Side story. The Crown Princess of Mercy and Character.

“Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me informally?”

 

This situation is already pissing me off.

Getting out of the luxurious Imperial Palace life and coming to this remote countryside is annoying enough, but those who were supposed to serve me all left under the Emperor’s orders, and now this strange woman suddenly appears and speaks informally to me, the Crown Princess.

 

I can’t help but get heated.

 

Seorae drew the sword she was wearing.

 

“I am the Crown Princess of this nation. The Crown Princess of the Great May Empire. How dare someone like you, with no roots, speak to me informally?”

 

I roughly guessed.

Maybe that rude woman in front of me is the new teacher.

 

She seems to be trying to intimidate me by speaking informally, but to her eyes, it just looks pathetic.

 

As an august member of the Imperial Family, one should naturally bow their head before me.

Even if they are nobles or royalty!

 

‘Hmph. A teacher? What a joke. A commoner, no less!’

 

If that’s the case for nobles and commoners, it goes without saying for commoners.

And the ‘teacher’ in front of me is from a commoner background.

A difference as vast as heaven and earth.

 

“Keu-heuk.”

“What? Are you crazy? Too scared? That’s what you get for being so rude. If you knew who I was, you’d know better…”

“I thought you were just a thug, but are you a thug with a bad head? Or are you just clueless?”

“What?!”

“What would scare me about you? Seeing you act all high and mighty just because you’re a princess makes me laugh.”

“This bitch is out of her mind!”

“Don’t do useless things and go get some useful firewood. It’s cold.”

“Wh-what did you say? Fi-firewood?”

“Of course, did you think you could live comfortably in your teacher’s house without doing anything? From now on, you’ll do the laundry, dishes, cleaning, and everything else.”

“Ha…”

 

At this point, it’s so absurd that words fail me.

Not only did she speak informally, but now she’s trying to use me like a maid.

 

“Oh, is that so… you’re asking to be killed, aren’t you?”

 

Seorae couldn’t contain her anger and charged forward.

I’m going to gut that rude bitch right now…

 

Bbeok!

 

“!!”

“Don’t act up. It’s annoying.”

 

Just as I was about to swing my sword, the woman called teacher’s fist dug deep into Seorae’s stomach.

Pain I had never felt before took over my entire body.

 

“Keu… Keuaaak!!”

 

She collapsed, clutching her stomach.

 

“Anyway, charging at your teacher with a sword… you need a lot of education, huh?”

 

 

 

.

.

 

 

 

“Keuk… Keueuk…”

 

Seorae bit her lip hard.

Shamefully, she is naked.

Naked and hanging from the ceiling of the house.

 

“No food for you today.”

“You bitch!! I’m going to kill you!! How dare you! How dare you!!”

 

As she flailed her feet wildly, the hanging body spun around, tangling the rope.

The more it did, the more the rope tightened around her body, causing more pain, but Seorae, driven by spite, struggled for about four hours.

 

Indeed, even the teacher was impressed by this, clicking her tongue at her remarkable tenacity.

 

Of course, that didn’t change anything.

 

 

“My name is Mayo. I’m your teacher. If a disciple doesn’t show respect, I’ll punish you without mercy, so keep that in mind.”

“Ha! A teacher? What a load of crap!! Let me down right now!!”

“Oh, really? Does that mean you won’t eat tomorrow either?”

“Hmph. I refuse such unappetizing food! Do you think that’ll work on me?”

 

Seorae stuck out her tongue at the pathetic-looking meal.

 

“Then I guess you won’t mind going without food for three days.”

“Y-you rude bitch!”

“You’re the rude one.”

 

Mayo deliberately ate in front of Seorae.

Fortunately (?), the meal was so meager that it didn’t stimulate Seorae, who was used to the luxurious meals of the Imperial Palace.

 

However, that changed after about a day.

 

Kkoreureuk~!

 

A loud sound echoed from Seorae’s stomach, which was now drained of energy.

 

“…I’m hungry… Let me down. Now.”

“I told you to show respect, didn’t I?”

“Eesh! I swear, I’m going to kill you. I’ll kill you first when I get back!!”

“Oh, really? Then I guess I’ll have to kill you first.”

“D-don’t be ridiculous. You think you can kill me?!”

“What difference does it make if I kill an abandoned princess anyway?”

“Abandoned princess? Ha! You’re just saying whatever you want. I’m telling you! I am the Crown Princess of this nation!! The next Emperor! The Crown Princess! Got it?!! I’m fundamentally different from someone like you!!”

“That’s a relief. I’d be so upset if I had the same roots as a thug like you.”

“Did you just insult my ancestors? Huh? Did you?!”

 

Seorae kept chattering even though she had no energy.

The more she did, the more her stomach sent stronger signals.

 

And so, another 8 hours passed…

It had been a full 24 hours since she was hung from the ceiling.

Now, she was tired and just hung there quietly, doing nothing except occasionally glancing at the food.

 

Perhaps that’s why,

Mayo deliberately started provoking her.

 

“Have you repented now?”

“…”

 

Seorae raised her head.

Her gaunt face looked pitiful, but on the other hand, I thought it was remarkable in many ways that she was still so spiteful.

 

“Etiquette is really important. The reason humans are different from animals is because they can show respect.”

“…What a load of bullshit.”

“That’s why you were abandoned. Don’t you know that etiquette makes a person?”

“Shut up and let me down.”

“Looking at your condition, you’ll have to hang there for two more days.”

“You fucking bitch!”

“Your language lacks dignity too.”

 

Mayo started writing something on a cloth.

 

‘Etiquette makes a person.’

 

After writing that short sentence, she used it to gag Seorae.

 

“Oop! Oop!”

 

Of course, she struggles, but it’s not enough.

 

Mayo, who had gagged her, wore an evil smile.

 

“Engrave it in your heart. If your first action lacks dignity, that’s the kind of person you become. Everyone is made by the perception of others, and perception depends on first impressions, so etiquette makes a person. You have too little etiquette. That’s why you’re treated like a thug, and you’re becoming a thug.”

 

Mayo said that, but there’s no way Seorae, who was filled with spite, would listen to her properly.

 

In the end, Seorae ignored her teachings every time and was only released on the night of the third day.

 

Immediately after that, she devoured the food Mayo gave her to fill her stomach and then charged at her again.

Of course, she was easily subdued.

 

Seeing her with not even a speck of remorse, Mayo devised another punishment.

 

“Do you think you can live well like this?!! If I become Emperor, you’re finished!!”

 

Seorae raged.

But Mayo didn’t budge.

 

“You don’t understand. The fact that you’ve been entrusted to me means you’ve reached the very bottom. Why do you think His Majesty suddenly sent you to the field of education? He’s giving you one last chance.”

“Shut up!”

“I have nothing to fear. If you continue to live a life where you don’t catch His Majesty’s eye, you won’t become Emperor, and if you’re pushed out like that, you’re as good as dead. At best, you’ll marry into another country.

If you come to your senses and become a person, you’ll be grateful to me, so either way, I’m safe. Of course, His Majesty will protect me too.”

“Eek!”

 

Seorae didn’t listen at all.

She thought it was all bullshit.

 

I’m already the Crown Princess, and everyone thinks I’m the next Emperor, so what’s with this last chance?

 

She used every means to escape from this place.

 

She tried to run away secretly dozens of times, and she even managed to send letters to the Imperial Palace.

Then she would get caught and receive humiliating punishments, and she would do miscellaneous tasks that even maids would do.

 

 

 

Like that, several weeks passed.

 

She barely understood.

That thing that Mayo had been saying all along, ‘last chance.’

 

‘They know. Mother also knows. That I’m being treated like this trash!’

 

No, they must have known from the beginning when they sent me.

That’s why they sent all the soldiers and maids back.

 

Status is given by heaven.

At least, the Empire teaches and believes that.

In that situation, they can’t expose to the people that a princess like heaven is being treated roughly by a woman from a commoner background, even if she is a teacher.

 

That’s why she was left alone, and for the first time in her life, she’s being treated like dirt.

 

There, she realized.

That status is not given by heaven.

 

Status is just created by humans. To make governing easier.

If it was given from heaven, it should be protecting her now.

And it should be punishing that rude commoner bitch.

 

But after several weeks, there’s nothing like that.

Even if I look with a magnifying glass, there’s nothing.

 

That’s why status is created by humans.

And that status created by humans is protected by some overwhelming power.

 

Sometimes it can be military power, and sometimes it can be social norms.

Even she, who believed that the sky would fall the moment the class system collapsed, wasn’t she betrayed in a big way?

Common sense, which she had taken for granted, was also one of the forces that maintained status.

 

“There’s nothing natural in this world. Why should you be respected? Why are you higher than me? Are you better at martial arts than me, or better at cooking, or do you know more? You’re nothing. What’s supporting you, who is nothing?”

 

This was an opportunity.

The last chance.

 

The Emperor wanted Seorae to become a person.

And furthermore, he wanted her to have the dignity of a member of the Imperial Family.

 

If she can’t do that, he’ll give up hope this time and abandon her.

Seorae barely understood.

 

“Everyone knows the injustice of status deep down. When an unbearable stimulus comes, it explodes. So what should you do?”

“…”

“Etiquette. Dignity. You have to show that ‘I am different from you.’ The first thing is dignity. Straighten your shoulders, straighten your back, walk differently, and when others eat comfortably, you hold a fork and knife and cut it with dignity. Draw a line. ‘I am born different from you.’ Don’t just say it with words, show it with actions. ‘We look similar, we’re the same race, we eat three meals a day, and we have to sleep at night, so why should I serve that bitch?’ Don’t leave such questions.

Do you understand? You’re nothing. If you stab you, the same red blood flows. So act like you’re something. So you don’t get stabbed.”