Fake Cinderella

"Dear Elaine, let's go down here first. There's nothing you can do about staying here forever."

"Okay.... Her Highness knows the way?

I shake my head to the side.

"Me, I've been out of the royal palace long enough to count... but, look, there's a way. Looks like we can get out of there."

I could see a narrow road just below. We can get off the scene because it's not a lot of height if it's a good fit to move, but it's not possible for us in gowns. Find the stairs quietly and decide to come down.

Lady Elaine gave her a slightly relieved look and then, I'm sure, glanced at her face.

"Then, Your Highness, I will stand first."

In case anything happens to you, my life won't make it up to you, I say it in the face.

To the extent that I could not exaggerate, I was confused with my current position and meaning.

"Okay. Okay, please.... and Dear Elaine"

"Yes."

"Please don't call me Thie"

"Dear Tea 'er, is it?

"If possible, no honor, I just want to say, let's just say that there's no choice. Call me by that name all over the city."

Although my name has a number of nicknames, it is the designation 'Thie' that I have dared to choose from.

(Because I don't need to focus anymore)

You don't have to worry about what you used to call me, or how nervous I am even now whenever someone calls me.

"But..."

"We know that Wang Du is a safe city. But that doesn't mean it's not dangerous."

In the first place, if it's okay to reveal your identity, you don't have to go down to the city. Just look for a normal gate to get inside, identify yourself, and go back.

(I wish I could have done that...)

The question is whether the gatekeepers at that gate can be trusted.

It is the yard of the Orthodox Palace that we were targeted. There are a limited number of people who can get in and out, and they're also targeted underground.

(That means you don't know who the enemy is)

Especially if you don't have it clearly around your mind, or if you normally think about it too much.

I don't mind being seen by a wealthy nobleman. It is more impossible to argue that I am a common man in this outfit, and my appearance was too unfamiliar with what is called labor when it comes to my luxury daughter. The problem is that you will find out that I am the Crown Princess.

(The princess of the king who walks fluttering without offering is excellent)

"... so I have trouble being called Your Highness. Never disrespect, so be careful."

"Yes, sir."

"I call Lady Elaine Lady Elaine. … If there's anything in the city that would ask us about our relationship, let's say we're remotely related"

"Yes."

Then Lady Elaine continued with a small laugh.

"... I'm afraid, Your Highness and I are related in a double sense."

"Dear Elaine, it's Thie."

"... Dear Teaye?

"Yes."

Indeed, me and Lady Elaine, blood is connected from both father and mother.

"… so shall we come"

Lady Elaine looked with one eye at the hand I had offered, and then, laughing, she lay her hands on it softly, and we stepped toward the lights of the city.

**********

"... are you all right, Master Elaine"

"Yes, I'm fine. So... is Tea 'er safe?

"It's okay."

The city that looked down from the middle of the hill was glittering with light, but there wasn't much on the way down to the city.

And I've been forced to go away from earlier many times without being able to get down a straight line.

(Probably this was the idea when the Royal Palace was attacked)

This is probably not the path of the regular route, but I still can't get anywhere in the straight line.

In the still twilight sunset we went down a narrow road that had not even been paved. He never stopped walking even as he fell several times or slid his legs on his thighs. If it's completely night, I won't be able to move any further. Because I understood there was nothing I could do about stopping here.

(... bad shoes. This)

If he was a boot like he was last year when he returned from Elsevelt, I'm sure he wouldn't have slipped like this.

Shoes like the ones we wear were very beautiful, but lacked practicality. It's very difficult to walk on these unpaved roads, even when your heels are flat. Plus, fluffy gowns in corsets and panniers were also fuelling it.

"... and when you get down there, let's take a break.... Dear Teaye"

breathing on his shoulders, Master Elaine says.

"... Yes"

Although not as good as Lady Elaine's, I was getting a lot of breath too.

(Even though it's a loose downhill...)

My feet are like sticks already, and my back hurts. Maybe I'll have a fever tomorrow. Really, I feel bad about my lack of strength.

(When we get back to the Royal Palace, let's build strength...)

Incorporate a physical walk or something into your daily routine.

And even if His Royal Highness Nadir holds me up, I will definitely quit spoiling it!!

I'm sure he was just sweet on the move, which is one of the reasons for this lack of strength.

"... here is"

How long would I have walked? I'm sure it wasn't that long, but it seemed like a long walk to us who had already been on the run for half a day in the basement.

It was behind a temple that wasn't as big as Sasa that I reached.

"Temple, right?"

The national religion of Dardinia is the Rutian Orthodox Church.

But I do not forbid other religions.

So I knew as a knowledge that there were still shrines and such for these native gods in the king's capital.

I look down on the small temple.

"... Dear Teaye, may I take a break here?

Me, my legs are a little... and the toes of Elaine's frowning shoes are red and black and dirty.

"... Dear Elaine"

I open my eyes wide.

"I'm sorry. I can't walk much..."

"No.... sorry I didn't notice"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

"Huh?"

If you look at your own feet when you're told, the foot in the back is dirty. I had noticed that my heel had been rubbed and blisters formed, but it seemed to have crushed at some point.

And I'm sure my toes are terrible just because I probably haven't seen them.

(The crushed mame from the night club during this time was finally about to heal...)

"... I didn't notice"

We let each other see our faces and leaked bitter laughter.

Then, point your gaze at the shrine.

"... may I rest here"

"Right."

Open the lattice of a small stone shrine.

Inside there is a small altar, dedicated to one thick candle.

(... ah... this narrowness, something might calm you down)

If you put it that way, it would be about six tatami rooms, which is the only floor area that seems to be in storage based on the size of this room.

It is Shriega, an ancient goddess wearing a crown of stars, who is dug into the walls behind the altar with only a simple thin line.

This Shriega is said to be another look of the Lutian Orthodox Mother Goddess. Very popular in the God of Guidance that illuminates strays. This temple is also very nicely cleaned, so I guess there are believers nearby.

Me and Lady Elaine closed their eyes, kneeling down and praying to the altar, hoping to take this opportunity.

There is no modus operandi in prayer for the ancient God. Or maybe it's just not passed down now, but there are no rules for the sacrament or the way prayers are offered. So the length of that prayer is individual and different.

And I was the one who opened my eyes first. I waited quietly for it to end because Lady Elaine was still praying beside me.

I guess it's too much walking. My body is a little lazy.

(... I think my body is a little hot...)

It was supposed to be cold, but I was feeling the heat. My head is confused.

"............ ma.... sama. Dear Tea 'e..."

I thought Master Elaine was calling me... but I couldn't get back to you well, even though I knew that.

I moved my body cursorily trying to face it back, but it doesn't work the way I want.

(... that...?

What's wrong with me?

When I tried to get up, my eyes darkened and my consciousness closed.

**********

It was dark.

Darkness on one side.

That makes me faint even more than at night. It was just anointed with a single color of darkness.

Though I might feel fear if I were a girl who was genuinely on the outside, raw hate, my contents weren't on the outside, so I never felt fear about it.

(... here, where...)

I think I have to leave early, but I don't know where this place is and where I have to go.

(... I'm Altilier. Altilier Rutia-Nu-Dia-Dis-Derdier)

Mumble your name in your mouth and confirm yourself.

Make him the Crown Princess of Dardinia. The presumed heir of the Duke of Elzevelt's house...... and the only Elzevelt.

And I remembered so I could stick with it.

(... Nadir sama)

A man who will be king of this country, my husband. ─ ─ ─ And where I should go home.

(We have to go back...)

We must return to Master Nadir as soon as possible.

I slowly opened my eyes, pushed back by the feeling of hurry.

The first thing that caught my eye was a stripped wooden ceiling with no decorations whatsoever.

I wandered small and realized I was being put to sleep on a horribly hard bunk.

(Here, where?

At least, it's not the temple you were in before you lost consciousness.

It hurts all over my body.

I thought it was a place I didn't know.

"... did you wake up?

(... who?

Although it was an unknown place, I could tell the identity of the person in front of me from that distinctive garment.

"... where are we?

"Rest assured. This is the orphanage that accompanies the Cathedral of Legalia. Don't worry about it anymore."

About sixty years past? A woman who shoves her hair into a white wimble and brings the veil to life, dressed in gray and white monastic clothes, smiles as if to reassure me.

"Orphanage, is it?

"Yes."

"Why are you in an orphanage?

The last memory before losing consciousness should have been the shriega shrine of the ancient goddess. I wonder how you've been warping so far?

"You fell in a shrine on the outskirts of this Legalia district."

"... was it just me?

I wonder what happened to Master Elaine? Wouldn't you be doing something reckless with me falling?

"Yes, the children said you were alone."

"Kids, are you?

"It was the children of the orphanage who went to clean the temple and found you."

"... Really?"

(I wonder if I went to get help and misplaced it)

I'm a hot head, think about that.

Master Elaine must have gotten a lot lost, though I don't know how much time I've had since then.

(Put me down and go get help or wait for help at the temple...)

In a way, it would have been the ultimate choice.

(... If it was just Lady Elaine, I'm sure she would have waited forever)

But I was there. I'm sick and feverish.

(Hopefully we can get to the Duke's house safely......)

"... can I thank the kids?

In an attempt to get up with his thighs, the nun pushed him away.

"Don't wake up yet. … you can thank me later"

"... ok"

The nun makes me drink water when she coughs up with a kehoke because her mouth is dry from tease.

"... yummy"

"There's nothing in this orphanage, but only water is abundant because there's a well."

Now, go back to sleep, I was prompted to close my eyes.

(... I have to thank you for my bedtime clothes...)

Cotton bedding with no decoration at all was a little rough to the touch but several times better than sleeping in a gown.

But I wonder how much my body craved sleep, my consciousness was strained into sleep before my mouth spinned words of thanks.

(... thank you, don't forget...)

I just carved that firmly in one corner of my head.