Raising the Princess to Overcome Death-Chapter 1: Lena's Dream

Raising the Princess to Overcome Death-Chapter 1: Lena's Dream

Early in the morning, in a small house without a dining table, Lena and her parents sat on the floor, scraping their bowls clean.
"Where should I go today?"
Lena looked out the window and saw that the weather was overcast. On days like this, it's better to work indoors.
After finishing her meal, Lena greeted her parents and went outside. The village, just waking up in the east, was filled with the sounds of livestock crying for their morning feed. They were all other people's animals.
Lena headed to the only bakery in the village.
This place was always short-handed.
"Oh, Lena, you're here? You're so dependable."
Hans' aunt, who was preparing work inside, smiled, looking like she knew Lena would come.
In fact, Lena preferred going out into the forest or fields to gather food due to her lively personality and disliked working in confined spaces.
The bakery was the only exception. Lena liked the fragrant smell of the bakery.
Hans' aunt welcomed her warmly. Although Lena only visited on cloudy days, a diligent child like her was always welcome.
"Hehe... You haven't started kneading the dough yet, right?"
Lena laughed awkwardly, grabbed the flour, and sat down. Hans' aunt clicked her tongue as she watched her.
"Tsk tsk. How can such an active child aspire to be a priest?"
It was a thought she had whenever she saw the girl.
A priest sometimes traveled for missions, but mostly spent most of their time in the churChapter There was so much work to do that priests rarely left the premises.
First, priests had to perform daily rituals. Priests, who possessed divine power, had the duty to praise the gods and lead believers to them.
They also had to heal the sick. When villagers fell ill, they went to the church, and the priest would use their divine power to bestow a blessing of healing.
In a small, close-knit village like Demos, this was possible. In the city, receiving treatment required a lot of money.
Priests also had to teach children. In small villages like this, there were no teachers to teach the children, and it was clearly the priest's role to teach history and theology, so the priest also served as the village teacher.
They were very busy people.
Hans' aunt thought Lena wasn't suited to be a priest and that it was unrealistic given her family's extreme poverty.
But Lena dreamed of becoming a priest.
When her father was severely injured at work, the village priest's gentle light that healed his wound left a deep impression on young Lena's heart.
That warm energy guided her to the path of the priesthood.
Whether Lena knew what the aunt was thinking or not, she kneaded the dough vigorously. As the wet flour formed a sticky dough, she didn't stop until it became firmer. Soon, her forehead was moist with sweat.
"Fyu!"
After making the dough elastic, she dusted it with flour to calm it down and rested her sore arms. She caught her breath and let her mind wander.
Lately, Leo has been acting strange.
He was naturally quiet like his father, but recently, he barely spoke and rarely smiled. He often looked into the distance as if lost in thought.
Ah! Wait a minute...
"It was the anniversary of Leo's mother's death recently."
That must be it. She had almost forgotten because Leo was so mature, but his mother had passed away two years ago. He was probably feeling sad thinking about her. I need to help him a lot.
Lena grabbed the flour again and threw herself into the dough.
As sweat beads formed on her fine nose and dropped, she finished by slapping a few dough pieces. Hans' aunt gave her a bunch of bread as payment.
"Thank you. I'll enjoy it."
"I'm the one who should thank you. Come again."
As Lena left, hoping for the next cloudy day, an unwelcome guest appeared as if on cue.
"Lena! Hi!"
"Oh... Hans, hi."
A cloud appeared in her heart. There was another reason Lena rarely came to the bakery.
"Just finished work? You look pretty today too."
"Uh, yeah. Thanks."
She tried to pass by quickly, but Hans naturally matched her steps. Lena endured the discomfort and glanced at Hans.
Hans was lazy. Even though the bakery was always busy, and his aunt struggled alone on days without help, he never lifted a finger.
He didn't have any particular job either. He didn't join the other young men in village work, so he was surely lazing around somewhere.
"He's tall and healthy, so why does he act like this?"
Hans, unaware of Lena's thoughts, kept chatting.
"The day before yesterday, I went to the big village? Two people were fighting in the market. When I asked what was going on..."
She had to listen to his uninteresting stories until she reached home.
- Hey! Get lost! I don't like you!
She wanted to shout, but being neighbors, there was no benefit in fighting in such a small village.
Thinking of Namer, the god of patience and dedication, Lena safely reached home.
"Thanks for seeing me home."
"It was an honor to assist a lady!"
His lively voice made her almost forget the teachings.
Fortunately, her years of studying theology at the church weren't wasted, as Namer didn't leave her side.
Hans hummed a tune as he left, and Lena angrily placed the bread in a basket and went out again.
"Phew. Where should I go next..."
She wanted to go to the church and read a book, but held back.
As an only child, I can't just idle around. I studied hard last weekend, so I need to work hard until next weekend. Let's do this!
As she encouraged herself and looked for a place to go, a familiar voice called from behind.
"Lena!"
Lena couldn't help but smile brightly. She would have known who it was even without hearing the voice. There was only one person who would call her from the house next door at this time.
When she turned around, it was indeed Leo poking his head out of the window.
"Leo! You're home already?"
"Yeah. The guys and I are going to gather bellflowers tonight. So, I'm taking a nap."
"Ha, it's bellflowers. Your pronunciation is funny!"
Bellflore is an edible root vegetable that emerges from the ground and blooms at night, emitting a soft light, making it easier to harvest in the dark.
"Hehe, I slipped up on the pronunciation. What are you doing today?"
"Ahem. I've already been to Hans' aunt's place. Now I'm going to the village chief's house. If there's nothing to do there, I'll just go to the church."
Lena approached the window, leaned against the wall, and gave him a sidelong glance.
She liked Leo.
Since childhood, Lena and Leo had held hands tightly and ventured on many adventures.
Creepy forest edges, endless fields, and icy valleys! Every time they returned, they had food as a reward.
She missed his warm hand. As they grew older, at some point, they stopped holding hands.
When was it? Lena counted the years with her fingers behind her back.
"Was it since I said I wanted to be a priest?"
Priests couldn't marry. It seemed like she was showing respect for the clergy... but wasn't it a bit too hasty?
Lena hid her complex feelings. Though she missed holding Leo's hand, she liked him just as much even without it.
"You know, after you left yesterday..."
Lena stood by the window, chatting with him for a long time. Leo, who listened without a hint of annoyance, was indeed kind.
"How can I make her a princess?"
There was no answer.
Minseo, or Leo, had roughly understood this world by now.
It was a vast continent with seven kingdoms.
In the north were the kingdoms of Astin & Aster, in the west the Holy Kingdom of Jerome, in the center the Kingdom of Bellita, in the east the Kingdom of Aisel, and in the south the Kingdom of Conrad and the Kingdom of Orun, to which this village belonged.
He tried to estimate the size of the continent. It was said that even on horseback, it would take two months to reach the capital of the Bellita Kingdom, located in the center of the continent, and two weeks to reach the sea in the south.
"Crossing the continent on horseback in five months... is it as big as China? No, it's much larger. Maybe the size of China combined with Australia?"
He sighed. It seemed almost impossible to raise this lively friend into a princess.
"Well, I'm off. Have a good nap!"
After chatting for a while, Lena waved her hand and left, and Leo, resting his chin on the window sill, fell into thought.
He felt utterly drained.
Lena, without a surname, was a commoner. To make her a princess, she would have to marry a prince, but marriage between commoners and royalty was a fairytale.
In this strict hierarchical society, it would be lucky if marriage between royalty and commoners wasn't outright forbidden by law.
Moreover, Demos was too rural. Not only was there no prince, but even the local lord had no interest in this place, as long as taxes were paid on time, there was no need for any dignitaries to visit.
"Princess Maker is such an easy game..."
Princess Maker was set in the capital.
This alone made it more accessible, but the heroine also had the privilege of visiting the royal palace once a month.
The king, queen, ministers, and generals were so idle that they were happy to listen to the little girl. This was because her father, who raised her, was a hero who saved humanity, making things too convenient.
In other words, Princess Maker began without the obstacles of status and location.
It was a game where you only needed to raise the daughter well.
You could even go to the royal palace every January to have a cozy date with a prince in disguise.
"But what about me?"
Leo lay on the bed with the window open.
He had to work every day.
It wasn't because his family was as impoverished as Lena's. His father was an excellent hunter, so their family never skipped a meal.
Still, it wasn't an environment where he could just idle around. He had to work daily with the village youths or Lena, and his father wanted him to continue learning hunting.
Leo tossed uncomfortably. He was busy living his life, yet he had to make Lena a princess.
There was no way to control Lena either. In Princess Maker, as long as the daughter didn't go astray, she would follow orders, but Lena sometimes went off with a "Meh!"
How could he take such a girl to a capital city where a prince might be?
It was said that even the nearest capital of the Kingdom of Oren (Nevis) was two weeks away on horseback. He lacked the strength, money, and reason to protect and take Lena to the capital.
Moreover, there was not enough time.
Leo and Lena were both in their mid-teens, and next year they would come of age. To marry Lena to a prince, the latest acceptable age was in their late teens. In this world, even the late teens were a precarious marriageable age.
Princess Maker started at age 10 and had the heroine married by 18. It gave you eight years to raise the child and prepare for marriage, but here, Lena could get married right now.
Lena's parents' looks were already telling. They seemed to wish that her passionate childhood friend would do something about it, as they felt it was impossible for their poor daughter to become a priest.
After all, everyone in the village knew Leo and Lena were a couple. They just didn't mention it because they knew Lena wanted to become a priest.
The breeze that gently blew through the window tickled Leo's nose. He stretched languidly and murmured.
"Should I just live like this? It's peaceful in this village..."
There was no guarantee he could return even if he made Lena a princess, and this place didn't feel like a game.
His memories of his parents, Chaeha, and modern civilization were faint and fragmented, and he didn't feel like returning to that harsh world.
And though it was a bit of a greedy thought, Lena was beautiful.
Even in the village, she had to be hidden carefully to avoid being taken as a concubine by some noble.
She and Leo were close childhood friends, and everyone around them hoped they would marry.
"I am truly blessed."
Even Leo's previous self had wanted to become an excellent hunter like his father.
Having modest dreams meant there were no grand disappointments. Just as it seemed impossible to make Lena a princess now, it was natural for big dreams to be accompanied by despair.
He lay down with his hands behind his head.
"Yes. I'll live here."
With a simple resolution, Leo drifted into sleep. His heart found solace in the peaceful village of Demos.
*
Early in the morning, Lena woke up unusually early.
Though it was still dark outside, she quickly got dressed and sneaked out quietly so as not to wake her parents.
The dawn air was chilly.
The chirping of crickets heralded the approach of autumn.
Lena trudged towards the vegetable garden.
Since she had woken up so early, she thought she might as well pull some weeds. If she finished quickly and returned, her mother would be preparing breakfast.
Reaching the small vegetable patch, she bent down to pull weeds. But the sight of the dark, small garden made her feel gloomy. Their house didn't even have a yard, so they had to set up this small garden outside the village.
"Should I give up on studying to become a priest?"
To become a priest, she had to study at the central church in the Holy Kingdom, but she didn't even have the travel expenses, let alone the tuition fees.
"If I were a boy, I might have just set off... No, it would have been difficult even then."
Traveling alone was dangerous due to bandits, thieves, local prejudice, city thugs, and gangs. It was prudent to leave a will before setting out alone unless one was a knight or a crusader, so a mid-teen girl had no choice but to remain in the village.
Lena sniffled, feeling teary-eyed.
"Making excuses without trying hard... it's pathetic."
She worked during the weekdays and studied all day at the church on weekends, but she thought anyone could do that much.
In fact, there was a bit of time left after work before sunset. Though the church had to save candles, so she couldn't stay until night, she could still read a page or two before it got dark.
But she always rushed home, using her tired body as an excuse, and she hated herself for it.
- Plop.
Tears fell onto the bent soil.
"Why am I crying... What have I done right?"
In the brightening vegetable garden, Lena wiped her tears and dug into the ground. She buried the pulled weeds and her lingering feelings together.
She had to work today, too.

Chapter 1: Lena's Dream