The Monster Princess

Chapter 3

* * *

I miraculously got better after just one day, just as Marina had told me would happen. Sadly, my chronic fevers weren’t a typical illness, so it was inevitable that I would shrivel up and be bedridden again before long.

As soon as I woke up, my maids rushed to attend to me. Their eager voices nearly overlapped.

“Your bath is prepared, Your Highness.”

“Shall we add lavender fragrance to it?”

“We will use Bardas’ classic mana stone, one of your favorites.”

“Here, have some lime sherbet. It’s sweetened with honey.”

“Allow me to offer you a rose oil massage.”

I was used to this kind of royal treatment. As I dipped my body into the warm, sweet bathwater covered with a layer of flower petals, my fatigue instantly melted away.

Ahh... Heaven. All this luxury is mine to enjoy. After the dream had given me a peek into Judith’s difficult life from her point of view, I gained a new perspective on all the things I had taken for granted.

I can order people around and don’t have to lift a finger. That’s the kind of life I live. It felt fantastic being surrounded by maids who spoiled me rotten at every turn. I received only the most luxurious treatment, down to the tips of my fingers and each strand of my hair. This was paradise.

“Thank you, everyone,” I said.

“Your Highness...!”

Startled and touched by my words, the maids gazed at me with tears forming in their eyes.

“It is our absolute pleasure.”

“Serving you is a great honor for us!”

“We will continue to devote ourselves to you, Princess Arbella!”

What are they so thrilled about? It’s not like I’ve never said such words to them before. I’m sure I’ve thanked them once or twice. Right? Or is this really the first time?

Watching their renewed vigor and enthusiasm made me reflect on the life I had lived up to this point. But unsurprisingly, my thoughts trailed off to my memories of the dream.

—To the arrogant First Princess Arbella, the noblest of the imperial family, Judith was nothing but vermin and the daughter of a slave.

That book... Just what was it? I didn’t really read about the future, did I?

Not only did the book predict future events from Judith’s perspective, but it also contained various personal details about her that I never knew. Confirming so many of those details within the past ten days had been eerie and frightening.

“I’m getting chills...” I mumbled.

“Are you feeling cold, Your Highness?”

The maids began making a fuss when I muttered my thoughts out loud.

“Oh, no, my thoughts were just wandering.”

Truthfully, “an arrogant princess” was a rather apt description for me. But in my defense, I was born as the First Princess of the Camulita Empire. Her Majesty the Empress was my mother, and my maternal family was descended from the long line of the highly distinguished Delphiniums, one of the empire’s three founding families. I had the purest of noble blood running through my veins.

Additionally, I was praised for my intellect and blessed with an unparalleled beauty that one simply could not help but gawk at. All of these characteristics cemented my status as the future empress.

I had everything one could possibly want since the day I was born. I could make anything happen as I wished. I could simply breathe and people would worship me. Everyone was in absolute awe of the glorious being that I was.

I am the most extraordinary. I am the most remarkable. I am the best!

I was healthy, too, as a child. Fearless and full of ego, these were the thoughts that roamed around in my head.

I was very proud of my pure parentage and tended to look down on my half-siblings who were born from the empress consorts. Of course, I never stooped so low as to express those sentiments outwardly. After all, I was a superior being, a chosen one. I figured I should learn to embrace even those I considered lower than myself. When I displayed benevolence, it was because of that principle.

But in that stupid book, I was portrayed as a hopeless blood supremacist. I was called an arrogant princess whose heart was full of vanity and conceit. I had to be enraged.

“I think I will pay a long overdue visit to Her Majesty,” I announced.

“Yes, Your Highness. We will make the preparations.”

After getting out of the bath, I impulsively began getting ready to go out. But before I left my room, I peered into my mirror.

I stared at myself with gleaming aquamarine eyes. My pale blonde hair, shimmering like starlight, gracefully fell down the length of my back. My beautifully proportioned and sharp facial features made me stand out wherever I went, while my preference for flashy clothes and jewelry only accentuated my eye-catching loveliness.

However, something was different about the girl staring back at me today. There was a pinch of uneasiness about her.

Leaving those anxious feelings behind, I stepped out of the room.

* * *

As I left my palace, I was blinded by warm sunlight I hadn’t seen or felt in some time. How long had it been? I couldn’t remember. Because of my stubborn ailment, I was often stuck in bed and unable to go outside.

I was confident Marina had been able to reorganize my schedule, but I knew she had canceled a few appointments that I would have to see to this evening. Due to my rather selfish nature, outsiders who didn’t know my struggles thought I bailed on these appointments without reason. That really was the case at times, so I made no effort to convince them otherwise. My illness was a weakness, so it was better to be labeled a disrespectful princess than to have it exposed.

Soon, I arrived at the Empress’s Palace.

“Her Majesty is in the rear garden, Your Highness,” Marina informed me.

“We shall head there, then.”

It had been nearly a month since I last saw my mother. Unless there was a function or I came here to visit, it was almost impossible to meet her. It was unsurprising, since she never visited me while I was ill.

When I was younger, I was extremely fond of my mother and basically lived at her palace. That was why the scenery here was very familiar to me. But at a certain point about two years ago, I stopped visiting. It had been even longer since she had stopped coming to my palace.

We were not always so distant from one another. As her only daughter, I had received nothing but love and attention from her since the day I was born. She only began to change when...

“Mommy!”

At that moment, a clear voice rang out like a bell. I slowed my steps. I had just arrived at the entrance to the rear garden, and the gentle scent of flowers tickled my nose.

“My dear Prince Millium, it is dangerous to run like that! What if you get hurt?” cooed a woman’s sweet, adoring voice.

Through some lush bushes, I saw who the voices belonged to. A stunning woman sat at a tea table in the middle of the garden as a little boy ran across the grassy lawn toward her. The two shared the same golden hair and ruby eyes.

The boy beamed at the woman with his eyes shimmering. “Mommy, here! I made you a gift!”

She bent down and gave him a warm smile. “My, my, what a beautiful crown.”

She chuckled softly at what was definitely a clumsily made flower crown. It must have taken the boy quite the effort to finish it.

“I’ll help you put it on!”

“It is lovely. Thank you, dear.”

I stopped walking and watched them from afar. “So, she’s with Millium,” I murmured to Marina.

“Yes, the prince suddenly came to visit.”

The two people were my mother, Empress Charel Delphinium, and the third prince, Millium. I was an only child until Millium was born five years ago, and he was the only one of my siblings with whom I shared the same set of parents.

Watching their cheerful affection made my stomach churn. I had sent notice of my visit and yet it felt like I was crashing a party.

I wanted to run to my mother and be hugged tightly in her arms as I told her what happened.

Mother, I had an awful nightmare. There was this nonsense book that said I would end up dying young! Not only that, it said I would crawl on the ground like an insect. Not a single person would feel sorry for me, and I would die a lonely, sad death. That’s right, the book said your daughter, who had everything since the day she was born and has always been loved and cherished, is supposed to meet that horrible end.

But you know what, Mother? I keep thinking that it wasn’t lying, and those things really will come true. Mother, I... I’m scared.

But in the end, I wasn’t able to tell her anything. Instead, I turned to Marina.

“I feel quite dizzy, so it’s difficult to stay on my feet. I must return to my palace. Inform Her Majesty that I had to postpone my visit.”

“You won’t greet her?”

“Not today.” Seeing Mother and Millium together left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I could have sworn I met my mother’s eyes right before I turned to leave, but she didn’t call out to stop me.

As we started walking back the way we came, Marina hesitantly opened her mouth to speak. “Your Highness, if I may suggest something... Perhaps you should join Her Majesty for tea. It has been a while for you, after all.”

“Perhaps next time.”

I left the garden, not once pausing or turning to look back.