The Princess lives a double life

The room was silent, Opera sat on a stool nervously as her boss stared daggers at her.

“So, anything you want to say?”

“...Uh, that guy deserved it?”

“Hmmm, fair point. However, that ‘Guy’ you sent running away, Was A Paying Customer!”

Opera tried to cover her ears as she knew her boss’ tirade was inbound, but his voice penetrated her earlobes. All she could do was squint as his words reverberated through her.

“What the hell, Opera! That was the fifth guy this week, mind you, you haven’t even been here long.”

“I’m so sorry sir!”

“I’ve heard that one before, listen sweetheart, I can’t have you scaring off all the customers. It's bad for business, I think it might be time to cut you off.”

“No, please don’t do that. I need this job to make money for my starving family!”

“Well you should’ve thought about that before acting stuck-up. Sorry lass, if I don’t punish you the other girls will break rank.”

Opera had a scared look on her face, but on the inside she was cursing. This job was the best way for her to acquire information, if she lost it she’d have to use other means to pick up intel. Just as she considered her options, an angel appeared in the doorway.

“Hold it right there, Papa, you’ll do no such thing.”

“Wha-Lena, what’re you doing here!?!”

In the doorway stood Lena, the boss’ daughter, and luckily she held a soft spot for Opera. Stahn, the boss of the “Rusty Nail”, found himself taken aback at his daughter’s appearance. Lena, on the other hand, wasn’t planning on giving him time to recover.

“Is it so bad that Opera speaks up for us, especially with those rowdier gentlemen. On top of that, the person she tossed out touched my rear. I won’t allow you to throw out my protector.”

Stahn’s eyes grew big realizing the person he was about to punish actually protected his daughter’s honor, this made him feel ashamed. In the end he picked himself up and sighed.

“That may be true, but I have to do something. Opera, you get to keep your job, but you aren’t getting paid for today.”

“What!?! How’s that fair?”

Opera starred at Stahn defiantly, but he didn’t budge. Lena tapped her shoulder and nodded no, even she had limits with her father.

“Fine, but in return, I’m going home for the rest of the day.”

“What? That’s gonna put a damper on the business. You might be a firecracker, but the guys love you.”

“Well consider it your punishment for messing with your daughter’s savior.”

Lena nodded at Opera’s course of action, leaving Stahn to hold his head. After that Opera left the back and began seething as she headed for the back exit.

“I can’t believe that jackass is alright with men putting their hands on you, some father he is.”

“Please don’t be like that, Dad’s worked his butt off ever since mom died. He wants to lash out, but he has to show self-control.”

“*Sigh* I hate being unable to do anything, makes you wish a noble would raise their hand and do something about this.”

“Heh, that’s wishful thinking. It’s been like this for years, it’ll take hell freezing over before they even consider helping us.”

Opera had a tinge of guilt on her face as she heard Lena speak. For someone so bright to get so depressed, it showed how much she cared about her town. Lena, noticing Opera’s discomfort, decided to help her out.

“Here, let me ease your tension.”

Lena placed her fingers on Opera’s temple, immediately her fingers began to glow. Opera immediately rushed to stop Lena.

“Lena, what if someone sees you?”

“I don’t care, what’s the point in having power if you can’t help people.”

In the short time Opera’s known Lena, she’s come to notice her strange ability. Lena has the ability to soothe the mind, and even heal wounds. Opera found out her first day working, when she came out back to see Lena healing a rabbit. Lena begged her to keep her ability a secret, thus starting their small friendship. Opera’s been doing her best to help Lena keep her power hidden, but for such an innocent so, Lena’s is quite thick-headed. Opera sighed and thanked Lena for her worries as she went back to her inn. Lena watched as Opera opened the back door and walked, only to be shocked by how old the door looked when it was just refurbished.

****

I’m a little irritated that my pay got cut, but at least I get to rest a bit for today. As I made my way to the inn I decided to stop by the market and grab some things for dinner. As I shopped, the people of the town, although tired, made sure to say hello.

“Hi Opera.”

“Hey Miss Opera, will you come play with us again?”

“Hey Opera, my son still has that shiner you gave him.”

“H-Hey Opera, will you go out with me?”

I found myself rushing home after that last one. Once I made it back to the inn I’ve been staying at, I placed my groceries on my room table. It felt dusty so I cracked open a window, breathing in that air felt good. I decided to look around before doing my daily ritual.

“Alright, the coast is clear. *Inhale* I F***ing Hate My Job!”

Goddammit, I didn’t know working minimum wage would be so damn hard. Another thing, Narrator, don’t think you're slick. Last chapter you confirmed that I’m Opal, so why the f*** have you been calling me Opera afterwards. Get it right the first time, jackass! Anyway, let’s go over my notes. I locked my door and threw on my street clothes, I couldn’t bring my princess attire because I’m being incognito. After I got cleared I decided to go out under the pretense of getting air. In reality, I had my private coach drive me out to Pewter which is 2 hours from the capital. The reason to get a feel for the town, and to set up my false identity. For the past two weeks, besides being a princess, I’ve also been acting as Opera, the new girl on the block. It was hard balancing my usual routine and rushing over here, luckily after the funeral my schedule opened up. Using the information I dug up, I blackmailed Plum into posing as me.

Who’s Plum you ask? She’s a very timid maid, making her an easy target. Don’t get me wrong, I hate being a bully, but I’m trying to make a hustle here. As for why I chose her, Plum has the cutest talent, she can mimic me perfectly. I caught her once when she was mimicking me to her friends. She was so scared when she saw me staring daggers at her…Alright, so maybe I did this partly out of payback. All that aside, about three to four days have passed since I’ve fully integrated into my role. I gave the innkeep a gem so expensive it could buy the whole inn, that way I can stay here all I want. As I finished setting up, I took a peach from my basket and looked at what info I’ve gathered so far.

“Let’s see here, we have the matter of the bandits and then there’s the lord.”

Bandits have been preoccupied in the mines here for a while, it’s honestly baffling that nothing’s been done so far. What’s my dad been up to, the people are suffering out here. Then there’s the lord, the lord of the village here is some bloke by the name of Twigo. We get our taxes and tributes so we haven’t had much problems, but now I’m aware why. Twigo’s hiding something, it probably has something to do with those bandits. Then there’s the matter that concerns me most, I flipped the paper on my board to the other side. Revealing a list of missing people, all girls around my age.

“Why the hell are girls going missing? More than that, why are all the girls people who were close to Lena?”