Who Made Me a Princess?

Chapter 6

After wandering mindlessly through an endless field of flowers, I suddenly looked up and realized that I was someplace I had never seen before. Sure, the palace was ginormous when measured from end to end, but I was still dumbfounded. I also hadn’t walked in a straight line, so I couldn’t just go back the way I came.

For the first time since entering this world, I had become a lost child.

S-stay calm. The palace is huge, so I should be able to see it from any direction.

And I was right.

As soon as I lifted my gaze, I saw a castle wall not too far away. I started running while gripping a bunch of wildflowers in my arms.

But I arrived at a place that was not the Ruby Palace.

“What’s dis?”

This particular palace appeared just as quiet as the one I lived in, but there was no trace of a single human in my midst.

No, wait, it’s... way emptier than my palace!

Is no one using this place? It looks like it’s been cleaned, but there’s not even a mouse in sight. I can’t believe I landed at a completely different palace when I was just trying to pick some flowers.

Huh? But wait a minute. A palace that no one is using?

“O-ho?”

My eyes lit up.

If no one’s here, that means I can use it, right?

I’ve been wondering where I should stash my getaway fund. Is this meant to be?

I had been dividing my funds, hiding parts here and there throughout the Ruby Palace, but even that had its limits. It also felt a little fishy that Lily had gone to see Madam Housekeeper today.

I hushed my breath and scanned the palace interior meticulously with my eyes. Then, I quietly put one foot in front of the other and stepped inside.

After a brief investigation, I realized that the palace was squeaky clean, not even a single ant in sight. It was likely one of the palaces used during the reign of the previous emperor. Now that it was ownerless, it probably just went through the occasional routine maintenance.

If that were the case, I would only have to watch out for palace staff on cleaning days.

And it seems to be close enough to my palace. My luck is like no other! This forgotten palace is my hideout now!

***

After giving it some thought, I became pretty sure I had died after accidentally taking the wrong dose of sleeping pills. Or maybe I died from the cold because it had been the middle of winter and my room had no heating.

*Sniffle.*

Oh well. I was a lone orphan with no family anyway. So it wasn’t like I had any attachment or regrets when it came to my former life. Besides, I would never want to go back.

Actually, if I put that damn novel aside and objectively assessed my current situation, it was actually heaven on earth. I got fed regularly and I didn't have to make money, so I could eat and play all day, and I was practically a homeowner at that point.

Also, the perks of being reincarnated seemed to include the ability to pick up a language quickly and with relative ease.

“Li...ly!”

I laughed heartily as I held up a piece of paper with my crooked writing on it. The level of education was said to be quite low in this world, so being able to write at my age was unheard of.

Now, my goal was to cruise through an easy, normal life without being noticed, so I had started writing letters around the beginning of last year, thinking that it would be roughly the appropriate time to do so.

But it turned out that I had screwed myself over. Lily and the maids were so shocked at what they saw, it was as if they had witnessed a genius of the century.

“Our brilliant princess!”

What was more, they started putting me through an official early-childhood education after that. Seeing my intelligence had sparked some sort of passion for education in them. The maids who liked me began to teach me the basics of etiquette as well as proper reading and writing.

I found out later that the nobility of this world only started to put their children through proper education at the age of eight, at the very earliest.

Being seen as some sort of rare genius by people who had no idea that I had been reincarnated into this body poked at my conscience for sure.

But I didn’t mean for this to happen!

So I desperately tried to prove that I was dimmer than they thought by occasionally making spelling mistakes or spilling my tea. Although that didn’t seem to be very effective.

“I’m so glad I can be here by your side, Princess Athanasia.”

“Athy is happy to be with Lily too!”

There was a silver lining in all of this. The Ruby Palace was so isolated from the rest of the outside world that there was almost no chance of anyone beyond these walls learning about my progress.

That was very reassuring.

Because I’m not going to run into Claude at the emperor’s palace at age nine like the Athanasia in the novel did! I’m going to gather my little fortune and get out of here before I turn eighteen!

Ugh, I’m going to do my best to avoid that wretched Claude no matter what. I’m never going to grant the emperor’s palace a single glance. I don’t even know where it is!

I mean, it’s got to be some sort of dazzling, stately castle, right? I’ll just have to make sure to avoid the most imposing, spectacular castle that I come across.

“Would you like some milk, Your Highness?”

“Yup! But not a cold one!”

“Of course, I’ll warm it up for you.”

After Lily left the room, I got up from lying on my belly.

I pulled two pouches out from under my bed and launched my covert operation.

Inside the pouches—which I had acquired from Hannah by rubbing her the right way with my cutesy antics—was all the money that I had collected for my getaway fund up until now. They contained gems I had taken from the palace walls and statues as well as pieces of gold that I had removed from here and there. After making sure each pouch was about the same weight, I quickly lifted my skirt to reveal my adorable, pumpkin-shaped children’s underwear.

I hastily tied the pouch strings around my thighs before Lily came back. I had deliberately asked her to get me warm milk to buy some time, but still, there was no time to lose.

Ugh, why is this so hard to tighten?

I had thought about this long and hard, and this seemed to be the best way to get the pouches out of the palace without getting caught by Lily or the other maids.

“I got it!”

After barely managing to tie the strings with my tiny hands and fingers, I stood up. Alas, the pouches were quite heavy in proportion to my little body, but I had no choice. If I repeated the same trip a few times, I would be able to safely move my secret funds in no time.

Ah, and the reason that Lily went to meet with Madam Housekeeper not long ago was supposedly because the maids were planning on a deep cleaning of my palace soon.

Lily had been eyeing the right time to deep clean for a while, but now that I had grown a bit, she seemed to want to do a big palace reorganization.

Of course, Madam Housekeeper was such a Scrooge that she would never hire more helping hands for me or the maids, but the laws of the palace required Lily to let her know.

Hearing Lily tell me all of this sent a chill down my spine. It also motivated me to move forward with my plans more quickly.

So, I planned on using today’s nap time as an excuse to sneak out of the palace. For a while now, I had been pretending to sleep so I could secretly assess what went on during my naps. I realized that Lily never came into my room when I was sleeping.

She seemed to know that once I fell asleep, I never opened my eyes until I woke up.

“Sweet dreams, Your Highness.”

As soon as she saw that I was fast asleep, she gave me a peck on my cheek and quietly stepped out of the room, just like she did on any other day. I lay there very still, listening carefully to what was going on outside the door. Then, I slowly opened my eyes.

Agh. My legs were killing me, having them pressed down against the pouches. Everything in the pouches was so hard and angled that I probably had marks on my legs by then.

Getting my pretties out of here and to a safe place sure won't be an easy task.

*Clunk.*

I carefully slipped out the door, making as little noise as possible. I had studied the maids’ movements and patterns and run a simulation of this operation numerous times in my head. Thankfully, I was able to make it out to the garden without getting caught.

But in all honesty, I didn’t really mind getting caught by the maids, except for Lily. I was confident that I could persuade the others whichever way I wanted.

I picked up my pace and hurried across the flower beds. I had explored the path quite thoroughly, so now I knew how to get to the palace that I had seen last time.

But alas, carrying the extra weight with a child’s body was not an easy task by any means.

When I finally got to my destination, I was completely exhausted and breathless. But worst of all, my legs were trembling after having weights tied on them the whole time.

Haaa, damn it. My legs are going to give out at this rate.

But I only had two hours, so I didn’t have the luxury of taking a break.

“Heave-ho.”

First, I untied the strings around my legs and began running toward the place I had seen before.

If I hid my treasure inside the building, I might run into future problems when I wanted to take it out. The plan was to bury my valuables outdoors, in the back garden, where it was dark and dense with trees.

I rummaged through the bushes and found a suitable place to bury the pouches.

But there was a problem.

I don’t have any tools to dig!

It hadn’t rained in a while, so the earth was too hard and too dry to dig through with my soft hands. Besides, if I got my hands dirty, Lily would find out.

What do I do?

After racking my brain for a solution, I eventually hid my pretties in the bushes and turned around.

I’ll have to come back tomorrow to dig and bury it. I’d better ask Hannah to get me a toy shovel.

I felt much lighter on the way back now that I had nothing weighing me down.

I caught the eye of a maid on the way to my room, which almost scared the life out of me, but she seemed to think I was just returning from playing outside. Good thing I spent most of my time running and wandering around so much that this seemed normal. When I came back to my room and lay down, I was completely pooped.

Agh, I’m dying.

*Clunk.*

“Time to get up, Princess.”

“Nnngh.”

The groaning was genuine because I was so exhausted. Surely Lily thought I was just fussing in my sleep.

“Huh? Oh, my goodness! You’re sweating up a storm!”

I flinched at Lily’s surprised tone. Indeed, a perfect crime was impossible.

“I think you might have a mild fever. Are you sick...?”

“Ngh, room is too hot. Sun too bright.”

Lily looked around the room for a moment, then wiped the sweat from my forehead with her hand.

“I’ll begin drawing the curtains or opening the windows for you tomorrow. It seems summer is coming a little early this year. This room is south-facing, so the sun is definitely hot.”

“Athy wanna milk. Cold milk, please.”

“But you had some before your nap.”

Even as she said that, Lily left the room to bring me some cold milk. And as soon as I was left alone, I completely conked out.