The Reincarnated Princess in a Blind Fury

“He’s the real idiot!!!”

I lifted my pillow above my head and chucked it at the bed’s headboard as hard as I could. That wasn’t enough to quell my temper, so when the pillow bounced back at me, I buried my fist into it with all my strength.

“Oh, you want me to prove my worth to you, do you...?! Who does he think he is?!”

I pummeled the pillow, blow after blow, leaving a miserable dent in it, until it was a few strikes away from tearing and erupting and sending a flurry of feathers all over the room.

I didn’t care. I was too angry for that.

It felt like I was going crazy. I needed to let my rage out on something, or I didn’t know what would happen. The modicum of good sense that hadn’t yet deserted me was keeping my voice hushed, but if I could’ve had my way, I’d have stampeded through the palace screaming out loud.

Aaargh, I can’t stand him! He makes me so angry!!!

Clutching the pillow to my chest, I rolled over and over on top of the bed in my room.

If anyone had witnessed the spectacle, they’d have probably skipped past calling for a doctor—an exorcist might’ve been more appropriate. But nobody was watching, so I carried on.

Klaus was standing guard on the other side of my bedroom door, so perhaps he could hear me, but I no longer cared. Screw it all, I whined in my mind. That was how sulky I was feeling at that moment.

I was in too much shock to recall how I’d found my way back to my own room from my father’s. My catatonic state continued for a while after Klaus had left me by myself, but the emotion that had finally overcome me hadn’t been sadness or despair—it’d been fury.

You bet it was! The result of my hard work is a marriage that I don’t even want?! What a joke! I’d have been better off minding my own business and spectating this whole time. All that effort I put in was for nothing!!!

Sure, I was in this for myself. My determination to change the future was compelled strictly by my desire to ensure a peaceful life. I wasn’t motivated by some purehearted wish to bring joy to all mankind.

Even so...I wasn’t so self-centered as to wish solely for my happiness. I’d tried my best, in my own way, to make a comfortable future—a place where those dear to me and the people around them could all smile together.

How was I supposed to know that my efforts would put me on the engagement route to a foreign prince that I’ve never even seen?!

“Screw you, father...!!!”

I summoned all of my strength and struck the pillow. The moment that my fist dug into the fabric, several feathers burst through the seam. I was breathing so hard that my shoulders heaved as I watched the whimsical sight of the feathers fluttering down to the floor.

Other than my labored breaths, the room was silent.

“Ugh, whyyy...”

Now that I had finished throwing my tantrum, I felt the energy drain from me. I flopped down onto the bed, facing the ceiling. A feather swirled back into the air, propelled by the force of my body sinking into the bed, and it landed on my nose. I dislodged it with a puff of air and closed my eyes.

“I feel empty,” I murmured. My voice sounded vacant. A feeling of hollowness overcame me as my seething temper began to cool down.

Screaming and storming around my room by myself, then topping it off with a serving of self-loathing... I think I need to be checked for emotional instability. What am I even doing?

Carrying on like this and wallowing in self-pity wouldn’t solve any of my problems, but I wanted to throw in the towel for the day. My shoulders ached with a dull pain, probably due to my meltdown.

I think I’m gonna stay right here and fall asleep, I thought as my consciousness began to drift away.

Just then, I felt the light sensation of something pressing against my brow.

“Hmm?” I slowly raised my heavy eyelids. I tried to discern what the slight weight on my forehead was, but I couldn’t see anything. Reluctantly, I attempted to sit upright.

A dark figure stirred by my pillow and meowed. My field of view became entirely occupied by the black cat peering back at me.

“Nero.”

When I called the name of my cherished cat, he meowed again.

When did he slink over here? While I was going nuts, he was curled up on the sofa without a care in the world.

Nero was looking down at me, apparently not frightened by my hysteric behavior. In fact, from his marble-like blue eyes, I thought I could even sense exasperation, as though he were saying, You done yet?

“Nerooo...” I reached toward him while whining pathetically.

However, Nero dodged my arms when I tried to pull him into a hug, then voiced a curt meow as though to decline my embrace.

Oh, you don’t want a hug? That’s how it is?

The sad truth was that I could understand—of course he’d be hesitant to accept a hug from a woman who’d been on a rampage until a few moments ago. I gave up on the embrace and decided to observe him instead.

Perhaps Nero detected my surrender because he soon settled near where I laid my head. For a second, I was hopeful that he was going to sleep next to me. Nero, however, embarked on a course of action that took me by surprise.

“Hm? Hold on, Nero?”

He rested his second foreleg on my temple, just as he had with the first. Unperturbed by my distress, my cherished cat began to make himself comfortable on top of my head.

This can’t be happening. Sure, you’re not yet fully grown, but you’re not as light as you used to be! I felt crushed. Literally, this time.

My head was heating up from the warmth of the cat, and I’d only just managed to cool it down from the potency of my rage. The vibrations from Nero’s purring passed through his body directly to me.

I’m delighted that you feel comfortable, but please don’t drift off in that position. I’ll bet I look pretty silly right now. Really, what am I doing...?

I exhaled a heavy sigh, gazing up at my bed’s canopy with half-closed eyes. Although it was a little late for self-reflection, sighing was all that I could do as I recalled my actions from tonight.

I’m supposed to be a character from an otome game, so why is everything I do so pathetic?

“Her heart ablaze with an unrequited love, a princess grows delirious with fury after learning that she’s been arranged to have a strategic marriage”—don’t think I’ve heard that plotline before. Crying is what they normally do, right?

I’m pretty sure that I should be sneaking myself over to Sir Leonhart and watching him from behind a pillar. Then when I got discovered, I’d say, “Oh, it’s nothing,” with a nice stoic laugh. At the very least, I shouldn’t be swinging pillows around while screaming and raving. That creeps people out. Hell, I’m creeped out, and I’m me!

I guess I’m not made of the right stuff to be an otome game heroine. In that case, my only option is to use what power I can to fight back.

I clasped my hands together above my stomach and took a deep breath, then shut my eyes and concentrated on my thoughts.

My father had told me to demonstrate my worth. That meant that I had to accomplish something in the next two years before the crown prince of Vint came of age. I didn’t have a clear idea of what that accomplishment should be, specifically. My first trial would be whether I could come to a decision and make a start.

The prospect was dizzyingly absurd. Setting such a devilish task for a princess as young as me...? My monster of a father has really outdone himself.

For better or worse though, I already possessed two objectives.

The first was undertaking countermeasures against the plague that would likely cause a pandemic in the future. Unlike in the game, the present circumstances indicated a good chance that this plague would affect the Kingdom of Vint rather than Nevel. If I could secure a treatment, Vint would owe Nevel a large debt.

The second objective was twofold: we needed to locate the stone that sealed the demon lord, and then, we’d have to store it away beneath strict security. For Nevel’s sake, and for the sake of world peace, it would be too dangerous to leave the stone unguarded, as that would carry the perpetual risk of the demon lord’s revival occurring with no warning.

Both objectives were of maximum difficulty, and so would be massive accomplishments for me.

That is, if I can follow through, of course.

My father wasn’t so laid-back as to give me partial credit for methods or insight. Failing to bring my plans to fruition would be tantamount to having done nothing at all. Results are everything, he’d say without raising an eyebrow.

“Do I have it in me?” I mumbled. My voice sounded horribly feeble. My quiet utterance was carried away by the night breeze, unheard by anyone.