Don’t Concern Yourself With That Book

The second biggest room in Terena Palace. This was where I was currently in, preparing for bed.

“The 6^th Prince is really too much!”

Hannah complained as she took hair pins out of my hair.

“I don’t know how Your Highness remains so patient even when he keeps bothering you like that. Oh my, look at Your Highness’ cheeks. It looks like it’s going to swell tomorrow…”

Tess, who was bringing water, nodded her head as if she agreed.

“It’s not just that. What he said when you were returning from the room was not something an older brother should say. What did he mean when he said that Your Highness was vulgar too just because you eat with us… Hmph. Lena was just picking up the item that the Prince dropped…”

Ah, did that happened? After I sent Fleon off, I remember seeing him tell a blue-haired woman off. I could only see that much from where I was sitting.

“He said something like ‘It’s all because the Princess has yet to learn proper manners. If not, she wouldn’t be coddling the vulgar.’ We may be vulgar but it isn’t Your Highness’ fault…”

Oh, did he say that? I tried to recall using my hazy memory. But nothing came to mind.

I gave up neatly.

“Lena, are you there?”

The blue-haired woman, who had been scattering flower petals in the basin of water, got up and approached us. Unlike her usual cheerful self, the girl just quietly nodded her head. She seemed like she wanted to avoid me but I could see that her eyes were red. Even without touching it, I could see that they were moist. It wasn’t long before I spoke.

“So, you’re the one who got in the way of the Prince.”

“N-no I didn’t!”

I wiped away her tears.

“My apologies.”

“No, Your Highness. This is not something Your Highness should apologise for.”

The girl replied looking helpless.

“I wanted to say something back to that bas—I mean, Fleon but I can’t force him to change.”

The Empire favoured Princes much more than their Princesses. So, there was no special reason for being unable to stop him. Not only that, Fleon had the power to drive out the maids of my Palace.

“… Fuck it.”

Because of his, his arrogance was off the roofs.

I had experienced what kind of pain an employee had to suffer through while the employer beats him before. So, I could easily empathise with her.

“When Fleon comes to visit, you don’t have to come to the drawing room. This is an order for all of you.”

This disgusting world. I shouldn’t be needing to undergo such sorrows after reincarnating into another life.

“I’ll do the rest myself.”

“You can’t, Your Highness.”

“I hate it. I hate seeing you all cry every time he comes by.”

‘Our Princess has grown up so well’ was what their eyes seemed to be trying to convey as they looked at me happily.

‘I think there’s been a misunderstanding.’

I just empathised with you since I knew what it was like to be mistreated by your employer.

‘I didn’t manage to clear up their misunderstanding. How disappointing…’

Fleon was a cheeky child. But I didn’t hate him.

Other than being rude to the maids in my palace and threatening to fire them, he has not yet done any of those things.

I know that sounded like a contradiction. I know that he was definitely the baddest of the bad guys out there. But there’s a reason why I couldn’t hate him.

“You are ugly, stupid and a chick that’ll never grow up. So what? If you get misunderstood because of your scar, you can just stay here for the rest of your life.”

That was what he whispered to me the one day I lost my confidence and fell into self-doubt.

“Other than me, no one can hurt you.”

When I asked why he was acting like that, he just smiled.

“Because you’re my little sister.”

I had no reason to hate him.

“You can’t just change all that blood flowing through you, can you? That’s why you’re my little sister, you dumbass.”

Of course, this was all my opinion. From the eyes of the maids, Fleon was a terrible master.

Nothing can be more excruciating than when a child is given power. I understood the maids well since I’ve stood in their shoes before.

‘Let’s think about all the hair I pulled out—that when gathered together would be deeper than the Han River—from all the stress I received from teaching the Boss’ son math.’

I could understand them in a flash.

“Honestly, Fleon’s a bitch.”

“Uhm… Isn’t he the Prince?

(Ashley)“You can swear at the Emperor and the Princes in this room.”

When the maids poured out their grievances to me, I would usually ignore them. But only if they said them, can I solve them. But why are they so quiet? Weren’t you all having a nice conversation?

“ I-I’ll go prepare the bath!”

Even while bathing me and wiping me down afterwards, the maids remained stiff like new employees in front of their boss. Should I have not said that after all? I felt like a returning student drinking in front of all the freshmen. It felt like I insisted on a ‘Yaja’ time.*

*T/N: For those of y’all that don’t know, returning students are college students who took a gap year half way through college and ‘returned’ to study. They have a habit of showing off in front of their college juniors especially during class/department gatherings. ‘Yaja’ time is a drinking game (SK loves their drinking games) where the age hierarchy is reversed and younger people can talk informally to older ones while the older people are forced to talk formally to the younger ones. fin.

“I think you lost weight, your Highness.”

“Uh, really? Did you say today’s scent is jasmine?”

“Yes!”

I could smell a good scent coming from the bed. Instead of lying down, I sat with only half of my butt on the edge of the bed.

“Tess. Do you know anything about the Prince?”

“The Prince?”

“Yup.”

My gaze landed on the diary.

“Not the ones that come to our Palace to play. I’m talking about the other Prince.”

“Oh, you mean the Crown Prince and the 4 other Princes?”

“Yup.”

I answered after taking my eyes off the diary.

“Well, I’m not sure. Like many others here, I don’t usually leave the palace.”

“Hm, is that so?”

“Like Tess, I’m just a maid. Lena, you too, right? We were all brought in by the head maid herself.”

The maids chattered away with no useful information for me.

“By the way, Your Highness.”

Hannah spoke up just before the topic passed.

“Why are you asking about the other princes?”

“Ah, I’ve just been wondering about my other brothers.”

I smiled slightly.

“I’ve always been here so I was just curious.”

I shrugged my shoulders. That was all a lie. Actually, I was not curious at all. But I couldn’t help but wonder of course.

“It’s all because.”

The moment my eyes landed on that damned diary, I grinded my teeth.

“Nobody tells me anything…”

It was so difficult to act like a child.

“Ah… Your Highness.”

It’s all because I can’t swear openly. Why don’t you just spit it out and ask me why I was asking you to swear? I know you want an answer.

“I was just curious.”

Hannah, who had been worried about my aging face, was washing my face with cold water. She hesitated a bit before bring it up.

“A probationary maid?”

“Yes. We need people to help with the work in the kitchen. The probationary maids were educated in the Central Palace and were distributed to the different Palaces to work. There’s one here right now so wouldn’t she know about the Princes? She said that this was her second year working and she came from a different Palace.”

“Is that so? That means she won’t know about other Palaces.”

“Yes.”

Tess stepped in.

“Oh my, are you talking about Anna? Surely if it was her, she might know something.”

Hannah nodded before saying quickly.

“Your Highness, head to the kitchen after breakfast tomorrow.”

“Alright but she has to go visit her nanny after morning.”

“We’ll tell the nanny that she’s with us!”

“Really? Thank you, Tess! Hannah!”

I reached out and held their hands tightly. For the first time since I entered this room, I spoke without hesitation.

“I like you all so much! I really do!”

They burst into laughter.

“We like you too, Your Highness.”

I know that you were all seeing me as just a child but I was probably older than all of you. That was why they worried about me not acting like a child sometimes. Running around occasionally as a child while being purely blissful was their indication of a good and kind child.

I laughed. In their eyes, they probably think I was just a naïve girl who was curious about her family. They had no idea what my intentions were for wanting to leave here.

“Oh yeah, Your Highness, didn’t you mention that you had a nightmare a few days ago? Bessie’s got this from one of the clerics.”

All of you are very kind to this person who only looks like a child. I couldn’t hate them when I know that they only worry about my safety because they cared about me. When I was an adult, I was depressed all day.

“Time to sleep!”

“Yes, Your Highness, good night.”

I had promised myself from long ago that I was going to remain acting like a child. Even though it was fake, I get generous gifts in return.

“Yup, good night!”

Once I couldn’t hear footsteps, I removed my blanket. I got up from my bed and reached out for the switch. Soon, light filled the room.

I took a deep breath.

“Ha.”

I looked down at the diary.

“This is upsetting.”

The future came true.

That means I was going to die soon.

“… In any case, I should be correct to believe that everything written here is true…”

Dumbfounded, I burst into laughter. So, just like what it says on the diary, I was going to be stabbed a week from now?

I thought that I had gone crazy. I thought that maybe I was a 13-year-old kid who just believed in reincarnation.

That every memory of my past life were just hallucinations. I could simply just be a delusional person, think that I was an adult.

But whenever I closed my eyes, my past life would flash across my mind. Airplanes, taxis, high-rise apartments, and elevators. The feeling of a smartphone at hand, the taste of bitter soju and the giggles of my friends when we tried to save our money in a green goat.

“That’s right. Those are not lies.”

After hearing the name of the Prince whose face I’ve never seen before, one by one the names of every commander, count and knights of this Empire filled my head.

I also knew their appearance.

Ashley Rosé Kaltanias knows things that should not have been known. The surprised face of my teacher as he asked me “How did you know?” made me seriously realised that I had reincarnated.

How do I survive?

How do I find the leads and suck up to them? But to find them, there was a long way that needed to be travelled. I only had a week left.

Then what should I do? Sub-main character?

How do I find someone who wants to kill me in advance? And even if I do find him, who’s to say he wouldn’t kill me in advance as well?

“How difficult.”

To be honest, I spent my entire life studying math and physics. In the end, I was making money with an office job that had nothing to do with those subjects. Nevertheless, there was one thing my studies have taught me.

The world was full of problems and problems had answers.

I know because I had walked a path full of hardships in my previous life. If there were no answers, I’ll just make one.

“No. I must survive.”

The fact that I had been reincarnated was enough fantasy in my life. I can’t handle anything weirder than that.

“I need information.”

I went through my diary carefully as I wrote down my workings on a separate piece of paper. Then I wrote down all I could remember from the novel and then what I remembered learning about Kaltanias when I took lessons as the Princess.

I set my shaking hands down.

“Was this even a question with an answer?”

I ended up putting my pen down and covering my face. If it goes on like this, I was going to die in the hands of that crazy bastard. If I give up now, I’ll reach this life’s dead end. I’ve got to find a way out of this.

But I was only a 13-year-old human. I still have no idea what that diary is and why weird stuff was being written on it.

“I can’t calm down.”

I knew I had to stay calm. But my hands were trembling, my vision was getting blurry and I was getting dizzy.

This was strange. The Princess I dreamed of becoming as a child could do anything. I’ve finally become a princess now but why can I still do nothing?

Ashley Rosé.

After knowing that I was going to die after living a splendid live that could not be compared to my previous one, I got selfish.

Wouldn’t it be better if I was just born limp and became friends with the main characters? I wish I could have been born as good supporting character.

Why was I even here? Why wasn’t I the main character?

Why did the diary direct me to death?

“My friend, whether this life was yours or mine, I’m still too pitiful.”

­T/N: I think she was referring to the original Ashley here lel.

“Why didn’t I become one?”

Was I going to die again? It’s scary.