Chapter 4

With the story ending happily ever after, you can only imagine how frustrated I was.

“Argh.”

I was getting angry just by thinking about it.

I didn’t know what the author was thinking by putting in that supporting character just for her to die in vain.

The middle school student, who was a passionate fan of the book, fervently said it was to emphasize Claude’s love for Jannette.

And she continued to blabber on about how it was the epitome of romance fantasy novels, and how it captured all the dreams of women perfectly. Of course, I didn’t listen because it seemed like bullcrap.

And it wasn’t like I sympathized with Athanasia, it was that she was better than Claude or Jannette. I did think that people should always prioritize themselves over others, but that was a separate matter.

Why?

Because I felt like I became Athanasia from the novel!

“Uwang!”

I burst in tears because I felt sad again.

I kept trying to convince myself it wasn’t true but there were limits in escaping from reality. There were too many similarities to that novel! Even if they’re coincidences, how can they all be the same? I tried to ignore this uneasy gut feeling, but it wasn’t easy.

“Princess!”

Lili opened the door at the sound of my anguished tears.

“Why is our princess crying?”

I buried my face in her familiar arms and kept crying. I was on an emotional rollercoaster these days and I became sadder when I saw Lili’s face.

“Are you hungry?”

Lilian Yorke.

The only person who had believed in Athanasia’s innocence until the very end in . As a result, she had died along with Athanasia.

Lilian was the second daughter of an influential Count family, so she didn’t have to be Athanasia’s maid.

But she volunteered to be at the Ruby Palace and became a nanny to Athanasia. The reason was because of Athanasia’s mother, who had passed away.

Diana was a very charmful and wonderful woman with blonde hair like the moonlight and mysterious red eyes.

Also, she was talented enough to perform a solo stage at a royal ball. Lilian, who was sick of the stuffy Palace life, respected and admired Diana, who was free like a bird.

But Diana ended up becoming Claude’s one night stand and locked up in the Ruby Palace.

“Waaaaaang!”

Claude, you piece of scum. As I cried louder, Lilian seemed to be flustered.

“Oh my. Princess, what’s wrong?”

I couldn’t stop crying. No matter how much I thought about it this was definitely the world of that novel!

Lilian and Diana’s friendship appeared in the novel only a few times, but I was deeply moved by it.

A beautiful friendship, like the one I saw in Anne of Green Gables when I was invited to a birthday party.

Yeah, I didn’t have any friends. So that’s why I was admiring such a beautiful princess! But in the end, Lili also died, because she was on Athanasia’s side!

“Is is time to change the diaper?”

Wait! I didn’t pee!

“So it’s not food or the diaper….”

No, my innocence! I began to twist my body as hard as I could after being forcefully undressed, and starting to cry again. It wasn’t like it was the first time experiencing it, but it still left me psychologically shocked.

“She’s whining a lot these days.”

Lili was frustrated because she couldn’t find out why I was crying. But I was as frustrated as her! I can’t talk even if I want to in this situation! I have no dreams or hopes!

Whether it was a reincarnation or possession, both didn’t make sense. Wasn’t this totally unfair!

Oh Lilian. Wherefore art thou Lilian? Wherefore art Diana Diana and Claude Claude? And wherefore art me Athanasia? Just why?

I just wanna be Jannette! I don’t wanna be Athanasia.

“It’s ok princess. I’m here.”

I continued to cry upon hearing LIlian’s consoling voice.

The only solution was to leave this damned palace. Time, please go by quick!

***

It was a bright and sunny spring day. The flowers in the garden of the Ruby Palace weren’t mended at all, and they grew by nature and bloomed fancily.

I pattered down the hallway between the flowers and grabbed onto one of the maid unnie’s dress skirt.

“Unnie. Unnie.”

Today was the day different vegetables, meats, and fish came into the palace, so she was definitely finished checking that to go do something else.

At my call, the unnie looked down at me. I made a cute face complete with puppy dog eyes.

“Can Ati please have some chocowet?”

I am five. I am five. This doesn’t embarrass me. This doesn’t….bullshit. How embarrassing.

“Cute princess, would you like some chocolate?”

“Yeah! I wike chocowet. Gimme gimme a lot please.”

And the maid unnie touched her palm like she was persuaded by my cuteness and looked for something in her apron. Her name was Hannah, and she always had chocolate or candy to give me.

“You like chocolate that much?”

“Yeah! I wike chocowet! I wike it thiiiiiiis much!”

I drew a big circle over my head. It was a big embarrassing, but if I could get a quick snack, this was nothing.

“I wike Hannah too!”

“Oh my.”

Give me! Give me chocolate!

“Hannah, what are you doing?”

My plans to get some chocolate from the maid unnie were being disrupted.

“Ces!”

“Didn’t you hear what Ms.Lillian said? That we can’t give the princess snacks whenever we feel like it.”

The maid unnie who had appeared at the end of the hall was a beautiful lady with a cold expression.

This maid unnie’s name was Ces, and this wasn’t the first time she foiled my plans to get snacks.

“But it’s just one.”

“But it’s a problem because it’s not just you who thinks that way.”

No! Don’t get between me and my chocolate!

Ces was different from Hannah in that she emanated an icy aura, but I didn’t give up.

“Unnie.”

This time I pulled at Ces’s dress skirt and attacked her with my shining eyes.

“Ati wants to eat chocowet.”

As I looked up with ever so pitiful eyes, the maid unnie started to waver.

“You can’t princess.’

But I know! That your mind is shaking!”

“You really can’t….”

In the end, I won.

A moment later, the maid unnie kneeled to be on my eye level, and placed a fistful of chocolate in my hand.

“It’s a secret from Ms.Lilian, ok?”

Lili, who was worried about my cavities prevented me from eating sweets, so the fact that I took them from the maids was a secret amongst us.

“Thank wu, unnie!”

I made a big smile as I kissed her cheek. I saw her loosening at my cuteness.

See. This unnie only looks cold. She actually has a warm heart.

Yay. A cold beauty who was only nice to me. It’s nice.

“Hey! Ces that’s unfair! You did this on purpose, right?”

“Humph. What are you talking about? Do you think I’m like you and have secret motives for doing things?”

“Then why are you giving it to the princess? The princess’s kiss was mine.”

The two started to fight behind me.

I started to run away before Lili saw me.

It felt like a dine and dash, but not getting caught by Lili was the most important!

Time flowed quickly and I was already 5 years old.

Lili always nagged at me not to speak with honorifics to the workers or be friendly with them, but this was my way of survival.

And what was elegance to an outcast princess anyway.

The maid unnies who ignored my efforts now gave me snacks and initiated conversations with me, so I could say I was successful.

Usually if maids initiated conversation it was blasphemy against the royal family, but in my palace, we didn’t have such rules.

I decided to buy their goodwill when I could walk.

Before that, the maids were so annoying that I ‘accidentally’ spilled water on them or played jokes on them, but I realized that it was more beneficial to me to be nice.

I was barely hanging onto my life because of Claude, so there was no reason to listen to them speak behind my back as well. If this continued, there wasn’t anything different from the original story!

The deciding factor in me being nice to them was because I discovered that things really were disappearing from my palace.

Everyone who worked here was from a noble family, but they were all powerless nobles like Barons or Viscounts.

At first, they were all afraid of Claude when they were first assigned here, but when they realized Claude didn’t care an ounce about me, they started to slowly take things, one by one.