Chapter 6

“I’m glad it helped.”

The soldiers looked at me in awe, who was only coming up to their chests.

In my previous life, I could do nothing to help them. I guess they were fighting monsters and desperately waiting for someone to be awakened.

This time, my power saved someone’s life. I helped people and became a meaningful person.

Suddenly, I was struck by the image of myself, locked in a room alone in the past.

A life eroded by deep-seated apathy, where ignorance and alienation were taken for granted. I remembered my ghost days, when I could only watch as my homeland crumbled.

I didn’t want to do that anymore. I wanted to protect it. I wanted to protect the things I treasured.

I spoke to the captain of the guard.

“I’m going to rebuild the barrier. And I can use my magic to strengthen your weapons and armor.”

The captain’s eyes widened.

“Is such a thing even possible, Princess?”

“I don’t know for sure. We need to do some experiments. Will you help me?”

“Yes. Just give me your order!”

The captain knelt down and bowed deeply.

***

In the past two years, I immersed myself in the study of magic.

My magical wooden arrowheads were harder than those made of iron and more effective at killing monsters. If the shield was wrapped in wooden vines, its firmness doubled.

Whenever I had time, I would go to the border areas to boost the morale of the soldiers and sprout magic everywhere.

As a result, the damaged border area, which was more infested with monsters than any other areas, was significantly reduced. The monsters did not come down and invade the Silver Forest.

Protecting the forest and the magic it gave me. I was living as an awakened person this time.

But as my twentieth year approached, my heart grew impatient. There was not much time left before Kwanach visited my country.

‘Will it go the way it did? Will he ask me to marry him again? Or will he suddenly attack without proposing an alliance?’

I hoped not.

Even if my magic became stronger, it wouldn’t be enough to raise the strength of the kingdom to take on the imperial army.

First of all, the difference in troop strength was more than 50 times. Even if all the northern kingdoms gathered, the imperial army was still nearly ten times larger.

It was strange that the Civil War lasted so long in my previous life. Originally, it was a war that was supposed to be won by the Imperial side within a year.

Because Kwanach was not in his right mind …….

Why did he suddenly change?

I didn’t know. However, there was no guarantee that he would lose his mind again this time.

In the end, it was best to prevent the war itself.

Seeing the soldiers fighting the monsters at the border reinforced my belief that war must be avoided.

War without blood was impossible.

The best thing to do would be to marry Kwanach and form an alliance to keep the peace.

And I must not die again.

I had spent a long time learning many things in order to survive.

The further I get from the forest, the more rapidly my magic weakened. So I couldn’t rely on magic alone. Whenever I had free time, I always headed to the library.

In the library, I acquired various information useful for my survival. I read through all the books on medicinal herbs and anatomy.

“What on earth could a princess have to do with such books…?”

The librarian asked cautiously when I had read several dozen books. However, I was always a bookworm, so it didn’t seem so crazy to me.

I developed a deep understanding of the body anatomy and memorized all the poisonous plants that existed in the world, including how to decipher each one.

After my body grew to a certain extent, I began to ingest the poisons myself little by little to build up my tolerance. The more thorough the preparation, the better.

The more thorough I had in many areas of preparation, the better.

‘I won’t die.’

I would never let my death be the seed of war.

***

Time has flown by. The great events that took place on the continent remain unchanged.

Slave revolution in the South. The name Kwanach, the head of the revolutionary army, flowed all the way here.

Again, Kwanach succeeded in his revolution and founded his own country after killing all the corrupt Southern Empire of Fernen.

Various other incidents that I remember happened just as in my previous life.

For example, a nearby neighboring country went bankrupt and was destroyed. The tax laws of my Achaia kingdom changed drastically, and the official meetings were overturned for months.

Of course, unlike my previous life, some things obviously changed mostly related to me, Usphere Catatel.

In my previous life, I did not show my face in public and spent my time hiding. The only person who had conversations with me was Diaquit.

But now, I was present on official occasions as the acting queen. My father had retired due to illness, and my brother Diaquit was regent, but he was not yet married, and the position of Crown Princess was vacant.

The way people treat me has also changed significantly.

I would occasionally walk through the garden and look into the plants’ memories. Talking to plants was one of my greatest pleasures in this life.

Of course, I didn’t let people know that I could interact with plants.

I didn’t think it was necessary to disclose all of my abilities. My apparent ability alone was enough to win people’s approval.

I sometimes eavesdropped on people’s true feelings through plants.

I heard words that were completely different from my previous life.

<Why is everything so perfect with our princess! >

<The princess made flowers bloom on the spot at the last banquet. Did you see it?>

<I saw it! How beautiful it was! Not only is she strong, but also delicate! >

That was the voices of those who talked about me when I was not around.

It used to be full of contempt and insidious curiosity, but now respect has filled its place.

In my previous life, Diaquit isolated and cornered me, but this time there was nothing he could do. If he tried to destroy my image, he was bound to be cursed in return.

“When I have the power, people treat me so differently.”

I was happy and content, but at the same time I felt bitter.

Power and authority. Does it determine the nature of a person?

Whenever I had such a feeling, I suddenly thought of Kwanach.

He must have experienced much worse discrimination than I did. Perhaps, that’s why he became a cold-hearted person.

I often thought of my husband, who must not even know I existed yet.

As a matter of fact, from the time Kwanach began his revolution, I went to all the trouble I could to obtain and read the newspapers published in the South. It was full of records of the revolution, that was, of the deeds of Kwanach.

As I read it, I pictured him in my mind. I hadn’t seen his face for a while, but strangely enough, it came back to me vividly.

‘Will he come to propose an alliance again this time?’

So time passed, and it was the year I turned 20.

Fortunately, Kwanach came to visit me.

To be precise, he politely sent an envoy with a message ahead of time.

was reasonably polite and sent a messenger with a message ahead of me. His message, roughly summarized, went something like this.

[Give me the princess. The only thing I want in this agreement is her. I don’t need anything else.]

He was the man I had been anxiously waiting for, my enemy and my husband.

It was time to reunite with him.

* * *

“Outrageous! How can you send a princess to the kingdom of savages?”

“That’s right! He talked about marriage, and doesn’t it sound like he is taking the princess as a hostage? What are you going to do with the border once the guardian is gone!”

Before Kwanach came, a courteous envoy came first and delivered his Lord’s message.

Immediately, the kingdom was in an uproar. An official meeting was held with me on the agenda, and the ministers turned red with anger and shouted.

“That, from a disrespectful slave who beheaded his own emperor, how could he take a precious princess…?”

“The princess is a blessing bestowed by the forest! She’s the guardian of the kingdom. How long has it been since she’s awakened? The forest will be angry if you send the princess away like this!”

I was surprised at how different the situation was from before the regression. What was it like before?

[Hmm. I think it’s not a bad suggestion. It doesn’t matter if he came from slavery, he is now the emperor of a new country, so his status is on par with the Princess.]

[It’s frankly shameful, but let’s quickly proceed with the marriage before we spoil the First Emperor’s good mood!]

[That’s right. What’s there to hesitate about?] 

Those words were exchanged between the ministers that I was told.

I was never invited to the official meeting at the time.

Now, however, everyone was stamping their feet. They didn’t dare to refuse Kwanach’s proposal, but they also didn’t want to let me go.

Among the ministers, only the Crown Prince Diaquit was at peace. No, he seemed rather happy.

“I understand the feelings of the ministers. But we have no choice. Right now, Achaia’s  army is not strong enough to take on the Radon Empire.” Diaquit said.

“But ……!”

“Of course, it breaks my heart at the thought of sending my beautiful sister to that rugged empire.”

Diaquit developed a gloomy look in his eyes.

“But as a ruler, I must take my personal feelings out of the equation. Isn’t it my duty to prioritize what’s best for the country right now?”

The ministers clamped their mouths shut and looked alternately at Diaquit and me.

“I wouldn’t worry about the border region. When we signed the alliance, the Imperial Army decided to support us with supplies and troops. To that extent, we should be able to defend the border without difficulty.”

I silently listened to what the others were saying. In my mind, I tried to figure out what Kwanach would do.

As soon as Kwanach founded the Radon Empire, he freed all the slaves. Then, one by one, he conquered the surrounding countries and gave freedom to the slaves there as well.

The more Kwanach’s fame grew, the more the neighboring countries realized that it would be best to avoid war with him. They all took advantage of his good mood and made policies to suit him, eliminating slavery.

If they accepted all the terms of the treaty, they could avoid war and keep their countries alive.

But Kwanach said he would not make any demands of us if we handed me over. In the proposed agreement, I think he could have asked for a chunk of land or mining rights…but he didn’t.

It was a disastrously finite condition. The reason was obvious.

It’s for the power of the forest I have.

Of course, he wouldn’t want a human being at all.

This was a continent where magic disappeared. Kwanach wanted my power and my bloodline. He wanted the child born between him and I would awaken the magic.

Marriage and children. It was not difficult. Royalty couldn’t marry the person they wanted anyway. So it didn’t matter if the other person was from a slave background or an enemy from a previous life.

Kwanach wanted children, I wanted peace. At the intersection of the two, we have our marriage.

That was all that mattered.

****