I’m Supposed to Be the Neglected Princess in the Future, but Something Seems Strange... - 19 - Letter 1

Rose heard the ship’s whistle go poooh and looked out at the sea with a heavy heart.

In about an hour, the Princess Lea would dock at Huig Port in the country of Serd.

The ship would stay at Huig Port for around four days, and during that time, passengers could freely come and go.

Lea, who had disappeared, was still missing. The only clue they had was a crew member’s testimony that she was seen going down to the second floor during the masquerade.

They searched the second floor based on that testimony, but no one who looked like Lea was found.

Rose wanted to join the search herself, but Raphael had strictly forbidden her from going out alone, saying it was too dangerous. The most she could do was ask the crew about the situation or check Lea’s room for any clues.

(There were dresses in her room, but the jewelry was missing. Maybe she took them to sell and use as escape money?)

Of course, Rose didn’t know how much jewelry Lea had brought onto the ship. But there were many dresses left in her room’s closet. If she had brought jewelry to match each dress, then there must have been quite a few pieces. Since both the king and queen adored Lea, the jewelry she owned was probably very valuable. Rose couldn’t judge the value of jewels, but it seemed like they would be enough to fund an escape.

(If only I knew what the accessories my sister brought looked like…)

Since they belonged to her sister, most of them were probably one-of-a-kind. If Rose knew what they looked like, then even if Lea got off the ship at Huig Port and disappeared, they might be able to track her down through pawnshops. But unfortunately, Rose didn’t know anything about Lea’s jewelry.

Leaning her elbows on the balcony railing, Rose let out a sad sigh.

To be honest, she didn’t even know if she truly wanted to find Lea or not.

Part of her was in a hurry to find Lea before they arrived at Huig Port, but another part of her thought it might be okay if she didn’t show up at all.

Raphael was kind, and Rose couldn’t help hoping that maybe the future wouldn’t turn out like the one in her memories.

Besides, if Lea was found, then Raphael would marry her as originally planned—and just thinking about that made Rose’s chest ache.

“Lady Rose, what would you like to do for lunch? Shall we go to the restaurant, or eat in your room?”

Mira called out from inside the room.

Raphael had gone out somewhere, saying he had things to do before they reached Huig Port, so he wouldn’t be joining her for lunch today.

Rose thought for a moment and said she’d go to the restaurant. The chance was small, but maybe Lea would be there.

Unlike first-class rooms, which had a certain amount of free room service, second-class and lower rooms had to pay for all services. Since Lea still hadn’t been found, it was likely that she was hiding in a second- or third-class room somehow.

Even if she had money or jewelry, if she kept using room service every day in a lower-class room, the staff would remember her. It didn’t seem like something Lea would risk.

So, if she needed food, she would have to go to a restaurant. There was a small chance Rose might run into her there. It might be overly optimistic, but Rose didn’t want to miss even the slightest chance.

“Understood. In that case, let’s do a little makeup.”

Since Rose had been in her room all morning, she hadn’t put on any makeup. Raphael would come see her anytime—morning or night—and sometimes stayed by her side the whole day. So he had already seen her bare face.

He never commented on her looks, and Rose felt like putting on makeup didn’t change much anyway. But Mira, who loved dressing Rose up, thought differently.

She pulled Rose firmly to the vanity and began applying powder while humming.

“I wonder how many people will stare at Lady Rose’s face today. I’m so excited!”

“…I think you’re just imagining things.”

“Lady Rose, you have such low self-esteem.”

“And you have way too high an opinion of me, Mira.”

Whenever they went to the restaurant together, Mira would happily whisper, “That person was staring at you just now!” or “That one looks nervous just from seeing you!” But Rose was sure it was all in Mira’s head.

No matter how good Mira was with makeup, Rose was an average-looking girl. At best, with makeup, she might go from average to slightly above average—not a big change.

Every time Rose said this, Mira would sigh and say, “You’re too used to seeing your own face, so your sense of beauty is off.” But Rose didn’t think that was true.

She could see that Raphael, his friends, her sister Lea, and the queen were all beautiful. Her sense of beauty was fine. It was Mira’s opinion of Rose that was too high.

“I won’t put anything on your lips, since it will come off while eating.”

Mira added blush to Rose’s cheeks, then sprayed a rose-scented perfume behind her neck and nodded in satisfaction.

“Lovely! Perfect! My Lady Rose is the most beautiful in the world!”

Rose gave a wry smile at Mira’s pure praise and stood up from the vanity.

When they arrived at the restaurant together, there weren’t many people there. Probably because many passengers were planning to eat after getting off at the port.

A server led them to a table by the window.

The main dish today was chicken wrapped in pie crust.

“Will you be getting off the ship once we arrive at Huig Port?”

Mira asked while cutting into her pie.

She didn’t seem very interested in finding Lea, so she probably wanted to enjoy some sightseeing. According to Mira, “That spoiled Lady Lea? She can’t keep hiding forever. She’ll show up eventually, so don’t worry.”

Mira had a point, but Rose knew that if Lea wasn’t found, she would become the “neglected wife” in the future. So this wasn’t a problem she could take lightly.

(If my sister isn’t found… will Lord Raphael become cold to me like he did in my memories?)

Oddly, Rose was more worried about whether Raphael would change than about Lea being found.

Her chest felt tight and heavy. It even hurt a little, and she wanted to stop thinking altogether.

She sighed quietly while putting a bite of pie in her mouth—when…

“Excuse me. This was entrusted to me for you. Please take a look.”

A server came over and handed Rose a letter.

She opened her eyes wide in surprise, but the server acted like it was nothing unusual. After handing the letter to her, he quickly left when another customer called him.

There was no sender’s name on the envelope. Frowning in confusion, Rose opened it.

And then—

(This…)

Rose stared wide-eyed, and Mira leaned in with interest.

“Could it be… a love letter?!”

It must have looked like one to Mira.

Rose quietly slipped the letter back into the envelope and gave a vague smile.

“Yes… something like that.”