Who Made Me a Princess?

Chapter 8

Okay. What the heck is going on right now?

My back was damp with all the sweat that was seeping through my skin.

Am I seriously sitting face to face with Claude in an enclosed room, enjoying tea? The very man who is destined to kill me in the distant future?

We made eye contact. I looked down immediately to avoid his gaze, terrified that he might end up killing me now rather than in thirteen years.

Ahem, don’t criticize me for being servile. These are just my survival instincts.

Claude was the only one in the situation feeling leisurely. Even Mr. Knight standing in the corner looked like he was finding the situation extremely awkward and uncomfortable.

And me, you ask? Well, what more is there to say?

I sat there incredibly wary of the person in front of me. My entire body was frozen except for my eyeballs, which struggled to settle on any single direction.

“I didn’t realize you couldn’t speak,” Claude said as he picked his teacup up from the table.

A soft hiccup escaped my mouth.

“It’s rather boring with how quiet you are.”

Could this have been the influence of having read Lovely Princess in my past life? Hearing the bastard whisper about how dull a time he was having made a shiver run down my spine.

Does it mean he wants to kill me because I’m so boring?!

Not that I was expecting him to welcome his long-forgotten daughter with open arms, but his eyes were as cold as if he were looking at an inanimate object.

Yes, we were somehow sitting across from one another and spending time together, but his mind could change on a dime, and I could die any minute for all I knew.

“Have you never been able to talk?”

“Athy can talk.”

Hehe.

The moment I made the realization, I did my best to put a smile on my rigid face.

Haa, what else can I do? It’s his way or the highway. I don’t wanna die yet.

There was no sign that the guy was trying to kill me just yet. But even setting the novel aside, his impressive history (which I had overheard from the maids) naturally made me scared of him.

“At last, I hear your voice. Why haven’t you spoken this whole time?”

What kind of question is that? Does he know that a mere five-year-old sits in front of him?

How... How am I supposed to answer that? Do I say I was too scared to open my mouth?

As I sat there unable to mutter a single word, the knight standing by the wall came to my rescue.

“Your Majesty, forgive my intrusion, but children of Her Highness’ age are often very shy around strangers.”

“Is that so?” Claude replied in a more generous tone, as if he hadn’t been sizing me up this entire time.

That’s right, you jerk! Why does a child need any reason to be shy? Besides, I bet anyone would feel like their lips were glued together in front of you! And not just children—adults too!

But as soon as our eyes met again, I smiled abashedly, pretending I was oblivious to it all.

*Sob, sob.* Okay, you win. Whatever it is, you’re right. Please just let me go!

Claude slowly leaned back on his sofa without taking his gaze off of my face.

Unlike my hair, Claude’s was a deeper blonde with tinges of red, like the sun. In his relaxed position, he resembled a lion, the king of the jungle, taking a rest.

And I, of course, was the prey, trembling helplessly in front of him. Something along the lines of a rabbit or a mouse with its limbs tied. Any helpless animal that would die without a peep if the lion slapped it with its front paw.

“Felix.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Leave us.”

Mr. Knight was immediately dismissed from the room. Claude seemed displeased with the fact that he had answered for me.

W-wait. Mr. Knight, you’re not going to leave me here alone, are you? Ugh, what are you going to do with me, evil Claude, now that you’ve told Mr. Knight to go?!

But what choice did Mr. Knight have?

Despite the earnestness in my eyes, he bowed and quietly left the room. He might’ve looked back at me with a remorseful look just before stepping out, but it was of no consolation.

Damn it.

“‘Athy’ must be a nickname of sorts.”

I had been too frazzled to remember what I had babbled on about earlier, but it sounded like I had spoken the way I always did when trying to be cute with the maids.

“Athanasia. Athanasia, hmm?”

I couldn’t help but get nervous again as he tasted my name in his mouth.

“Do you know what your name means?”

Uh-oh. I’m in big trouble.

“How dare she give that name to her child? Insolent, indeed.”

Claude taking interest in my name wasn’t a good sign. My name was a double-edged sword that could cut me at any moment. I tilted my head inquisitively to the side, trying to look as innocent as I possibly could.

But inside, I was incredibly nervous. In fact, my name, a name befitting of an emperor, was the kind of name that even Claude didn’t have.

Claude had been the illegitimate son of an emperor, thus born without rights to succession. As I mentioned before, Claude had killed his older brother, the former emperor, to take the crown.

Claude’s older brother, the former emperor, was named “Anastacius,” and their father’s name was “Aevum.” As direct heirs to the throne, their names meant “eternity” and “immortality.” The same was true for “Ambrose,” the first empress of the Obelian Empire.

To put it more bluntly, Claude was the only person in the line of Obelian emperors without a proper regal name. Which was why Claude could possibly have been offended by my name and might suddenly have felt the urge to kill me!

I tried to look as harmless as possible in front of Claude.

I’m no harm to you, sir! And I have zero interest in the crown.

My goal is to live and die as quietly as possible. I have no ambition to live any sort of impressive life. I just want to go unnoticed like I have been until now. A long, uneventful life is my dream.

I may have this grandiose name, but like you said, I’m nothing but a five-year-old pest. A freeloader! I mean, not that you should exterminate me in any way. I really hope you don’t, but…

“What’s the matter? Go on. Eat.”

Whether he was giving me false hope or not, Claude didn’t seem to want to kill me in that instant—but he also didn’t seem likely to let me go back to the Ruby Palace so easily. I had no idea if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but what Claude said next signaled that it had indeed been bad.

“I specifically told them to serve the kind of food that children enjoy. But if you leave it untouched, I’ll have no choice but to punish those servants.”

“Thank you for the food!”

What a scumbag. Did you hear that? That was a threat, right?

I lifted my trembling hand and picked up the fork placed neatly in front of me. There were various scrumptious-looking cakes laid out in front of me, but I had lost my appetite long ago.

Ugh. I can feel the indigestion already. I can’t believe I have to eat these while on pins and needles. But if I don’t finish this, Claude might go about killing the palace staff again.

He may have been quiet as of late, but who knows? Something might set him off and cause another massacre, the way it did four years ago. And this time, my name would definitely be on the list of victims. Oof!

“Sho tasty.”

I couldn’t look in a mirror, but I knew my face was as pale as a ghost. Still, I smiled because I wanted to live a little longer.

I miss Lily. By the way, is this jerk always so talkative?

Oh my god. No. It would be way scarier if he just looked at me and didn’t say a word. Sure. Go ahead. Talk. And please let me go soon.

I still have no idea how on earth I ended up sitting here. I walked into this demon’s lair with my own two feet, just for some gold! At this rate, I might die from a heart attack before Claude even gets to killing me.

But my survival instincts were stronger than I thought. I answered every question obediently, all while I was weeping inside.

“Who did you learn your manners from?”

“Lily taught me.”

Claude looked like he was contemplating something for a moment, and then startled me with his reply.

“Ah. You must be referring to Lilian York.”

I had only said “Lily”—how did he know her full name?

“Four years ago she begged me to go to the Ruby Palace to look after you.”

Gasp! Did you really, Lily?!

Lily, you’re the best! You were my favorite character in this godforsaken novel! I’m so moved.

“She dared to stop me in my path. The audacity of that one.”

Oh god. Even now, he continues to be ruthless. I really think I’m going to die.

He’s been speaking in a calm voice this entire time, but why do I feel a chill on the back of my neck?

After quietly watching me eat cake, Claude slowly began to speak again.

“Do you know who I am?”

*Clang.*

I had dropped my fork onto my plate. If I hadn’t been sitting, my legs would most likely have gone limp, and I would have collapsed to the floor. The inside of my mouth went dry, and my lips trembled ever so slightly.

My jewel eyes met another pair of jewel eyes. I was so scared that I immediately wanted to look away, but I knew that it wasn’t the moment to do that.

This is a test.

If anything, my rough past life as an orphan had honed both my keen wit and my social awareness. The moment I saw his eyes, I knew in my gut that he hadn’t brought me there out of any sort of goodwill.

No wonder something felt off. From the beginning, Claude had never shown a speck of interest in Athanasia. He was merely acting upon whim. The opportunity to dine with him was nothing but my reward for having piqued his interest for a fleeting moment.

Now he seemed to be deciding whether to keep me alive or not. It may not have been written in the novel, but was it possible that nine-year-old Athanasia had also been tested by Claude?

All he did was stare at me with those deep eyes, as endless as an abyss that now showed an even greater sense of boredom.

I started to get nervous. I didn’t want that dining table to be where I took my last breath just because I couldn’t please him.

Oh god. What do I do?

His quiet tapping of the armrest signaled the passage of time. After a moment, his hand stopped abruptly.

“F-Father?”

Girl, are you out of your mind?!

I screamed internally at myself for the preposterous answer that had instinctually spilled out of me.

Let everyone know that this is where I’ve been laid to rest!

“Father”? Sure we might have absolutely nothing to talk about, but that was the best you could come up with?! “Father”?! Not everything that comes out of your mouth actually should!

Why don’t you just ask him to kill you while you’re at it, huh?

Do you really think you’ve become Athanasia because the maids of Ruby Palace keep calling you “Your Highness”? You should have just praised him to high heaven instead. “Your Majesty, the magnificent and distinguished emperor of the great Obelian Empire” or something generic like that…

But much to my surprise, Claude did not kill me. He stroked his chin slowly and stared at me with those emotionless eyes, almost urging me to keep going.

W-what? I didn’t fail the test?