The scarred princess's second chance - Chapter 1
I was born Lilysia of the Bartoloy family, the head ducal house of this Lanzal Kingdom.
And, I was the consort of the second prince of this country, Prince Harold.
I was betrothed to Prince Harold, who was one year my senior, through political machinations when I was six years old, and at the age of seven, on my way to the royal palace to receive an education as the prince’s consort, I was kidnapped and injured. I heard later that the ringleaders were a group calling themselves the anti-monarchist faction, but the organization had already been punished.
When I was kidnapped, I was injured on my face and limbs so that I wouldn’t run away. In particular, the scar on my left cheek was so severe that it still remains a twisted scar, and my limbs sometimes didn’t move properly because my tendons were injured.
And, since the incident was widely publicized, I became known as the scarred princess, and I had no place in society and was treated like a pariah.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Prince Harold told me that he didn’t mind if I had ugly scars, so our engagement wasn’t broken off. Originally, I was on my way to the royal palace to receive an education as the prince’s consort when I was kidnapped. It was considered that the royal family was also responsible. Moreover, since Harold himself was fine with it, it didn’t come to a cancellation of the engagement. My father, the duke, also seems to have agreed to the continuation of the engagement after seeing my ugly scars and thinking that there would be no other takers.
I didn’t talk much to my father. He just grimaced with disgust when he saw the scars on my face. My mother died of heartbreak over the incident. For my father, who had been madly in love with her, I must have seemed like the one who killed her. I became even more distant from my father.
And, I also had an older brother who was twelve years older than me and an older sister who was ten years older than me. However, my sister had already married and was not at home. My brother was also the first prince’s aide and rarely saw my face as he lived mostly by the prince’s side. Honestly, the two of them were so much older than me that I had never really talked to them.
Moreover, the kidnapping incident was so traumatic that I still can’t remember the details. It seems like something that happened to someone else, but the ugly scars on my face and feet tell me that it was real.
And, honestly, I don’t remember much about the time before that either. I still have no memory of about a year before and after the incident. I was told by a doctor that I had lost my memory due to the shock of the incident.
After about a year and a half of convalescence at home, I began living in the private room in the royal palace that had been given to the ducal family. It was because the security was the best in the royal palace.
In that life, I was assigned a royal maid, but I was only taken care of the bare minimum. Looking back, I think I wasn’t even given proper guards, even though I was the prince’s consort. Still, I was raised by the adults around me to be grateful that the prince would accept me, even though I was a scarred princess.
Because of those days, I gradually started to hang my head so that my face and figure wouldn’t be seen, and I stopped raising my face, and I tried to avoid leaving my room in the royal palace as much as possible.
Every day, I would go to the room where I would receive my education in the royal palace with the prince’s escort and attendants who came to pick me up, along with the prince, and receive my education.
I was rumored to have terrible scars in various places, and as the years passed, I was openly scorned by Prince Harold, who was my fiancé.
“Aaah, no one would want a wretched person like you with such terrible scars, so I, the gracious prince, will take you in. Be grateful.”
“Yes. Prince Harold.”
“Hmph. You’re still as pathetic as ever.”
“Yes. I apologize. Prince Harold.”
“Well, it’s good enough if you respect me.”
I was told by Prince Harold to obey him submissively, no matter what he said. If I talked back, I would be beaten mercilessly. The prince was a year older than me and still a child, but it still hurt when I was beaten, so I had no choice but to obey him submissively.
The reason my figure was pathetic was because I wasn’t taken care of by the maids. I didn’t have many dresses, and I had to put them on myself. When I asked the royal maids to wash my face and body, they wouldn’t give me hot water, so I had no choice but to go to the well and wash myself with water. That’s why my hair was frizzy and my skin was dry. I asked many times to return to the ducal family, but I was not allowed.
I also couldn’t eat much, since I ate with the princes.
“What? Are you not going to eat anymore?”
“Yes. My stomach is already full…”
“Hmph. Do as you like.”
And, before I knew it, there were even rumors that I didn’t like the food made by the royal chefs and that I didn’t eat it. After that, things that looked like bugs or weeds were occasionally put in my food. My appetite dwindled even more.
When I looked at the cold-hearted servants in the royal palace, I thought back to my own maid in the ducal family. My maid had protected me with her own body and was killed when I was kidnapped. I don’t remember that time either. It must have been too shocking. I don’t remember much about the kidnapping incident. However, I did remember that the person who had always taken care of me so kindly was gone.