RPTM 02

Chapter 02

Raphaella tried to lift herself up, still holding her dizzy head in her hands. But her body felt incredibly heavy, and a groan escaped her lips.

“Ugh… Perry, where am I? Why does my body feel so heavy?”

“Well, of course, since you’ve taken on a human body. You didn’t wake up for a long time, so I’ve been waiting a lot,” Perry replied.

“…Have I been unconscious for a long time?”

“You’ve been in that body for over a month.”

“What? Over a month?”

“Yes. You have no idea how worried I’ve been,”

Perry covered her round little face with her tiny palms, her wings trembling slightly, showing just how worried she really was. Raphaella chuckled lightly and raised her hand. Perry, as usual, tried to perch on the back of Raphaella’s hand.

But—

“Ah! What is this?”

Just as Perry was about to sit on her hand, Raphaella screamed and sprang up. She had seen her own hand.

As a result, Perry tumbled off the bed Raphaella had been lying on.

“Oh no! Master, I’m dizzy!”

“My hand… what’s happened to my hand!”

Her once elegant hand was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was a small, chubby hand with dimples from the knuckles, thick fingers, and soft flesh.

“Ah!”

It wasn’t just her hands.

Feeling along her plump arms and shoulders, her round body stretching the pyjamas to the brink, Raphaella panicked.

“How dare you put me in this body, you old geezer!”

She dashed to the dressing table. Looking into the large mirror, Raphaella could only be genuinely shocked.

“What the…?”

“It’s the human vessel of its original owner,” Perry fluttered onto her head and answered.

“Human? Not a fat duck, right?”

“No way. Even so, she was a princess. I did a bit of investigating while you were asleep.”

“This is a princess? Damn. If someone saw her, they’d think she was a pig raised to be eaten,” Raphaella muttered.

“You’re too harsh, Master,” Perry replied softly.

Raphaella leaned close to the mirror, scrutinizing herself.

Her hair was a dull, grayish mess like storm clouds. Her cheeks were plump and pale, covered in freckles, and her lips lacked color, naturally giving her a sulky expression. The nightgown she wore was flashy but mismatched, looking completely out of place, and the seams looked like they could burst at any moment.

“Punishment from that old geezer, huh? Unbelievable,”

Raphaella stomped in frustration—or tried to. Her heavy, sluggish body wouldn’t obey her intentions. Her attempts to stomp ended in awkward little wriggles.

“Damn it! So the gods can do whatever they want, huh? They never even considered my side of the story. They just wanted to dump responsibility and torment me!”

As Raphaella ranted furiously about the gods, Perry turned pale and flew up, blocking Raphaella’s mouth with her tiny body.

“Oh no, Master! They might hear everything from above! If Master gets punished again, I’d be so sad!”

With Perry stopping her, Raphaella took a deep breath and gently held Perry, asking,

“Those bastards… did they get punished too? What punishment did the gods give? Why did I wake up a month late? Tell me everything you found. Now.”

“Oh my, Master, one question at a time. I might run out of breath if I answer too fast,” Perry replied.

Raphaella glared at her sharply. Perry flinched and wrapped herself in her wings as she replied.

“I don’t know what punishment the four gods received. But I do know that the main god sent them somewhere, because all their presence disappeared from the divine realm.”

“Damn. Just hiding it under a rug, huh? Maybe they were sent on some little trip. Just a warning, maybe. That old geezer has always been biased toward them anyway.”

“That’s not it. Since one of the main god’s envoys also disappeared, everyone said they were probably sent to watch over them.”

“One of the main god’s envoys… no way, that snake?”

“Yes.”

“I see. Well, then… at least some punishment was given. Next, why did I wake up now?”

“Well…”

Perry hesitated, fiddling with her tiny hands. Raphaella felt an ominous tension rising.

“Why are you hesitating? Did the old geezer do this on purpose?”

“No.”

“Then?”

“It’s because of the body’s original owner.”

Raphaella tilted her head in confusion.

“This body? You said she was a princess.”

“Yes. That princess seems to have been poisoned.”

“Haha…”

Raphaella let out a bitter laugh, pressing her forehead.

“So, they put me in a human body with this horrible appearance, under assassination threats. Incredible.”

Perry shivered at the intense aura coming from Raphaella, cautiously moving a step back.

“But, Master, the appearance will improve over time. Since you’re in the body, it’ll change gradually…”

“Then what? I won’t be able to use divine powers in this body.”

“Oh, I have something to tell you about that…”

Before Perry could continue, the door suddenly burst open, and a group of people stormed in.

Startled, Perry dove into Raphaella’s hair for cover.

“Who are you?”

Raphaella glared at the strangers who had barged in without knocking.

At the front was a middle-aged woman, clearly the highest-ranking person among them, adorned with a luxurious dress and numerous jewels. She surveyed Raphaella with cold eyes, as if she were an enemy.

“You’re alive,” she said, her voice razor-sharp.

“You’re surprisingly resilient,” she added.

Perry whispered softly from within Raphaella’s hair.

“This is the Empress here. That means she’s the mother of the vessel you’re in now.”

“What kind of mother looks at her child like she wants to kill them?”

“She’s not her biological mother,” Perry clarified.

“Oh, I see. Makes sense.”

The empress lifted her chin, walked toward Raphaella with clicking heels, and said,

“What are you muttering to yourself?”

“Nothing,” Raphaella replied casually, shrugging.

The empress’s icy expression faltered for a moment.

“Speaking in short words now? You really can’t hide your vulgarity.”

“Opening doors without knocking is noble, is it?” Raphaella retorted, frowning.

A maid standing behind the empress stepped forward, scolding,

“How dare you. Have some manners.”

“Interrupting a conversation is manners?” Raphaella snapped back. The maid flinched at her unexpected response and stepped back. The other maids exchanged confused glances.

The empress let a bitter smile form on her lips as she observed this, speaking with an elegant, pitying tone,

“Oh dear. You’re still not fully recovered. Did you really think you were the owner of this princess’s quarters while you were unconscious? How naive.”

“What?”

Raphaella had no choice but to stay quiet; she couldn’t tell if this was her room or not. She assumed it was hers simply because it was luxurious and she had been told she was the princess.

The empress sneered and continued,

“This room was provided so that you could at least feel like a princess while you were hovering between life and death. But it can never be truly yours. Don’t you understand that by now? Tch. How foolish.”

She then commanded the maids behind her coldly, before twirling away with her skirts flying.

“Since the princess seems to have fully recovered, return her to her original room.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the maids replied.

As they moved to grab Raphaella, she shouted, baring her fangs,

“Try touching me. I’ll—!”

She instinctively raised her hand to use her powers, but Perry hurriedly tugged at her hair to stop her.