Kingdom of Emelis
"Aren't princesses supposed to just sleep and eat?!" Caroline asked, panicking.
"That is not true, my lady!"
"Then isn't studying etiquette until evening and memorizing 10 poems a week excessive?!" Caroline tried to defend herself. But the servant in front of her shook her head calmly.
"My lady, that is the basic standard for noble education. It is not excessive at all."
Caroline began pulling at her hair in frustration. What kind of life is this? It wasn't like this in novels! They were only busy with romance, parties and... What will become of my lazy life?!
...
Chirp chirp.
The midday sun blazed mercilessly overhead. On a day like this, a high school girl ought to be taking an afternoon nap, or doing homework with a tall glass of lemonade in hand — not drenched in sweat with dust caked into her clothes. Apparently, not everyone gets to be that lucky.
"Heuukh..." In one swift motion, a girl hoisted a sack of cement onto her shoulder. Her frame was not large — quite lean, even — but don't let that fool you, because she was surprisingly strong.
"Come on, lift faster! Don't let a girl show you up — she's carrying two sacks at once!" The shop owner barked orders at the other workers. The girl picked up her pace, hauling sack after sack and loading them into the black delivery truck waiting out back until the cargo bed was full.
The girl — tall and slender as a model — wiped the sweat from her brow, then lifted another sack of cement and strolled casually past the other workers who were already doubled over with exhaustion. That was just one of the many part-time jobs she juggled alongside being a student.
Beep... beep... Krrrt...
Now she wore a blue vest, scanning groceries at a checkout counter and bagging them in plastic. "Your total comes to 67 dollars!" she announced, then received a 100-dollar bill in return.
"Your change is 33 dollars — would you like to donate it?" she asked with a bright smile. The male customer in front of her furrowed his brow.
"Donate to who?"
"To me."
By late afternoon, the girl stood stationed outside a tutoring center, greeting every child who walked past with a charming smile.
"Oh my, little one... your fortune looks wonderful — a handsome boyfriend awaits you in the future." She declared this with great enthusiasm.
"Now, if you'd like a reading on your financial future, that'll be an extra 30 dollars." She extended her hand expectantly.
"I only have two dollars!"
"...That works too."
Those three jobs were just a fraction of what she did on any given day. After school or on days off, she filled nearly every hour with part-time work. Sometimes she washed dishes at a restaurant, sometimes she delivered food. On days when nothing else was available, she'd dress in ragged clothes and go begging on the street.
Grab—!
"Sir... have mercy, sir... cough... cough, blegh..."
"AH! What — let go of my leg!"
"Sir... sir... have mer—"
"Help! Someone help!"
Her name was Caroline Etham. She was about to enter high school, which meant she needed a considerable sum of money for enrollment fees, uniforms, and annual tuition. Ever since her father hanged himself after her mother's affair, she had nothing and no one left — only the small house he'd left behind.
The savings her father had left behind when he passed away at the start of her middle school years were long gone, barely enough to cover a year's worth of tuition and food. And so, still so young, she had taken it upon herself to work job after job every day after school. All of it just so she could stay enrolled, and live something resembling a normal life like other kids her age.
After two full years of this, Caroline — who had once thrown herself into work with fierce determination — was beginning to feel the weight of it all. The relentless grind of her daily life had slowly started to feel suffocating. She was tired. She found herself wondering why she had to do all of this, when other kids her age only had to worry about studying and having fun.
But... this lousy world gave her no other choice! Even after working every single day, she still wasn't rich. Caroline stared at her tuition bill, then at her bank balance, and sighed.
"Huff... why is tuition so expensive? Do I have to start splitting my instant noodles in half again?" Caroline muttered, scratching her head, half-convinced she was about to go completely broke.
"Arms out! We're stretching before the hundred-meter dash." In this heat, being made to exercise under the blazing sun felt like a form of torture.
Crack...
Caroline felt her lower back ache and pop as she bent sideways. She froze in quiet panic, carefully trying to straighten up. After working overtime like a horse moving shop inventory last night, she was fairly certain her bones were about to crumble to dust.
"On the count of three, you start running!" called the teacher, whistle hanging around her neck.
"One... two... three!!"
Tweet—!!
"Ma'am, Caroline ran inside the building!"
...
At school, in the cafeteria
"You're so skinny, but you eat like you haven't seen food in weeks!" A girl — Caroline's classmate and closest friend — stared in disbelief at the mountain of rice and side dishes piled on Caroline's tray.
"I need to eat a lot to have energy! After school I have to work at the offal restaurant near my house." Caroline stuffed an enormous spoonful of rice into her mouth until her cheeks puffed out, then chewed with great effort.
"You poor thing — you're even busier than my dad." The girl looked at Caroline with quiet sympathy, then cut her breaded pork cutlet in half and slid a piece onto Caroline's tray.
"Eat up!" she said.
"Hwankyou..."
...
Drip...
Squelch...
Inside a kitchen thick with the stench of raw innards — buckets upon buckets of beef tripe lined the walls — Caroline had come straight from school to work her shift at Uncle Sam's offal and meat restaurant. She pressed a cloth over her nose, fighting back the urge to gag as she cleaned tripe and intestines that, to her, smelled unmistakably like rotting filth.
"Here's your pay for today. Go home and rest."
"Thank you so much, Uncle!" Caroline bowed respectfully and accepted the envelope. Today had been exhausting. She just wanted to go home and rest — even just for a little while. After that, there were still more part-time shifts waiting for her.
She dragged herself home, shuffling weakly through the door of the small two-bedroom house her father had left her. She had long since moved into her parents' old room — the bigger one — and turned her childhood bedroom into storage for her late father's belongings and whatever her awful mother had left behind.
She switched on the light, then threw herself onto the bed and slowly let her eyes fall shut. Just a short rest. That was all she needed. She shifted around trying to get comfortable — just half an hour, she told herself, then she'd get up and head to her next shift.
"I'm hungry~" she mumbled faintly.
Things had not gone according to her plan. For the past two days, Caroline had not been able to bring herself to lift her body off the mattress — not even to eat. Her bosses called. Her teachers called. She switched her phone to silent and went back to sleep. For some reason, she was unbearably, impossibly sleepy...
Two full years of this. School in the morning, work from afternoon until night, money scraped together day by day. But honestly — why was she even doing this? Even if she finished school, what did that guarantee? Would all these years of hard work actually pay off someday? Though... quitting now would just feel pathetic.
Caroline opened a novel app on her phone. Stories about nobles and wealthy young ladies sat at the top of the trending charts. Why couldn't she have that? She had to work herself to the bone just to eat, while the heroines in those stories sat perfectly still while servants attended to their every need without them ever having to lift a finger.
"If only I were a noble's daughter... I wouldn't have to suffer like this, would I?" Caroline whispered, setting her phone down.
"Ah, I'm out of antacids..." She reached into the bedside drawer and found it empty. Caroline clutched her stomach. She hadn't eaten in two days. If she wanted to live, she needed to eat — that much was obvious, wasn't it? Somehow she'd forgotten that simple fact. There was no one around to remind her. If only her father were still alive, surely her life would be better than this, wouldn't it?
In that stuffy, quiet room... Caroline Etham breathed her last. She had a little money. She just couldn't bring herself to move. And so she died — alone, from hunger.
...
"My lady... my lady, please wake up! Your bath is ready..."
The air felt strange. Cold. Caroline was certain her cramped little room had always been stuffy and warm. But now she felt chilled to the bone, as if her whole body had been submerged in water.
"My lady..."
Hm... did I fall asleep with a drama playing? I should get up and turn off my phone — my data's going to run out.
"My lady, your towel!" Caroline's eyes flew open as someone abruptly lifted her out of... somewhere... and wrapped a towel around her. What was happening? Who were these people in servant uniforms? Without hesitation, they began drying her hair and dressing her.
Caroline stood frozen, moved around like a doll while they busied themselves selecting jewelry and arranging accessories on her head.
"And for the final step — makeup."
"WHAT!!" Caroline cried out in shock.
"G-Goodness!! My lady, what's wrong?!" the servant yelped, startled.
Caroline grabbed her own face and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Was this... herself? She was immaculate. Beautiful. Utterly unrecognizable from the grimy, exhausted girl she'd always been. No — this was impossible! This had to be a dream.
She pinched her shoulder hard — and yelped in pain. The servants stared, utterly bewildered. But Caroline broke into a wide, radiant grin.
God actually answered my prayers?
Oh Lord, you are far too kind...
"Khii.. khii.. khii.. khiii..!!"
"Is the young lady possessed?! Someone fetch the exorcist — quickly!!"
Caroline gazed at her reflection in the mirror, still smiling. The servants scrambled backward in unison, stretching their lips into awkward, uncertain smiles. In their hearts, they had already decided: if she started crawling on the ceiling, they were gone.
"My lady...?" One of them spoke softly, stepping one careful pace forward. She looked terrified, but was doing her best — with one foot already angled toward the exit.
"I'm okay." Caroline said, running her fingers through her hair. She composed herself, adjusted her posture — looked into the mirror and said,
"You may continue!" she said calmly. still not looking away from the mirror. The servants edged forward with great caution — making sure she was not, in fact, possessed. Only when they were absolutely certain did they begin fixing her hair and applying her makeup.
"Are you quite sure she won't be flying to the ceiling?" one servant whispered to another.
"Shh—!"