She felt guilty and tormented. Anyway, she cheated on her friends for three years. They would think she was awful if they knew that she had lied about her gender and age.
They wonāt be able to stay friends with her anymoreā¦
They would feel betrayed and hate her moreā¦
āā¦Letās leave it as a good memory.ā
Lelia tried to push away her worries and started writing a letter.
āDid you all wake up? Youāre not sleeping too late, are you? Like a baby?
It looks like itās going to snow here soon. The weather is cloudyā¦I just had breakfast. The maids brought it to my room.
It seems good to be able to eat more delicious food when you come back to your hometown. The bed feels more comfortable. Itās especially comfortable because I canāt hear you all making noises.
Iāll be surprised if you guys realize how big and comfortable my bed is. And you all have stuffed rabbits, right?ā
Was it because she has been sending and receiving letters since the day she arrived? Even when she was far away, she seemed to hear the voices of her friends.
She waited for a while, but no one seemed to have checked the letter yet.
[Itās too early for young children to wake up, I guess.]
āWhen the time comes, everyone will check and reply, so letās work first?ā
Lelia put her pen down and rolled her arm up.
The sky looked bad.
She had to stock up more firewood before it snowed.
[Wowā¦ Itās really cold.]
Lelia picked up twigs all day, as she wandered around the nearby forest. She missed the warm and comfortable life of the temple.
[I wish they had allowed me to spend 10 years anyway.]
Lelia thought, stacking the twigs in the house.
āIām done for now.ā
There were no maids who would take care of Lelia once in a while because Emperor Lydios killed all of them.
Thatās why Lelia had to do it properly.
She felt frustrated and sorry for herself, but there was no point in thinking about it.
āI need to make a plan.ā
Once spring comes and the emperor changes, she must steal food from the hut.
Emperor Perseus knew her existence anyway, but he didnāt care much.
[At least he wouldnāt kill me.]
She knew it through the novel. It was fortunate though.
Honestly, Emperor Lydios was more dangerous than Emperor Perseus.
But then againā¦
[As much as possible, I shouldnāt get in front of Juliana and her brothers.]
Like what had happened in the novel, she didnāt even have any interest in saying āIām sorry, Princessā a hundred times.
Life will be much more comfortable if she doesnāt get caught up with the fools; Julianaās brothers.
And when the time comes, she would flee from the Imperial Palace using the magical tools she had stolen from the hut.
[Well, it should be thereā¦]
In the story, she fell into a pond and died. But if she survived, she would have been forced to marry someone.
āBut since Iām a member of the royal family, the purpose would probably be for national marriage.ā
She clenched her fist and that gave her strength.
Emperor Perseus.
He hated her. There was no way he would find a normal man for her.
In fact, all the candidates who were mentioned in the novel were all old and strange. He must have tried hard to marry her off as soon as she became an adult to get rid of her.
āWho do you think can marry someone like that? I will never do that.ā
The goal was clear.
But she didnāt know how to achieve the goal.
āI need to leave this place before I become an adult.ā
That night, as Lelia had expected, it began to snow heavily.
āIām glad I collected firewood in advance.ā
When she saw the pile of firewood in the room, her heart felt warm. Even if the snow piled up as tall as her height, there was no worry for the time being.
Even so, she was fortunate that the maids who used to take care of her, connected the water pipes from the main castle.
Even though it was made with magical power, a sigh came out when she saw the water coming out slowly, but she wondered how she could use warm water?
After she washed, she sat at her desk and saw a reply from her friends. As soon as she saw it, her heart pounded.
Lelia read out the letter word for word.
Oscar: Leo is really diligent. Iām relieved Leo is doing well. Iām doing great, too. I was worried, but I donāt have nightmares like before. Itās all thanks to Leoās doll.
Kalix: Arenāt you afraid of being caught by someone? Just imagining it would embarrass me. I hid it under my pillow.
Griffiths: I hope you donāt forget that Iām the one who bought the doll.
Romeo: Howās everybody doing? I guess Iām the only one whoās annoyed. Iām bored to death. I had more fun in the temple. So why donāt we get together first and throw out the Gwangryong? Donāt you think that it will be fun?
Lelia read the short messages.
A cold wind came in through the shabby door, but her heart was warm. No, it was hot.
Lelia struggled to wipe away the tears that were threatening to fall, and she went to bed. She will send a reply tomorrow.
But unlike her previous bed, she couldnāt sleep for a long time on this bed.
The bright moonlight was seen through the glass in her window. And around it, numerous stars gathered.
She seemed to be the only one in this world who was lonely.
***
Snow had piled up to an enormous extent.
Lelia couldnāt even open the door. That was not enough, the snow fell again before the snow melted.
Because of this, Lelia was isolated in the tower for a while and was unable to go outside.
Sweet snacks brought from the temple were stuffed, and firewood was saved.
It was boring because she couldnāt even go out to get branches and twigs. Lelia sat at her desk all day waiting for time to send letters to her friends.
She would like to send messages nonstop, but wouldnāt they think it was strange that the Crown Prince was sitting at his desk all day?
She didnāt want to instill strange doubts in her friends for nothing.
She felt sorry to have deceived them, but she had cheated them anyway.
For Lelia, it was the best courtesy she could do to her friends.
As time went by, the snow that had piled up, melted away.
Lelia, who was picking up branches, realized that all the guards, who were watching her, had disappeared.
Encouraged by that, she gradually wandered more. Still, she didnāt go too far just in case. It could be dangerous.
Chirping
The winter birds were carrying twigs and picking up nuts.
[Now we donāt need firewood.]
Lelia should be glad to see the weather getting warmer, but Lelia felt the opposite. In fact, it may not be the Emperor, but it was Lelia who was most concerned about Prince Leo in the Imperial City of Auraria.
The day the crown prince dies is the day she loses touch with her friends.
Lelia brought the fruit to the tower and wandered near her home in a circle just in case.
āDonāt tell meā¦ā
The surrounding felt heavy, the servants were moving back and forth the castle. Everyone was running around in a hurry with serious expressions.