Chapter 4 · To the Royal Palace (3)

Gurgle.

I hadn’t checked how deep it was, but it seemed fairly deep. Judging by how endlessly I was sinking. I held my breath because I didn’t want to swallow water, but my limit approached quickly.

But why wasn’t this man saving me?! Did he even know I’d fallen in?! He said he’d be waiting at the door! Surely he could hear me from there?!

Eventually, unable to hold my breath any longer, I opened my mouth and water rushed in like mad. Hack, hack—oh, I’m dying… No, this isn’t right… I had just resolved that this would be the last one, and I had no intention of triggering a tenth regression!

“Princess!”

I thought I heard his voice.

You’re coming fast, you bastard.

◇ ◆ ◇

“Princess!”

When I came to, Paeon’s face was right before my eyes. His golden hair tickled my face.

“Princess, are you all right?!”

As I turned my head with difficulty, I also saw several priests surrounding me. Fainting over something like this. I suppose there’s no helping this frail child’s body.

But I was surprisingly fine. I only felt completely drained of energy, without the particular stinging sensation that came from swallowing water wrong. I carefully nodded to show I was okay.

“Sir Parsiel, you may stop now.”

One of the priests spoke to Paeon.

He must have been continuously using divine power on me. His face was pale as a sheet of white paper.

Was he… worried? No. He was just startled. He’d nearly ended up showing the king a dead princess… And he was the one who had escorted me to the temple in the first place.

“I’m thowwy… my foot slipped.”

He sprang to his feet and said,

“Please take the princess to a bedchamber. She should rest and stabilize today; she will meet His Majesty the King tomorrow.”

And then, without even looking back, he walked out the door, dripping water from his clothes.

See? I told you—he was just startled. What a heartless man…

“Princess, since you’re already wet, it would be best to wash in warm water. We’ll take care of you.”

Three priestesses patted me gently and moved me to the bathroom of the lodging inside the temple.

“We’re Sierra, Yuz, and Rosa. I’m a second-grade priestess, and Yuz and Rosa are third-grade priestesses.”

Sierra had olive hair and a cheerful impression, looking to be in her mid-twenties. Rosa had cute, lightly scattered freckles on her cheeks and bright brown hair curled into round ringlets, looking to be in her early twenties. Yuz had black hair in twin braids and a gentle impression, looking to be in her late teens.

Their moods were each different, but all three seemed bright and cheerful. Thank goodness—good people had come to me.

As they undressed me from my wet clothes and discovered the scars on my body, they gasped and covered their mouths.

“How on earth did you…”

Old scars don’t disappear even with divine power. They would probably remain for life. Honestly, since there were no wounds in visible places, I didn’t particularly mind, but the priestess sisters apparently felt differently. Yuz even became teary-eyed.

They stared at my body in a brief fit of anger, then placed me in a white marble bathtub and washed me clean with soft, rosemary-scented bubbles.

“I’ll apply a special oil that makes your hair silky smooth in an instant.”

Rosa said, holding a small bottle decorated with roses.

Then thank you very much. My hair, unkempt and with ends wildly split from lack of care, was especially unsightly among my features. I wondered if it could even be salvaged.

After the bath, they dressed me in priestess robes. The children’s priestess robes consisted of a white silk dress that came below the knee, worn with a stole embroidered with gold thread. The stole fluttered like rabbit ears whenever children ran, which was quite adorable.

‘I always thought they looked cute when I saw the temple children wearing them. Now that I’m wearing one, it feels strange.’

“I’m sorry. There were no clothes fit for the princess, so at least this for now…”

Sierra said apologetically, and I shook my head vigorously and expressed my thanks.

“No, it’s okay. This is the first time Asha’s worn such pwetty clothes. They’re so soft and smooth, I weally wike them.”

“Princess…”

Yuz’s nose was turning red again. I was moved to a guest bedchamber, and while Yuz went to fetch dinner, Sierra and Rosa brushed my hair and applied cream to my face.

“Princess, take a look in the mirror. Don’t you look like a completely different person?”

The me reflected in the mirror was passable enough. My hair was still a tangled mess, but it was much calmer than before. And perhaps because the soot on my face was gone, my large emerald eyes stood out even more against my white skin. I realized anew that I didn’t resemble my biological father in the slightest.

‘Is it a relief that I don’t?’

For nine lives, even I hadn’t known.

‘Is that why you were so indifferent to me—because I don’t resemble you?’

They say parents favor children who look just like them. Well, if I resembled him in even one feature, he’d be suspected immediately. But still, even the tiniest little bit…

Sigh, forget it. What’s the point of thinking about this?

If I had gone to the royal palace in that scruffy state from earlier, I would have made the worst impression on the king, so it was a relief things went according to plan. In my past lives, the king had apparently disliked my first impression so much that he never summoned me separately again after that first meeting.

Just then, Yuz handed me a warm potato soup packed with thick bacon.

‘Delicious!’

How long has it been since I’ve had meat? I had eaten the bread Paeon gave me in the carriage, but a proper meal after so long nearly brought tears to my eyes.

“Is it that good?”

Sierra asked warmly, watching me shovel it down without even blowing on it.

“Yeah! It’s so, so yummy!”

I shook my head vigorously and mumbled.

“From now on, you’ll have even better meals. The food in the royal palace is far better than in the temple.”

It’s not necessarily… The royal chef Aquila assigned to me was truly the worst. She used to make things like eel pie or haggis (a dish of oats and spices steamed in a sheep’s bladder), saying they were good for health. On those days, I just went hungry.

“Sisters, thank you. You’re all angels.”

Rosa giggled at my words.

“Come to think of it, I heard you called Sir Parsiel ‘Angel.’”

“He’d be hurt if he knew you called us that too.”

“That would be bad… Then if a knight is an archangel, can I call you sisters angels too?”

The three of them burst into laughter at my words.

“You’re so adorable.”

“If you just eat well and sleep well, you’ll be the one who looks like an angel, Princess.”

Yuz stroked my cheek with a face full of pity.

“Um… what kind of person is a knight…?”

“Sir Parsiel? He’s the strongest and greatest holy knight on the continent!”

The three priestesses began praising Paeon in unison.

“He joined Veritas at a very young age and rose to the position of commander in the shortest time. Perhaps because he receives Lord Lux’s love, he possesses such strong divine power that neither dreadful monsters nor wicked mages can stand against him.”

“On top of that, his swordsmanship is excellent and his healing powers are outstanding, so we temple folk always look upon him with respect. However, um…”

Sierra’s expression suddenly darkened.

“He’s always been a blunt person, but these past few months he’s been even more ferocious. He fought a terrible war, you see.”

“Sister Sierra was conscripted and served as support personnel at the front lines.”

“Yes, thanks to that I was able to see him in action, and he truly threw himself at the enemy lines without sparing his body. He even carried out many reckless operations unlike himself… and that’s how we were ultimately able to subdue the Demon King. Kalisa was nearly laid to waste, so the princess’s revenge has been fulfilled, I suppose… Oh no!”

She gasped and covered her mouth after chattering on.

“The pwincess’s wevenge?”

I knew that my mother had died at the hands of King Pereus, called the ‘Demon King’ of the neighboring country Kalisa, but I didn’t know all the details. No one had ever been willing to tell me about my mother. It was a kind of taboo. It was too recent to be written in history books, anyway.

Sierra sweated profusely and glanced at her colleagues. They looked at her as if to say, ‘Good grief, that big mouth again.’

“When you say pwincess, do you mean Asha’s mom? What kind of person… was Asha’s mom…?”

I couldn’t help but ask, I was so curious.

“Princess Beatrice was…”

Yuz, who had been silent for a moment, spoke with a sad smile.

“I’ll tell you when I have the chance later. You must be so tired today.”

“That’s right, Princess, please get some sleep now. You must be exhausted from the long carriage journey and the unexpected accident. We’ll bring you some warm milk.”

Now that they mentioned it, my eyelids kept drooping. Sigh, what a shame, but I suppose there’s no help for it. I would definitely hear about it later.

Lying on a soft bed for the first time in so long, I thought about what the priestesses had told me.

‘…How must he have felt, fighting?’

Thinking of him fighting the one who killed my mother made my feelings turn somewhat strange. Was this sadness, or was it pity…

Even though I shouldn’t pity him.

◇ ◆ ◇

“Niece, you’re braver than I thought. Thinking of coming to a place like this.”

“Don’t call me aunt. It gives me the creeps! I’m not your family or anything!”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to love you. No matter how much you’re the child of the daughter I cherished.”

Gasp!

At dawn, I woke from a nightmare. Cold sweat was running all over my body.

‘…Don’t be weak. This is something I’ve already been through.’

After panting for breath and calming down a little, I felt like a fool for having pitied Paeon before going to sleep.

He would never know the pain I had experienced.

‘Let’s do my best. The future can be changed. This time, I’ll make it work.’

When morning came, the three priestesses did their absolute best to dress me up for my meeting with the king. With my thick, fluffy long white hair and a white children’s fur cloak, I looked exactly like a small animal.

“Eee, Princess, you’re just like a little white rabbit. I want to squeeze you tight.”

Rosa let out a small moan.

“Stop that, what rudeness toward the princess.”

Sierra scolded her.

“I want to do it too. Give Asha a hug too.”

When I hugged Rosa first, she let out a squeal and hugged me back. Then Sierra and Yuz squealed too, saying, “Princess, me too!” and clamored urgently.

At that moment, I sensed a presence and turned my head to see Paeon and several knights approaching.

“Archangel!”

I cried out, hopping toward him. The three priestesses burst into laughter at the sound. These sisters, I really like them.

He looked considerably flustered by the new title and eyed the three priestesses with displeasure. Roughly interpreted, his expression said, ‘What on earth did you do?’

“Are you feeling well?”

“Yes! Perfectwy fine.”

Though I’d had a useless dream. When I smiled brightly and answered, he said briefly, “Then let us go.”

What an impatient person…

“Asha, we’ll be going now. See you again, angel sisters.”

“Princess, do your best! You can do it, you can do it!”

Receiving their encouragement, I hesitated and then opened my mouth.

“…Will His Majesty like Asha?”

“Of course. The princess is a truly lovable person.”

Yuz said with a beaming smile. Saying something like that to a child she’d known for barely half a day… She must have said it because she was simply that kind of good person, but it was the first time in my life anyone had said such a thing to me, and my heart swelled.

The courage that had shrunk a little because of the dream I’d had at dawn welled up again.

All right, let’s go. Into enemy territory!