung this himself! How adorable.”

Bobby, the third son of Count Montera, was dreadfully tone-deaf. He was also one of the candidates in the running to become my fiancé.

As the fourteen-year-old princess of a nation, I was at an age where the talks of my engagement were beginning. The decision over who would be my future husband was an important one, so I naturally had more than one suitor. Bobby was the most enthusiastic of the lot.

As a matter of fact, my mother had started pushing for my engagement to be arranged five years before. Of course, when I was diagnosed with Magician’s Fever, the talks died down. Since my illness wasn’t disclosed to the public, my engagement hadn’t been canceled entirely, although there had been almost no progress in the past five years.

I would die early due to my illness, so it would be a waste for any lord outstanding enough to be considered for my fiancé to actually marry me. That was probably what my father was thinking, at least. For political reasons, he would prefer that such lords be wed to the other princesses.

Bobby’s background and qualifications were certainly the worst out of all my candidates. He was only thrown in so I would have a good variety of suitors. That’s probably why he is trying his absolute hardest to win me over, not realizing that Magician’s Fever will kill me.

Anyway, over the last half-decade, he was the only suitor to regularly send me letters. Even my own parents don’t care about me to this extent. In that sense, his efforts were commendable.

Being me, I obviously had sky-high standards that he could never hope to approach. Still, I somehow didn’t find this letter as annoying as usual. Perhaps I was seeing him in a slightly different light today because I had hit rock bottom in my nightmare.

Instead of scoffing and tossing the letter away as usual, I carefully put it back in the envelope.

“Oh, wow. Do you like the letter this time?” Marina asked.

“What do you mean? I do reply to him... sometimes,” I answered defensively.

She simply gave a casual smile.

I leaned back in my chair and rested my chin on my hand. I could see a black shape loitering outside the window. “By the way, I think we have a bug problem.”

“Again? My goodness. They really have nothing better to do,” snorted Marina with a frown.

I agreed. I clenched my fist and crushed the object into oblivion with my mana.

Do they think I’m hiding treasure somewhere in my palace? I simply couldn’t understand why they were so eager to peep inside. I looked back at Bobby’s letter. The object had probably attached itself to the building’s magic barrier when it arrived.

I didn’t suspect Bobby. Actually, the identity of who was behind the bug was so obvious that I didn’t need to think twice about it. It’s got to be Ramiel or his mother. After all, both were deeply interested in me and my affairs. Besides, Bobby simply lacked the ability to pull this off.

As I unconsciously pictured the stupid grin he put on whenever he saw me, my thoughts drifted off to my other suitors. Come to think of it, the male lead in the novel... He was also one of my suitors, wasn’t he?

Killian Bernhard, the male lead of Princess Judith’s Dazzling World, was two years older than me. He was also one of the candidates from five years ago, though he could hardly be considered one now. We hadn’t had any contact since that time, and even back then, we had only exchanged a few letters out of formality.

But he was the novel’s hero, and regardless of how revolting the plot was, he was unsurprisingly the top candidate in terms of qualifications. The book hadn’t shied away from showering him with praise, either. I think it said something like... “Dashing silver hair as pure as fresh snow and mesmerizing deep violet eyes,” or something along those lines.

But no matter how flawless and charming he was, I wasn’t interested in him. In the book, he was Judith’s man. As such, I wanted no part of him.

In the middle of my thoughts, Marina informed me that it was time for luncheon.

“Let’s go,” I said. I tidied my books and stood up to leave.

* * *

“Arbella... What happened to your hair?”

The emperor had gathered his children for the day’s luncheon. He did this sometimes, inviting all the family members to enjoy a meal or tea at a public dining establishment.

I stared at my father, who had dared to ask me such a trivial question as soon as I sat down. Cedric Siegbart Lazen Camulita, the emperor, was a handsome man of great presence. He was clean-cut with dark black hair and looked younger than his age.

Even though he had the charisma of an emperor, he was not born with the golden eyes that were the symbol of pure imperial blood. His were blue. It wasn’t greatly important, however, as the golden eyes of the imperial family hadn’t appeared in almost three generations. Judith was just an anomaly.

Never mind that. How could Father go directly to my hair without even saying a “hello” first? It was because of him that I was bedridden recently, but he showed no remorse whatsoever. It was reasonable for me to get upset, but he had always been this way, so I shrugged it off.

None of my siblings could take their eyes off my barely shoulder-length hair, either.

“Nothing happened. I don’t need a reason to cut my hair, do I?” I retorted dryly. There was no point in wasting effort to reply to such a lousy question properly.

The emperor’s eyebrows became twisted. It was evident that he was not happy with my answer.

“Oh? Bella, my perfectionist of a sister, haphazardly chopped off her hair for no reason?” A playful voice rang out from across the table, aiming solely to annoy me.

It was Ramiel, sitting right in front of me. He had the same black hair and blue eyes as the emperor, but their similarities ended there. Their personalities couldn’t be more different.

The lazy-looking boy beamed when his eyes met mine. “Don’t tell me... Has the almighty Arbella been dumped? I had no idea you were dating a— Mmph!”

He started running off his mouth, so I shut it with a muffling spell. I had used only a bit of mana as a warning, so he was able to break free easily. Nevertheless, he began playing the victim card.

“Wow, Sis. You’re as ruthless as ever. I didn’t even do anything! Or maybe I hit the nail on the— Mmph! Mmmph!”

I guess a light warning isn’t enough for the likes of him. I slightly pursed my lips and shut his mouth once again. I only retracted my mana when Father spoke.

“What do you think you are doing? We are outside of the palace. Stop it immediately, and let us dine in peace.” He tutted, quite annoyed at his eldest children’s behavior.

Ramiel looked like he had more to say, but he stayed quiet for fear he would be muffled a third time.

And so, our luncheon began.