-Elaine-
She shook her neatly wrapped head as she thought about her previous life which was full of thorns.
Of course, this wasn’t how it started in the beginning.
Around the age of four.
Yes Exactly at this age, Elaine’s parents Baron Astor died and she was raised by her uncle, the King of the Astor Kingdom.
Elaine, who was forcibly brought to the Kingdom of Astor without knowing why, cried day and night…
Perhaps, if the annoyed maid hadn’t shouted, “Your parents are dead!” Then, she wouldn’t have realised that her parents have truly died.
By the time she turned ten, she was finally given the opportunity to meet her uncle for the first time ever since she came to the Kingdom of Astor.
Although he’s her guardian, he has neglected her ever since she came here. He even pretended to love her by introducing her to the princess.
“My daughter, you can play with it as much as you please.”
No, it was all a lie.
He didn’t introduce her to the princess but he introduced her to a terrible group of people to enslave Elaine.
From then on, the way Elaine was treated changed compelety.
The niece, who was secretly treated like an insect, turned into a slave for the Princess of the Kingdom of Astor. And when the princess started treating her badly, the maids began to follow the princess’s path.
And the reason all of this was happening to her was because the King Astor and Queen were in on it.
Fortunately, by the time she turned 20, there have been three disasters that occured throughout the whole of Astor.
As a result, the Kingdom of Astor was destroyed and the shackles that had long held me were finally gone.
‘This situation seems very bad, I have to get out of here soon.’
If I don’t leave from here now, I will be forced to continue working as a slave.
In a blink of an eye, Elaine rose from her seat, thinking that she’ll never experience this terrible life again.
But,
“Ah, yah! Tah nouds to surry.
Elaine muttered suddenly and quickly shut her mouth…
If I’m not paying attention to my tongue, my unique four-year-old’s tongue will keep talking nonsense.
“Oh my god. I still can’t believe I’m four-years-old again.”
Elaine sighed, looking down at her short legs.
It was embarrassing having a short tongue while having an adult’s mind, but that wasn’t the biggest problem. She had to escape from the kingdom with this small and weak body.
‘After leaving Astor Kingdom. I wish I can go back to my mercenary days and roam around the
In the midst of her sorrow, Elaine tightly grasped at her messy clothes.
Had the maids finally revealed their true colours?
She slouched her shoulders as sadness filled her heart. And suddenly her surroundings were noisy.
‘So no maid came to check on me even though there was such a loud noise?’
Till now, I’ve been treated as if I were invisible rather than a normal human being.
Usually, when you hear a loud noise, you’ll look into it out of curiosity to find out what’s happening.
Elaine peered her head with strange feelings and looked out of the window. And saw that everyone was looking at the dazzling and bright carriage with their eyes wide open.
“That’s something I’ve never seen before my rebirth. Who could’ve come here?
As Elaine snooped her head towards the window out of curiosity and suddenly, she heard whispers of people outside her door.
“Sounds like they want a negotiation. But why did the kingdom of Irie come to negotiate with us?”
Hoping the door wouldn’t make a sound, she opened it very slowly, to create a space where she could peak and observe what was happening.
“I see… so it’s just a negotiation? Then why is the King of the Empire coming after us?”
“Shh! What if someone hears us? Anyways, let’s just finish our work.”
“The Lord…? He’s negotiating with the King…?”
“The King…? He’s here to negotiate…?
It was a complicated word that would usually be hard for a young child to understand. However, Elaine could only think of one person who fit the description.
Then there was the sound of urgent footsteps, and a new voice interrupted.
“What are you doing here?”
“Oh! My lady! Ah, of course we were working!”
“Don’t do anything useless. When you’re done, hurry up and return to your headquarters.”
“Yes, I understand!”
After hearing the maid get yelled at and a couple receding footsteps, the Palace which had been noisy now became deafeningly quiet.
After confirming that everyone had disappeared and left, Elaine slowly closed the door and thought.
‘I’m certain that the Princess was taken hostage around this time. When the foreign minister, also known as the Lord of the Empire, was dispatched by the Empire…’
According to what the maids had said, today must be the day in which negotiations of war reparations were held.
Just then, a thought flashed through Elaine’s mind.
This was an insane plan. Elaine almost thought of herself as crazy.
‘Yes! What if I were the one to be taken hostage instead of the princess?’
Some might be confused by what that would mean, but Elaine had reached a different conclusion. Being taken hostage meant being used as a hideous pawn of the empire. Nonetheless, by doing so, she would now be able to escape from the Kingdom of Astor.
‘If I were to go there, he wouldn’t have the opportunity to kill…’
It’s true.
Before Elaine returned, she had been brutally beaten to death by the King.
But, will this time be any different? There’s no guarantee that she will be able to live this time around.
A hostage is still a hostage. There’s no kidnapper that is stupid enough who would kill hostages. For now, it is still much safer to go to the empire.
‘The real princess was there before I returned, but…’
The King will be more pleased to have someone else go as compared to his own blood anyways.
Besides, there are no portraits of the princess except from when she was a baby, so there is no fear of being caught because of our different faces.
But, I’m wearing ragged clothes
And a head of tangled hair.
Paired with a face full of soup.
“You wouldn’t think that I’m a princess when I look like this.”
Thinking of herself as appearing to look more like a beggar than a princess.
Inhaling sharply, she splashed water onto her face.
***
Arnold, the foreign minister that has been dispatched from the empire, looked around.
Perhaps he was afraid of someone making a mistake considering how there was little to no servants or maids in the hallway.
Arnold said casually as he strolled down the colourful hallways.
“Should I let them know that there is money left in the kingdom? Considering how expensive items are still being placed out in the open instead of being kept and stored away.”
Su-ha, who was following him with a smile, nodded quickly.
I can’t believe how you’re still showing off your wealth in front of someone from the Empire. We’re not ones who let go once we’ve set our sights on something.
Regardless of the fact that it is the enemy country that fights in a war, I still feel a little sorry for them.
I mean, look at that face. Mr. Lee must be very excited to come here, after all he seems to be enjoying himself.
Arnold thought with a large smile as he glanced at Su-ha, who was shivering due to the cold.
Suddenly, as we both turned the corner…
“Huh?”
“Oh no!”
With a shriek, a child dressed in dirty clothes fell as she walked right into Arnold.
“My god…!”
Surprised, Arnold quickly lifted the child up.
He snorted as he tried to dust the child’s clothes.
“A little kid running around in the palace. A place where apparently, even servants and maids weren’t allowed to be right now.”
Arnold said, smirking as he continued dusting the child’s clothes.
“Are you alright?”
“Uh-huh. I am.”
“Oh, my. Are you injured? I’ll get you treated right away. Who’s your dad?”
“Daddy? My daddy is the King!”
“King? So you’re the princess of this kingdom?”
“Yes!”
Just in case, he had to make sure this was indeed the blood of the Astor family.
Arnold examined his future hostage and frowned slightly.
One thing.
There was one thing that was strange.
“But why are your clothes so dirty?”
“…Yes?”
Upon noticing Elaine panicking, Arnold narrowed his eyes.
“Are the maids not taking care of your clothes and how you dress? How odd…”
How annoying…
‘I knew he’d be suspicious.’
Elaine paused for a moment and stared at the Empire’s envoy who has been intensely observing her behaviour.
What else could I have done? Asides from washing away as much of the soup and combing through my hair with my small fingers?
What would my parents have done? If only they hadn’t passed away.
“Are you alright? Princess?”
“Uh, so…”
My answer was delayed…
The lack of trust in Arnold’s eyes were amplified as it slowly changes to certainty.
This was a situation that Elaine cannot be delayed any further. It was then that she came up with an excuse.
“I played a little…”
Arnold’s brows furrowed as he tried to decipher what the child had just said.
Was it because she was watching under the disguise of being the despicable daughter of King Astor?
She mimicked the princess’s actions. The wiggling of fingers and the shaking of her head. Hoping that by doing so, would make the foreign minister’s heart tremble, even by a little.
“Sorry but… what did you just say?”
It is hard to understand what a child with a short tongue is saying unless he or she concentrates properly.
Once Elaine noticed that, she sighed deeply and exclaimed,
“Really! I’m just playing a little.”
“A little…? Oh! I see. Your clothes got dirty while playing outside!”
“Yes.”
Elaine nodded quickly.
She was still worried about being scolded, but she continued nodding her head vigorously. Warmth started to gather in his heart as Arnold swore at himself for questioning that child even for just a moment.
Then, Su-ha sneaked up on Arnold to ask,
“What should I do? Should I prepare the bath?”
“Oh? Oh, yes, please.”
“A princess shouldn’t be this dirty. What if she falls sick?”
Arnold agreed, as he leaned his head onto his hand.
***
After a while.
Elaine’s face was dyed red with shame.
Elaine had thought that, ‘In order to escape from this hellish place, I’d be willing to take a bit of shame!’. However, she severely underestimated how embarrassed she would be feeling.
Elaine softened her expression as much as she could whilst she looked at the adults who were talking with serious expressions.
It seems as if a war would break out soon.
“Isn’t the dress a little small?”
“Isn’t the child growing so fast?”
“That’s true.”
As you can see, their conversation was nothing of importance.
“Hmm.”
On the other hand, Arnold had been observing Elaine’s clothing with a serious expression, clearly uncomfortable with how small the dress looked.
‘At times like this, Arnold looks very cute’, Elaine couldn’t help but think.
But what can we do? According to the maids, all the clothes that I had been given to wear are now too small for me.
Arnold walked towards her and carefully stroked the child’s head.
Elaine, who had originally approached Arnold with the impression that she wouldn’t fall, opened her eyes wide as she felt the warmth radiating from Arnold.
“Sorry for the late treatment. How is it? Doesn’t it hurt now?”
“No! The pain is going away! Thank you, Mr. Arno!”
“Hoo-hoo, that’s a relief.”
Arnold, who’s well-known for being a cool-headed negotiator, smiled softly at the child as the maids quickly swallowed their breath. Luckily, Arnold hadn’t noticed that and continued speaking amiably with warmth rivalling the sun.
“I’m going to see King Astor now, would you like to come with me?”
“Yes!”
Fortunately, Arnold seems to believe that Elaine is the princess of the Astor Kingdom.
Since he hadn’t specifically said “Princess”, the maids also weren’t able to correct him since they didn’t understand the situation.
‘With this, Phase 1 is a success!’
Did you know how surprised I was when he tried to wash me in the bathtub? I thought the plan had gone wrong then, luckily it didn’t.
Of course, she wasn’t completely successful unless the negotiations were over. Smiling widely, Elaine trailed behind them as they headed towards the throne room.
They finally arrived outside the throne room.
Unlike Elaine’s room, the gilt-edged, jeweled door was so splendid that it would’ve made ordinary people lose their nerve upon seeing it.
But Arnold didn’t seem very excited.
After the guard who was guarding the door shouted Arnold’s appearance, the door slowly opened to let them in.
In comparison, the exterior paled in comparison to the more colourful interior.
Upon entering the throne room, the King asked Arnold with an extremely annoyed tone,
“Why are you so late? I’m tired of waiting for… Huh?”
As his eyes took sight of a small being who had entered the throne room, he quickly stopped talking. That small being was Elaine.
“How’d you…why is she here?”
“I met her on the way here. I was surprised to find out that she was the princess.”
“What…?”
King Astor looked towards Elaine, a mixture of embarrassment and shock filled his expression.
Recognizing how this could all go wrong, Elaine quickly jumped in.
“Daddy? What’s wrong?”
“You…”
Fortunately, King Astor finally understood the situation and shut his mouth without saying another word.
He probably thinks I accidentally mistaken him for someone who looked similar to my dad.
‘Look at him rolling his eyes. I can practically hear you insulting my intelligence from down here.’
As soon as Arnold took notice of the King’s expression, something rose inside him. Elaine tried to calm him as she continued smiling as brightly as possible.
Had Mr. Lee gave the ok for all the calculation?
King Astor finally gathered up his thoughts and said with a mean smile.
“Hoo-hoo. I guess it can’t be helped that you met my daughter first. All right. Take the ‘princess’ as the hostage”
The Lord of the Empire, Arnold, momentarily hardened his expression. I’m guessing he had originally expected resistance, but King Astor had given up too easily.
What is with that mean smile? Arnold has been giving off an ominous presence, yet he was going to just give me up as a hostage? I almost wanted to ask him whether this was all a dream.
“All right, let’s do that. But we’ll have to discuss in more detail first.”
‘Maybe King Astor does not hold much affection for his children.’ Arnold looked pitifully at the child standing beside him.
Contrary to Arnold’s belief, Elaine was smiling internally
“Yes, Lord of the Empire! Come and take me out of this hellhole!”
But at that moment.
“Stop!”
A man rushing from afar, started shouting.
Elaine stiffened as she recognised the man dressed in white as an old priest.
‘Isn’t that a priest from the Holy Empire?’
Wait, why is he running towards here for?