The Moth Princess Chapter 1

Natasha weber

Yurenheim, 172

What an exciting day it is, diary! I was saving my first entry into you for a special time, and it has come! I am lucky to have you with me! It is a good thing I always keep you in my undergarments!

I suppose I should introduce myself to you, my diary! I am a princess who has been abducted from the moth kingdom of Nui, and I can’t wait for a handsome moth prince to come rescue me♡! There are many other princesses in here with me; they are all humans, however. Humans are very pretty, but whiny creatures. Mothwomen are far superior and all the prettier, as far as I am concerned.

Giants came to my kingdom and stole me away! They put me in this cage hanging from the ceiling and then locked the cage!

But oh! How the wretched human princesses do go on complaining! They pale in comparison to me in both disposition and beauty!

“I am starving!” One cries.

“My dress is tattered!” Cries another.

“My hair is ruined!” Cries a third.

All of them are very silly. This is their chance to find true love, after all!

Oh no! Here comes a guard! I must put you away, diary!

Yurenheim, 172

Well… The human princesses have been rescued. Their handsome human princes came for them. I am sorry I haven’t written for a whole week, my diary. It is hard with the gigantic, humanoid guards always making their rounds.

My ivory moth fur is getting very dirty and itchy. Not only that, but my beautiful dress is tattered and filthy! I am losing weight quickly as well… I am not sure how appealing I will be to a moth prince! Mothmen like their women to have a little fat. The human princesses got rescued so quickly that they lost no fat at all…

When the human princes invaded the castle to rescue their princesses, they left me caged and cried that I was one of the giants’ horrifying monsters.

I will not lie. That hurt, diary… I spent all these days alone crying about it. Some of the kinder princesses tried to convince their princes to rescue me as well, but the princes would have none of it.

“That is a corrupt creature of magic. We shall not touch it!” I heard one of the princes cry.

“Look at its hideous, oval eyes! As dark and menacing as the night sky!” Said another.

Would it have… Would it have really have been so much trouble to uncage me? I knew they had not come to rescue me, personally, but it was very rude of them to assume I was some kind of monster. I looked similar enough to them; I stood upright on two legs, I was close enough to their height, and I had two eyes… It was true that my head and eyes were quite oval and huge compared to theirs, but they were still similar enough!... Except for my four arms and two wings…

Ah well, I should cheer up! My prince will come for me soon as well!

Yurenheim, 172

Well, here I am in a cage still… No prince has come for me. More human princesses have been captured, however! I make polite conversation with them about their kingdoms as we all wait for our princes. They complain as much as the previous princesses did, but it is nonetheless nice to have company! Except… Well, the princesses talk to me like I am slow and stupid because I am different from them. To think me, the prettiest and most sought after princess in all of the moth kingdoms should be treated in such an unkind way!... Well, okay, I didn’t know whether I was the prettiest or most sought after—but I was certainly beautiful!

I look out upon the castle dungeon I am being held in with contempt; giants are the most repulsive of creatures! It is filthy in this tall, cylindrical dungeon in which my cage hangs! They never clean up and the wretched giants are too stupid to put on clothing like we civilized creatures!

Potenheim, 172

Those princesses are gone now too, and I am all alone again. I am very hungry… My cage is filthy, my clothes still tattered, and my fur is all the itchier. I hold on to my crown and run my fingers over it miserably over and over.

My prince will come for me soon, I know it!

…But my stomach hurts very much from hunger. What a black feeling it is that is blooming in my stomach…

Furenheim, 172

I haven’t written for months, and I have instead been using you, my sweet diary, to tick off the days since I have been here. Still no prince… I spend most days hugging my knees and awaiting my meager dinners with anticipation… I haven’t seen any human princesses since the last batch… But I do not doubt my prince will come any day now!

Envenheim, 173

Still no prince… I am starving and awaiting my next meal. I lie on my side and reminisce about my family. I miss them very much…

Lulinheim, 180

It’s my twenty-second birthday and still no prince. I cry everyday. I have seen many princesses come and go, and I am left here because I am ugly and a monster. The moth gods have made it known that this is what I deserve. The moth gods only give gifts to those women who are worthy and full of passion. I once thought I was full of red passion, but I was wrong.

Tujuheim, 180

Diary, a human woman has arrived. At least, I think she is a woman? It is hard to tell with humans. She has lovely, long, blonde hair and green eyes! She also has a very high-pitched voice! She has been hiding in the shadows for the past few days and promises to rescue me.

“Fear not, dear lady! I shall steal the key from the giant’s bedroom and set you free!” She claims.

“Do not bother, lady-knight, I am content to die here. It is what I deserve, I suppose…”

She chuckles and corrects me from the shadows on the high staircase behind me, “I am a man, dear lady! Please remember! And do not be coy! I know you desire to be rescued!”

I recognize the red cross on the white mantle on his uniform as he emerges from the shadows; he is a templar knight—a devotee of some kind of human religion.

To be honest… I don’t care whether he rescues me or not. I am clearly a repulsive creature worthy of disdain or else some man would have come for me by now. I stopped caring about getting out long ago… We will see if he even bothers to come back… I will surely tell you if he does, my diary.

_

Diary, he has come back. He was careful to avoid, and seems to have memorized, the patrol of the giants who consistently enter the dungeon in which I am kept.

I lean my cheek upon one of my four hands and watch him expressionlessly as he emerges from the shadows. I only feel apathetic about his appearance, however.

He waited for the giant to leave before calling to me, “tell me where the winch is to lower your cage!”

I replied listlessly, “it’s below my cage…”

The templar sped down the gigantic staircase meant for much bigger individuals and found the winch on the bottom floor. He must have been very strong to pull such a big winch. He lowered it abruptly and my cage came shuddering to the ground at a tremendous speed with me squealing in fear.

The templar slowed it just enough before it hit the ground that it didn’t hurt me.

The templar fumbled in his pocket for a key and opened my cage. I didn’t move at all. I stayed, lying on my side, and I rolled away from him.

“Dear princess! We must make haste! The giants will come soon!” The templar warned me.

“I do not care. I am an ugly moth girl… No one wants to marry me.” I wept hot tears.

The templar stepped into my cage and knelt by my side. “Come now, pretty girl… I shall stay here if you do. Can you live with that?”

I didn’t budge for a moment, but I turned to him with tears staining my white fur. “You would put your life on the line for me...?”

He nodded. “Get up; I care not for vain things such as beauty. I care about life and the beautiful things in it.”

I didn’t want this nice man to get dragged down with me. Curse him… Why couldn’t he have left me there, diary?

I reached out a hand to him, wanting him to help me up, but he backed away.

“I am a templar, princess! We may not touch women!” He explained.

“Oh…” I climbed to my wobbly feet and I followed him up the gigantic stairs he had come down. I tried to use my ivory wings to fly, but they weren’t working. I stuck to using my feet.

Being emaciated and exhausted, my vision swam and I collapsed on my way up. The templar, who was ahead, came back to me hastily. I saw, approaching behind him, that there was a giant running our way, emerging from the hallway on the first floor and heading toward the grimy dungeon staircase.

“To the shadows, milady! Get up!” The templar encouraged me.

I took a deep breath and, inspired by his strong, yet feminine, voice, got to my feet and hid behind a nearby pillar protruding from the wall with the templar.

The giant ran by us and growled, screaming in a foreign language I didn’t understand when he saw my cage was empty. He then stomped back up the stairs and into the castle hall.

I was crying with fear and my heart was thumping wildly.

The templar emerged from the shadows after the giant had gone by and waved for me to follow him into the gigantic castle hall.

“I have a place for us to hide and rest, princess. We only have to get there—but we must make haste! The end is coming for us if we do not!” The templar encouraged me.

I followed him as fast as I could down the carpeted and enormous hallway.

Ah diary. I was so hungry and so frightened that it is difficult for me to recall all the directions we went within the castle. I followed the templar blindly and unthinkingly.

Every time a giant came down the huge halls, my heart stopped, but the templar knew exactly where to hide and we escaped unnoticed.

Eventually, we were climbing up more stairs, and I collapsed in exhaustion with the templar whispering at me worriedly. “Don’t give up princess! You have to keep moving!”

But I had no strength left.

I couldn’t believe how silly I was to believe that a happy ending awaited me. I lost consciousness and assumed we were doomed.

Tujuheim, 180

By some miracle, I survived. The templar brought me to a small, crack in the wall where I could rest.

I arose with difficulty and breathed harshly. I glanced at the templar who had a plate of food for me. I assumed it came from the rucksack he carried on his back.

“I thought…” I said, climbing to a sitting position. “I thought you weren’t allowed to touch women…?”

“I’m not. I rolled you up in a sheet and carried you here. You were very heavy, milady, even for one so thin.” He said cheerily.

“I see…” I replied. “Thank you.”

I was content to die in that cell knowing that no one cared enough to come rescue me. I knew I must have done very bad things to end up where I was.

But… Oh my. I suddenly felt it again—that old need to be loved and worshipped as a princess should be! He was very handsome and very pretty and I liked to see his green eyes and those… cute dots on his human face up close♡!

Ah, how insipid of me… He cannot even touch women, not that he would want to touch me anyway. I have proven to be a black creature unworthy of love.

The moth gods would be repulsed if I loved a creature outside my species, yet here I was pining—if only for a moment.

But I am tired right now, I shall write again later.