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Rusbella gave a small smile as though she was wondering if it was alright for her to address me with honorifics at times out of habit. She then scoured the bushes before fishing out a small crate. The square box looked to be of perfect height to reach the window.

“You look pretty used to this.”

As Rusbella went ahead and got on the crate to open the window, I mumbled. Instead of opening the window, however, she turned back and smiled. Her looks were as refreshing as ever.

“Back where I live, there is a huge fence. I mean, there’s a huge fence.”

“A fence?”

“Mhm. I would often climb atop it. When I was younger, I was smaller than other kids my age so I would often bring crates like these to climb up the fence.”

I seemed to be learning about a new side of her. She had been small? That was interesting. Now, she was boasting a slender figure well above the average height. I could feel myself becoming hopeful.

“I can tell your awakening is not too far off.”

If I awakened, would I get to be as tall as her? Well, to be honest, I didn’t have high expectations for myself. Auresia, my birth mother, was also shorter than average. If I were to be anything like her, it would be best I didn’t expect too much. No. I never know. I wondered if I looked more like my father whom I had never met before.

“I’ll hold your hand.”

Before I noticed, Rusbella had already slipped into the window and was now reaching out towards me. I stare at her hand for a moment before jumping towards the window. I grabbed her hand. Just then.

Prick.

My cheek stung. It was the cheek with my scar. A numbness spread from the hand that was grabbing hers. But the sensation only lasted for a moment and when I returned to my senses, I had already crossed into the windows. What was that just now? I straightened my back before squeezing my fist.

Flutter.

The diary was vibrating.

“What…”

Rusbella glanced at me as though wondering what was going on. I shook my head quickly. The diary quickly calmed down. However, as if a drop of red ink had been dropped into my chest, I could not take what happened off my mind.

When I had arrived here, the diary had led me to Rusbella. Did it know that Rusbella was the female lead of the original novel? Or was it because she had something to do with my future? Being weaker here, the diary gave no answer. No, even if we were in the Empire, there was no guarantee that it was going to answer. As always, I wrecked my brain to figure it out myself.

“We’re here. This is the herb storage.”

Following Rusbella, we quickly arrived at the entrance to the storage. In the darkness, Rusbella opened the door to the storage and seemed to know her way around this place well as she weaved through the various drawers and materials strewn on the ground. I relied on the moonlight to follow after Rusbella.

I could hear footsteps echoing in the distance. Along with low chatter. It sounded like it was coming from someone with a rather low and thick voice. It might belong to one of the men on patrol. I quickly pulled Rusbella’s hand before pressing myself into a corner. I then covered her mouth and brought my index finger to my lips. Just then, the door swung open.

“There’s nothing here too.”

“Why did you open the door anyway?”

I could hear the voices fading into the distance.

“Well, it’s part of the job.”

The sound of their footsteps were also getting softer. As I slowly removed my hand from her lips, Rusbella stood there, blinking in surprise.

“That was amazing. I mean, you were so cool.”

“Hm?”

“You looked so cool just now.”

Rusbella’s puppy-like eyes curled beautifully.

“Ashley, I wouldn’t have been able to do that back when I was your age. You were so brave. You were so cool.”

Her eyes were so round and so big and yet she still gave off a gentle impression. More so since she looked so defenceless. I blinked back at her before averting my gaze.

“Come to think of it, Rusbella, how old are you now?”

“I don’t know.”

“Huh?”

I whipped my head around. Rusbella was staring at me playfully.

“I don’t know how old I was when I was adopted. According to the birthdays my foster parents have been celebrating, I’m 19 years old. But I have no idea what my actual age is.”

“Ah… You can speak comfortably.”

“Okay.”

Under the moonlight, she looked really pretty. I thought I might have fallen for her bright smile.

“We’re finally here.”

The place Rusbella directed me towards was a large shelf. Rusbella pulled out one of the books that were stacked to the brim in the bookshelf. Instead of taking the whole book out, she stopped halfway which, interestingly enough, caused the bookshelf to rumble open like a door. I knew this place existed but it felt strange to see something from the original novel in front of me like this.

“Interesting, isn’t it?”

Rusbella was still speaking to me formally as she smiled at me while I stood there in surprise. The space we arrived in together was a very small room. For a secret storage room, the room looked a little too crude and old. In a cramped space where I could smell even the damp dust, the main characters in the original story had whispered their love for each other. It was a secluded space which could only snugly fit two people. The moonlight pouring into the room from the small window was blinding.

“… How did you come to know about this place?”

I already knew but I still asked.

“The most knowledgeable scholar in Herbalism had created this place before this room was forgotten. I had heard from a senior I knew that it was filled with herbs but no one knew where it was so no one could use them.”

That ‘senior’ must have been one of the passing supporting characters in the original novel. He had tried to hurt her for rejecting his confession. She was then secretly taken care of by the male lead.

One by one, scenes from the original novel sprang to mind. She had also concocted the priceless medicine, ‘Nectar’, to save the male lead in this very place. I frowned at the scene clearly unfolding in my mind.

“Perhaps was the person you love sick too?”

Rusbella widened her eyes for a moment at my question before flashing a smile that was as pretty as a white flower.

“He was.”

She then tilted her head before asking.

“But how did you know that?”

“Huh?”

I almost said, ‘Oh right.’

“Ah. I just felt like asking. Since the man I love is sick, I was wondering if you were going through the same thing.”

“I see.”

After a while, I left into the hallway with Rusbella who was carrying an armful of herbs. She had wanted to make the medicine right away. Because it wouldn’t be easy to make the medicine needed in the secret storage since fire would be needed to concoct it.

“If we head this way, we’ll find an empty bathroom. No one uses it since it’s so old.”

“You know this place well, huh?”

“Yes!”

Rusbella narrowed her big eyes in half before whispering playfully.

“Since I come here so often.”

Considering how much money went into this building, though the bathroom was said to be old, it was still very spacious and frankly, looked fine. It looked even better than the ones in my neglected palace though? Realising how poorly the sole princess of the Empire was being treated, I slumped next to Rusbella.

“That’s strange. I heard that the security at night here is very stringent.”

“Normally it is. But it is weird. It feels a little laxer today.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. I guess we were lucky.”

According to the original novel, Rusbella was a lovely beautiful girl. Anyone would fall in love as passionately as a sunflower with the girl much like the sun upon first glance.

Recalling the descriptions of her, I observed Rusbella as she busily concocted the medicine. She laid the herbs neatly in front of her before chopping them up and tossing them into a small pot. Since she concocted medicine here often, all the required equipment was already in place.

“What kind of place is the Imperial Palace?”

“Hm?”

Steam rose from the bubbling small pot.

“You’re the princess, Ashley. I was just curious.”

“… It’s nothing special. If anything, it’s completely different from what you think.”

I leaned into my chin before mumbling.

“Why?”

Looking back, my life was probably very different from the flower-like days she must be imagining.

“Because I am a neglected princess.”

From the beginning, my situation could not be changed. I was an unfortunate princess who was tethered to the palace like a specimen. Surprisingly enough, I wasn’t sad or depressed about being neglected. I was satisfied. I would have been satisfied with just a normal life. But from some point on, my life had gotten caught in a storm.

“I had asked, unaware of your situation. I’m sorry.”

“No. I had lived a decent life. I had older brothers who I liked. As well as people I liked… But there were difficult times.”

In the original novel, there was a question Rusbella asked every person she came across. ‘Are you happy?’ She had set off on a personal journey in the original novel to search for happiness. Along this long journey, she had asked the question and found the answer.

“Ashley… Uhm.”

Rusbella slowly lowered her head.

“Of course.”

Her beautiful face, that was like a sculpture carved out by the moonlight, turned to face me. Her innocent golden eyes turned to look at me.

“Are you happy now?”

The female lead of the original novel. The person who was perhaps the main character of this world was asking me. Whether I was happy.

“Well.”

I smiled with a slight shrug.

Happiness. For a long time, that word had seemed like a rainbow to me. Treasure was said to be at the other end of a rainbow. But this was a treasure that no one had ever seen, much less found, before. I was the traveller who had spent her entire life searching for this treasure. If she had asked me whether I was happy a lot earlier… I would have said no.

“That’s such a random question.”

But now, I wanted to force myself to say it.

“I’m happy.”

Past the days where I had to go through death again and again endlessly.

“I want to be happier.”

Once everything was over.

“I will be happy.”

I would no longer feel tortured. A morning where I won’t wake up pained. I wanted to wake up happy. I muttered to myself with a sincerity I could not express to Rusbella.

“I see…”

Rusbella flashed a wide smile. For a moment, as she stood right in front of the light, I couldn’t catch her expression.

“I hope you’ll get to be in the future.”

Staring at Rusbella with an inexplicable sense of deja vu, she looked away. What was that? As she looked into the pot while talking about how everything was boiling, I couldn’t tell what expression she had on her face. Had I been mistaken?

“It’s done!”

Rusbella held out what seemed like a flask towards me. There was some grey liquid sloshing in the flask. Just as I was about to touch it, Rusbella pulled it back towards her. When I looked up I wondered, Rusbella’s eyes were sparkling like a puppy chewing on its toy. I flinched from the golden eye staring at me for a moment before staring back at her.

“Can I show you something interesting?”

Holding my wrist gently, Rusbella whispered softly. Just then, there was a strange sensation creeping into my hand. Before disappearing again. Rusbella took off her hand before showing me the leaves she was holding.

“Actually, I’ve only made nectar once. Back when I first discovered the recipe.”

Speaking formally to me again, Rusbella whispered. I nodded slowly.

“If you add daffodil petals as the final step, something amazing happens.”

She slowly tucked the petals into the flask. The final step in the recipe for nectar was the addition of these petals. The moment the petals dissolved into the grey liquid. Or did it melt? Without thinking much of it, I stared at the flask as the grey liquid gradually changed colour. The grey liquid had turned into a brilliant gold. I widened my eyes before looking back at her in surprise.

“It’s interesting, isn’t it? The way it shines. I wonder why it does that.”

Her golden eyes were now filled with curiosity and pride. Slowly, I opened my mouth. Certainly enough, the way that achromatic colour turned gold was fascinating.