Who Made Me a Princess?

Chapter 9

But wait a minute now... Come to think of it, Claude had been fond of Jennette’s type in the novel, hadn’t he?

The beautiful Jennette who, with her flawless innocence and bright smile, had been able to light up any room like a warm spring day. The loveable Jennette had never hesitated to extend a hand toward her father—unlike Athanasia, who had always stood one step behind her sister and looked upon Claude from a distance, yearning for love.

Well... If that’s the case... If I can’t be Jennette and soften his heart the way she could... And if all I can offer is amusement... Why not build on the craziness I already started?

“Daddy?”

The silence was both deafening and chill-inducing. As I held my breath, Claude slowly tilted his head. His deep golden-blond hair followed, cascading slowly off the side of his head.

My heart pounded so hard, it felt like it was going to explode.

Why? Why aren’t you saying anything? Ahhh! All right then. Here goes nothing!

I figured I had nothing to lose, so I put on the biggest smile I could and cried out, “Daddy!”

...Someone please tell me those weren’t my famous last words!

Part 2: Not All Princesses Live Happily Ever After

In a nutshell, I made it out alive.

In the more detailed version, I finished eating every last crumb of my cake as Claude watched.

Then I was carried out by Mr. Knight and safely delivered to my own palace.

I must have straddled life and death for quite some time because the Ruby Palace had become a madhouse in my absence. And understandably so, for a child who was supposed to be sleeping peacefully in her room had suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Lily looked ready to faint when she spotted the emperor’s knight carrying me. Her face turned so pale that I was genuinely worried she might collapse.

After taking me from Mr. Felix’s arms, she immediately created some distance, almost like she was avoiding the plague.

I couldn’t see Lily’s face with mine buried in her chest, but the way her body trembled told me everything I needed to know. Lily’s shaking arms squeezed me so tight that it was hard to breathe.

When I turned around to take a peek, I saw Felix looking bewildered, standing there as Lily and the other maids accused him of kidnapping me. But I didn’t really want to side with Mr. Knight either after he had left me alone with Claude!

The time I had spent alone with that jerk, Claude, had taken such a toll on me that just thinking about it brought tears to my eyes. In fact, I had gone as limp as a corpse in Mr. Knight’s arms while being carried home.

Argh, you evil bastards. How dare you pick on a helpless child like me? You will be punished!

“His Majesty says he will be calling on Princess Athanasia again in the near future.”

*Gasp.* What the... What did you say?

All the maids and I were stunned at what Mr. Knight just said.

Huh? But what’s this? Why does it look like you’re all half-scared but half-happy at the same time?

Oh, god. Is it because a reject princess like me is suddenly getting the emperor’s attention? I’m not a concubine who stays cooped up in the Ruby Palace, waiting for the emperor to notice me!

Why does that bastard Claude want to see me again? Nope. No thanks! Waaaah!

But nothing in my life had ever gone the way I wanted it to. I had no choice but to obey the emperor’s every order. If he told me to jump, I was fated to ask, “How high?”

After Felix left us with that bomb, the Ruby Palace went into chaos once again. I was so mentally exhausted that I just wanted to pass out then and there.

“Blargh!”

“Your Highness!”

That is, after I emptied out my stomach first.

***

That night, as I lay between my sheets, I started to rethink my plans.

[Plan A: Failed.]

My hand drew black-ink letters into the crinkled white paper.

It would have been a disaster if anyone saw what I was writing so I, of course, wrote in Korean. I wrote “Plan C” on the lower part of the page, then proceeded to cross out all the words at the top of the page.

My very first plan, Plan A, had been [Stay cooped up in the Ruby Palace until I die, without getting noticed by Claude.]

For that one, I had assumed that to avoid Athanasia running into Claude, I’d only need to be especially careful around the time I was nine years old.

But I had been too complacent. Plan A had crumbled before my eyes the moment I met Claude at the emperor’s palace.

Who knew that a no-frills palace would be Claude’s residence?!

And why is the concubine’s palace so close to the emperor’s palace? It’s not like it was even meant for an empress. It was basically a harem! I can’t help but think that all the previous Obelian emperors were lustful lechers and libertines.

After grumbling to myself for a moment, I looked at the next sentence crossed out in black ink.

[Plan B: Amass a getaway fund and hightail it out of the palace before I turn eighteen.]

Now, this was still feasible, for Claude had killed Athanasia when she was eighteen in the novel.

Of course, I couldn’t be sure that my meeting Claude four years early wouldn’t have any effect on the future. But what I knew for sure was that he wasn’t going to kill me at that moment.

So does that mean I’ll be able to continue hoarding more of my little pretties? When the time comes to leave the palace, I’ll probably disguise myself as a maid or slip out through a secret hole that leads to the outside.

I’ll shelve this one for now.

Now the most ambitious of them all. With a more solemn look on my face than ever before, I wrote down each and every letter clearly on the paper.

[Plan C: Win Claude over by sweeping him off his feet with my charms ♡]

Hmm... Now that I’ve written it down, it’s hitting me differently.

I stared at what I had written for a while, then rubbed my face with my hands.

Urgh, I’m so desperate to escape this reality right now. Winning Claude over, of all people?! Forget winning his heart. I might win all the death sentences instead. I’m gonna lose it.

I thought about crossing out what I had just written all over again, but in the end, I left it as it was. As I crossed my arms, I could feel that a deep wrinkle had been etched between my eyebrows.

But it’s not totally impossible, is it?

I mean, sure, my confidence may seem baseless. But at the very least, I already know how the story goes. I probably won’t be able to get him to dote on me like he did on Jennette, but I might be able to get close enough to him that he won’t feel the urge to kill me, can’t I?

He even let me go unharmed when I called him “Daddy” earlier!

“Ack!”

A wave of shame came over me as I remembered that moment. I kicked off my blanket in embarrassment.

“Daddy”?! Are you kidding me?

It made me cringe so hard that I wanted to climb into a hole and never come out. But what was even more shameful was that I was probably going to have to relive the nightmare over and over again in the near future!

“Gaaaah.”

I thrashed my limbs in frustration for who knew how long. Finally, I lifted my face (which had been buried in the pillow) and made a difficult resolution.

All right. I’ll carry out Plans B and C at the same time. The more insurance, the better.

It’s been decided. I should put these papers away before Lily comes.

As for all the humiliating deeds and cringe fests that await me... Gaaah. I’ll consider them investments and stepping stones for my future.

“It’s time for bed, Your Highness.”

“Lily, sing me a lullaby!”

I lay in Lily’s embrace and played with her as I forced myself to swallow tears of dejection.

***

Why does time fly by so quickly when you’re dreading what’s to come?

Fighting for my life by eating cake behind closed doors with Claude felt like yesterday, and yet ten days had already passed, and I was sitting across from him again.

But this time, I wasn’t alone. I had Lily to rely on!

“It has been a while, Lilian York,” he said.

“Blessings and glory upon the Sun of the Obelian Empire.”

*Sob.* Sorry, Lily, but I’m just so terrified of Claude. Even now, I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.

Judging by how intimidated I am to be seeing Claude, it seems my capacity for courage has shrunken to the size of a pea now that I am a five-year-old.

The throne room was as big as a football field, and yet it held only me, Claude, Lily, and Felix— the knight I had met last time. This had crossed my mind the last time, too, but boy, the emperor really didn’t have much of an entourage following him around.

“I’ve been so preoccupied in recent years, I have not been able to give our one true princess enough of the proper attention she needs. And yet, Athanasia has grown safe and sound under your care, and I commend you for that.”

“I am grateful for your kind words, Your Majesty.”

Are you kidding me? “Not been able to give enough of the proper attention”?

You didn’t pay any attention at all! And that’s not all. You completely forgot about my existence!

“Henceforth, I will take responsibility for the princess’s safety and wellbeing, so you need not worry yourself over the task any longer.”

I heard lightning and thunder strike over my head. Claude sat casually as usual on his throne as he smiled at me with narrowed eyes.

Is that a... s-smile? Did he just smile at me?

But it wasn’t the kind of comforting smile that came from a place of endearment. It was a creepy smile that looked like it was taunting me, asking, “What are you gonna do about it now, hmm?” I felt all the hairs on my body rise.

I cancel what I just said! I cancel talking smack about you!

What I actually meant was to thank you for forgetting about me this whole time. Thank you for failing to remember that I was alive all this time! I’d really appreciate it if you could keep it up!

Oh, I’d cry tears of happiness for you to just erase me from the family registry. Waaaah.

But what power did a petit bourgeois like me have? I caught Lily’s eyes wavering at the emperor’s statement as well.

“From this day forth, Athanasia will enjoy all of the luxuries that a princess is entitled to.”

But you haven’t acknowledged me as your daughter. Even Claude said himself in the novel that he never once considered Athanasia to be his daughter! You haven’t accepted me to be a real princess even now.

What is he playing at? What the heck is going through his mind?

Lily seemed to feel the same way I did. Even after we left the throne room, it didn’t look like the color would return to her pale face any time soon.

“It’s all right, Your Highness,” she whispered as she pulled me into her arms.

I desperately wanted that to be true.