NRAL | Chapter 01

Chapter 01

 The Princess of Astria

In the quiet dawn of the mansion, a faint moan could be heard from somewhere.

A woman with skin as white as marble stepped into the cold night air, as if in a trance, following the sound.

The closer she got to the promised meeting place, the clearer the sounds became.

Heavy breaths, teasing laughter, low whispers… unsettling noises that gradually grew louder.

Finally, the woman stopped in front of a large door.

The door was slightly open, almost as if it were inviting her in.

Slowly, she leaned her head towards the gap, peering inside. A wave of heat brushed against her eyelashes for a moment, and then her view cleared.

In the darkness, a candle flickered, casting slow-moving shadows that seemed to conceal secrets. The faint light fell on a bed, revealing a man and a woman in disheveled clothing.

Faces she knew all too well.

“Mmm, that tickles. Stop it, Your Highness. You always act like a saint in front of the lady, but with me, you never know when to stop. Haven’t you had enough already?”

The voice belonged to a maid she treasured dearly, the one who’d been by her side for seven years. But hearing her now, through the door, the voice felt unfamiliar.

And beside her…

“Well, that’s because you’re just too beautiful. How could you even compare her to you? She’s skinny like a beggar off the streets, not even worth touching. But you, you’re soft and sweet and just so lovable.”

Her fiancé was lying there. Half-naked, no less.

“Gasp…”

The woman raised her hand quickly to cover her mouth. She nearly let out a sound.

Unable to keep watching, she lowered her gaze and saw the dress that had slipped off the bed.

It glittered with gold dust, excessively beautiful and extravagant.

It wasn’t unfamiliar. She suddenly remembered the head maid complaining that the dress had been made too big, even though the measurements had been taken perfectly.

“Just one more time, okay? My beautiful Eleanor.”

Thud. It felt like her heart had dropped to the floor.

It was hers.

The fancy dress, the fiancé whispering sweet words… even the name “Eleanor.”

‘They were all mine.’

She raised her head again to look at the couple. At that moment, the maid’s eyes met hers through the gap in the door.

The maid, wide-eyed, looked at her and smiled—a deep, knowing smile.

Dressed in the woman’s clothes, lying with her fiancé, and even taking her name, the maid smiled with such joy.

Her red-painted lips moved slowly as if to deliver a silent message.

“I’m the ‘real’ one now.”

Everything you had is now mine. I’ll take your whole life. Her glowing violet eyes said it all.

Facing this, the woman turned away without a word.

Then she started running. Not caring about anything around her, she ran like someone possessed.

Tap, tap, tap!

Her hurried footsteps echoed down the long hallway as her light blonde hair fluttered under the moonlight.

Her heart pounded wildly, and she struggled to breathe. Her slender hand still covered her mouth.

She ran until it felt like her body was about to burst, and finally, she pulled her hand away from her mouth. The emotions she had been suppressing came spilling out.

“Puh-haha!”

It was… joy.

The ecstatic joy of someone who had finally gotten what they had been waiting for all their life.

“Ahaha! Aha!”

She gave up trying to hide her face and opened her mouth wide, laughing.

Running down the hallway, laughing loudly, she looked almost like a madwoman.

Her blurred vision began to fill with memories.

She saw herself slowly dying day by day in this mansion, and a young child crying out, twisting in pain, begging to be saved.

“Eleanor Astria!”

With every step she took, the ghosts of her past called out her name. Her father, her fiancé, and even the servants of the duchy were all there.

But she ignored them all and kept running.

“Finally…”

The woman reached a distant terrace and clutched the white railing.

Kneeling on the cold ground, she tilted her head back. Her violet eyes reflected the full moon, now filled with satisfaction.

Gripping the crafted bars of the railings, she whispered in a hoarse voice.

“Finally, I’m escaping this hell!”

***

Seven years ago, on the day Eleanor rescued a child around her age from the slums.

“I’ll definitely repay this favor, my lady!”

The thin, malnourished girl with a filthy, grimy face made that declaration. She swore to repay the debt of having her life saved, even if it took her entire lifetime.

But what could a poor, skinny child from the slums possibly do? In a world like this, even repaying a favor requires some skill. Especially if the person you owed was a lady second in status only to the Empress herself.

Eleanor Astria, the empire’s only princess and the perfect fiancée of the second prince.

What could someone like her need from a slum girl?

But Eleanor didn’t seem to think that way. Instead, she stared intently at the girl’s round eyes as if impressed.

The girl’s violet eyes were similar to her own. Her small nose, plump lips, and rough hair all reminded Eleanor of someone.

Someone who had been kind to her when she lived in a place as desolate as this before she returned to the duke’s mansion.

The girl standing before her resembled her savior.

“…What’s your name?”

“N-Nora!”

“And how old are you?”

“Fifteen…”

“Same as me, then.”

The girl resembled Eleanor in more ways than one. Though their appearances were different, their hair color and eye color were similar.  The girl’s small and frail frame, likely due to malnutrition, reminded Eleanor of her younger self.

Maybe that’s why the walls she had built around her heart started to crack.

“Nora, come with me.”

Ignoring the protests from those around her, Eleanor took Nora to the duchy.

The Duke of Astria was hesitant to bring a child of unknown origin into the mansion, but he eventually gave in to his usually obedient daughter’s first show of stubbornness.

Of course, it wasn’t without a price.

Eleanor had to take more lessons and handle more responsibilities in exchange for keeping Nora by her side. Her schedule was so packed that even an adult would struggle to keep up with it.

Still, Eleanor never regretted it. Nora’s presence was the only thing that allowed her to breathe in the suffocating mansion.

When her father’s strict rules bound her limbs, When her younger brother’s nagging stabbed at her, and when the servants’ expectations choked her, Nora’s innocent chatter about the delicious dessert she had that day helped Eleanor feel at ease.

Nora was the only one who didn’t belong to the Astria family. The face of Eleanor’s benefactor appeared over Nora’s, giving Eleanor the strength to survive each day.

In just under a year, Nora became the person closest to Eleanor.

She managed Eleanor’s jewelry, picked out her dresses, and helped her get ready. Nora handled everything because Eleanor never brought in any other maid.

Although the other servants didn’t like that someone of such low birth had risen to the position of head maid, they didn’t dare show it. Eleanor was kinder than any other lady from any noble house.

Nora was a young lady, and because she was someone the young lady especially cherished, even the servants who were usually strict with everyone else were more lenient with Nora.

Fortunately, as time passed, Nora slowly improved her lack of skills. However, there was one flaw that never seemed to change: her excessively clueless mouth.

“My lady, did you really live in the Marylebone workhouse before?”

It was a question that everyone was curious about but would never dare ask, yet it slipped out of Nora’s mouth.

If the head housemaid had been here, she would have gasped in horror and screamed. Or she might have run straight to the Duke to demand that this impudent girl be punished.

Fortunately, it was just Eleanor and Nora in the room. Even Nora, who lacked tact, had enough sense to know this wasn’t something to ask in front of others. It would have been better if she hadn’t asked at all, but…

Eleanor stared at Nora without changing her expression.

Nora’s face, now fuller and rounder from eating well, didn’t show any malice—just an innocent curiosity.

Eleanor didn’t like to bring up that part of her past. But for some reason, she felt like she should tell Nora. Perhaps it was because Nora reminded her of the person who had saved her.

“Yes, it’s true.”

The Marylebone Poorhouse. A notorious facility for the poor in the far north of the capital. It was a place infamous for its terrible conditions and hunger, like something out of a forced labor camp.

Eleanor, the noble daughter of the prestigious Astria family, had spent her childhood there.

It was already a well-known story in high society.

More than ten years ago, on the day of the wedding of the Duke of Astria’s brother-in-law, Alcestis, a collapse of the Parthis Cathedral killed many high-ranking officials, including the former Pope. The Duchess, who had attended with her five-year-old daughter, also perished there, and the Alcestis family was ruined.

But there was one noble person whose body was never found among the ruins—Eleanor Astria. Despite this, the Duke of Astria did not give up and searched for his daughter for years.

Finally, seven years later, she was discovered at the Marylebone Poorhouse, alive when everyone had thought her dead. It was truly a story like something from a novel.

“Wow, it was true! The Marylebone Poorhouse, that’s even more infamous than the Tolkan slums where I used to live… You must have had it so hard, Miss.”

“It’s fine. There was nothing to worry about. I had good people around me.”

Eleanor was about to share a little more about the person who had saved her—how someone who resembled Nora had raised and cared for her, which is how she managed to survive.

But she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Nora’s expression had suddenly darkened, as if she’d just heard something unpleasant.

Before Eleanor could express her confusion, Nora quickly continued with her questioning, as if nothing had happened.

“But how did the Duke recognize you and take you in right away? You were only five when you were separated, and after living in the poorhouse, your face must have changed a lot.”

Eleanor’s long lashes fluttered silently.

This part was not widely known. Aside from a few close friends, no one else knew.

‘Is it okay to tell this to her?’

Normally, Eleanor wouldn’t have opened up. But a bit of carelessness and the memory of the person who had saved her made her lower her guard.

“Because of the scar.”

“A scar…?”

Nora’s gaze audaciously fell to Eleanor’s thighs.

The young lady Eleanor served was so modest that she was extremely reluctant to show any bare skin, even to her maids. She even refused help with bathing and changing clothes.

Nora, curious about the reason behind this, had taken the chance to look over Eleanor’s body while she was fitting a dress. And she found it—a rose-shaped scar that seemed out of place for someone of Eleanor’s noble status.

Eleanor had explained that the scar had been caused when she was two years old by a servant’s mistake. The hot soup had splashed onto her thigh, leaving a burn.

Eleanor couldn’t remember much about her life before the accident, but the Duke of Astria had been able to find her thanks to that scar.

A girl with bright blonde hair and purple eyes like Eleanor was rare, but they still existed, like Nora. But the scar was unique to Eleanor.

“Wow… It’s like a story from a novel. That’s so romantic! You must be so happy, Miss, to be the heroine of such a tale!”

“If you say so, then I guess that’s what it is.”

Looking at Nora, who was getting overly excited, Eleanor muttered in a low voice, her tone indifferent as if it had nothing to do with her.

Their conversation ended when Eleanor’s music teacher arrived.

But even after that, Nora often asked bold questions whenever they were alone.

Did Eleanor really have no memories before she was five? What exactly caused the scar? What was she like before the accident?

Eleanor usually kept her answers brief, but sometimes she would answer in a way she had never done with anyone else.

“I sometimes vaguely remember my mother sitting me on her lap and playing the piano for me. It’s a very faint memory, but it still comes to mind sometimes. This is something I’m telling you, just you.”

“Really? Why haven’t you told the Duke about this…?”

“Well, it’s such a blurry memory…”

At Eleanor’s words, Nora showed an expression of deep emotion. She seemed very happy to have been entrusted with such a secret, feeling special.

After that, Nora served Eleanor with all her heart. She followed her wherever she went, even giving up her free time to work when Eleanor wasn’t feeling well.

Eleanor appreciated Nora’s kindness and took good care of her. She shared fancy snacks, secretly gave her allowance, and allowed her to use her free time however she wanted.

Sometimes, she would sneak her some jewelry that she didn’t wear much.

“It suits you better.”

“Thank you, Miss!”

When Nora would jump into Eleanor’s arms and say, “I belong to you, only to you,” a small smile would spread across Eleanor’s face.

‘If I had a sister, this is probably what it would feel like.’

Though they were the same age, Eleanor considered Nora like her younger sister.

So, even as Nora began to look more and more like her, with bright blonde hair that shimmered and pale skin that carried her scent, Eleanor just found it cute, like a younger sister following her older sister’s example.

As time passed, both Eleanor and Nora reached adulthood.

Nora, who had grown up enjoying the privileges of being Eleanor’s aide, became even more beautiful. Her curves, smooth skin, and fine hair were all features more fitting for a lady of high status than a servant from the slums.

When Nora fluttered her long lashes and her big eyes sparkled, the servants would rush to take over her work. Sometimes, even Eleanor’s acquaintances took an interest in her.

But Nora didn’t pay any attention to the men’s attention.

Her interest was elsewhere.

“My Lady, when we go to see His Highness the Crown Prince, don’t wear those earrings; wear these instead. His Highness prefers gold jewelry.”