The Regressed Princess - Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Malice in the Shadows; She Fluttered Like a Little Bird…

Roses and vines danced in the light breeze as a youth with a straight, upright posture walked across the high suspension bridge. Her gaze occasionally swept over the flowerbeds and bushes below, as if searching for some lost treasure.

Andra, of course, was not so forgetful. Every few steps, she used the corner of her eye to scan the darkness, wary of anyone following.

No one… there should be no one, right?

She withdrew her gaze and walked steadily down the long bridge, yet her mind was riddled with suspicion.

“Strange…” Her lips moved silently.

Today was too strange. From early morning, she felt as if someone was watching her, as if a pair of malicious eyes were fixed on her back. Andra stopped abruptly, pretending to admire the garden scenery, while her attention fanned out to locate the source of the malice hidden in the shadows.

Nothing. Still nothing.

Either the follower was exceptionally skilled—far beyond her own abilities—or it was simply paranoia.

Andra resumed her pace. Whether she was choosing clothes, touring the palace, or eating, she had remained on high alert. She expected the attendants to suddenly change expression and draw blades, or to pour a drop of poison into her cup from their sleeves.

But nothing happened. Not a single flaw appeared. In fact, even thinking about it felt a bit ridiculous. The Princess’s personal attendants were mostly children from great noble families; for these children to exert such effort to deal with a foreign royal daughter held as a hostage was laughable. After all, her mother, Aguño, was in perfect health; even if they were making political investments, they wouldn’t invest in her let alone harbor groundless killing intent.

Andra walked through the corridor in silence, her mind racing. The only suspect she could think of was Miscella. Perhaps this Nolanna Crown Princess was even more lawless than she imagined a little lunatic who simply enjoyed bullying people? Miscella could have instructed her younger sister to ask for Andra, just to create an opportunity to give her a harsh lesson.

This motive was barely plausible, but Andra’s intuition told her something was off. Was Miscella truly that clever? And the little princess, Eleanor…

“Eleanor.” The name rolled silently over her tongue like a legendary incantation, causing her to fall into a hazy sort of sentiment.

The little princess had stepped timidly before her, raising her face shyly. Those amber eyes were clear as water, reflecting only her silhouette. Andra touched the flower in her bosom, a fleeting moment of emotion crossing her mind: Even if I’m being tricked, it doesn’t matter.

No, how can I think like that?

She immediately snapped out of it. Although her brain became a bit sluggish whenever she was near Eleanor, now that the princess wasn’t here, her intellect reoccupied the high ground.

There was only one logical path that made sense, so she followed it. Assuming Miscella was the mastermind and Eleanor was the accomplice, how would they deal with her now?

There were two attendants who had just been in contact with her: Coral and Heidi. The girl named Heidi wasn’t smart enough; she could be sent away with any random excuse and didn’t seem to be acting under the princess’s orders. Conversely, if the Princess wanted to deal with her, Coral, as the personal attendant, would certainly be in the know.

She circled Coral’s name in her mind and locked onto several personal guards. While she didn’t know who would strike next, so long as the princess was involved, Manju, the head of the guards, could not stay out of it.

Andra was still organizing her thoughts when she arrived at the princess’s bedchamber. She was about to wait outside for an announcement when she suddenly saw a figure rushing toward the door in a daze—it was Miscella.

Andra ducked into a corner just in time to hear a dull “thud!”

She poked her head out to check: Miscella had slammed her head into the door and was now clutching it, howling in pain.

“Pfft.” Andra covered her mouth, her face flushing slightly. She had actually regarded this person as some sort of mastermind; she was being far too neurotic.

She hid outside the window with a sense of ironic amusement, listening to the commotion inside. The palace walls were thick; it was hard to hear if those inside lowered their voices, but Miscella’s voice was exceptionally piercing.

“Awoooo-awoooo!”

The noise she made sounded like a wolf mixed with a braying donkey, followed by a series of crashing and rolling sounds, as if several old ladies were vigorously beating quilts with wooden poles.

“No, no, no! I hate, hate, hate that brat!”

Who is she calling a brat?

Andra snickered, the shadows in her heart lightening significantly. This person couldn’t arrange any dangerous traps; her and the little princess’s suspicion could basically be ruled out.

“Stop howling!”

Oh? The Princess couldn’t take it anymore? Is she going to give her sister a proper scolding?

Miscella’s whimpering stopped abruptly it seemed so. Her ears were probably being pinched. Just as Andra thought the unlucky child would linger in the princess’s room, the door opened.

Miscella scurried out like a gray little mouse, her cheeks flushed deep red whether from anger or grievance, it was hard to tell.

“Wahhh.” She wailed twice and ran off quickly, disappearing at the end of the long bridge. It looked like she had been sent back to bed.

It turned out Eleanor had such a formidable side, able to lecture her sister like that. Andra’s expression relaxed. The image of the little princess who shyly lowered her head whenever they met gained a new, lively side like a little teacher.

She waited outside the door for a while before leisurely walking in, intentionally bumping the door with her shoulder before entering.

Creak…

The door opened slowly. The little princess was sitting at the dressing table, having her hair combed by an attendant. Hearing the sound, she turned around slowly.

“Andra, you’re back?”

She smiled until her eyes narrowed, and just as she was about to get up to welcome her, she was pressed back by the shoulders by the attendant. Coral moved the comb slowly and methodically. “Don’t run off. Wait until I’m finished before you get up.”

“Okay”

The little princess didn’t care for incense; even when she had a headache, she didn’t like smelling various scents. Thus, when Andra entered the room, she only smelled the scent of sun-dried fabric and a bit of clean soap.

She noticed the bronze basin in the corner and the boxes placed beside it. Those boxes likely held the cleaning products made by the princess, said to be made from plant ash with added fragrances, called “scented soap.” She wasn’t surprised the princess would use plant ash to make soap; after all, commoners used it to wash clothes too the logic was the same.

Eleanor’s temperament was entirely different from Miscella’s. Her expressions and movements were gentle and warm, without a hint of stupidity or arrogance. To such a clever person, whether her shyness and kindness were a facade or genuine, there was no reason to ally with Miscella to deal with a troublesome enemy from whom she could gain no benefit.

Andra relaxed and sat naturally on the bedstead. The moment her backside touched the bedding, cold sweat broke out: Bad move. How could I sit directly on the little princess’s bed? So impolite!

Swoosh.

She bounced up as if burned by fire, crashing backward with a thud. Fortunately, Coral gave her a push, or she would have knocked into the princess.

Eleanor said without turning her head, “It’s fine. You can sleep with me from now on.”

Eh?

Andra looked at the princess’s back and was about to say “okay” when a faint unease suddenly surged in her heart. She trusted her intuition, so she immediately changed her tune: “I am very grateful for your help, but.”

Snip.

“Ow!” Eleanor suddenly turned her head; she had accidentally tugged on her long hair and let out a cute complaint.

“Oh, you are my Guardian Knight. How can you leave me?” The little princess pouted slightly. A lock of hair happened to fall between her combed tresses, making her almond eyes look even more adorable and pitiable.

Thump, thump-thump.

Andra’s heart beat like a drum. She thought she could resolutely refuse any request, but with one glance from those eyes, her intuition, courage, and energy were all drained from her body, flying off to who-knows-where.

“Okay,” she gave the only possible answer.

“Hehe.” The little princess covered her cheek with her sleeve and let out a couple of light giggles as the last strand of hair was meticulously tucked into place by Coral.

Eleanor stood up from the mirror and twirled lightly on her tiptoes. Her moon-white long dress unfurled loosely like a blooming flower. As her sleeve brushed past Andra’s face, the youth instinctively fell back onto the soft bed behind her, sinking into a gentle trap.

The Princess didn’t ask “Am I beautiful?”

She fluttered like a little bird onto the bed and lay sideways beside her with a swish.

“Alright, let’s sleep.”

The little princess encircled her waist like she was holding a doll, whispering softly in her ear: “Goodnight, Andra.”

The skin contact made Andra tremble slightly. The princess of yesterday and the princess of today were completely different; one was shy and the other familiar, one innocent and the other gentle and charming… the only thing that remained unchanged was that silently enveloping charisma.

The images of the young girl and the child shifted constantly in her mind. For a moment, she suspected Eleanor had an older sister; for another, she suspected the Nolanna princess was a pair of twins who looked identical but had opposite personalities. Unfortunately, there weren’t many “fake heiress” or “sister substitution” webnovels in this era, so Andra couldn’t figure it out no matter how long she thought.

“Can’t you sleep?” The little princess leaned against her chest, her voice sounding distant. “I often can’t sleep either. I always dream of…”

Dream of what?

Thump, thump, thump.

The youth’s heart beat steadily and rapidly, but she waited a long time for an answer.

“Highness?”

It was still early; Andra wanted to go out and practice her sword for a bit. However, the girl in her arms seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep. She gave a helpless smile and covered the princess with a thin blanket.

Goodnight, Eleanor.

She leaned on the pillow shared by the little princess and fell into a dreamless sleep within the girl’s embrace.

“Hahahaha!”

Hearty laughter echoed from the quarters of the Princess’s Guard. As soon as the lights were out, they began whispering gossip.

“Did you hear? The Princess chose a Guardian Knight today. Guess who it is?”

A girl gestured wildly in the dormitory, but not a single roommate bit. Only Caroline spoke up leisurely: “Who else could it be? Isn’t it that Andra girl from Hetuya? Sigh, what kind of taste does the Highness have…”

Her tone accidentally touched upon the princess, so she quickly shut her mouth. Fortunately, no one called her out on it; they were all fervently discussing what kind of betting odds to set for Andra and the various “Prince Consort candidates.”

They had long ago set up a betting pool on who the Prince Consort would be. Currently, the contestant with the lowest odds and the most favor was Manju. She came from a good family, was beautiful, gentle, considerate, and strong and had a twin sister for support. It was impossible to see how she could lose.

Although there were many people making a fuss, everyone believed deep down that Manju was the strongest. By comparison, Andra was just a dark horse that suddenly appeared. Those who cheered for her mostly just wanted to see Manju’s absolute advantage challenged, hoping to mix more people in to muddy the waters maybe they would even have a chance to become the princess’s Prince Consort?

Clatter.

The door to the next room opened. Only two people lived there: Manju and Thorns.

The people in the room went silent instantly. It wasn’t until Manju opened their door that Batina smiled and asked, “Yo, Manju, are you here to call us for the run again?”

The “run” was a funny inside joke in the Princess’s Guard. The Princess was a very kind person but always acted on whims. After replacing the lead water pipes, she insisted everyone move their bodies before practicing swords in the morning. She also told the slaves in the palace to remember to run around the perimeter of the training ground; any slave willing to go would get an extra serving of starchy meat soup.

The lure of eating meat was massive for slaves, so they gathered punctually every morning. As long as there were no other tasks, they would run around the training ground daily. The noble youths of the Princess’s Guard had some complaints about this; they didn’t like the feeling of being surrounded by slaves—but since it was the princess’s command, they could only accept it.

Of course, they still made jokes in private. Usually, Manju would scold them loudly for such remarks or even take note of it for future punishment. But today, Manju was very calm. She looked around, and after ensuring everyone’s attention was on her, she announced in a low voice: “That newcomer Andra is very annoying. We can give her a few lessons so she doesn’t get too full of herself. Let’s consider it a ‘welcome gift’ from us.”

…Heh?

Everyone was stunned: they thought Manju would endure it for the Princess’s sake again, but she was actually prepared to lead everyone in making a move? They hadn’t seen this side of her!

But kids being kids—once a leader takes the initiative, the others’ courage instantly grows. Besides, they were all nobles; they weren’t afraid of a few pranks at all!

“How can we play this?” Caroline rubbed her hands together impatiently.

Manju gave her a meaningful look. She didn’t expect to kill Andra through her companions’ pranks; this group didn’t have the guts for that. But if an “accident” happened, she wouldn’t mind finishing the job with her own hands.

“It hurts. She left a very, very deep wound here… it hurts so much!”

Manju raised her head, her gaze dark and inscrutable: “In the first week, you can play however you want.”

“Yesss!”

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