Shortly after, I left the bed, did a bit of stretching, and there sounded a bit of cracking. But it was satisfying, nonetheless. My first objective was the mirror. I have memories of how I look, but I still wanted to see it personally.
Once I looked at the mirror, a gasp escaped my lips.
"Oh, my."
I touched my cheek with my delicate and slender fingers. To be honest, I was a bit overwhelmed by what I saw in the mirror. Even though it was my face, I still couldn't immediately believe it.
I have a delicate and sweet pale face. I looked so fragile. My long silky hair straightly flowed down. It was of beautiful platinum, and they glimmered like a pile of treasure amidst the infiltrating light. My crimson eyes were like blood, but so beautiful to look at. I could even look so pure with those eyes of mine if I willed it to.
I was extremely beautiful. World class. I could charm any man with a single wink with this appearance. Hell, I think I might fall in love with myself if I stared for too long. Just kidding. But seriously, many would go mad just to have this beauty. Now I think I understood why this girl, Estelia, was a sheltered princess.
With this beauty, going outside would be too dangerous. This would be a target of many. But hey, I'm not complaining. This was perfect. In any case, with this, I imagine I could do a lot of things I wasn't able to do in my former life.
Freedom.
"Ah." This reminded me of something as I looked at myself.
Estelia.
This girl… had already died. I could tell from the memory. I remembered the same sensation when I was dying, and Estelia felt the same. She fell high from the stairs, rolling around as she descended. The most damage she received was to her head.
As delicate, meek, and fragile as she was, I suppose she couldn't last long and died before anyone could tend to her. Her last moments were the last of her memories, and then I came. What a tragic fate. Dying from falling down the stairs.
For me, it was indeed tragic. She could have at least died differently, like having your last stand. But, well, this girl differed from me, so yeah… maybe her kind of death was normal.
Should I say something? Hm.
"Rest in peace, Estelia. I will put your body to good use," I whispered to the air. Perhaps she could hear me or something.
I walked away from the mirror to the window. And I smiled at the magnificent view. According to the memories, I was around the rear of the palace, and I should say, I was way up, third floor. I could see a few houses from here. In the far distance, several mountains covered by green forest towered.
Judging from everything I have gathered, I was in a world where it was still in the medieval age. But since magic exists — which I'm looking forward to seeing, by the way — a lot may differ from my knowledge.
"I want to go out." I said I wanted to rest, and they said I needed to rest, but I was feeling fine. Seriously. But it would be strange that I would go out when I just said I would rest.
Fine, I'll wait.
I silently stared at the view.
By the way, this body barely had any muscles, making it a struggle to fight with this. But I didn't want to ravish my perfect and beautiful form with muscles. Back in my old life, I only made my muscles around average so I wouldn't ruin my hourglass figure. An attractive and good appearance was essential, with plenty of uses during missions.
So what I was planning to do was workout this body for just a little. Enough to easily lift a dagger or something. I'm not expecting to find a pistol here, so yeah, I'm going to workout so I could wield a dagger.
I looked at my hands and fingers.
But these are beautiful hands. I don't want to damage them…
Well, I was the princess now, so perhaps I do not need to fight anymore. Someone would protect me anyway.
I need to think about this carefully.
For the preservation of my absolute beauty. And most importantly, my life.
I stared outside for several minutes like an idiot. During missions, patience was important to have. But for some reason, I was struggling to keep my patience.
Ah! Dammit! Let me out of here already.
I looked at the handbell, squinting my eyes in my desire to use it. I mean, who wouldn't be interested in having a servant come to your beckon? I sure am interested.
On my way to the bell, I noticed myself in the mirror again. My dress had a few blood splatters on them, so I should change my dress before going anywhere. And thus I did. There were a lot of pretty dresses in the wardrobe, to my delight, but I have to pick the somewhat simpler one. I placed the used one on a nearby chair.
After changing my outfit, I reached for the bell. I was quite excited using it to call a maid with this little thing. Personal experience was just different from another's memories. I shook the bell and a sound loudly rang out. Almost immediately, knocks came from the door before it opened. A maid entered the room.
"Milady, you called."
This was the girl who bowed to me earlier. She had blue hair tied into a ponytail. Her eyes were dark green and her skin was light brown. She was seventeen years old. If the memories were right, this girl was of nobility. However, her family was far away from the capital. Might as well say they were in a remote territory. Her father was also a mere baron.
She is very far away from home.
She and Estelia had a somewhat friendly relationship. But they weren't always together though since the maids were rotated. She was merely one of the maids that was commonly assigned to be my attendant.
I returned to my act as the pure princess. "Um, I want to go out."
"Go out…? But milady, aren't you still recuperating?"
With a bright smile, I said, "I feel completely fine. I imagine I can even run around now with no problem at all."
"But…"
I energetically walked towards her with slightly prancing steps, taking her hands and squeezed them tight. "Even if something happens, you will be by my side. Am I wrong?" I tilted my head with a bit of a pout on my cheeks. Since I was so close to her, I could clearly see her blushing cheeks.
See? Even my beauty works on women.
The maid, Mera, stared at me for a moment before taking a deep breath. "I understand, milady. But please take it easy and be careful."
I giggled adorably as I left the room. "I will~."
I walked down the corridor. This place truly looked like a home of royalty. The walls were clean, decorations were luxurious, maids were also around cleaning. They would stop their work and bow to me.
There sure are a lot of rooms here.
Indeed, as I walked around the palace corridors, I came across several rooms. They were occasionally used for guests. But the common rooms used for that purpose were the rooms on the second floor.
There was not much to do here, so my goal was to go outside. I realized too late that I was walking with rush paces, and Mera was trying to catch up to me. I stopped in my tracks as I waited for her to catch up with an amused smile on my face.
Oops, I shouldn't smile like that. Happy smile, happy smile.
I changed the way I smiled.
"Mera, Mera. Let's go outside quickly," I said as though impatient.
Mera's eyebrows went up. "Milady, you should take it easy. Didn't you say you would do so?"
I covered my mouth and gave an apologetic look. "I'm sorry…"
Mera sighed. "But, if milady wants to come outside, then we will."
"Thank you." I held her hands and leaned closer. I could see her gulp.
"Y-You do not need to thank me, your highness."
"Hm? Is that so? But I want to."
Mera looked like she was taken aback by my words. Did I act too much? Isn't this how Estelia normally acted? All innocent, pure, and quite possibly naïve? Well, I just need to act close to what she was.
The reason? I didn't want anyone to be shocked by the sudden change. They might become suspicious of me. That would complicate things. Therefore, I would slowly do things. But bear in mind that I have no intention of acting like how this girl was supposed to be forever. I can't pretend for the rest of my life. There will be no freedom in that regard.
I at least want to act the way I wanted. While only acting like Estelia a little. But at this time, I was going to do it slowly.
Judging from how everything went, I was still close to how Estelia was. So I wasn't that worried. I'll be gentle. Like sex for the first time… Okay I shouldn't say something like that with this pure face.
I let go of her hand and continued onward, although slowing down my steps. As I reached a certain point, I halted. I glared down with hostility, but adorably.
Ah, my murderer.
What laid before me was the one who killed Estelia. In other words… the stairs.
I'm sorry, you're not taking my life.
As I was about to step forward, Mera abruptly moved in front of me.
"Milady!"
Her somewhat loud voice startled me. There was fear in her eyes.
"Please, let me hold your hand as you go down." She offered me her hand.
Oh? Is she perhaps scared for my safety?
I could see her concerns were genuine, though. Seeing this, a smile emerged on my pretty face.
"Then I will take your offer."
I took her hand, like a princess accepting the offer of her prince — or was it a knight?
She slowly led me down the stairs. She was extremely careful, so our speed was terribly slow. But I was quite entertained watching her.
"Mera, you don't have to be this concerned."
"Milady, I can't let the same thing happen again."
"Were you scared?"
She looked at me with surprised eyes.
"Were you scared for me?" I was referring to the moment Estelia fell down the stairs. Mera wasn't there when it happened. No other maids were there during the fall, based on memory. So I was curious if Mera was truly scared as Estelia almost died. Well, technically she did die, but for Mera, she didn't.
Mera averted her eyes away. "Y-Yes. Yes, I was."
I was a bit surprised by her answer. It sounded like it came from the heart. Her eyes even shared that feeling. I couldn't tell if the other maids would also think and feel this way. But Mera was truly concerned.
She isn't concerned about me, but about Estelia.
That was what I felt.
But I was Estelia now. Still, I didn't know how to take in all this. Therefore, I threw away the needless thoughts. What they think mattered little to me.
"Thank you, Mera."
Mera stared at me, seemingly lost in what to say in response for a moment.
"Mm… Not at all, milady."
We reached the second floor. It was then I became wary. What was I wary of? It was my family. I currently don't have the time to entertain them. I wanted to entertain myself.
"I wonder where Brother Estevan is?"
"Lord Estevan is currently in the courtyard, training."
"Oh, I see."
Ain't that nice.
"And mother?"
"I recall she went to the studies. Perhaps to read books?"
"She must be reading some novels."
Meliya loved reading stories, so that must be it. If I recall correctly, she loves reading romance stories?
Well, at least they won't be disturbing me.
"Let's go to the garden."
I recalled from the memories that it was a wonderful place. So, I wanted to go there first.