《I escaped the Villainess, and now I'm suddenly a princess?》


 Prologue

    The wind was howling, it was pushing against me, lifting my hair and telling me to fly. I looked down at my feet, the city below them enveloped in light. The brightness reflected the lives of those within it, those who were not like me. There was a world of happiness I never knew. Families together, families laughing, it was all foreign to me, love was a foreign concept. I would not be missed.


    What is love?


    The question weighed me down. What is love? His face was at the centre of my thoughts. My eyes widened in shock. How could I even consider this? I loved him. How could that be? He had abused me like them. Did I really love him? Did I really want to leave him? Then I remembered my mother and my father. I shivered, not from the cold, but from the thought of them.


    Why am I even thinking about them right now? This is about me. Do I really want to die?


    Exasperated at my own actions, at the actions I almost undertook, I shook my head. About to get down, I felt a hand on my back, it seemed to be supporting me. I twisted my head, still standing on the railing, trying to see who was behind me. ¡°Wh¡­¡±, it happened almost in slow motion, first I felt the hand begin to apply more pressure to my back, and then, everything sped up. I was falling. My body still twisting, I glimpsed a familiar face, and then everything went dark.


    No.


    This simple word held so much meaning. No. The word seemed to be resounding in my mind. No. It was the truth. I didn¡¯t want to die.


    How could he? That was my only thought as I fell. I loved him, my mixed feelings were the only reason that I had lasted so long, and yet, here I was, dying, by his hand. Feelings of betrayal and sadness began to creep in before transforming into anger and sadness. HOW COULD HE? A sob formed in my throat, threatening to escape. The sensation of falling felt slow, as though I had a fan beneath me. At this time, I felt a need to contemplate. I knew that the anger I felt was simply masking my true feelings, after all, this was what I wanted.


    Right?


    Isn¡¯t this what I wanted from the beginning?


    As soon as these thoughts finished forming, I tried to open my eyes, seeing only the hard ground beneath me. Hearing only the frightened screams of passersby as I fell. Soon the sense of falling ended, replaced only by a stabbing pain in my head. I couldn¡¯t see, I couldn¡¯t hear, I could only feel the throbbing in my head. It was painful to say the least. But I was alive, for now.


    Why am I alive? I wanted to die! I think?If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    A flurry of emotions overcame me as I tried to organise my thoughts.


    Maybe this is what I deserve, a slow, painful, early demise. What is there for me to live for anyway? What was the meaning of my life?


    Rather than interpreting this thought as philosophical, it simply felt unnecessary. My life, however short it may have been, had no meaning. This answer felt obvious, and it felt like the truth.


    From sadness came acceptance, he had willed me to die, he didn¡¯t love me, how had I even believed in that false illusion for so long? Maybe I should just give in?


    Then a shrill scream met my ears, followed by panicked footsteps. ¡®Who¡¯s there?¡¯ I tried to say, but no sound escaped my dry lips, caked in blood. Did I know this person? The footsteps grew closer until I heard a dull thud. She had dropped to her knees and was shaking me roughly. My eyes felt heavy, but I pried them open regardless of that fact. My vision slowly began to return in clumps. I wanted to see who was there. I wanted to know if somebody cared for my existence, I wanted to see this world one last time before I gave in to the darkness.


    ¡°Don¡¯t die Cass!¡±. I heard her call an odd name.


    Cass? Who is that?


    Did she mean me? Another pair of footsteps were approaching, this time from the sea of whispers.


    ¡°Amelia?¡± they asked, ¡°what¡¯s going on?¡± I could see her face; it was a classmate of mine. I didn¡¯t know her name, we had never spoken. Amelia, the strange girl, was still shaking me, begging me to wake up. This time she said ¡°Casus! Wake up! Please¡±, this time she used my proper name.


    Is she another classmate of mine? Why did she call me Cass at first?


    I¡¯d been laying there for an eternity, though it may have only been a few minutes. The pain wasn¡¯t too bad, I was used to the feeling of pain. But this pain was different. Opening my eyes again, I saw a relieved expression cross her face, her face, I recognised it. But from where? The thought left me when another burst of pain exploded in my head, I flinched, trying to lift it. That only made the pain far worse than before, far worse than it had ever been at home.


    My eyes still felt unusually heavy as though they were growing in weight with every passing second, the rest of my body felt the same way, I couldn¡¯t move. The back of my head felt warm, and sticky. I managed to tilt it sideways slightly, only to see a puddle of red surrounding me.


    Oh well, I guess I really am dying after all.


    Letting my head hang there, I got a glimpse of his face. Why was he here? We made eye contact, and he smirked. The faint smile disappeared from his face almost instantly and he dropped to his knees beside me. Looming over me, he whispered ¡°Get up you leech¡±. I looked at him, expressionless. He replied to my silence with a quiet, ¡°I guess you can¡¯t, weakling¡±. All remaining familial love towards him vanished in an instant. Why had I loved him in the first place?


    I could hear sirens approaching, the sound faint but clear. I smiled.


    ¡°Goodbye, Brother¡±


    Now the noise was deafening, I could hear footsteps rushing towards me, an ambulance parked a few metres away. I forced open my eyes once again, he was gone. I looked at Amelia ¡°Th... yo¡­¡±, I couldn¡¯t speak, but I still tried. ¡°It wa¡­ him¡±, this time it was somewhat coherent. I saw her eyes widen in surprise, my vision fading. She understood what had happened.


    I hope so.


    My mind finally cleared. I could think once again, no longer distracted by the effort of staying awake. I allowed myself to give in.


    What have I done wrong? What am I missing? Why had I ever loved him?


    These were the last thoughts to cross the mind of Casus Martin.

 Chapter 1: Reborn

    I felt strange, as though I could barely move. I opened my eyes, suddenly staring at the off-white ceiling above me.


    Why is this room so huge?


    I looked down, towards my hands, only to find that they were tiny. I felt tiny.


    What is going on?


    I began to panic, clenching and unclenching my fists and letting out a yell. I blinked. My voice! I sound like a¡­ like a child! Not knowing what else to do, I just began to cry. Loud sobs filled the air. I knew it was childish but I didn¡¯t care. I tried to stand up, only to find that I couldn¡¯t. My body felt heavy, I tried to sit up, only to find that I couldn¡¯t do that either.


    What is going on? Where am I? How did I get here? Where is here?


    My irrational thoughts were interrupted when I noticed a young lady barge into the room, she was dressed¡­ in a dirty old dress? I tried to speak, to ask her where I was. But it came out as a quiet ¡°gghya¡±, I tried again, this time all that came out was a muffled ¡°whytfw¡±. The lady calmed herself, no longer looking panicked, before striding forward. She had an air about her, as though she was someone important. Laughing, she reached my location, wherever that may be, and I noticed that she was giant! I watched her humongous arms extend towards me, doing my best to retreat away from her. I rolled to the side, putting only a few extra centimetres between us, only to find that there was a strange wall behind me. Confused, I looked to the side, noticing that a wooden railing of sorts was blocking my escape.


    Why am I in a crib?


    Her arms were still reaching for me and I had nowhere to hide. They enveloped me and she lifted me out of the crib. Now I could see the entirety of where I had been laying. The dirty blankets were a light shade of brown, but they had obviously been white at some point and the crib looked as though it could fall apart at any moment.


    What am I doing here?


    I was now sitting in her arms, staring up at her face. She was beautiful, with billowing brown hair and shining green eyes. I felt relaxed. As though I could trust her. My mind stopped racing and I realized something, something important.


    She¡¯s not huge, I¡¯m just tiny!


    Am I a baby?


    That would actually make sense.., kind of.


    Then, I remembered. An image of three people appeared in my mind, they stepped forward, towards me, and I was overwhelmed by the urge to run. But I couldn¡¯t, it was as though I was frozen in place. They stopped a few steps short of me and then they turned. My brother gave me a kind smile, and I felt an urge to go to him, and then I could move! I sprinted towards him, wanting somebody familiar, before he began to turn around as well, a voice echoed in my mind, YOU ARE USELESS, it said. I felt my eyes go wet. I had heard this so many times, why was it bothering me now? Then I remembered who these people were, they were my family, my mother, my father, and my brother.


    Another scene flashed through my mind, it was of him pushing me, of him telling me to get up. I remembered what had happened. How he had killed me. For some unknown reason I had felt compelled to apologise, for what? I don¡¯t know. I hadn¡¯t done anything wrong. I shook my head, snapping out of this strange moment. Now I was back in the present, but what exactly was happening in the present?


    ¡°Ari, it¡¯s time for a nap, go to sleep¡±.


    I could hear the strange woman telling me to sleep, but I wouldn¡¯t. It was the middle of the day! With considerable effort, I lifted my arms, waving them around. As I did this my eyes began to feel heavy, and my blinks became slower and slower. Steadily, I drifted off to sleep. As I fell asleep I heard another person walk into the room, by judging the footsteps I could identify that he was a man.


    ¡°Constance, I understand that your financial situation is not ideal at the moment, however I cannot afford to house you and your child for much longer!¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    I strained my ears, trying to understand the situation. What was going on?


    ¡°I know, I¡¯ll leave soon¡±


    ¡°What about Aretta? Where will you both live?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    And with that I drifted off to sleep.


    ***


    ¡°Father, I''m worried, what¡¯s gotten into Ari? Usually she¡¯s loud and happy, but lately she¡¯s been quiet, she has barely cried. This isn¡¯t normal for a baby her age.¡±


    ¡°She is within the safety of the church, there is nothing to fear Constance.¡±


    ¡°I understand, but¡­ I still worry for the health of my sweet daughter.¡±


    He must believe that I love my daughter by now. This ridiculous act is tiring. This child has taken everything from me, my love, and my reputation. How could I ever care for her? I must dispose of this inconvenience before word reaches the duke that he has a daughter.


    ¡°What shall you both do once you leave the church?¡±


    The words of the Father startled me, my facade as a loving mother dropping for a moment before I quickly plastered a smile back onto my face.


    Did he notice? No, thank goodness.


    ¡°I understand that you are in quite the delicate position at the moment, however, for as long as I have known you, however short that may have been, I believe that you are a good person. You shall care for your daughter well and for that reason I am certain that the God Ermes shall show you the way.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t be more wrong, is this man stupid? This useless ramble he goes on about is ridiculous, if there was a god then he wouldn¡¯t have brought her into existence. The little wench who ruined my life.


    Deepening my smile I replied ¡°Of course, may Ermes show us the way.¡±


    If this incompetent man weren¡¯t of some worth i¡¯d have killed him by now.


    My smile faltered. How did I even end up in this situation? This ineffectual individual must be stupid, to house a stranger with no sense of danger.


    He¡¯ll be lucky to survive until the end of his use to me.


    Seemingly noticing that something was off, the servant of god turned to me.


    ¡°Is something the matter?¡±


    ¡°No no, all is well, I think that I may have heard the voice of God just now. All is extremely well.¡±


    Seemingly inflating at my words, the Father seemed ecstatic.


    Perhaps I can convince him to hand over some gold? We shall see how this turns out.


    ¡°Oh my, whatever did you do to receive such an honour! We must inform the temple of this great gift, for you are now a holy maiden.¡±


    This daft fool.


    I molded my smile once again, this time making it appear gentle and modest.


    ¡°I simply pray every day, because Ermes is all knowing and all loving, he is deserving of praise. I even prayed for the successful birth of my dearest baby girl, and god delivered.¡±


    I¡¯ve never prayed a day in my life, this foolhardy man is utterly stupid. God should deliver some intelligence to him.


    ¡°And you needn¡¯t go through the trouble, I shall inform them myself, after all that will be my next destination regardless of whether you inform them or not. I simply ask that the church fund my trip, after all, how else would I get there?¡± I replied, with a small smile, almost laughing at the thought.


    I certainly shan¡¯t be going to the temple, I shall return home. Without my extra baggage. No matter how long it takes.


    ¡°Very well then.¡±


    ***


    With that being the end to the conversation, I turned around and went back to my office nearby.


    I must write to the temple and inform them of this incredible feat. Once Holy Maiden Constance arrives at the temple, they shall throw a feast in her honour. I must inform them so that they are prepared to welcome such an esteemed guest.


    Now that I was at my desk, I sat down and dipped my quill in ink, beginning to write.


    ***


    Dearest Matthew, Resident of the grand temple of Ermes,


    Salutations, may Ermes aid you in your journey of life and maintain the prosperity of this great nation.


    Respected son, I write to you today, to inform the temple of the birth of a new holy maiden. This woman goes by the name of Constance and has recently heard the voice of God while within my church.


    This esteemed woman has prayed daily for many years. She has informed me of her future journey to the temple in order to make you aware of her presence as a holy maiden. It seems that Constance wishes to make the journey herself, possibly to get closer to God Ermes.


    She is a devout follower of our religion and has been residing in the church. In order to not make a chasm between her and God, I shall dispose of her child. We can not allow her to devote herself to anybody except God. This child threatens that.


    Sincerely, Father Jonan


    ***


    I was now alone in this huge room, I had recently woken up. My body still felt strange, however it was now far easier to move. Maybe this was because I had slept for a while. Judging by the sun, now low in the sky, I had probably slept for a few hours. I grabbed onto the side of my crib, trying to keep a firm grip on it, and used it to stand up. I succeeded, though only for a moment before I fell down once again. For some reason, whenever I fell, or moved suddenly, I would cry. It was as though my mind was subconsciously matching it¡¯s mental age with my body¡¯s.


    Recently, for the past few days in my new life, I had felt as though my mind was becoming slower. It was almost like I was becoming dumber and more emotional. The only thing keeping me conscious of myself and my actions was my advanced memory. Even in my past life, I was able to recall everything from the age of three. Now it seemed that this skill was helping me stay aware. I noticed that when the woman, who is probably my mother, and the Father speak, they are very formal. Maybe it¡¯s the culture? Would it be rude not to speak formally?

 Chapter 2: Abandoned

    Two years have now passed, the few days were spent in that same church. But after a week we left, I heard my mother tell the Father that we were going to a place called ¡®the temple¡¯. I was excited but nervous to see where we would end up, but alas, we didn¡¯t go. I¡¯m not sure why, but my mother decided to go to a strange house instead. I lived there for a year and a bit, and grew considerably, always remembering to act my age. It wasn¡¯t too difficult because I was only twelve years old when my last life ended. Soon when I turned 2 years old, we left the house. I remember that day like it was yesterday. Then again, I do have a really great memory, so that¡¯s the truth for all days.


    My mother told me to get up from where I was sitting. Ever since we left the church she hadn¡¯t been very kind. Sometimes she even forgot to feed me, I could go hungry for days at a time. But I didn¡¯t complain. I was scared, it felt as though one wrong move could cost me my life.


    ¡°Aretta, get up, we''re leaving.¡±


    ¡°Ok¡±


    My name was Aretta and I was 2 years old, I didn¡¯t have a last name, or I didn¡¯t know it. I stood up and about to follow my mother, Constance. My arms wrapped around my faded pink bunny, I stepped forward. This body was still young and uncoordinated, I could walk, but not for long. But at this age I could finally speak comfortably without sounding too old. I tried to stick with short phrases, and one word answers. Throughout my two years living in this body, in this world, I had pieced together a few things. This duchy, ruled by Duke Downbringer, or Duke Lambourg as the commoners referred to him, worshipped the God Ermes.


    Each duchy has one main god to whom they pray and build churches and temples. One temple per duchy is built, using the funds of the royal family who oversee the duchies. These temples have smaller branches throughout the duchy which are churches. Temples have two main figures of power, the high priest and head priest. The head priest would handle all day to day affairs, while the high priest was, for the most part, a figurehead. Other than the high and head priests, the temple contained many normal priests, these priests could be commoners or nobles. However, a noble joining the temple as a mere priest was frowned upon. Between commoner priests and noble priests, the commoners would effectively just serve the noble priests and travel around the duchy offering prayers to the gods, and blessing the land. Churches usually contained two or three priests, while the church I was born in only had one for some reason.


    We were in the duchy of Lambourg, which was next to the ocean and maybe a place called Salborough. I often overheard my mother speaking of this place. Apparently she was planning a trip there. When I discovered this I began to cry, thinking that she¡¯d leave me. But apparently I was mistaken. When this happened we were in public, and as an attempt to quiet me she told me ¡°I¡¯d never leave you¡±. She wouldn¡¯t lie to me, so I believed her. I don¡¯t know much else about life here, only that there are nobles and commoners. In my experience, nobles are rude.


    Once I ran up to a stall with apples, it was in the nicer part of town, and asked for one. I wanted to get a feel for the value of money, so after I found some on the ground I decided to spend it. While I was asking about the price, I realized that I didn¡¯t have enough. The nice shopkeeper gave me an apple for free, after all, I was a little girl asking for a single apple. But after this happened a rude man appeared, he took the nice shopkeeper''s entire basket of apples and kicked over the stall! I could see the shopkeeper¡¯s face sink as she dropped to the ground. Apparently this man was Baron Shanler, a noble, he had come to the capital, where we were, to meet with the duke. He threw a silver coin at the shopkeeper as he left.


    According to a passerby the man was having a ¡®bad¡¯ day. So he took it out on the shopkeeper! Not knowing what to do at the time I just stood there, remembering something similar that had happened to me. I had set up a lemonade stall outside our house, it wasn¡¯t in the way or anything. My oldest brother was walking past and kicked over my lemonade stand, I was drenched. My mother walked past a few seconds later and she laughed. That was when I first realized that I wasn¡¯t wanted. Snapping out of my stupor I felt a tear roll down my cheek. Why was I still bothered by this? I then proceeded to help the shopkeeper fix her stall and save some apples. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    After this experience, I learnt two things, stay away from nobles, and the system of money. 10 small copper coins is a big copper coin, 10 big copper coins is a small silver coin, 10 small silver coins is a big silver coin. 10 big silvers is a small gold and 10 small golds a big gold, there were also platinum coins which were 1000 big gold coins. Barely anybody had even seen a platinum coin and all this knowledge about currency proved extremely helpful later on.


    I was still walking after my mother when I finished daydreaming, clutching the bunny tightly. We hadn¡¯t left the house together in almost 6 months. Last time I left was for shopping, because my mother had overheard the neighbours gossiping about me, and how it was as though I was confined to my room, which I was. Now we were leaving, but I couldn¡¯t think of a reason why. I stepped out the door of our ratty apartment, built from rotting wood. It was, mostly, where I lived alone. Almost every night my mother would disappear and return in the afternoon. We were poor, I was almost certain of it.


    For some reason there was a carriage waiting outside, mother stepped into it and I followed. How could we afford a carriage? It was difficult to make it up the steps with my short legs, but I managed. By the time I made it in, I was huffing and puffing. While we sat in the carriage silently, I looked down at my hands, they were covered in grime. Here, in the common districts, we had no plumbing, no taps. I wasn¡¯t allowed outside and I couldn¡¯t go to the well as a result. I barely ate and I barely exercised. To put it lightly, I was sickly. I couldn¡¯t walk further than a few metres and I barely made it to the carriage. I felt the carriage pull to a stop, the driver getting out to open the door.


    This is fancy, how can we afford it? Are we not poor after all?


    These thoughts had barely crossed my mind before I was ordered to stand up by my mother. Obediently, I stood, and then, I felt a heel make contact with my back. I tumbled forwards, whacking my head on the steps as I went. My conscience was fading, I remembered the familiar moment well. It was all too familiar, after all, it was just like that day and just like that, I blacked out.


    The eyes slowly blinked open, before shutting again. I was staring directly at the sun, I rolled over, confused.


    ¡°Mama¡­¡±


    I don¡¯t know whether I was calling out to my old mother, or my new one. But something told me that I wouldn¡¯t see either one ever again. Groaning, I opened my eyes, this time strategically looking the other way. The first thing I noticed was that I was surrounded by people. Their faces dirty like they were covered in soot, they looked like telltale orphans. I put my arms beside me before pushing myself into a sitting position.


    ¡°Where am I?¡±


    With those three words the room exploded with chatter.


    ¡°See! I knew she could speak.¡±


    ¡°Ha! I win, now you have to do my chores for a week!¡±


    ¡°Noo! I already have extra chores.¡±


    ¡°W-What¡¯s going on¡±, I asked, visibly disoriented. The barrage of voices and people hurt my head. It was as though they were all yelling in my ear. I wanted to grasp my head, to block my ears. Oh, I was already doing that. All the voices went silent, everybody staring at me, they obviously thought I was weird. My face going red, I lowered my hands, trying to play it cool.


    ¡°Um¡­ hello¡±.


    Soon enough, everybody lost interest and left. I was left alone in this strange place, nobody having answered a single one of my questions. I tried to get up, finding myself on a strange bed, dirtier than even the crib at the church. I stood up, only to instantly fall back onto my butt. That small movement had made my head spin. Laying back down I felt my eyes grow heavy, and I fell straight back asleep.


    I opened my eyes with a start, startled at the face above, sitting up I banged my head into the boy¡¯s. He looked only a few years older than me, maybe six? I just remembered that I had recently turned three years old. We both recoiled, clutching our heads in unison. He laughed, I looked at him strangely.


    That boy was Damian, my first friend. This was the moment I realized that this all felt oddly familiar. Why?


    I recognised his name, I recognised this situation but I didn¡¯t know from where. This boy was Damian, the future son of a viscount.


    How do I know this? What¡¯s a Viscount?


    Then I remembered something else. There were five ranks of nobility in the duchy, duke, marquis, earl, viscount and baron. Damian would be a noble. I ignored this fact, becoming friends with him regardless, besides, where was my information coming from? Was it even credible?


    My past life.


    I realized, the memories from then are still fuzzy. After all, my memories of this life are perfect, so I could tell them apart instantly.

 Chapter 3: A New Home

    I had now reached 8 years of age. I was residing in an orphanage of sorts. It was within a church. Here they housed children of various ages. From the oldest, thirteen, to the youngest, one, most children arrived here between the ages of one and 5. I was not an exception. Here children were regularly adopted by nobles, any child not adopted by fourteen years old was thrown out onto the streets. In my time here I have recalled the majority of my memories, however one spot remains blank. A seemingly ordinary memory, set in a library. Although it seemed and it sounded ordinary it felt somehow important.


    I pondered what it may be as I went through my daily chores. I was by far the smallest in the orphanage at the moment, while I was eight years old, and the youngest was six, they still far surpassed me in terms of height. This was because I was small and short, my malnourished body extra tiny for my age. Not much had changed in that aspect in the past 5 years. Most children here were malnourished, but somehow, I was the most.


    Nobles would often come into the orphanage, adopting children. Usually they would try and find a child with their features, to pass them off as their own. To hide the ¡®smudge¡¯ on their records. This wasn¡¯t uncommon. Sadly, I had never been chosen, my light brown hair from my mother, common enough, but my dark blue eyes were highly unusual. I had never even seen anybody with the same colour.


    I guess I''ll never be adopted.


    This thought appeared in my mind more than once during my stay here, I wasn¡¯t wanted. Nothing had changed in that regard between this life and my last. My mother had forcefully abandoned me, my brother had forcefully disposed of me, and nobody wanted me. Or so I thought.


    On a day like any other a man walked into the church. He had an air about him, just like my mother, he seemed important. With his unruly but neat blonde hair he scanned the room. Seemingly inspecting each and every child there. As usual, I was hiding, because ultimately, when you get in a noble''s way, they will take their anger out on you. I wouldn¡¯t risk it. The man continued to scan the room, easily spotting me beneath the table.


    ¡°You, out¡±,


    I slowly crawled out from beneath the table, standing awkwardly in front of him. I knew better than to disobey a direct order from a noble. Looking up, I met his eyes, they widened in surprise. I too was shocked. His eyes, his eyes were the same colour as mine. We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, each second feeling like an hour. Then he looked away suddenly, looking embarrassed.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know it¡¯s rude to raise your head in the presence of the duke? Lower your head this instant!¡± the orphanage director barked. I complied


    ¡°I apologise for the disrespect milord, this one will be strictly punished¡±, the director bowed his head, glaring at me as he did so.


    ¡°No need, I shall do it myself. I¡¯ll be taking her¡±, the duke proclaimed, sticking his finger out towards me.


    My eyes widened once again, this time in surprise, in fear.


    ¡°You, come¡±, with this offhand remark the duke strode forwards, not bothering to wait for his newest possession.


    A moment later I hesitantly followed, my head still lowered as I felt the director¡¯s glare drill into my back. Crossing the boundary of the door I was surrounded by personnel, maids, a butler, knights, the fact that this man was a duke suddenly felt real. Warily raising my head, I stepped into the carriage, freezing in place as the man¡¯s cold stare seemed to see through my soul. Shaking his head he seemed to redirect his gaze out of the window with only a nod towards the other seat in the carriage. I sat down, nervous, the carriage began to move and the man¡¯s stare bore into me once again.


    ¡°You, what is your name?¡± he asked, making no obvious effort to be polite. Instinctively, I replied.


    ¡°My name is Aretta, my lord¡±, remembering the director''s words I had added ¡®my lord¡¯ onto the end of the sentence in an effort to be polite.


    The duke gave me a disapproving look before murmuring to himself.


    ¡°She¡¯ll need tutors, many of them.¡±


    Once again he aimed his words towards me.


    ¡°Your name shall now be Alice Downbringer, you have always been my daughter and always will be my daughter. You may refer to me as ¡®father¡¯.


    I blinked, trying to process his words, Alice Downbringer he had said. It finally came to me. That was the blank spot in my memory. A book I had once read. It contained this exact scene as the backstory to a young girl by the name of Alice Downbringer, the deceased daughter of the duke. I was in a book from my past life, the book was titled ¡®The misdeeds of Catherine Shanler¡¯. My memories had finally returned completely, I remembered everything up until a certain point in the book. From the synopsis to the fate of the girl, Alice Downbringer, to my fate.


    ¡°You shall be educated as a noble lady and you shall make your debut after your seventh birthday. I will likely not see you again until then. In this time, you must study and listen to your maids, they will believe that you are Alice, and you shall not inform them otherwise. Understood?¡±


    The duke had continued speaking as I, who was now Alice, came to the realisation. I snapped out of it after realizing what he had said.


    ¡°But I am already eight?¡±


    ¡°Oh, in that case, you are now six, you will turn seven on the 12th of August, your baptism and debut shall be on the 31st of August¡±.


    Not waiting for a reply, the duke left the carriage, leaving me all alone in this strange place.

 Chapter 4: The Story Line

    After the duke left I desperately scrambled after him, confused, scared.


    ¡°Welcome back to the duke''s estate mistress Alice¡± the maids chanted.


    The maids working here had come to collect me, after their greeting they silently gestured for me to follow. I walked on after them, taking in the elegant garden. All one could see for miles around were neatly trimmed hedges and stunning fountains, the water crystalline. I felt an urge to walk over and touch it, but I refrained, afraid of being chastised. This place was just so different to the filthy residence of commoners like me.


    In my time living with my mother, my new but old mother. I had been constantly told to keep to myself, to not get in the way. That helped me realize that in this world, everyone must wear a mask, they must act as is most appropriate for the situation, or they will be swallowed by those playing this wretched game.


    I continued to follow the maids to my chambers, to the chambers of a girl called Alice. That was the mask I would now wear, or I fear I will be disposed of. I glanced up, seeing the maid in front of me stop.


    ¡°We have arrived.¡± She stated.


    The doors to my bedroom had been opened, I could see a huge four poster bed at the back of the room. Otherwise, the room contained only shelves upon shelves of books and a small armchair. I proceeded to walk into the room, spotting a stairway leading to the second story as I did so.


    To the right of the door there was a towering staircase, it was wooden and looked fancy, the dark oak wood standing out against the pale white walls and light-brown wooden shelves. The railing of the staircase was composed of many patterns, each one seamlessly linking up with the next. Trying not to gasp, I casually sat down in an armchair.


    Remember Aretta, I mean, Alice. Your name is Alice, you are a noble. These are normal furnishings for a noble.


    Still sitting, I wondered. What do nobles do in their free time? After this thought, I realized.


    Am I stupid now or something?


    I was in a room surrounded by books! What else would a noble do with books? Eagerly grabbing a novel off the shelves, I began to read, while uncomfortably aware of the maids and guards watching me.


    Wait, guards? Why do I have guards?


    Momentarily distracted by the new arrivals I looked up from my romance novel. One guard, taking this as a cue to introduce himself said, ¡°It is a pleasure to serve you my lady, I have been recently hired by Duke Lambourg, your father, to guard you, My name is Samuel¡±. I continued to stare at him, not shocked by anything he had said, but wondering. Why did I need guards? The second guard, interpreting my stare as a prompt for him to speak, began to introduce himself as well.


    ¡°It is a pleasure to serve you my lady. I shall also serve you under the command of Duke Lambourg, my name is Alestair Constark.¡±


    After realizing that I was acting in a very un-Alice-like fashion, I quickly waved my hand dismissing them.


    Is that a noble thing to do? I hope so.


    The guards seemed to accept my gesture and took their posts. One, stationed himself behind me, while the other went to guard the door from the outside. Pretending to read, even though I had lost all interest in the book by the time they had finished introducing themselves, I began to think.


    So one of my guards is a noble, and the other a commoner, okay. I wonder if there is much of a power difference between them?


    Putting my current thoughts aside, I began to go over what I knew from the novel. In the book, Alice was said to have been abandoned in a church by her mother, her father had never been in her life. Alice had grown up to be a pushover and an unusually small child for her age. After being proven to have all magical affinities at her baptism, Alice was engaged to a marquess¡¯s son at the age of 8. Soon after the announcement, a girl called Catherine Shanler had organised to meet up with Alice for a tea party, before viciously stabbing her through the heart.


    I must avoid the same fate. I know that it was me who was stabbed in the novel, not Alice, but the replacement Alice. I remember the heroine mentioning it before I put the book away.


    After committing this misdeed a small army of people bounced out the bushes, cloaked in black, these people murdered everybody in Alice¡¯s family. Not a single survivor was found. Although they were outnumbered by the guards of the ducal residence, they seemed to be extremely powerful mages so they won almost instantaneously. After this, the heroine, who was about fourteen at the time, appeared, claiming to have witnessed Alice''s murder.


    She pleaded her case to the king but to no avail, her young age just wouldn¡¯t allow her to be taken seriously. This ultimately led to the heroine and Alice¡¯s fiance working together to find evidence and solve the mystery a few years later when a similar act occurred. It was discovered that this new murder was connected to Alice¡¯s and they began to uncover just how deep this mysterious act had been buried. Solving the crimes that they had discovered, they slowly worked towards finding out exactly what had happened to Alice.


    I got bored towards the end, so I don¡¯t know how things went. Oh how I wish I had finished that book. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    When I finished thinking I looked up, only to see my maids looking at me with worried expressions visible on their faces.


    ¡°Are you alright Mistress Alice? I would be happy to call a doctor if you need.¡±


    Confused, I looked at the maid. Why would she think I was sick?


    Wait, am I acting too differently from how Alice would act? I guess that I haven¡¯t turned a single page in my book.


    I began to panic, ¡°No, no I¡¯m perfectly alright, just tired. Yes, I''m just tired, don¡¯t worry¡±. This only attracted more weird looks, this time from my guard as well. I just looked down at my book, shut it and walked over to my bed.


    I really need to learn how to act, whenever I get flustered I end up acting strangely. Maybe a book would have some tips? Besides, I know that Alice was a pushover, but that wouldn¡¯t allow her to survive as a noble, maybe I should act timid but not like a doormat? That wouldn¡¯t be too out of character for her. I need more information.


    My mind wandered back to earlier, when I was examining the staircase from my chair, I had wanted to go up, but was unable to find a plausible explanation for a random visit up the stairs, so I had held back. While this was happening my eye had fallen onto an unusual book by her bed. Perhaps a book Alice had enjoyed?


    Standing by my new bed, I grabbed the book from the bedside table. It was strange, there was no title on it. I opened the book, only to see handwritten passages written within. Was this a diary?


    Should I really be reading somebody else¡¯s diary? I guess it is eat or be eaten in this world. I have no choice. Besides, it should help me realize how to act as her, it will give me an idea of her personality.


    And with that, I began to read.


    ***


    Monday, the 1st of August


    Today I woke up and my maids dressed me as usual. But today, my favourite maid is missing, I wonder what happened to her? This has happened so many times, I should stop getting attached. When I went outside my room for breakfast I almost ran into my father. His gaze scares me. He always speaks so formally, I mean, I¡¯m his daughter, am I not? He should act with some kindness. Otherwise I find myself unable to face him. Whenever he does look at me, I feel a shiver creep up my spine and other times, it¡¯s as though his gaze goes straight through me. As though I¡¯m not even there.


    Wednesday, the 3rd of August


    I¡¯m soooo bored, everyday is the same. I wake up, get ready, have breakfast, study, have lunch, study, have dinner, read, go to sleep and then repeat! I only get a few hours each day to do what I want! The only time that I can read is after dinner, and even then I can¡¯t read what I want. I¡¯ve been told not to read that ¡®trash¡¯ as he calls my romance novels, and whenever a trader stops by the estate, my father will interrupt them before they can offer me their books! His excuse: ¡®That filth is unsuitable for a member of the duke¡¯s family. I DON¡¯T EVEN WANT TO BE IN THIS FAMILY!!! It¡¯s like I''m suffocating. Sorry for not writing yesterday, my father made me meet up with the marquess¡¯s prince again, he keeps pushing us to play together.


    Thursday, the 4th of August


    Nothing new has happened today, I just want the 31st to come already, then I''ll finally be able to use magic! I can imagine all the possibilities, I could probably even be allowed to leave the mansion other than when visiting the marquess¡¯s son! I¡¯m almost 7, soon I¡¯ll be baptised. My father said that when I¡¯m 7, I¡¯ll have to study even harder! But I don¡¯t mind, because I don¡¯t think that studying more is even possible, I mean, I already learn for 8 hours a day. The rest of my time is spent reading, sleeping, or eating. Speaking of which, would you believe that I¡¯m forced to take almost an hour to eat a single meal! I mean it¡¯s preposterous (that¡¯s a word I learned in my lessons today), they say that it¡¯s ¡®ladylike¡¯ to eat in tiny bites. How am I even expected to eat like that?


    Friday, the 5th of August


    Tonight, father ordered the chef¡¯s to make a huge meal for dinner, with all my favourites included. There was chicken and tomato soup. Father barely ever lets the chef¡¯s cook these meals, I don¡¯t think that he likes them. Then, for dessert we ate a tart but filled with apples! They were so sweet but fresh! Usually we only eat super sugary desserts as signs of our ¡®wealth¡¯. I wonder why my father is being so nice today. He usually doesn¡¯t care what I want, it¡¯s like he doesn¡¯t even care who I am, as long as I act like a ¡®proper¡¯ noble lady. Sometimes I feel like I could easily be replaced by anybody else. I try to act good, I don¡¯t complain when forced to study, but other times, I just can¡¯t sit back and take it. Sometimes I act badly, and my father looks at me as though I¡¯m worthless. It scares me.


    Saturday, the 6th of August


    Today father sent me a message through a maid, we¡¯ll be going somewhere! I¡¯m excited, I¡¯ve never been outside the estate other than when we visit the marquess and his son. I wonder where we¡¯ll be going. I was told that it was a ¡®surprise¡¯ but I really want to know. I pestered my maids, trying to get them to tell me. They all said they didn¡¯t know, but one started to look really uncomfortable, it was my newest maid, she then started apologising. Why? I stopped asking because it seemed like it made her sad. I wonder what¡¯s going on, I heard from another maid that something was wrong with her son a while ago. Maybe that¡¯s it? I¡¯ll try to find out later, once she calms down. I¡¯ll tell you what happens tomorrow!


    ***


    I closed the book with a sigh, placing it back onto the desk and collapsing onto the bed. I had opened it somewhere around the end, most of the entries being the same. But the last writing, on the 6th of August, had been her last, and now, here I was, likely to succumb to the same fate if I¡¯m not careful.


    Something had happened to Alice, something to do with the duke. I think that I may know what fate she had met, but I¡¯d prefer not to say.


    What does this mean?


    This simple question popped up in my mind. What does this mean? It means that I must be the perfect daughter from now on. I must learn to act in a manner befitting of the duke¡¯s daughter. Even if I¡¯m not.


    I picked up her diary, and while I felt sorry for using it like this, I had no notebook to write in, and I certainly didn¡¯t feel comfortable asking for one.


    Picking up the book once again, I walked over to the stairs and stepped up, my guard trailing behind me. To my delight, there was a table and a quill, as well as an ink pot sitting beside the quill. It was as though everything had been prepared especially for me.


    While in my past life, I was quite the pushover, but this time, I would not allow myself to die again. Not like this atleast. Just as those reincarnates say in books, I shall live to have no regrets. I sat down, and placed the diary on the hard wooden desk. Dipping my quill in ink, I smiled, this definitely felt like something out of a book. I allowed some ink to drip off the feather, not wanting it to drip onto the parchment. Once I was satisfied, I began to write.


    ***


    <ol>


    <li>Learn to act (read books on it). I need to know how to act so that my emotions aren¡¯t written on my face for all to see. I also need to appear like the perfect noble girl, or I might be disposed of. I can¡¯t openly practice as I¡¯m always being watched. Even now my guard is standing behind me, I¡¯m lucky that he doesn¡¯t seem to have an interest in what I¡¯m writing, he might see me writing in some weird language and think that I¡¯m summoning demons or something.. I¡¯m sure there must be something in this library-like room with a book on acting, judging by her journal entries, Alice seemed to be quite the actor at times.</li>


    </ol>


    <ol start="2">


    <li>Make connections (I don¡¯t know when, but once I escape, I¡¯ll need to be self-sufficient). I need to be able to socialize, this will help me gain friends, allies, and business partners. I can make opportunities with my modern knowledge. I only need the connections to make that happen. I doubt that the duke would allow me out of the estate so easily, so this will probably come later. I¡¯ll probably need manners for this so I¡¯m kind of thankful for my new tutors. Once I leave this estate, I¡¯ll go to a new orphanage, I¡¯m too young to be taken seriously. There I will try and survive until I''m old enough to forge these connections. This aim is more to learn manners at the moment rather than making connections right now.</li>


    </ol>


    <ol start="3">


    <li>Learn Basic Knowledge (Do my best to read as many of the books in this room as I can over the next 23 days). Any genre should do, I just need a basic understanding of this world''s norms and rules. I can learn a lot from even just this world romance novels, however boring they may be, they contain appropriate and probably acceptable actions that I can use as a base for my etiquette classes. I should be able to learn things like history, law, and geography through my tutors. Mathematics, economics and management are probably the same as on Earth, if not less advanced.</li>


    </ol>

 Chapter 5: Tutors and Knowledge

    After writing down my plans for the foreseeable future I read a few books on acting, ate dinner and went to bed. The dining hall was enormous, feeling far too empty for its size. I almost wished that I had company, the original Alice seemed like she¡¯d have been an interesting conversation partner.


    Today, when I got out of bed my, or Alice¡¯s, handmaidens insisted on dressing me, it felt unnecessary but I agreed. If that was what¡¯s normal then I would comply. For some reason they looked at me strangely, what had I done wrong? They asked me which dress I would like to wear, and after a good night''s rest I managed to casually answer.


    ¡°My favourite one please¡±, the handmaidens froze when I said this. I don¡¯t know why. After seemingly recovering they took a dark blue dress from the cupboard, covered in white frills. I internally cringed away from it. I know that I had asked for her favourite dress, but I guess that my impression of her was of somebody, more, tom-boyish. From her diary entries, it seemed like she hated all things lady-like, like she was the sort of girl to slip on some pants and a shirt before going to climb a tree.


    Oh.


    That answers one question. Why I have been receiving confused glances all morning, I¡¯ve been too perfect.


    But how do I balance these acts, I must act like Alice but enough not like her that I don¡¯t succumb to the same fate? Which is more important. Being outed by the few staff who knew her, or, being, disposed of by the duke. I think that''s pretty obvious.


    I allowed the handmaidens to finish dressing me before I went downstairs for breakfast. It was quite a long walk, but then again, I had nowhere important to be any time soon. I had been woken up early in an attempt to make plenty of time for me to get ready. Why did they think I needed an entire hour to get ready?


    To my surprise the dining room wasn¡¯t empty when I arrived, in front of me sat my new father. He looked up at me before continuing to eat, ignoring me. I had read a basic book etiquette while in my room last night. I now knew the proper greetings for a noble in the morning, night and afternoon, as well as how to meet dukes and duchesses of different kingdoms. Each with their own excruciatingly boring greetings. I knew how one was supposed to bow depending on the rank of recipient, and I knew exactly how to greet the duke this morning.


    ¡°Father, it is a pleasure to see you well on this auspicious day.¡±


    I think I pulled that off nicely, my new ability to remember is quite advanced. I haven¡¯t forgotten a single that I¡¯ve read in this lifetime. Although this greeting was fairly simple, one of the most casual in the book, I think that I did that well.


    In my last life my memory had been good, above average by quite a bit, but this memory, it was amazing. How easy would learning be now? The duke, my father, was dumbfounded as I took a seat before he finally blurted out his own greeting.


    ¡°The Goddess Fatoruma must be smiling down upon us to have weaved the threads of fate together, resulting in our fateful meeting on this day¡±.


    I internally grinned, almost laughing out loud. The duke had messed up his greeting. I was given the greeting for the duke and duchess of the Dukedom of Gustallis, who worshipped the Goddess Fatoruma.


    I watched to see what he would do after his blunder, but he simply continued to eat! Had he not noticed? Or was he just a good actor like I was? I found it nigh impossible to get through the meal without cracking a smile, however my face managed to remain perfectly composed, he probably didn¡¯t even know that I had picked up on his little botch of a greeting.


    Well that certainly went well.


    Looking back up at the duke while a plate of eggs and bacon was placed in front of me, I heard him muse ¡°Perhaps this one will do after all¡±.


    Not waiting for him to change his mind about me, I quickly but elegantly ate my breakfast, cutting everything into small pieces before stabbing multiple into the same mouthful. It allowed me to eat quickly but not messily and hopefully, it made the duke think that I had some table manners, I would need to research them in more detail once I had some free time. But now, I needed to go to my first lesson and meet my new tutors.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    After indirectly questioning my personnel, I gathered that Alice was originally taught by a single, semi-qualified teacher in all of her subjects. Apparently they didn¡¯t know why she suddenly had multiple tutors for her subjects. But I was pretty sure that it was to help me catch up for lost time.


    Regardless, I went to go meet my first tutor, his name was Alden and I wasn¡¯t required to call him professor or anything as I outranked him. As it turned out, I outranked everybody in this duchy except for my father. Entering the spare room in our home, I found Alden sitting at his desk already. After giving the proper greetings I sat down in my seat. He had been hired to teach me mathematics until I went to the Royal Academy, he explained after greeting me.


    I had a rudimentary understanding of the royal academy from the book, so I didn¡¯t ponder it. I was more interested in the current state of mathematics in this world. I doubted that it would be very complicated. Besides, back on Earth, I had taken advanced mathematics at only twelve years old, I was considered a ¡®genius¡¯. Although I didn¡¯t exactly believe in geniuses, I still took pride in that title. It turned out that I was correct. This world''s math was quite easy in comparison to what I had been learning only 8 years ago. After Alden handed me a test to judge my abilities and it turned out that this world¡¯s mathematics was in fact quite rudimentary, I decided to get about thirty percent of the questions wrong. I didn¡¯t want to stand out, as that would make finding a new home somewhere else much harder because people might recognise me.


    After sorting through the questions, and choosing to get only the hardest ones wrong, I handed up my test before taking a seat once again. Our tables were arranged so that his desk was right by the door while mine was a few metres in front of it. Speaking of which, what was this world¡¯s metric system? I had filled out a few measurement related questions, but I had never stopped to think about it. It was like how this world had a different language, but I could still understand everybody without going through the trouble of learning it. Perhaps when I wrote measurements they were also automatically converted to this world''s language and version of measurement, just like my writing seemed to be.


    Unless I purposefully tried to write in English, like when writing in Alice¡¯s diary, everything I wrote would come out in Galandrish, the language of this continent. Not unlike on Earth and in Australia, where our planet was called, well, Earth, and our language was called English, here on Argon and in Galandriel we spoke Galandrish. It seemed that all duchies on this continent spoke the same language. I definitely had some research to do once I returned to my room.


    As Alden passed me my test, I was unsurprised that I had gotten only seventy percent of the questions correct, it was exactly what I had aimed for, Although I missed the happiness of getting a perfect score on a test I reassured myself that once I began school elsewhere that I wouldn¡¯t have to hold back. When I looked up at Alden he began to say, ¡°Well done, I see that you are considerably skilled in your mathematics, I assume that you have been studying it with your previous tutor?¡±


    That¡¯s considered good?


    I smiled sweetly, ¡°yes I have. How did you know?¡± I responded.


    ¡°Well you see, the questions on that test were for the most advanced third year class at the Royal Academy, I merely wished to see how you performed, however, you far surpassed my expectations. You should be hailed as a genius.¡±


    I, not wanting to draw any attention at the moment, did my best to backtrack.


    ¡°Oh, as much as I do appreciate your praise, I actually guessed for over half of the test, I¡¯m quite surprised that I achieved such a remarkable score. However, I cannot accept this as an accurate test of my skills, it was simply luck. I would be greatly appreciative if you were not to share these results with any colleagues of yours, as such an act as me basically lying about my proficiency in mathematics would not reflect well on the proud Dukal house of Lambourg. I do hope that you can understand.¡±


    The line about disgracing the dukal house seemed to sell the suggestion to Alden, as he replied ¡°I suppose so, it is a shame, however it is unavoidable.¡±


    Sighing a breath of relief I calmed down, that was a close call.


    ¡°I feel confident that you will grow up nicely, your modesty proves that in more ways than one.¡±


    Noticing his gaze stop on me once again, I replied with a simple smile, unsure what I should say in this situation. Would it be better to agree, or disagree?


    The smile should be enough, hopefully he doesn¡¯t realize that I¡¯m not being modest, just trying to cover my tracks. I need to be more careful, that was close.


    After this¡­ complication, I waited in the spare room for my next teacher to arrive. I believe that I will be learning economics next? The same process repeated for all my tutors, they would give me a test and I would calculate the right amount of questions to get wrong. To avoid suspicion, I got forty percent wrong in economics, thirty in management and of course, in history, geography and etiquette I actually tried. These subjects were the ones I didn¡¯t know, as they differ from earth¡¯s lessons.


    When I returned to my room, I read some books on basic knowledge, before going upstairs to write down my plans and what I could remember from the novel. In the end I sorted through my thoughts and created a plan.


    It seemed that Catherine ¨Cthe villainess in the story¨C had been jealous of my engagement with the marquess¡¯s son. She had organized a scheme to murder me, using her family¡¯s resources while her father was out of town. It sounded preposterous! A 15 year old girl, jealous over the fiance of a seven year old girl! Catherine had been borderline obsessed with the marquess¡¯s son for as long as anybody could remember, but the son didn¡¯t reciprocate her feelings so they didn¡¯t get an engagement.


    It¡¯d have been tragic if she wasn¡¯t planning to kill me! Also, how did a baron have so many skilled mages? They must have been doing something illegal. I bet that the heroine discovered it at the end of the story.


    At the behest of my favourite maid, I went downstairs for dinner. Today, to my relief, the duke wasn¡¯t there. So I ate alone before going back upstairs to continue my planning.

 Chapter 6: Spending time at the dukes estate

    After retiring to my chambers for the rest of the night, I began to write down my plans.


    ***


    Plan A:


    Escape on the morning of the 31st of August on the day of my baptism. There should be a merchant''s carriage leaving for the Imperial Lands sometime that morning. They said they would leave at sunrise. I have no chance of escaping during the day, so I will leave at around 5am on the day of my debut. If I sneak onto the carriage with the cargo right before they leave, then I doubt that they will check once I¡¯m inside. My guards should be outside the door so they should be none the wiser until it¡¯s time for me to wake up at around 8am.


    Plan B:


    If anything major in plan A changes then I will take a chance and pay the merchants to hide me, I should probably get some money from my birthday which is coming up. If I get caught then I¡¯ll just run, there will be no way for me to escape if I come back. Worst case scenario, I¡¯ll make a scene and say that I¡¯m being kidnapped. The duke will probably put me under lockdown if I get caught, I think he only adopted me to keep up appearances. Between him and my future murderer, the estate isn¡¯t safe. I¡¯ll do whatever it takes to escape, my plan might not be the best thought out one, but it should work.


    ***


    Once I finally lifted my quill from the parchment, my maid alerted me of the time. It had flown by as I plotted my escape. Now it was time for me to sleep.


    The next few days had progressed as usual, and now it was the 12th of August, and Alice''s birthday. It was my birthday.


    I wonder what gifts Alice enjoys. Hopefully she¡¯s given some money for my escape plan.


    After being dressed in a gorgeous versuon of my dark blue dress, with minimal frills, giving it an elegant yet simple look, I went to the dining hall to eat breakfast. The duke was already there, waiting for me. After exchanging the appropriate greetings which, to my disappointment, were correct this time, I took a seat. Oddly enough, the duke ¨CI meant father began a conversation with me. As soon as he had finished his first sentence I knew exactly what he was trying to say.


    ¡°I congratulate you on your seventh birthday, Alice, you are now officially my daughter, please conduct yourself in an appropriate fashion. You are now a member of the ducal family of Lambourg, and I am certain that you will not disappoint me.¡±


    The hidden message behind his words was blatantly obvious to me. He was telling me that I mustn¡¯t try anything as it would be futile. After all he did say that he was ¡®certain¡¯ that I would behave. I doubt that any of the staff had caught on, you would need to know the situation for that. To them it probably looked like a harmless interaction between the duke and his daughter. I was the only one who knew exactly what this meant.


    Okay, if you want to be like that, I¡¯ll play along.


    ¡°Why of course father, I will not disappoint you. Because remember, I am your daughter, everybody knows that.¡±


    I then followed up with a big smile, as though I was proud to have been born as that monster¡¯s child, not that I even had been. We then continued to sit there, exchanging enormous smiles. While his smile didn¡¯t waver I decided to follow up with an innocent question.


    ¡°So father, how has work been? I hear that managing a duchy is quite difficult, you should be given an award for being such a great father whilst also operating a duchy.¡±


    I watched his smile falter for a moment as delivered this blow to the gut.


    ¡°Yes, yes it has been great, I have many connections which allow me to get business done quite quickly, and spend more time with you dearest.¡±


    He was trying to tell me that he was watching me, and that I shouldn¡¯t try anything, but I remained unfazed. My smile deepened, this time genuinely.


    ¡°Oh that is positively wonderful, you must have so many connections due to your great reputation, I am certain that the neighbouring duchies think so as well.¡±


    After this jab, the duke momentarily went quiet, as though thinking about how to respond. The chefs, who were still bringing out our breakfast, were eyeing us, obviously sensing the hostile environment. I simply ignored them, having quite a bit of fun with this conversation. The duke finally responded with a decent answer.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Yes, I have quite a good reputation with foreign duchies, I doubt that mind if I made a single small mistake.¡±


    Wow, this man is good with his words, almost as good as me.


    ¡°That is quite a relief father. I am pleased that your business is going so well, but would that not still tank your reputation enormously, it would cause people to lose their trust in our grand duchy. Perhaps you should be more careful. I would hate for anything to happen.¡±


    I smiled, positively certain that I had already won, and it turned out that I had. The duke responded with a relatively neutral answer, proving my victory.


    ¡°Yes, I suppose so. I will take your advice into account, my dearest daughter.¡±


    ¡°Why thank you, dearest father.¡±


    And thus, our fun little conversation ended, replaced instead with a new topic.


    ¡°Your brother will be coming to visit today, I trust that you will welcome him warmly, after all, I hear that you two are quite close.¡±


    ¡°Yes, brother Albert will be coming to visit, I look forward to it.¡±


    Watching my fathers face contort in shock brought a small smile to my face. Nowhere near as radiant as my fake smiles in our earlier conversation, but genuine. After the duke quickly recovered from the shock of my knowing about Albert, he quickly gave a careless reply.


    ¡°Anyways I simply wished to tell you about Albert coming today, I was unsure if you knew about him. He will be congratulating you on your birthday, please accept his congratulations elegantly.¡±


    I responded with a quick and innocent, ¡°Whyever would you think that I didn¡¯t know about brother Albert. We are very close, he is my brother after all. Are you feeling alright?¡±


    Trying to cover a grin which was forming on my face, I quickly stuffed a piece of egg into my mouth. This was almost too funny! Father remained silent.


    ***


    ¡°Did you notice? Lady Alice has been acting strange for the past week and a bit.¡±


    The other maid vigorously nodded, ¡°Yes! I noticed it too. One morning she even asked to wear her favourite dress! Can you believe it? She never lets us make her wear a dress so easily! She always struggles, begging to wear pants and a shirt, but lately, she¡¯s been the perfect lady.¡±


    ¡°It certainly is strange, I wonder what happened. She changed right after she and the duke went on that trip¡±, the first maid mused.


    ¡°Maybe the master scolded her! ¡­Though, he never really pays attention to her so I doubt that''s the case. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely not because of a scolding, after all, whenever we scold her she never listens.¡±


    ¡°But we can¡¯t exactly compare her to ourselves, can we?¡± the second maid responded.


    ¡°I suppose so, it must just be because she is growing now.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that must be the case¡±, the maids agreed.


    As they were about to begin their conversation again they noticed the duke walking past. He was alone, in the servants quarters, strange, strange indeed. Once he had passed the maids exploded into whispers.


    ¡°Did you see that?¡±, the second maid mused, almost as though she was talking to herself. ¡°I did, I did¡±, the first maid replied, almost squealing. They were excited, this was big news.


    ¡°What do you think he was doing?¡±, the second maid asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡±


    This time they both answered the first maid¡¯s question, ¡°HE WAS HAVING A RANDEVU WITH A SERVANT!!!¡± they squealed. They quickly forgot all about their previous conversation, and instead began to gossip about the duke¡¯s supposed lover.


    ***


    I was simply walking through the halls of my estate, searching for my butler, who had disappeared right after we had finished planning Alice¡¯s engagement when I noticed two maids standing in a corner, squealing over something ridiculous. Usually I would''ve called them out but I had more important things to do. I could have sent another servant in search of him, but I needed to stretch my legs, to clear my mind.


    This new daughter of mine is quite troublesome, sometimes I wonder if I would have been better off with the old one. No, no, this one is quite adept in noble mannerisms and such. It makes me wonder. Who is this girl from the orphanage?


    Regardless, I doubt that I will be able to find a more suitable replacement. I had originally planned to simply fire all of the staff before bringing this girl here. But she can definitely pass for Alice, the only difference I have noticed is that her eyes are slightly darker than Alice¡¯s, and Alice¡¯s are already extremely dark for a daughter of a duke. Now I am even more curious. Who is this girl?


    I sighed, I¡¯m overthinking this. It is simply a coincidence. As I continued my stride towards the kitchen I found my doubts returning. But I needn¡¯t worry, all shall be revealed once we discover her attributes. I sensed plenty of mana on the girl, probably just because she is older than Alice.


    As I walked through the doors to the kitchen, I noticed all eyes turn to me. ¡°You may continue¡±, I remarked.


    These commoners, they are so¡­ filthy.


    This was my kitchen, but it was entirely different to the rest of the house I had been in. Other than the corridors in the servants quarters and orphanages which I saw, nothing came even close to this level of filth, especially not in my estate. This certainly proves that commoners are an inferior race.


    They should all just be eradicated once and for all, that way they will not tarnish us nobles with their presence. Even just keeping the replacement in the house is horrible. Why did I think that a commoner would be alright as a replacement? She still acts like a commoner even after a week in the mansion. I suppose that commoners will always be commoners.


    I sighed once again, I guess it is to be expected of an inferior race. The chefs and waiters had returned to their work, some were preparing for lunch, while others could be seen taking cleaning supplies to the dining hall. However, I couldn¡¯t seem to find Christian, my butler, anywhere. The staff were still watching me out of the corners in their vision, as I swiftly spun on my heel and returned from whence I came.


    ***


    It has been an entire 6 days since Aretta left, lately, life at the orphanage has been so boring.


    ¡°Children! Come to the sitting room now, we have a guest.¡±


    I could hear the priest sucking up to the newest noble who arrived here, it was a common occurrence. He¡¯d act nice in front of the nobles, before being horrid as soon as they left. I walked over to the sitting room, seeing a noble in fancy attire. It wasn¡¯t exactly a new thing, but this one was dressed extremely well. Only second to a few other visitors we had had before.


    As I continued to think, I heard the priest let out a delighted laugh.


    ¡°Oh, you wish for that one? He will cost you 3 golds.¡±


    Looking up, I watched as the nobleman threw a satchel of coins at the priest before gesturing to me, ¡°come¡±. I looked around, thinking that I was mistaken. But I wasn¡¯t, he wanted me.


    I followed as he asked me my name. ¡°Tell me your name, boy¡±, I swiftly replied ¡°Damian, sir¡±.


    ¡°Good, good, you shall do. You are now my son. My name is Viscount Claus. You may refer to me as ¡®father¡±. ¡°Ok¡± I replied and thus I had now been adopted by a noble.


    I was in luck, I hope that the girl I had met before had also had the same experience, we had been adopted. Most nobles adopted commoner children as workers, or slaves. I knew that I could¡¯ve handled the manual labor. But she probably would¡¯ve collapsed.

 Chapter 7: The Brother

    After breakfast I spent my time in my economics and management classes. I wanted to take business classes as well, but the duke refused to permit it. Now it was time for lunch, apparently my supposed brother had decided to pay me a visit. I had read about Alice¡¯s and Albert''s interaction before so I wasn¡¯t worried about keeping up the act. Besides, in the worst case, I would tell him that I had hit my head this morning while getting out of bed.


    If you ask me, I have become quite the actress in my time here. I could now properly conceal my true emotions while acting as though I felt something entirely different, I could even control my laughter which I struggled with before. I should be alright to meet with one person and regardless of whether he believes my backup lie, none of this is my fault! I¡¯ll just pin the blame on the duke.


    I got up from my seat, thanked my tutor for the lesson, and began to walk to the dining hall. Oddly enough, on my way, I heard some maids gossiping about ¡®the duke¡¯s forbidden love¡¯, whatever that meant. Even though I didn¡¯t know exactly what they were talking about, I giggled, in my mind of course. Although I doubt that this rumor was true, it would certainly make quite the hilarious tale.


    Once I reached the dining hall, I curtsied, gently holding the hem of my dress before elegantly moving my right foot in front of the left and dipping my head. It was the traditional curtsy in all duchies. As I raised my head I saw Albert staring at me, I wanted to giggle but I skillfully held back.


    ¡°I greet you on this fine day, which has been provided for us by the God Ermes, he has blessed us, and now we have been lucky enough to cross paths again. How are you brother Albert?¡±


    I delivered my greeting perfectly, if I do say so myself. Albert was still staring for the next few moments, his jaw may as well have been on the ground. Once he realized that he was staring, he hastily returned my greeting and commented on my etiquette.


    ¡°I now see why father decided to get you some tutors, they must be excellent to have managed to whip my study-hating sister into an elegant young lady.¡±


    I casually brought my hand up to cover my mouth and giggled in a very Alice-like fashion. ¡°Why yes, I suppose so, though I would like some of the credit as well.¡± I playfully answered. He rolled his eyes and gestured for me to sit down, a few moments later, the waiters and waitresses filed into the room before all stepping forward and placing the meals on the table in unison.


    Why, this is certainly fancy, it must be either because Albert is here, or because it¡¯s my birthday.


    As we all ate, father made small talk with Albert. It seemed that they were talking about some of the inter duchy relations, and about how father wanted Albert to accompany him to some big meeting this year. When Albert asked for more details father told him that they would discuss it some other time as apparently ¡®my birthday isn¡¯t an appropriate setting for this discussion¡¯. I knew that this was simply a farce to help him avoid speaking about important matters in front of me but I didn¡¯t really mind. I doubt I would have learnt anything vital anyways.


    Thus, the conversation turned to me, and my birthday. We talked about small things such as popular new snacks, and famous dressmakers in the duchy, before turning to subjects like my baptism and presents.


    ¡°Sister Alice, did you hear that there is a new food by the name of ¡®pound cake¡¯.¡±


    I obviously knew about pound cake, but I kept that to myself


    ¡°No, I have not, would you be opposed to telling me about this new food? Is it any good?¡± I replied.


    ¡°It is like a fluffy pastry, you can eat it plain or with fruits and such added within. It is nice and sweet while also being light and fluffy. It is definitely something that you must try to understand, I will bring you some on my next visit. That may not be for a while though, as I plan to stay for your baptism.¡±


    That''s certainly one way to look at it.


    I was already aware that he would stay because he was there when Catherine went crazy in the book, though it may complicate things. Such a shame that I won¡¯t be able to eat some cake though, I was really starting to miss it.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°That would be wonderful brother, I look forward to it. But why stay for my baptism? I hear that you are only allowed inside of the temple while I get my affinities, would it not be a hassle for you to stay?¡±


    I also don¡¯t exactly want Albert to stay for the baptism. After all, he seems kind, it would be a shame for him to die. But then again, I doubt I could make up a decent reason for him to leave. Actually, if I push for him to leave, then the duke would likely get suspicious and make him stay no matter what I do. I won¡¯t push it, but hopefully he decides to leave.


    That was when Albert replied and snapped me out of my thoughts.


    ¡°It would be no trouble at all, I¡¯d hate to miss such a big event for my sister, speaking of which, I take it that  we have all finished eating?


    After both I and the duke agreed Albert beckoned a servant, who came in with a huge box wrapped in coloured paper.


    ¡°I congratulate you on reaching seven years of age, you will soon become a proper member of this duchy. This is my gift to you¡±. Once Albert completed his speech, the servant placed the gift on the ground in view of everybody, before squatting down and neatly unwrapping it, seemingly saving the paper for future use. Once the box was unwrapped I finally figured out what it was, a huge crate of books. I understand that Alice enjoyed reading, but really? This many books?


    I plastered a partly genuine smile onto my face and said, ¡°Thank you brother Albert, I look forward to reading all of these magnificent books.¡± Then I looked expectantly towards the duke, ¡°Father, what did you get me?¡± He soon replied.


    ¡°My dearest Alice, I congratulate you on the achievement of reaching 7 years old, soon you will become a proper member of our duchy, by attending the baptism. I know that you understand the gravity of this event, as only nobles are allowed to attend and so, to commemorate your ascension to being a member of our great duchy, I give you this book.¡±


    Right on que another servant walked into the dining hall and handed me a small package. I hastily unwrapped it, only to see ¡®The complete guide to noble etiquette for all kingdoms¡¯. Struggling to keep my emotions in check, my smile twitched slightly, ¡°Thank you so much, father, I will put it to good use.¡±


    As a fire starter.


    Once I delivered this line, I handed the book back to a servant and excused myself. Two other servants picked up the enormous crate of books and began to trail after me. After I had excused myself Albert decided to follow my lead.


    ¡°Father, I shall now continue with my work, I wish you luck in your diplomatic affairs,¡± Albert stated.


    The duke simply nodded while I continued to leave. Once brother Albert caught up to me, he instantly overtook me, after all, I was only seven years old, with a poor constitution at that, I was slow. As he passed by me, he whispered in my ear, ¡°I¡¯ve snuck a romance novel into the mix. Don¡¯t let father see.¡±


    I knew I liked him from the moment we met! It seems I¡¯ve been proven right.


    I only nodded in return but he smiled at seeing my happy face. Once I had arrived in my room, I began to sort through the books. My staff offered to do it themselves but I refused, who doesn¡¯t love sorting through new books! If I were to let them do it then it would ruin the fun, and I''d never even know what books I got. Another reason behind this which I didn¡¯t tell the maids was that I wanted to see if there would be any suitable books for me to take when I escaped. Sadly, nobody had gifted me any gold for my birthday, so I lacked the money necessary to aid my escape.


    I was certain that there were no printers in this world, so books ought to be expensive. I could sell a few to gain some funds. Depending on how long it would take me to reach an orphanage, an inn might be necessary, I couldn¡¯t exactly sleep outside, I was a young girl travelling alone. I¡¯m not completely stupid! I wasn¡¯t sure what types of shops I would find in the Imperial Lands, nor did I know the value of books. But. just in case somebody tried to scam me, I had a perfect response prepared, ¡®we both know that isn¡¯t nearly good enough, try again!¡¯ It was fool proof.


    So as I sorted my books into piles of genres, I put aside all the books I would take with me. In the end, after about 15 minutes of sorting, I found that I had five relatively thin books put aside for my journey. Each only had roughly two hundred pages, but as all books were hand written that was the norm.


    The titles of these books were ¡®the complete beginner guide to magic, ¡®the complete intermediate guide to magic, and ¡®the complete advanced guide to magic¡¯. Although I probably couldn¡¯t use magic since I was a commoner, and I wouldn''t risk trying in this mansion for the fear of getting caught failing, I felt that these books would sell for quite a bit, and I had the complete collection which should up the price even more. The last two books were, ¡®a guide to surviving in the wild, no magic necessary¡¯ and my personal favourite ¡®blossoming love¡¯. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure why these last two were given to a seven year old, but I certainly wouldn¡¯t complain.


    I found a small backpack in the cupboard. It was very childish and frilly, but it was all I had, so I made the most of it. I tucked my books into it for now, having sent a maid to the kitchens to get me some tea, and my other maid was sent after the first maid after I told her that I forgot to ask for snacks. It would only keep them away for a few minutes, but it was long enough. One guard was outside the door, while the second had been absent all day for some reason. I didn¡¯t dare question it in case he came back.


    While I was there, I also stashed away my simplest dresses, however fancy they still were, I wasn¡¯t exactly sure why, but even though Alice seemed like the type to wear pants and a top, she only had dresses. However, I did have an inkling of suspicion that the duke had something to do with this, perhaps he was worried that I would run away, so he decided to hide my practical clothes. If so, it seemed rather silly.


    I heard a knock on the door and quickly ran over to my chair, grabbing a random book on the way. My run was rather slow, and by the time I had arrived at my destination I was already out of breath. I waited a few moments until I had calmed my breathing before steadily saying, ¡°You may enter¡±. While I had been expecting the maids to have returned, it seemed that my missing guard was here instead, with a friend, at that.


    Then I heard another knock on the door, and once again yelled, ¡°enter¡±. This time the maids did return, with cookies. The cookies were quite plain, but nice nonetheless. I elegantly sipped my tea as my guard began to introduce his new ¡®friend¡¯. Apparently, I now had another guard. I wasn¡¯t exactly surprised, but it was a hindrance nonetheless. I asked him to go guard the outside of the door, while the other guard guarded the inside. My last and final guard remained behind me.

 Chapter 8: Preparations

    It was morning on the 30th of August, the day before my planned escape. Today I would need to complete my packing, double check my information, and somehow get some food and water for the trip. I wasn¡¯t sure exactly how I would sneak food and water out of the kitchen, but I had a faint idea. Before my lessons started for the day, I slowly, and I mean slowly, walked over to Albert¡¯s room. I walked so slowly that it took me almost ten minutes to make it to his door! And by the end of that walk, I was already exhausted. How would I ever survive my trip to the Imperial Lands like this!


    But I have to. Otherwise I¡¯ll almost certainly die.


    I got up, put on my usual dress, the blue one with white frills, and went to the dining hall for breakfast. Greeting both my father and my brother, I dipped into a curtsy. It still felt ridiculous, but not to such an extent that I would refuse to do it. After taking a seat, my father spoke up, ¡°I take it that you are all ready for your baptism and debut tomorrow?¡± In my quietest, non-hostile voice, I responded, ¡°Yes, father¡±.


    Yes, I will soon be ready for my departure, father.


    Once I had completed my breakfast, I went to the spare room to take my lessons. After breakfast, I would be learning geography. As I walked through the door to the classroom, I noticed a map on the desk, following my gaze the tutor said, today we will be learning about the Imperial Lands. While I listened intently, the teacher began to explain.


    ¡°The Imperial Lands are home to the main branch of royals, the smaller branches reside in the duchies as dukes, and duchesses.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean that father is related to royalty?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, and you are as well. While the duchy of Lambourg¡¯s duke¡¯s is now quite a distant relative, you must behave yourself in a manner befitting of royalty.¡±


    I groaned, he had used this opportunity to begin lecturing me about etiquette, again. I replied somewhat curtly, cutting him off before he could continue.


    ¡°I understand completely, shall we return to the lesson?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I suppose that would be appropriate, we are in geography after all.¡±


    ¡°The Imperial Lands share a border with Gustallis, while Gustallis shares a border with us, any trade going from Lambourg to the Imperial Lands must pass through Gustallis first. The Imperial Lands also share a border with Salfour and Cowen, Salfour, covering over half of their border, they are known as the Sword and Shield of the Imperial Lands. Cowen is far smaller, but shares a border with the Imperial Lands, Gustallis and Lambourg.¡±


    ¡°That is very interesting¡±, I replied.


    ¡°Is the system between nobles and commoners any different in Imperial Lands?¡± I tried to sneak a question related to my future life there into the conversation without being suspicious, but it seemed that I needn¡¯t have even tried.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    The teacher replied, ¡°Why of course not, nobles will always be far superior to mere commoners, however, if you were asking about the difference in cleanliness within their common towns, that would be correct. The Imperial Lands are surrounded by common towns on the outer rim and nobles around the middle, with the Imperial Palace in the centre. And of course, the Royal Academy, which you will be attending, is located right next to the Imperial Palace, but with a guarded wall in between. I was impressed that you knew about the difference in the system with commoners and nobles. Perhaps you are far more knowledgeable than I thought.¡±


    ¡°Why thank you for the praise, however I am nothing special. I simply overheard something about it and wanted to know more¡±, I replied.


    That isn¡¯t even what I asked, but hey, at least I got some extra info. But seriously, how did he even manage to skip to that information? That isn¡¯t even remotely close to what I asked.


    Thus, our lesson was finished, I learnt about addition in maths, which was extremely easy and then I ate lunch. I had finished my meal early, mostly because I slipped some into a handkerchief to take with me. Before returning back to my room, I asked my maids to bring me some tea and cookies. I would take the opportunity to get rid of them, and to stock some more food for my journey. My guards had taken to letting one train in the courtyard, while the other two would guard me. This meant that I only had to get rid of one guard, as the other was outside the door.


    ¡°Oh no, I can¡¯t remember whether I asked for cookies. Would you be so kind as to go and remind them?¡± I asked, placing a hand on my cheek and tilting my head, giving the impression that I was worried. My guard, being the good person he was, instantly agreed, seeing my (not so) distressed face. As soon as the door shut behind him I allowed an evil grin to spread over my face. I walked over to the cupboard, opening it and placing both my diary and food inside. I had managed to grab four pieces of bread, some cold cuts, salted meats and about seven slices of cheese from lunch. The chefs seemed quite confused at my sudden appetite, but I disregarded it with a pinch of salt.


    After neatly placing these items into my bag, I returned to my armchair and peacefully read until everybody had returned. Once they had arrived, I drank a cup of tea and ate a few cookies, before slipping the remainder into another hanky and neatly tying it up so as to not spill any crumbs. I immediately tucked it underneath the armchair as I couldn''t possibly put it into my bag now since I was being watched. In the end, I hadn¡¯t managed to find anything that I could store water in, but since the strip wasn¡¯t too long, I expected that I would be fine.


    Now I just need to get through the day.


    I soon left for my afternoon classes which were history and management. Management was the same as on Earth, so I didn¡¯t really learn anything. I had expected history to be interesting at the very least, but all that the teacher spoke of was ¡®The Greatness of Galanadra¡¯. Galandra seemed to be the name of our continent, which I learned quite late. All that I learnt in this lesson was the name of the continent, and why it was called Galandra. Apparently, long ago, there was a man named Gale, and a woman named Alexandra, their unison shifted the lands, joining their two home continents together, creating what we now know as Galandra.


    Not a very creative name, but it serves the purpose well enough.


    After the lessons, while I was in my bed chambers, my guards seemed to be on extra high alert. Now I had two following me around and one at the door. It seemed that the two noble guards whose names I had forgotten were following me, while the commoner guard was stuck outside, watching the entrance.


    I had a faint feeling that they were watching me rather than protecting me. It was obvious that they weren¡¯t actively trying to protect me. Rather the duke just needed a reasonable excuse to hire people to keep an eye on me without making the other personnel suspicious. I think that the commoner is unaware of this plan, and that is why he was stationed outside. It is entirely possible that they tightened their ¡®security¡¯ in order to keep a better eye on me because the debut is coming up. If I were to escape, then today would be the perfect time and they knew it, as did I. But then again, this was all merely speculation.


    In my free time I read a few more books, trying to select some which would be either entertaining, or helpful. I wasn¡¯t exactly familiar with the book market prices, so I mostly just stuck to whichever books looked interesting or fancy. I had noticed when I first arrived at the mansion that all of the books were hand written, so they must be expensive as only one of each book would ever exist until they created printing. Being able to collect an entire series of books, such as all of the magic books I had been gifted, must have been a challenge. This made me wonder.


    How can the duke and brother even afford all these books? It can¡¯t be cheap.


    I understood that we were a ducal house, but if I had to guess, each book would cost at least 5 small golds, which to my inexperienced mind, was a lot of money. Something doesn¡¯t add up. How can they afford to buy so many books, in such whopping quantities, while still paying for food and other necessities, and while running an entire duchy?

 Chapter 9: Escape

    After pretending not to feel well, and going to bed early as a result, I felt ready to make my escape. Due to my supposed ¡®illness¡¯, my guards seemed to let down their guards. They weren¡¯t permitted to remain within my bedchambers while I slept either way, so it didn¡¯t really matter but it still helped to calm my nerves.


    I felt exhilarated, doing something ¡®wrong¡¯ just seemed so fun! I hadn¡¯t gotten much of a chance, nor did I take any of the chances which did come my way, to misbehave in my past life. Now I regretted having lived such a boring life, allowing others to walk all over me. But I wouldn¡¯t make the same mistakes again. This time I would live life to the fullest and I would find a way to live past the age of twelve.


    At the same time, I felt nervous, if anything went wrong with my escape, then this second chance would fall through my grasp. I still didn¡¯t know what magical deity had reincarnated me into this world, and honestly, I didn¡¯t care. Theoretically, if I found out about this deity, what would I even do? Would I approach it? Ask it a question, and possibly risk angering it. I was certain that it wasn¡¯t worth the risk.


    I suddenly awoke, it was still dark, but I could see extremely faint wisps of light from the east. It was time for me to act. I got out of bed, careful to not make even the slightest noise, flinching when I heard my feet make contact with the ground. I quickly retrieved my hidden cookies before tucking them into the front most pocket of my backpack. I then proceeded to grab a book I was in the middle of reading and tucking it in as well. Now my bag was almost bursting, with six books, some cookies, clothes and food within it.


    I was extremely lucky that books in this world were thin and light, otherwise, my bag would probably would¡¯ve filled up long ago, and probably been too heavy even before that. Hoisting the bag onto my back, I walked over to the window, realizing that I hadn¡¯t thought this through. Although the window was on the first floor, and would be relatively easy to climb through, the window was locked shut. While I was certain the I would be capable of opening it, it was quite likely to be noisy.


    Deciding to try regardless of this fact, I began to tinker with the lock. It was old fashioned and rusty, making it loud, but this also meant that it was extremely simple to open. Once I had finally finished prying open the window as quietly as possible, I brought my leg over the windowsill and shifted my weight onto that foot, I proceeded to bring my other leg over the window until I was standing normally on the other side. Now I slowly closed the window but couldn¡¯t lock it from the outside.


    I continued to creep through the gardens, strategically avoiding the leaves and twigs on the ground. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure who would see or hear me but I still wanted to be careful. Once I had reached the gate I checked for guards before strolling through them. I wasn¡¯t sure what this said about their security, but there were no guards and the gates had been left wide open.


    Once I had exited the premises, I began to head towards the town. There was a small wall surrounding both the estate and the town around it, apparently the merchants would be leaving from the east gate. So while I wasn¡¯t the best with directions it was still pretty easy to find the the east gaye as that was where to sun rose.


    After I had arrived at the gate I saw all of the merchants packing up their stock. The sun was just over the horizon, steadily rising as I watched. The merchants would be leaving any moment now, I simply needed to jump in at the right moment. This would likely be the hardest part, getting in without being seen, and passing the checks at the gate. I was crouching behind a barrel in a nearby alley, practically invisible with my dark dress, and shadowy location.


    When I saw my opportunity, I jumped at it. The merchants, who had both sat down at the front of the carriage, weren¡¯t looking, and seemed like they were about to leave. I ran as quickly as i could, which wasn¡¯t very fast, and jumped into the back of the carriage in one swift motion. Trying to calm my breathing, I positioned myself behind a crate of cargo. I was out of view from both where the two merchants were sitting and from the back of the carriage if they needed to suddenly stop. Now my only chance of discovery was if they had seen me get in, the guards noticed me, or if they decided to grab the exact crate which I was crouched behind.


    I had been sitting in the carriage for what felt like hours, the sun was already high in the sky by the time I peeked outside. We had passed the guard checks seamlessly, with them not even bothering to check the carriage. Apparently these particular merchants were well known and trusted in the capital of Lambourg, they were regulars. I had chosen the best carriage for the job. Once we arrived at the Imperial Lands I planned to leave one of my books in the carriage, to repay this debt they probably didn¡¯t even know about.


    After a few more hours I felt the carriage suddenly grind to a halt, a man¡¯s voice telling his partner that they were going to take a break. The sun was at its highest point of the day when I heard the men approaching my hiding spot. I subconsciously held my breath, letting out out a deep breath when they left. As soon as I let down my guard I heard one man yell.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°You''re welcome to join us too, little lady.¡±


    I breath caught in my throat, I went silent once again, as though I was still hoping they weren¡¯t talking to me.


    ¡°I mean you, come out and have some grub. I promise I won''t bite!¡±


    After that I heard the other man laugh, they said nothing else for the next several minutes. Curiously, I stuck out my head, only to be greeted by two pairs of staring eyes.


    ¡°Finally decided to show yerself I see. Come sit, we don¡¯t mind, if we minded we woulda turned you in to the guards.¡±


    I reluctantly stepped out of the carriage, admitting that I had been caught as I did so. Unsure what to say, I stayed quiet, awkwardly standing as I stared at the men, wondering what would happen now.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t ya hear me? Come join us for some grub.¡±


    I cautiously took a step towards the merchants, unsure whether I should take them up on their offer. In the end, I decided to join them. I mean, they already know that I¡¯m here, what else could possibly happen? I walked over taking a seat on a vacant log, the men staring at me as I did so.


    ¡°You really are tiny aren¡¯t ya?¡± he asked, I nodded, unsure where this was going.


    ¡°Stop pickin¡¯ in her mate, yer scarin¡¯ the poor girl.¡± Still unsure about what exactly they wanted, I simply stayed quiet and nodded along


    Finally, I spoke up, asking a question, trying to find out about what would happen next.


    ¡°So, what exactly do you plan to do with me?¡±


    ¡°Whaddya mean, why would we be the ones deciding what ya gonna do?¡± They answered.


    ¡°Well, I snuck onto your carriage without permission and risked getting you into trouble if I was caught. Aren¡¯t you going to do something about it?¡±


    ¡°Of course not! We knew you were there the whole time, we¡¯re the ones that chose to take ya out of the city. If we were to get caught it¡¯d be all on us, not you lassy.¡±


    I felt my breath hitch and my entire body relax. I had been worried about what they would think, but if all that they had said was true, then I¡±d be alright. Although I still knew that I had been careless, I felt immensely grateful to these unknown merchants.


    ¡°Thank you so much.¡± I practically whispered. Unable to express the gravity of my gratitude to these men.


    They simply looked at me and nodded, as though to say that I had nothing to worry about. After I had relaxed, I began to eat after being prompted. As a spoonful of stew reach my mouth I realized one crucial detail which I had forgotten to ask about.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to ask this, but would you mind if I stayed with you for the rest of the trip? I¡¯d be happy to help in any way that I can, I¡¯ll even help unload the carriage once we arrive?¡±


    The merchants looked at me confused for a moment before they burst out laughing. ¡°I doubt ya could even carry a single bundle of leather , let alone an entire crate full of ¡®em.¡±


    I stopped to consider this, before sighing, ¡°I suppose you''re right, I take it I can¡¯t accompany you the rest of the way.¡± I said sadly.


    ¡°Whoever told ya that? It¡¯s no trouble at all, you can help us pass the time.¡±


    My face lit up at those words, but I soon began second guessing myself internally.


    Can I really do this? Am I sure that nobody has followed me and might harm these kind merchants?


    I shook my head, clearing the negative thoughts. This was crazy thinking, if somebody had followed me, then why hadn¡¯t they acted sooner. Besides, I needed to get the Imperial Lands, if I were still in the capital city right now, then I¡¯d probably have already been caught. While we hadn¡¯t crossed the border yet, I doubt that the duke would send his people too far away from the capital.


    As we decided to continue moving, I hopped into the back of the carriage and made myself comfortable, getting out my cookies to snack on. It would be a long trip. Poking my head out of the carriage covering, I offered the men some cookies, it turned out that one man was called Gary, and the other Derek.


    Pretty generic names for old people.


    As I munched on my cookies I heard a carriage coming up from behind, its horses appeared younger and faster than ours, and they quickly overtook us. As they passed I caught wind of a concerning conversation.


    ¡°Hey did you hear, the sickly daughter of the duke has been diagnosed with a grave illness, she couldn¡¯t even attend her baptism and debut.¡±


    ¡°What even is a debut? Some noble crap I''m sure.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know, but it¡¯s supposedly a really important event, something about nobles getting their magic?


    ¡°I wish I had magic, that would make life so much¡­¡±


    I quickly brought my head back into the carriage, careful not to let the passing travelers see me. That wouldn¡¯t end well. But luckily, from what I heard of that conversation, the duke had given up looking for me! If he has declared me sick, and soon to die, then he mustn¡¯t care whether I¡¯m found or not.


    This is fantastic!


    I could¡¯ve jumped for joy. If only for one minor detail. Apparently, the baptism is where nobles unlock their magic, so why had I been about to take part in this event? I was a commoner! The duke¡¯s reputation would¡¯ve been ruined, had I not had magic.


    But actually, didn¡¯t the novel say that the 7 year old Alice had all elements? If I¡¯m the 7 year old Alice, then, how do I have magic? Was my mother a noble? But why did she leave me then, I thought it was because of our lack of funds. If not, then it is likely what I fear. I was truly unwanted, a mere replacement, destined to die.


    A tear rolled down my cheek, leaving a small trail of moisture on my otherwise dry face.

 Chapter 10: The Imperial Lands

    After calming down, I saw a great wall come into sight. I wasn¡¯t sure about how exactly I¡¯d make it through but Gary and Derek assured me that they were prepared. I waited with baited breath for us to pass through, until I finally breathed a sigh of relief when we successfully passed. It turned out that Gary and Derek had reported my being a passenger, passing me off as being their apprentice. To avoid me being seen, they told the guard that I was sleeping, and it wasn¡¯t appropriate to peek at a woman while she slept.


    The poor guard simply let out a deep breath before telling us to just go on through. Obviously he was tired of his job, dealing with irritable travellers all day. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure why he bought that story, it seemed pretty obvious that they were hiding something but I didn¡¯t question it. He probably just couldn¡¯t care less, not exactly the best quality for a guardsman.


    As I peeked out the carriage, I let out a small gasp. It was beautiful. While we were still in the common district, the roads and pathways were sparkling clean. The houses were all properly built, with no wooden add-ons attached for extra room. Rather than being crammed together, all of the houses had about a metre of space in between, this was one of the greatest differences between the Lambourg and the Imperial Lands. Lambourg could definitely learn from their example.


    Just what has the duke been doing with his money instead of supporting his people?


    Oh. So that¡¯s where the books came from.


    I let out a sigh, realizing just how bad of a ruler the duke was. He had been spending the duchy¡¯s budget, on frivolous purchases and services, while he, and I for some time, had been living in the lap of luxury, the same people that we were meant to help were suffering. I had lived as a commoner for a while, but as I hardly left the house, I didn¡¯t know the full extent of the issue. I had simply thought that we were poor.


    I should¡¯ve at least tried to do something while I was the duke''s daughter.


    Even though I wasn¡¯t his biological daughter, I still felt responsible as I had taken on the role. I hadn¡¯t exactly chosen to be his daughter, but I had ended up playing the part. If I had been truly opposed to it, I could¡¯ve flat out refused, maybe thrown a tantrum. While it wouldn¡¯t have ended well, it had still technically been an option.


    Seeing the Imperial Lands and its prosperity really resonated with me, I realized that this was a great place to start afresh. The rulers, who were royals, must be extremely proud and kind to have kept this land so great. When I first arrived in this world, I was wallowing in self pity, barely taking notice of my surroundings. I was foolish. It took me an entire two years to realize this, and I put my fears aside. I had more important things to do, and I wouldn¡¯t waste my time thinking about what had happened in the past. Back then, it was partly my own fault for not standing up for myself, I should¡¯ve told somebody, I should¡¯ve done something.


    Now, I felt as though I could finally wipe my slate clean, and start my life once again with nothing weighing me down. I¡¯ll live as Aretta once again, a normal girl, living a normal life. I¡¯ll leave the past behind me.


    When I felt the carriage begin to slow due to foot traffic, I began to take in my surroundings, watching and listening to passing town folk. I needed to know how they all passed their time, how they all lived, if I wanted to fit in and survive in this new world. Although I had lived as a commoner throughout the majority of my life here, I hadn''t properly experienced this life. So I leaned forward, as if it would help me catch hints of conversations, and maybe develop a slightly better understanding of this place.


    ¡°Did you hear, there¡¯s a new cafe in town, apparently it¡¯s really nice.¡±


    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t it be expensive.¡±


    ¡°You know how the king¡¯s brother¡¯s entire family was murdered? Well apparently the daughter might be alive.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there some big reward if you find her?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the inn is full, all these merchants have come for some big noble event.¡±


    ¡°I heard that the king¡¯s niece is missing her baptism.¡±


    ¡°Can you repeat that I didn¡¯t hear you.¡±


    ¡°Have you heard of the new dessert, pound cake? It¡¯s really nice.¡±


    ¡°Yes, the royal chef invented it.¡±


    ¡°The new cafe in the noble district is serving that popular tea!¡±


    ¡°We should definitely go!¡±


    ¡°Ehh, I know what you¡¯re saying, but wouldn¡¯t it be expensive.¡±


    ¡°Who knows, maybe we can find that royal and get her reward money.¡±


    ¡°Have you seen all of the guards around? It¡¯s kind of scary.¡±


    ¡°They''re looking for that girl and the prince is passing through.¡±


    ¡°When a royal passes through, it¡¯s a big deal.¡±


    ¡°But really, this big?¡±


    As soon as I began listening, I was assaulted by the barrage of information. From tea shops to new snacks, to news about some missing girl, I now had a plethora of knowledge. I wasn¡¯t sure if any of it was actually helpful, but I was glad to have learnt it.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    We had finally reached our destination, and it was time for us to part ways. It was a simple goodbye, but a heartfelt one nonetheless. I gave the men a hug as I left.


    ¡°Thank you so much for allowing me to tag along, I¡¯m sorry for almost getting you into trouble on more than one occasion.¡± I bowed my head as I spoke, while this wasn¡¯t a custom in the country which I was from, here, it was considered a gesture of true, genuine appreciation, often used in heartfelt goodbyes such as this one.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it young one, we old men enjoyed the company.¡± Gale replied.


    ¡°Are you sure that you¡¯re alright on your own? We¡¯d be happy to let you stick with us for a while longer.¡± Derek added.


    I politely refused their offer, worried that things might not go too well. While we were out of the duchy, and I doubted that anything could happen, I still felt that if anybody recognized me, that these kind strangers would get in trouble on my behalf. I faked a smile, telling them that I¡¯d be okay, that we¡¯d meet again, and that next time, it would be properly. A meeting without me having to sneak into their carriage. I had troubled them enough, although they had denied it, I didn¡¯t want to trouble them anymore. It would be a hindrance to make them take a child such as myself along.


    ¡°Goodbye¡± I told them, and with that I began to walk briskly in the direction they had pointed me in. I was going to a bookstore. As I quickly slowed down, I realized that I couldn¡¯t keep that up for long. I had barely walked half a street down, before I bent over, my hands on my knees, gasping for breath. I hardly ever needed to walk long distances, I was unfit but I still ate decently, oddly enough, regardless of this, I was still small and thin. Anybody could mistake me for a far younger child. Maybe a five or six year old.


    On another topic, I had deduced that I had magic, which meant that my mother was probably a noble. This would mean that I still needed to get baptised, so that I could use my magic. The only issue with this was, that orphanages don¡¯t exactly cater to nobles often, and usually, if there even was a noble, it was doubtful that anybody would even know. Had I not read the novel, I would¡¯ve never even heard about magic, let alone known that I had my own.


    As I stood there, huffing I noticed people staring at me, some not even trying to conceal their gazes. I was currently standing in the district for commoners, heading towards the noble district at a¨Cnot so quick¨C pace.


    It¡¯s probably my dress. Most people here are wearing working clothes, while I am wearing a frilly blue dress. Of course they¡¯d be staring at me.


    I had barely even thought about this when I was preparing for my departure, I mean, when I noticed that I had no normal clothes I just accepted it and moved on. It was a fact, I couldn¡¯t change it so I just went with it. Perhaps I should¡¯ve tried to get my hands on some other clothes, some less conspicuous clothes. Taking into account the fact that my clothes were extremely good quality, I mean I was the duke¡¯s daughter, I was given quite a few raised eyebrows.


    Once I had caught my breath, I began to walk forwards again, this time at a far, far slower pace. As I continued walking, I overheard some more interesting conversations, this time they were almost all focused on a prince.


    ¡°You hear? The prince is coming through.¡±


    ¡°Which one? The nice or the rude one?¡±


    ¡°Nice of course, nobody would bother talking if the rude one was coming through.¡±


    ¡°Hell, they¡¯d probably be lining up on the streets, ready to throw some rotten produce at the guy.¡±


    ¡°John, you¡¯re the one who thinks like that and you know it. He¡¯s not that rude?¡±


    I mostly disregarded these conversations, as they were probably just gossip but I still stored the information away in the back of my mind for future reference.


    Throughout my walk I had taken five breaks, on my fourth break, a kind looking man came over to check on me. After telling him that I was okay, and asking for directions to the bookstore, I was on my way once again. I continued receiving odd looks until I finally crossed into the noble¡¯s section. There was a guarded wall separating the nobles and the commoners, I was instantly allowed through, even without my family¡¯s emblem. The guard told me ¡°your attire is obviously that of a noble, you may pass¡±, and didn¡¯t argue, if they let me through then that was that.


    After I finally found the bookstore, an employee rushed to help me. It seemed that nobles were often grouchy, and would snap at the employees if they were too slow. I saw an example of this myself. A man in expensive clothing walked into the shop soon after me. After about five seconds of waiting he yelled for the lady serving me to ¡®hurry up¡¯ and that she was slow because she was a ¡®goddamn woman¡¯. It was like a scene right out of a novel, I mean I guess that is justified, considering. I quickly told her that I¡¯d be fine on my own, and asked her to help him, not wanting a scene in this otherwise quiet bookstore.


    I browsed their wares for a moment, fully aware that I didn¡¯t have any money. Then, I walked to the counter and patiently waited for the lady to finish with the other customer. I found myself watching them curiously, stifling my laughter every now and then when the man would speak. It was just too funny! At one point, when the man spotted me, he barked ¡°What are you looking at pipsqueak!?¡± I almost burst out laughing from that one. When I lifted my head and looked him in the eyes, his brown eyes widened for some reason. He then quickly rushed to apologise, I wasn¡¯t exactly sure why but he suddenly became nice, far too nice. He reminded me of the priest at the orphanage licking the noble¡¯s boots. But I just couldn¡¯t seem to fathom why!


    Once he finally left, the helpful employee came over to me and I explained what I wanted to do.


    ¡°Hi, would you be willing to buy these books from me? They¡¯re all in near perfect condition.¡± I said, handing her the five books I had gotten out of my backpack only moments prior. I had left one inside the carriage as a small ¡®thank you¡¯ gift. She inspected the books before replying, ¡°Of course, would one large gold and three small golds be suitable? The books on magic are worth three gold each while the others are worth two small golds each.¡±


    I agreed, hoping that I wasn¡¯t making a mistake. When I inspected my payment, I found everything to be in order. I walked out the shop, my money tucked into a small chasm at the bottom of my bag. I began walking back towards the commoner district, because there were no orphanages in the noble¡¯s district.


    Once I had arrived at the gates once again, the guard greeted me before asking a question.


    ¡°Are you certain that you wish to go into the commoner district?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡±, I replied ¡°I have business there¡±.


    He looked at me strangely, tilting his head down to see me. Probably wondering why a small child had ¡®business¡¯ somewhere. After a few moments of hesitation he slowly told me. ¡°If you insist, but be careful, there are some dangerous folk around there.¡± I simply nodded my head and continued on my way, taking his advice with a pinch of salt.


    The streets were filled with people, bumping into me as they went, it was as though I were a fish, swimming up a stream. While everything in this area was clean, there were no decorations, it was definitely a place for business. There was a road, but no carriages on it at the moment, I doubt that any commoner could afford a carriage anyway.


    After I had walked a bit of the way towards the orphanage, I heard horses approaching. I glanced up at the road, only to see an unusual carriage. I was surprised when I noticed that my gaze had met with that of a boy. This boy was sitting within the carriage. He seemed to be around sixteen years old and his eyes widened when we made eye contact. His carriage was decorated, the theme being gold and purple. Oddly enough, when our gazes met, the boy had a similar reaction to the man in the shop.


    Strange.

 Chapter 10.5: The dukes actions

    As I waited outside of the estate, ready to take Alice to her baptism, a concerned maid ran out of the door instead. She came up to me before bowing her head and delivering some information.


    ¡°What do you mean she is gone!!!¡± I yelled, lashing out at the maid in amidst my anger.


    Alice was missing, she had abandoned me on the most important day, she had made a fool of me. ¡°What are those guards even doing?¡± I murmured. After my initial outburst I had recreated my air of composure, making it look as though I were completely calm, however, within, I felt angry. I was very angry.


    How dare that common wench show such disrespect, I shall have her found and punished. She may genetically be a royal, no doubt, but she was still a commoner before I found her, she will always be a commoner.


    I swiftly turned around and stepped into the carriage. I would go to the baptism, I would inform them that she had ¡®taken ill¡¯ while I sent soldiers to search for a young girl with blue eyes. Nobody had ever seen Alice before apart from the staff so I could send the soldiers without them knowing exactly who they were looking for.


    That commoner will be found soon, she is troublesome, she is smart. The old one may have been better, but she too began to doubt me. This one still hasn''t gone so far, but perhaps I should''ve kept the other one around. After threatening to report my actions, I had thought that she couldn''t get any worse. But now, she may have been better, this one dared to make a fool of me, she shall pay in due time. Soon I shall have more power, perhaps waging a war to track her down wouldn''t be so bad after all...


    The carriage halted suddenly, the coachman telling me, ¡°we have arrived, my lord.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    I simply nodded in response, stepping out of the carriage and approaching an acquaintance of mine, the marquess.


    ¡°Greetings, the God Ermes seems to be in good spirits today, for we have been lucky enough to cross paths.¡±


    The marquess returned my greeting before we began to speak.


    ¡°Where is your daughter? I had heard that her baptism would be today.¡±


    ¡°She is feeling ill, and as a result was unable to attend on this fine day.¡± I explained.


    ¡°Such a shame, I hope her recovery is fast and swift.¡± The marquess said.


    ¡°Yes¡±, I agreed.


    We concluded our conversation before I turned my attention to the crowds of nobles, some with their children.


    ¡°It is a pleasure to see you all well on this auspicious day, today shall be an important event in the lives of many of your children, the day that they shall become true members of society. My daughter was unable to be here today, however she wished your children the best of luck in their aptitude ratings. I too, wish you all the best of luck, this event shall now commence!¡± I announced.


    Such a hassle, if only that plebeian hadn¡¯t messed up my plans.


    I stepped down from the stage, the commander of my knights walking up to me, ¡°Ah, I take it that you have found the girl?¡± I asked. ¡°Apologies my lord, she has not been found, it is likely that the girl has already left the duchy.¡±


    My business smile twitched. If she had left, then we would be unable to find her, sending troops into another duchy was as good as a declaration of war. I stepped back onto the stage, prepared to save face. I began to make another announcement.


    ¡°Nobles, please proceed with today''s events in my absence. It seems that my daughter¡¯s condition has worsened, she is unlikely to survive. I must leave you all on this day, but I am certain that the events shall run smoothly under the superb supervision of my knight''s captain. Goodbye¡±.


    With that simple speech I left, needing to find Albert so that I could get him out of the house.


    Once I had arrived at the estate, I practically ran over to Albert¡¯s office. Explaining his sisters ¡®condition¡¯. I told him that she was contagious, that he couldn¡¯t visit, then he mentioned, ¡°Oh yes, she did say that she wasn¡¯t feeling well last night. Perhaps it worsened.¡±


    I sighed a breath of relief, he had bought it. Now I simply needed to clean up this colossal mess my adoptive daughter had caused.

 Chapter 11: Misunderstanding

    The boy continued to stare at me, making me feel uneasy as I continued to walk. I would¡¯ve run, but I knew that if I did, I¡¯d run out of stamina almost immediately.


    ***


    I just spotted a young girl with deep, dark blue eyes. I had to find her! Although I had never met my cousin before her parents were murdered and she was declared missing, I was certain that this was her! I had to find her. When I ordered my coachman to stop the carriage, my voice was laced with a commanding air.


    Without waiting for the man to open the carriage door, I swung it open before jumping out without a second thought. This young girl probably doesn¡¯t know who I am, she is only seven after all. If I don¡¯t find her now, then I doubt that she¡¯ll ever be found. Who knows what people could do with a young girl all alone, and one who was a member of royalty at that!


    I sprinted after her, thankful for my sword practice. I had heard that my cousin was sickly, so I wasn¡¯t too worried about her getting away, I was mostly worried about her getting lost in the crowd. As I weaved in and out of the swarms of people, I kept an eye on the faint flashes of a dark blue dress which I saw every now and then through gaps in the crowd. I slowly closed the distance between us, placing my hand on her shoulder gently when I did.


    She turned her head, her beautiful eyes filled with fear. I gently told her ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s me, your cousin.¡± At these words I noticed that she seemed even more scared. Why? I couldn¡¯t say. I then proceeded to tell her that she could trust me, and that she just needed to follow me back to the carriage. After I had finished calmly explaining, I grabbed onto her hand and led her through the crowd. I didn¡¯t want her to get lost again.


    ***


    While trying to find my way through the crowd, I noticed the strange boy following me. I tried to speed up, but that only resulted in my getting tired faster. There was still some distance between us, but it wasn¡¯t much, so I forced myself to keep walking. Sirens were going off in my mind.


    Once he had caught up to me, he placed a hand on my shoulder, holding me in place. To anybody else, it would¡¯ve looked as though he were just resting his hand on my shoulder, but no, I couldn¡¯t even move an inch with his grip on me. I turned my head, facing him, I was terrified. What was going to happen?


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s me, your cousin.¡± He said with a straight face.


    This was when I knew for certain, this guy was a creep! I felt my face go white.


    I don¡¯t have any cousins as far as I know, the duke has no siblings. My mother orphaned me, so there¡¯s no way that he¡¯s her nephew either! Stranger Danger!


    ¡°You can trust me, just come back to the carriage with me.¡±


    As soon as he finished saying those words, he shifted his grip to my hand in a single moment, yanking me towards the carriage. I did my best to resist, at one point I even considered yelling for help, but I knew that nobody here had the authority to stand up to a noble. After my best attempts to wrestle free of his grasp failed, I simply allowed myself to be taken.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Well this isn¡¯t exactly looking too good. It¡¯s a classic example of kidnapping ¡®come, jump into my van little girl¡¯ he may as well have said.


    I felt him weave through the crowd quickly and effortlessly, of course he had caught me with those levels of agility and speed! His hand still had a firm grip on me as I tried to pull it free to no avail. He was strong. Far stronger than I was. We came to a halt suddenly, outside of his carriage. He pulled me forward once again, releasing my hand once we were inside.


    I didn¡¯t bother trying to run, I knew that I¡¯d be caught in no time if I did so. So I sat down, and was about to ask a question but he beat me to it.


    ¡°Hello, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    I told him before asking my own question


    ¡°Soo, why have you brought me here and who are you?¡±


    I tried to make my question sound casual enough, while also getting straight to the point. I almost laughed at how badly it had turned out. I sat there silently, waiting for an answer, punching myself for my horrible phrasing.


    I sounded like a bored kid asking about how much longer it¡¯ll be until we make it to the playground!


    He finally responded, giving me an answer that I didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°I am Leon Galandri, the second prince of the Galandra Kingdom, and also your cousin. I have brought you here because we have been looking for you.¡±


    I sat there, staring at him, dumbfounded, before I finally replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Your Highness, but I think that you¡¯ve got the wrong person. I am not royalty and I am not your cousin.¡±


    This time he stared at me as though I was the crazy one.


    ¡°But you are royalty, are you not?¡±


    I quickly replied, trying to wipe him of his assumptions. Being a tad but too honest with my answer.


    ¡°No I¡¯m not, I¡¯m an orphan, abandoned at two years old.¡±


    He leaned back, and then told me with a straight face that ¡°you are royalty¡±.


    I just looked at him, doing my best not to insult him. My lips were pressed together tightly, I tried not to say anything rude to him.


    Is this guy stupid? Why would he even think that I¡¯m royalty? He¡¯s only just met me! Mistaking me for a normal noble I would get, but this, no.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that  Your Highness is mistaken, there is no possible way that I am royalty.¡± I repeated my answer. How long would it take for this idiot to realize that I¡¯m not a royal?


    After we had gone back and forth for a while, the sun had begun to set. This boy, Leon, suggested that I go meet his parents to discuss things, and I could even stay the night. It was late, and I was tired due to my childish body so I agreed, knowing that I¡¯d be safer with others around anyway, they might even talk some sense to him. After he had wasted all my time, I now had nowhere to stay for the night, so I agreed, not exactly comprehending what meeting his parents meant or who his parents were.


    The worried coachman seemed relieved that we had stopped arguing, and the decorated carriage began to move. I felt myself becoming more and more tired, until I finally drifted off to sleep.


    ***


    Aretta had seemingly fallen asleep while sitting, she had insisted that she wasn¡¯t a royal but I wasn¡¯t so sure. Actually, I was certain. She had to have been a royal! Even if she wasn¡¯t my cousin, she must have some strong blood ties to royalty. She was probably a close family member, she seemed like more of a royal than even I! But I didn¡¯t hold it against her, Aretta was only seven by the looks of it, she needn¡¯t get involved in the chaos just yet.


    One thing which concerned me was what she had said when answering a question of mine, apparently she was an orphan. Had anybody older than her told me this, I would have doubted them, how could a royal be an orphan? She would¡¯ve been instantly adopted by another branch of royals. But what reason did she have for lying? Even though I didn¡¯t think she had lied, her dress made me doubt her. She obviously had money.


    I wasn¡¯t sure what such a well dressed child had been doing in the common district, but it couldn¡¯t have been good. Either way, my parents needed to be informed about this, something wasn¡¯t right. I didn¡¯t trust this girl, but I did feel sorry for her. Even though I had only known her for a handful of minutes, she was definitely hiding something, but not her royal lineage. She seemed to really not know about the one genetic trait which only royals have.


    This girl, she was far too mature for her age but she also lacked basic knowledge, her childhood must have been difficult.

 Chapter 12: Exploring the Palace

    I slowly blinked my eyes open, confused.


    Where am I?


    Then I remembered, I had just been potentially kidnapped! I sat up in an instant, cursing myself for agreeing to just ¡®stay the night¡¯. What was I? Stupid?


    Turning my head to survey the room, I noticed that it was extremely well furnished. Throughout my time in the duke¡¯s mansion, I had been under the impression that I had gotten used to luxurious rooms. It seemed that I was mistaken. The four poster bed which I was currently sitting in was elaborately decorated with carvings and patterns. One of which seemed to be on all of the furniture, the royal insignia.


    This was when I realized that he had offered to sort things out with his parents. If he was to be believed, and was actually a prince, then¡­


    I didn¡¯t even want to think about it. Swinging my legs over the side of the plush, four poster bed, I stood up. The furnishings in this room were obviously of high quality, even I knew that much. The creep¡­ ahem¡­ prince, had been going on about me being a royal, if he really was one, then it was possible that he really wasn¡¯t lying.


    Even with this logic, I still found myself doubting him. I mean, how could I be a royal? I was an orphan, a pretend daughter of the duke. My mother was unknown, but if she was a royal¡­ then this might make sense. The only issue with my explanation, is that a member of the royal family would rarely have business in such a small duchy like a Lambourg, let alone for two entire years.


    I just don¡¯t get it.


    I put these theories to rest for now, I had more important matters to attend to. Such as figuring out what I was supposed to do now, it was already morning, or at least it seemed like it. I walked over to the window, and spread the curtains. I admit, it wasn¡¯t as easy as I made it sound. I had to stand on my tippy toes before reaching the small strings on either side of the curtains before pulling them while maintaining my balance. Let me tell you, an eight year old''s body, is not coordinated.


    Once I had opened the curtains, I could see beautiful gardens below me. Then a bit further away, I could see knights, training in the art of the sword. They seemed to be having mock battles, one seemed especially skilled, I squinted my eyes, trying to get a better look. It was the prince!


    Such a clique story, a prince who¡¯s great at swordsmanship, who would¡¯ve guessed. It seems I really have started to believe what he said about being a prince, I mean, how could I not after seeing proof everywhere I look? This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    After watching the practice for a little longer, I came to a conclusion.


    If there¡¯s a swordsman prince, then there¡¯s definitely a smart stuck-up prince.


    The story hadn¡¯t really gone into any information about the Imperial Lands, it had just stuck with the skin deep, predictable ¡®discoveries¡¯. To be honest, I hadn¡¯t really liked that aspect of the book, that¡¯s why I dropped it, it was a really disliked book, I had only picked it up in the first place so that I could understand why everybody else hated it. In the end, even without finishing it, I definitely understood.


    While I had some free time, I decided to explore the palace a bit, I doubted that anyone would mind. Besides, the ¡®prince¡¯ had pretty much kidnapped me before abandoning me! I opened the huge doors, still dressed in my clothes from the day, and quickly smoothed out my hair. I began to walk through the enormous corridors, before bumping into somebody unknown.


    He looked down at me before asking a question. ¡°Are you alright young lady?¡± I quickly nodded, embarrassed. The palace was just so huge, I could help but stare, in pretty much any direction except for forwards. He then proceeded to ask, ¡°are you lost? I¡¯d be happy to help, I know my way around quite well¡±. Before answering, I looked around realizing that I hadn¡¯t been paying any attention to where I was going, I was indeed lost.


    I nodded once again, before quickly introducing myself, as was appropriate in noble culture. ¡°That would be greatly appreciated,¡± I said. ¡°My name is Aretta, I appreciate running into you here, it seems that the God Ermes is watching over me on this fine day.¡± In the Imperial Lands, unless you are speaking to a member of the royal family, you may choose to use whichever greeting is most appropriate for the situation. I opted to use the greeting for nobles in Lambourg, as that is what I was most familiar with. Luckily, I had read a book which contained the appropriate greeting for this situation.


    There were so many greetings to remember, in my old life, I would¡¯ve never managed to memorise them all. I respect the nobles here who have to learn all of this without a perfect memory.


    The man, who had introduced himself to me as Augustus using the Duchy of Windred¡¯s greeting, began to lead me towards the guest quarters as I wasn¡¯t exactly sure where my room had been. As we walked, Lord Augustus asked me a few questions about why I was in the palace. While if these questions had come from somebody else, using a different tone, I might have doubted them, not wanting to say. However, Lord Augustus seemed genuinely curious, something I hadn¡¯t expected to see from a noble. Nobles, were expected to mask their emotions, not allowing others to know what they were thinking, but he seemed¡­ different. He seemed kind. I answered, semi truthfully, telling him that the second prince had brought me here. I also told him that I wasn¡¯t exactly sure why he had brought me here.


    Lord Augustus simply replied that he probably had a good reason, but to that I didn¡¯t reply. I didn¡¯t know the prince, he seemed nice, but I wasn¡¯t sure. I mean, at first, I was under the impression that he was a creep, then a kidnapper, and now, he was just an unknown variable.


    Once we had arrived in the guest quarters, the man asked me about whether I recognised which room was mine. I thanked him profusely before returning to the recognisable room. I had seen a bit of the palace, and I was happy about that, but I knew that it hadn¡¯t been a good idea. I shouldn¡¯t have gone exploring for no good reason, this place was big, too big for me to recognise every turn.


    The issue had not been about remembering everything, it was more about being unsure of whether I was going the right way, about doubting myself. I probably could have gotten back on my own, but it would¡¯ve taken longer, with my needing to think back to whether was making the right turn. Pairing that with my lack of direction, despite my good memory, and I probably would¡¯ve taken multiple attempts to make it back.


    I really shouldn¡¯t wander off anymore.

 Chapter 13: The Meeting

    It had been a few hours and I was bored. I had split my free time between watching the knights practice and listening to the occasional maids, gossiping beneath my window. One of the more¡­ concerning conversations I heard included some maids speaking about a girl that the prince had brought back to the palace. Upon hearing this I frowned, they were probably talking about me I assumed. As I continued listening, I overheard a maid reply that it was just a young girl, probably a family member of his. At this I sighed a breath of relief, I didn¡¯t need random rumours to start about me, especially if they were concerning these sorts of unsavory¡­ assumptions.


    I mean, I was still only eight, I looked even younger, maybe seven. How could people start thinking that when I was with a boy almost double my age?


    Is that really how this world operates? Thinking back, some maids at the duke¡¯s estate were also talking about this sort of thing. Or are maids just starved for entertainment?


    I decided to go with the latter assumption, mostly due to my own hopes and biased opinion.


    Soon enough, once midday arrived, a maid finally came into my room. She quickly apologised before asking me to come with her.


    ¡°Apologies for the delay, their majesty is ready to see you now. Please follow me.¡±


    I simply nodded and stood up before trailing behind her. Some corridors I kind of recognised, others were completely new to me. Soon, after quite a few turns I gave up on my attempts to stay coordinated and simply followed the maid mindlessly.


    Soon, we were standing in front of a huge doorway, two guards standing on either side. Seeing me, they instantly opened the doors, I didn¡¯t know why. I had simply gotten used to the strange reactions when people saw me.


    As the doors creaked open, I could see two thrones sitting side by side, a red carpet leading up to them. After being given a few discrete ¡®what are you waiting for just do it¡¯ looks, I stepped forward onto the carpet, feeling like a celebrity. Soon this feeling was replaced by nervousness, I realized that none of the light novels or manga in my past life had covered just close to the thrones I should stop. None of the books that I had read since arriving had said anything either. I decided to play it safe, walking up to a spot just further than the halfway mark, the carpet seemed slightly more faded up until there, as though it had been walked upon frequently. After that point, the carpet was a vibrant red.


    Reaching this spot, I dipped into this world¡¯s strange curtsy, feeling nowhere near as weird as when I first did it. After lowering my head the appropriate amount, about as far as it would tilt so that I was staring directly at the ground, I proceeded with the traditional, better known, part of the curtsy, except one of my hands was behind my back. I then straightened my legs, looking up. Unlike some information from my past life had suggested, here we did not have to wait for the king or queen to allow us to raise our heads.


    ¡°My name is Aretta. It is a pleasure to meet Your Majesties, I hope that the gods are looking favourably upon our meeting. Goddess Fatoruma has brought us together for this fateful meeting, while the God Ermes aided us in meeting at such a convenient time. The God Hiesenfall has allowed this all to happen, while the God Bellius has kept chaos to a minimum. The Goddess Sapientia has granted us her wisdom, with the Goddess Bisole by her side. The Gods Miraculum and Consensus have given this meeting their blessing, I thank you for your summons.¡±


    Did I say that right? I know that my memory is great, but did I mispronounce anything? I guess it doesn¡¯t matter since they probably just tuned it out anyway.


    I opened my eyes after catching my breath, seeing the royal pair exchange a look, saying something to each other. Then they replied to my greeting with an equally long and arduous response. The only part which I listened to was quite interesting though, leaving me a bit flustered.


    ¡°...We apologise for our son¡¯s misconduct, his behaviour is regrettable.¡± The king said, lacking any motion.


    I simply stood there, unsure how to react, my books had never told me how to reply to an apology from the king! It simply hadn''t been accounted for. The queen, noticing my anxiety, quickly added onto the king¡¯s apology.


    ¡°We needn¡¯t have formalities, to be honest they are quite a waste of time, but necessary in certain situations.¡± She laughed as she spoke, obviously trying to ease my worries.


    I responded, trying to drop the formalities without sounding rude. ¡°Thank you Your Majesty, please do not worry about the prince¡¯s conduct, however, I do wish to ask, why was I brought here?¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    I risked asking the question, regardless of how it may be interpreted, I simply wanted to know. After these words the queen glared at somebody standing a few metres to the right of the king¡¯s seat. I quickly repositioned my gaze, aiming it towards him, it turned out that the prince had been here while we spoke, I hadn¡¯t even noticed him. After a few moments of silence, the queen turned back to me, the scary look still in her eyes. Once she laid her eyes on me however, this look transformed into one of kindness and pity.


    ¡°It seems that my foolish son hasn¡¯t told you even this much, allow me to get to the point. You are a royal. More suited for the throne than even the crown prince.¡±


    I just looked at her, dumbstruck, what was she even talking about.


    Am I actually stupid, am I overlooking something simple that keeps making people think that I¡¯m a royal? I know that I keep asking this, but seriously.


    She continued. ¡°Here in the Kingdom of Galandra, we of the royal family are easily identified by our eyes. A royal has dark blue eyes, the darker, the more suited for succession. At first, after seeing only your noble attire and small frame, the prince here mistook you for his missing cousin. Now, we think that you must be a close relative, or a distant one blessed by the God of Darkness.¡±


    I continued to stare, taking in this information, my eyes were indeed blue, but was that really a trait of the royal family. Perhaps that was why everybody kept staring at me when they saw my face, they had seen my eyes. Then I realized something else that seemed weird.


    ¡°But I thought there were only eight gods? I¡¯ve never heard of the God of Darkness.¡±


    The queen sighed with a slight smile, expanding on her previous explanation she began to give me more information.


    ¡°The Goddess of Light, and the God of Darkness are not known to the public, for they are the only elemental gods, the others, Gods and Goddesses of Life, Nature, Chaos, Fate, Wisdom, Luck, Magic and Order are all different entirely. This pair is in a realm of their own. They are not known to give out their blessings often, usually once in a millenia, their names have been lost for a long time by our ancestors, however it was only due to them that we know of their existence. It is likely that you are simply a close relative, rather than being blessed, your eyes simply made me doubt myself.¡±


    ¡°My eyes? I thought that dark blue eyes were normal for members of the royal family.¡± I asked, confused. This was all so¡­ strange, so much to process.


    ¡°Yes, your eyes, they are extremely dark, the closest to black I¡¯ve ever seen in our family. Lo-¡±.


    I cut her off. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why has nobody told me this before?¡± I asked, trying to still maintain my politeness while keeping my confusion from showing in the form of rudeness.


    ¡°I do not know, but commoners do not know the connection between eyes and blessings. The nobles who do know have a limited understanding, knowing that dark blue eyes are a symbol of royalty but nothing more.¡± She told me, before smiling as though she understood me and continuing her earlier explanation.


    ¡°Long ago, when our kingdom was formed, have you heard the standard tale?¡±


    I nodded, wanting to know more, wanting to understand. My head was currently fuzzy, unable to process the flood of information that I found myself drowning in.


    ¡°Well you see, long ago the man, Gale, was blessed by God of Darkness, it was a rare sight. But even rarer was the circumstance, for a blessing by the Goddess of Light had also been granted to a woman in this generation. Alexandra. Just like the God and Goddess, these two were fated to be together. It was said that the entire world shifted to allow their union, joining their two continents. After their union, they quelled the war which had been ravishing the land, simultaneously curing the blight at the time, which had been the cause of the war. This war was close to tearing apart the world at the time, and the couple had barely made it in time to stop the destruction of the world as we know it.¡±


    ¡°If a blessing by the God of Darkness and Goddess of Light is so uncommon, then why did you consider that I might have one of their blessings?¡±


    ¡°Well you see, my son is incredibly gifted, have you noticed his close to white hair? He was blessed by the Goddess of Light, his hair changed colour after his baptism, where he was presented to the gods. On top of having the small blessing of the God of Darkness, passed down through our family, this is an extremely amazing feat. It had simply been on my mind recently, I had thought that you may be his partner of Darkness who has come at last.¡± She said this last bit with a grin, as though teasing me.


    If I was to believe her tale, which I found myself already doing, then I might actually be blessed. Hadn¡¯t Alice been said to have been blessed with all elements? But since they had never brought up anything about these hidden elements I doubted it.


    ¡°I doubt that is the case for the world is not in peril. We have a need for saviours.¡± I replied, playing along while also putting a stop to this joke. I was only eight! I didn¡¯t need an engagement or anything being forced upon me, nor did I even want to think about it.


    ¡°Speaking of your elements, have you had your baptism yet? If so then which gods have blessed you, I understand that you haven¡¯t gotten any blessings from the elemental pair, as I have not heard of it, however you are certain to have received some if not all of the other gods blessings. They tend to favour those with links to the God of Darkness and Goddess of Light.¡±


    ¡°I was brought up as a commoner until I turned eight, I missed my chance at a baptism. I have not been presented to the gods.¡±


    The queen gave a radiant smile, as though telling me that it was okay. It turned out that her smile meant something else entirely.


    ¡°It seems that all hope is not yet lost, you may still be his destined bride.¡± Her smile then dropped as she saw my face, before she quickly cleared up some misunderstandings. ¡°I¡¯m joking, we wouldn¡¯t marry you off to him so easily, you may choose your marriage partner freely.¡± She said, before adding a condition. ¡°From any of the duke¡¯s families, I recommend the first born heir to the duchy of Windred, he is around your age and has been blessed by seven gods.¡±


    I just frowned, she seemed extremely eager to marry me off, as though she could even choose who I marry.


    Actually, she probably does have the authority to do that, I¡¯d better make sure that I don¡¯t agree at any point, she seems like the sort to hold me to every word. Also, this is way too much for a normal eight year old to process! Why is she even telling me all this?


    ¡°Your majesty, why are you telling me this? Did you not say that these were secrets unique to the royal family? I do understand why you are trusting me with this information.¡±


    The queen''s prior smile sunk slightly, she seemed reluctant to answer, as though I wouldn¡¯t be happy with her answer. It was probably something big, something important.

 Chapter 14: The Revalation

    ¡°You see, you will be welcomed into the royal family, there is simply no other choice.¡± The queen broke the news to me, curious about how I would take it.


    I simply stood there, shocked, my mouth agape. My mind was racing.


    What does she mean? How can a someone like me become a member of the royal family?


    Despite all of the questions that I wanted to ask, only one word managed to escape my mouth. ¡°What¡­¡±


    The queen simply continued, attempting to ignore my reaction. ¡°You may either be adopted by the king and I, or engaged to either of my youngest sons. Do keep in mind however, that both are over double your age. The engagement would only be announced after your baptism and debut, as you are currently not recognised as a member of society. You may take your pick between Leon or his twin brother Albion.¡±


    She then paused and smiled expectantly, as though she knew what I would choose.


    ¡°Umm¡­ I¡¯d prefer to be adopted please.¡± These words had come out of my mouth before I even thought about whether I even wanted to be a member of the royal family.


    I just really don¡¯t want to be engaged at such a young age. Besides, if I have to be a royal I¡¯d prefer it by way of adoption, then my place would be secure even if something happened to my fiance. Maybe being a royal wouldn¡¯t be so bad. The villainess definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to kill me then.


    I shook my head, not letting myself be convinced by my inner thoughts, about to take back what I said, but the queen had heard me, she grinned slyly. Knowing that by giving me only those two options, she¡¯d get what she wanted either way. Without giving me a chance to take back my words, she began speaking once again, backing me into a corner.


    ¡°In that case, you may now call me mother or Cordelia, however I¡¯d prefer ¡®Mother¡¯ when in public. We will organise a baptism for you as soon as possible, for now you may do whatever you wish, a permanent room shall be provided for you at a later date.¡±


    His Highness Prince Leon then chimed in ¡°You may call me Big Brother Leo¡±. With this he grinned. Not answering either of them, I stayed silent, I wasn¡¯t exactly sure whether they even wanted an answer, but I didn¡¯t provide one regardless.


    A door to each side of the room then opened, near the thrones where the royals had sat. Prince Leon¡­ Big Brother Leo, left through the door closest to him, on the left. While the ruling monarchs left through the door on the right. Before I had even realised it, I was standing in the middle of the throne room on my own. The huge doors behind me then creaked open, I hastily excited through them, feeling embarrassed for just standing there with my head in the clouds.


    That was certainly¡­ A turn of events. But what did she mean by ¡®arrange a baptism for me¡¯. I¡¯m already eight, I should¡¯ve asked while I had the chance.


    With that, I trudged back to my room, following a maid to avoid getting lost.


    When the guards posted at the door opened it, I saw a familiar figure sitting on the couch. It was the queen. I quickly curtsied before taking a seat on the couch opposite to her. It was my room, so it was okay. I was slightly relieved to go see her, while also being uncertain. This would give me a chance to ask about the baptism.


    Once had sat down, Cordelia cut straight to the chase. ¡°I understand that this may be difficult for you to speak of, but please, tell me what your life has been like until now. As the queen, and your mother, I need to know.¡±


    While she hadn¡¯t glamorised her question in the slightest, it felt gentle, not pushy. I felt as though I did have a choice, even though she hadn¡¯t phrased it as such. I simply sighed before responding.


    ¡°I understand, please don''t worry, I don¡¯t mind telling you.¡±


    Keeping out the details of my reincarnation and such I began to retell my tale, I twisted my words to make it seem as though I hadn¡¯t used my knowledge from my prior life, but instead found out about things normally.


    ¡°I was born in a church in the duchy of Lambourg, my mother was called Constance, my father was unknown. I spent the first week of my life in that same church, before we left to live in a house as commoners. I mostly lived there alone, my mother wasn¡¯t home much. Whenever she was it was as though I wasn¡¯t even there. I survived through the charity of the neighbours, who would occasionally give me food. I remember that some newer neighbours in the area had once commented on my always staying indoors, they didn¡¯t know of my situation yet. After my mother overheard them, she took me shopping with her. That was first time that I had left the house with her.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°There I learnt a bit about the world, and what normal people and families were supposed to be like, it wasn¡¯t the same as how I lived. On this outing, I did discover the personality of nobles in the duchy. They were rude and horrible to be around, they looked down on us commoners. When I turned two, my mother took me out of the house once again, this time there was a fancy carriage outside, we entered. After a bit of driving we stopped outside an orphanage, there my mother forcefully ejected me from the carriage. From then on, I was an orphan. I hardly got anything to eat as the priest running it was corrupt. He would sell us children to nobles, often as slaves or workers. We weren¡¯t fed well, only scraps, I barely survived, and I only did because a friend of mine would help me to get some food. Often, I was too weak to walk. After the priest had been unusually generous, after selling one of us for a good price, he began giving us more to eat. I could finally walk, but I was still tiny for my age.¡±


    ¡°Just as I began to get healthier, a man, the duke, came into the orphanage. Apparently I looked like his daughter, who I suspect he had disposed of. He ¡®adopted¡¯ me and forced me to pretend to be his daughter. I was a replacement. He only needed me so that he could marry me off. But in my time at the estate, I overheard a chef selling a girl information on me. I tried to find out more, but all I could discover was that she wanted to kill me. This girl was obsessed with the boy that I was set to marry, and because she had somehow caught wind of the future engagement she wanted to murder me. I considered going to the duke with this information, but I overheard him musing to himself, thinking about disposing of me too. Apparently, I was causing too much trouble for him. I decided to run away, I snuck out the kingdom in a merchant''s carriage, before running into Prince Leon. He brought me here and well¡­¡±


    Cordelia nodded along with my story, obviously thinking about something as I explained. I had mentioned reasons for my decisions and such instead of the novel. Some parts were laced with truth, others not. The chef for example, in the novel it had turned out that he had sold my information, but at a later date because that¡¯s when he had found out about my engagement. After wrapping up her thoughts, the queen gave me a radiant smile.


    ¡°In that case, we can have him imprisoned. Allowing and taking part in the selling and purchasing of slaves, murdering a member of the royal family, plotting against a member of the royal family, these are all proof of his inadequate ability to rule a duchy. These are all crimes, and a reason to have him replaced. Does he have any good heirs? Perhaps a son or two who don¡¯t take after their father? If they''re of age then even better.¡±


    The queen simply said all of this with a smile on her face, it gave me chills. I then replied with Albert in mind, I definitely wasn¡¯t opposed to the idea, I wanted the duke to pay, both for his treatment of me, and whatever he did to his daughter.


    ¡°Yes, he has a son, Albert. He is nice and didn¡¯t seem to know about any of the duke¡¯s misdeeds.¡±


    To this the queen deepened her smile. ¡°In that case, this will be easy. They will be summoned to the palace for an official matter, I will not inform them of what it is in case they decide to flee. I take it you have no issues with this?¡± The queen prompted.


    ¡°No, that is perfectly fine, I barely knew him as a father, if these are all crimes then do as you must.¡±


    ¡°I shall have you officially invited to the duke¡¯s sentencing, you are not required to go by any means, but considering what happened, I understand that you may wish to watch.¡±


    I nodded along, I would go. This would be good for me to see, the duke had wronged me and many others, it made sense that he should be punished. I had no tears to shed over whatever was bound to happen. Cordelia then promptly stood up, leaving the room without a single word. I let out a sigh of relief, I had been holding my breath for who knows how long, although I didn¡¯t think that I cared, thinking back to everything that had happened throughout this life was difficult. Before now, I had been making false promises to myself, thinking that I had become emotionally mature. But to be honest, this just didn¡¯t feel real. It had taken me eight years to learn how real this really was, even when I starved in the orphanage I hadn''t allowed myself  to accept it. This was all real.


    Oh, I forgot to mention the baptism.


    As I remembered this, I heard a knock on my door. Curious, I yelled ¡°enter¡±. It was a young man, about 15 years old, he looked familiar.


    ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, sister. I am the third prince Albion Galandri. You may refer to me as Big Brother Albi.¡±


    He grinned, smiling at me. At this, I quickly came to my senses and introduced myself. He just stood there, grinning, before taking a seat uninvited, it felt awkward but I stayed seated. As he opened his mouth to speak, the door burst open. Leon was standing there.


    ¡°Albiooonn, you can¡¯t hog her all for yourself, she¡¯s my sister too!¡± With that, he plopped himself onto the couch as well, sitting beside Albion.


    Once he was seated, I asked ¡°So, why have you both come here so suddenly?¡± Albion was the first to answer.


    ¡°Why to see this new, cute little sister of mine of course.¡± Leon then added, ¡°I couldn¡¯t let him keep you all to himself, I¡¯ve always wanted a little sister too!¡±


    I opened my mouth to answer, ¡°Leon, Albion¡­¡± They cut me off. ¡°Big Brother Leo¡±, ¡°Big Brother Albi¡±. ¡°Call me that.¡± I tried again, this time using their preferred language.


    ¡°Big Brother Leo, Big Brother Albi, do you know what mother meant by ¡®organise a baptism for me?¡±


    I said the first part with a sigh, while Leon and Albion lit up at the words, they really were twins.


    This is so embarrassing, why won¡¯t they let me call them anything else? Big Brother Albi definitely wasn¡¯t a smart prince like I expected, hopefully the crown prince will live up to my expectations, or at least not be like these two. It feels so weird to call them that, I know that it¡¯s what they want¡­ but still.


    I had begun unconsciously referring to them in their preferred ways now, it felt kind of nice to have a family like this.


    ¡°Well, she¡¯ll set up a baptism for you. You¡¯re a member of the royal family now, so your baptism is a big event, of course you get your own day for it, sis.¡±


    Leon answered my question, smirking at my reaction to being called ¡®sis¡¯.


    ¡°We¡¯ll both be there for your big day, I can¡¯t wait to see you all grown up lil¡¯ sis.¡±


    Albion decided to add onto Leon¡¯s explanation, while Leon sat there nodding.


    So they¡¯ve just decided to start acting like they¡¯ve known me for ages? That¡¯s¡­ Odd. Is this what normal families are meant to be like? It¡¯s definitely a different experience from Earth and the duke¡¯s mansion. This is probably the normal way for siblings to act.


    Convincing myself of this, I replied with a simple, ¡°Oh¡±.

 Chapter 15: Life

    The next day, after an exhausting conversation with my new brothers, a personal maid of the queen came to see me. After being given permission to enter, I was delivered an invitation for tea with Cordelia. Once I quickly accepted the invitation, and the maid shut the door behind her, I collapsed onto the couch. Today was exhausting. What did I even know at this point?


    Apparently there was a ninth and tenth god, I had been a royal, I was now a princess, I now had three brothers, I was going to get baptised, I was going to have tea with the queen, Duke Lambourg would be punished, Albert would take over and royals were identified by their eyes. Not to mention that the myth of Galandra¡¯s creation is wrong, Gale and Alexandra saved the world, I¡¯m the most suited to become queen and who knows what else.


    I sighed, still laying there as another knock landed on my door. ¡°Come in,¡± I said. ¡°Hello your Highness, we are Your Highness¡¯s personal maids, sent by Her Majesty the Queen.¡± I sat up, responding to them.


    ¡°Understood, however, you may call me Aretta.¡±


    Your Highness just sounds so weird.


    ¡°If that is what you wish for, Lady Aretta,¡± they responded.


    Once they had finished speaking, I slumped back down onto the couch. The maid who had been leading the conversation walked over to me, ¡°Apologies, however we must prepare you for bed, please excuse us.¡±


    I nodded along, not listening to what she was saying. It only registered once she and her army of maids had hoisted me up and out of bed, stripped me, scrubbed me clean and dressed me up in a fresh new nightgown. Throughout this time, the only noise I managed to get out of my mouth was a squeak of surprise. When I laid down in my bed, I instantly drifted off to sleep, snoozing happily.


    When I woke in the morning, the same process from the night before occurred. My maids pulled me out of bed, stripped me, washed me, and dressed me for the day, all while I simply wanted to sleep. While I read my books after this, time flew by, and before I knew it, it was time for my tea party.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    I walked over to Cordelia''s chambers, knocking on the door politely. ¡°Come in,¡± she yelled, before a maid opened the door. I walked in, greeting her with a simple, ¡°Good morning mother,¡± before taking a seat across from the queen.


    ¡°What would you like to speak about?¡± I asked, curious.


    ¡°Well, you see, before we even got a chance to send a courier to the Duchy of Lambourg, a courier from the duke¡¯s son, Lord Albert, arrived, it spoke of some¡­ unexpected events. To be frank, the duke was murdered, we will be pronouncing Lord Albert as the new duke at the upcoming conference between the king and I and the dukes and duchesses from the kingdom.¡±


    ¡°You spoke to me earlier about how you weren¡¯t bothered by this, however, I felt that you should know.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for telling me,¡± I replied, surprised by this turn of events.


    Wasn¡¯t he meant to be murdered later on? Perhaps my leaving had something to do with it.


    ¡°That isn¡¯t all,¡± she continued, ¡°I forgot to mention, but due to¡­ certain events, we will need to pass you off for a seven year old, is that okay? It is just that while we are the royal family, you can. not be admitted into the Royal Academy unless you submit your proof of identification, this is what you get at seven years old, at your baptism and debut. Also, if you were to have your baptism at eight, and this was public, then everybody would know that you were a commoner until you were adopted. While the king and I have no issues with this, it would cause the trust which the other duchies have in us to plummet. Would it be okay?¡±


    I mean, I don¡¯t exactly want to be too much smaller than those in my class at the Royal Academy anyway. This will help with the size difference.


    ¡°That¡¯s alright, I understand, do what you must.¡±


    After I had agreed, the queen and I had tea, before I left for my chambers once again.


    About an hour after I had returned to my chambers, another visitor came. ¡°You may enter,¡± I called, wanting to see who it was this time.


    A maid opened the door, and I could see a young man standing in the entryway. He was tall, with hellishly good looks, and blue eyes which were almost as deep as the queens. He straightened up befor introducing himself.


    ¡°My name is Calixar Galandri, I am the crown prince to the kingdom of Galandra, it is a pleasure to meet you, sister.¡±


    So this guy¡¯s my last brother, he looks pretty normal.


    I introduced myself in return before gesturing for him to sit on the couch opposite to mine. Sitting down, we had a nice chat about the palace, the Royal Academy, and my baptism.


    All of my brothers had attended the Royal Academy, Calixar had already graduated, however Leon and Albion were still in there, in their third and final year. At the Royal Academy we would learn to control our magic, as well as about the other subjects and sword training. We could choose between the Mage course, Knight course, Duke and Royal course, to take along with our set classes. I was told that we could take part in as many as we wanted. To be honest, they all sounded interesting, so I was tempted to do all of them, but swordsmanship was already out so I resolved to take part in the Royal course and Mage course.

 Chapter 16: The Room, Library and Dinner

    The next day, my maids informed me that I would be moving bedrooms. As I hadn¡¯t brought many items to the Imperial Lands,  it was quite a simple task. Now that I was a princess, or would soon be recognised as such, I would be living in the royal section of the palace. There, my room would be near my brothers, however the Cordelia and the king¡¯s room was in a different section.


    Once we had arrived at my new bed chambers, I was surprised by the spacious interior, accompanied by a walk-in closet and a connected bathroom. It wasn¡¯t their presence that was surprising, but the quality of everything within.


    My walk-in closet contained so many dresses, obviously high quality and expensive, I could see each perfect stitch on the articles. There were also some other clothes, when the maids noticed me staring, one stepped in and explained what they were.


    ¡°These are your swords practice, magic practice and riding clothes.¡±


    There was an individual article for each. The dresses were primarily purple, gold, and blue. The colours attributed to royalty in this world. Unlike on Earth, where we attributed only one colour to royalty, purple, here all these colours were attributed to royalty, but with purple features on all. The majority of my primarily blue dresses had purple weaved in, while the gold dresses were all with white with no purple. After noticing this difference in the trend, I asked my new maid, who answered with a smile.


    ¡°As a member of the royal family, it is considered appropriate for you to wear purple with the majority of your outfits. They needn''t be on the dress, but are usually out in your hair. Less formal occasions, such as daily classes once you begin to attend the Royal Academy, will only require you to have one of these three colours on you. However, as the uniform is white and gold, that should hot be an issue, however you are welcome to add your own accessories on as well, it is usually a show of wealth, those without accessories are sometimes looked down upon.¡±


    I nodded, taking in this information. While at my current age, the years had crawled by, I knew that they would begin to race past soon. This information would be very helpful then. I would certainly remember it.


    After moving on to look at the connected bathroom, I noticed that there wasn¡¯t a shower but only a bath. Thinking back to the duke¡¯s estate, they didn¡¯t have one either.


    That¡¯s inconvenient.


    Other than the bath, there was also a wash-basin, a tap, a toilet and all of the other bathroom necessities. It was already stocked with everything I could possibly need. But considering that this was similar to a medieval world in my past life, how come they had a tap without plumbing. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    I walked over the tap, noticing an odd stone where the water would come out. A maid quickly explained that as well upon prompting. It was a magic stone, you would infuse your magic into it and it would automatically be turned into water, as the stone was engraved with a simple spell for water. It was curious, I had never even paid attention to any of these things in the duke¡¯s estate, but they had been there. I had simply not bothered to look.


    This world had so many things to explore, and while I knew that I would experience everything naturally at some point, my curiosity got the better of me and I began to pay attention to everything around me. Little did I know that this habit of mine would prove extremely useful later down my path.


    This room also had a few books, but nowhere near as many as in Alice¡¯s bedroom. Apparently, all the books were stored in the castle library.


    After learning of this, I set out to find the books, eager to read more as I had no other entertainment. Upon entering the library, I noticed two guards by the door.


    I guess that books are expensive here.


    It was the time before printers, before plant-based paper. Of course they were guarding the books, it was basically a treasure trove! Seeing me, and probably my blue eyes, the guards opened the door. After my tea party with the queen, I had been told to make sure that my hair remained out of my eyes, so that people could recognise me and I would avoid certain¡­ uncomfortable situations. Such as where people would question why I was in the palace. I readily agreed upon realising that it would cause trouble for both me and others if I didn¡¯t.


    As soon as I saw the library, I was shocked, there were towering shelves as far as the eye could see, comparable to a normal library on Earth. While back then, I hadn¡¯t been the most avid reader, here, it was my only option other than embroidery for the time being. We noble ladies were required to partake in ladylike hobbies, and while I was actually quite skilled at embroidery, I despised it.


    The first thing I went to find was a book on magic and magic stones and their uses. While most people in my position, as I later learned, had read more books on these reincarnation situations. I was clueless. While I had read the mystery novel, and it was set in this world, they had barely even touched on the magic and theory behind it. The entire story honestly sucked, the magic scenes were something along the lines of: ¡®boom, the magic exploded, they beat the bad guys, yippee¡¯. It didn¡¯t exactly tell me much. All aspects of the book were far below mediocre, I wasn¡¯t even sure who wrote it.


    Spending the next few hours in the library, I finally left once it was time for dinner. The books were extremely interesting, but I didn¡¯t really understand them. At least this would make me capable of acting as though I knew, I would just have to piece things together. My only issue was the fact that my knowledge from Earth clashed with the concepts they speak of. It seemed like everything was completely different. I just couldn¡¯t wrap my head around it.


    Before going to attend dinner, my maids insisted that I¡¯d have to change. I didn¡¯t see why, but I allowed it. Now I was dressed in a beautiful white dress, with golden accents, it was far from the most luxurious dress I owned, but it was extremely elegant nonetheless, even more so than most of my dresses back at the duke¡¯s mansion.


    At dinner, I was greeted by the king, the queen, and all three of my brothers. I was informed that proper greetings were unnecessary unless we had company, so I simply sat down. It wasn¡¯t all too different to dinners at the duke¡¯s estate, except for the small fact that I wasn¡¯t being constantly judged and examined, I didn¡¯t feel much of a need to  keep my guard up, but I did regardless of this fact.

 Chapter 17: Baptism

    It was the day of my baptism. My maids woke me up, before dressing me in an extravagant deep purple gown. The design was adorable, something suited for the seven year old princess I was. The dress, going down just below my knees, had short frilly sleeves, and flowers adorning the chest area. My hair was also put up, into a half up, half down style, some freshly picked purple and dark blue flowers pinned in it.


    While I got dressed, my maids constantly gushed over how cute I looked and in all honesty, I agreed. I was much smaller than others my age, and while I was already eight, I was actually closer to seven than nine. My real birthday had been right before the duke had adopted me, this meant that I didn¡¯t mind moving my birthday by so little. It wasn¡¯t simply important to me.


    Emerging from my chambers, I was followed by three maids and five guards. The guards hadn¡¯t said anything, they just began walking behind me. I was aware of their presence but didn¡¯t call them out, I was too preoccupied with my own thoughts.


    I was constantly clenching my dress to the point where a maid had to ask me to stop.


    ¡°Lady Aretta, if you continue to scrunch your dress, you will wrinkle it.¡±


    I looked down, only then noticing that I had, in fact, been scrunching my dress. When I put my arms down, walking as my tutors had said a noble lady should, I began to fidget.


    I was officially going to be a princess. As I had no prior documents, because I had been a commoner, my adoption was simple. I just needed to be baptised as a royal. No matter how many times I was reassured, I wouldn¡¯t allow myself to believe it was that easy. Was that really all?


    But it was. Everything went by in a daze as I went through my baptism. I entered the grand banquet hall at the palace, where the baptism would be held. Stepping onto the red carpet was nerve wracking, but I continued to walk, not really thinking, all I could focus on was not tripping.


    Don¡¯t trip, don''t trip. Left, right, left, right¡­ There are so many people, all staring at me.


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    I had entered the room alone, my personnel waiting at the door. Finally I reached an altar, it had seemingly been prepared overnight, there stood the High Bishop. He was like the High Priest of a normal temple, but he ruled the Imperial Temple. I nervously extended my hand, as I had been instructed, only for him to press a small metal disk against my finger.


    This previously plain disk lit up, before the colour faded and instead transferred to a small orb on the table. This orb began flashing many colours, first a light yellow, followed by a dark green shine, before proceeding to flash all shades including a reddish-brown, a radiant yellow, a medium blue, a radiant green, a light blue and a soft purple. These were the colours of all eight primary gods.


    As the colour purple slowly faded, it was replaced instead by a blinding flash of white, lasting for roughly five entire seconds. The colour instantly faded, before being once again replaced by pure darkness, a void of black. Now the orb swirled with one half black and one half white, before somehow appearing as though all the colours were within the orb at once. Rather than appearing as though they were fighting for room, these colours floated in harmony.


    The first eight colours evenly shared the top half of the orb, while the bottom half was divided between the white and the black. The colours of the Goddess of Light and the God of Darkness. The room was silent, not a peep could be heard. Soon these colours expanded, growing but leaving the confines of the orb. They spread across the room, floating in the air like magical lights, lighting up even the darkest corners of the hall. Soon this light faded, all that was left were the memories of those who had witnessed it.


    After a few moments of hesitation one well dressed gentleman burst into chatter, soon followed by multiple high ranking individuals. Seeing this, a few others joined the chatter before the entire hall exploded in noise. I simply stood there, flabbergast.


    What. The. Hell. Just. Happened.


    This thought crossed my mind, but I stood there, flabbergast. Since the beginning of this ¡®light show¡¯ of sorts I had been frozen. While I may have lived in this world for eight years I certainly wasn¡¯t used to the concept of magic. Why, I didn¡¯t even believe in it to a certain extent. I had barely seen it, when I had, it wasn¡¯t worth mentioning, I simply passed it off as my imagination. When I was told about it, I agreed, playing the part of an aristocratic daughter who was native to this world. But I wasn¡¯t, I¡¯m not.


    Soon, I was snapped out of this stupor. My heart was racing, so fast I feared that it would stop. But it didn¡¯t, and I was left to the staring eyes of strangers. Of influential strangers. First they had been stunned into silence, next, they talked, and then, they focused their attention on me. Coming to my senses, I turned, facing the crowd and giving my perfect curtsy. It had been drilled into me at the estate, I didn¡¯t even think about it but only about getting away. Getting away from these prying eyes. My body tense, I quickly left through a side door, similar to what they had in the throne room.


    The High Bishop stood there, and all I caught him say was the following.


    ¡°A blessing has fallen upon us. This is a time for celebration, for this girl is a Saint. Sent down from heaven, she shall bring prosperity to this great kingdom.¡±


    I shuddered, knowing that these words were only digging my grave deeper. I was closer to a devil. After all, I had messed with the world, unintentionally, but I had still reincarnated. This was a crime unforgivable in my new world. Only the Darkest of Sorcerers used this power, and here I was, with it having been dropped into my lap.