Space Between Us

Chapter 4

Lesley's POV

I woke up because of the pain I was feeling in my stomach. Is it that time of the day?

I started to hold the side of my crib tightly. I looked at the ceiling while focusing on my goal. I kept myself concentrated so it would come out. Argh! Why is it so hard?

“Murmur murmrmur.” (You can do this, Lesley!)  I cheered myself. Why did I even eat a lot of bananas earlier? It’s my maid’s fault because she didn’t even stop me from eating too much. She kept putting banana bits on my plate. I started to think that she hated me at all.

Just so you know, for babies like me, bananas make my poop hard which turns our bowel movement difficult. And yes, I am pooping.

I began to breathe in so I could put pressure within my stomach and breathe out so my poop would come out. I held the wood tighter because I could feel it coming out. Aaa!

3, 2, 1…

Success!

Finally, the pain coming from my stomach was gone. However, the smell from my poop began to cover the whole room and it is very suffocating for an 8-month-old infant like me. I started to look for my maids but I could not find anyone since I am the only one in this room. Where are they? Is something important happening outside? Because it is only once in the blue moon that no one is guarding me.

I couldn’t do it anymore. I am not really used to the smell of my poop and the sticky feeling in my butt. I want it to be washed as early as possible! I opened my crib because the lock can easily be unfastened. I am also a smart infant so I could easily observe what they were doing.

When I opened the lock, I crawled outside. Luckily, my crib is not that high so I could easily go down. Aish, I couldn;t crawl quickly because of the poop from my diaper. It was stopping me from crawling faster since my butt was being glued from the diaper.

I need to use my superpower so I can find my maid fast. I began to close my eyes and find her existence using my senses. She’s not in the kitchen nor in the living area. Aha! She was in Louise’s room. Maybe she was looking for her baby. My heart really breaks for this mother and her baby since they couldn’t be together longer since her mother is only a maid and the baby is one of the five princesses of the Artemius family. She must have an acceptable excuse before she could go inside her daughter’s room. Maids like her have the lowest status and authority in the palace.

I began to crawl toward Louise’s room because I need this diaper to be quickly removed or else I am going to be depressed. A depressed 8-month-old infant. Does it make sense? Actually, nothing in my life makes sense anymore. I was killed in my previous life then all of a sudden I was living in a tiny body who is one of the princesses. Maybe next time, I can ride dragons here.

While crawling, I was looking at the high ceiling on the hallway. Just how much is that? Some angels which I don’t have any idea that they actually existed were painted there. The walls are also very clean unlike my house back then which was full of hand drawings and doodles made by my naughty siblings and cousins. The reason why I was extremely hardworking is because of them. I didn’t want them to end up like me so I kept saving for their future. I wanted to give them what I couldn’t give to my younger self. Hay, I miss them so much. I badly want to know their situation right now.

I saw Lianne running fast. What happened? Why is she--

“Argh! Move! I’m practicing!” she said furiously. Her foot accidentally hit my head. Ouch! It really hurts. What if it will become the reason why I would become an i***t? I immediately touched my head to see if it was deformed. My elementary teacher taught us that an infant’s head could easily be deformed once it was hit by a hard object since their bones are still developing which made the head extremely fragile.

Luckily, my head is still as intact as before. And, I seemed fine because I didn’t forget anything. My evil sister just ran away without even apologizing to me. Well, what do I even expect of her? She is the meanest among the meanest. If I am Cinderella, she would probably be one of the step sisters. Wait, why is she even practicing in the first place? For what? Sometimes, I’m afraid to grow up in this place since I don’t exactly know anyone here and their nature. And, I’m not used to being a princess. You know, I was raised in poverty. I might just ruin the elegant reputation of the Artemius family because of my ignorance and stupidity.

Why is this hallway so long? It’s like I’m crawling in the EDSA! I was so bored crawling that I’m looking at every part of this place. Wait, that vase looked so expensive! It is made of fine and shiny porcelain. It is elaborately decorated with images of birds. If I could steal it and sell it online, I could definitely buy an entire house. Just how much is this whole palace? I don’t even know what’s on the other side of the palace because this place is too big for these tiny legs to walk at but I’m pretty sure that there are more expensive and luxurious items there. It’s like...I’m living in heaven.

I passed by to that beautiful vase with amusement written in my face. I may look ignorant but I could only find these kinds of things in museums. What more can I see in this long hallway? I began to crawl slowly again because I feel like my poop will fall if I crawled faster.

“Lesley!” the maid started to run towards me and immediately carried me with her. Because of what she did, my poop just spreaded in the floor. Aaa, this is why I’m scared to crawl fast. Why did she do it?

My heart suddenly dropped when I heard the vase fall on the floor. It’s really shocking since it was too loud. What happened?

“Prince Lachlar, what are you doing?!” the maid shouted.

“I want her to die obviously!” he said angrily. Wait, I’m lost. Why is every single person here angry?

“What if the vase fell on your sister’s head? Would you be happy?” the maid shouted. Why is she shouting? Isn’t she afraid of Lachlar? Because, I am. Especially those scary eyes of his.

“Yes! I would be the happiest if that happened! But, you’re such a dimwit for saving her.” he said while clapping his hands. Wait, things are slowing processing in my mind.

Did he just intentionally make the vase fall so I would be hit? He is insane! Why would he do that? It’s already my second life! It’s not certain if I would have another life since I’m not a cat who has nine lives! I’m extremely angry, I want to punch him hard! I clenched my fist even though I couldn’t do anything. Ha! Get ready when I grow up! You’ll definitely regret what you just did. You’ll taste the revenge of this girl who had her second life! Sometimes, I thank whoever made me live again because I’m starting to think of my own life as something I should treasure.

“Do you even hear what you are saying?” the maid asked. That’s why I really love this made! It feels like I have a mother.

“I can clearly hear myself,” he said coldly. “I wish that she’s dead.”

What?! What did I even do for him to extremely hate me? As far as I know, I’m just busy sucking my thumb. Does sucking my thumb made him so angry that he wanted to kill me? If I can just sue this little boy, I definitely will!

“She’s your sister!” the maid.

I nodded my head. I’m your cute sister so why would you want me to experience death at this early age?

“I don’t have any half-blooded sister!” he exclaimed.

Ah, so this is because of my blood? That’s a lame reason! This is why I hate being rich. People would only care about your background but would not bother knowing the real you. For your information, my heart is a lot better than my blood!

“That’s immaturity, Prince Lachlr. Please set aside your hatred towards her. She’s just 8-month-old.” the maid’s voice suddenly became calmer.

“I don’t care! Even if she’s just 1-month-old, I would still hate her. She would just take advantage of this palace’s wealth.” he said while looking at me.

Why would I take advantage of their family’s wealth? I don’t even know why I am here! That’s crap!

“Calm yourself, Prince Lachlar. Think of your actions next time.” the maid spoke.

“I am calm,” he said. He is definitely not calm! “But, seeing this gold digger makes me irritated.”

Did he just call me a gold digger? What did I even steal? Yes, I do have a plan on stealing that beautiful vase earlier but I can’t since it’s too heavy! Kidding aside but it’s kinda hurtful to hear those words since it’s my first time hearing it. I didn’t even harm anyone. I’m just busy enjoying my second life. Why does he hate me so much?

“Murmurmur murmurmur murmurmur!” (I’m not a gold digger, watch what you say!) I said angrily.

“Look at Princess Lesley. She’s in pain because of what you said.” the maid said while looking at me.

“I don’t care even if she will cry blood. Wait,” he stopped talking and started to sniff. “What is that smell? It’s disgusting!”

Oh no! Is it the smell of my poop? It’s embarrassing because it really smelled bad. My poop is like the combination of the smell of rotten egg and stinky socks. Some poop also went on my hands and my face. I am really the most unfortunate here! My brother wanted to kill me and my poop just got on my body. Don’t tell me more unfortunate things will happen to me in the long run!

“Did you defecate, Princess Lesley?” the maid worriedly said. I just looked at her. Please, let me leave this place! One of the people I hate the most in the palace just witnessed an embarrassing moment of mine.

“This is why I hate this girl! She’s acting like a lowly child. Being a princess doesn’t suit her.” he said while glaring at me. Duh! I didn’t even wish to become a princess. Just having another life where I can experience all of the things I wanted to experience back then is purely a blessing for me. Why would you despise me for something I didn’t even desire? Get a grip of yourself, Lachlan! You’re lucky that you didn’t have the chance to meet the old me because I’ll punch the hell out of you so you could wake up to that evil mind of yours! Your mind is more disgusting than my poop!

And, he’s just smelling my poop. It’s not like I touched him with my dirty hands. Why would he complain?

Wait…

“Leave this hallway. I’ll call someone to clean this place.” the maid ordered him. She started to walk away from Lachlar while carrying me. Isn’t she disgusted? Some poop is on her wrist.

“Wait!” Lachlar called her.

“Why?” the maid looked at him.

“C-can you p-please not t-tell the E-mperor what h-happened? He will be mad if he finds out that I broke one of his favorite vases.” he said with a serious voice.

“Don’t worry, I won’t. But please Prince Lachlar, think carefully of your actions next time,” he went near Lachlar and started to caress his hair. “If you do it again, I’ll undoubtedly tell him.”

He just nodded. The maid is still caressing his hair. This is where I will carry out my plan.

Since she was near Lachlar, I could reach him easily. I touched his face with my hands that were covered with poop.

“What the---” he shouted.

I just chuckled. I continued to spread my poop on his face because I felt satisfied.

You should know who you are meddling with Lachlar. This is my second life and I will make sure that I will live every part of it without regrets. You can’t win against me because this girl just got her second life! Ha!

I am kind but only to those who deserved my kindness. You can push me every time you want but I’ll make sure that you’ll be the one who will fall to the cliff.

I stopped doing it with a smile on my face. “Murmurmurmur murmurmur.” (You’re as stinky as my poop!)

The maid just giggled. “It looks like your sister still loves you even after all the things you did to her. She wanted to play with you.” she said with a smile on her face.

“I don’t want to see that child ever again!” Lachlar shouted while closing his eyes.

I won, you dimwit!

This is war and I am ready to take part in this chaos!

I’ve been to a lot of fights in my previous life and this is just a piece of cake for me.

Some maids ran towards him and wiped his face. “What happened, Prince Lachlar?” the maid worriedly said.

“Screw that kid!” he angrily exclaimed. “I’ll make sure that your life here will be hell.”

Uh-oh, it seemed like my life here will be a lot tougher than before because of what I just did. But, there’s no time for regrets. I started it and I should be the one to finish this mess.

“Murmumur murmur murmur!” (I don’t care!) I said. I stuck my tongue out to make him more irritated. He just rolled his eyes due to anger.

“Clean it up, Ayessa and Ingrid.” the maid who is carrying me ordered. Both of the maids she just talked with were only young. They looked like they were just teenagers. As you can see, in this place, if your family couldn’t pay taxes, their children or relatives would be bought as the payment for their debt.

“Okay, Eleanor.” they said in unison and bowed to me.

Hay, why are they bowing to a squatter like me? I don’t deserve any of this treatment.

One of the maids cleaned the floor while the other guided Lachlar to the washroom. “Let’s watch your dirt, Princess Lesley.” Eleanor smiled. I rested my body on hers because I could feel warmth on her body. It felt like no one could harm me and that I’m safe with her side.

This just feels nostalgic with the old lady I had met before. I wondered where she is right now and what happened to her because she suddenly disappeared.

“Always be brave, Princess Lesley.” the maid whispered to my ears while carrying me.

I nodded even though she couldn’t see me.

‘I will.’ I said in my mind.

I’ll make sure that I won’t give up everything that is originally meant for me. I am not Margo anymore. That weak girl already died six months ago. I am Lesley and I am ready to face every battle I will encounter with might and courage.

Bring it on!