An Unpleasant Encounter for the Reincarnated Princess

I’d finished my discussion with my father and had somehow managed to get him to agree to my request. Fatigue gripped my entire body, even though I’d done nothing physical.

My bed awaits me.

After concluding a simple farewell, I exited my father’s room and stepped into the corridor. Just as my nerves had calmed down enough to let me exhale, I froze on the spot.

Immediately after entering the hallway, I spotted my guard Klaus and the two soldiers who guarded the king’s bedroom. It should’ve been just those three, and yet, there was another figure that took me by surprise.

She took a step forward on the marble floor, which was inlaid with geometrical figures. Her high heels clacked, and the sound echoed loudly. I shivered. My instincts screamed at me to retreat, but behind me was a thick mahogany door. I had no escape route.

“Rosemary.” She called my name. Her voice was monotonous, as though she were forcefully restraining powerful emotions.

I steeled my heart and forced myself to look up at her.

Confronting me was a young woman with her ladies-in-waiting in tow. Her red lips looked gorgeous against her snow-white skin. She had a pretty nose and slightly rosy cheeks. Her arched eyebrows radiated a formidable impression, and beneath them sat eyes like blue jewels.

Her gaze was pointed directly at me.

The fabric of her dress was a high-quality, deep-green velvet. Images of flowers were embroidered at the top of the bodice in a combination of gold and silver thread, and her sleeves featured a decoration of lace that was modest enough not to be gaudy. The elegant dress and the way that she wore her hair up took the edge off her ostentatious beauty, projecting a settled impression that was more appropriate for her age.

This isn’t the best time to be running into her... I grumbled a bit in my mind before plastering on a smile.

“Good day, mother.”

The moment that I spoke, my mother’s brows furrowed deeply.

Oh God, get me outta here.

Her contemptuous glare made me want to dash away like a lightning bolt, but I withstood that urge.

She almost opened her mouth to vent her emotions, but stopped herself. Perhaps she realized that this wasn’t the place to lose her temper, so instead she commanded, “Come to my room.”

First my father’s room, now my mother’s... Who came up with this torture method?

This time I genuinely wanted to turn tail and get the hell away from her. But I couldn’t do that, of course, so I obediently followed in her trail.

I was led to the execution chamber—sorry, mother’s room—which was ornamented with fabulous furniture and graceful trimmings which suited her style. The inner walls were decorated with elegant stucco details, and spectacular frescoes were painted on the ceiling. A large chandelier, covered in gold leaf and set with jewels, dangled from the ceiling, almost blinding me with the reflected glare of the candles.

Patterns in gold and silver were woven into the red cloth of the blackwood, cabriole-legged sofas. My mother took a seat opposite me at the table, which had cabriole legs that matched the couches. She narrowed her eyes as she stared at me from across the tabletop separating us.

That stomach-churning silence lasted for a while.

What’s this supposed to be, a stress interview?

Her rouged lips slowly parted, only after a full thirty seconds had passed. “What were you doing in His Majesty’s room?”

I imagined that I could hear her adding, “when he hardly ever invites me?”

Because of how frequently I’d been visiting the king’s chambers, I’d prepared myself for the possibility of mother catching on and lambasting me, but this was even scarier than I’d imagined.

She’s beautiful but has a sharp edge, which makes her so damn intimidating, I thought, trying to distract myself.

The king and queen didn’t share a bedroom. Nevel wasn’t a polygynous country, and neither of them had any concubines or lovers. So why did my mother and father have separate bedrooms? The answer was simple: it was my father’s stipulation.

I didn’t know why he’d decided that. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say that he was the sort of person who preferred to fall asleep alone. To be honest, I wasn’t particularly interested, so I hadn’t looked into it.

“He allowed me to have a very short conversation with him.” I’d picked my words to be inoffensive, but my mother’s glare grew no less fierce. Yep, got it. The fact that I was in his room is enough evidence for you to deliver your verdict.

“The king has much to do,” she said. “You mustn’t distract him with your whims.”

“Of course,” I agreed submissively. “I am very sorry.”

But my mother’s scowl remained.

“I know how very kind he is, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to bother him. You must stop taking advantage of his leniency toward children.”

I paused for a moment before answering, “Yes.” The delay in my response was inevitable, given the circumstances.

Are we talking about the same person? Mother, you need your eyes checked if he looks kind to you. Do you honestly see him as the sort of softhearted person who gives kids a pass?!

No, she must understand that he wouldn’t change his behavior depending on the age or sex of the person he’s interacting with. She just can’t bring herself to acknowledge that I was the one he let in, and not her.

“If you need to speak to him, you should consult me first,” she said. “Understood?”

I couldn’t say “yes.” I noticed my mother’s eyes growing fiercer while she watched me remain silent, but I wasn’t about to accept the unacceptable. I couldn’t see her granting me permission to see my father if I asked, so she was basically forbidding me any entry.

It had always been the same. My mother seemed to believe that Johan and I should do everything that she said. She’d convinced herself that children were meant to obey their parents, and she never even tried to hear our opinions.

Whatever reason I had for approaching my father wouldn’t matter to her.

“Rosemary?” Her tone was spiked with venom. She probably hadn’t liked my refusal to answer. Her eyes looked naturally intense at the best of times, but now, she’d made them look even more ferocious.

I predicted that the countdown to her full meltdown had started.

I knew that the best approach would’ve been to nod along and pretend to submit to her, but my tongue ignored that sly plan and moved on its own. “Forgive me, but I cannot do that.”

“Wha—?!?!” my mother shrieked with wide-eyed astonishment. Perhaps she hadn’t expected direct opposition.

The thought struck me that we hadn’t seen much of each other at all recently. Her image of me was probably frozen as the five-year-old girl confined to her bedroom—an expressionless, unendearing, and obedient child.

A hollow smile almost rose to my lips. So for that whole time, she’s never shown an interest in me. Come to think of it, she used to rant and rave about us having contact with Chris, but even that had fallen by the wayside at some point. She really does only have eyes for our father.

While I admired her honest dedication, I wouldn’t ever want to copy it. The familial resemblance that I sensed in her single-hearted obsession made me pause for some brief reflection: I think I should do my best to not turn out like her...

“Rosemary... Do you understand what you’re saying?”

I stared at her hands, which were trembling as if from pure rage, and then nodded. “I do, mother.” I had a mission, and the clock was ticking toward my deadline. I couldn’t afford to waste time by faltering here.

If she wants to stand in my way, then let her. I’ll figure out a way past her.

“Father has given me permission to visit his room. Even you can’t overturn that decision.”

“Y-You’re...”

“If I’m disturbing him, then he’ll inform me of that himself. Until then, I don’t plan to stop visiting him. I’m merely doing what I must.”

I knew that I was being combative, but I’d come too far to back down. I’d need to pay many more visits to my father’s room over the next two years, and I’d have nothing to show for my efforts if she interfered each and every time.

“Rosemary...” She called to me with a voice that sounded like it’d been thrown from the deepest pit in the world, but I’d said what I wanted, so I stood up and made my escape.