The 17th Princess Just Wants to Live

I wished time would stop.

It was a question that couldn’t be dragged out for long.

It would be strange to hesitate. Hesitating over such an easy question would be extremely odd.

I tilted my head slightly as if I didn’t understand the question.

It wouldn’t have been strange to show a confused expression. I mean, really, what kind of question was this? Was I Lucilia?

How was I supposed to answer that?

Even as these thoughts raced through my mind, time kept ticking, and countless thoughts came and went in my head.

Was I Lucilia?

It was hard to say yes or no.

My original life existed in a completely different world. But that life was already over.

And the soul that was originally Lucilia’s was no longer here.

Instead, I was here.

My body was Lucilia’s. The soul, well, maybe not.

But the important thing was that I would live as Lucilia from now on.

If the future I would live wasn’t mine, then whose was it?

“Yes.”

The answer came first, followed by surprise.

My mouth moved before I could prepare myself. It was as if something deep within me, something even I wasn’t aware of, pushed me forward.

I straightened my back and looked at Rudolph. Then I spoke with conviction.

“I am Lucilia El Esperusa, the 17th princess of the empire.”

As if declaring to myself that this was now my life.

The cold night air flowed slowly.

Suddenly, blood gushed from my throat…

But nothing like that happened.

The moment I realized this, I burst out laughing.

It wasn’t a conscious laugh. It was a laugh that came naturally as I exhaled the breath I had been holding in once the tension released.

The Three Questions of Carlyle were determined by the belief of the person answering them. So, this just meant that I answered with conviction; it was not an objective answer to who I was.

Even knowing this, I couldn’t stop laughing.

For some reason, I felt accepted by this world. And I felt as if I had seized the future with my own hands, with my own strength.

“Now then.”

I looked up and hesitated.

Rudolph was staring at me. Intently.

His gaze, as if studying something he was seeing for the first time, was devoid of any feigned kindness. His dry, sharp eyes sliced through me like a blade.

It was the gaze of a seeker trying to uncover everything inside me.

I thought the same thing as before.

I really shouldn’t let my guard down…

“One last question remains.”

Rudolph said slowly.

“Yes, that’s right.”

I forced a smile, lifting the corners of my mouth.

It was fine. No matter what Rudolph was thinking, I was still alive. Even if something seemed off, he would just let it go.

“Then I’ll ask the final question, brother.”

Let’s end this farce and go our separate ways. With all my heart, I asked the last question.

“Are you going to kill me now?”

I made sure to keep up the image of the pitiable little sister I’d created.

With that in mind, I clasped my hands together and looked up at Rudolph, as if praying.

Rudolph’s expression turned strange.

The sharp gaze twisted for a moment, and tension gathered around his mouth.

Was he about to get angry? As I flinched and prepared to lower my hands.

“Hahaha…”

Rudolph’s laughter, clear as the sound of a bell, echoed through the room.

I was stunned by the unexpected situation.

… did he just laugh? Rudolph?

I meant; he had been smiling like a doll until now.

But that was such a forced smile, and after the last question, he had looked at me with a gaze full of suspicion.

Whatever was going through his mind, Rudolph was now laughing. And it seemed genuine.

“You’re really quite an amusing child.”

Rudolph said after laughing for a while.

“No, that’s enough for today.”

Then just say no, don’t leave it open-ended, that was scary!

At that moment, I felt something unwind from around my neck.

It felt like something thin as a spider’s web was peeling away from my neck. Startled, I looked at Rudolph and saw the glowing pattern on my neck fading from the top down.

Finally, the cold energy that had been wrapped around my neck disappeared completely.

The Three Questions of Carlyle had come to an end.

It ended suddenly. I touched my neck in a daze. Through my fingers, I could feel warmth and the throbbing of my pulse.

I lived.

For now, that fact alone was a great relief.

“It was surprisingly enjoyable.”

The voice came from afar. I looked up in surprise.

Rudolph was already standing by the window, staring at the sky.

“Let’s meet again.”

Leaving behind those ominous words, Rudolph vanished into the air.

I collapsed on the spot.

I survived. I successfully completed the Three Questions of Carlyle, and even after it was over, Rudolph didn’t lay a finger on me.

But did everything really go as planned?

“Something feels wrong.”

That was the feeling I had.

***

“Haha.”

A laugh turned into white breath, dissipating into the air.

Rudolph was there, high in the sky above Solias, the highest altar in the imperial palace.

The frozen clouds and winds in the sky were chilling to the bone, but Rudolph, looking down, showed no sign of discomfort.

His blue eyes shone like stars as they gazed intently at a single point. A white roof quietly glimmered under the moonlight.

Rudolph looked down at the Opal Palace and thought of its small, humble owner.

‘A truly strange child.’

A few years ago, when Lucillia was around ten years old, Rudolph had sent someone to the Opal Palace.

He intended to gather some information lightly, but after hearing the first report, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m not certain, but it seems that all the servants in the Opal Palace are spies like me.”

That absurd statement was proven true in less than a few weeks. The spies in the Opal Palace didn’t even try much to hide their identities.

Rudolph’s spy even speculated that the 17th Princess knew about this. He said it was impossible not to know when everyone was talking about it so openly.

Upon hearing this, Rudolph thought he had figured out what kind of person the 17th Princess was.

‘She endured humiliation and kept a low profile. That’s the best course of action if she lacks power.’

Some might despise such an attitude, but Rudolph found it rather smart.

Moreover, this type of person was extremely reluctant to involve themselves in politics. They’d be the kind to quietly observe, and eventually cast a null vote in the Solea election to protect their own life.

She didn’t seem worth the trouble of recruiting or dealing with. Besides, she was just a ten-year-old child.

Perhaps, later, when she reached marriageable age, she might be worth considering; otherwise, she could be left alone.

That was Rudolph’s judgment at the time.

But to think things would turn out like this.

Rudolph chuckled as he recalled the memory.

Hearing that Richard had gone to the palace to win over a young princess was hard to believe without seeing it for himself.

So, this time, instead of sending a spy, he came in person. He wanted to see and evaluate the 17th Princess with his own eyes.

When Rudolph began the Three Questions of Carlyle, he was momentarily speechless after hearing the first question.

Everyone in the Imperial Family knew about the conflict between Rudolph and Richard. But for someone to ask about Richard right to his face? Rudolph couldn’t have imagined it.

After hearing the first and second questions, Rudolph looked at the twelve-year-old standing before him and recalled his previous assessment.

Was she not enduring humiliation and keeping a low profile but rather just really foolish?

Calling him and affectionately trying to mediate between him and Richard, as if their rivalry was a simple squabble between children.

It was so naive that he couldn’t even laugh.

The little sister stepped in to reconcile when her brothers fought? And then what? The emperor was decided by drawing lots, and everyone lived happily ever after?

Who knew what fairy tales she grew up reading in the Opal Palace, but they must have been of the most ridiculous sort.

Rudolph felt his interest in the 17th Princess quickly fading.

However, the fact that she had caught Richard’s attention and that she might be Stella was a bit concerning.

Did Richard want the 17th Princess because she was Stella? Or had he suddenly felt a familial bond with this innocent child?

Regardless of which, it was an interesting situation.

The child was eager to reconcile the two of them. Rudolph could use this to approach Richard and possibly even uncover a weakness.

Having made up his mind, Rudolph decided to proceed with the questions as planned. The child didn’t seem to have any ambition to claim the throne, but he needed to be sure. That was the point of the questions, after all.

As he was about to speak, Rudolph felt a strange sensation.

It was hard to describe, more of a hunch than a rational judgment. It was a feeling Rudolph had since the moment he first saw her, though he hadn’t consciously recognized it until now.

The child, waiting quietly for his question, was staring at him.

She seemed oddly out of place.

Not because of her naive and ridiculous dreams. Her manner of speaking, gestures, expressions—all seemed ordinary, yet there was an inexplicable sense of discomfort.

The 17th Princess didn’t seem like a twelve-year-old. She didn’t even seem like an Imperial Family member.

Of course, it was a ridiculous suspicion. It was common in the Esperusa Imperial Family to have precocious children. Richard Khan Esperusa, who beat an assassin to death with a wooden sword at thirteen, was a prime example.

Considering that the 17th Princess had grown up neglected without a proper tutor, her un-imperial behavior could be easily explained.

Knowing this, Rudolph still couldn’t shake the discomfort within him.

“Alright, let’s ask the final question.”

So, at the last moment, Rudolph changed his question.

“Are you Lucillia El Esperusa?”

She answered yes.

“Hahahaha!”

Rudolph burst into laughter.

Even after thinking about it several times, recalling that moment made his whole body tingle with excitement. He could feel his heart pounding and blood rushing to his fingertips.

The child’s face had turned white at such a simple question. She answered, and then was relieved that her answer was true.

That didn’t make sense.

The Three Questions of Carlyle were a magical test that discerned truth from lies based on the speaker’s intent.

This magic, bearing the name of the Ancient God Carlyle, was so intricate and powerful that its principles were still not fully understood. If it were magic that could be cheated, Rudolph wouldn’t use it so frequently.

It was not magic that one could pass by making oneself believe a lie.

Yet the child answered without conviction and still didn’t die.

And the question was simply asking her name.

Why did she hesitate? And what was the strange discomfort Rudolph had been feeling?

Who exactly was this child?

This was the most difficult riddle Rudolph had ever encountered in his life.

And riddles were what drove Rudolph’s life.

“Lucillia El Esperusa…”

Rudolph murmured, gazing down at the roof of the Opal Palace as if looking at a new toy.