The Former Princess Who Awakens from Fifteen Years of Petrification is Doted by Her Husband and Daughter 28

Surely, the most unfortunate girl in the kingdom at this very moment was herself.
So the girl believed.

“Why… why is this happening? I was the one chosen to go to the estate—wasn’t I?”

“I’m afraid it was a request from the other party. I’m sorry, but you must understand, Bella.”

The headmistress’s response to Bella’s pale, desperate plea was cool to the point of indifference. Though her words said I’m sorry, it was obvious she had no intention of taking Bella’s protest seriously.

Bella had been raised in the privately run orphanage overseen by that very headmistress.

Sixteen years ago, on a stiflingly hot night, a young woman carrying a newborn baby had come to the orphanage, left the child behind, and disappeared. The baby had no name, so after much discussion among the other children, she was given one.

Bella.

Bella was not pretty. Even by her own estimation, she was below average in looks.
Her face was scattered with freckles, something frowned upon in the Kingdom of Lapladia, and her eyes were narrow and small. Her pale skin was her one quiet point of pride, but even that was not enough to hide her many shortcomings.

Still, Bella was diligent and earnest.

She worked harder than anyone, learned reading, writing, and arithmetic faster than anyone, and took on tasks everyone else avoided. Because of that, lazier children who acted like bosses often shoved chores onto her, but Bella never complained. She simply did the work in silence.

That effort must have finally borne fruit.

Not long ago, a wealthy man had visited the orphanage and expressed a wish to take in one orphan as a servant. He said he wanted “the girl who is best at household work,” and Bella had been recommended.

The man tested the nervous Bella on poetry recitation, writing, calculations, handling tableware, and identifying medicinal herbs. She did not achieve perfect marks, but her results were more than adequate. In the end, he told her he wished to take her in as a servant.

Bella had been happy.

She might not have been beautiful, but she had earned this with her own ability. She had found someone who acknowledged her worth.

The orphanage only kept children until adulthood, and anyone who turned sixteen had to leave by the following month. Bella had just celebrated her sixteenth birthday. The timing could not have been better.

Surely, this was the beginning of the best days of her life.

…Or so she believed.

“I’m sorry, Bella. The master said he prefers me.”

The girl blocking Bella’s path in the corridor spoke as if she had been waiting for her.

It was Maria, another orphan.

Maria had arrived at the orphanage when she was six. Rumor had it she was the illegitimate child of a nobleman. After her mother, a former mistress, died, she had been discarded and brought here.

Unlike Bella, Maria was strikingly beautiful, even among the orphans. Boys had fought over her more than once. Her face was lovely, her figure full, and whispers claimed she had long since begun relationships with boys from the orphanage and men from the nearby town. Bella did not know the details, nor did she care to.

Flaunting her generous chest, so different from Bella’s own flat frame, Maria laughed openly.

“You should be grateful, you know? I saved you from embarrassing yourself. A plain girl like you shouldn’t get the wrong idea.”

“…The wrong idea?”

“You’re not used to men, are you? If you went to that house, you might fall in love with the master or the young master. Then you’d be fired for sure.”

Maria sneered, but Bella could only blink in confusion. The master who tested her had looked to be at least in his late forties, a married man old enough to be called an uncle. The idea of falling in love with him had never even crossed her mind.

“Let me explain it to you, since you’re so foolish.”

Maria stepped closer and whispered into Bella’s ear.

“The master really, really liked me. He and his wife aren’t getting along, you see. He told me I wouldn’t need to clean or do laundry. He just wants me to stay by his side.”

Only then did Bella finally understand, and a chill ran through her.

Maria had used her body to earn the master’s favor.

“H-How shameless…”

“Oh, there it is. Always preaching like you’re better than everyone else. You wouldn’t understand, you ugly, unlovable girl. Don’t be so jealous. It’s pathetic.”

With a dramatic sigh, Maria shrugged her shoulders, then smiled sweetly, a smile that felt unmistakably cruel.

“So, I’ll be going in your place. The headmistress was delighted. Apparently the master made a generous donation as a ‘compensation fee’ for breaking the contract.”

So that was it.

The headmistress’s earlier attitude now made sense. She was not an evil woman, but she was fickle and weak when it came to money. It explained why she always told the children who left the orphanage that they must send money back in return for being raised.

The headmistress had abandoned Bella and chosen Maria instead.

A girl who could not clean, could not do laundry, could not even write her own name, but who smiled prettily and sent money.

That was the choice she made.