Crazy Like a Fox

Chapter 1

Prologue

Lisbelle Valdimar.

The youngest of five sons and five daughters of the Valdimar Kingdom and fourth in line for the throne. If one were to wonder how the youngest could be fourth in line, they would find that it is because four of the princesses and two of the princes ahead of her were no longer alive.

King Lucife of Valdimar was an infamous tyrant. He took the crown by brutally murdering his two older brothers in the holy temple of the goddess Hellare. That ended the civil war, and Valdimar was ready to welcome a new king.

Everyone thought it was over, but it wasn’t.

From the moment he ascended the throne, the king’s body began to harden like stone. An unknown disease started at the tips of his fingers and toes, slowly but surely spreading through his bloodstream to engulf his entire body. Renowned physicians from across the continent gathered in Valdimar, but none could determine the cause. Various rare herbs only managed to temporarily slow the progression of the disease, but they could not offer a permanent solution.

As for Lucife’s illness, the rumor spread that the king had incurred the goddess’s wrath by desecrating the sacred temple with his brothers’ blood. No one knew the truth of these rumors. However, ten years after the succession war, a prophecy from the goddess Hellare revealed that the rumors were not entirely false.

“My strongest warrior shall save Valdimar.”

It had been over a hundred years since a prophecy from the goddess descended upon the continent. It was also the first time that a prophecy had come to the partially ruined temple in Krieg, the capital of Valdimar, instead of the Great Varien Temple that held sway across the continent.

Valdimar was a kingdom founded by warriors who guarded Hellare, thus “Warriors of Hellare” meant royalty. The strongest royal shall save Valdimar and the cursed king. As soon as Lucife interpreted the meaning of the prophecy, he declared in front of his ten children, “The last one to survive among you shall become the next ruler of Valdimar.”

His order came with a condition.

“Prove that you are the strongest warrior, using any means necessary.”

The intent was clear. The year after the king’s decree was issued, the first prince beheaded the second princess. From that very moment, a battle royale-style succession ceremony began for the throne. It was impossible to renounce the right to succession.

By the time the youngest princess, Lisbelle, turned fifteen, her older siblings had been killed by each other’s swords. Around that time, the only remaining royals were the first prince, second prince, fifth prince, and Lisbelle herself, the fifth princess. Only one royal could succeed to the throne. Three more had to die among the remaining four. Naturally, Lisbelle was next.

On the morning of her fifteenth birthday, Lisbelle drank tea secretly poisoned by her eldest brother, the first prince, and died. She had always been cautious, but she never imagined there would be poison in the tea she brewed herself. The tea leaves had been inspected, but they had been switched out at some point.

“Now there are only two left.”

Those were the only words the first prince muttered as he watched Lisbelle die. It seemed like she could faintly hear her father’s voice.

“Is it my fourth daughter?”

Until her last breath, Lisbelle was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t even close her eyes. How could her father have failed to see his children as human beings? He could not have even distinguished between his fourth and fifth daughters, even though the fourth had died years ago. Thus, Lisbelle Valdimar, the saint of the goddess Hellare—born after a hundred years—ended her short life. She didn’t even live to reach fifteen years old, nor did she awaken her innate power.

No one knew she was the saint the entire continent had been desperately waiting for. However, perhaps because she never closed her eyes until the end, or maybe for some other reason—Lisbelle came back to life. Not only did she come back to life, but she defied the laws of nature and returned to the past.

“I’ve come back...”

Lisbelle looked down at her small hands and her tiny body. She clearly died writhing in agony, as if the poison was incinerating her insides. The moment she stopped breathing was still vivid in her mind. Lisbelle unconsciously brought her hand to her throat. The deadly poison had traveled down her esophagus. She knew it the moment she swallowed a sip of the tea. It was her eldest brother, Jekyll Valdimar, the first prince, who would kill her today.

I actually had a feeling about it for some time now. With only four royals remaining, it was obvious who would be the first to die. Lisbelle had no strength whatsoever, nor did she have any support. The noble factions vying to make her the next ruler were nonexistent. She was a princess of humble beginnings, so she had vague suspicions. Next time, she would be the one who died.

To avoid being killed, she had to kill them first, but the remaining three princes were no ordinary opponents. They were no different from beasts, driven solely by their desire for the throne. It was only because Lisbelle lived in silence, acting as if she didn’t exist, that she was able to survive. If she had shown ambition for the throne like her two elder brothers and four sisters who had died before her, or attempted preemptive strikes, she would have been beheaded by the monster-like princes long ago.

But that alone wasn’t sufficient.

Living in silence all her life, secluded within the castle walls, wasn’t enough for her to survive until the end. Being born into a royal family meant inevitably competing with her siblings for the throne—it was an unavoidable fate. So, in her second life, she needed to make things different.

“The fourth princess has passed away.”

She remained silent. Lisbelle had returned to life at the age of ten. It was the day her eldest sister in line was murdered. Upon hearing the news, Lisbelle made up her mind.

I can’t spend this life waiting for death, again. She had to devise a plan. However, Lisbelle was only ten and had few options available to her. She couldn’t gather her own forces, persuade her remaining siblings, or escape the palace right away. The moment her brothers caught wind of her attempts to build her strength or train in secret, they would kill her on the spot.

So, ultimately, the method Lisbelle chose was...

“On the moonlit hill!”

“P-Princess?”

“The white, evening primroses bloom!”

She chose to go mad.

The Last Princess Wants to Survive

The chandelier’s light dazzled her eyes.

The central hall of the royal castle was filled with sweltering heat, the orchestral music, and the chatter of people. Today marked the night of the banquet hosted directly by the king. Several hours had already passed since the banquet began, and the atmosphere inside the hall was reaching its peak.

“Didn’t they say the Valdimar’s madwoman would be attending the ball today?” a noble leading the group’s conversation exclaimed loudly.

“Ah, I heard that too.”

Giggles of mockery followed.

“I heard she insisted on coming despite knowing how much His Majesty and the princes dislike her. It might be rude to say this about a princess, but perhaps because she’s lost her mind, it seems like she has become utterly fearless.”

The topics of conversation that had been separate in each group quickly converged into one: the disgrace of the royal family. The fifth princess, known as the “Madwoman of Valdimar,” suddenly became the focal point of the discussion.

“They say she almost broke her neck last time trying to climb the castle walls. For some reason, she didn’t have a single scratch on her body.”

“The castle walls covered with thorny vines? Tsk, tsk. She’s really out of her mind...”

The news that Valdimar’s last remaining princess had lost her mind had been spreading throughout the kingdom—including the capital—for nine years. The fifth princess lost her sanity shortly after receiving news that her older sister had been murdered. She was only ten at the time.

In a normal kingdom, people might have sympathized with the youngest princess—a girl who couldn’t endure the brutal succession ceremony and eventually lost her mind. Unfortunately, Valdimar was not a normal kingdom.

A nobleman in the crowd lifted his head.

“I can’t believe such an anomaly has appeared in the royal bloodline. There has never been such disgrace.”

The ancestors of Valdimar were the cruel Karbesians who had their roots in the northern part of the continent. It was a kingdom formed by the cruelest among the Karbesian people, who worshipped their goddesses on cold and desolate lands. Known for their fierce warrior spirit, they were a nuisance even across the continent, a country under the special oversight of the Great Western Rattaeh Empire. That was Valdimar.

The royal family of Valdimar had been revered as the strongest warriors by the people of the kingdom for generations. For this reason, the exceedingly bizarre succession ceremony to the throne was considered a national event in Valdimar. Every time a member of the royal family was eliminated, the people cheered and praised the surviving members. So when a madwoman unlike any seen before emerged from such a powerful royal lineage, it was only natural that all eyes were on her. Of course, not a single person looked at her with kindness.

“Well, with her lovely face and figure, it is certainly quite a sight to see. Wouldn’t you agree, Your Highness?”

The second price remained silent.

Rodges Valdimar, the second prince in line to the throne, did not dignify the lowly inquiry with a response. He watched impassively as the nobles around him chattered about his sister, then turned away. Amidst the murmurs and gossip about the princess, someone suddenly raised their voice.

“Oh, look who’s here!”

The massive doors of the banquet hall slowly opened. Even before the doors had fully opened, a white hem and small feet, wrapped loosely in bandages, suddenly appeared. Following that, slender white fingers grasped the door, revealing flowing blonde hair.

The bustling banquet hall fell silent for a moment. Peeking out from behind the door, the fifth princess appeared, blinking her blue eyes as she slowly scanned the hall. Each person who caught her gaze involuntarily froze and held their breath.

After lingering behind the door for a while, showing only her face, the fifth princess suddenly smiled brightly. Her gentle eyes crinkled mischievously, revealing even teeth between her parted red lips.

“Hello!”