“From now on, I’ll do everything by myself!”
“Pardon?”
“Did we do something to make you uncomfortable?”
Well… it was uncomfortable!
But if she said that, the maids would probably be sad.
Ellie shook her head quickly and shouted again.
“From now on, I’m going to do everything on my own!”
Because that’s how she could grow up properly!
“But… so suddenly?”
“Kids grow suddenly!”
Ellie quoted a line from one of the parenting books her brother used to read so seriously.
“Well, that’s true, but…”
It wasn’t really something a child herself should say…
The maids looked toward Baroness Laval.
Anything related to Princess Ellia’s personal care always needed Baroness Laval’s approval.
She also seemed shocked by the princess’s sudden change, but in the end, she nodded.
“…If the princess wishes it, we must allow it. If you struggle, we’ll help then.”
“Understood.”
Good! One step closer to independence.
Ellie marched confidently toward the bathroom.
Washing up in the morning was something she could easily do alone. After all, it was something she did every day.
“Oh my, you wash your face so well!”
“Princess, you brush your teeth so thoroughly even by yourself!”
The maids marveled as they watched Ellie wash her face, brush her teeth, and apply cream all on her own.
“……”
Strange.
Really strange.
Was washing and brushing your teeth something to be praised for…?
Princess Ellia couldn’t even blow her own nose, but Ellie was different. Her brother raised her that way.
Whenever Ellie learned to do something on her own, her brother would say, “You’re older now, so it’s only natural you know how to do that.” So these compliments felt weird.
“Let’s go get you dressed now. This way, please.”
The maids guided the freshly washed Ellie to a mirror.
Ellie’s heart thumped.
Finally, the moment to see Princess Ellia’s face.
The book had almost no description of Princess Ellia’s appearance. Just mentions like her hair being too long so she cut it or tied it up, or that she grew taller. That was about it.
So Ellie had always imagined Princess Ellia however she liked.
What would the real Princess Ellia look like?
Filled with both excitement and nerves, Ellie stood before the mirror—and gasped.
Huh?
She wasn’t Ellie now—she was supposed to be Princess Ellia.
Then why—?
The reflection in the mirror was simply “Ellie.”
Long, wavy pink hair. The ends tinted purple—just like Ellie’s real hair.
The wide, surprised purple eyes staring back were also her own.
Staring blankly at her reflection, Ellie finally asked a maid:
“Um… do I look like Princess Ellia to you?”
“…? Of course.”
The maids answered dutifully, though puzzled.
“Don’t I look like someone else?”
“No matter how we look, Your Highness is Your Highness.”
“My hair is pink, right?”
“Yes, a pink color that turns purple toward the ends.”
“And my eyes?”
“Purple.”
They described exactly what Ellie saw.
She had no idea how to explain it.
Ellie stared at her reflected face, deep in thought.
Reincarnating into a book usually happened because of magic.
Then maybe this is related to magic too?
Since Ellie was now the protagonist of this story, perhaps her appearance had been adjusted to match her.
Book worlds tended to fill in blank spaces however they needed.
Seeing her own face in the mirror made it feel less like she had borrowed Princess Ellia’s life and more like she had been given a brand-new one.
Suddenly, a burst of responsibility and determination rose inside her.
Alright, if things are like this, I’ll live as a wonderful princess until my brother comes to find me!
Ellie looked at her reflection and nodded firmly.
*****
Dressed properly in mourning clothes, Ellie was guided out of the room by the people around her.
“Your Highness, this way, please.”
At first she felt calm, but the closer they came to the funeral hall—passing through the long corridor—the heavier her heart and her steps grew.
It was the first funeral she had ever attended in her life.
No matter how much she’d learned from books, Ellie was still only seven years old.
You can do this.
Steeling herself, Ellie straightened her back.
When they reached the end of the long corridor, the doors of the funeral hall opened.
A pair of enormous doors, towering impossibly high, slowly swung wide.
Inside, several times more mourners than those in the corridor filled the hall to capacity.
All of their gazes locked onto Ellie at once.
Wow…
It was the first time she’d ever been the focus of so many eyes.
Her stomach fluttered, but Ellie lifted her chin bravely.
There would be countless moments like this from now on. She needed to start getting used to it.
The people were bowing their heads, waiting for her.
Had she not known beforehand, she might have panicked—but Ellie had read the books.
“Raise your heads.”
Her voice was young, but firm.
The appearance of Princess Ellia.
The people obeyed immediately, lifting their heads at her order.
She had just moved a whole crowd with a single command. Quite princess-like!
Brother! I’m doing well!
If she kept this up, maybe she could endure everything until her brother returned.
She was about to give herself a passing grade when she suddenly felt one particularly sharp gaze.
Huh?
Its owner was a boy with hair like breaking sunlight.
Who is he?
It wasn’t a friendly look.
But Princess Ellia was only seven years old—what reason would anyone have to harbor such burning hostility toward her?
Even searching her memories, Ellie couldn’t recall anyone who’d disliked the young princess so strongly.
Something nagged at her.
She turned her head again to check, but the boy had already lowered his eyes.
Am I forgetting something?
No. No matter how she thought about it, there was no boy of that age mentioned in the books.
Which meant he wasn’t someone important in Princess Ellia’s life.
Did she hit him when she was younger?
People who hit others forget, but the ones who got hit never do.
The boy’s eyes lingered in her mind. She felt something instinctively unsettling.
I want to check…
But now wasn’t the time.
She had to greet the people safely and carry out the funeral properly.
Ellie walked slowly forward, stamping each face into her memory.
She didn’t know who was who yet, but learning their faces came first.
Among them, there would surely be someone—a truly good person—who would help her someday.
When their eyes met, some people bowed stiffly, others gave faint smiles—each reacting in their own way.
Passing them, she reached the far end of the crowd, where knights in formal uniforms greeted her.
At the center of the hall the knights guarded, two coffins were placed.
“Please give the two of them your final farewell.”
Ellie nodded slightly and approached the coffins.
The king and queen, lying among flowers, looked almost as if they were simply asleep.
She had only known them through books. Seeing them in person for the first time made her chest flutter strangely.
This feels strange…
Perhaps it was because she knew their story.
Ellie recalled what she had read.
The carriage carrying the three—Princess Ellia and her parents—had overturned. It rolled off a cliff, and the king and queen had held the princess tightly in their arms.
Because of that, the princess had only lost consciousness without a single scratch, while the king and queen had died on the spot.
She remembered crying for a long time in her brother’s arms after reading that story because it was so sad.
The tragedy that had struck such a loving family hurt her heart, and the princess left alone seemed so pitiful. And the king and queen, who had to leave their daughter behind so suddenly, were heartbreaking as well.
Perhaps that was why—why her eyes suddenly stung.
Ellie clenched her lips and widened her eyes to keep the tears from falling.
…Huh?
Then Ellie noticed something unexpected.
There were injuries on the king and queen’s faces.
The makeup covered most of it, but the deep marks couldn’t be completely hidden.
Their bodies should have been covered in injuries from the crash. But the wounds Ellie saw weren’t ordinary ones.
Those are injuries caused by magic.
Ellie narrowed her eyes and looked closer.
The more she looked, the more certain she became. They were indeed magical injuries.
Magic wounds looked different from normal ones. Her brother often injured himself during dangerous experiments, so Ellie could recognize the marks at a glance.
Normal wounds and magic-inflicted wounds were as different as black and white. There was no mistaking them.
But if they died because the carriage fell… why are there magic wounds?
A chill spread through Ellie’s chest.
What if the king and queen’s deaths weren’t an accident?
Princess Ellia had remained unaware, but Ellie—being sharp—saw it differently. It might have been murder.
Which meant someone had intended to kill the king and queen.
Then… could that be why Princess Ellia was later driven from the throne…?
At that thought, Ellie suddenly recalled the detective stories she’d read with her brother.
Conspiracies and incidents are always connected.
Maybe the rebellion didn’t happen because Princess Ellia lived lazily… but because of something much deeper.
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