THE PRINCESS NEEDS TO BE UGLY

CHAPTER 1

“Oh my, you should lie down, you just woke up. Don’t strain yourself too much, sweetheart.” A lady in a gown went inside with the old lady maid a while ago. She ran towards me and carried me back to bed. She gently laid me on top of it, which was very comfortable, while she caressed my hair. She is holding back her tears as she stares at me.

Bang~

The door opened again as three men entered the room. One was a humongous bearded man while the other two looked a couple of years older than me. They were followed by two men, one who was wearing a tailed suit and a monocular glass and the other man was wearing spectacles with a brown bag in his hand that looked like a doctor.

“My princess, you are finally awake!” the bear-like man ran towards the bed while his arms were open for a hug and crying for joy. The two boys followed him as well, with visible joy on their faces. But before he could hug me,

“Eekkk! S-stay away from me, please! P-please.” I pleaded as I hid away from his clutches. Men, guys, or boys of the opposite gender make my skin crawl from fear. A fear that I wanted to hide, but it kept on strongly knocking into reality.

“…” Silence enveloped the whole room, while they were all looking at me, baffled by my reaction.

“D-don’t fear me, dear. It is me, Daddy. You love me so much, right?” when he regained his senses, he gestured his hands like he wanted to explain something and tried to touch me on my head.

“Eekkk! P-please, stay away.” I hid away from his touch as I covered myself with a blanket. I can feel myself shivering from fear. His latter words remind me of that monster and that terrifies me the most.

I felt a gentle touch on my head that was not covered by the blanket when I peeked at it. It was the lady who carried me back to this bed. She looked at me with concern as her tears escaped from her eyes.

“Dear, are you alright? It is me, your Mom. You know you can tell me anything, right?” The lady consoled me gently while caressing my hair. She is patiently waiting for my response. A couple of minutes passed by, and I decided to trust her.

“W-who are you? W-where am I, a-and why are there so many guys in here? P-please save me, take me away from them, t-they’ll hurt me.” I asked her, my hands tightly grasping her dress while my voice was trembling from fear because of the presence of five men inside the room. I felt that among all of them she could be trusted because of her soothing voice and sincere eyes.

“They will hurt me,” I whispered, hiding again in the covers as I suppressed my memories of pain and fear.

“…” Once again, silence ensued in the whole room. They seemed to be really shocked at how I acted. I didn’t know all of them. I didn’t even know where I was. Did I successfully leave that demon and that hellish place he used to forcibly confine me to?

“W-we are your family and you are here at our house, you are safe here and no one will hurt you. Dear, c-can’t you remember me, us?” she looked shocked and sad. Seeing my continuous trembling hands, she immediately ordered the man she called butler to summon a female doctor to attend to me instead. Two men exited the room, the guy with a brown bag and the old man in a suit and a monocular on his face. The three remaining men, the one who claimed to be my father and the two boys sadly stepped backward to give me space as I was still warily looking at them.

“Dear, is it okay if I and your nanny are near you?” I nodded while clutching at the blanket that was still covering my body. I attentively watched all of their actions as the three men seemed dejected while looking at me. Did I do something wrong to them by acting like that?

Knock knock knock!

“Your grace, the female doctor is here.” A voice of an old man outside the door announced it after knocking on the door.

“Come in. Dear, she is a doctor. Is it alright if she will take a look at you?” At her beck, the door opened once again and a middle-aged lady went inside to offer her greetings. I nodded, still attentively looking at the people around me.

Half an hour later, she made her diagnosis. She said that I was cured of the severe fever, but since it took a long time to get healed and this body had just turned 5 years old, that resulted in a damaged memory. That is the reason why I can’t remember them. But I know for a fact that it is not true at all. I can remember it all, all of his actions, his words, and the way his eyes looked at me.

All of that, I can still remember it.

The lady who claimed to be my Mom asked the doctor and the maid to exit the room, for privacy.

“Dear Maddie, I understand that you can’t remember us, but we are your family and we will always be here for you. If you have any questions or anything you want, you can ask any of us and we can be at your service, anytime, sweetheart.” Her soothing voice somewhat relaxes me.

“U-Uhm, Madame, if you would be so kind can I ask for your names and the location we are in please?”

"I am Violet, your Mom. He is Frederich, your Dad, and they are your older brothers Alex and Zach. We are here in our domain, the Aquitas dukedom. The people in our house wouldn’t harm you, that is for sure. We will protect you from the ones whom you feared, just… give us a chance to trust us.” She gently reminds me while still caressing my hair, her tears cascading on her beautiful face, and a mixture of sadness and hope is reflected in her twinkling eyes.

“Uhm, little sister, can you not remember what we promised to you at our secret place? We will protect you, at all costs. This is for you, by the way. I know this is your favorite candy, I prepared it while waiting for you to regain your senses.” Two boys slowly walked closer to me and they kneeled on the side of the bed I sat on. They gave me a bag of candies that wafted a smell of strawberries, my comfort fruit. They looked like they were pleading with me while sincerely looking up at me.

“Maddie, dear, I know you can’t remember us, and we will give you time. If we can’t bring back your memories, it is still fine. We can make new memories together. Just get your health back and we can do anything you want to. But please don’t fear me, remember you are my only princess, and as your father, I will protect you, much better than these boys here.” He kneeled down too, slowly trying to reach my hand while tears were cascading down his face. When he touched my hand, he gently wrapped my hands with his and warmth enveloped not just my hands but also my hallowed heart. It made me feel at ease with his sincere words.

The lady who introduced herself as my Mom kissed me on my forehead, and when it was ‘my' father and 'my' brothers were about to, I hid on the lady’s back, peeking slowly to see if they were angry. But on their faces was sadness and they looked down looking lonely. The old man suddenly raised his head and smiled at me, trying to hide the sadness in his eyes as he tried to cheer up his two sons.

“Hey boys, maybe we need to give our little princess a space. My princess, we are always here for you.” He gave me a sweet smile that looked like a harmless bear. The three men went out but when Violet, ‘my' Mom, was about to stand up, I reached for her dress, indicating for her to stay.

“What is it, sweetheart? Do you want anything?” She gently asked me while waiting for my next words.

“C-can I ask what is ‘my name,’ M-mom?” After asking this, I slowly looked up to her, trying to go with the flow of circumstances in front of me.

She sweetly smiled at me and held my hands, “your name is Madellaine Nathalie von Monte Aquitas. We usually call you Maddie."