“Hmm.”

KNOCK KNOCK.

Even if I tried to sleep more, I couldn’t help but open my eyes to the sound of knocking on the door. Some crazy kid is making a fuss even before sunrise. With my eyes open, I pouted my mouth and looked outside.

Oops. Of course, unlike what I thought the sun shone brightly outside the window instead of dawn. The sun is also in the middle of the sky. I scratched my head for a while in embarrassment and looked at the door. No matter what time it is, uh, well. Banging is a bad thing. I wonder what Lisbeth is doing.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, I turned my head to find Lisbeth. At that moment, I saw a brown head lying on my bed. It was Lisbeth sleeping so soundly. She’s sleeping while snoring with the banging sound beyond quiet. I was thinking of letting her sleep but I shook her body because I need to know who the person outside is.

“Lisbeth.”

“…”

“Lisbeth.”

Lisbeth was half-leaning on the bed next to me and got up in a hurry only after I woke her up a couple of times. After taking a walk yesterday, Lisbeth read a book and then fell asleep while the book was placed next to her.

“P-princess!”

Without even opening her eyes properly she stood up and looked at me blankly, she stared at me with a surprised face without wiping her saliva around her mouth.

“…Oh my, how dirty.”

She’s drooling while sleeping like this. It’s said that usually princesses and prince’s rooms have several maids that take turns sleeping, but Lisbeth must be tired because she’s alone. She has been by my side every night since I came to this palace. Poor Lisbeth. I roughly wiped her lips with my clothes. She backed away startled by my actions, but I was faster.

“I’ll wipe it off…!”

“No. I’ve wiped everything. Lie down comfortably next to me and sleep next time. You’re sleepy.”

“How dare I sleep with the princess…!”

“It doesn’t matter. There’s only the two of us here”

“B-but.”

BANG BANG.

Suddenly. The sound was heard again. The door is going to break. Everything is in bad condition since previously the room wasn’t inhabited before it become my room, so even the door could be broken.

“Lisbeth door.”

Only then did Lisbeth who’s fixing her hair got startled and jump up like a spring. She ran to the door precariously as if she was about to fall and hurriedly opened the door.

“W-who is it?”

Not long after her question was heard, I could clearly see her embarrassed back.

“AHH…”

Her screams were heard one after another.

“I didn’t come to see you. Where’s rolling stone?

I can tell who it is just by hearing his voice. Because there’s only one person who will call me rolling stone.

“Rolling stone… huh?”

“Your princess.”

“Aah. T-the princess isn’t ready yet.”

“Tell her to get ready quickly.”

Ugh. That ignorant jerk. What is he doing to my one and only Lisbeth this early in the morning? I heard that it’s the etiquette to change pajamas when meeting people, but I couldn’t leave such an unlucky person go so I hurriedly went out and stopped in front of Lisbeth.

“Why are you making a fuss to Lisbeth?”

“She said you weren’t ready… Did you just wake up? Rolling stone.”

“Yes. Confession prince. Unlike everyone else, I’m a child so I have to sleep well. So, will you stop picking a fight in the morning and leave?”

“Amazing. If it wasn’t for father…”

“What?”

At the same time, red eyes showing the same light met in the air. Heh, if you stare at me like that who would get scared? You’re taller than me if you look down… Ugh! I need to hurry up grow taller. I feel like I’m losing because I’m below. The first guy let out a deep sigh and then shook his head towards me.

“Don’t talk. Hurry up get ready and get out. We’ll go boating.”

“…I’m not going. What do you mean boating? Am I a kid?

“Uh. You’re a kid.”

I’m a kid but… really. It’s a boat ride. Do you think I’ll like that? Boating is something people do because they have too much time and don’t know how to use it. I’ve never done it. I’ve heard of it before. I shook my head violently at him who talked about the word boating so easily.

“W-well I’m not going to go. So know that and just leave me alone.”

I tried to close the door in a cool way. But the first guy was taller and faster than me, he quickly put his legs between the doors.

“You have to go. It was father’s orders for the whole fa.mi.ly to attend. Stone.”

Sigh. Can’t he just ignore me? I can’t believe we’re a family. Since when have we been a family? He left me for a walk yesterday too. Loving each other so much, I want you to hate me than saying things like the whole family must attend. It wasn’t even funny at all. I’d rather you treat me badly. What’s with this sudden change of heart? It would be easier for you to hate me because I’m so mean.

“…”

“Don’t try your best not to go. If you refuse, I’ll carry you around and go.”

Determined guy. How did he know I was trying to run away somehow? The first guy looked down at me firmly. Whatever I say, it doesn’t seem to work.

“Father…”

“…Sigh. I see. You can go.”

That jerk’s father, my father. But if it’s under dad’s name I can’t say I don’t want to go. I can’t be kicked out even if I’m hated. No, even if I’m kicked out I have to be kicked out willingly or else I’ll suffer in my later years. Whether I’m kicked out on sacrifice day or I’m kicked out willingly, it’s right to go when I’m looking for it now. In the meantime, confession prince opened his mouth as if he had something else to say.

“Commoners like you may have water that you have never seen in your life, so you can look forward to it.”

“Water is not… Huh…?”

Hold on, what about boating? Why? Water? As soon as I heard the word water, I got goosebumps all over my body.

I just got an idea. No way this is… Is the emperor or dad trying to drown me just because I treated myself like a fool yesterday? I quickly wrapped my arms around my body.

“But why are you going to the water? Are you going to drop me?”

“Don’t exaggerate it. The reason I’m going. Lilian said she wants to play with the boat so I’m going.”

Ahh. That’s it. With the word Lilian, everything becomes clear. The princess who’s loved by the Imperial Palace. On the other hand, I was a street princess who didn’t know existed or not. It would be right for the beloved princess to do as she pleases. This part sucks.

I don’t want to be loved, but at least I want a world that works my way. Sigh. There was something strange. I’m sure he must have known that Lilian was a fake daughter at the same time he knew I was his real daughter.

The strange ring he puts on me, there’s no way he doesn’t know that Lilian is fake just by looking at it. Dad knew that Lilian wasn’t his daughter, but there was no change somehow. Ah, well there was no change in the book until the end.

‘As expected it’s grown-up affection rather than born affection.’

If that’s not the case, there’s no way he would cherish her so much and keep her by his side. He brought me here only to increase his options as of now. Of course, some situations may change a little later on, but the fact that I’m here now is because the oracle still remains the same.

“Sigh.”

“What’s with that sigh? Are you saying that you don’t want to go boating because of Lilian?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“I hate it. I hate having to go there to be a bridesmaid. But what can I do? It’s an order, I have to follow it. Wait. I’ll wash up and come out.”

I pretended to be confident and raised my chin up saying everything I had to say before closing the door and turning around. But a foot popped through the door at speed faster than light. I’ve been feeling this since earlier, but why does this guy respond so fast? I poked my mouth out for nothing and rolled my eyes at him.

“What are you doing?”

“What are you trying to do? Are you going to make me wait here?”

“Yeah. Can’t you? Can’t the golden confession prince stand around?”

“Yes.”

“…Huh?”

“No. I can’t stand. Because I have a precious body. So I’ll wait in your room.”

Is there a case where I go crazy this finely? A precious body that couldn’t standstill. I stared at him with a tired expression.

“You must be crazy.”

“…What?”

“You want to see me wash up and get ready?”

Smiling at the words, the first guy looked up and down at me.

“You’re still a kid. Hurry up and get ready. Father must be waiting.”

“…Go away. I’ll go when I’m ready.”

“Your face looked like you’re going to run away. I’ll have to wait here even longer.”

He’s so quick to catch on. Strangely, my instinct was shouting not to go to the water, so I tried to find a way to avoid it, but did he notice it again? When I stared at him silently, he looked down at me with his arms folded and a mean mouth.

“There’s one more. He told me to bring ‘myself’ and ‘you’.”

Ugh. Why does he keep making a team of this guy and me?

“Huh…”

“And I was born with manners after all. I’ll be looking out the window, so get ready.”

Ah. How annoying. But I couldn’t stop him, he pushed me like a madman and went inside. Fortunately, the first guy approached the window and leaned against it as soon as he entered the room as if he was keeping his word and never looked back. I naturally looked at him before I went in to wash up. Silver hair that comes down to the jawline in a pure white uniform.

I said he was ugly, but he was terribly handsome. And it was surprising to me that my reflection in the mirror looked quite similar to him. Silver hair, pinkish-red eyes, and pure white skin as if it had never seen the sunlight. We look so alike that anyone can believe we’re siblings. Even the moderately big eyes, nose bridge that stands out beautifully, and cute lips.

“That’s more annoying.”

“Yes?”

“Nothing. Let’s go wash up.”

Lisbeth wondered as if she had heard my negative words, but perhaps she thought she couldn’t relax when the first guy came in, so she tried to make her face look the same and hold me into the bathroom and washed quickly. Not long after, I sat down on the dressing table with water on my hair and faced the gold mirror again, moving my feet and smiling broadly.

“Pretty. Right?”

“Yes?”

“I’m pretty.”

“Yes. You’re beautiful. More than anything else, more than anyone else.”

Now Lisbeth responded with a smile at my words as if she knew my confession well. That’s right. It’s fun to see my face. Ha. I’ve always wondered how pretty people live their lives so this is how it feels. It makes me happy when I look in the mirror.

In the meantime, Lisbeth was putting her soul into dressing me up. My hair comes down even if she leaves it alone, she fiddled with her chin for a long time as if she was disappointed.

“Our princess looks pretty no matter what hairstyle she tries…”