This Princess is an Extra-Chapter 48: Invincible

Instead of plunging under water she landed on her feet and the water stopped below her knees.

"Huh?", where did all that water go, Eli thought to herself with a funny expression on her face.

"Her Highness is truly an inspiration!"

"To think she would personally concern herself of us trivial souls!"

"Wha—what now? What did I do this time?"

She looked around again to find the attendants had partially drained the lake for annual cleaning and baskets were lined up along the banks, while the servants were scrambling about, knee-deep in water as they worked to transfer the aquatic life elsewhere.

By charging in from one side, splashing wildly and flailing in panic, she had unknowingly scared the fish straight toward the waiting nets and somehow helped the attendants out.

"Her Highness drove them in!"

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Maximillian resting on the edge of the bank with a fish dangling triumphantly from its mouth. His green eyes gleamed with unmistakable smugness.

"Not again!" she gritted her teeth together.

"Looks like I win again. Did you tired yourself out, or are you ready for the next round." she heard Maximillian’s voice that no one else could.

"I want to go back! You stupid cat!" with that, she bolted away once more.

Dear readers, you might be wondering of what’s going on. And why am I trying to kill myself when I said I wanted to go home, you ask? That’s totally not it. I don’t want death in any reality, real or simulated. This is just a cheat code to get out of here!

In short, simulation, because it all feels so real, some sensations have to be limited. Such as intense shock and death, thus before you can experience the pain and horror of plummeting to your death and to prevent PTSD you are automatically logged-off and transfered to Nexus, from where you get an option to log-off.

"I can’t waste any more time....in this stupid simulation that’s altered itself!!" she said while running towards a building, "I only have.....20 days left till I’m supposed to join my office."

"That knockoff wants me to stop that piece of trash!!!! I don’t care if that’s the main quest, I refuse!!!!" she brust into a specific room inside the buiding that contained tall racks that were placed on either side of her with dark glass bottles and other things in them.

She grabbed the most suspicious-looking bottle she could find making sure it would help her undead herself, yanked out the stopper, and tipped it back downing its contents in a single gulp.

Thud!

Her legs gave way, she collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness and the bottle rolled away from her hand.

Bright morning light filtered through the tall windows, spilling across Eli’s closed eyes. She frowned, shifting beneath the covers, disturbed by the relentless light pressing against her lashes.

"So bright!....Is it already morning?" she murmured drowsily. "What time is it?"

Through the haze of her sleep, she could hear morning birds chirping and the distant gong ringing constantly which was used to wake the royals up each morning. "...Wait?" And then she breathed loudly as she laid on the bed with her eyes wide awake. Her forehead was covered in sweat. She sat up in her bed at once, finding herself back in her chamber.

"Princess!" Talia, who had been working quietly in a corner of the chamber, exclaimed. "You’re awake! Thank the heavens.....are you feeling unwell? Does anything hurt?" She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Eli, hugging her right there on the bed.

"...Why? Why am I still in here? I am sure, I drank the whole bottle." At Eli’s whisper Talia began to sob, still clinging to her. "D-Do you know how frightened we all were? When they found you unconscious in the infirmary... we all thought—thought that—"

Hearing her cry, Eli hugged her back at once. "Talia, hush!" she said gently. "I did not mean to frighten anyone." As much as Eli longed to escape this world, she could not bear Talia’s tears. Somehow, despite knowing this was all a simulation, time spent here had made their bond feel special.

"Princess, do not worry," Talia said with her eyes still puffy from the morning crying, now she stood behind Eli and carefully combed and arranged her golden locks before the mirror. "There was no poison in that bottle."

Earlier that morning, Eli had already explained everything to her parents when they rushed into her chamber upon hearing that she had woken up. She told them she had been searching for digestive medicine and, in her haste, she might have picked up the wrong bottle. It helped that this was not the first time Eli had taken medicines directly from the infirmary on her own.

"Set aside your worries and focus on resting. At least something good came out of this incident." Talia continued, adjusting a strand of her hair. "What you drank, was a powerful ane....anesthe-tic, newly invented by a young alchemist from the infirmary."

"A young alchemist?"

"Yes! Poor soul, he confessed everything himself. He was trembling so badly when he stood before the king yesterday. He admitted that he had switched one of the medicines with the draught he was using for his research. When he heard you had collapsed, he rushed in at once with papers, notes, and experiment records clutched in his arms."

Why did he have to use a bottle with a danger label? thought Eli to herself.

Talia then gestured animatedly talking to Eli through the mirror. "He laid them all out and swore, again and again, that Your Highness would be perfectly fine and that you were merely unconscious. He also was so certain of the duration, he even swore on his life that you would be awaken by morning. And you really did!"

"If he was so brilliant," Eli asked slowly, now eating her breakfast, "why did he hid himself and his research?"

"Oh! He was simply underconfident in his own abilities. Poor fellow, he lacked the courage to present his work, he was stuttering so badly even yesterday!" Talia answered, serving the dishes before Eli.

"Was he punished?"

"Well...Ideally, he should have been punished and stripped of his position. But....I think his intelligence spoke for itself, evidently so as he conducted the entire research by himself. He instead requested to dedicate his work to you— to the princess who put herself at risk for the greater good!" Talia said passing Eli today’s newspaper after her breakfast.

"WHAT’S THIS?"

[A PRINCESS’S PAIN, A KINGDOM’S GAIN—MIRACLE FOUND IN THE INFIRMARY! FROM DANGER TO DISCOVERY!]

Eli cringed so hard, finding herself the victim of cheesy title on the headline splashed across the front pages. The column was surprisingly detailed, even mentioning how she had saved the chicks and helped catch the fishes. How they managed to keep such close surveillance within a tightly secured palace was beyond her.

"His Majesty, though deeply worried for your safety, was also greatly pleased. Considering...well...Princess’s rather adventurous nature, he declared the discovery invaluable for treating wounded soldiers and citizens alike. Thus, the young alchemist was pardoned. His salary was docked for a few months... but he was promoted nonetheless."

Dedicating discovery to the princess, hmm, which means the profit will be shared with the royal family, a rather reasonable negotiation for his life by the young man. But somehow Eli knew that the fur ball was responsible for these events.

Her chamber was empty now. "Maybe.....just maybe this might work," Eli spoke to herself.

She had slipped away a knife during breakfast, which now felt cold in her hand and with a quick motion, she dragged it’s sharp edge across her wrist.

A sharp pain and fresh crimson colored liquid welled upon her wrist, to vanish almost instantly. Her wounded skin knit itself back together as if nothing had happened, leaving not even a scar behind.

Even my last-ditch effort to get out of here failed..... What do I do now? That stupid knockoff. Will I be stuck in this body forever?! I’m screwed. AAHHHH!!!!!!

Thought Eli to herself while she burried her bent head within both her hands, elbows upon the table. From the moment she had woken up, a translucent contract window had been hovering persistently at the edge of her vision. She had skimmed through it earlier and that milk-stealing menace had clearly tampered with the terms and conditions in the background, rendering her completely invincible.

She raised her head and looked to her left at the pen and paper lying on the table, upon which she had scribbled a devil’s drawing and the title: ’Future Major Events in the New Story.’ Beneath it, however, there was only a single entry— Kidnapping of the protagonist — but when?

If she had only read the novel at that time back then, none of this would have happened.