Yotogi No Kuni No Gekkouhime Chapter 2

Selene Aquila has the memories from her past life, although there isn't much to be mentioned about them. He was born in j.a.pan and didn't have much going for him in terms of skills, at best, the fact that he was a man in his previous life would be important. Those things are irrelevant though, the unchangeable fact is that right here, right now, the one standing in this world is Selene Aquila, and no one else.

Soon after being born in the Aquila Kingdom, Selene was certain that the memories from her past would come in handy soon enough. In reality, though, rather than being useful, they were nothing but a burden, to be pretty blunt. After spending eight years in a female body, the physical unease was pretty much gone but the problem was the psychological side.

From the moment she was born, to Selene who had the memories from her past life, her mother was "An unknown old woman who is my blood relative" and thus since she didn't really know how to interact with, she kept her distance.

At the beginning, since she didn't know the situation she was in, she decided to be as apologetic as possible, and so, whenever she did something wrong, she would prostrate herself in front of whoever was scolding her. Problem was that, by doing so, people started saying that "Whenever she does something wrong she would curl up in a ball and not look in the eyes of those scolding her, not even apologizing for her mistake." and, therefore, it was taken in a bad way every time.

That an action considered by the j.a.panese to be the utmost expression of regret was considered in this world to be something odd/unnatural would take her quite some time to realize.

When it came to language, for Selene, it was a serious problem. After spending six years learning English and barely managing to keep her scores over the pa.s.sing grade, the language of a different world was as close to talking to aliens as it gets for her. And when the opportunities to interact with someone were as few as they were, obviously, the times to practice it were also few and apart. After eight years of hard labor, she somehow made it to the point where she could understand when someone talked to her, but having to translate the words she wanted to say inside her head first, and not having many opportunities to put such a skill to practice in real conversation, made it so at this point, she could only talk like an infant that just learnt their first words.

For all of this, even though Selene is a Princess, she became a captive. But, if you were to ask her if the memories from her past were a curse to her, the answer would be Nay. For Selene, the vestiges from her past world were a blessing at the same time.

If she didn't have her previous life's memories, if she were truly just a child, she probably wouldn't have been able to endure the hards.h.i.+ps she's faced without going insane in the process. For Selene, whose past life was that of a Hikikomori [1], her current lifestyle is actually a pretty comfortable situation for her.

Maybe for a n.o.ble this kind of lifestyle was filthy and uncomfortable, but compared to her previous life in a small lone room of an apartment building, filled with garbage, this room was way bigger and cleaner too, not only that, but only by sleeping, she was able to get food three times a day delivered directly to her room. Without the need to ever go out, or even work at all.

To top all that, from time to time, her kind and beautiful elder sister would feel sorry for her and come and visit bringing small presents, such as picture books and sweets, but more importantly, she would always give her a hug enveloping her in that sweet scent and marvelous feeling of her ample chest. For someone that considered Christmas and Valentine to be awful days to have to live through, getting confined actually came with bonuses.

In other words, for Selene, what in this world could only be considered as a h.e.l.lish jail was in reality paradise. Then again, even being the kind of hikikomori that Selene is, spending such a large number of years in an enclosed, dark place by her lonesome would still be a problem. Since Arue coming was basically an escapade, she would only come once every couple days, but that didn't mean Selene was by her lonesome—Extending her hand to the small figure that approached her while crouching she said.

"Come, Butler."

{Yes, did you call for me, Princess?}

The ident.i.ty of the black small figure was that of a small mouse that could just fit into Selene's hand. Enveloped in a glossy black fur except for the area from its neck down to the middle of its abdomen, which was covered by a pure white patch of fur, the mouse looked like it was wearing a natural tuxedo. On the neck of the mouse known as Butler, a red ribbon was tied, which was something Selene had gifted it.

{It is such a shame. Your elder sister is also a beauty of her own, but for someone as lovely as yourself, to not be able to attend the ball is…}

"I don't want to."

While butler was saying such a thing with a rather ominous and upset tone, Selene shook her head without even changing her expression. For someone like her, with an extreme phobia of strangers, going to a social party was something she genuinely didn't want to attend to.

{But Princess, this Butler cannot agree with that after all! Why is it that such a wise and kind person as you has to suffer this kind of treatment? When the rest of the humans only called me a pest, the only one that extended a hand to me was you, my Princess.}

"I, not kind."

In contrast to the overexcited Butler, Selene was as calm as it gets. In reality, their first meeting wasn't anything special at all. When a mouse had fallen for the mouse trap in the corner of the room, Selene had released it, and that was about it.

Trapped in a constricting snare, the trembling figure of the black mouse gave her a sense of kins.h.i.+p, and since she was quite bored, she decided to keep the mouse in secret. That was all there was to it, really.

{The one that saved, gave me strength, and imparted me wisdom, my merciful Princess… Oh, if only I had the strength of a dragon, I would promptly destroy this puny jail that incarcerates you!}

Seeing how silly Butler looked in her palm, holding its hands together in front of its chest like a poet while saying this, Selene couldn't help but smile. Saving its life was one thing, but giving it strength or wisdom was something she had no recollection of. It had happened on its own without her realizing it.

The majority of this world's Kings and their lineage have a special power that's called "Magic". Chanting and being able to send fire arrows, and icicles flying through the air through the use of "Spells" was not really the way it worked though, it instead did things like strengthening the body of its wielder or helped recover from wounds and illnesses faster. Depending on the person the application changed, but the seal that was at her door was one of such "Spells". Since Selene is of royal blood, obviously she has said powers, but she herself isn't aware of that fact.

After sleeping and eating with her, eating her leftovers and essentially being with her all day round, Butler's body started taking in Selene's magic and, after enough time had pa.s.sed, it had become sentient and able to use magic of its own. That's why the day Butler suddenly started to talk she almost got a heart attack, but at this point, Butler has become one of her irreplaceable and important friends.

At one point, the mouse had asked her for a name, so, based on his fur colors, she had named her steward by the name of Butler. From that day onward, Butler has stayed stapled to her side, acting according to the position its name implies that she gave him.

"I'm done with, topic. Want to go, Paradise."

{Oh, you are right! Then we should make hasty preparations. Princess, if you could open the door, please.}

"Okay."

Instead of the iron door, Selene stood in front of the small window to let light s.h.i.+ne into the room. Standing on the tip of her toes, and stretching herself as far as she could, she pushed the poorly cared for window from its windowsill, and slowly but surely, the clear full moon stood on sight.

{Tonight we have a beautiful moon, it is sure to lead the Princess and guide her in her path.}

Butler proceeded to jump from Selene's shoulder, much like an acrobat, while making a squeaking noise, soon, right through the new opening a small horde of mice came into the room. These mice normally resided within the forest just outside the building, and they respected Butler as their leader. Princess Selene's Royal Guard or so Butler always bragged about.

{You guys made sure to clean yourselves before coming in here, didn't you? Not a single hair must be left on the Princess' bed, understood?}

After handing out orders in a clear and resounding voice, the mice gave a response all together and, forming a clear and ordered line, they started jumping into Selene's bed. In a flash, the sheets that Selene was sleeping on until just recently started bulging up, quickly taking the shape of a young girl sleeping in the bed completely covered by the sheets. It is nothing but a mere distraction for when she's not in the room.

"Thanks, taking, my place."

{Understood, please have a good time.}

In this room there are two exits to the outside world. One is the sealed iron door, the other is the small window used for letting light s.h.i.+ne into the room. Even though this is a cheaply made building, the distance from the ground up to the ceiling of the second floor is pretty much an unsalvageable distance to cover, even for an adult, especially for such a young girl as Selene, getting down without any footholds would be pretty much impossible—without footholds, that is.

"Humph…"

Selene pushed her body slightly out of the window, and reaching for a nearby vine, she started pulling it in. Such a strong vine could easily hold the weight of a small child, or rather, of multiple of them, without faltering at all.

The room where Selene was being kept is a strictly secret location to most people, not many are allowed to approach it, and with nothing but a single elderly gardener to take care of the whole place, there weren't enough hands to cover its sheer size. This is why the area around Selene's room hasn't seen any tr.i.m.m.i.n.g for the last recent years, and as such, all the walls surrounding her room were covered by vegetation and thick vines making it a natural ladder for her. It was almost as if the forest's G.o.d was taking pity on this imprisoned child and lending its hand to her.

With the vine's help, she managed to climb out the window, and quickly started to climb down the vine ladder on the other side of the wall. At the start she was rather uncomfortable with the whole ordeal, but soon enough she got used to it, where now she's able to easily climb down without any problems. After a little while, she set foot on the soft gra.s.s around the building, and took a deep breath of the clean air the forest produced.

Since her skin lacked much pigments, the sun was more of a poison than a blessing for her. In contrast, the clear and faint moonlight enveloped and protected her. In a place where no one but she existed, in the dark of the night that so resembled those countries from fables, she was its lone ruler.

After setting foot on the ground, Selene stepped forward, not without first seeing through the trees of the forest the multiple lights that the palace were s.h.i.+ning onto this place and the lively music. It's usually a pretty flashy place, but today of all days that s.h.i.+ne was brighter than ever; more than likely, right in this moment, the party to welcome the so talked of prince was being held in that same palace.

"saint prince…"

Murmuring that, Selene's face scrunched up like she had eaten something bitter while she remembered what she had been told. Over the last few weeks, Arue had told her pretty much everything about this prince. With gorgeous appearance, skilled both in the martial and academic arts and with a t.i.tle as blown out as Prince of the Empire rumor has it everyone in the countryside calls him the "Saint Prince". Apparently, this man has been going around the whole continent in order to find a partner that would suit him.

Every time she hears that talk, Selene's blood starts boiling. With those kinds of specs, he has no need to go out of his way to look for a wife; they would come flocking to him regardless. Being the woman that best understood the feelings of all the unpopular men in the world, Selene clicked her tongue irritated.

"d.a.m.n, saint prince."

More like the Prince of Debauchery. Instead of Saint Prince, he's more than likely the s.e.x Prince. Even though she had never met him once, Selene had already categorized him as such and gotten angry at him on her own.

"Is Elder Sister, alright…?"

Saint Prince, s.e.x Prince, it makes no difference to Selene, but she can't help being worried about her sister. That kind and graceful older princess is so meddlesome, that she's worried she got herself into a bind, into the poisonous fangs of a beast, in order to help her dear little sister.

Then again, there isn't much she can do about this. For Selene, the Prince, the party and all of that is truly just like a castle from an ancient fable, nothing but a feeble dream.

Sighing and shaking her head, Selene cleared her head and her feelings. Better than worry about dreams, it is more important to worry about the real problems at hand. The time where she can move around freely is the period between late night and just before the sun comes up, when no one is looking.    The place she's heading for is the one that she and Butler have been calling "Paradise" for a while. Shaking off her longing feelings, she heads out deep into the forest that she knows so well.

[1] Since there is no real, literal, translation of the word “引きこもり”(Romaji. Hikikomori) that is appropriate to the context and the real meaning of the word in j.a.panese, plus the fact that it has become such a huge topic inside and outside of j.a.pan that the word has gained recognition on par with Tsunami, and Karous.h.i.+, I decided against translating it, as to bring a little bit of light into the problem itself for those that didn't know or weren't interested in looking up the info. If you want to know more in order to understand why it was mentioned in this Chapter? Thing? (I really need to come up with a better name) you can click…

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