CH 18

Oscar looked at me nervously and shrugged.

“Well, maybe it’s because you couldn’t eat and grew up.”

“….” 

Oscar Manuel.

A person whose thoughts I couldn’t understand even if I read the original story enough to memorize it.

So I couldn’t quite grasp his intentions when he said these words now. 

Is it something he just said, or is it that he really knows my ‘secret’—.

“I, I can eat a lot from now on.”

“Yeah, eat a lot. You have to eat a lot and grow up to work with me.” 

“But I’m not going to Wizard Tower, though?” 

“You will be comfortable working in the Wizard Tower.”

3－5＝－2

I wrote the answer to Oscar’s question, and said it favorably.

“Well, I’ll think about it.”

Oscar chuckled.

* * *

“Are you really seven years old?”

“You’re a lot smaller than your age, aren’t you?”

“She’s seven years old, and he’s very small. Silly.”

After that, Oscar returned.

I had a headache and thought about the character ‘I’ that I had put off for a while.

Paladin uncles, aunts, grandfather, twins, servants, and even Oscar—.

As soon as I got to the capital, one truck of people started questioning my growth rate.

In fact, when I thought I was an extra, I just thought I was growing slower than others.

However.

‘It turns out, there was a reason why I grew up slowly.’

As the main character’s child, it’s natural to say, but I’m not ordinary.

No, what is ordinary?

Maybe there’s nothing more vague than my real identity.

The main character Enoch Rubinstein’s daughter. 

The imperial family kidnapped her, but later it was revealed that she died. 

To be precise, everyone ‘just thought she was dead’.

It wasn’t until the final chapter of the novel that he found out that she was alive—.

Isn’t this an amazing twist element? 

“Genius princess, should we sleep now?”

“Stop saying genius, Dad….” 

“Ahahaha! Why?” 

Dad came into bed and hugged me tightly.

“My daughter was the best today. Did you see that Grandpa’s mouth was stuck in his ear? He always told me not to be lame, but he’s more excited today.”

Dad talked and laughed for a while, and then he yawned. 

“If you are sleepy, go to sleep.”

“What. Can’t the princess sleep?”

“Princess has something to think about.”

“You must not be sleepy. Do you want me to read you a book?”

Dad pulled a fairy tale from the bookcase behind the bedhead.

“Well, let’s see. Today’s story is… The princess trapped in the tower!”

“Wow, that sounds fun.”

I admired it dryly.

After I remembered my past life, I was bored reading fairy tales at night, however—.

“No, our Lilith is imprisoned in the Wizard Tower? Should we see what happened?”

My Dad liked to read books to me, so I tended to hold on to it.

“Once upon a time, there was a good king and a princess. The king cherished and loved her daughter, the princess, so much.”

“Hehe. It’s me and my dad.”

“Right.” 

Dad turned over another page of the book, hugging me more in his arms.

“Then one day. When the princess was seven years old, a bad king from a neighboring country kidnapped her.”

“….” 

“The good king, who had lost the princess, spent each day in tears. The good king gave treasure to the bad king, and he became his subordinate, but… Yet the bad king didn’t return his princess.”

“….” 

“Wow, how do you separate a father from a daughter? It’s really bad, right?”

“Uh, that’s right.”

But I think this story feels a bit familiar—? 

“The good king, who was in sorrow, met a boy one day. The boy was very strong. So the good king adopted the boy as a son so that he could be a good brother when he one day met the princess again.”

“…? Wait.” 

“Huh? Why?” 

“N, no. It’s fun. Keep reading.”

“Right? This is interesting, right? Then one day again. The bad king has informed that the princess has died from a grievous illness—huh? Suddenly the princess died? Why is it like this?”

Dad frowned and turned the book over.

I slapped my dad on the arm in a hurry.

“K, keep reading, Dad. The bad king may have lied. She really wasn’t dead, was she?”

“I know right? The title is Princess, but is the princess really dead?”

Dad turned the book over.

“The good king, who was angry, decided to take revenge on the bad king together with the prince.”

“….” 

“The good king and prince defeated all the bad people in the bad countries, and finally caught the bad king and aimed their swords at them.”

I couldn’t pay attention to my Dad even when he pretended to use a sword.

The good king is Enoch Rubinstein.

The adopted son, the Prince, is Cheshire.

The bad king is the Emperor.

And the Princess is me.

‘…Who is the author of the children’s book? Aren’t you a shaman and not a writer?’

It was shocking because it was so similar to the original story <Rebellion of Dos>.

Enoch Rubinstein becomes the Emperor’s puppet to get his kidnapped daughter back.

Emperor who knows his daughter’s “identity” and eventually pretends that his daughter is dead, imprisons her for life and exploits her power.

Enoch Rubinstein only knows that his daughter is dead and goes to seek revenge—.

“The good king said. ‘I will take revenge on my daughter!’ Then the bad king answered, ‘Do you think it will be easy according to your will?’”

“W, why, I think the princess will come out next.” 

“Then the princess whom he thought was dead came down from the tower. The good king was astonished— Huh, right? The princess is alive! Our daughter is a genius!”

Dad added with a chuckle.

“But the princess was brainwashed by the bad king while she was locked in the tower. Without even recognizing her father, she started killing good people at random—? Wait a moment. Why is this going off topic? What power does the princess have?”

“Dad, Dad, Dad! Don’t stop and keep reading! The princess must have been hiding her powers!”

“O, oh, okay. To the shocked good king, the bad king shouted. ‘Actually, the princess is a very strong witch, so I hid it! She’s now a puppet who only listens to me!’…Lilith? Have you read this?”

“I, it’s just… It’s an obvious story.”

“Is this obvious?”

Dad’s eyes narrowed.

“Um, yeah… Let’s keep reading. The good king wanted to bring the princess back, but there was no way.”

“Now, the adopted son, the prince, will try to kill the princess.”

“The prince said to the good king weeping. ‘Father, if you don’t kill the princess now, more people will die.’ And the prince drew his sword and cut off the princess’ head….” 

Dad turned the bookshelf and closed the book without reading anymore.

“Is this a children’s storybook?”

“Why? What will happen?”

“It’s not a very good ending. I don’t think we need to read any more.”

“In the end, the princess dies, right?”

“Yeah… The prince kills….” 

Dad put the crumpled book on the bookshelf with a frown.

“We should read it only after Dad has read it first from now on. It was such harmful content. I’m sorry, princess.”

“But it’s a happy ending….” 

“What? Where?” 

“If the princess hadn’t been kidnapped, wouldn’t the good king not seek revenge on the bad king? After all, the good king wiped out all the bad countries, so everyone must have been happy.”

“Do you really think so? But the princess is dead?” 

“It can’t be helped, well. Although she was manipulated by a bad king, she killed a lot of people.”

“Ha, but since the princess died, this is not a happy ending.”

“It’s a happy ending.”

“I told you it’s not? Listen.” 

Dad raised his body, which he had leaned back in a fit of anger.

“Wasn’t the main character a good king?”

“Right.”

“Did the main character’s beloved daughter die?”

“That’s right.”

“If the main character is not happy, there is no happy ending, Lilith.”

“….” 

“How can a father be happy who sent his beloved daughter first? So this is not a happy ending.”

Seeing my Dad’s resolute expression on his face, I suddenly remembered the ending of the original.

The original story definitely has a happy ending.

After Cheshire kills Enoch Rubinstein’s daughter.

It ends with the narrative that a new, peaceful empire was finally born.

‘Then what was Dad like after the original story ended?’

Was the protagonist happy in the peaceful country built on his daughter’s grave?

“Dad.” 

“Hmm?” 

“If—If Dad was a good king and I was the princess… How will you live after I die?”

“How do I live?”

Dad lay back down and hugged me.

“Dad can’t live.”

“Ung?”

“Perhaps the good king thought the same thing. He didn’t die right away when he thought the princess was dead, but he barely survived because he had to get revenge.”

“….” 

“Maybe he was going to die after revenge anyway.”

“W, what is that? What if even Dad dies too!”

“You should have children later. You will know how I feel.” 

Unaware of his heart-throbbing daughter, Dad kissed me affectionately on the forehead.

“Because I want to see the princess, I will follow her right away. Dad can’t live without a princess.”