A Princess Back In Time

chapter five

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F I V E

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Hanna Cerstwane had only been thirteen years old when her family fell into debt— her loving father falling to a scheme, and their house Cerstwane walling into debt with how the failure of their Cerstwane Logging Enterprise falling into bankruptcy. Hanna was the second oldest of the five Cerstwane children, with her noble elder sister already married into a noble household as a mistress, and the youngest being no older than a few months old. Their mother fell ill and so their father took the role of the caretaker of the house, diligently running himself down for the wellbeing of family.

On her fourteenth birthday, she had willingly become a Imperial servant. The price far outweighed what it would cause her, and would certainly help her family financial problems. Her family, of course, were horrified. Nobody in their right minds would want to become a servant of the Royal Family.

The Royal House, while certainly great and powerful, was a house of madmen that wouldn't hesitate to kill you for the slightest mistake you made.

So yes, while Hanna chose this fate herself, she certainly didn't like it.

So when five years later had passed of being a servant under the Ruby Palace, Hann didn't know what to think when Miss Lilian had asked her to look after the mute princess in her absence.

Golden curls, smooth porcelain skin, beautiful symmetrical features, and the trademark of the royal family, those gorgeous blue jeweled eyes, the Princess Athanasia was very pretty despite being so small and terribly thin. Not even the shadows under her eyes, the gaunt cheeks, the pale sickly tone of her skin, and the strange cold behavior that was odd for a child of her age, would change that fact.

His Highness the Emperor holding no love for his only child was no secret insode the Imperial Palace walls. He might have spared the child, but to keep her here, a palace unsuitable for children of the royal blood? The fact that the princess was the only one who had come out alive from the massacre made every loyal servants of this palace resent her. Some held her mother's foreign, common blood against her. Most used the fact the emperor holding no love for the princess to their advantage, mocking and belittling the princess quite boldly in her presence, within her earshot, while giggling in malicious amusement. However Miss Lilian tried many times to stop it, it didn't change what they think of the princess. It also didn't help that the Head Maid absolutely abhorred the princess existence, and didn't see her as the princess of the empire and did everything she could to make the princess life worse. She might not be able to touch Miss Lilian, but her authority was not something Miss Lilian can just brush aside for the princess, and so, obeyed being sent away in useless errands to keep her away from the princess and thus, leaving the princess vulnerable.

Hanna shuddered, feeling so much pity for the ill-fated princess.

Gisela, very beautiful and articulate, was very vain and loved to play games. Games that either always resulted in tears from being humiliated. The older maid took pleasure in manipulating and screwing with people. The woman had more followers than a group of servants stationed in a whole wind, and often used them to avoid dirtying her hands. Gisela was half the reason why servants try to run from the Imperial Palace and get executed for it by the guards, with the other half a reason that was caused by her schemes. And then there's Bertha, the complete opposite of Gisela. Born with below average features, and openly disdainful  of everyone, Bertha did not like to mingle with people much with the only except of Gisela. Bertha was rude, and very violent. She enjoyed inflicting pain, wounds and scars on the body of the one who pissed her off, often because of petty reasons. It was no surprise she had chosen the princess as the one to receive her wrath with the fact that Miss Lilian was untouchable.