The 17th Princess Just Wants to Live

“Now, no forest keeper can live in the royal forest. So, you’re not the forest keeper’s daughter; it’s your shoes.”

Richard pointed at my feet with a nod.

“Given that you wouldn’t have come through two or three forests in those, it means you live within an hour’s walk from here. This forest belongs to Opal Palace.”

Richard frowned slightly as he spoke.

“So, um… who lives in Opal Palace?”

Wait, he was deducing like Sherlock Holmes just now, but he didn’t know my name?!

“The 17th Princess.”

I said in a tone of disbelief. Richard frowned, then chuckled. He raised his finger and flicked my forehead.

“Don’t you know who I am? Even if you don’t, it’s still impudent not to know whether I’m nobility or imperial family.”

“… what?”

I blinked and stared at Richard in a daze.

This was strange. Why did he think I was a servant?

He might not recognize my face. Lucilia had never left Opal Palace before, and unlike Richard, her hair and eye color were ordinary, so it would be hard to guess.

But judging by my clothes…

I looked down at my attire.

The dress was already covered in dirt from gathering mushrooms, and Richard had made it even messier with his explosions.

Exposed beneath were my bony shoulders and collarbone, wrists, and ankles that looked skeletal.

Indeed, my appearance was closer to that of a maid than a princess.

“But you…”

Richard spoke to me.

“Does the 17th Princess starve you?”

In a much calmer voice than before.

I opened my eyes wide and looked at Richard. It felt like the puzzle pieces in my head were falling into place, clarifying my current situation.

Richard had no intention of killing me. He didn’t know who I was.

“I…!”

I quickly stood up.

“I have to go now!”

“What?”

“Thank you for the jerky!”

Before Richard could stop me, I bowed and ran towards Opal Palace.

Of course, Richard could easily catch me if he wanted to. But I was sure he wouldn’t.

Richard had already achieved his purpose in coming to this forest. He had defeated the shadow puppet that attacked him, and the child he mistook for an assassin turned out to be just a hungry maid.

Why would Richard chase after me in this situation?

The Richard I knew was only interested in fights, wars, and killings. His kindness towards me was just a momentary sympathy and whim.

So, I had to disappear before he changed his mind.

No matter how pitiful he felt for me, he wouldn’t bother following me to another palace. He wasn’t the type to help others while enduring such trouble, right?

… I hoped so.

After running for a while, I looked back. There was only the same forest as always behind me.

Richard was not there.

“I’m safe.”

I sat down, filled with relief.

Surviving the imminent danger was a joy, but above all, it was a great comfort that Richard didn’t know my true identity.

It would take a long time before we met again. By then, he would have forgotten today’s events.

My plan to stay out of sight and quiet for three years was still intact!

I was sure of it.

***

That night, an unusual atmosphere hung over Ruby Palace.

The reason was simple. Richard Khan Esperusa, the master of Ruby Palace, was in a very bad mood.

Outside, Richard had all sorts of sensational nicknames like the or the , but the people of Ruby Palace thought he was a decent master.

He was capricious and self-centered, but he took good care of his people and ensured clear rewards and punishments. The pay was also much higher than in other palaces. It was a good place to work as long as one didn’t consider betrayal.

Of course, the Esperusa Palace itself wasn’t a particularly good workplace, and Ruby Palace was especially bloody.

No place was perfect! Our prince was pretty good!

Even if you found a room filled with blood an hour after cleaning it or got called in the middle of the night only to have a human head thrown at you to clean up, there was no place better!

Ruby Palace was a place of tearful self-justification by the servants.

But today, the atmosphere in Ruby Palace was a bit different.

“There’s a problem, Sir Luke.”

Luke Clyton, Richard’s knight and secretary stopped his steps toward the office. A servant, looking distraught, grabbed him.

“What is it?”

Luke answered with a smile. Unlike Richard, he was gentle and kind to everyone. The servants of Ruby Palace often relied on Luke when in trouble.

“The prince is in a bad mood, but we don’t know why. It’s hard to even get near the office.”

“Ah.”

Luke nodded. He had an idea of what it might be.

“I think I know the reason. I’ll talk to him, so don’t worry.”

“Thank you!”

He had just heard the news from another knight. Richard had been attacked.

That alone wasn’t surprising. Assassinations and attacks were daily occurrences in the palace, which was in the midst of a fierce battle for the throne.

But today’s attack was special. The attacker was not human.

And Luke guessed that was why Richard was in a bad mood.

Richard hated wizards. He considered them cowardly loudmouths with no courage to go to the battlefield and dismissed their magic as sinister trickery.

The wizard he hated the most was his own blood brother.

The 5th Prince, Rudolf Sol. Richard’s arch-nemesis and one of the three imperial descendants currently considered closest to the throne.

Today’s ambush was undoubtedly his work. There was no evidence, but it was a known fact.

Although Richard usually felt good after a fight, like a dog after a walk, he always returned in a foul mood when dealing with magic, especially Rudolf’s magic.

Having seen such a sight more than once, Luke entered Richard’s office with a light heart.

“…!”

For a moment, he almost drew his sword.

Richard’s office was filled with murderous intent. Luke momentarily mistook it for an assassin’s intrusion.

However, upon regaining his composure, he realized the killing intent did not come from outside.

It emanated from the master of the room, sitting in an arrogant posture with his feet on the desk.

Richard was glaring into space, but when he heard Luke approaching, he slowly turned his gaze.

When Richard’s red eyes fixed on him, Luke felt a chill run down his spine. Warning lights flashed in his mind.

This was definitely not normal.

Luke slowly began to speak.

“Your Highness, you called for me…”

“Who is the master of the Opal Palace?”

Richard asked without even hearing the greeting.

“The Opal Palace?”

The unfamiliar name took Luke some time to recall its owner.

“The 17th Princess… Lucilia El. She is twelve years old this year.”

“Twelve, huh.”

Richard sneered at those words. It was a laugh akin to a wolf’s growl.

“Quite grown up, don’t you think?”

It was hard for Luke to agree. Thinking back to what he was doing at twelve made it even harder.

But then again, the monster before him had already beaten an assassin with a wooden sword at thirteen.

Richard’s standards were far from average, but that might be typical for the Esperusa imperial family.

“She even knows how to mistreat my maid.”

Lost in thought, Luke was jolted back to reality by Richard’s words.

“Mistreat… your maid? The 17th Princess?”

“What’s the monthly allowance given to the princes and princesses by the palace?”

The random question made Luke even more flustered. Richard had never shown interest in such matters before.

“Um… about 20,000 Solem every three months…”

Richard’s face grew even harsher at Luke’s answer.

Richard continued to ask more about Lucilia. Luke answered as best he could, still unable to grasp the situation.

It wasn’t particularly surprising that Richard didn’t know Lucilia. Luke, too, only knew the basics as a secretary and didn’t even know her face.

The 13th Princess, the 17th Princess, the 19th Prince, and others had essentially given up their claim to the throne. They were imperial descendants who kept to themselves and avoided attention, posing no threat.

Richard was indifferent to the weak and only concerned with the strong. To him, those who abandoned the fight for the throne were nothing but trash.

So why the sudden interest in Lucilia?

“I see.”

Richard’s face turned even more savage after hearing the information.

Just as Luke finally thought he could ask a question.

“Leave.”

The cold tone chased him out of the room.

After Luke left, Richard tried to calm himself.

As it was a rare action for him, the attempt failed within seconds. His face contorted like a raging beast.

20,000 Solem was no small amount. Enough to employ over 30 servants, and the Opal Palace was much smaller in scale.

Richard paused his thoughts abruptly.

‘Why do I care about this?’

The unpleasant feeling persisted. Since returning to the palace, he had been unable to focus on anything.

He kept thinking of that child, crying that she only came for mushrooms.

A severely emaciated child. Sunken cheeks, skinny limbs, collarbones jutting out alarmingly.

And the way she desperately gobbled down the jerky.

All these images evoked unpleasant memories in Richard.

A small child locked in a room, surviving on water.

On the rare occasions when she got food, she would stuff it into their mouth, fearing it might be taken away, with no regard for the dignity or respect for an imperial family.

“Richard.”

A sticky, repulsive voice echoed inside his head, accompanied by a stabbing headache and a chill.

“You must become a useful child.”

Bam.

Richard grabbed his sword and swung it randomly. The desk that had withstood many years in his office endured the first attack but succumbed to the second and third strikes.

Even after smashing the desk, Richard did not stop. Each swing of his sword destroyed another piece of furniture in his office.

When there was nothing left to break, Richard finally lowered his sword.

“Uh… Your Highness?”

Luke Clyton’s trembling voice came from the half-destroyed door.

After surveying the ruin he had created, Richard laughed fiercely. He acknowledged it.

This shitty feeling wouldn’t go away on its own.

“Follow me.”

Richard opened the barely standing door and spoke to Luke before walking out.

“Huh? Where are you going?”

Luke hurriedly followed. Richard gritted his teeth and replied.

“We’re going to the Opal Palace.”