Chapter 2

Several months have passed since I possessed Lucilia.

At first, I thought living as Lucilia would be easy.

Because what I had to do was very simple.

Live quietly, inconspicuously! How difficult would that be?

Opal Palace, where Lucilia lives, is a small place, so it may be a bit boring, but I won't be here for a lifetime, just only three years.

I thought about how 3 years would pass quickly. I thought so...….

"I think I'm going to die…….”

I muttered as I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

I could see the old, worn ceiling. The left corner, where the wallpaper has been largely peeled off, exposing the wood beneath, reminds me of something.

“Oh, I want to eat chicken.”

The moment I mumbled while looking at the exquisitely peeled-off wallpaper in the shape of a chicken leg, a loud sound resounded in my stomach.

Rumble.

I just rubbed my eyes. The ceiling looks hazy, probably just because of my mood.

"I'm hungry…...”

I turned to my side and sobbed.

Ever since I possessed this body, I have suffered from chronic hunger.

Lucilia is twelve years old this year. It's the age to eat a lot. Even if the table is full of food, after emptying it, one would put down the spoon and ask, 'What about dessert?'

But the food Lucilia eats at such an important time...….

“Princess, this is Laura.”

Just then, a maid entered my room with a tray in her hand.

Ah, one fact I found out after living for a month.

In this Opal Palace, no servant knocks when entering my room. Everyone jumps in, saying my name in a chubby voice.

If it was another palace, they would have been decapitated, but with Opal, this is the default.

"Please eat."

The maid named Laura set the tray on the table and quickly disappeared without saying a word.

I sat down with a deep sigh, looked at the tray and sighed again.

Hard black bread that I don't know when it was made, soup that's almost empty of ingredients, and a salad that's so rough that I wonder if weeds from the front yard were added.

Where can I find this food for the princess to eat?

I was still hungry, so I forced myself to pick up the spoon, but my face contorted before I could even eat the soup.

“My, the smell…….”

A sour, unpleasant smell came up. It was spoiled soup by anyone's eyes.

“Today is also ruined.”

I threw the spoon at random. A small spoon clattered against the tray.

“You bastards…….”

I was out of energy, so I couldn't even curse. I murmured words of resentment that no one would listen to.

“Please dress appropriately and eat.”

Originally, the princes and princesses received the budget to run the palace from the palace.

The problem is that there is no one working for Lucilia in Opal Palace.

The servants of Opal Palace have their own masters, and the reason they work here is to keep an eye on me.

The chamberlain is the servant of the 4th prince, the cook is the person of the 15th princess, and the janitor is the second cousin of the 7th princess's confidant's son-in-law...… What is this like?

I applaud their preparedness to keep an eye on even an insignificant princess, as they never know when I will turn into they nemesis. My shady sisters and brothers.

So the servants couldn't be faithful to their job. They were only interested in reporting my every move to their real owner and stealing money from the princess's palace.

There is nothing special about the first job, so I tend to focus more on the second job.

That's why my life is like this.

“Let’s go.”

Without regret, I threw the rice away and went out.

In contrast to the bitterness, the weather was sunny. Clouds like cotton candy floated in the blue sky.

“Oh, Princess! Where are you going?"

I stunned and stopped walking.

A maid with short blonde hair was looking at me with a laundry basket in her hand.

Is her name Mariam or Miriam...…. Anyway, she was a new kid. Are you two or three years older than me? Among the servants, she was the youngest.

I spoke in the most natural way possible.

“A walk in the woods.”

Hearing my answer, she smiled broadly.

“I see. Bye!"

Then she nodded and disappeared toward the laundry. What's so good, that you're all smiles like that.

I stood in a daze for a while, startled by the unexpected event.

Did my maid say hello to me? Laughing?

But after a few seconds, I realized.

'Aha, it's a strategy to steal information for being nice to me. You must never go over it.'

Suddenly, she became a cold city woman who doesn't trust anyone's favor, no, a city princess.

It must mean that he has adapted to the Esperusa royal family, but it feels like her original humanity has diminished.

My sister-in-law should come quickly. I walked toward Tabaktabak Forest, remembering the original story.

The Esperusa Palace, where the Imperial family, including the emperor, resides, is an area rather than a building.

Several palaces were scattered around Solem Palace, where the emperor lived, and the scale was enormous. There is a forest between the palaces and the river flows.

Opal Palace, where I live, was in the farthest corner. It is small and surrounded by forest, making it difficult for outsiders to enter and exit.

At first, I felt frustrated because I felt like living in exile, but these days it was the opposite.

Now I know how blessed this forest is.

"Yup."

Deep in the forest, I made sure no one was around and pulled the hem of my skirt over my knees. And tied it with a belt to keep it from falling down.

And ran.

A forest where there is no one, freely.

I felt an exhilarating sense of liberation.

"Oh!"

I stopped after running so hard.

White lumps sprouted under the trunk of the tree.

"It's a mushroom!"

I reached for the mushroom. But just before my hand touched the mushroom, a strange feeling spread through my fingers.

“Ugh.”

When I let go of my hand for a moment and stretched it out again, the feeling became more pronounced.

My fingers feel tingly and cold.

It's a poisonous mushroom

“Sheesh, it looked delicious.”

However, I had no intention of ending my second life with poisonous mushrooms, so I turned my steps without regret. After all, there are a lot of mushrooms.

After a few steps, I found another mushroom, and this time it was safe. I started picking mushrooms with excitement.

After several months of barely surviving on garbage that didn't even look like food, I finally found a way to live on my own.

It is to use Lucilia's ability to feed herself.

At first, I tried to find something to eat inside the Opal Palace. However, how thoroughly the cook maintained the kitchen, even sneaking in at dawn I could not find a piece of cheese.

Eventually I looked out. And it reminded me of the forest where Lucilia sometimes went for a walk.

If you're lucky, you might even find a fruit tree.

Stepping into the forest with such vague thoughts, I was surprised.

The forest was completely Lucilia's space.

I knew that Lucilia had a hidden ability. However, what I read about her in the book and what I felt with my own body were different.

Different from the air. I could feel the vitality of the forest through my skin. Besides, all the tall trees and thick bushes that looked the same to others looked different to me.

A keen sense for animals and plants.

It's still only that much, but that's enough for me right now.

“It’s okay.”

After picking the mushrooms, I got up again. Using the folded skirt as an apron, I put the mushrooms and walked for a while.

And finally, I arrived at a small, dilapidated cabin.

This house, which probably had been abandoned after being lived in by a forest keeper, was originally found by Lucilia before being possessed.

Lucilia was afraid of this old cabin. So after she found it, I never came around here.

But to me, this place was a wonderful hideout.

When I opened the door and entered, I was greeted by a narrow, dark cabin. One side of the wall was rotting and there was a pleasant smell.

No matter what, Lucilia was the princess, so it was worth avoiding a house like this.

But to me this is nothing! I've lived in a semi-basement room with mold on all four sides!

……not bragging though.

I shook my head and lit the furnace. The brazier and other miscellaneous belongings were left behind by the forest keeper, but they were used very well.

While the charcoal is burning, the mushrooms are skewered on iron skewers. When the flames are moderate, put the grill and put the skewers on it.

It started to smell pleasant.

"Sigh…….”

The white mushrooms cooked to a golden brown color, and the mushroom juice bubbled on the surface and occasionally dripped onto the charcoal.

Saliva began to form in my mouth.

A few minutes of fighting between the desire to eat and the need to endure. Finally, the mushrooms were perfectly grilled.

The color of the fire and the fragrant smell, it's just perfect.

"Thank you for this food!"

That moment when I opened my mouth wide for the first meal of the day.

Wow.

An explosion sounded.

"Ahh!"

I curled up and covered my head. Without knowing what the situation was, it was just an instinctive action.

What? What happened? Has the furnace exploded? But other than that, my body was fine.

There was no sign of the next explosion, so I quietly raised my head.

"Ugh."

And I was faced with an absurd sight.

Half of the cabin is missing.

Clearly, the place where there was a wall a while ago is now open. No, it was cut cleanly.

Thanks to that, someone was walking in the middle of the open field of view.

The moment I saw him, I was terrified.

He was just walking.

It was just that and it was scary.

Every single movement of that person, every single strand of his hair, every sound of his footsteps was terrifying.

I wanted to run away, but I couldn't. If I moved even slightly, I felt like I would stop breathing.

A man who looked more like a disaster than a human approached me, clad in a demon-like murder suit.

"You."

He called out to me. It was only later that he realized that the sword was pointed at me as I tried to get my spirits up from almost fainting.

"Who's there?"

Who are you...….

Even though I was shaking, I could barely raise my head. My eyes met the demonic man for an instant.

The demon's eyes were bright red. Red like freshly spilled blood.

Red eyes……?

“Huh.”

I was out of breath.

The 13th Princess is a novel about the journey of the main character, Imelda Belle Esperusa, to ascend to the throne of the emperor.

If there is a protagonist, there must be a villain.

Among the 18 brothers and sisters, there was a villain with only one episode, and there was a rival that could not be decided until the end.

Representatively, there were three competitors who annoyed Imelda the most.

1st Princess, Leonor Dawn, famous for being nicknamed Iron Blood.

Heir to the Mage Tower and future great wizard, 5th Prince Rudolf Sol.

And 12th Prince Richard Kahn.

He is the strongest swordsman who has no one to match him not only his brothers and sisters, but also the entire empire with a single force.

However, in terms of personality, he is a psycho among psychos with strong bloodlust from the Esperusa family.

He enjoys fights and wars and feels alive when he kills people. If it weren't for the prince, he would have been executed as a serial killer.

“I will ask you one last time.”

And the symbol of the 12th prince is blood-red eyes.

"Who are you?"

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