Chapter 1
Her small hands clutched the thin sheets tightly. As she stared at the worn window, she saw a narrow yard, wild grass, and a magnificent building far away from where she was, as if the world divided the distance between honor and abandonment.
The atmosphere in the right wing of the palace in the morning was very different from the magnificent splendor of the main palace. From the outside, the building looked more like an abandoned old warehouse than the residence of a royal princess.
The paint on the walls was peeling, and small chunks fell every time the wind blew strongly. Blackish-green moss crept along the bottom of the walls, a sign of moisture that never completely disappeared.
The yard was overgrown with tall, unkempt weeds. A few wildflowers grew here and there, as if trying to add color to a place that had long been forgotten. But despite the sad state of the palace, Life still goes on. Her four loyal servants, Arin, Melda, Yoran, and Kallia, go about their business with whatever tools they have. Leaky buckets, worn-out brooms, rags full of patches.
They use everything they have to keep the dilapidated palace livable. Sweat beads on their faces even though the morning air is still cold.
In the farthest room. A girl sat leaning against the dusty window. Her name was Rullicia Fortellis De Luciana. She stared at the backyard. The morning air was fresh, but the silence still weighed heavily on her chest.
She took a deep breath, but all she could hear was her stomach growling. She knew her servants felt the same way. They had worked hard all night cleaning the rooms, repairing the leaky roof, and patching the holes in the floor. Food supplies? There were almost none.
Rullicia’s gaze finally fell on the old apple tree in the corner of the yard. The tree stood crookedly with thick branches left untamed. Among the leaves were several red apples hanging ripe and ready to be picked.
“If Rulli could get that... Rulli’s maid would be happy...” she muttered softly.
Without thinking twice, she immediately ran outside. Her small feet trod on the damp ground, her worn dress getting caught briefly in the wild bushes. She patted it down, then approached the apple tree.
The rough trunk was tall and full of grooves. Seven-year-old Rullicia looked up. Her small hands began to grip the bark, her tiny feet searching for a foothold. Slowly, she climbed the tree.
“Just a little more...” she said, breathing heavily.
Her fingers were almost touching the red fruit.
But just then.
CRACK
The branch she was standing on shook violently. A small crack was heard, and Rullicia fell.
“AAAAAAH!”
THUD!
Her small body hit the ground with a muffled thud. For a moment, the pain spread throughout her body, especially her head, which had hit the ground hard. Her vision blurred, the air was sucked from her lungs, and then... everything was enveloped in darkness.
Silence.
And emptiness again.
In the darkness, something began to shine clearly like a beam of light. Fragments of light appeared like flashes of broken glass floating in the air. And among those flashes, unfamiliar faces appeared, but they did not feel unfamiliar to her.
“If I were Rullicia, I wouldn’t be that stupid...”
“Help!!! My wallet!”
A flash of a knife. Warm blood, the sound of a horn. Her small body trembled. That memory... didn’t belong to Rullicia Fortellis De Luciana. It belonged to her, Rinia, an office girl from another world.
I... I’m really dead, right? On that road...
Like a huge wave, all the memories of her old life crashed into her head. The small house on the outskirts of town, her commute to work, the pain of being stabbed on the street, her stomach aching, it was hard to tell which was a dream and which was reality.
Then slowly the darkness faded. A faint voice could be heard, growing clearer with time.
“Princess Licia! Wake up! Quickly, everyone, call the palace wizard!”
Her eyelids fluttered. Her blurry vision revealed the face of a young girl, a maid with eyes red from crying.
Arin?
Rullicia’s hand reflexively reached up to touch her still throbbing head. Her breathing was still heavy, but her heart was racing not because of pain, but because of a piercing realization.
So it’s true... this isn’t a dream... I am Rinia... now living inside Rullicia’s body.
Amidst Arin’s sobs and the panicked screams of the other maids, the corners of her lips trembled. The world seemed to turn upside down. For the first time since waking up in this small body, she knew who she truly was.
When Rullicia opened her eyes again, the dim light of the candle greeted her like the lingering warmth in a tired room. The wooden ceiling above her was dark with soot, and the mossy walls showed traces of rain seepage. She lay on a small bed with coarse sheets that smelled of soap and dust, the pillow so thin that her forehead almost touched the wooden headboard.
Beside her was a servant with tousled blond hair, slightly sunken cheeks, a beautiful face, and red, swollen eyes from crying, clutching her hand tightly to the tips of her fingers. Arin. The maid bowed her head, her voice breaking with each sob.
“Princess! Finally... finally you’re awake!” she cried, then collapsed into her embrace, her shoulders shaking violently. Tears streamed down her cheeks, mixed with sweat from a night of cleaning the leaky roof.
Rullicia looked at Arin’s face, clearly showing signs of exhaustion, a small scar on her chin from a fall, her lips trembling as she smiled. The sound of her crying was sincere, not an act. The warmth of the embrace pressed against something in her chest that had long felt empty.
The real world she had just left behind, the sound of car horns, the metallic taste in her stomach from the stab wound, the indifferent faces on the street—all felt distant, like a nightmare that had just passed.
Then memories came uninvited. In a flash, the cramped café in the city, the bookshelves in her dorm room, the cover of the novel she had read the night before. Scenes from the novel Rullicia locked up, her father who hated her, blood dripping, alternating like film clips. And in the end, a knife, the heat of the wound in her stomach, the metallic taste in her stomach. Her name. Rinia. The life that had just been cut short.
Suddenly everything made sense. It wasn’t a dream. She remembered. She had died. She... was reborn.
Instead of panicking, a small, quick, cynical smile spread across the corners of his lips. Something evil and sweet flowed together; for him, this was a golden opportunity.
“Ah... finally!!!,” he muttered to himself, “a golden opportunity. Now I can take revenge on that stupid father.”
But she also knew the risks. A hasty reaction, a sudden burst of cleverness, would certainly arouse suspicion among the people around her. She had to act weak at first, like a child who had forgotten everything. The role of amnesia was not just a mask, but this time it was a tool to start her new life plan.
With a deliberately hoarse voice, she called softly,
“You...”
Arin paused, her voice trembling, “Yes, Princess?”
Rullicia closed her eyes slightly, gathering the right tone of fear.
“Who are you? I... who am I?”
Arin’s eyes widened, her breath catching in surprise.
“P-Princess? Impossible!? You don’t remember me and your own name?” Arin’s face turned panicked.
She jumped up, then shouted toward the room, calling three other servants with a voice that was almost broken. Within minutes, the place was abuzz with rumors, confused whispers, and hurried footsteps. Arin again ordered Melda to immediately call the palace wizard again, and then also called the palace doctor.
The bad news spread throughout the dilapidated palace like a small fire meeting the wind. In the following hours, the servants sent messengers, the messengers spoke to other messengers, until the news reached the ears of the ministers in the main palace. Whispers flowed through the corridors of the dilapidated palace.
“The cursed princess has lost her memory.”
“Is this a sign that the curse is getting worse?”
“Is that information true?”
“Don’t let the king find out about this!”
Rullicia held back a faint smile behind her lips.
Good. This way, I have a reason for my strange behavior, my odd ideas, my deviant actions—all of it can be wrapped up in one magic word from me... amnesia.
Now she could move slowly, forging her own path without being suspected as a threat. Night fell. After a thorough examination by the palace doctor and the palace wizard, they both said that Rullicia had suffered a severe shock when she fell, and her head might have suffered temporary memory loss.
After that, all the servants felt sorry when they heard the results. They didn’t expect that Princess Rullicia had really lost her memory, and blamed themselves for failing to protect the princess from the danger that befell her.
When the servants finally fell asleep on the wooden benches in the front room, Rullicia closed her eyes. Darkness enveloped her small room, and the silence was so thick that she could hear her own heartbeat. Then, behind the darkness in her mind, something appeared.
A giant door, a door made of old wood carved with small glowing letters. Above it, a large word glowed softly, spelling out Library.
Her footsteps felt light as she approached, like someone entering a room of memories. The door opened with a long creak.
Inside, shelf after shelf towered high until they disappeared into a haze of light. The air smelled of old dust, ink, and paper. It felt warm, like a reading room in autumn. Light from an unseen source touched the spines of the books, making the pages glisten like shards of glass.
There were scrolls, leather-bound encyclopedias, machine manuals, astronomy journals, herbal compendiums, and notes written in modern technical symbols that Rullicia herself had never imagined could exist in this world.
Rinia, now Rullicia, stood between the shelves with her mouth slightly agape. Her hands trembled as she reached for the nearest book; she looked like a hungry reader before a meal.
When she touched the leather cover, the pages opened by themselves, revealing simple diagrams of crop rotation, simple drainage techniques, and ways to increase soil productivity.
The illustrations were very clear, showing complementary planting, explanations of how to use organic fertilizer from compost, and even instructions for making simple irrigation systems from water streams.
The information flooded over her, not just words, she felt the ideas like a map unfolding in her head. Principles, cause and effect, basic techniques, step by step, all came in, clear as if a teacher were speaking to her one by one.
A broad smile spread across her face, this time not cynical, but full of satisfaction.
“So... this is the power I carry,” she whispered almost inaudibly. “All the knowledge in the world.”
She pulled one illustration closer, a simple diagram of a furnace that could conduct heat. Her brain grasped the practical implications of how to increase farmers’ yields, how to sterilize water, techniques for extending the shelf life of food, and even a simple formula for making lighters safer and cheaper. Her small hands pressed against the page, feeling the texture of the paper as if it were part of her. Something told her that this was not just a collection of facts, but a living library that she could call upon at any time.
In her heart, a determination hardened, no longer held back by anger or revenge.
“With this,” she thought, “I can change everything. The original Rullicia died at the end of the story because she couldn’t withstand the destruction. I am Rinia, who knows the ending, and I will not repeat it. I will rewrite this destiny.”
Outside, in the palace corridors, whispers about the Princess’s amnesia continued to echo. In her small room, under the flickering candlelight, a girl who looked like a child held an unimaginable future. She raised her head, looked at Arin who was still fast asleep, and slowly closed the book in her hands.
Rullicia kept her secret in a faint smile, then placed the book back on the shelf. Outside, the rumors would continue to spread. Inside, the library awaited, filled with secrets she would uncover one by one.
