The situation hasn't changed today either.

As expected, I didn't hope for the “it was all a dream” punchline anymore, so as soon I woke up I called for the maids and obediently changed my clothes.

Changing clothes….is a pretty difficult problem. There are many things I can't wear if I'm not helped into them.

Sleepwear is a so-called negligee and in order to make it easy to sleep in, the amount of the lace on it has been quite cut down. Even so, it's very Princess-like and cute. In the other world it could easily pa.s.s off as one-piece dress.

(Normally the underwear would be panties and a bra…but)

Adult women might be wearing panties and bra.s.sieres, but the underwear for the 12 years old girls here are bloomers big enough to hide thighs while wearing a slip dress. In the Princess Option, silk lace has been extravagantly used.

I wore underskirt with plenty of lace on top of it. It was made in way that waist was supposed to be tied with a string.

(You can still manage alone till this point.)

What's impossible alone comes next. Blouse, with ample lace at the cuffs, that has been fitted perfectly to the body.

Why does it have b.u.t.tons on the back of all places? Moreover, 12 of them! If the b.u.t.tons were in front, I would be able to change my clothes even alone.

(…But I'm glad that this is a world without corsets!)

I think so from the bottom of my heart. Corsets are dangerous items that deform the hipbones and have even caused some women to die prematurely because of that. I've worn it once for a costume party on Halloween, but in my opinion, it's a torture device.

Till now everything works out well, but on top of this you also overlay an one-piece dress looking cloth that the maids call gown. 

This is a light blue colored piece with lavishly used white lace. Today it's the type that's put on overhead and even if isn't quite as frilly as an antique doll, it still gives out a very Princess-esque feeling. 

(I have never worn Pink House or Atsuki Onis.h.i.+ but I might get hooked on this…)

The luxurious handcrafted lace and embroidery are really lovely. They exhilarate my maidenly heart.

On my feet are thin silk socks. At the top of the socks there are rubber rings that stop them from slipping down. It seems that adult women use this as the garter belt.

(So when you turn into an adult, you seduce others by the s.e.xiness of the garter belt, huh. I see.)

…Sorry, I got a big distracted, who am I even going to seduce. In my opinion, garter belt is an item that makes you feel an indeterminate s.e.xual desire.

The shoes are made of cloth. It's full of beautiful embroideries and sparkles. The base color is light blue just like the dress. There are glittering flowers of thin metal sewn on the shoes, but I wonder if those are perhaps the real gold or silver?….I'm a bit scared to ask.

(Either way, the details on this embroidery are amazing. Those shoes would probably amount to a fortune.)

The soles are made of a rubber-like material.

I can only say “rubber-like” because unlike the color of the raw rubber that I'm familiar with, its more of a cloudy half-transparent color.

I found this out later on, but as it turned out, this is a sap of the tree that only grows in Varias, the southernmost territory of the Kingdom.

(Uu～ cute!)

I instinctively spun around before the mirror.

I'm sorry that I have a narcissistic streak. But it's really cute. Please forgive me for gazing at the mirror for a little bit.

Soft golden curly hair. Eyes are the wondrous azure color. Mother's portrait was beautiful, but this girl is really good too.

I'm looking forward to how much cuter she'll become in the future.

….Though the moment I thought that it was myself,  I became unable to endure my embarra.s.sment,

Julie, one of the maids, beautifully arranged my hair and fastened it with a ribbon that was made from the same cloth as the dress.

“It matches well”

My maids are completely devoting themselves to choosing what underskirt to wear under what gown, which shoes and the socks to match, including the hairstyle and hair accessories.

Everybody nodded as if satisfied and it seemed so funny, that I couldn't help slightly smiling.

Really slightly. Just to the point of my mouth becoming loose.

Nevertheless, Lilia looked at me and showed a smile that looked like she was on the verge of crying.

(…Alterie was that much of a doll.)

Even I'm kinda about to tear up…Every time I'm made to know that I was so expressionless that such a slight reaction makes others happy, I start to feel apologetic. 

“Princess, today we have prepared this region's cuisine.”

Lilia brought dinner wagon as usual. Of course, before I put it in my mouth, maids test it for poison while setting it out. 

(Testing for poison even at my parental house….)

But, well, with my position it cannot be helped…though rather than the poison, I'm more concerned about the chief's skills.

“Today's main dish is a clam soup. Princess likes clam so the chief specifically put a big effort into this…”

(Oh?~ so Alterie likes clams.)

Even though it concerns myself, for some reason I listen to it with a very fresh mood.

“U-um, were we perhaps… wrong?”

This panicking girl is called Ellelucia. She is a daughter of a low-ranked n.o.ble, who's a military officer under Crown Prince.

She's about one or two years younger than Lilia. Since she's from the family of a military officer knows martial arts, she also serves as my bodyguard.

Though she's different from the knight guards who carry their swords openly.

As if to say, “nope, that's not the case”, I shook my head.

Alterie aside, I'm not very picky. I don't like things that taste gross though.

Relieved Ellelucia smiled.

(I wonder where they catch the clam?)

I called a map to my mind.

This place – Ladiv, the stronghold of the Elsevelt family – isn't that close to the sea. Even during this season, transporting raw clams while keeping them alive would be possible for 3 days at most.

Whether she read my mind or if it was an accident, Julia, who was mindful of her freckles, laughed. 

“It seems that those clams have been transported from Al-Baizel, Your Royal Highness' territory. It takes less than a day by s.h.i.+p to get from Ladiv to Al-Baizel.

(I wonder if they can go upstream?…I'll take a look at the detailed map next time.)

Tempted by the maids' words, I brought the milky soup to my mouth.

Here, the cutlery is usually made from the silver. You eat all the dishes with knife, spoon and fork. You don't have to use various cutlery like in the french course so it's relatively easy.

So far I've had my meals without messing up, so the table etiquette shouldn't be that different.

(…This needs a bit more ginger. Also, some white wine to bring out its taste would make it more delicious.)

Thanks G.o.d, it doesn't seem to have herbs.

The way the chief here uses herbs doesn't really suit my tastes.

“Was it to your liking?”

I nodded. Julia smiled with joy…how cute.

I absolutely love all the maids around me. 

I mean, they're all cute girls! And they serve me devotedly from the bottom of their hearts. This “from the bottom of their hearts” is the key here.

It doesn't mean that they only stay by my side and take care of things. While prepared to fulfill my wishes anytime I need it, they withdraw when I don't have any orders for them. 

It's the perfect service!

I feel like I can understand the thoughts of the uncles and otakus who love the maids.

…But, please don't expect『moe』from me. I cannot understand the nuances of moe. 

(Anyway,  how should I return to the royal palace?…)

I thought about various things but for the time being I decided to make returning to the palace the basic plan of actions.

Right now, as a result of putting together all the various information at hand, I've decided that even if there may be more things I cannot remember and the times I might need to interact with people while not fully remembering things might grow, for the time being, the royal palace is safer than this place.

(…Though I don't know how I should interact with my husband or the King and the Queen.)

It's not like I trust the husband and mother-in-law I've never met.

But, simply thinking about the interests, people on the royal side have a reason to protect me.

It's more beneficial for them to protect me than to kill me.

(Besides, the fact that I'm in danger means that those girls are in danger too.)

The maids who are always with me, in a sense, share my fate.

It's important to solve the mystery of the falling incident, but if possible, I would like to keep away from the danger.

It might mean moving away from the truth too, but in this case, I think that caution is necessary.

(I want to determine what's safe and who I can trust.)

I don't think that the Duke tried to kill me, but I cannot think of him as a person who would protect me.

It's impossible to trust a person who doesn't even try to look at his daughter's face directly even during the morning greeting. Not to mention, my current position in Elsevelt family is quite delicate.

"….Princess, what is the matter?"

Because I was thinking while I was eating, I might've been in a daze. Crunch, I heard an unpleasant sound.

Everybody looked at me suspiciously when I stopped moving.

I put my hand over my mouth…dripping from my mouth…was blood.

"P-Princess!"

"Kyaaaaa!"

"Somebody, call the doctor!"

(…No, don't make a fuss, you misunderstood. It's just the sh.e.l.l of the clam that stabbed me!)

But, there was no way they could hear my thoughts…

Even if I gesture that I'm fine, they would definitely don't understand it properly in this situation.

There are even girls who are shouting that this might be a poison.

"Ah…."

"Princess! Princess!"

"Please throw up! Quickly!"

However,  when I made up my mind and opened my mouth, even more blood dripped out and the clamor got worse.

I was forced to drink a large amount of water by the doctor who came rus.h.i.+ng with a pale face and then made to vomit.

The pieces of the clam's sh.e.l.l were taken out right away. The stabbed wound hurts just a tiny bit.

(I'm telling you that I haven't drank poison!)

"Excuse me."

The doctor looked at me. Do his eyes look somewhat strange or is that just my imagination? It's just my imagination, right?

(Eh?)

I saw a nightmare!!!!!!!!

I was forced to drink a lot of water and then had fingers thrust in my throat without a warning.

I mean, your fingers are more of the poison! I don't know if his hands were dirty or not, but anybody would feel sick after getting the fingers of a middle-aged man thrust in their mouths!

And without any explanation, at that. Well, if you suspect that somebody has been poisoned, there isn't any time to waste, but still.

(S-V-E M-E)

My resistance was absolutely meaningless. I deeply understood that no matter how much a 12 years old child flapped their limbs, it would be useless before the power of an adult male.

I was held down and forcefully made to vomit…It wasn't anything much but by the time the treatment was over, I was dead tired.

After I rinsed my mouth and brushed my teeth, I dove into the bed on the verge of crying. I didn't have any energy to change clothes so I was in my underwear.

….Please don't blame me for falling asleep just like that.

Because I felt like I had survived an a.s.sault.

—-

Notes:

Both Pink House and Atsuki Onis.h.i.+ are j.a.panese lolita clothing brands.

悩殺 is what Alterie says when talking about garter belts.

半透明の白濁した色 is the color that Alterie uses to describe the color of the rubber.

やわらかにウェーブを描く金の巻き毛。describing her blonde hair.

Alterie used お人形 when talking about how Alterie was so expressionless that she never smiled.

白濁した cloudy(?)

Alterie says "manners" while talking about not messing up during dinner so I changed it to table etiquette to make it sound not redundant.

Sorry that I took so much time for this kind of chapter. The clothing details really were giving me a headache (plus this is an another weird semi-info dump chapter). I don't even know what the FBI agent stalking my search history thinks of me now!

Anyway, I'll try to give this novel my short so we can at last catch up to the important royal palace arc.

Don't forget to notify me about any typos, mistranslations and weird grammar.