New Life, New Rule

𝑵𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒂𝒉'𝒔 𝑷𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑽𝒊𝒆𝒘

Khana and I wandered around endlessly, buying whatever caught our interest—or rather, whatever caught my interest. I tried to get her to choose something she wanted, but she was so hard to convince that I ended up picking things for her instead. And, as expected, most of what I bought was food.

Because of that, I almost forgot about the pain in my body and how I originally planned to rest. But I was having too much fun, so it completely slipped my mind. It wasn't until now that I realized the sun had set. It seemed like the soldiers hadn't been looking for us either, so we decided to rent a room at an inn for the night. I guess we'd let them capture us tomorrow instead. *smirk*

Now here I was, fresh out of the bath. Khana had everything prepared for me in advance. Well, I was grateful for her efforts because I felt incredibly refreshed—almost as if I had just received an instant massage. I wasn't sure what exactly she put in that bath, though. All I saw were rose petals floating around, but she must have added something else. I think so...

 "Miss, your hair is so beautiful. No matter how many times I brush it, I never get tired of it," she said with admiration.

She carefully combed through my long hair with such patience and care. Honestly, I was impressed she could endure dealing with this much hair. If it were me, I'd never have the patience. At this rate, I might as well be Rapunzel, a Disney princess in my world.

I glanced at my reflection in the mirror. I was sitting on a wooden chair, looking like a little kid perched on it. I stared at myself seriously. My long, raven-black hair flowed in soft waves, with the ends curling slightly. My bangs were long enough to reach my eyebrows but not enough to cover my eyes. And those eyes—a pair of brilliant blue irises. Khana once told me that I was the only one in the Royal Family of Zalfhar with this eye color. My skin was so pale that I almost looked anemic. In my previous world, my complexion was just right—not this unnaturally fair. My hair was wavy too, but it only reached a reasonable length, nothing this excessive.

 "Khana, do you think I look like my mother? Because I don't resemble my father at all, and none of my siblings look like me either."

She hesitated, shaking her head as if unsure.

 "I don't think I can answer that, Miss. Just like you, I don't know anything about it either."

I simply nodded, then stood up and stretched before heading toward the bed. I turned to look at her again.

 "Oh well… I don't even care about that. Anyway, what we should be worrying about right now is ourselves. But before that, let's get some sleep, shall we?"

She was startled when I suddenly jumped onto the bed without warning. She immediately rushed to my side, checking if I was okay.

 "Miss! Please don't jump on the bed like that—you might hurt yourself!"

*Eye roll*

 "Duuuh… Stop overreacting, Khana. I won't get hurt just from jumping on a bed, psh. Now go take a bath so we can finally rest. And just so you know, you're sleeping beside me whether you like it or not. PERIOD!"

She couldn't even argue and just sulked as she entered the bathroom, looking like someone who had just lost the lottery. I grinned at the sight. She was like a little puppy that had just been scolded by its owner—so adorable.

I was so happy. I never thought I'd be able to enjoy myself like this without being watched all the time. If only things could always be this way. In my previous world, I never felt truly free. There were always eyes monitoring my every move, whether it was there or back in Zalfhar's Rose Palace. That's why this moment, here in Alfieren, was so precious to me.

Maybe I enjoyed myself too much today, because now, exhaustion hit me all at once. Before I knew it, I had already fallen asleep.

•••••••••••••••

••••••••••

•••••

When I woke up, I never expected that this would be the first thing I'd see.

 "Greetings, Your Royal Princess!!"

From the moment I opened my eyes until now, as I stood frozen at the top of the grand staircase. I hadn't even fully descended yet, and already, I was greeted by a massive crowd of servants.

If I thought there were a lot of maids in the Rose Palace… then here, they had doubled. Holy shi—

I still hadn't processed the fact that I woke up in yet another ridiculously huge room—one that was even grander than before. And don't even get me started on the furniture. The sheer luxury of it all was overwhelming.

Then, when I finally stepped outside the room, my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as I realized that I was now inside an extravagant and majestic palace.

And if that wasn't overwhelming enough, this was—the sea of servants standing before me, all bowing in unison.

From the front, a man and a woman stepped forward. They gracefully lowered their heads in respect before straightening up.

 "Pardon us if we startled you, Your Highness. I am Graciela Rosaline Deluxe, the Head Maid of the Lunar Palace. You may call me 'Grace,' Your Highness," she introduced herself with a bow.

Her every movement exuded elegance. It was obvious that she came from a noble family.

"Greetings, Your Highness. I'm the Head Butler of the Lunar Palace, Gilbert Aaron Deluxe. Feel free to call me 'Butler Gil.'"

'They have the same surname?' And since I was blessed with observant eyes, I immediately noticed their matching rings, which were clearly wedding rings. They both seem to be in their 40's. Both of them move with elegance.

I was about to ask them where Khana was, but before I could speak, I was startled by someone shouting and running toward me. And of course, I wasn't wrong.

"MISS!!!"

As soon as I turned around, she jumped at me and hugged me tightly. Good thing I was holding onto the stair railing, or else we both would have fallen down the stairs. Tsk. She finally let go and faced me, about to speak, but I immediately placed my pointer finger on her lips to stop her. She looked at me in confusion, so I sighed before speaking.

"Don't say another word and just be quiet, okay? My brain hasn't fully processed everything that's happening, and I need to think properly. So please, don't add to my confusion, got it?"

Khana immediately nodded after I said that, so I removed my finger from her lips. Thankfully, she stayed quiet. Then I turned back to the Head Maid and Head Butler.

"Do you have any idea how and why I ended up here?"

They both bowed their heads and shook them. Then Grace spoke.

"Forgive me, Your Highness. Our only orders are to take good care of you until the Emperor returns."

It seems like they really don't know anything, so I have no choice but to stay silent. For now, the Emperor is still at war and busy fighting. I'll just use the time before he returns to think clearly and decide what I should do. This feels like a survival game—I have no choice right now.

➼➼𝑭𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 ➼➼

After that, Grace began giving us a tour of this enormous Lunar Palace. It's probably even bigger than my Rose Palace in Zalfhar. Who knew emperors here were competing to see who could build the most extravagant palace? If this one is already this big, what about the others? We couldn't even finish touring the whole place in a single day—it actually took us three days. Well, of course, we rested at night. It would be ridiculous to continue the tour at night, wouldn't it? You might even get mistaken for a ghost.

While Grace was giving us the tour, she explained everything we needed to know, and of course, I listened intently. It would be dangerous if I got lost here. Thankfully, I was blessed with at least a little bit of intelligence, so I managed to absorb all the information she explained to us. And since I'm not bad at reading maps, I was able to familiarize myself with the layout of the palace. Except for the areas outside the Lunar Palace—Grace only explained the routes inside the palace itself.

After our long tour, she introduced me to the maids and other staff working at the Lunar Palace. The problem is, while I may not be bad at maps… I'm too lazy to memorize names. I couldn't even remember the names of my classmates and teachers back in my previous world. Let alone the names of my traitorous family. Why would I even bother remembering their names? Are they something important?

So, I assigned Khana the task of memorizing all the names of the palace staff. The only names I managed to remember were Grace's and Butler Gil's. Sorry, but that's just how I am.

After that, Butler Gil told me not to worry about managing the palace because he would handle everything. The same went for Grace. All I needed to do was rest. And so, I did. Khana was always by my side, and Grace was constantly keeping an eye on the both of us—especially me. I think she was getting high blood pressure from all my antics, but she managed to make me behave. Sometimes.

And just like they said, they let me do whatever I wanted for about a week and two days. I enjoyed myself to the fullest, especially when I got bored. No disturbances, no loud noises—I was truly free. I thought this would last forever. I thought it was too good to be true. But man, I was so disappointed. Turns out, they were just letting me enjoy myself for a week and two days… because for the next three and a half weeks, they would torture me!

Seriously, I had no idea they had been secretly planning this whole thing! If I had known this was coming, I would have escaped long ago. I was completely shocked when, one morning, Grace woke me up at the crack of dawn with six maids standing behind her. Khana was scratching her head nervously, staying silent because Grace had such a serious expression. And then, she immediately told me I needed to get ready early because I had a lot of things to do.

But guess what? The only super urgent thing that required me to wake up at the crack of dawn and freeze in ice-cold water… was studies?! That very same day, I met all my teachers, and my classes started immediately.

Well, yeah, I admit that I was still a student before I ended up here. But dang! Don't tell me I'm still a student even in this world?! And not just that—I feel like they're expecting me to be the top student here, too!

Sure, my studies were my top priority in my past life. But when I got here, I thought maybe it was finally time for me to take a break. I mean it, in this life, I just want to have a new life and new rule. For years, all I ever did was focus on getting good grades to make my grandfather proud. But I never thought about that here. I'm not some perfect student, you know—I also have my lazy moments.

I thought I could finally relax in this world, have fun, and do all the things I never got to do before. But instead, here I am, locked up in a palace… just to study. What a good life, tsk.

Honestly, I don't even think I need these lessons. Almost everything they're teaching me—I already know it all. Who knew their curriculum here was the same as my previous world's? I was only a senior high school student, but I loved studying ahead, so I had already learned college-level lessons. My grandfather even hired tutors to teach me advanced topics, just like how his parents taught him. He was super strict about education, so I dedicated my full attention to my studies.

That's why I'm just bored out of my mind during these lessons. Leadership, economics, philosophy, politics, mathematics—I can already do all of it. Even when I barely listen, I can still answer everything correctly while playing with random things on my desk. I think some of my teachers are getting annoyed with me, but whatever.

As for social academics, dance lessons, and etiquette? No problem. But there's one thing that really challenged me. Something I just couldn't get at first.

I raised the item in my hand with a victorious smirk.

"Huh! At last, I finally finished you, you damn thing."

I glared at what I was holding. Especially at the three embroidered cats that should have looked cute, but instead, they seemed to be mocking me with their stares. Why do I feel like they're taunting me? I should just throw this into the trash, tsk.

"Wow! Those embroidered cats are so adorable, Your Highness. Congratulations on finally finishing what I assigned to you. I told you, all you need for embroidery is concentration—and most of all, inspiration!"

She spoke cheerfully and with so much excitement that it made me grimace. Yes, we were doing embroidery. And this embroidery task was the one that truly tested my patience, tsk.

I can do a lot of things—but not this! Who knew embroidery was so important to women in this world?? In my previous world, it wasn't even necessary. As long as you could work and earn a living, that was enough. Tsk. But seriously, this is unfair to my hands. My fingers are full of needle pricks! Now they're covered in band-aids.

"And since you've finished it, I'll give you a two days of rest. I won't be coming here tomorrow because I have an important errand to run. So, I guess I'll see you in the coming days, Your Highness!"

Once again, she spoke in an overly cheerful and giddy tone. I simply nodded at her.

"I'll be expecting that, Madame Dania. ( I'll be expecting that you never come back! ) "

I smiled at her before turning to Khana.

"Khana, tell the maids to escort Madame Dania outside."

Khana immediately nodded and called the other maids waiting outside the audience room to accompany Madame Dania. And finally, peace and quiet returned to the room. She had been rambling nonstop about her love life—her so-called "inspiration"—and I was this close to losing my mind listening to her, I swear.

I couldn't just kick her out, though. If I did, Grace would have my head. She can be really scary when she's serious and angry. Meanwhile, Butler Gil is more of a happy-go-lucky type, but still has a serious side.

I picked up my embroidery from the sofa and grimaced again. It really feels like the embroidered cats are mocking me, tsk.

"Just throw this away, Khana!"

Khana hesitantly took it from me, looking confused.

"W-Why? But it looks nice!"

"Don't ask, just throw it away."

She quickly shook her head and hugged the embroidery tightly—like she was protecting it from an enemy. Tsk.

"No, Miss! If you don't want it, then I'll keep it! It would be such a waste to throw it away. And besides, this is the first time you did it perfectly!"

I rolled my eyes at her.

"Whatever, Khana. Suit yourself."

She happily hugged it even tighter. Seriously, is she crazy?

☆࿐ཽ༵༆༒ 𝑻𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒅 ༒༆࿐ཽ༵☆