One day, I became a princess

Chapter 2

According to what I overhear 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.

My mother, Diana, was a dancer invited to a royal banquet at the Imperial Palace. She drew the emperor's eyes and was deflowered by him. It seems to be true that she has once been favoured, for after Diana's admission, for a while, there was no other woman living in the Ruby Palace. However, as the season passed the emperor steps were cut off when she became pregnant. She died giving birth to me. After that, an incident occured in the Ruby Palace. On the morning of my birth, the emperor went on a killing spree killing all those that lived there. Afterwards, the emperor put me here, his only child, to be forgotten. So I was raised by the wind rocking my cradle...I mean the maids of this Ruby Palace. Well, Lily wasn't very happy when she heard this.

In fact, the story Lily told me was a little different from what the maids said. She said that the emperor truly loved my mother, Diana, and he was ignoring me because of the loss of her death. I heard her when she told me, but it seems to be a hiccup in her thinking. The death of my mother and the time of the emperor's presence in the house of Ruby were unanimously accepted.

It seems to be Lily's mistake or just a tale to comfort me.

All the maids are shouting, "This guy's just a freak!" while Lily is seeming to say, "No, he's a crazy person with a reason!" So, my point is, I was forced to weigh in to decide if he's crazy or not.

Anyway, I'm living in a palace haunted by ghosts. Uh. Since hearing that story for the first time I've been having nightmares every night. But what scares me more than the nightmares, is the emperor that I haven't met yet. Even born a princess I didn't get to be lucky...what if he suddenly goes cuckoo again and tries to kill me? Like he killed everyone else who was here at the palace. I should think of something else, I'm scaring myself.

"Uaang."

The name I got in this life was given to me by my birth mother. In my past life, the director of the orphanage had to score through a phone book to come up with my name. But this time my name is Athanasia. To my great surprise, my name has the meaning of immortality. Lily came to me last night to tell me that it's an extravagant name for an outcast princess like me. It's also the same name as the ill-fated princess in the 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 a tragic death at the age of eighteen. And by her father, the emperor, no less! Ugh. Why do I keep thinking about this?!

So when I opened my eyes this morning, I was terrified that my father would come find me. Slam! Suddenly, the door's pulled open. Fortunately, however, it's the maids who enter the room.

"Hm? She's still not asleep?" they murmur grudgingly as they peer into my cradle.

"Do we really need to be here? She can't move on her own anyway."

"You know how fussy Lillian is. So much trouble, that one,"

Ah, this again. Let's not take it out on me ladies, we're all stuck here in the Ruby Palace together.

"Think of this as taking a break."

"What if she starts crying?"

"Rock her cradle, so she'll fall asleep faster."

People would think I'm such 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 came to see me, so I suppose they're all belittling me as an outcast. Am I resentful? No way! My goal is to stay a forgotten princess, out of his sight for as long as I can! I'd be set for life if I run off with some ornaments from this room. So please, forget me.

"His majesty doesn't even think of her, but she's surrounded by such luxuries. What a life!"

Yup, this is a palace after all. I get three meals a day and a nice cozy bed. No matter how bad I got it, it's still the life of a princess. I'm going to grow big and strong, steal some gold, and run off.

But I should get out of this cradle first. To do so, Lily says to "eat your meals, exercise and grow big and strong, your highness." I lay back in my bed and raise my legs to do leg stretches.

"We're nothing but candles in the wind. We'd be dead with a snap of his fingers..."

"Yeah. Why did we have to be the ones assigned here...did you hear about that ghost coming out of the kitchen every night?"

"It creeps me out. Who knows when we might end up like that, too?"

The maids shiver in fright. But I understand them. I don't want to live in a palace like this, either. The moment I gather enough money to escape with, I'm out of here!

***

"Ehehe."

I laugh giddily at the sparkly ball in front of me.

"Do you like it that much?"

"Oah!"

I laugh and laugh as I stare at the round ball of gold in Lily's hand, as I rub my cheek against hers. Come to mama, you sweet, sweet gold!

As time passed, I can now crawl around the carpet with ease, and every time I'm blinded by greed with all the gold and jewels in the room. It's an emperor's castle after all. These must be real gold and jewels, right? Anyway, as I kept stretching and reaching for the gold coloured decorations and jewels, Lily must've thought that I like sparkly things. After that, she brought gold bells and mobiles that made my eyes twinkle. The palace itself was luxurious, because it was originally a place where concubines lived, but due to the dwindling budget, I never got much to myself.

"I'll bring you a new one when you get tired of it."

Miss, you are my cornucopia!

"Gyaa. Uwuah."

I fall to the carpet and play with the ball Lily brought. I couldn't do much but chase after it so Lily had to roll it around for me. I'll take this with me when I run for it. Ehehe! Aw! I'm drooling.

My days in the Ruby Palace were peaceful, I was nervous at first, but after a few months the emperor never came, so he must have really forgotten about me. Even those who were always on their toes seemed to be more at ease, too. Of course, the story of ghosts that appear in the kitchen and bathroom still seem to be prevalent among them,

I'm eating my meals, exercising, getting enough sleep and growing day by day. It will be great when I can walk though. That way I can collect my escape funds faster. But is it just me? It seems like the ornaments in my room are decreasing one by one. Is Lily putting them away so that I don't get hurt? Hmm.

"Waahh!"

I should get my diaper changed first. How embarrassing.

***

"The sorcerer of the tower had the strongest power among all the sorcerers in existence."

I'm in the arms of Lily as she reads me a fairy tale. But it seems that this fairy tale is truly the history of this country since its creation. I've been wanting to learn more about this place for a while and, from what I understand, babies of this age don't usually learn or understand something this complicated. Hmm, maybe Lily is interested in early education for babies. Either way, the contents of the story is so captivating that I'm sure my eyes are glittering from excitement. Everything she's read has captured and held my attention.

A sorcerer! There's sorcerers in this world! I knew this wasn't some random foreign country, I'm really in a different world! To be honest, I didn't really believe the emperor powerful enough to kill everyone himself, but with a book like this, it explains how he could have.

"Err!"

I point to an illustration when Lily flipped the page. It's a pagoda which has thorny vines encircling it.

"The sorcerer of the tower was so powerful, that he could easily bring an empire to ruins."

I want to see it too! I want to see real magic too!

"And for that reason, they freeze their own hearts." Now this is starting to sound like a fairy tale. "Because if emotions such as passion get in the way of reason, their emotions would rule over their rationality."