Who Made Me a Princess

Chapter 3

“Legend has it that Obelia’s current dynasty was rebuilt on top of its ruins because the magician of the tower destroyed old Obelia,” Lila said.

We were back to reading my favorite storybook.

In the tradition of founding tales and oral legends, the story of “The Magician of the Tower” had most likely been exaggerated or distorted. But still, fun was fun!

I’ll have to add one more thing to my future to-do list: see magic with my own two eyes!

My heart pounded excitedly as I listened intently to the other stories. Then suddenly, something caught my eye.

“Waaa diis?” (What’s this?)

I pointed to an illustration of a man standing next to a throne with his large, holy sword pinned on the seat.

“Oh my! Do you recognize this person, Your Highness?”

Uhhh, no. Why would I?

“You’re right. This is your father, Your Highness.”

Uh, what?! You mean that bastard who cast his daughter away and is off doing God-knows-what?

I spit curses at the man in the storybook.

“Yoo basdat! Gum!” (You bastard! Scum!)

“Oh my, you certainly are a precocious one, aren’t you, Your Highness?”

Upon seeing me pointing ferociously at the man in the illustration, Lily beamed with pride while stroking my head.

I definitely couldn’t read the words in the book, but I was able to put two and two together: it became clear to me that my father was Emperor of the Obelian Empire.

In the storybook, he was depicted as a hero. He was known for killing the former ruler, a tyrant who had worshipped black magic.

I can’t believe this man, who committed a bloody massacre at the Ruby Palace, not to mention cast out his daughter, is remembered as a saint.

Alas, history books cannot be trusted. I know this is a children’s book, but still, they’ve gone too far!

I huffed and puffed as I fumed.

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever told you His Majesty’s name.”

The look on my face became even more rotten.

“Here, let’s take another look at this picture.”

I don’t want to know! I don’t give a hoot about this jackass!

But soon enough, the name she whispered in my ear froze me in place.

“This is His Majesty, the emperor and Your Highness’ father, Claude de Alger Obelia.”

My mind was immediately inundated with question marks.

Hm? What did you just say, Lily?

Lily smiled and stroked my head once more. She seemed to have read the question marks on my face.

“His Majesty, Emperor Claude de Alger Obelia.”

Wait a minute... Why does my father have the same name as the emperor in that novel? That makes me uneasy...

“And you, Your Highness, are Princess Athanasia de Alger Obelia.”

Whaa?! Now I share the same full name as the princess from the novel too?

I remembered it clearly. That was the first time I had seen both a romance fantasy novel and a name that long.

Hmm, come to think of it, the similarities between my circumstances and the novel seem uncanny, and maybe a little scary...

Or maybe it's just me overreacting.

But then, why did I suddenly get a chill down my spine? Haha...

***

Let’s see. How did the story go again?

Lovely Princess was a popular romance-fantasy webnovel (or so the middle schooler who left it behind at the internet cafe had said). I had secretly picked up the book and given it a read one night when I was bored, but it had been hard for me to believe.

As the title suggested, there really had been a lovely princess in the book: the second princess of the Obelian Empire, named Jennette.

There were actually two princesses in Lovely Princess. However, one was merely a supporting character who met a tragic end. Jennette was the only one who could have been considered a true female lead.

Jennette was a stunningly beautiful princess with brown hair and jewel-like eyes unique to the imperial family.

Not only was she beautiful on the outside, she had the heart of an angel. She was beloved across the Obelian Empire. And, as if that weren’t enough, she was coveted and pursued by the most eligible men on the continent.

Among the many who cherished Jennette so dearly was her father, Emperor Claude.

Well, isn’t it obvious for a father to love her daughter?

Oh, you don’t know Claude at all.

Claude had been born the illegitimate son of an emperor and a maid. The problem was that Claude had possessed both talent and aptitude that were so great, they became impossible to ignore. His older brother had not been magnanimous enough to leave his half-brother alone.

Even after Claude’s older brother ascended the throne—succeeding a father who had passed from old age—he still viewed Claude as a thorn in his side. The man’s debilitating insecurity led him to attempt using black magic to kill his younger brother.

In the end, Claude stood up to his brother and defended his life. I won’t go as far to explain how bloody and intense the process was.

After Claude became emperor, all of the emotion seemed to drain from his body, leaving behind a particularly cold being. The amazing Jennette was the only one who finally managed to thaw the heart of such a frigid and merciless man.

Claude actually only learned about Jennette’s existence when she turned fourteen. Prior to that, Jennette had been entrusted to the household of Duke Alpheus, one of the empire’s three most important pillars of society.

You see, Claude had been engaged to Jennette’s mother, the daughter of a marquis. However, after his fight with the former emperor, she had somehow managed to incur Claude’s wrath. She was driven out of the palace and died giving birth to Jennette.

Jennette’s aunt, a married woman and countess, had kept the young girl’s birth a secret and entrusted her to Duke Alpheus’ household—a family she had always trusted. The countess had felt the need to protect her niece from Claude, whose madness and viciousness had reached new heights during this time.

Fourteen years then passed before Claude first found out about Jennette’s existence. But of course, the blue-blooded man had not felt any affection toward Jennette at first.

But how amazing is our female lead, Jennette?

Perks of being a female lead included being endowed with an unrealistic level of loveliness, of course. And our princess was no exception. Icy, heartless Claude had eventually succumbed to her charms.

Jennette then lived happily ever after, with a steadfast father who supported her wholeheartedly as well as the best husband possible—Ijekiel, the son of Duke Alpheus, whom she had grown to adore while living in the Alpheus household.

“Scuu dat.” (Screw that.)

Thinking about the story caused me to gnaw away at my blanket, my baby teeth grinding away at the soft piece of cloth. I didn’t know where the jealousy was coming from, but for some reason, I knew I resented the female lead, Jennette.

Was it because she was an angelic female lead who had never been tainted by the bitterness of this world?

When I had read on to find that not only had this girl grown up being showered with love by those around her, but she had ultimately won the heart of her father, Emperor Claude? I had become so furious that I’d thrown the book down onto the counter.

Wow, both Claude and Jennette are foul bastards.

Such had been my review of Lovely Princess after finishing it.

But shouldn’t that be the natural response? Especially if you think of how the first princess, Athanasia, had been pitifully shunned, and compared that to the female lead, who’d been loved by everyone. Jennette’s life journey had been nothing less than a flower path.

Jennette’s sister, Princess Athanasia, had platinum hair and jewel-like blue eyes. Athanasia had been born to a lowly dancer and, just like her sister, lost her mother when she was an infant. Yet, her life had taken a very different trajectory.

Unlike Jennette, Athanasia’s existence had been made known to Claude from birth, but the emperor had basically exiled her to the concubines’ palace. Athanasia grew up to be a faint-hearted princess after having to walk on eggshells every day around the Ruby Palace maids, who all looked down on her.

Young Athanasia had met her father for the first time on her ninth birthday. Completely oblivious to the fact that it was his daughter’s birthday, Claude had been busy throwing a magnificent ball for foreign ambassadors.

Athanasia had become so drawn by the lights and sounds that she had left the Ruby Palace late at night. She had eventually gone the wrong way... and ran into Claude in the garden behind the emperor’s palace.

Claude, of course, had skimmed her up and down with an entirely uninterested gaze before passing her by.

But for Athanasia, who had been starved of affection all her life, this was the fateful meeting of a lifetime. Even before Jennette had come into the picture, she had already been daunted and intimidated by her cold father.

Despite all that, Athanasia had worked extremely hard to gain her father’s love. She eventually matured into an elegant, accomplished princess.

However, on the day of Athanasia’s debutante ball, when both girls were fourteen years old, Jennette had emerged. She’d been backed by the protection of Duke Alpheus, ready to crush all of Athanasia’s hopes and dreams.

Unlike Jennette, who was as bright and gleaming as the sun, Athanasia possessed a feeble, melancholic spirit. It was only natural that other people gravitated toward Jennette more than Athanasia.

As the story unfolded, Jennette had been emphasized as this angelic, beautiful princess, one who created a stark contrast with the timid Athanasia. But Athanasia was also a very kind and good-hearted princess.

To what extent, pray tell?

Rather than envy Jennette for her belated appearance, and her monopolizing both the empire’s and her father’s love and attention, Athanasia had taken pity on the girl. Jennette had been having a hard time adapting to palace life and often felt awkward around Claude. And so Athanasia helped her sister settle into palace life.

Oh dear. What a truly foolish woman. It’s every woman for herself! Why was she wasting her time helping her rival?!

Anyway, that’s how pure-hearted Athanasia had been. Jennette had eventually stolen away all of their father’s love, which Athanasia had worked so hard to pursue.

Then again, Claude’s love had never been within her reach anyway, so “stole” might not have been the most accurate framing, but still...

As a result, poor Princess Athanasia ended up dying at her own father’s hands. Athanasia had been accused of trying to kill Jennette by slipping poison into her drink on the day of a grand ball.

But it had been a false accusation. The real culprit had been Jennette’s aunt, the countess who wanted to get rid of Athanasia in order to ensure that her niece would be next in line for the throne.

But she needn’t have bothered because Claude never paid a speck of attention to Athanasia anyway. She had been a princess who didn’t matter at all.

Most importantly, Athanasia had been nowhere near the type of person capable of such wrongdoing. In fact, if that foolish girl had known about the poison in Jennette’s drink, she would have taken it and drunk it herself to save her sister.

She knew all too well that Claude would have been inconsolable if anything had happened to Jennette. This was the kind of foolish and pitiful princess that Athanasia had been.

The countess had simply wanted either Athanasia’s imprisonment or the divestiture of her right to be next in line for the throne. But that plan hadn’t accounted for Claude’s temper or his character.

The emperor had ultimately killed Athanasia while Jennette had been on the brink of death, even though her guilt had yet to be confirmed.

And on her eighteenth birthday.

It had been a day with clear skies, exactly nine years since Athanasia had met her father for the first time at nine years old.

How serendipitous was that?