Don't Concern Yourself With That Book
Chapter Side Story 2-1

Side Story 2-1

Translator: yun

Side Story 2: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

On a sunny morning within the peaceful Empire. I rubbed my eyes before letting out a big yawn. Feeling drowsy, the morning seemed perfect for lying down on my bed and doing nothing.

“Urgh…”

Hm, the bed felt bigger today. Were my pillows always this big? I wondered why the space around me seemed larger than usual. 

‘What was I scheduled for today?’

It had been a week since my 16th birthday. 

Lethargy kept wearing me down like a shower of shooting stars. I shouldn’t but should I become one with my bed just for a day… It happened the moment I snuggled and dug myself deeper into my duvet. 

‘Oh?’

I sat up. No, I wanted to sit up. Because I couldn’t move my body. 

I tried to turn my head around but my neck did not listen to me. 

‘What’s this, were my hands always this small?’

These wriggling fingers were mine but these hands did not look mine. Oh no, if my eyes were not playing tricks on me…

“Uwah uwah–!”

Did I become a baby?

***

What could I say about this absurd situation I found myself in? 

It was like barely getting a job in a company after 30 interviews only to find an empty office on my first day on the job.

Or finding out the designer good that I had decided to buy was actually a fake that even markets in Dongdaemun wouldn’t sell. (1)

It broke my heart to admit that the aforementioned anecdotes were all true stories of my past but they would not come close to how baffling this was…

‘I-I can’t say anything!’

After struggling to say something for so long, tears burst out of me instead. Yes, I should try crying. 

“Huwahhhh!”

Flustered, a maid hurried over. 

“Ack, is the princess hungry?”

No, Hannah. That wasn’t the problem. I was merely conveying my sorrow with my tears. I was expressing the agony that was my life. 

So could you get that bottle away from me?

“… Ack! Was the milk too hot?”

No, the more important question was, where did she get that baby bottle from? Don’t tell me she stole it from some maid’s kid, please? I hoped that wouldn’t be the case. I didn’t have any maids working in my palace that were already married, did I?

Then, where the hell did she get that from?

“Alright! I shall cool it down first!”

I already said that I didn’t want any. I massaged my temple with my hand. No, correction, I wanted to.

‘My hands are too short!’

I couldn’t reach my forehead. All because my arms were too short? Seriously? For real? I felt like crying at this absurd situation again. 

“Oh no, uhm, are you feeling tired, princess?”

But unfortunately, funnily enough, since I was in a baby’s body, I cry when I want to say something and I cry when I try to sigh. All I could do was cry and cry!

“Uwahhhhh, huwahh!!”

My tears exploded from my eyes like the fireworks that part of my college tuition was spent on in my university’s cultural festival. How could such a ridiculous thing happen to me!

“Oh dear! Have you changed the princess’ diapers?”

Stop. What diapers? 

I didn’t want to believe my ears. I might have transmigrated here but I would like to refuse this blatant revelation of my bowel movements! 

I can’t believe I couldn’t even go to the bathroom by myself. Could someone tell me that this was all just a dream? I prayed that this humiliation would end soon. 

Like the maids that were fussing over me earlier, I was panicking. 

It would have been better if we all regressed together into children or if my mental age regressed as well. Depressingly, I was scarily still sane. 

Oh, hold on. Thinking about such depressing thoughts made tears well up in my eyes again. 

“Hngh!”

After some time had passed, with eyes that I knew for certain were red, I took a deep breath. 

I learnt something new. 

That being in a baby’s body was surprisingly, no, very, extremely uncomfortable. 

Why? Why! This was my body so why couldn’t I control how much I was crying?

“Princess. Peekaboo!”

“Hu, hu.”

I tried breathing like a woman about to give birth. 

Another thing I learnt was that Hannah was a master in dealing with children. 

“Aw, what a good girl. Princess, you did so well!”

It might have been because of the young brothers I heard she had left in their hometown but upon closer inspection, she must have trained to a certain extent. Alright. So what if I was just a cub right now? Since I was still adjusting to my new body.

“I shall change you into new diapers soon!”

Opening the door, Hannah left the room for a while. In the meantime, Rene talked to me. But all she said was nonsense. Damn. It was all because my mental age did not regress as well.

‘But I have no way to tell her that.’

The moment I blankly shook my rattle without much thought. For some reason, my brothers came to visit one by one after hearing the news.

The door swung open with a slam. 

“Oh my god. Damn, you’re telling me this is the chick?”

The first person to visit was Fleon.

Looking as though he had run out in the middle of his official duties, he walked towards me with his clothes flapping about him. He was also still wearing his laurel which one only wore during meetings. Don’t tell me, he had left in the middle of a meeting? 

“Boo?”

I had unintentionally asked but all that came out were incomprehensible sounds. 

“… What are you saying?”

Oh my god. I was reminded of how ridiculous this situation was.

“This is insane. How did this happen? What did you all do?”

“M-my prince…”

Excuse me but the maids didn’t do anything? 

Seeing him grabbing anyone close to him, it seemed like he never changed. I can’t believe that he was even pushing the maids who couldn’t fight back around. Right, that was how my older brother had always been. 

There was nothing else I could do. But to scream at the top of my lungs with all my might. 

“What. What are you being so loud for!”

This was all I could do to communicate. God damn it. 

“Are you protesting?”

I let it rip once more.

“Oi, you’re being too loud. Could you just zip it?”

“M-my prince, if you pinch the princess’ lips like that…!”

I finally discovered a good thing about being a baby. 

“Hmph. Huwahh.”

Being able to see Fleon flustered like this.

“Huwahhhhhh!”

He was frozen in place–which meant he was facing the maids–but his eyes remained staring at me. His brows rose sharply, his eyes filled with bewilderment and he looked like he was at an utter loss. If I had been in my normal body, I would have struck him at least once.

“W-what’s going on! T-tr-try to soothe her!”

Hannah, who had just arrived, quickly picked me up. 

“Shush, princess, you were surprised, weren’t you?”

Fleon stared at Hannah, who was calming me down, looking partly bewildered and partly dazed.

“Yes. Everything will be alright. Our princess must have been so surprised. Don’t worry.”

Hey Hannah, Fleon was about to ignite his nonsense engine which was why I started crying. That man was another thing. What was he trying to achieve by pushing you all around? 

Soon, another wave of sorrow crashed into me. Why had I been reduced to a child who could only speak gibberish! I never even dreamed that I would be turned into a baby. 

It mustn’t have been enough to have been reincarnated into this tragic life but to also have my body to be turned into this? Was someone just trying to humiliate me? 

The gods must be magnanimous enough to throw in this bonus on top of reincarnating me into this cursed world. 

I had no idea whether this would be possible but if I die one day and make it to the heavens, the first thing I would do would be to beat up the gods. If there was anyone who was going to cave their faces in, it would be me. 

God damn it. Even if there were other victims like me, I better end up in the middle. Because I did not want to return to a life that others had whimsically chosen for me. 

“H-has she stopped?”

Unable to hide how bewildered he was, Fleon looked up warily. 

“There you go.”

Then, after it felt like he was pulling me away from Hannah, he hugged me. The problem was that it was an extremely uncomfortable embrace. 

“Oi, don’t pull my hair out! Oi!”

Look here, dear brother of mine, have you ever hugged a kid before? Then again, how could he have when he had lived alone in his palace? This was very uncomfortable. I’m telling you that it’s uncomfortable! I vented my discomfort with all my might.

“Uwauwah!”

“… What the. Is this thing really that chick, no, isn’t this a beast?”

“Brother, what are you calling Ashley? What do you mean by ‘thing’?”

The person who had just entered the room was Dane. 

“Look at her face. It’s turning red.”

Looking much calmer than Fleon, he approached us casually as though he had already fully processed what was going on.

“Give her to me.”

My body was hoisted into the air. 

“Uh oh. She’s a good crier, you know?”

“She only cries like that because she was with you.”

“What?”

After taking me from Fleon who had been holding me awkwardly, Dane sighed. Fortunately, it was more comfortable to hug him. 

“Hello, Ashley.”

Shaking his head at Fleon, Dane smiled at me. Just as I expected, seeing this handsome brother of mine always lifted my spirits. Unlike Fleon’s embrace, Dane’s only brought me comfort. 

“I did hear the news… though I didn’t believe it.”

Right? I couldn’t believe it either. He furrowed his brows. But soon I found his nose rubbing against my cheek.

“You look lovely even as a baby.”

Dane smiled. The eyes that captured me were as red as pomegranate seeds and they curled beautifully against the smiling face that was as sweet as honey. 

“Mhm. You’re pretty.”

His irises that reflected the afternoon sun sparkled. 

“Hm? What?”

I quickly responded. 

But all that left my lips was gibberish. I couldn’t express myself using my words. What a shame. 

“Did you say that I was pretty too?”

It seemed like babies would instinctively squeeze whatever it was that was in their hands. Which was why I grabbed Dane’s hair and shook it. 

Oh my god, why was it so soft? It felt softer than mine. I was the one taking care of my appearance so why did he still look prettier than me? 

“… Ashley? Can you hear me?”

“Kya!”

Waving my hand at his words, Dane’s face stiffened. He looked like he was mulling something over for a moment before he pushed his face up to mine. 

“Ashley, you understand what I’m saying right now, right?”

Yes. That’s what I thought! Just as I expected of Dane. 

“If you understand me, could you let out a big scream right now?”

When I let out a loud scream, he adjusted his expression and quickly asked again.

“Alright. I’ll be asking you some questions now so shout once if your answer is ‘yes’ and shout twice if your answer is ‘no’.”

“How… did this suddenly happen to you?”

“Kya!”

“Did someone, perhaps, suddenly appear and use their divinity or anything of the sorts on you?”

“Uwahh!”

“Alright. So, you don’t know why this happened too, right?”

Correct! I shouted whilst clapping my hands. Dane seemed to be agonising for a while. 

“… Is this a templar’s curse?”

He then let out a soft sigh. 

“Let’s find a way to solve this.”

***

“Uhm, pardon me, my prince…”

The old man in white robes tilted his head. 

“I don’t see any omens on this baby.”

“Omens?”

“Yes. Usually curses will leave behind residues of potions or divinity being used somewhere on the body.”

“So, you don’t see any.”

“Yes. I do not.”

The old man brushed his ears. Possibly feeling awkward as he was unable to find any answers despite being a high-ranked cleric, the old man turned around to clear his throat. Still holding his chin, Dane lifted his head. 

“Are there any curses that don’t leave any traces behind?”

“Well…”

The cleric shook his head.

“As far as I know, no such curse exists.”

“Got it.”

My body was hoisted into the air. Looking up, all I could see was the slender jaw of Dane, the man who lifted me. With one blink, his eyelashes casted a faint shadow over his pale skin. Oh my god. So, handsome men looked good from below too. 

“Alright, let’s get going.”

“Yes.”

The cleric lowered his head. In the middle of turning around, Dane paused. 

“Ah. And I would like if you keep this a secret”

Tilting his head, Dane smiled. I couldn’t manage to see anything but was he flashing his mesmerising smile right now?

“I shall heed your command.”

What he must be referring to was the fact that I, who had been turned into a baby, or to be precise, the 7th Prince had brought the cleric a suspicious baby to check for curses, right? So, why was that old man sweating buckets just answering him?

“I hope you don’t make this too difficult. If you protect this secret well, I’ll consider the ‘debt’ to be repaid.”

Dane murmured quietly but I managed to hear everything as I was being held by him. I even managed to see Dane’s eyes narrow slightly. 

By the way, what did he mean by ‘debt’?

T/N:

(1): Dongdaemun is very known for their fake goods market!