Tale of The Substitute Princess

Chapter IV

04: HOW TO BE A PRINCESS

"Your highness—I mean, milady, here are the papers and pen you asked." Nilagay ni Iris 'yung mga gamit sa lamesa.

I sighed. "You can call me your highness if you want. I already accepted the princess position anyway."

Habang inaayos niya 'yung dinner ko ay nakahiga lang ako sa kama. Hindi ko alam kung tama ba ang naging desisyon ko. Nahihirapan pa rin akong iabsorb lahat ng mga sinabi nila sa akin kanina.

"Iris... Are the twins and prince close with each other?" tanong ko habang nakatingin sa ceiling.

"Yes, I think so. They have been together since they were kids."

Bumilog ang bibig ko sa sinabi ni Iris. Maybe that's why they were on Prince Caius' side in this throne competition.

"How about you? Since when did you start working for the princess?"

Nakita kong napaisip siya sa naging tanong ko. "I think it's been 3 years since I started working here."

"That's why you're really close with the twins."

She just smiled and shrugged with what I said. She eventually excused herself after cleaning up the food I just finished.

I got up from my bed and pulled the chair under the desk to sit on it. Kinuha ko 'yung quill pen at sinubukang magsulat pero hindi ko alam kung paano ito gamitin kaya nagsayang lang ako ng isang papel.

Akala ko magkakaroon ako ng problema sa pagsusulat dahil sa magic ni Arrius. But it seems like, kung ano ang gusto kong gamitin na language para magsulat, ayon ang maisusulat ng kamay ko.

I almost bit the tip of the pen as a habit whenever I'm thinking but I just let out a sneeze because it was feather.

Maliban sa struggle kung paano gamitin itong quill pen, nahihirapan din ako i-organize ang thoughts ko. It was hard putting it into words. I don't know how I would explain my situation to my brother.

Pumayag ako sa princess set-up na ito, as if naman kasi may choice ako. It's either I pretend or we will all die. But it doesn't change the fact that I'm in another world while my family is in the original world. It still sounded absurd to me. Pero sa ilang beses na magic na ipinakita ni Arrius, ano pa bang dahilan para hindi ako maniwala? Since Aiden kidnapped me and I'm here, pretending to be a princess, what will happen to the life I'm living in?

My mother who's in the hospital. My friends who might wonder what happened to me. My work at the hotel—I'll most likely get fired. And my brother who'll visit me the next day.

Tinanong ko si Arrius ng exact time interval na nawala si Aiden nang pumunta siya sa mundo ko. He said that it was more or less 42 hours, while according to Aiden, he was only in my world for at least 6 hours.

After a simple math, I managed to conclude that a week in this world is a day in my own world. Therefore, counting the hours I stayed here, it's already dawn there.

Even if Arrius can't transfer me back to my world, fortunately, he can still transfer small objects and things. The person that I can reach is my brother who'll be visiting my house.

Huminga ako nang malalim bago nagsimulang magsulat.

To: Helios

Hey, Helios. Kung nababasa mo ito, congratulations, ibig sabihin may mata ka.

The money for mom's hospital bills is on the book on my table, nasa last page. I'm leaving the responsibility to you. Nakalagay 'yung wallet ko sa isang shoe box, bahala ka maghanap. You can get some pocket money that you need, don't take it all or else, patay ka sa akin.