Who Made Me a Princess Fanfiction - "Connections" || Lovely Princess AU

Chapter 6 - "Can't Last Forever"

Chapter 6 - "Can't Last Forever"

"I'm going to get caught!!" Athanasia thought in panic.

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She dashed behind a bookshelf and covered her mouth with her hands as the librarian entered the room. As she heard his footsteps, her heart began beating faster, and sweat came rolling down her face.

"He's going to see me... I'm going to get caught," she thought, feeling anxious. "What's wrong with me? Athy went through all this trouble for me and I'm already about to mess everything up?" She blamed herself as guilt filled her mind.

"No, wait. Thinking this way isn't going to help... I need to calm myself first," she thought, taking in a deep breath as silently as she could, and letting it out. However, her heart continued to race, which stressed her out even more. "Ahh, this isn't working! What should I do?!"

Suddenly, she remembered that whenever she read a book, her mind would always clear up and feel more at peace. So she pulled out a random book from the shelf, opened it up to a random page, and began reading.

"... The sun had already gone down and I stared at the moon as the cool, gentle night breeze brushed against my face," she read silently.

"When a joyful tune started to play behind me, my head turned over my shoulder in its direction. I stood up, grabbed my bag, and followed the wonderful sound. I soon realized that it was coming from the town, and that the Winter Festival was starting. The delicious smell of freshly prepared food filled my nostrils, making my mouth water. My eyes filled with amazement at the sight of all the bright colorful lights..." Athanasia was now completely calm, and she closed the book.

"Now that I feel better, what's the best thing to do right now?" she thought. "Let's see... Athy's no longer here, so my face has probably already changed to its original appearance. If the librarian sees my eyes, the guards will find out and take me to father where I'll be killed. So my first step is to hide my face."

Athanasia covered herself with the cloak that Athy previously gave her and pulled the hood over her face. "Okay, now in the worst case scenario, the librarian would find me. If that happens, I need to run out immediately and hide myself within the crowd."

She picked up the spell book, as well as the random novel she used to calm herself, and tucked them under her left arm, preparing to dash out the door. Then, she listened closely to the librarian's footsteps, waiting to hear if he was getting closer or further away from her hiding spot.

Luckily, however, his footsteps drifted away toward the back room meant for employees only, so she saw this as the perfect chance to escape. She peeked around the bookshelf to make sure he was gone, and quietly headed toward the door.

"It's best for him to not know that I was here in the first place, that way it'll be easier to sneak back in later. So no matter what, I still need to be as quiet as possible," Athanasia thought. She walked out of the library and successfully made it into town without getting caught.

"Free at last!" she thought, breathing out a sigh of relief. "Hm... Now that I'm out here, what should I do?" All of a sudden, her stomach growled loudly. "Ah- I guess I should eat something first."

She walked to the nearest cafe and bought some bread and a cup of tea. As she ate, she thought, "I wonder what Athy, Lily, and Jennette are doing right now..." Athanasia glanced at the customers seated at other tables and noticed that everyone else had company. As they busily chatted with one another, she looked at the empty seat in front of her and frowned. Now that Athy was gone, she felt extremely lonely.