Chapter 11

Author: gucchi

TL: N. Irene

(I am going to change ‘chief lady-in-waiting’ to ‘headmistress’. Tell me your thoughts in the comments)

Two weeks have passed by since I have been living with Mr. Surveillance.

If I go to the laundry room, I would return soaking wet.

If I go to fetch water, a servant would always push me on my way.

If I walk down the corridor, I get entangled with the servants.

Most of the time the food is rotten or won’t even arrive.

Unlike before, I have been going through a lot of things at once.

Well, that’s because I’m deliberately acting that way.

When a servant mistreats me, I talk back.

I only need to gather evidence, though, so me getting harmed by the servants is not really a concern.

But really, I never expected that Mr. Surveillance would be so overprotective.

No matter how I was injured, I would wake up in the morning, perfectly healed.

I was really surprised by that.

There weren’t many people in my past life twho could use magic.

I wonder why Mr. Surveillance is serving the royal court in the shadows when he is so capable.

When I thanked him again, a small low thumping sound came in response.

There were signs that told me that there was more than one person monitoring me.

Meals arrived in baskets, the amount gradually increasing and the contents changed to be more like a meal than a snack.

The number of times they arrived increased, and gradually they arrived three times a day.

On nights I couldn’t sleep, hot milk was sometimes placed in the basket.

I’m still a bit skinny though.

I could now eat about half what a healthy child should eat.

I had never eaten properly before, so I could not hurry myself to get better.

I’m sure it’s going to affect my body in the future.

The only time I see Eliza and my uncle was when we had the monthly dinner party.

I was hoping to gather more evidence and show that to Mr. Surveillance, but first, I had to do something about the headmistress.

I needed a plan to pull the headmistress out of the western palace and meet her, so I decided to go to the main palace.

My grandfather never restricted my movements.

As a princess, I was supposed to live in the main palace so going to the library wasn’t really a problem.

At least by law, though.

The headmistress didn’t seem to want me coming near my grandfather.

If so, she would be concerned if she knew I was hanging around the main palace.

I can’t read because the tutors stopped coming after three days.

If I, who cannot read, try to go to the library, someone will come to stop me.

But is there a servant who can restrict my actions?

Unlike in the Western Palace, where few people have seen me, there are many people in the Main Palace.

It would be impossible for them to order me out in public,

There is no one who can give orders to the princess in the main palace where her face is known.

That’s why if anything should happen, the head mistress would come out.

I ate the little pancakes delivered by Mr. Surveillance.

Changed into the only dress I had.

When I got ready, I told my plans to the guards.

It would be easier to monitor, easier to get evidence,

For the past few days, I had decided to tell them in advance what my plans were for the day.

“Today I am going to the main palace library.”

“I hope to see the headmistress or someone close to her.”

“I’ll call for help if I’m in danger. Thank you for your help.”

I heard a thump sound in reply and left the room.

A servant noticed me heading towards the main palace.

I quickly changed my route and ran.

If this gets reported to the head mistress, it should go well.

I slowly make my way to the library.

The library was beyond the audience chamber.

It takes more than ten minutes for me as a child.

I walked, hoping that she would come quickly, but she didn’t come out.

When I finally reached the library, I had no choice but to go inside.

The library was larger than I expected.

Not only were there documents and history books for each territory, but there were even books on witchcraft.

This looked like it would be worth seeing.

…If nothing happened today, I should come here every day.

If I start to visit every day, there will surely be people who will come to harass me.

I picked up a book that was nearby and found that it was a children’s picture book.

It was about a goddess. I wondered if it was meant to be read to children in church.

I opened it and read it, wondering what religion was like at this time,

The book was suddenly snatched away from me.

“What?”

It was Eliza who took the book.

Why is Eliza here?

Why is Eliza in the royal palace when there was no dinner party to attend?

I was lost in my thoughts, but only for a brief moment, when I was slapped on the cheek with a loud noise.

Eliza was also a child, but she was too different in size.

My malnourished, thin body could not stand it and I fell on the floor.

“Why are you here?”

“You can’t even read and you’re so arrogant!”