Chapter 4
As soon as the old priest arrived, her father sweet-talked him to treat her nicely for a moment.
She was so stressed out by the scuffle in front of her that her condition seemed to have worsened.
The priest also had no power to deny her father, who was among the highest nobles of the Empire.
“Then let’s take a look at the princess’ condition.”
He managed to clear up the mess so that he could move on to cure her.
She sighed and glanced up at her father.
With his mouth shut and arms folded, his blue eyes glared at the priest as if he was still unreliable. Her father looked like a perfect statue when he was standing that way.
The moment he shifted his gaze towards her, she closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.
The priest glanced up at her father, surprised.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t mistaken.
Her father gritted his teeth as he saw the priest put his hand on her forehead. Then she felt a cooling sensation from his palm, just like from the windshield of a Mercedes Benz. The cool sensation hovered in front of her forehead. It might be sacred.
So, this was a world where magic existed. Things that couldn’t be comprehended by her past life’s values had come to tend her.
She could feel energy being absorbed into her body. It was a refreshing feeling one would experience if they drank pure natural water drawn from a hundred meters below the earth’s surface.
Eventually, her temperature and throbbing pain reduced. The priest, who had just finished his treatment, looked at her curiously.
“The princess is…..”
“Is there something wrong with Ina?”
Her father approached them.
Somehow, she felt stabbed. It was difficult to erase the memory of her previous life, which stated that Ina was possessed by evil spirits.
‘What should I do? I should have written it down!’
She gazed up at the priest nervously. He shook his head at her father and said,
“I think she was mentally shocked for some reason. Since she doesn’t have the ability to cope with it, I ask her to take a good rest for the rest of the day.”
“A mental shock?”
Her father’s gaze turned sharp at her. Unable to interpret his eyes, she stared at him nervously.
“My darling, you should have informed me about the child who is responsible for making you feel miserable at tea time. I will not allow her to attend the Imperial Banquet, so you need not worry.”
“Oh…what do you mean, papa? Who do you mean?”
“The child who has been rude to you will never be invited to the palace, so be at ease, my darling.”
It seemed as if her father was always naive to his own daughter’s dreadful table manners. However, she felt as though what he said just now wasn’t a compliment for her.
At the thought, her hands began to tremble.
She was the example of a top beauty in the Empire.
She was unlike any other Korean idols and actors, whom teenage girls used to fancy.
Usually, the servants had to please her every time and were excluded from the society if they disobeyed her. A 13-year-old child who ruled her palace with the support of her father.
Even if it was just children hanging out, her father rewarded the ones who were in her favor and penalized those who went against her. During the tea time yesterday, she dismissed the children when she recalled about her previous life and became absent-minded.
She couldn’t believe her father held them responsible.
“W-Wa-Wait, papa. You don’t have to do that! It was my own choice…..!”
“No, my darling. They dared to make you sick. I will not allow them to reach the capital. So don’t be sad anymore, dear.”
“No, that’s not true, father….”
Noticing his blue eyes turn greasy, she hurriedly changed her words.
“Papa, I’m really fine. Please don’t banish them from the invitation. For me, papa?”
“I see. My little strawberry’s heart is so beautiful.”
As she watched her father smiling, Ina laughed awkwardly.
The priest standing next to them was surprised. Even though he knew that the Duke was obsessed with his own daughter, it seemed quite shocking to see it in person.
‘But, what would he have done to forbid the children from attending the palace banquet?’
Gazing at her father, it seemed to her that he was like a fanatic who firmly believed his daughter.
‘In that case, I’ll have to grow up to be a better person.’
***
The mansion had been as silent as a haunted house for the last few days.
It was because of Ina, the decent girl.
She pretended to be gentle in front of her father and Karpel, hiding all her temper.
Whenever Karpel didn’t respond to her, she used to command the maids to change her clothes and put makeup on her, and if it didn’t satisfy her, she would request for new maids.
But now, it was like her routine had changed. She sat in her room, scribbling on a paper. As still as a bomb that was yet to explode.
Was there any need for everyone to hold their breath as if they were walking on a minefield?
‘But the other day…..’
She once saw a servant looking into her books quietly. It gave her goosebumps.
‘I have to be careful. Breathe, Ina, breathe.’
She wrote down the plot and the events of the novel chronologically.
It might cause someone to be suspicious about her sudden change in behavior of her opening books every morning.
But taking notes on each case was a necessity.
She still remembered the incidents that were mentioned in the novel, <shabel, the=”” white=”” snowflake=””>. Not only the incident, but also the background of the place, culture, and everything else came to her mind. Though there were some things that were in the novel and things that she had learned in her life, she was pretty confused when she read it. But now that it made sense with the reality here, she noted down everything she knew. She then realized.</shabel,>
‘It’s the writer’s fault.’
‘Does he think it’s a good thing to make the reader frustrated?’
Two years from now, the Krenberian territory would be invaded by a heterogeneous tribe. She noted it down and sighed.
“What are you doing, my little strawberry?”
“Fa— papa.”
At first, his face was getting serious but as soon as she called him ‘papa’, it returned to its normal color.
‘This is getting more difficult than I thought.’
“Are you still not feeling well, dear?”
“No, papa. Don’t you have to go to the palace today?”
Now was usually time for him to attend to the necessities in the palace.
“My darling, I heard you canceled your tea time again. So, I came here because I was worried about your health.”
Unable to say anything, she blankly stared at his worried face.
It must have been Miss Mo who informed him.
“Ha, that’s because I have something else to do, papa.”
“Yes, you do look busy. What is this?”
Among the things she wrote down, there were not only future events but also graffitis. She even made sure to write it in Korean so that nobody would be able to read it.
Watching her father picking up one of her graffitis, she rushed to retrieve it.
“I-It’s a design of embroidery. It’s a failed one!”
She couldn’t bear her anguish and frustration.
As she hurried to hide her notes, her father gazed at her with astonished eyes and smiled brightly.
“My dear, I’m surprised you had this talent.”
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────