Chapter 03
“Master, did you forget your powers are sealed? And the Chief God said that for every human you kill, your punishment period will be extended by a hundred years! Please, control yourself.”
Her hand paused mid-air at that. She bit her lip, barely swallowing a curse.
“Damn it.”
Meanwhile, the maids stood in front of Raphaella, holding her arms.
“Let’s go quietly. Don’t waste your energy for nothing.”
Raphaella violently shook her arms free. Both maids fell at once. They were small but solidly built, so they had surprising strength—something she found satisfying in the moment.
Raphaella spoke sharply to the maids who had collapsed to the floor.
“I’ll go on my own. Don’t grab me if you don’t want your arms broken.”
She exaggeratedly shook her arms and cracked her neck to loosen up. As she expected, her clumsy body didn’t look particularly threatening. The maids looked at each other in surprise at the princess’s unconventional behavior.
“What are you doing? Lead the way.”
Hesitant at first, the maids eventually followed her instructions, moving as she wished.
Raphaella was at a loss for words.
She had been to the human world before for fun, so she knew just how ridiculous this situation was.
“This is absurd. Seriously.”
The room they led her to, supposedly the “original princess’s room,” was the worst.
It was in the farthest corner of the palace, sunlight barely reached it, and the window frame was rotten—opening it might send the entire frame crashing down. The walls were bare stone, not wallpapered like before, and the gaps let in wind that sounded like wolves howling. The furniture was limited to a sagging bed and a completely rotted desk.
In short, it was like a prison cell.
“Is this some kind of joke?”
The empress’s maids roughly pushed Raphaella into the room and shut the door behind her.
There was no sound of a lock, so she tried the door—but two grumpy-looking knights were standing there. They didn’t even greet her, just shut the door again with an expression of annoyance.
“If only there were chains, it’d be a perfect prison.”
Sighing, Raphaella sat at the desk.
Creak—
The old chair squeaked unpleasantly.
“Ha… haha. Really… how could this happen? How can it go this far?”
Raphaella, unable to hold back, let out a hollow laugh. She flicked the ends of her long hair.
At that moment, Perri, who had been dozing with her body tangled in the hair, tumbled onto Raphaella’s lap.
“Hmmnya… mmnya…”
Raphaella poked Perri’s still-sleeping bottom with a finger.
“Perri, wake up.”
“Yaaawn… Master? Where… are we?”
“This is supposedly my room.”
“…Huh?”
Perri rubbed his eyes and looked around.
“…It’s not the stable?”
“Exactly my point. Explain how this happened. You were supposed to investigate.”
“Yes. Perri investigated everything.”
“Are you sure this princess is correct? What kind of mess is this?”
Raphaella sighed, too exhausted to get angry.
Perri stretched his wings and replied.
“Oh, this princess has the same name as you, Master! Raphaella.”
“People with my name aren’t exactly rare. Naming humans after gods is common. Anything useful besides that?”
“Ah! Wait!”
Perri disappeared briefly, then reappeared, popping back with a book larger than his own body strapped to his back.
“This book summarizes the country. I know you don’t like books, Master, but I brought it just in case! Hehe, wasn’t that great?”
Raphaella took the thick book from Perri and gave a half-hearted reply.
“Good. Now, tell me more about the family you were talking about.”
Perri adjusted his crumpled wings after hauling the book and continued.
“The emperor and empress, as you’ll see in the book, are humans Perri really dislikes! And there are quite a few half-sisters… five or six, I think. Anyway, they were all very pretty. None of them look alike. I saw them all—the eldest was the prettiest and the scariest.”
“Pretty is pretty, but scary?”
“I don’t know. They were incredibly beautiful, so it was scary. Just like your original self.”
“…I was scary originally?”
“Yes! Very scary!”
“Not now?”
“No! Not at all! Now you’re cute! Super round and cute~”
Raphaella lightly flicked Perri on the forehead and glared, feeling her pride slightly wounded. Being trapped in this body was frustrating enough, and now she felt ignored.
Perri covered his forehead with both hands. His round eyes quickly filled with tears, threatening to spill at any moment.
“M-Master… did you hit Perri just now…?”
“I didn’t hit you. I was just stroking you because you’re cute.”
“That’s not it! It didn’t feel like stroking. Perri knows everything.”
Seeing Perri’s eyes well up, Raphaella panicked. Perri was still young, and once he cried, he’d sulk for days.
She softened her voice awkwardly and tried to console him.
“No, I’m proud of how hard you worked… I just… thought you were cute. That’s all.”
“Lies! That’s too cruel!”
Perri flew up, scattering tears in the air, and slipped out through the crooked window.
“P-Perri!”
Raphaella called after him, but it was too late. She grabbed her hair and lamented her fate.
“Ugh… this stubborn thing. I can’t even use my powers or summon lions now. How am I supposed to manage without Perri?”
She sighed and looked around the gloomy, shabby room.
“Am I supposed to live like this? For who knows what kind of vessel in the next life… a thousand years…?”
Raphaella looked at her clumsy, heavy body. The more she thought about it, the more absurd and frustrating it became.
“Damn it. They had to fight in front of the mirror and cause all this! That stubborn old man… what’s so special about that mirror?”
Unable to restrain herself, she slammed her plump fist down.
Bang! Crack—
The shaky old desk collapsed under the impact. Raphaella’s golden eyes blazed with anger.
“I’ll be back… and I’ll make them pay for this.”
As Raphaella ground her teeth, a tiny red flame appeared in the corner of the room. It swirled slowly near the ceiling as if observing.
Raphaella noticed the flame and chuckled lightly.
The flame, as if acknowledging her recognition, swirled down in front of her face.
“Hmm, Giliphus. Come to see how wrecked I am?”
Raphaella’s teasing words caused the flame to grow, eventually forming into a human shape. A young man with red hair appeared where the flame had been, dressed in pure white.
Giliphus smiled gently and spoke in a kind voice.
“You always talk like that. I came because I was worried.”
“If you’re worried, pay me in money. Look at me now, huh?”
Raphaella replied gruffly but with a faint smile. Memories of the audience who ignored her flashed through her mind, making her grateful. If the Chief God’s messenger Giliphus had been present, he surely would have sided with her.
“Still, friends are nice. The ones who said they liked me all turned their backs when I needed them.”
Raphaella lightly tapped Giliphus’s shoulder with her hand. She smiled weakly, then, feeling embarrassed and awkward, tapped the poor desk with her toe.
“You’re the only one I have. Seriously. The others turned their backs when it mattered.”
Giliphus’s eyes flickered with a cold light for a moment, but Raphaella, looking away embarrassedly, didn’t notice.
“Treat me better if you know what’s good for you. Don’t keep poking me all the time.”
“I am treating you well. I didn’t hit you and even welcomed you when you suddenly appeared in my room. Isn’t that top treatment?”
“Wow. That really makes me want to cry.”
“Then don’t cry.”
“…Okay.”
Giliphus gave a resigned sigh and glanced around.
