Chapter 1 – The Prince and the Prophet
It’s no wonder that the graduation ceremony had been canceled due to the plague — It’s under the influence of books.
Recalling that point, I tried to understand what was going on as calmly as possible.
“When you run into the Emperor, kneel, and have your forehead on the floor as a sign of respect.”
It was a warning that came into one ear then slipped out the other.
In a little while, the soldiers held my arms on both sides and walked firmly. As if I am a criminal being escorted away.
This is what happened three months ago.
***
It was in the 21st century when the plague was raging, and the people of all countries were banned from going out, and gathering was forcibly disbanded.
I was about to graduate at the time, but suddenly I got a notification message that the graduation ceremony was canceled. I didn’t give much meaning to my graduation anyway. However, it was regrettable that the lunch appointment, where I was going to meet with friends after a long time, was also canceled along with the graduation ceremony.
Still, I stayed in my room and naturally ran out of food, so I went outside after a few weeks. I was planning to buy food at a convenience store near my house.
But I was hit by a car on my way across the crosswalk. It was an extreme example of what happens when you ignore text messages recommending us to refrain from going out.
People, don’t ignore disaster texts again.
I slowly opened my eyes again, after thinking I had died just like that.
At first, when I opened my eyes, I was in a dark space so I thought I must have woken up inside a coffin, though there was a feeling of softness under my feet. Then I realized that my feet were standing in a well.
In the old days, a well had to be drained with buckets. I really thought I would be in a coffin, but I was dumped in a well instead?
No matter how small the town I lived in was, there was no well nearby. How far have I come?
I shouted for help because I was afraid that I was running into a real-time felony. And I had no cell phone on me right now as well.
But all I could hear were the echoes from the well, it felt like my life turned into a horror movie.
People immediately rushed at me with buckets and wooden sticks, and I fell again into the well and cried earnestly.
“Save me! I’m dead!”
I was dead, and now I’m dead again! It was a rather paradoxical cry, but those people questioned me and lowered their weapons. I thought I was abandoned, and strangely enough, I also thought that I was already dead.
After being pulled up, I was questioned by them.
They said they heard strange noises from the village well in the middle of the night so they each brought weapons from their homes.
They looked at me, questioned about where I came from, and who I was but I couldn’t answer immediately.
They look quite exotic, and the language they use is strange. Though, strangely, I am capable of interpreting their words naturally.
Seeing me unable to answer, I urgently grabbed them and asked them for help, saying, “Please call the police.”
“C-can I have some water?”
It may have been quite strange for a person who was in the well a moment ago, but I am fortunate that there was water in the next well. They filled the bucket that was about to be used to hit me on the head with water. It felt like if I don’t answer them again now, I’ll see another use of that bucket again.
It was then when I saw my face’s reflection from the water in the bucket.
It wasn’t me that the moonlight had shone on the wavy waves. My hair was brown curly hair, and my eyes were blue.
At that point, I thought I was dreaming and thought that I was in a coma. Of course, the slap on my cheek hurt.
People were somewhat suspicious of me when I suddenly slapped my face after staring into the water.
They asked me worriedly as I was rather acting strange.
“Do you remember how you got in there? Or your name?”
“Name…”
I got an instinctive realization. It was an amazing realization that my life would start anew from now on, as I seemed to have opened my eyes in a new body, in a new world.
So, I spoke with grim eyes and showed them a gentle smile.
“My name is Ellen Paella Rose Demotia Irenaeus River Margritte.”
The name was also linked to some prophet.
I wrung out the most elegant and noble names I could come up with right away, with a solemn look on my face, and the people around me slowly smiled.
Laughing affectionately as if admiring my name, they finally spoke with a sigh.
“You have really hurt your head after all…”
So… my name became Leafy.
The villagers thought I was sick. They were worried about how such a young lady ended up in a well with a head injury.
They were worried that a vicious criminal hit my head and threw me into a well, while some people said I hit my head when I was dumped in a well. The situation was interpreted in many ways, but strangely enough, it was a fixed predicament that I have hurt my head after all.
I stayed in an empty house in the village for a few days. I am happy that my new life has begun, but I don’t know what I should do because there is nothing to do in the countryside.
I collected information around as soon as I could, and everyone sincerely told me, “Let’s teach Leafy, who had hurt her head, what she needed to learn.”
Then, I got astonishing information.
“Eckhardt, who was twenty-one, often met with the Princess. Is he going to marry her?”
“Oh, that Duchess Lissana?”
Princess Lissana, the daughter of the Emperor of Serryl. As soon as I heard it, I rushed to the people who were conversing, then asked for more information about the Emperor and Princess. After what I heard, I screamed out of shock.
Because they were my favorite characters in the novel!
I read dozens of novels, but I remembered their names exactly. I had no choice but to.
Percylion de Eckhardt, Serryl von Lissana. They were my favorite couple, I loved them so much, and even my SNS nickname was ‘Perseril Got Married.’
‘Serryl Loves Till Death’ was my profile picture, and in there, Serryl was responding, “Then, die.”
Serryl was an elegant but talkative Princess, and Percylion was notorious for being a tyrant but caring for the Princess. They were a very amazing couple.
Though in fact, the two did not get to connect with each other.
To be honest, Percylion was not even on the waiting list. It was just that I read a few lines of the conversation between the two, then cried and drank a large amount of juice.
Since I’m a minor, I can’t drink alcohol, okay?
And now I’m surrounded in a part of the novel they’re starring in! They’re just getting together and sharing some crazy lines. Of course, the choice I made in this situation is up to me!
“Oh! Stand in line! If you want to hear my prediction, you have to follow the order!”
Money-making. I love PerSeril, but they are far from where I am, and all I need is money.
If I had a choice, I wouldn’t have chosen to do this, but this is the inevitable truth that I had to accept.
Guys! I need to have a lot of money! Their hometown is the Royal Palace and Duchy, but my hometown is as well!
So, I began to act as a prophet with all the information I could remember in the novel.
I predicted where Emperor Percylion and Princess Serryl would watch a play together, when the diplomatic event would be postponed, and who would be the winner of the Imperial Swordsman Competition.
Rumors about the Prophet Leafy spread like wildfire.
At first, the villagers thought I hurt my head and said something strange, but as my prophecy came true, it gradually changed to looks of reverence.
The well that I appeared has now become a sacred well.
However, there was a dangerous part of my prophecy. Because most of the information I remember in the novel was an anecdote of the Emperor, the Princess, and the Marquis, the original male protagonist.
In other words, everyone is curious about the information of the high ranking people, but as much as they want to know it, they are still suspicious.
High risk, high return.
I continued my life as a prophet, walking on a tightrope.
Some aristocrats came to ask how the aristocrats, who were hostile to them, would be in the future, but I said I could not see because their futures were dark to me.
Only when I asked for the information I knew, I made selective predictions, saying, ‘I can see, I can see!’ My rumors became widespread and I soon became an empire-wide prophet.
I was then brought to the Imperial City.
The Royal Palace Knights rushed into my office and dragged me away for causing confusion and damaging the atmosphere by spreading groundless rumors to the Empire.
I didn’t disclose the part where I lived, nor did I say that my ancestor, God, was behind me, nor did I say if I was doing a psychological test!
This is unfair! Unfair!
I knelt and bowed my head in front of the throne instantly. The luxury carpet on the marble floor touched my forehead and it felt fluffy. The bright red color was exquisite and dark as if no one had ever come here.
I trembled with my forehead stuck, thinking about my state and questioning ‘who’ might I be.
“Give your name to the Emperor.”
Emperor Percylion de Eckhardt is sitting on the throne beyond the crimson mat.
I wondered why I couldn’t see my feet under the cloth, but I couldn’t also raise my head. The knight standing next to the throne in silhouette ordered me in a stoic voice, and I answered as politely as possible.
“My name is Ellen Paella Rose Demotia Irenaeus River Margritte.”
“Leafy, in short.” I added.
“Yeah, street prophet Leafy. Do you know what you’ve done wrong?”
I lowered my head quickly, unable to express my sorrow firmly. Maybe because the carpet was soft, my head felt better.
I think I was brought in for spreading stories of the Emperor as a person who is in the limelight, and the rumors circulating. That was what the knights said.
In the end, I am determined to admit my mistake. Though frankly, I’ve never heard a single rumor.
Because I didn’t spread it.
“I will never make another prophecy about the Royal Family!”
“The Royal Family?”
“The D-duchy of Lissana, too!”
“Duchess, too?”
“The M-Marquess of Spade too!”
The Marquis of Spade was the original family of the main male lead.
Oh, my God. If I lose these three hidden cards, my means to make money from my prophecies will be greatly reduced, but if I don’t, my life will end immediately, so it can’t be helped.
However, a strange voice suddenly came to me with a stern face.
“You seem to know a lot of information.”
The resonant voice was somehow young. I heard that there were only the Emperor and the guard in the throne room, was there another person? I am somewhat ashamed, but I still answered politely.
“I know a lot about it.”
“That’s true…”
I heard some scuffle inside. Then, the knights scream, “Your Majesty…!”
It seemed as if they were stopping him, but the knight eventually walked along with the white cloth, blocking the gap between the Emperor and me while my head was down.
Slowly the golden chair was visible. The splendid throne, symbolizing the authority of the Eckhart Empire, shone brilliantly like the sun.
The chair’s head was carved with gold in the shape of a light trunk, which made it look like a halo when his head touched it.
But there was no head at the halo-like headrest. I moved my eyes down and soon took a sharp breath, as I was caught looking.
Blonde hair, red and beautiful eyes like the petals of rose-like blood. Percylion de Eckhart, notorious for his tyranny all over the continent.
“Very well, I’ll release you if you tell me when I will get back to my original state.”
He sat there, looking like a three or four-year-old child.
…Why is he so young?
My eyes started to tremble like they were tap dancing.