At dinner I barely touched my plate. Even though Elvira's food appeared and smelled more appetizing then yesterday, I couldn't force myself to eat it. I was too disgusted at the way I acted towards Doctor Tera and Akano at the clinic, firing lie after lie at them in response to their genuine concern for the Princess. Feeling guilt at my actions isn't enough. After all, I keep feeling bad about it but I continue to do it anyway. In retrospect, all I've been doing since I arrived here was just lie, lie, and lie again.

 

"How long can I keep doing this?"

 

The question fixated itself in my head as I used a fork and started to play around with the peas on my plate, stabbing each one that I could find. I'm sure that I would've gotten scolded for playing with my food by Elvira and the King but fortunately for me, the only company I had in the dining hall was Mellisa and Aurora, the youngest out of the Royal Maids, both nineteen years of age. On top of that, one of them doesn't speak, and the other wasn't even paying attention. I didn't know where the King or the three other maids were but that turned out to work in my favor. I'm sure they would've assaulted me with nonstop worry because I didn’t have an appetite.  

 

Getting back to the question, I subconsciously knew the answer to it. "However long I need to.” I guess the rhetorical question only formed in my head to serve as a something to make me feel better about what I'm doing. Maybe I hoped that I would start to lean towards the option of telling everyone that the actual princess disappeared somehow and that I took her place. Sure, getting the Royal Maids and the King to believe me might prove difficult but if I really committed myself to that option, I think I could do it. However, knowing how selfish I am, I wasn't going to go through with it.

 

The risk was too great. Seeing how much they loved her, I'm certain they'd try to do everything in their power to get her back. They might even show hatred towards me, and try to pin the cause of her disappearance onto her imposture. I couldn't blame them if they decided to that though, especially after all the deceiving I've done. It's only logical. Who else could they hold responsible?

 

"It's not like the Princess could've caused this herself-"

 

I stopped my thought in its tracks right there, letting another question impede its path in my mind.

 

"What if she is the reason that this happened to me?"

 

I immediately thought of one the questions Doctor Tera asked me earlier, something about a massive spell being used and how it would explain why half of my Mana Circuits being dried out.

 

“Can she really be the cause of all of this?"

 

I quickly shook my head and sighed, resting the fork onto my plate, sparing the remaining peas. I pushed the plate away from my body and continued to think.

 

There was no way to confirm if the Princess was responsible for whatever happened to her and myself. For all I know, the Mana Circuits being ran dry could've been a side effect of me taking over her body. There was also no way to find out if whatever happened in the convenience store was linked to me waking up in her body. And if she did pull some sort of spell, I'm sure someone in the castle would notice. A massive spell that drains half of your Mana Circuits had to make some kind of noise and draw some attention at the very least. It was wishful thinking that the Princess was the main cause for this.

 

Noticing my long sigh, Aurora stepped forward and lightly tapped me on my shoulder and I could clearly see the puzzled look on her face. In return, I gave her a soft smile as to say "I'm fine" and stood up from my chair.

 

Sitting there and thinking about how I ended up here was pointless with nothing to go on. It was essentially the same as walking through a dark tunnel with your eyes closed, trying to find a way out. I was tired of just simply going through the motions, not knowing what will happen next. I decided that it was finally time that put my foot down and at the very least try to figure out how exactly I ended up in a world full of Demons, and probably more. And my first suspect was myself, specifically the Princess. Even though I knew I was trying to make her a scapegoat for my objective, I couldn’t rule her out.

 

Mellisa was blowing out the purple tipped candles on one of the window sills and watching it magically light itself again when she noticed me getting up from my chair.

 

"Oh Princess, you're finished eating already?" Her voice echoed from across the room.

 

I was a little surprised on how she noticed me leaving my chair, considering that my chair barely scratched the surface of the floor while getting up and that she was some forty feet away, with her back turned. Her senses must've been insanely sharp. I guess she was watching me, to an extent anyway.

 

She made her way towards me and saw my hardly touched plate, still amounted with the same food as when she brought it to me ten minutes ago.

 

"Ah, you didn't even eat anything."

 

"I wasn't very hungry. Sorry I wasted it."

 

"Still feeling out of it? I know that your stomach might not agree with the idea but you need to eat at least something. If you don't you may just keel over and faint. Then I'll be responsible. And I really don't want to get yelled at by the King, much less Elvira. She's scary when she’s mad."

 

Aurora nodded her head in agreement with Mellisa as if she has been victim to Elvira's wrath before. Growing up, Elvira must've have reprimanded these two often. Most likely because of Mellisa's antics and Aurora following her I'm guessing.

 

Mellisa folded her hands and sighed. “It can't be helped then." She guided me back into the seat of my chair and took the one to the right of me. Taking the fork she quickly scooped up the rice and peas and held it to my mouth. "Say "Ahhh", Princess."

 

"No really, I'm not hungry-"

 

Mellisa didn't let me finish my plea. Before I realized it, she swiftly entered the fork into my mouth, causing my taste buds to erupt in delight.

 

"It's good isn't it?" She asked without extracting the fork from my mouth.

 

I couldn't say anything since my mouth was still full of food and metal so I nodded my head.

 

"See, I told you. All you have to do is just try a little at a time."

 

She removed the fork from my mouth and prepared another helping. This time, I didn't resist.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

After I finished eating, Aurora and Mellisa escorted me up the stairs and back into my room, bidding me goodnight. I remembered Mellisa's warning of not staying up too late due to the excitement she must've thought I had because of my first day at the academy the following day. I can confidently say that she shouldn't have to worry about that at all because I had no excitement whatsoever. I haven't formulated a plan to escape that dreadful day yet, but I'm sure I would've thought of something before it's too late. At the moment, all I could focus on was finding at least a faint clue as to what happened to me. And what better place to start other than my room, the place where it all began.

 

"Where do I look?" I wondered to myself as I took in my room’s contents.

 

Even though my room was huge, there wasn't very much that took advantage of its space. The only things that stood out to me were the walk-in closet, the desk that my mirror stood on top of, and my bed. Outside of those three things, there was virtually nothing else. I guess the Princess was sort of a minimalist. At least we had something in common. Games and food was all I needed before I turned into her.

 

I headed over towards the desk, since I didn't recall seeing anything suspicious and strange looking in the closet when I went in there earlier in the day with Astrid. I didn't really want to go back in their anyway. The thought of seeing the endless girly pink dresses stretching from the floor to the ceiling of the closet again made me want to puke.

 

The surface of the desk only had nothing important looking on it. Just brushes, combs, hair ribbons and the such. Unless they had some sort of secret meaning (which I doubted), the items were just basic everyday things a girl needed.

 

"There's nothing here."

 

I crouched down, moving on to the drawers of the desk. The three drawers weren't very big so I didn't think anything could be in there but I didn't want to leave anything to doubt so I started to pull the yellow handle on them hoping to find something.

 

I pulled open the first one.

 

"Empty."

 

Then the second.

 

"Empty again."

 

I let out a long sigh. I was so determined to figure out something but I didn't consider how hard looking for a clue might be. If the Princess was hiding something in her room, she had to have pulled out all the stops.

 

I lowered my hand down to the third drawer, expecting the result and the contents to be the same as its predecessors. However, when I tried to open it, I couldn't.

 

"It's....locked?"

 

I tugged at it again and again but to no avail. I placed both of my hands on the handle and pulled with all my might. I don't think I’ve expended so much energy on a simple task ever. My hands started to turn red and so did my face. But no matter how hard I pulled, it wouldn't open. The drawer was sealed shut.

 

After about two minutes of relentless pulling, I gave up. That thing wasn't getting open with physical strength. Exhausted, I plopped myself onto the marble flooring of my room in disbelief.

 

"How the hell is that even possible?!" I blurted out loud.

 

I quickly covered my mouth. I let my frustration get the better of me. I didn't shout very loud but it was audible enough for someone standing outside my door to faintly hear it. Even with that being so, I well understood that Royal Maid's senses were not to be underestimated. Elvira hearing me fall down in my room yesterday and Mellisa's hearing in the dining hall proved that more than enough for me. If one of them ran in and saw me on the floor again for a second night in a row, there's no telling what they'd do.

 

I let about half a minute go by without moving, fearing Iris or Elvira would burst in and start their questioning but luckily, it seemed  that no one heard me. Gathering myself slowly, I got up and closely inspected the drawer. It didn't possess a lock or a keyhole but clearly it didn't seem to need one to keep people out. Something else was preventing me from opening it. Something that's not normal in the world I'm from. Instantly, the answer popped into my mind.

 

"Magic. It's magic that's keeping it shut."

 

That would explain why I couldn't get it open. Still, now knowing why it wouldn't open, didn't give a me a solution. It only gave me an explanation. There were still many questions to be solved. “What's in the drawer?” “Why is it locked?” “How do I open it?” I didn't know the answer to any of these. Facing the impossible situation, I did something I never expected myself to do.

 

I smiled.

 

I smiled because there was something I did know. Something I could be sure of. It was the simple fact that the Princess was hiding something from the King and the Royal Maids. Something she didn't want them to find.