A Second Chance at Life

Chapter 1

"What will it take for you to love me?" I kneel in front of him and look up at the cold stature before me, clutching his pants at the knee desperately. "If I do, then will you call my name dearly like you do hers," Tears stream down my face and my voice shakes from the wreck deep in my chest, "and watch me with warmth in your eyes?" He looks down at me with his piercing cold blue jewels. "Will you hold me in your arms without pushing me away?" I sniffle.
"Such  a thing won't happen until the day I die." His words pierce through my soul sharper than his gaze. "Why is that? I'm your daughter too, father." A sob crawls up my throat, clawing at my insides. The tears roll down my cheeks like rivers of salt, "I was by your side longer than Jennette." "You fool." That piercing contempt. His voice digging into my ears was more cruel than ever. My grip on his fabric loosens, and my hands tremble as I retreat and stumble forward on the heels of my palms. "There was never a day I considered you my daughter." Claude was heartless until the very end. The deepest of despair like never before flooded Athanasia's eyes...

"Huh?!" I wake up with a jolt. The rattle in my hand rolls a few centimeters away from me. What? Why did I suddenly think of that novel? The romance novel I read because a customer left it behind. "The Lovely Princess." The title and the plot were tacky and childish, too. Did I recall that book because the princess that gets executed in it... has the same name as me...? What a jinx! I wobble on the ground. "Oh brother, how clumsy, she keeps dropping it." The maid picks up the rattle and gives it back to me without even wiping it. "don't be a nuisance and play quietly with your toy, miss." Is she belittling me for being an "outcast" of a princess? I sure hope not. I drop the rattle back with a blabber. "What's wrong? ugh, I already have my hands full with all this sewing! Here let me get that for you" She picks up the rattle again and attempts to hand it to me again but I shake my hand away. It's not what I want! Do you really think a rattle would be entertaining at my age? "Are you bored with it now?" The maid studies my behavior and contemplates. She picks me up with ease and lays me down in my crib. "Let's lay you down," She turns and walks away after saying that. Is she going to the head maid? If you're coming back with another rattle, don't bother. I wiggle and squeal trying to grab the stars hanging above me in the crib. I can never get used to this. 

I went to sleep after taking some sleeping pills in my previous life and woke up to being a baby. And not just a baby, an outcast princess. This doesn't make any sense. This is crazy. "Princess!" The maid bursts back into the room with the same golden rattle. "The head maid said our budget is low. You'll just have to play with this." Is she allowed to abruptly open a door to a baby's room like this? "I won't coddle you if you start crying. I'm really busy right now." She sits back down on the chair near my crib with the same blue floral fabric and the sewing kit she's been holding for the past hour. I'm a baby, she could be nicer to me. I guess not every princess is treated as one. From being an orphan in my previous life, I think it's nice to be reborn as a princess. But why does it have to be the princess everyone hates?!

My father of this world... is a real psycho. According to what I've overheard from the maids talking, this Ruby Palace that I'm currently living in was originally where the emperor's concubines lived. In short, the emperor's harem. Or so it was until the day I was born when the emperor killed everyone in the Ruby Palace. My mother was a dancer invited to the royal banquet. She drew the emperor's attention and was deflowered by him. But then she was forgotten... and died, leaving an infant behind, who was me. Since then, the emperor has cast me aside too, his baby girl. So I was raised by the wind rocking my cradle. I mean, the maids of this Ruby Palace. What's this dirtbag of an emperor doing throwing his wife and daughter aside? Some family...Leaving a baby like me here, where he committed such a cruel massacre. Since hearing that story for the first time, I've been having nightmares every night. But what scares me more than a nightmare is... the emperor I never met. Even being born as a princess didn't get me to be lucky. What if he goes cuckoo again and tries to kill me? Like he killed everyone else who was here in this Palace. The name I got this life was given to me by my birth mother. The undying, Athanasia. Such an extravagant name for an "outcast" princess like me. It's the same name as the ill-fated princess in that romance novel, "The Lovely Princess." I suppose mother meant for me to live a long and prosperous life in the emperor's care. Unfortunately, the Athanasia from the novel faces tragic death at the age of 18 by her father emperor, no less.

Three maids burst into my room. "She's still not asleep?" One of them asks. Obviously, I'm looking at you with wide eyes. "Do we really need to be here? she can't move on her own anyway." The second one says lazily. you're here to take care of me and now you're thinking of ways to slack off? "You know how fussy Lilian is. So much trouble, that one," The last one concludes, "Think of this as taking a break. Rock her cradle, so she'll fall asleep faster." Smart and clever, I give you that. Let's not take it out on me, ladies, we're all stuck here together. People would think of me as a crybaby from the way you talk. I'm the most docile baby I know of! Lily even worries that I don't cry enough, too. The emperor never really came to see me, so I suppose they're all belittling me as an "outcast." Am I resentful? No way! That's not me. My goal is to stay a forgotten princess and stay out of his sight for as long as I can. I'd be set for life if I ran away with some ornaments from this room. "His majesty doesn't even think of her but she's surrounded by such luxuries. What a life!" Yep, that's right. I get three meals a day. A nice, cozy bed. No matter how bad I got it, it's still the life of a princess. And I'm going to take full advantage of this privilege. I'm going to grow big and strong, steal some gold, and runoff.

It's been months since, and I can now crawl around the carpet with ease. It's an emperor's castle, after all. These must be real gold and emeralds, right? "I'll get you a new one when you get tired of it." Lily's words echo through my ears. She must think I like sparkly things. She's my cornucopia! The palace itself is luxurious, but due to the dwindling budget, I never got much to myself. My days in Ruby Palace were peaceful. I was nervous at first. I never heard from the emperor for months, so he must've really forgotten me. Even those who were on their toes seemed more at ease, too. I'm eating my meals, exercising, getting enough sleep, and growing day by day. It would be great if I could walk, though. That way, I'd be able to collect my escape fund faster. But is it just me or some trinkets are disappearing from my room? Is Lily putting them away so I don't get hurt?