CHAPTER 1
<Born As A Princess!>
The
gas was cut off a week ago. Today, even the electricity was cut off. My toes
were frozen from the end and there was no sense. It was said that today’s
weather is going down to the lowest temperature of -12oC, so it was
cold enough to breathe even when inside the house. After trying to turn on the
gas fire a few times, I was forced to put on a few more old clothes. When I
went out this morning, there was nowhere to go, so I could do was crouch as
much as possible.
I
sat on a blanket that was getting chilly and grabbed a cell phone with a low
battery. In my cramped house, only the dim cell phone light shine dimly.
“It’s cold
and I’m feel like dying…”
The
heat from my cell phone was the last warmth left for me. If even my teeth went
off, I had to endure this long night with only my body temperature. When I
accidentally entered the talk, there were accumulated chat from my friends.
-
Gyeoul-ah, what are you doing? We are going to the ski resort,
will you come too?
-
What are you doing and no contact? Are you dead?
-
Gyeoul-ah, Gyeoul-ah
-
Hey! Yoon Gyeoul!
I
just went through the messages and turned the screen off.
“Haahh……” I
sighed.
I
was grateful for the friends who still contacted me, but the circumstances were
different between them and myself. I couldn’t afford it. In simple terms, there
was no ‘money’. I may have to starve for nearly a month to go to the ski resort
with my friends, but because of my pride, I never told my friends about that.
‘Sorry,
busy. Let’s play later’. That was an excuse that I used every time.
It
was better to be a busy and irrelevant friend than revealing that I had a
father who was broken and poor and a drunkard. My mom left me after a few years
of bear up, but eventually divorced my dad. I don’t blame my mother. If I had a
husband like that, I could understand that everyone would be sick of it. Still,
I would have been a burden for my mother to take me. While living in the shade
of my father most of my childhood, he barely ran away, but he often visited
home to find out how I found out where he was. Because of that, all of the
college tuition that I had collected was taken away, and my registration was
canceled, and I was only working part-time to earn living expenses. Dad, with
enormous debts, went in and out of prison. I received the mail saying that he
was still in prison, so he probably couldn’t come out.
“Even if I
didn’t go to the emergency room, I don’t suffer from this”. Another sigh come
out from my mouth.
In
the last month, I was suddenly loaded into the emergency room and unexpected
expenditures occurred. No matter how much I got a part-time job, I was
overwhelmed with just paying for the monthly rent and living expenses. I laugh
bitterly and wrap my body with the blankets heated tighter.
BANG!
“Open the
door!”
I
felt like I was fluffy and upright. My heart started beating like crazy with a
familiar voice. The man with a voiceless voice was a man I knew well.
“……Dad” He
must be in jail, when did he come out? But my dad didn’t even give me the time
to think about it.
BANG! BANG!
There
was no hesitation in knocking on the door. Then, in case someone would come up
from the owner’s house, I ran quickly and opened the front door.
“Hey! I was
almost frozen. What are you doing earlier to open it now?”
Every
breath that come out from his mouth was mixed with the smell of alcohol and
odor. I looked at my dad while resisting the urge to block my nose at any
moment. The old coat was filled with unknowable dust, and the shoes were all
covered with dirt.
“When did
you come out?” I asked.
“Yesterday.
More than that, give me some money. It’s not enough, I want to have another
drink”.
I
shook my head as I looked at the hand that seemed natural.
“I don’t
have money right now, so I can’t pay for electricity and gas”
“Don’t be
ridiculous. Yeah, you know what you’re putting? Ok, just, give it to me when I
asked nicely”.
Dad
raised his hand threateningly. Because I already knew what kind of pain it was,
I collapsed without knowing.
“If you
don’t, I will find it. Just wait there, Yoon Gyeoul”.
My
dad, who had put on the slack, walked into the house with his shoes on, opened
the drawers one by one and began scouring the house, I ran to the outside where
the cold wind blew through the gap.
“Hey! Yoon
Gyeoul!”
My
dad, who found me running belatedly, began to chase after me, I ran down the
stairs desperately, but the floor was frozen and slippery, so I fell down.
“Ugh……!” I
groaned. In the meantime, Dad came right up to the point. I hurried to breathe
and stood on the floor with both hands. Meanwhile, my chapped knees and palms
tingle, I tried to go up the stairs
‘It’s
already late’
Our
house was a rooftop, so the place where we stopped naturally was the edge of
the rooftop. Wheeing-, the wind rose from the bottom up, causing my hair to
flutter wildly.
“F*ck! Why
you running away? Give me the money then I won’t hit you”
“No, I
really don’t have money…”
All
I had was 20.000 won. It was also my living expenses, which I had to endure
until two weeks after the part-time job fees were released. If even this was
taken away, there was nothing to put in my mouth tomorrow.
“If not, why
do you ran away? Don’t lie, give it to me!”
Dad
screamed and stepped up. I also tried to back down, but right behind me was the
railings. His beaked eyes stared at me fiercely.
“This child,
really-”
Just before
my dad’s big hand hit me.
“!!”
At the moment, I felt my body floating. The
moment I closed my eyes for a moment, I saw Dad’s face getting farther away
from my view. It was a spectacle that raised both eyes as if surprised. Is
there any chance of surviving by falling from a five-floor building? Even if I
survive, I will eventually die because there are no medical expenses. I’ve been
living like a wickedness, but in the end my last is so dirty. The hard-gathered
things quickly disappeared like sand in my hand. Because of the family, I
couldn’t have a harmonious family and loving parents. It was too much for me.
‘Okay, I
don’t need anything anymore’.
So,
‘So please
just……I want to live comfortably’,
Then, a
darkness came…
***
“Mabel”
I felt like
floating in the air with someone’s voice. The unfamiliar touch was a bit
hesitated and began to hold me in my arms and grow younger.
“Mabel,
Mabel”
The
unfamiliar voice repeatedly uttered the presumed name.
“You’re so
cute”
I
felt the touch that tickled my mouth with my fingertips along with a soft
smile. It’s definitely my first time listening, but it sounded well without any
awkwardness as if it was my mother tongue.
‘What the
hell is this?’
I opened my eyes to understand the
situation, but I couldn’t see properly. There was only a slight contrast. I
tried to look ahead with my eyes blinking, but I stopped getting tired and fell
asleep. My thoughts continued to break. I couldn’t even think seriously. I felt
someone hug me in my arms and shake me, but I shook without strength, unable to
hold my throat.
“It seems
like a lot of days have passed”
“All thanks
to the grace, I’m glad that the princess is healthy”
The
voices of men and women came alternately. Could it be I’ve been born again?
‘Then these
people are…my parents…?’
Somehow, my tears fell. I never felt
the joy of having a loving parent. My dad, who hit me on a drunken day, was
also happy when I was very young. I was just tired of… being born again.
.
.
.
I
was about a month old when I was able to say that it was a definite accident.
When I first realized that, I was so amazed that I had been reincarnated with
memories and burst into tears.
“Eungg~!”
“Oh, it’s
not mealtime yet, so what happened, Your Majesty?”
Yeah,
I was reincarnated. As a princess of the country I’ve heard of for the first
time in my life. At first, I thought that being called a princess was a
nickname that parents usually call ‘our princess’ when they see their daughter,
but it wasn’t. Indeed, I was a princess. At first, I was urgent to deny the
reality, but as the same day repeated over a few days, I had to stop denying
and admitting it.
‘Mabel
Gardenia Ermano’ . That was a new name for me.
Even
before I thought it was an idea, I heard the word ‘Mabel’ repeatedly and I felt
like I was brainwashed. And the country where I am is the great empire Ermano.
‘Of course
it’s better to be a gold spoon than to be poor, but the difference is too
severe…!’
When I remember that my death,
which was Yoon Gyeoul, was only due to 20,000 won, it would collapse for
nothing. Anyway, I was born again. As the second child of the Emperor of the
Ermano Empire. From what I’ve heard so far, it seems that the person who was my
mother died shortly after giving birth to me. Usually in novels, in this case,
the dad used to neglect the child who killed his wife, but is the emperor like
that too?
‘It’s okay
if I’m neglected’
I used to hear the voice of a man
calling me before I thought about it, but I wasn’t sure if it was just my dream
or reality. Since the nanny was the person I thought was the mother, I only
speculate that the man maybe not my father. It was terrible to be trapped in
the body of a newborn baby at the age of 20. What did she do to make me sleep
like this? There was nothing I could do other than eating and sleeping almost
all day. After crying for a long time, I fell asleep and opened my eyes cause
the touch of my cheek.
“……?”
“Look at
this, Madame. Doesn’t it feel like she is looking at me? I think we have eye
contact now”
The first thing I saw was blue eyes
looking down at me. I was embarrassed by the face I saw for the first time, and
I quickly hardened.
“The
princess seems to recognize her father. Up until now, she were crying so much,
but be calm when you do that, Your Majesty”
I was
confused by what the nanny said
‘This
person……is my dad?’
He
was too young to be a father, so I thought it was a lie at the moment. He is a
father or an older brother?. Even though he was an older brother, I could believe
it. Blue eyes, neat silver hair that slightly covers the neck. The feature
looks a bit scary, but the image was quite soft as he was smiling while looking
at me. Then, the man looked at me and his hand reach out.
“!”
‘He’s going
to hit me!’
I
thought I was getting hit for a moment and closed my eyes tightly. But there
was no pain. I slowly opened my eyes cause the soft touch on my head.
I
could see the man’s face still smiling at me. What was so good that made him
smile like that?
“You’re
truly my daughter. You’ve already recognized your dad, she is very smart, isn’t
she?”
“Yes, Your
Majesty”.
The
man named Dad was very different from my expectations. Did I watch too much
drama? Usually, in this case, don’t you treat your child cold by saying, ‘she
made my wife die!’ It was then. The man’s touch slowed a little.
“… … if
Sianna had been alive, she would have been more delighted than me”.
“… Your
Majesty…”
With
the nanny’s conversation, who responded sadly, like the voice of a gloomy man,
I could easily infer that Sianna was my mother’s name. The man gaze was toward
me, but he seemed to remember his wife who had left.
“Mabel, I
will protect you no matter what happened. I promise”
The man’s thick finger touched my
open palm. I closed my hand and squeezed the finger without my knowledge. It
wasn’t really arbitrary. Holding a baby reflexively in the palm of your hand is
common sense in school! But why he is smiling brightly?
“You’re so
cute”.
The
man looked at my finger and laughed as if he liked it. At first glance, he
looked happy. But I was very burdened with this great interest. He is human
beings who are the only ones like this, the most precious daughters, who don’t
know when to change when they show their affection. I wasn’t lucky, so I wasn’t
sure I wouldn’t be abandoned this time. I didn’t want it. Something like family
love.
‘Gyeoul-ah.
Our pretty Gyeoul’
My
dad, who kissed me because it was good to see me, changed suddenly and swung
his hand without hesitation. I would have had no expectations if he hadn’t said
that he love me from the beginning. It is a lie if my heart hasn’t been shaken
by a man’s attitude that seems to care for me. So I remembered the pledge on
the verge of dying.
‘I don’t
need anything anymore’
So, let’s not expect anything this
time, stay invisible and leave. Life is living alone anyway, right?
***
Emperor
of Ermano Empire, ‘Estevan Nies Ermano’, recently had two major
concerns. One is about the hostage of a giant captured after a collision with
the enemy Devlin at the border. Another thing was about her daughter, Mabel,
who was more than a month old. Estevan put aside the case of Devlin’s hostage
‘In fact,
there is nothing more important than Mabel’
The cause of anxiety was with the
priests who claimed that Mabel was the child of God and they were in a riot to
take her to Abelard, the holy country. The priest talked of a vision and said that
they saw a prophecy on the day when Mabel was born and used that as an excuse
to bring Mabel and raised her in there.
“Right, that
vision”
Estevan
sharpened his teeth quickly. Because of that, those priests often came to the imperial
palace to declare their visions.
---At the East
end. Seeds have been planted to save the world---
Ermano,
the great empire, was located at the easternmost point, and everyone knows that
on the day Mabel was born, a flashing thunder struck the imperial sky. Estevan,
who was waiting for the childbirth, while holding the hand of Empress Sianna,
also heard the sound. The servants congratulated and saying that the princess
was born healthy but Estevan wasn’t happy at all. It was only a little over 15
days since the Empress’s died because she was so weak that she couldn’t bear
the aftereffects of childbirth. Mabel was very special to Estevan, who hadn’t
yet escaped from the shock of losing his wife. A very lovely daughter who
resembles Sianna.
Estevan’s
gaze was sharp as if he could penetrate the letter sent by the priest. Without
thinking, he tore the letter.
“Haahh…….”
The aide who was watching beside him groaned and covered his face with both
hands. Estevan glanced at the aide and glared coldly
“Tell them
that I decline and will not reconsider”
“Yes, Your
Majesty……”
Estevan
was going to ignore it right now, but he wasn’t sure how long it would last. The
priest of the holy country will not give up to send their requests until he
gave in. They said that since there is Oscar, the first prince, it meaning that
Mabel has a little chance to inherited the throne so they will raise and serve
her. Within the short period of time, Estevan had to find a way to break the
will of the holy country. They weren’t going to bend their minds in quite a
way, so he needed a good reason.
Estevan
tore the letter of another priest underneath it, and raised his head to the
pretense of wandering around the door. When he glanced at the waiting
attendant, the attendant quickly opened the door.
“Agh……!”
Someone
screaming at the suddenly opened door.
