Chapter 1

“I want to eat pudding!”

At the words Lillis uttered as soon as she woke up, the attendant Thena, who was standing by, tilted her head.

“Pudding, you say?”

“Yes, pudding. It’s all puddingy and looks super delicious.”

“...Lady Lillis.”

“No, it’s not a pun. It really feels like that. So it must be pudding.”

Lillis hurriedly defended herself to Thena, who looked skeptical. But then Lillis realized why she had to defend herself and raised her chin.

“Anyway, I’ll write it down and make it later.”

“Yes, yes. I hope it turns out well this time.”

“It will definitely turn out well. It looked so easy.”

Thena, seeing Lillis declare this with a confident and breathless tone, remained silent despite her doubts.

It was forbidden to disturb Lillis while she was writing notes.

This was something that those who served Lillis were strictly told from the beginning.

Only a few people, such as the veteran attendant Thena and Lillis’s family, knew the reason for this.

This place is the Freud Kingdom, ruled by King Dreaum, with the Hotter Mountain Range, which includes the world's highest peak, Mount Marun, as its backdrop.

It is a peaceful country where livestock farming is thriving in the highlands and agriculture is centered around the foot of the mountain range.

However, it is now in a delicate position, sandwiched between the ancient kingdom of Fontae to the east, the independent commercial city of Machinukan to the south, and the vast Aerias Empire to the west.

And just a moment ago, Lillis, the third child and first princess of the Freud Kingdom, said as soon as she woke up, “I want to eat pudding!”

This first princess, Amaryllis—Lillis—is often bedridden due to her frail health.

As a result, her skin, which is rarely exposed to sunlight, is as pale as snow. Her hair is a light brown, and her facial features are not particularly beautiful. However, her emerald-green eyes, which can be compared to emeralds, are Lillis’s pride.

But people, who rarely see the frail Lillis, have come to call her the “Beautiful Sleeping Princess of Freud” with a sense of fantasy.

—However, the frail image is for the public. In reality, Lillis just sleeps a lot.

She sometimes sleeps for two-thirds of the day.

While watching her, Thena and others would laugh and nod, saying, “They were right to call her the Sleeping Princess.”

Then why does Lillis sleep so much?

Only a few people know the secret: her father, King Dreaum, her mother, Queen Casablanca, her older brother, Prince Spirit, her second older brother, Prince Eam, her younger sister, Princess Dalia, and a few veteran attendants like Thena.

Incidentally, her younger brother, Prince Lino, is only one year old and does not understand.

When Lillis was young, everyone thought it was normal for a baby to sleep a lot.

However, even after she turned three, she still slept a lot, and they consulted a doctor, fearing something was wrong.

The diagnosis was that her body needed that much sleep, which probably meant she had a problem with her ability to move around normally, in other words, she was frail.

But then, the young Lillis started saying strange things.

At first, they thought she was just talking about the content of her dreams.

However, when the queen realized that these were things happening far away in reality or things that would actually happen in the future, the situation changed dramatically.

“Dreaum, it’s terrible!”

“What is it? What happened, Casablanca?”

“That child... Lillis...”

“Did something happen to Lillis!?”

“Lillis is a genius!”

“Is that true!?”

“Yes, it’s definitely true!”

“I see, that’s promising for the future!”

The queen told the king what most parents would say at some point.

Although the royal couple was rather carefree, King Dreaum, known as a wise ruler, only placed trustworthy people around Lillis.

Lillis’s dreams were special.

They could be from the past, the future, or events in other countries, or even a world like a story...

The knowledge Lillis gained from this story-like world—another world—was truly remarkable.

At first, they were skeptical, but many problems were solved when they followed Lillis’s advice, and they had no choice but to believe her.

In short, King Dreaum solved problems using the knowledge Lillis gained, and he is now known as a wise ruler. —Or so he often says. However, the people around him think that the real wisdom lies in his willingness to try new things without being bound by fixed ideas, by believing in and acting on the dreams of a child who is not even of age.

Incidentally, according to Lillis, “In my case, I’m not just dreaming while I sleep; I’m seeing reality. The past, the future, or a different world. In other words, it’s like astral projection. So even though I look like I’m sleeping, I get very tired. My non-REM sleep becomes very short, so I need to sleep more than other people. Also, please don’t wake me up no matter how much I toss and turn. If my body wakes up without my consciousness, I can’t return to my body, and I once had a terrible experience. So please don’t wake me up when I’m sleeping.”

At first, Lillis’s family and others didn’t understand what she was saying, but they followed her instructions.

They strictly controlled who could enter Lillis’s bedroom, and to avoid any mistakes, they made sure someone who knew the secret was always with her when she slept during the day.

This was also done at night at first, but Lillis said, “Everyone needs to sleep at night. It’s the natural human rhythm. While night patrols are necessary, we shouldn’t increase unnecessary work,” so it was discontinued.