Who Made Me a Princess

It was like waking up from a deep winter hibernation.

But despite my body being as heavy as water-soaked cotton, my head was clear. Hm. What was this?

I blankly looked at the video in front of me.

That blond haired woman looked familiar. Now that I thought about it, it was similar to what I saw when I vomited blood when I was younger.

Claude had forcefully put me to sleep and let me dream about Diana, was that what happened this time, too?

Ah, to experience these things twice. Sob. I hope Claude didn’t try to kill Blackie again.

Of course, I needed to worry about myself more right now, but in this dream, reality felt far away.

But Claude wasn’t the only one out for Blackie! What if Lucas came back and tried to eat Blackie again?

-Do you…is?

No, but that aside, what was I going to do now? Last time, Lucas saved me. So was I supposed to stay like this until he returned?

And Lucas had warned me, but what was this. I never thought this would happen again after I was young. I guess I was too relaxed.

Claude and other people should be worried out of their minds right now, what should I do? I was so stupid!

-Athanasia.

Hm?

I turned my head in my dream. And I gasped.

-Congratulations on your 14th birthday, and your debutante ball today.

What? What was this? It wasn’t a dream with the fairy Diana? I wasn’t paying attention because I thought it was the same dream I had! But why was it me, and not Diana there?

I surprisingly looked at myself from Claude’s point of view.

I quivered my lips, and soon let out a smile. Wow, so that was how I had smiled. It was a little shocking looking at it from this perspective. Hm? So then was this Claude’s memory of me?

While I was still shocked, the video changed.

-Wouldn’t Felix be the most appropriate? What do you think, Dad?

This time, it was the time when I told Claude I wanted Felix to escort me to the debutante ball. I really looked like a devil here!

I blankly looked at the rapidly passing videos.

They were all different, but they had one thing in common. Me.

Me stuffing myself at dinner, blowing at a hot cup of tea, almost falling during a rock, and pouting at Claude….looking at this made me feel weird. It was like my life was flashing before my eyes. Wait, did this mean I was going to die soon?

-Dad’s the best!

A video of my kissing Claude after receiving a treasure chest suddenly popped up. S, Shit. Let’s not show this as well!

-Dad, it’s a present.

Now it was in a past I didn’t remember.

I held out a white flower crown to Claude. Oh right. I did this too.

How old was I then? 8? 9? My memory was fading. Aw, but I was so cute.

But at the memory of me vomiting blood, I became silent.

Ah, I really didn’t deserve to say anything to Claude and Lucas now. Thinking back at it now, it was such a stupid thing to do.

But when was this gonna end? I felt like it was forever. As it dug deeper into my past, my embarrassing moments came with it. This was painful. And I felt like I would wake up once this video ended.

-Since when did such an insect live in my castle?

And eventually, I could see the end. A shocked baby in a lace dress turned around from biting an angel statue’s butt.

Going deeper into the past, the videos were becoming blurry, but this part was clear.

I looked at my younger self with a strange feeling. My eyes in the video were intense. And then darkness. The dream ended.

But it was weird. Once the memories ended, I felt empty inside. It was like there was a hole inside my heart. Like I lost something.

W, Why was I feeling this way?

It was like someone had stolen something precious to me. But sand slipping through my fingers, like I had quietly lost something important.

But that feeling didn’t last long. The sleep was fading away. It was time to wake up.

“Princess!”

And when I woke up, I saw familiar faces.

“Princess, are you alright? You’re not hurt anywhere?”

Lili shook me while crying. No, her tears were my weakness!

“Oh my goodness. The heavens helped us. I thought something really had happened this time…”

I was going to say something, but I couldn’t speak. Lili, realizing my condition, poured me some water from a bottle.

“How long was I asleep?”

“It’s been about 15 days.”

Why was my voice like this? I had probably been in bed for a long time.

Felix answered instead of Lili, who was barely holding back tears.

What? It wasn’t as much as I expected. Didn’t I lie in bed for over 40 days last time? I thought I was worse than back then, but I wasn’t?

“Did Lucas heal me again?”

I looked around me, buried in my blankets. But at that moment, both of them shut their lips.

There was an unnatural silence.

“What about Dad?”

A bad feeling starting to scratch at my heart. I asked again in a cracked voice, and Felix answered.

“The Emperor is….”

***

“Princess!”

I was trying to leave my room despite the protests of the two. But my body didn’t move like I wanted it to.

“Princess, please! You can’t do this. Please return to your bed.”

Lili sobbed, grabbing my arm, but I pushed her arm away.

But I needed to go see Claude now. If I didn’t see his face right now, if I didn’t see that he was okay, I didn’t know what I was going to do.

‘The Emperor fainted 15 days ago and still hasn’t woken up.’

Just what did he say? He was lying, right?

‘There wasn’t any way to calm your magic, and it was obvious we would lose you if we spent more time…so the Emperor….’

He had risked his life to save me. And he had almost died instead of me. What kind of bullshit was that. It was so unlikely that I had to see for myself.

“I’ll just escort her myself.”

As I pushed Lili away and walked towards the door, Felix couldn’t keep on watching and carried me. Lili realized she couldn’t stop me and quietly followed us.

Felix carried me all the way to Claude’s bedroom.

When he put me down in front of the familiar door, Felix opened the door for me and spoke.

“The Emperor would be extremely happy to see that you woke up.”

He said something else after that, but I stumbled into the room like I was possessed. Claude’s bedroom was quiet, like always.

But he was lying in his bed, not on the sofa.

“Dad.”

It was strange.

Why was this person lying so comfortably on the bed? Like he was never gonna wake up.

“Dad.”

I went closer to Claude. His gold hair, and the face when he was sleeping confirmed that it was indeed Claude.

But his dry lips and pale face showed how critical he was.

He didn’t wake up no matter how many times I called him.

Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe.

Why are you lying there instead of me? Did anyone ask you to save me?

I stretched my hand out to him. The memories in my dream definitely weren’t mine. So were they his? How had his dreams been spilled out to me?

“Wake up.”

I didn’t like this.

“Dad.”

But there was nothing I could do.

“Dad, wake up.”

I held on to Claude’s hand and continued calling out to him.

The room was so quiet it felt stuffy. It felt like the silence was pushing down my head. I sighed, my head bent near Claude’s

Flinch. I suddenly felt a movement at my fingertips. I thought I imagined it, but Claude’s hand moved again.

I lifted my head.

I saw a pair of eyes trying to refocus looking at me.

“D, Dad.”

I called again, standing straight from leaning on the bed.

Ah, I knew it. He wouldn’t die from something like this.

“You are….”

And when Claude saw me, a small voice escaped his lips.

“Just who are you?”

I stood there, feeling like I was dumped in freezing water.