1 Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Knock knock!

A knuckle rapped against the window of the attic, and Philadelphina glanced towards the sound.

'Who could it be in the middle of the night...?'

She pulled out the rusty wood drawer and placed her book inside, blowing out the candle as she got up and pushed open the stiff windows. A rope was tied tightly to the barred frame and two pale hands pulled their way up. Reddish brown hair blew in the night wind and shone in the moonlight, and a pair of sparkly emerald eyes twinkled. She stared at the angel in a daze until she heard a groan come out of its mouth.

"Ughh, Delphi, help me up would you? I'm literally hanging here and my arms are burning."

Philadelphina snapped out of it and grabbed both of her hands, pulling her onto the platform.

'Her hands are really soft…' Philadelphina thought.

The girl jumped gracefully down onto the wooden floor and landed quietly. Philadelphina was quite amazed by her talent, when the girl suddenly fell onto the floor and hugged her ankle. "Ow…" She hissed.

After noticing that Philadelphina had been standing there watching her silently, she quickly regained her balance and stuck her hands on her hips.

"Delphi…"

Philadelphina flinched, finally recognizing the girl. 'Hair the color of mahogany and eyes that shine like precious emeralds... Don't tell me...'

Philadelphina sighed. 'That's right,' she thought. 'This is the novel that I landed in, "Mahogany Princess" and standing right in front of me is the female lead in the flesh, Lorealis Baphton, daughter of Duke Baphton of the Sevrulius Empire.'

The protagonist tilted her head, looking at Philadelphina.

'I'm just Hana Yumi, an ordinary 18-year-old university student who ended up in a car accident on the way home! Why did I have to end up in the body of Lorealis' best friend, Philadelphina Rustochile?! And on top of that, Philadelphina is an unwanted illegitimate child!'

"Delphi!" She got startled again. Lorealis Baphton frowned at her. "Delphi, what's wrong with you today? You're spacing out so much, do you have something on your mind?

"It's nothing, really. It's just that I'm getting a bit tired, since it's past midnight, your highness-" (Hana)

Philadelphina quickly slapped her hand over her mouth. 'Oh my god Hana! She's only 13 like Philadelphina! Lorealis hasn't been crown princess yet!'

However, Lorealis had thought it to be very amusing. "Hehe! Me? Her highness? Never! Hahah!"

She pointed at herself as if the idea of being crown princess had never crossed her mind before.

Lorealis' laughter died off after hearing a thump from downstairs, so she waved her hand at Philadelphina. "Oh, I almost forgot, Delphi. There are some things I wanted to give you before I go."

She handed Delphi an item wrapped in a hankerchief, and the savory smell escaped through the fabric to reveal sugar cookies!

"I stole some from the kitchen while Marie wasn't watching," she said proudly.

Philadelphina's mouth watered, for she had not eaten a proper meal for a day and a half now. Lorealis rummaged through her little pouch for the other item while Philadelphina munched on the treats. "Here," she finally said. Delphi's eyes widened with interest when she saw what it was.

"A book from the library?" Philadelphina laughed in amazement. Like Philadelphina, Hana Yumi, being a scholar student, absolutely loved reading books. In fact, she was reading "Mahogany Princess" in the car right before the accident happened...

While Philadelphina was scanning through the contents of the chapter book, Lorealis tied up her hair and began preparing for the long journey down the window.

Philadelphina pointed out the window, and said, "Uhm, Lorealis, it seems like your guard is waiting outside…"

The twinkle in her green eyes faded when she followed Delphi's finger to the tree below, where a blonde knight in fully dressed armor was waiting, arms crossed. "Milady!" The knight activated his magic spell and flew up to the attic window. Philadelphina's golden eyes lit up as Lorealis mumbled, "Wow, Ian you came."

Delphi's jaw dropped at the wind surrounding Ian, propelling him in the air. 'I've read about magic users in the novel, but seeing it with my own eyes is something else!"

Lorealis climbed into his arms like she's been through this her whole life, and for a second, Philadelphina seemed envious of her.

'I wish I could be princess-carried like that,' she pouted. 'And fly, too.'

Since Philadelphina was an illegitimate child of Viscount Rustochile and her mom had died in childbirth, the purebloods of the Rustochile family looked down on her. Philadelphina did not get to pick her bodyguards, not that she wanted any, and spent her days confined in the attic, her room, living off of cold soup and stale bread.

'Philadelphina's life was too cruel…' (Hana)

"Well, good night Delphi!" Lorealis waved at her, and Philadelphina reciprocated the gesture. "I'll find a way to visit you tomorrow as well!"

Delphi could hear the knight scowl and say "No you may not" as they rode back to Duke's estate, which was a few acres away from the viscount's. She chuckled, but immediately stopped and sighed.

'There's no time to dilly dally. I need to find a way to get out of here.'

In the novel, it was said that when Lorealis turned 16, she met the second prince at her debutante party and they fell in love. Lorealis, being Philadelphina's good friend, urged the prince to invite Delphi to the palace to live with them, which the prince hesitantly gave in to, but when Lorealis arrived at the viscount's estate, Delphi had already been reduced to a corpse from starvation and abuse from her step-siblings and that horrible stepmother. Her father neglected her, and refused to help her.

Philadelphina pulled up her sleeves to reveal bruises and scars. 'Philadelphina's body is 13 in the meantime, and this is only the beginning stage. It'll only get worse from here once Philadelphina grows up.'

She had tried her hardest to cover the pain from her bruises by numbing them with ice stolen from the kitchen, and by the time she safely made it back to her attic without encountering any of the housemaids or step-siblings, her ice had already partially melted from the summer air.

'I must cut all ties with this family at once, as Daedalus from Greek Mythology, "Kill two birds with one stone."

A yawn escaped from her mouth as she rubbed her eyes, and she dragged her body to the bed. The wooden frames creaked under her weight and the blanket was scratchy and worn out. Still, Philadelphina didn't complain, and sleep overtook her quickly.