Volume 1 - CH 1.1

A reincarnator, a prophesied child born with the memories of her past life. Ashutarte.

She slept through her first year of living, receiving only the slightest care.

Only fed with enough food so as not to die.

Only washed so as not to smell and not bother the ones sleeping.

There was nothing to do except sleep in the cradle, which had no ordinary mobile attached to it.

During the waking hours, she focused on listening to the stories of the only two maids assigned to the Empress’ Palace.

“No, well. Princess Ashutarte must be the rising star of darkness from the prophecy, right? She has never been visited once by His Majesty until now.”

“Or by the two princes.”

“So, it is clear that the morning star of darkness, in the Firenze empire, is Princess Ashutarte. I’m sure of it!”

Ashutarte mumbled, as if she was reviewing the information she had just learned while listening to them.

‘My name is Ashutarte, a princess, and there must be some kind of darkness… and also…’

“And listen! She wasn’t even bestowned with her own palace, was she?”

According to the etiquette, Ashutarte, a princess, had to receive her own palace from the emperor.

However, Ashutarte didn’t even have a decent palace to reside in, living as if imprisoned in the palace of her own mother, Rebecca, who died whilst giving birth to her.

And a year and two months later, Ashutarte took a little imperfect step.

No matter what she did, the maids didn’t even try to get her out of the cradle, as they didn’t care the least about her.

Perhaps they hoped for Ashutarte to become an idiot who could not even take a step.

When she first opened her eyes as Ashutarte, she was actually grateful to God that she had been reincarnated with her memories from her previous life preserved.

Even with shallow knowledge, you could do something with it.

It was because she was excited about the thought that her family might have loved her this time.

However, Ashutarte had never seen the faces of her family until then.

‘I’m sure it’s because everyone is busy. We will meet soon.’

But not long after hearing the chatting from her maids, she realized.

“It’s said that the princes visited Her Highness the Princess Amaryllis today!”

“I heard that His Majesty gave the lily garden as a gift to the Princess.”

That her family might never come to visit her.

But Ashutarte did not give in to such a situation.

She practiced walking while standing upright holding on to the side of the frame of the cradle.

She even tried reciting the babbled imperial language on her own, until she was able to learn how to speak to a certain extent.

‘If I work hard, I’ll definitely be able to meet my family. I’m supposed to be the dark rising star of the empire, so I have to be able to do well on my own to be loved.’

Ashutarte grew up little by little with her life based on the memories of her previous life, without receiving anyone’s education.

And then Ashutarte turned three years old.

She had mastered walking as well as talking.

A bright and cheerful girl named ‘Roena’ entered the palace of the late empress, where only two maids came and went every once in a while.

“How are you, my lady? My name is Roena Yereth.”

“Hello, Roena!”

“Oh my! Are you welcoming me? You’re so sweet.”

Roena was a very warm-looking girl with wavy brown hair and sweet caramel eyes.

None of the few people she had ever met saw Ashutarte and spoke to her kindly.

She was the only one who voluntarily approached and talked to the little princess.

As such, the Empress’ Palace was an abandoned palace that had been forgotten by the world.

So she was even more puzzled.

Since the passing of Empress Rebecca, the original owner of the palace, there had been no way to even eat a small amount of food.

Even if she were to serve Ashutarte, who is feared and called the morning star of darkness in the prophecy, it would not have earned her any honor.

“Hey, Roena. I heard from the Main Palace that you voluntarily came to the Empress’ Palace…”

So, it is natural to have doubts.

Shortly after Roena was assigned to the Empress’ Palace, Marien, a fellow maid who had been left at the Empress’ Palace, started talking.

“Are the rumors traveling so fast? That’s right.”

“That’s right? What’s wrong with your head? This is the Empress’s Palace, the Forsaken Palace.”

Marien let out an exasperated sigh.

“After Her Majesty the Empress passed away, everyone applied for reassignment to the Rose Palace, where Her Highness Princess Amaryllis resides.”

“I see.”

“Me and Kate just missed the timing.”

“Yes, so what?”

“So? Do you still say these words when you see her in front of you?”

When Roena was not shaken even after hearing the truth, Marien eventually pointed at Ashutarte and shouted.

“What’s wrong with Princess Ashutarte?”

“She is the one in the prophecy…!!!”

Marien slightly trembled.

Soon after, she glanced at the bed where Ashutarte had been sleeping soundly, let out a brief sigh of relief and continued speaking.

“Because you are from an aristocratic family on the outskirts, you may not know much about the world, but she is the morning star of darkness from the prophecy given down to Firenze.”

“Who said that?”

“…What?”

“I’m really curious as to who spread the myth that Princess Ashutarte is the morning star of darkness. His Majesty did not say anything about the prophecy…I thought I’d report you for blasphemy.”

“You…!”

Marien shot back at Roena with a red face, but she had nothing to say to her when she was about to report her for treason to the royal family.

“You’re going to regret not having listened to me now!”

She soon left the room.

“Where’s our princess…huh?”

As if a small typhoon had been swept away, as soon as Marien left the room was filled with silence.

Then, only the voice of Roena, who grumbled a little, stayed for a moment and then disappeared.

And Ashutarte, who had been eavesdropping on their story without really sleeping, began to accept Roena as a very special person from that day onwards.

Curiosity, joy, and gratitude for the first person in her life to take her side.

Roena followed Marien out of the room, but Ashutarte could not escape the happiness she felt for a long time.

Ashutarte turned four.

Marien and Kate, who were originally maids belonging to the Empress’ Palace, are now maids of the Main Palace.

And not long after, they returned to the Empress’ Palace and went to Ashutarte with a wide smile.

“Princess! We will be reassigned to the Rose Palace of Her Highness Princess Amaryllis, and we will leave the Empress’ Palace as of today.”

“Will you allow it, your Highness?”

“Uh… Then you’ll never see me again?”

There was a little regret in Ashutarte’s eyes as she looked at them.

‘They were still maids who stayed with me for four years…’

Although she wasn’t good at expressing her affection, she felt a little disappointed that the people she had been with for four years were now going away.

“You still have Roena here. Do you need three people to attend the palace?”

“What…! There are over twenty maids in the Rose Palace! Are you saying that I have to look after the Princess by myself? What the hell…!”

“Oh my! Princess Ashutarte and Her Highness Princess Amaryllis have different positions, so it is only natural that the number of maids beside them would also be different.”

Marien was smiling brightly as if she had won, cutting out the words of Roena, who was arguing against it.

“What… What nonsense!”

“Princess, will you please let us go?”

“Yes…”

Soon after, Marien and Kate left the palace with their luggage, as if they were only waiting for Ashutarte’s permission, even though they already took her answer for granted.

Roena’s icy, glaring eyes fell on the backs of Marien and Kate.

But they never stopped walking or turned around once.

Roena looked sadly at Ashutarte, who was staring at the backs of the two as they were slowly moving away.

“You are really doing so much…”

“Yes?”

“Princess, live happily with me for a long, long time. What do you say?”

“Yes!”

Ashutarte turned around to face Roena only after Marien had completely disappeared from her sight.

If it hadn’t been for Roena, she thought, she might have been crying endlessly at the sight of those two people moving away.

Because to her, they were the only ones in the world.

And on the Day of the Red Moon, it fell Ashtarte’s 5th birthday.

It was around the time when the sky was becoming dark and the orange sunset was falling.

A far away bang. A popping sound. In the distance, fireworks that lit up the sky with colorful sounds went up.

‘…pretty…’

Every year, on Ashutarte’s birthday, fireworks were set off at the same time.

Roena quietly closed her mouth when she saw the feast of the beautiful fireworks that shot up decorating the sky, but Ashutarte could understand it without difficulty.

For whom the fireworks are being shot.

She clearly remembered what the two maids, who no longer were in the Empress’ Palace, had said.

Princess Amaryllis is said to be favored by His Majesty the Emperor and the two princes.

‘She must be lucky…’

It would’ve been a lie if she said she didn’t feel sad and heartbroken about the different treatment she received, as she was not visited once during her five years in the Empress’ Palace.

However, Ashutarte didn’t mind the bitterness she felt in her heart at all.

“Princess, I can’t give you enough fireworks to fill the sky, but…”

Roena hesitated and stretched out her hand to Ashutarte, who was staring blankly at the sky.

A hand that reached out affectionately put a pretty little pin, in the shape of a lily of the valley, behind her ear.

In her previous life, Ashutarte’s birthday wasn’t even known, let alone celebrated.

With a blank expression she fiddled with the pin stuck in her hair, then glanced at Roena, who smiled very brightly.

“… Are you giving it to me?”

“I’m sorry it’s not an expensive gift…It must be a gift too cheap for the Princess to accept…”

“It-It’s not like that…! It’s the first time I’ve ever received a gift…”

“From now on, every year, I’ll celebrate your birthday. Let’s make a lot of delicious food and have a small party together!”

In the past, more than half of the budget that should’ve been given to the Empress’ Palace was cut and instead added to the budget for the Rose Palace, where Amaryllis lived.

Ashutarte heard such a story from Marien.

As such, the budget for the maintenance of the palace and food was insufficient.

She was well aware that Roena was feeding them with her own family’s money, filling up where the budget came loose.

So, no matter what year it would be, even if it would be the year after or the one after that.

The day they would cook a bunch of dishes and hold a party just for the two of them would never come.

“Thank you, Roena. Thank you for raising me this far. I love you very much.”

“…! I, too, love the princess so much!”

“Hehe.”

She could confidently say that her 5th birthday was the happiest day of her life.

Roena’s warm embrace as she whispers that she loves her and hugs her.

Even her affectionate gift, a little heavy on her hair.

That night, embracing the warmth that filled her heart, Ashutarte fell into a peaceful sleep with the lullaby of firecrackers that continued to explode and embroidered the sky.

***

Note: Thank you for reading this chapter!! After doing some extra research, I found out that the flower meaning of the amaryllis (aka the name of our illegitimate princess here) is of “pride” and “dazzling beauty”, but also “vanity” and “arrogance” (and may I say, a very fitting name…) while the meaning for the lily of the valley is “hope, delicacy, pure love, you will definitely become happy” :,)…im not crying u are…..

I also wanted to ask you all whether you prefer having at the end of the chapters small notes like this, where I give small comments about the story and give little info, or prefer having just the translation without any interruption. Having this said, i wish you all a good day!