Monster Princess

“Ouch!”

I suddenly exclaimed and stared at the person running in front.

It was Judith who was hanging around near my palace.

She rushed to me with her long black hair fluttering in the wind, and her skirt fluttering so much that she didn’t mind showing her ankles. If it had been me until now, I would have frowned at the lack of dignity. But now I have stopped walking in a different way.

“I…! I greet the 1st Princess…”

Crack!

It was then that Judith, who was rushing to me, fell and sprained her ankle.

Chwaag!

She didn’t even just fall over, she dragged the hem of her clothes to the floor and even slipped in front of me.

“…….”

“…….”

For a moment, silence lingered between Judith and me.

After a moment, the child, who had been motionless, looked up.

“Oh, that…”

There was a clear sense of embarrassment in her trembling voice. Her white face was flushed with embarrassment that she had fallen so badly in front of me.

“Fi, first, I greet the first princess…”

Then, at last, a small greeting that seemed to crawl into a mouse hole rang in my ear.

I looked down at Judit, who popped out of nowhere. Then I approached her first. I was going to ask Judit if she was okay for courtesy.

“Pfft.”

At that time, if only a small laugh could be heard from the two maids who followed Judith.

It was so obvious without having to wonder what they saw and reacted like this.

At that moment, my forehead wrinkled, and Judith jumped up from her sitting position, hardening her red face.

“I’m sorry for showing you my shameful side.”

It seems that her ignorant appearance a while ago was due to embarrassment, but this time Judith spoke clearly and with a straight manner. However, contrary to her resolute attitude, her ears that were exposed through her black hair were still red.

I looked through Judith’s maids once. The moment I met their eyes, they quickly greeted me.

“We greet the first princess. May Camiullita’s blessing and protection be with you to become the first spear and shield of this era to endlessly shine the light of glory to the Empire. May you enjoy the best red clothes as the supreme and only daughter of the sun, born of intelligence.”

But for some reason, today, she’s not alone, but with her maids.

‘Of course, there are things that are not as good as nothing.’

If I don’t greet them back, they had to keep their knees bent and their heads down.

Even though I know that, I deliberately ignored them and moved my eyes back to Judith.

“Judith.”

The child suddenly raised her head when she heard her name flowing out of my mouth.

“In the Imperial Palace, you have to follow proper etiquette well. You fell down because you ran in a hurry.”

It was clear that the country so far would have responded with disregard in this situation. Of course, since it seemed that there was little contact with Judith, there has been no face-to-face encounter so far. But this time, something noticeable from Judith caused a little fickle.

‘Ramiel… You must have nothing to do.’

At first glance, I felt suspicious, but Judith also had Ramiel’s shadow attached to her.

What the hell are you up to? Did Judith suddenly become interesting to you?

‘If not… …Is it because of me? Because I am interested in Judith.’

At that time, my eyes suddenly went to Judith’s hand holding her skirt.

“What’s wrong with the back of your hand?”

I could see several red lines on the white hands of the child that I saw last time we met.

“Oh, this is… That’s…”

Judith hesitated.

“If you don’t want to talk, you don’t have to.”

I wasn’t that curious, but I said it right anyway. Even if I didn’t, I thought it was useless after asking questions casually.

However, Judith was surprised and quickly opened her mouth.

“No! This is, so I’m taking a class.”

“Class?”

I frowned at the unfamiliar word.

I know that Judith doesn’t have a teacher who would teach her, but what does this mean?

“Actually, these days, the 3rd Princess gave me the opportunity to take a class together with her… …That’s why I go to the 3rd Princess’ Palace once a week.”

Ah, come to think of it, I remember hearing from Marina that Judith was sometimes called to the palace of the 3rd Princess Liliana these days. However, the boy he saw in the greenhouse was interested and didn’t pay much attention to it.

But… She was taking classes with Judith?

‘What, did Liliana suddenly want to be friends with Judith?’

If Chloe is like a servant of the villain, Liliana is more like a servant of the servant of the villain. In other words, she’s like an ant villain who mostly played the role of catcher by hanging out with Chloe.

The more I listened, the more I felt confused, so I tilted my head and asked.

“But what does having class and the lines on the back of your hand… …Could it be that you couldn’t keep pace and Liliana’s teacher’s hitting you?”

“No, the teacher doesn’t ask me questions.”

“Then?”

“If the 3rd princess can’t answer, I’ll get hit instead of her.”

No, wait.

For a moment, I felt like I was out of breath.

Hang on. Judith being hit? So, that… It’s the start of her getting beaten up.

An indescribable feeling in me rose for Liliana, who had done something extraordinary, and at the same time, the bones in my back began to tingle.

‘No, no. What kind of princess in the world is gets hit for the others?’

You guys are taking turns and going crazy!

‘Even if it’s just half the size, Liliana, this is not common sense!’

I don’t know which of Liliana’s teachers is entering the class, but how ridiculous would it be to have the fourth princess come, saying the hitting will start!

‘No, it’s not…’

In this case, the person who was brought in to be beaten is the problem, but the person who actually hit is the problem, right?

‘Even if it’s just a name, her name is that of a princess, but it’s not even the royal family member who shares the same blood like her that’s hitting her, but a mere noble?’

“Judith, what’s the name of the teacher?”

As I quenched my cold anger inside, my voice came out softly.

Judith didn’t know why I was asking and just smiled brightly as if excited about my interest in her.

“I heard he’s Viscount Thorsen.”

“Viscount Thorsen.”

I memorized the name of the man Judith would soon never see.

I reached out and placed my hand on the back of Judith’s.

Hwaas. The mana I sent out, shone in gold.

After a while, Judith’s hands and knees, which were bleeding from peeling skin, were completely healed. Even the clothes that had been wrinkled with blood were as clean as new.

“Then why did you run like that a while ago? I think there was a reason you wanted to see me.”

Judith was looking at me with a slightly blank expression on her face.

“Oh, that’s…”

Judith let out a stuttering voice, fiddling with the hand I had healed.

“I thought you’d be gone soon if I was late… I mean, I.”

It was frustrating not being able to speak properly, but I waited for Judith.

“I couldn’t say thank you.”

Was she snooping around my palace on purpose to see me?

I thought it was just that she wasn’t because she kept wandering in front of the Palace of the First Princess while being harassed by Chloe.

“I’ve never done anything to be grateful for.”

“It’s not.”

Judith shook her head at what I said.

“You saved me from the magic garden last time… …You also helped me when I was about to be punished by the 2nd Princess. To me… …You even gave me sweets.”

I did it for myself, but she thinks I helped her.

According to my original personality, I would have left a remark saying, ‘I can’t believe you think  I’m helping you out, what an unreasonable illusion.’ However, seeing Judith smiling as if she were really happy with a gentle face, I wondered if there was anyone like this, so I didn’t even want to say a word.

“Really? I’m glad I helped you even a little.”

‘So, is the book saying I can only be happy if I live this foolishly kind life?’

I looked down at Judith and unconsciously reached out to her neck.

Would I have felt any better if Judith had been vigilant? But she was still looking at me with clear eyes.

My fingertips touched Judith’s neck. I tried to force my hand on impulse, but then it stopped.

‘Are you crazy? Do you really want to be a real monster?’

Naturally, I moved my fingers and pulled out the chain that protruded from Judith’s collar.

“…I think this necklace and chain that you wear every day will fall out because it’s loose.”

Perhaps my words were unexpected, Judith looked up and looked at me.

“Oh… I’m wearing this every day… Did you know?”

Judith’s eyes were wide open as if they were about to fall at any moment as if they had felt such a great surprise in my words.

“Can I take a look? If it’s broken, I want to fix it for you.”

Judith immediately untied her necklace and gave it to me without being wary.

I’m suddenly doing something that I haven’t done before, and you’re giving me your stuff without any doubt? At the age of 12, I thought it was a big deal.

I checked Judith’s necklace while clicking my tongue in my head.

At first glance, it was nothing more than a worn-out piece of junk, but there were also very small engraved feathers and crescent-shaped crescents on the seam on the back of the necklace. Not long ago, it matched the pattern of the destroyed magical kingdom that I checked through the Imperial Archives.

I already knew that it would be, but when I checked with my own eyes again that what I had seen in the dream was true, it felt like blood was being washed away from the top of my head.