‘But how am I supposed to make her a princess?’
The answer was nowhere in sight.
Minseo, or rather, Leo, had gained a general understanding of this world.
It was a vast continent home to seven kingdoms.
To the north lay the Astin & Aster Kingdom, to the west the Jerom Holy Kingdom, in the center the Bellita Kingdom, to the east the Isel Kingdom, and to the south, the Conrad Kingdom and the Ohrun Kingdom, to which this village belonged.
He tried to gauge the continent's size. It took two months by horse to reach the capital of the Bellita Kingdom (Orville), located in the continent's center, and a week to reach the southern sea from here.
‘Five months to cross the continent on horseback… Is this China? No, it's much bigger than that. Maybe the combined size of China and Australia?’
He couldn’t help but sigh. Turning this cheerful, chatty girl beside him into a princess seemed like an impossible task.
“Well, I better get going. Enjoy your nap!”
With a final wave, Lena turned and left. Leo watched her go, his chin resting on his hand as he sank into thought.
His body felt heavy, drained of energy.
Lena, with no family name, was a commoner. To make her a princess, she needed to marry a prince, but a marriage between a commoner and a royal was the stuff of fairy tales.
In this rigid society, he’d be lucky if there wasn’t a law explicitly prohibiting marriage between nobles and commoners.
Moreover, Demos Village was far too remote. Not even the lord who governed this region paid any attention to it. As long as taxes were paid on time, no one of high standing ever graced the village with their presence.
‘Princess Maker was such an easy game…’
Princess Maker was set in the capital.
That alone made things significantly easier, but on top of that, the protagonist had access to the royal palace once a month.
The king, queen, ministers, and generals all seemed to have nothing better to do than entertain a little girl and lend her their ears. It was all thanks to her father, a legendary hero who saved humanity, but still, it was incredibly convenient.
In essence, Princess Maker started with no hurdles of social status or location.
All you had to do was raise your daughter well.
Moreover, if you visited the royal palace every January, you could even go on a secret date with a hidden prince.
‘And here I am, stuck in this mess.’
Leo remained on his bed, staring out the open window.
He had to work every single day.
It wasn’t that they were struggling to make ends meet like Lena’s family. His father was a skilled hunter, ensuring they never went hungry.
Still, it wasn’t an environment where he could afford to be idle. Every day, he had to join the other village youths or Lena for work, and his father insisted he continue learning how to hunt.
Leo shifted uncomfortably. ‘I’m busy enough trying to live my own life, and now I have to turn Lena into a princess?’
There was no way to control her actions. In Princess Maker, his daughter mostly did as she was told, as long as she didn’t turn rebellious. But Lena, well, she sometimes just stuck her tongue out and went her own way.
How could he possibly take her to the capital, where princes resided?
Even reaching the closest city, Nebis, the capital of the Ohrun Kingdom, would take two weeks on horseback. He had neither the strength, the money, nor the justification to escort and protect her on such a journey.
Time was also working against him.
He and Lena were the same age, in their mid-teens, and would reach adulthood next year. To marry her off to a prince, they would be pushing it even if she married in her late teens. In this world, even the late teens were considered cutting it close for marriage.
On the other hand, Princess Maker started when the daughter was ten and ended with her marriage at eighteen. You had eight years to raise her and prepare for her marriage. Here? Not so much. Lena was practically eligible for marriage right now.
Not to mention the expectant gazes of her parents. They were poor, so becoming a priestess was a long shot for their daughter. As parents, they couldn’t bring themselves to crush her dream, so they were practically begging him, her childhood friend, to create a “situation.”
It was understandable. Leo and Lena were already considered the official couple of the village, even if no one mentioned it out of respect for Lena’s aspirations.
A gentle breeze drifted through the window, caressing Leo’s face. He stretched lazily and muttered to himself, “Should I just stay here? Live a peaceful life in this village…”
He wasn’t even sure if making Lena a princess would guarantee his return to his own world. And this place was far from being a game.
His memories of his parents, Chaeha, and modern civilization were fading, becoming fragmented and distant. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to go back to that hectic world.
And, to be a little selfish, Lena was beautiful.
The villagers often warned her to be careful, lest some nobleman take notice and snatch her away as a concubine.
He was her close childhood friend, and everyone expected them to marry.
‘I really am blessed.’
Besides, the previous Leo had aspired to be a skilled hunter, just like his father.
Such a simple dream, devoid of despair. Just like his current predicament of turning Lena into a princess, grand ambitions often came hand in hand with crushing disappointment.
He settled back on his pillow, his arms tucked behind his head.
‘Alright. I’ll stay here.’
With that simple decision, Leo drifted off to sleep, his heart at peace in the tranquility of Demos Village.
***
Lena woke with the first light of dawn, her eyes snapping open.
The world outside was still shrouded in darkness, but she sprang out of bed, dressed quickly, and tiptoed out of the house, careful not to wake her parents.
The morning air was crisp and cool.
The chirping of crickets signaled the approaching autumn.
Lena made her way to their small vegetable garden.
She had woken up far too early, leaving her with time to spare.
‘Might as well pull some weeds.’
If she finished quickly, her mother would probably have breakfast ready by the time she returned.
Reaching their meager plot, barely more than a few rows, Lena bent down to begin weeding, but a wave of sadness washed over her as she looked at the small, dimly lit garden.
They didn’t even have a proper yard, forcing them to cultivate this tiny patch outside the village.
‘I… I should probably give up on becoming a priestess.’
To pursue her dream, she needed to study at the Grand Cathedral in the Holy Kingdom, but she couldn’t even afford the journey, let alone the tuition.
‘If I were a boy, I would have just… No, even then it wouldn’t be easy.’
This world was fraught with dangers for solo travelers, especially those without proper training or protection. Bandits, robbers, hostile villagers, city thugs—even men were advised to write their wills before embarking on such journeys alone, unless they were knights or paladins.
As a teenage girl, she was practically trapped in this village.
Lena sniffled, tears welling up in her eyes.
‘Making excuses when I’m not even trying… Pathetic.’
She worked hard on weekdays and spent her weekends studying at the church, but even Lena had to admit it wasn’t anything extraordinary.
In reality, there was a bit of time left after her work on weekdays, before sunset. She couldn’t stay at the church too late, having to be mindful of the candles, but she could have squeezed in a page or two before it got dark.
Yet, she always found herself rushing back home, using fatigue as an excuse. And she hated herself for it.
A tear slipped down her cheek and landed on the ground.
‘Why am I crying? It’s not like I’ve done anything praiseworthy.’
Wiping her tears, Lena dug her fingers into the earth, the first rays of dawn illuminating the garden. She tossed the uprooted weeds into a pit, burying them along with her regrets.
She had work to do.