Chapter 1: I Was Born a Princess!

Last week, the gas was cut off. Today, the electricity went out.

I’d heard that the temperature was supposed to fall below ten degrees fahrenheit, and the lack of sensation in my frozen toes seemed to confirm that forecast. It was so frigid that I could even see puffs of breath despite being indoors.

After trying—many, many times—and failing to turn the stove on, I wrapped myself in as many layers of clothing as possible to stay warm. There was nowhere to go at this time of night, so all I could do was huddle under a cold duvet and stare at my phone; it was almost out of battery. This wasn’t great news for a number of reasons, one of which being that its dim screen was the only thing lighting my tiny room.

“It’s freezing…”

The slightest bit of heat from the phone was the last morsel of warmth I had. When it died, my body would be left to fend for itself. Thoughtlessly, I opened the messaging app and was greeted by heaps of unread texts.

What’s up Gyeoul? We’re going on a ski trip – you want to come?

Why aren’t you getting my texts? Are you dead?

Gyeoul. Gyeoul.

Hey! Gyeoul Yoon!

I flicked through the slew of messages, not really paying attention, then turned the screen off with a sigh.

“Ha…”

I was grateful to have friends who cared enough to look out for me, but my situation was beyond the help of kind words and invites out. I didn’t have the leisure they did: To be more specific, I had no money. If I wanted to save up enough to go skiing with them, for example, I would have to starve myself for nearly a month.

One might think my friends were cruel for sending me such messages, given my circumstances, but the truth was that they didn’t know just how bad things were. My ego couldn’t handle revealing the truth.

Sorry, I’ve got plans. Maybe next time.

I hit them with the same excuse every single time. Playing the busy, distant friend felt more comfortable than exposing my impoverished lifestyle—or that I had an alcoholic convict as a dad. He and my mom had split after only a few years together. Guess she finally got fed up with their toxic relationship—fed up with everything related to my dad, really—which might explain why she left me behind.

Not that I blame her, though.

If I had been in her place, married to a man like my dad, I would have done the same. Plus, I was probably too much of a responsibility to take along.

Rationalizations aside, being left with my dad was far from pleasant. I lived trapped in his grasp throughout the majority of my childhood, only escaping him once I became an adult. For a time I enjoyed my newfound freedom, but he eventually managed to track me down and cause trouble.

I was robbed of the chance to go to college when my dad stole my tuition money and my admission was canceled, forcing me to slave away at whatever part-time jobs I could find. Moreover, there was all the debt that kept piling up thanks to him, and it wasn’t like he was ever going to pay it off with how often he was in and out of prison. I’d actually received a letter from him not so long ago, saying that he wouldn't be out for a while this time around.

Even with all that misfortune, I wouldn’t be struggling like this if it wasn’t for the emergency room.

A longer sigh escaped my lips. A visit to the ER two months ago had put a gaping hole in my wallet. Thanks to that, I’d been left with nothing for this month’s utilities.

If my endless suffering had taught me anything, it was that living on minimum wage was nearly impossible. I wrapped the duvet tighter around myself and smiled bitterly. Then, a sudden bang at the front door jolted me from my brooding.

“Open the door!”

My hair stood on end. That voice—wretched and all too familiar—was enough to send my heart into a frenzy.

…Dad.

He was supposed to be in prison. When did he get out? Another bang. No time to think.

I threw off the duvet and jumped out of bed. Even though it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds since he first started yelling, there wasn’t an ounce of hesitation behind his continued pounding. I ran for the door and quickly swung it open, concerned that all the noise would attract unwanted attention from the neighbors.

“What the hell took you so long? I almost froze to death!”

With each word, I could smell the disgusting stench of alcohol gushing from his mouth. Struggling to refrain from covering my nose, I took a good look at him.

His clothes were so tattered and old that the grime caking them was glaringly visible. I wondered if he ever changed his outfit at all. Glancing down, I found that his shoes were coated in dried mud.

“When were you released?” I asked.

“Yesterday, but that’s not important. Got some cash? I need a drink.”

I shook my head as he held his hand out expectantly.

“I don’t have any. I can’t even pay for this month’s utilities, okay?”

I gave the nearby light switch a few flips to make sure he understood I wasn’t bluffing.

“Don’t joke with me. I know you have some hidden around here. Hand it over while I’m still being nice.” He raised his hand like he was about to hit me, and I flinched. “If you won’t go get it, then I’ll just find wherever you’ve stashed it myself. Don’t you dare move, got it?”

With his threats made, he pushed past me and began scouring the room. At that moment, when it seemed like he was distracted enough, I ran out of the apartment and into the biting chill of winter.

“Hey! Gyeoul Yoon!”

He noticed my escape almost immediately and hurried after me. I made a beeline for the stairs, only to slip on a patch of ice after a couple of steps.

“Ugh…”

A short groan was all I could muster. Meanwhile, Dad had already caught up with me. I gasped for breath and forced myself off the floor. My knees felt bruised, and my palms were badly scraped. Even then, I still tried to make it to the stairs.

Too late…

I lived in a rooftop apartment, which made it easy for him to corner me by one of the building’s edges. With my back to a long fall, I could do nothing but stand there and wait in the piercing wind.

“Come on, how much do you have? I won’t hit you. Just give me the money.”

“I have nothing.” I fought to keep my voice from quivering. “I mean it.”

All I had left was 20,000 won—with instant ramen being 950 won per pack—a measly 20,000 won to live on for two weeks until the next payday. This was my only lifeline. If it was taken away, I’d have nothing to eat tomorrow.

“Then why are you running away, huh?” He took a step forward. “Stop lying to your dad!”

I tried to retreat but was stopped by the rooftop’s railing.

Dad noticed and scowled.

“Why you—”

I closed my eyes as his hand reached out toward me. Then I felt my body floating. Time seemed to slow, and I opened my eyes to find Dad’s face shrinking in the distance. His shocked expression was well worth seeing.

Is it possible to survive a five-story fall? The answer didn’t really matter, since I couldn’t pay for the treatment I’d need anyway.

So this…this was the ending of a life lived in vain. Everything I’d worked so hard to accomplish was going to slip through my fingers like fine sand. And was it my fault? No. It was all because of the failure that was my family.

At that moment, a happy family was all I wished for. The kind of warm and harmonious family everyone else seemed to have. Something I had never possessed, and now never would.

I guess…I don’t need anything anymore.

So, please…just let me rest.

With that final thought-turned-plea, everything went black.

* * *

“Mabel,” a voice said.

Without warning, I was lifted up. An unfamiliar arm was wrapped around my body, and a hand—equally unknown—started stroking me.

“Mabel. Mabel.” The voice kept repeating that name. Is it…my name? “How adorable.”

The chest I was pressed against shook with a chuckle, then a soft tickle danced across my face.

Though I understood it, whatever language the voice spoke definitely wasn’t Korean. So why did it sound as natural as my mother tongue?

What in the world…?

I opened my eyes, attempting to grasp the situation, but was met with a muddled view of abstract blacks and whites. A few blinks later, I was too tired to do anything more and began falling asleep. Try as I might, my mind could barely form a cohesive thought. Anything beyond the most basic thinking was out of the question. It didn’t help that I could feel the energy draining from my body as someone rocked me in their arms

“It’s only been a few days and she’s already grown so much.”

“It’s all thanks to… It’s a relief the princess is well.”

I could hear two voices now: a man’s and a woman’s.

Have I been reincarnated?

Wait… Then are these people my parents…?

Tears brimmed in my eyes. It wasn’t because I was happy to have new, caring parents. Even my dad, an alcoholic and frequent abuser, had looked at me happily when I was younger.

I was just…way too tired to have to live again.

* * *

It took one month for me to gain the ability to think clearly. The moment I realized I could remember my past life, I bawled in utter shock at the reality of my situation.

“Waa—”

“Oh my, what’s wrong? It isn’t time to eat yet. Good girl.”

Yes. I really was reincarnated—as a princess of a country I’d never heard of.

For a while, I thought I was called princess because lots of parents do, in fact, refer to their children as prince or princess. Well, that wasn’t the case for me. It was pretty literal—I was a bonafide princess.

At first, I refused to believe it. This turn of events seemed too crazy to be real. But, as time passed, the inevitable happened and I came to accept my new reality.

Mabel Gardénia Ermâneau.

That was my new name. I’d been called Mabel so many times by now, it felt like I was being brainwashed. I also learned that I was currently living in the Ermâneau Empire.

It’s always better to be rich than poor, but compared to before… The difference is on another level!

When I thought about how my previous life as Gyeoul Yoon had ended over a mere 20,000 won, I couldn’t help but feel despondent.

Well, here I was. Reborn as the second child of the emperor of the Ermâneau Empire.

From what little information I’d garnered, I learned that my mother had passed away a few days after giving birth to me.

Most fantasy novels depict the dad neglecting his daughter and blaming her for his wife’s death, so perhaps this emperor would do the same.

Well, I prefer to be neglected.

Before my ability to think fully developed, I hadn’t been able to tell if the man’s voice constantly calling my name had been a figment of my imagination or not. It also turned out that the woman I thought to be my mother was actually a nanny, so I had never been certain of the man’s identity until recently.

Being a twenty-year-old stuck in a baby’s body was absolutely awful. I was sleepy all the time. There was nothing I could do besides eat and sleep all day.

After bawling for an hour or so, something touched my cheeks. I looked up to find a pair of vibrant, blue eyes peering down at me. I stared into them for a moment, enthralled, before my body stiffened at the sight of an unfamiliar face.

“Look, Madam. She’s looking right at me. I think we just made eye contact.”

“It seems the princess recognizes you. She’s been crying for almost an hour, but now that you’re here she’s gone quiet.”

I was astounded at the nanny’s words.

This man…this man is my dad?

The person in front of me looked far too young to be a dad.

Are you sure he’s my dad? You didn’t mean to say “brother”?

I would have found him to be a believable older brother who was ten, maybe twenty years older than me.

His crystal blue eyes glimmered, and the shining, silver hair that descended to the nape of his neck looked almost reflective. Although he appeared intimidating, the smile plastered across his face was quite reassuring.

Eyes still trained on me, the man lowered his hands.

Don’t hit me!

I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the coming blow, but the pain I so feared never arrived.

Instead, I felt a gentle hand glide across my thin head of hair, and I slowly opened my eyes to see my new dad wearing the same smile as before.

“That’s my daughter. She already recognizes me. Isn’t she very intelligent?”

“Indeed, Your Majesty.”

My dad was not the kind of dad I had expected. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen according to all those soap operas I’d watched. In cases like mine, the dad usually said something like: “She killed my wife!”

Suddenly, the stroking paused.

“If only Sianna was still alive. She would have loved to meet you.”

“Your Majesty…”

By the sullen tone of the conversation, it was clear that Sianna was my mom’s name. The emperor’s eyes were on me, but he seemed to be thinking about his dearly departed wife.

“Mabel. I will protect you with everything I have, even my own life. I promise.”

His finger prodded my tiny hand, and I clasped it unconsciously. It really was unintentional. It’s natural for babies to immediately grab whatever they get ahold of.

Yet the man above me seemed way too happy.

“Adorable.”

He kept grinning and moved his face closer to my little balled-up hand. Someone miles away would be able to tell this man was overjoyed.

Despite his happiness, though, I was feeling quite the opposite. I really didn’t want the attention.

People are unpredictable beings. They treat you like you’re the world’s greatest treasure, the meaning of their existence, and devote all their love to you until, one day, they just…don’t.

Luck had never been on my side, and I still wasn’t convinced it was in my corner now. For all I knew, I could be thrown away any minute. That was why I didn’t need a family.

“Gyeoul. My dearest Gyeoul.”

The dad who abused me day and night was the same dad who had kissed me with tender love and care not so long before. It would have been better if he hadn’t cared for me at all from the very beginning. It would have saved me from getting my hopes up, at least.

I would also be lying if I said I wasn’t shaken by this new dad’s attitude. To keep any uncertainty at bay, I recalled my final thoughts before I died.

I don’t need anything anymore. So don’t get your hopes up, Gyeoul. Keep a low profile and, when the time comes, leave.

In the end…the only person I could trust was myself.

* * *

The emperor of the Ermâneau Empire, Estevan Nis Ermâneau, was currently faced with two very troubling issues.

First was the conflict between Ermâneau and the neighboring country Devlin. To be more exact, he had to deal with a certain hostage who had recently been captured at their borders.

The second had to do with his one-month-old daughter, Mabel.

Without hesitation, Estevan shoved the first concern to the side. There’s nothing more important than Mabel right now.

The priests of the Holy Empire of Abelardo were laying claim to Mabel. They heralded her as the child of God and had gone as far as to cite the Oracle’s latest prophecy as undeniable proof she belonged to them.

“Right. The Oracle.”

Though he was loath to admit it, it was true that on the same day she was born, the Oracle had proclaimed something upsetting—to him, at the very least.

At the end of the East, the seed to save the world has been planted.

Estevan gritted his teeth. Now, because of a handful of words, priests were always barging into the palace.

The Ermâneau Empire was located in the easternmost region of the continent, and, to make matters worse, everyone had heard the rumbling thunder that marked the day Mabel was born. Estevan, while holding Empress Sianna’s hands during the birth, had heard it too. His councilors had rushed to him in joy and exclaimed that Mabel was no ordinary princess, but Estevan was far from delighted.

Now, fifteen days after Sianna’s sudden passing—having been too weak to recover from the delivery—Estevan was still in shock. He felt like the world was crumbling around him, and Mabel was his only remaining ray of hope.

He couldn’t help but notice how she looked exactly like Sianna. She was lovely.

And that thought made the note in his hands all the more vile. Another priest. Another request for his daughter. He glowered at it for a second longer, then ripped it in half.

“Oh…”

His advisor sighed and buried his face into his hands. Estevan gave him a cold stare.

“Reject it. Make sure they understand I won’t consider it any further.”

“Yes…Your Majesty.”

He was planning to ignore the ceaseless messages for the moment but wasn’t sure how long that would stall Abelardo. The Holy Empire was likely to keep on pressuring him.

His advisors knew this, and they’d argued that he should hand Mabel over to Abelardo. To them, she was little more than second in the line of succession. With Oscar as crown prince, the throne was secure, and such things were what mattered to them above all else.

They weren’t wholly wrong, either. Unless something was done, the Holy Empire wouldn’t stop. If Abelardo wasn’t going down without a fight, he decided, neither would he. There had to be some irrefutable argument he could make to end this charade once and for all.

Estevan tore the rest of the note to shreds, then glanced toward the door, having sensed someone’s presence.

He gestured for the nearby steward to open it.

“Yikes…!”

Now standing—quite unexpectedly—in the open doorway, the person yelped.