Going against my better judgment, I decided it was a good idea to play games late into the night. As expected, I overslept the next morning.
I changed into my uniform and washed my face half-heartedly, hardly caring to tidy up my messy hair as I made to exit the house.
“I have never seen a high schooler dress like that! Have you no shame?” my mom said as I started putting on my shoes. I ignored her.
I rushed out the front door and jumped on my trusty bicycle, which I’ve used since middle school. With a strong kick to the pedals, I was off. I continued pumping the pedals with all my might, down the slope that merged into the main road.
Again and again I pedaled — Maybe a little faster is better. I kept going. As expected, I eventually reached a point where I could no longer control my speed.
My bicycle then decided it was a good idea to fly straight into the intersection of the busy main road.
As I slowly started blacking out from the inevitable impact, distant voices reverberated in my mind. They were familiar voices; my family, perhaps. “You fool of a daughter...!”
...At least, that was what I remembered of my previous life, having recalled it all somewhat suddenly after a solid blow to the head.
Katarina Claes; eight years of age.
As the only daughter of Duke Claes, I was — as usual — spoiled and doted upon lovingly on this day. With a healthy dose of pride and selfish whims, I was the very image of a wealthy lady.
Today, I was accompanying my father on a visit to the castle. The third prince of the kingdom, who was of the same age as me, was to guide me through the castle gardens.
The very first time I met this prince, I was captivated by his blue eyes and golden hair — and he had the face of an angel, too. His calm and composed demeanor was quite something else — you wouldn’t think he was a child of eight years.
As you might expect, this self-indulging young lady immediately fell head over heels for the prince, and stuck to him like glue. Said young lady was raised under the loving care of her parents, and was far too spoiled to consider not causing trouble for others.
I then stuck a little too close to the prince, not looking where I was going, and bumped into the prince himself, falling over in the process.
While the force of the impact was not great, I could not have chosen a worse place to land on. Of all places, I fell head first into a decorative rock on the garden’s grounds. Due to where I had hit my head, there was quite a lot of blood gushing from the wound — at least, enough to cause the prince and the servants around us to panic.
Personally, however, I didn’t think that this was that big of a deal — because I had regained the memories of my previous life from the impact. Yes, I remember. In my previous life, I was a high-school girl of seventeen years of age. In other words, seventeen years’ worth of memories flooded my young mind in a flash — it was as if my brain had short-circuited in an instant.
I was carried to the castle’s infirmary while still in quite a daze. After some preliminary treatment, I was forcibly transported back to the Claes manor. Following this event, my poor head was assaulted by a high-temperature fever for the next five days.
As the fever eventually subsided, I was better able to organize the memories in my mind, and could finally sit up in bed. It was at that time that I received an unexpected visit from the prince himself. Due to the fact that I was still largely bedridden, the prince visited me in my chambers instead.
“Hello, Lady Katarina. I hope you are doing a little better.” The angelic voice of the third crown prince, Jeord, only served to compliment his impossibly beautiful features. What a lovable face!
While Katarina herself did have feelings for Prince Jeord prior to regaining her memories, I did not exactly feel the same way, especially since I was mentally seventeen. But though I did not have romantic feelings for the prince, looking upon his angel-like visage was enough to bring some peace to my mind.
Truly, he was too bewitching to look at — I soon found my face plastered with a silly smile. I suppose my silly smiling face did me no favors, as Prince Jeord was not really convinced of my recovery. Turning to me with a somewhat clouded expression, he offered me an apology.
“...Truly, I do apologize, Lady Katarina. To think that I was careless enough to have scarred your face...” the prince said, lowering his head as he did so.
To begin with, this had all happened because I had selfishly stuck to him, not watching where I was going. In fact, I even dirtied the castle gardens with my blood! If anything, I should be the one feeling apologetic.
Panicking, I offered a quick response. “Please raise your head, Prince Jeord. I am fully responsible for my actions in this matter — in fact, I should apologize for inconveniencing you and the kind people at the castle...” I lowered my head apologetically, much to the surprise of Prince Jeord.
Come to think of it, the prince’s only impression of me was that of a selfish eight-year old. In fact, the prince’s surprised expression would be adopted by my family’s servants for the next five days.
To be fair, Katarina was treated like a princess, and raised with an abundance of care. It would only be natural for her to put on airs and act in a manner befitting her station. However, due to the fact that I was now armed with approximately seventeen years’ worth of commoner memories, I could no longer act in the haughty way that Katarina used to. Due to this, rumors of the young lady’s personality abruptly changing due to the fever would spread throughout the household.
Even Prince Jeord, who had only met me once, seemed surprised by this stark contrast in personality. Being the capable young prince he was, however, Jeord soon recovered from his initial shock.
“Not at all, my lady. If I had been more careful and observant about my surroundings, I would not have bumped into you, and perhaps you would not have ended up with a scar on your beautiful face. Please accept my humble apologies,” he said, bowing his head deeply.
Ah, such a charming prince... Unlike the selfish Lady Katarina of the Claes household.
If memory served, my accident and subsequent injury did require a small stitch to treat — a small scar of, say, a centimeter at most was left on my forehead as a result.
I didn’t mind, though. I was not exactly proud of my history; I was quite the naughty child in my previous life, and I frolicked around the hills behind my house with my two brothers from a young age. Due to that, I had been injured multiple times, with some of those injuries requiring much bigger stitches. While my mom did not approve of my behavior at first, she eventually gave up and stopped commenting altogether. As such, it seemed silly to care this much about a small scar on my forehead.
“No, not at all. Please don’t worry about this, Your Highness. It is a small wound, one that can be easily hidden with my bangs! There is no problem at all,” I said with a wide smile on my face. I did not intend to inconvenience the prince any more than I already had.
Prince Jeord’s expression, however, once again froze into a mask of shock and disbelief. I looked around. The prince was not alone in his reaction — all the servants in the room had similar looks plastered across their faces. A truly awkward atmosphere permeated the room.
The first to break the silence was none other than the prince himself. Ah, such maturity for an eight year old! The 8+17 year old girl in the room would do well to learn from His Highness.
“...My lady, even if you are not overly concerned about your injury, society would not view it so. In fact, this very injury may negatively impact any future engagements, or deter potential suitors.”
“...Oh...” I replied, unsure of what else to say. The world that I had previously lived in hardly had such harsh penalties for an injury that was just one centimeter long!
This did not seem to be the case in this mid-century, Europe-influenced world, with their noble ladies and whatnot. In a world full of political marriages, even a small disadvantage could have a great impact. Noble society was truly bothersome.
As the reality of the situation dawned on me, I felt a deep melancholy wash over my being, as images of social debuts and other troublesome responsibilities surfaced in my mind.
Back when Katarina only had her eight-year-old memories, she knew that debuting in society was natural and expected. Now that I have my old memories, however, I could not see it as anything but a terrible drag.
After all, I had mostly amused myself in grade school by climbing trees and trekking through the woods like a wild monkey. In middle school, I became a full-fledged otaku, immersing myself deep into manga, games, and anime. Hardly a fulfilling or purposeful lifestyle... How would someone like me debut in noble society?
I want to go back to my previous life... and eat chips! And read manga! And watch anime! And play games!
“...rina. Lady Katarina...”
“...Oh. Yes?”
Lost in my recollections of my past life, I had completely forgotten that Prince Jeord was standing before me. It would seem that he had quite a lot to say — unfortunately, I was not really listening. I deeply apologize, Prince Jeord...
“Well then, Lady Katarina. Is that acceptable to you?”
“... Ah. Y-Yes. I understand.”
The cute and lovable Prince Jeord was standing before me, looking straight into my eyes.
Although I had hardly listened to anything he had to say, I nodded my head, beaming in response.
“Well then. I will visit once more after you are in better spirits, Lady Katarina. Do take care.” He bowed, the very image of a sincere, lovable eight-year old prince. He exited my room with his entourage following behind him.