Talitha could only stare at the sky of the Yaneian kingdom which gradually turned orange with resignation. Not a single cloud was seen filling the sky that afternoon, giving the impression that this was a fairytale. Well, it's not completely wrong. She does indeed live as a character in her favourite novel now, after all, the antagonists in the novel "The Crimson Lily" who was destined to die at the hands of the Crown Prince.
If she remembers correctly, Talitha was always pressured to be a good queen candidate, elegant and also polite in speech. Her life should be happy with the high status and the wealth Garter Dukedom had, but because of the pressures and demands of her father, the girl grows to be a cold-hearted lady and always justifies any means to fulfil her ambition, which is not much different from her previous life as Lisha.
This includes being cruel to the main character of the novel whose name she doesn't quite remember.
If you describe the background of this novel, the kingdom of Yaneian was founded 1000 years ago, a small country with 5 regions that using a constitutional monarchy system, and ruled by a king who was believed to be the descendant of the Sun God. Under the king's rule, there are 5 households that hold great power in this kingdom's politics and economy. They are Garter, Archiless, Madden, Elrod and Whitlock.
It all started in the first year of the heroine's nobility academy, where the adopted daughter of Count Whitlock first meeting with the the next Crown Prince in line—who by then was already engaged to Talitha—happened. This immediately invites hatred within Talitha, who feels her position is threatened.
The story ends with the tragic fate of Talitha who was beheaded by the Crown Prince's right hand for trying to harm the Crown Prince's lover, and both heroine and male lead living a happily ever after life.
However, Lisha is not Talitha. She would not let her life end in the hands of the Crown Prince just like that. She can just break her ties to the royal family and avoid meeting both the heroine and male lead since there are still 10 more years before the main story begins, which is also a year before her engagement with the Crown Prince is decided.
Yet, that's not the main problem here. Even though she can avoid her death flag, there is no guarantee that her life will be better. In the end, a noble lady like her still will be married off to a loveless marriage for politics, to the man from the family she even doesn't know. To make it worse, since the drowning accident that transmigrated Lisha's soul, she has been prohibited to step out from the mansion to gather some useful information, even just for one step.
Now that Talitha thinks about it, the duke actually is more protective from what she remembers, which is kinda different from how the novel described him. She doesn't know if it is because he actually loves his daughter so much or just to protect the family reputation. She was only allowed to spend her days around the mansion, which brings her here, bored staring at the orange sky from her room's balcony.
Tok! Tok!
A knock can be heard from the door as Mary, the same maid who greeted her right the moment after she opened her eyes here, enters the room with a tray of sweets and tea. She then carefully put the tray on the table.
"Young Miss, I bring the refreshment you asked for."
"Is father home yet?" asks Talitha as she walks into the room.
"The Duke has just arrived from the castle a few minutes ago. He is currently busy with some documents."
"Good. Tell him that I would like to meet him. It's really important, more important than his documents."
With hesitations, Mary then bowed and left the room. She actually knew something was bothering Talitha lately, it's been happening since she opened her eyes and was diagnosed with amnesia. Her master has changed into someone different. To be honest, she likes this Talitha more than the previous one-spoiled with temperamental issues. But she couldn't help but worry about her master's sudden change in behaviour. Not just her, all the workers in Garter's household were also still not used to this change. And if God can hear their prayers, they hope that the princess stays like this forever.
On the other side, Talitha grabs the papers under the table that is filled with her survival plans. She needs to launch her first plan to survive, which is to stop the engagement between her and the Crown Prince without breaking the alliance between Garter and the royal family.
"I need to make sure that father doesn't bring me to the castle on his next visit or his future visits."
Including avoiding the unexpected encounter with the Crown Prince outside the castle. But that reminds Talitha of something—
"I still don't know all of Garter's territory nor the Yaneian Kingdom well yet. Ugh, curse you, prohibition!"
—she needs the duke to lift the prohibition first.
✧.✿.✧
"No, Talitha. You know very clearly that I will not let you step out from the mansion, even just for a step."
But unfortunately, her efforts were fruitless. The Duke even doesn't glance at her as he states his final.
Talitha can never understand her father's protectiveness. In "The Crimson Lily" itself, the Duke was always described as an authoritarian and cold family head. He never had time for his wife nor his daughter. He only cares about his reputation and business, never his family. He even dared to imprison the little Talitha in the dark dungeon for not properly learning manners. Moreover, the current Talitha never used to get affection from her family before. Which is quite new and overwhelming for her.
"But, it's been a year! I'm fine now and there is no way I will deliberately endanger myself again."
The Duke sighs. "You're only twelve, Talitha. We never know what those bad guys out there plan to hurt you. We can't always guarantee nothing bad will happen to you either. It's for the best."
"Then, you can just assign me a knight to protect me, father. I'm maybe still twelve years old, but that doesn't mean you need to cage me like a bird in the mansion all the time. I need to know what the world outside looks like." Talitha moves to her father's side and holds his big hands tightly. "I promise, nothing bad will happen to me. Please~!"
Noticing the hesitation on the duke's face, Talitha moves closer and gives him doe eyes. There is no way the duke would stay firm after looking at her doe eyes, it's one of his weaknesses.
"Huh, fine. But, I will be the one who chooses the knight for you and you can't protest at all."
"Yeah! Thank you, father." Happily, Talitha hugs her father tightly. Nothing can describe her happiness right now. "Oh, can I ask for another thing?"
"What is it?"
"My personal knight… Can he be someone close around my age? Someone who is not stiff and can be comfortable around me."
"Are you sure about that? They might not be as professional as the older knight." The duke hesitantly asks.
Talitha nods fastly. She has a reason for that and it is included in her survival plan.
"Okay then. Anything for my daughter. Until I find you the right knight, I will assign sir Jeffery to be your temporary knight"
"Thank you so much, father!"
Though it is small, a smile can be seen blooming on the duke's stern face. "
I will tell this to sir Jeffery to prepare everything tomorrow. Remember to always stay close with him while outside. Now, go back to your room."