Chapter 2
“Drink it. Didn’t you hear me?”
Why on earth did she bring me water filled with heavy metals and call it wash water? Was she trying to kill me with mercury poisoning? Did she want me to end up with Minamata disease, Itai-itai disease, or something like that?
“Hey!”
I shouted, but no one entered the room.
Damn, so this is what being a princess is like? Even in a dream, it’s this pathetic.
“W-what? N-no! I—I can’t drink this!”
“Why not? It’s just water, isn’t it?”
“I-it is water!”
“Then why can’t you drink it?”
The way she rolled her eyes, I felt like I could read exactly what she was thinking. Didn’t she just say earlier that I wasn’t her master? Then clearly, someone else is behind this.
Why do I have to suffer even in my dreams? But still, the one most pitiful here is me—nearly getting murdered by this poor soul!
“Then should I drink it myself? Let’s see if I stay fine or not.”
“Wait… n-no… that’s…!”
In most novels or movies, when someone dies in a dream, they wake up. If that’s the case—then let’s test it out!
Drinking it should hit harder than just skin absorption. And if it’s only a dream, I’ll wake up the moment I die.
Please, when I wake up, let me have all my limbs intact so I can just go to work!
“Kyaa!”
Alright, let’s do this!
I gulped down the basin of water without hesitation.
[ Warning! ]
A blood-red system window appeared, flooding the entire room and filling my vision.
Maybe it was too concentrated to be just for skin contact, because my body started trembling violently.
Crazy—wasn’t this straight-up an attempt to kill me?!
A hazy feeling overtook me again. This time, I was wearing a hospital gown. I couldn’t move my body at all, not even blink, and my eyes stung horribly. I could feel the IV fluid dripping into me through the needle in my arm, chilling my veins.
“Where are the patient’s guardians?”
“There are none.”
—Beep! Beep! BEEEEEEEP!
“CPR! Prepare the defibrillator!”
“What happened, all of a sudden?”
I saw stickers attached to my bare chest. Electric current was flowing into my body through them, yet somehow, I didn’t feel it.
“Excuse me, can’t you all hear me?”
“Again!”
The doctor operated the machine, sending another strong current through me. My body jolted into the air before slamming back down. He rubbed gel onto the defibrillator paddles and pressed them against my chest again.
“Once more!”
They repeated it several times until the long, flat “beeeep—” finally broke into a steady rhythm. Watching my own body convulse like that, from the outside, was horrifying.
What the hell is this?!
My vision turned blood-red again, with large text flashing before me.
[ You were caught trying to illegally escape the game. A penalty will be imposed.
☆ Game difficulty will increase slightly!
If you fail to clear the game, your body will die.
→ Find Duke Clayton de Levoix and complete the following quest:
Quest! Present a flower to welcome his return. ▼ ]
Such threatening words, but the quest itself looked… easy?
So this really is a dream?
No, a dream could never feel this vivid. I was in an accident, and just moments ago, my body almost died for real.
With nothing certain yet, I needed to keep all options open.
If my real body was at risk… then I couldn’t afford to defy the system.
Cold sweat dripped down my back as I tapped the ▼ button on the now-blue window.
[ ▼
Duke Clayton de Levoix will return tomorrow. Find out what flower he likes from clues inside this room.
▼ ]
At the time, I didn’t know.
How utterly screwed-up this game was.
[ ▼
If you fail the first quest, your body will die. ]
So I was supposed to find clues in this room? The place was enormous—finding anything seemed impossible. And if they wanted me to search, couldn’t they at least give me a hint?!
“Did you cough, Your Highness?”
A rollback, huh.
Just as I started looking for clues, the same maid appeared again. Her brown hair and eyes were anything but friendly, despite how familiar they seemed.
“I-I brought what Your Highness ordered…!”
No way was I repeating the same thing again.
“Fine. Put it down and leave. Or I’ll make you drink it yourself.”
Her wide eyes fixed on me—so even the maid dared to look down on this princess. Strange. She was from a minor noble family, while I supposedly had royal blood. How could she look me in the eye like that?
Still, I didn’t want to get tricked into drinking poison again, not knowing anything.
[ Quest! Find the flower to gift Duke Clayton de Levoix! ▼ ]
The sudden quest window was absurd, but searching this massive room alone really was impossible. I looked from the maid to the room: bookshelves packed full, tables and chairs, two sofas, and a king-size bed.
A terrace stretched beyond, and framed paintings decorated the walls. Searching everything would take forever.
[ ▼ Maid Caroline has sticky fingers! Then surely, she must be punished?
Choose one of the options below to obtain a clue for the quest.
Option 1. Slap her.
Option 2. Cut off her hand.
Option 3. Make her drink the wash water.
Option 4. Call in other servants to search. ]
Not a single sane choice.
I selected option 4. Soon enough, servants filed into the room.
“You called, Your Highness?”
“Uh, y-yes. I mean—right.”
Startled, I’d answered politely. But realizing he was just a servant, I quickly shifted my tone, crossing my arms and raising my chin.
“The maid touched my belongings.”
“Y-Your Highness, what are you saying?!”
“I understand.”
The steward gave Caroline a sharp look and gestured. Immediately, her arms were bound, and the other maids began searching her body.
Her face went pale—had she really stolen something?
“N-no!”
She twisted desperately, but sure enough, something was hidden in her garter.
Another maid pulled it out and respectfully presented it to me.
In her hands was…
“You stole my jewel.”
A sapphire earring—clearly not hers.
[ Congratulations!
You cleared your first quest!
Press below to check your reward. ▼ ]
Before checking, I noticed something strange about the earring. Peering closer, I saw something sealed inside the jewel—a rose petal, heart-shaped.
[ ▼ Reward.
-
Your body is safe.
-
Sapphire earring.
P.S. You must bring this when you meet Duke Clayton de Levoix. ]
“Why did you steal it?”
“…I-I don’t know anything about this!”
She suddenly collapsed, startling me into stepping back. The steward moved to block me.
[ ☆ One of the three unchosen options will be randomly executed.
Option 1. Slap her.
Option 2. Cut off her hand.
Option 3. Make her drink the wash water. ]
The buttons grayed out, and the system window vanished.
“No, stop!”
“Huh?”
“P-please, spare me, Your Highness! I—I really don’t know anything!”
She begged frantically, but the steward, gray-haired with icy eyes, spoke coldly.
“I will handle this personally.”
“Do as you like.”
I didn’t care to know which punishment was carried out.
By noon, the only things I had gained from the morning’s chaos were these facts:
Even though I was royalty, I wasn’t treated like one.
And that I, a princess, could casually chop off a maid’s hand and go about my day, while people whispered chilling rumors about me.
If I was going to survive here, I needed allies. Only by adapting could I escape. Worst case, I might even have to clear the game.
Maybe I could’ve gotten more out of that maid. A bit of a shame.
Catching sight of a mirror, I froze.
The face staring back was hideous, grotesquely twisted. No wonder Caroline recoiled whenever she got close to me.
So this princess had been in some kind of accident?
I touched my face, and a system window popped up.
[ Quest! The Mirror of Truth ▼ ]
I let out a dry laugh. Mirror of Truth? What is this, Snow White?
The only thing I had in common with her was pale skin.
[ ▼ Quest cannot proceed because requirements are not met. ]
Cryptic. Maybe there really was a backstory about this face.
—Knock knock.
“Enter.”
This time, different maids came in. They all looked so alike, with the same hair color and style, that I couldn’t tell them apart. At least in my old part-time jobs, we had nametags. So much for palace luxury.
“Greetings, Your Highness. From today, I will be serving you. My name is Lilfay.”
[ Lilfay
: Minor noble / Became a maid one month ago. ]
So the working conditions really were awful. That’s probably why they threw in a newbie who’d barely been here a month.
She looked frail, trembling so hard that if I so much as made eye contact, she seemed about to faint.
“Maid.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
She trembled even more as I approached. Like my old phone buzzing every morning.
“What’s my name?”
It didn’t seem like she triggered any quest. The window disappeared after I checked her info. Her brown hair and eyes reminded me of the poison-water maid, though she looked even frailer.
“Your Highness is Princess Gracie Fletcher Gabriella Bastian.”
So that was my name.
And apparently, my task had something to do with someone named Keira. Judging from the name, we were probably sisters, maybe even twins.
“Who is Keira?”
At just the mention, Lilfay shook like a leaf, worse than before.
“She is… Your Highness’s twin sister.”
“And we don’t get along?”
“Th-that is…”
So we don’t.
“Fine. Then what kind of person is she?”
If my twin was an enemy, then I’d have to kill her, dethrone her, or—best option—get an apology. The third seemed easiest.
Surely, as sisters, there must be some bond left?
Not that I’d know. I’d never had family.
But families I’d seen usually worked that way.
“Princess Keira Fletcher Gabriella Bastian is the most benevolent in the Empire. She sponsored my orphanage. She also personally funded facilities, schools, and clinics for commoners.”
So my sister was beloved by both royals and commoners.
The fact that Lilfay was an orphan and had benefitted from her generosity made me lose the urge to be harsh with her. If my sister was kind, maybe clearing this game wouldn’t be so hard after all.
“Dress me.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
She still trembled, but it no longer looked ridiculous. I knew what it felt like to have no one to rely on.
And Keira Fletcher Gabriella Bastian…
Keira Fletcher Gabriella Bastian.
That name sounded familiar somehow.
“What are you doing?”
I had run into the garden without thinking, and a man in a navy uniform—likely a royal guard—called out to me.
