"Of all the books that I have read, why did it have to be this one." Althea thought as she looked around her new white room. Just the color she hated. The transmigration didn't bother her really, in fact, she'd wished for it several times.

Living as some storybook character sure beat being Ms Lewis's servant adoptee for the next three years. Oh wait, the transmigration had made her older. Just great.

Now back to the matter at hand. The book she'd transmigrated into. Why did it have to be this one? Why not that nice little academy based fantasy romance she was reading last time? Althea tried to imagine herself as a character there, in that Fae academy. So much magic. And bond mates! Oh, she could have had a charming sappy love story!

"Don't want too much, Althea. Learn to be lucky for what you have instead." Karen's voice droned on in her mind.

Althea groaned, shoving the far-too-thick blanket aside as she sat up. The girl was probably the only one who would care that she died. Well, maybe not. Ms Lewis would probably care too. After all, she would have to cook and clean now. How utterly horrible. Althea grinned at her inner sarcasm, peering through the huge windows that showed a sprawling garden.

Well, as irritating as it was, Karen was right. The situation wasn't that bad. The world had magic and a System. A very basic one, but still, it was there. And the character she had become was filthy rich.

Althea Diery. The misunderstood common fodder villainess that had sacrificed herself to save the protagonists from the 'real' villain. Althea had gotten her memories as soon as she woke. Like a little memory file that had been inserted into her head. An utterly emotionless rendition of the poor girl's life.

And it had only made her more angry at this ridiculously misogynistic society.

A knock on the door threw me out of my reverie.

"Are you decent?" A gruff voice said through the door. Marquis Bern. Althea Diery's guardian and future father-in-law.

Althea almost said yes, and then remembered. A girl was not supposed to be seen in her 'nightclothes'. The same clothes that covered far more skin than what a lot of girls wore to parties. But the silly rule gave her enough of an excuse.

"No, perhaps another time." Althea replied, unable to keep the smugness from her voice.

A short silence followed, where she wondered if the Marquis had left. Sadly, it was not to be.

"I will just speak through the door then." the Marquis replied.

"As I am sure you are aware by now, Neill has taken a liking to a certain maid." the Marquis said. Althea knew who he was talking about. The protagonist of the story. Emilia Harkins, personal maid to Neill Bern, the man she was supposed to marry in three days.

"I do have eyes, yes." she said. Althea, the one from this world, didn't actually. The new Althea wondered if this was how she found out about her fiancé's little affair. The book didn't mention it, but it had to happen sometime. The main characters weren’t exactly trying to hide it.

The Marquis sighed, making a show of it with how loud he was.

"Do you have another reason for visiting, my lord? Or was it just to inform me that my fiancé is cheating on me before we are even married?" Althea asked, matching the tone that tho old Althea usually used. The tone worked splendidly with sarcasm.

"Neill is young, and the maid is awfully pretty." the Marquis justified. Althea scoffed. The man was really something. The Marquis loved his youngest son dearly, and he had gone to great lengths to spoil him. Althea had nearly smashed her phone, reading some of the things he did. But of course, it became ok once the main character ‘tamed’ him and brought out his good side.

"Do you sleep with every maid in the mansion, my lord? Is that why you have seven concubines?" Althea quipped back.

"Althea!" the Marquis replied harshly, and then continued in a calmer voice. "I highly doubt they have gotten that far.”

Yes, because the protagonist’s mother was worried about her.

“I just have one thing to ask.” he continued.

Oh, so he was finally getting to a point.

"Just let Neill have his fun." the Marquis said. "The woman can at most be his concubine. After you give birth-"

"How about we just end the engagement?" Althea replied, the words spilling out of her in a rush.

"The marriage is set, Countess Diery." the Marquis replied, finally invoking her title. The man only did so when Neill did something bad, or he wanted something. But Althea wasn't the same Althea as before.

"Perhaps you should tell your son that, Marquis Bern. I hear he doesn't want it. And I don't think I do either."

"The marriage has been set by the Emperor. And you know why it cannot be annulled." the Marquis replied. Yes, she did. The hereditary class of the Diery family that granted their lands a 170% boost to agriculture. The Emperor would not let that boon go.

"Well, perhaps the Emperor can let the title pass on to an unmarried woman once." Althea replied. A title would only pass on to a married woman in the Selorian Empire, and only if there were no male heirs available.

"I think we both know that is not going to happen, Althea." the Marquis said. "Get ready, we will talk later."

Althea huffed as she heard the Marquis walk away. In three days, she would turn eighteen and marry an unwilling husband. And apparently, she didn't get a say in the matter. How noble.

But she had an idea. First, though, she had to get ready. The person she was about to meet was not one she could meet in her current clothing.

"Are you all right, my lady?" A head popped into the room.

"Yes, Mira. I will be out in a minute." she replied, her voice softening.

Althea headed into her wardrobe, deciding that she would bathe later. The meeting was more urgent. The walk-in wardrobe was, of course, a huge collection of ballgowns and dresses of various colors. Althea quickly picked out a light yellow dress.

Now, she might not have a lot of fashion sense, but this one would be easy to wear and not come in my feet too much. Changing into the dress was not easy. The dress was atrociously long, and the thick material did not seem to want to bend much. A travel dress of some sort, its material being the way it was. The lack of a zipper made it even worse.

After several minutes of struggling, she finally managed to put on the dress. The next up was jewelry. Now that was a problem. Althea didn't own any in my last life, nor did she have any idea what to wear. The life of an orphan didn’t give her access to this kind of stuff. Ms Lewis had only given her a phone because it made things convenient for her.

But she also knew that she had to wear something; to not wear one would insult hosts. Hmm, couldn't have that. In the end, I just slipped on a single bracelet made of some kind of yellow stone. Yellow to yellow was a good match, right?

Althea walked out into her room and opened the door, finding Mira waiting for her with a squad of maids.

Mira's eyes widened as soon as she saw her. "Are you truly all right, my lady? Why did you dress yourself? And that dress…" Mira trailed off, taking in her look.

While a noble was expected to bathe themselves in the Solerian Empire, maids often helped young lords and ladies dress. Althea was a bit too shy for that. There wasn't time for that anyway.

"Not today Mira. I have things to do." Althea replied, turning to look at the other maids. The old Althea usually took a while to bathe, the maids would usually clean during this time as, apparently, a noble wasn't supposed to see them clean. A rather difficult endeavor considering how much time the old Althea spent in her room.

"I won't be back for a while, please clean while I am away" she said, not really sure if she could say more without breaking some secret etiquette rule. What she did notice was that some of the old Althea's noble etiquette had been translated over. And there was something distinctly unnatural about how straight my back was.

"Where are you going, my lady? The garden is closed right now and-" Mira started speaking, hurrying to catch up with me.

"I am going to the communication chamber, Mira." Althea replied, rounding a corner and emerging in front of a darkened hall with a single blue orb. "I need to have a conversation with the Empress."

"T-the Empress?" Mira stuttered. " Are you sure, my lady? Don't you need an appointment and permission-"

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

"Mira, please close the curtains. The Empress will see me." she ordered, finding it much easier to just follow the old Althea's ways.

Mira wedged herself between her and the communication orb. "Are you sure about this, my lady? The Empress is your greatest supporter, the consequences would be severe if she gets offended."

Althea sighed. Mira was right about that.

"I know Mira. But I cannot live with this marriage anymore." she replied. " I am sure you know why."

Mira did know what she was talking about. In fact, she was one of the few that protested against the Neill’s actions fervently, and was punished for it.

"I-I, how did you find out, my lady? I had hoped…"

"How I found out doesn't matter. What matters now is that I contact my aunt and try to get out of this sham marriage." she replied, walking around Mira as she rested her hand on the communication orb.

The Empress, as her closest living relative, should have become her guardian. But of course, there was politics involved. The Empress had to give up her ties to her family and be adopted by a duke just to be worthy of marrying a Prince. After all, how could the empire survive if the daughter of a baron became an Empress?

"Countess Althea Diery for Empress Nerusia Solerian." she said to the orb as it began pulsing, projecting an image onto the white screen before them. Mira had closed the curtains long ago and was standing right behind. Althea wasn’t sure that the Empress would help her, but she had to try.

The image of a tired old man appeared, his face nearly expressionless.

"The Empress is busy at the moment. If the Countess could call later, I am sure-" the old man began his practiced presentation.

"I would be much obliged if you could please inform the Empress I am here after she has finished her breakfast." she said, taking a seat on one of the cushioned stools. The old man's left eye twitched at her behavior, but he didn't comment on it. An outsider might not be aware of how much the Empress doted on her, but this old man was. After all, he was her aunt's right hand man.

"I will see to it that the Empress is informed." he said, waving a maid away.

"If I may be so bold what has your ladyship calling so urgently today?" the old man asked, using painfully proper etiquette. Now she had to return the favor.

"I fear it is but a mere domestic matter." Althea replied. "The ninth young marquis has seen fit to take on a concubine three days before our marriage. The man wishes to ask his majesty, the Emperor, to allow her to be his wife on his majesty's thirtieth wedding anniversary. After winning the Rose championship of course."

Mira gasped behind her, not knowing of the plan. Not many did. Even the protagonist did not know about it yet.

The door to the room was shoved open to reveal the Empress, followed closely by the Emperor holding a plate of cake. The old man frowned at the Emperor's 'discourtesy' but did not dare comment.

"How atrocious." The Empress said, her voice laced with more disgust than anger. "I will see to it that they do not even come close to winning."

Althea wondered if that was what she had done in the book.The old Althea really wasn't the type to sabotage things. The poor girl wouldn't know where to start.

"No, your majesty." Althea said, taking a deep breath. "I do not wish to be married to Neil anymore."

The Empress let out a heavy breath and plopped down onto the chair in a highly undignified manner. The Emperor took a seat too, barely looking up from his cake. What flavor was it? The brown color could mean chocolate...

"I think you know my answer to that, Althea." the Empress said. Althea snuck a glance at the Emperor sitting beside her, wondering if her answer would be different had her husband not been there.

"Can there truly be no exception, your majesty?" Althea pleaded. "The Empire already allows the Diery title to be inherited by the eldest child regardless of gender."

"And that change nearly sparked a civil war three hundred years ago. The nobles can barely stand for a married Diery Countess, let alone an unmarried one." the old man said. "I know times have changed, and the royal family could perhaps bear the pushback from doing this. But the cost will be too high.

"Steward Vel is correct, Althea." the Empress added. "The nobles will not react at once, they will wait before striking. The move will make us quite a few patient enemies. As much as I sympathize with your plight, the Empire cannot stand for more chaos right now."

Althea frowned at that. The conversation was not going as well as she hoped.

"Am I to sacrifice myself then?" Althea asked. "To become the tolerant Countess while my husband beds every woman but me?"

The old man and Mira gasped almost in synchrony at her daring to mention 'those things' in front of the royal couple. Althea wondered if they knew how the seven princes came about.

"I am sure Neil will come about. The boy is still young-" the Empress began.

"I do not think you would say that if you knew the things he was saying and doing." Althea interrupted. Mira whimpered beside her, probably terrified that she had interrupted the Empress.

"Perhaps you should tell us then." the Emperor replied. Althea couldn't make out what he felt about the situation. The man just seemed obsessed with his cake.

"I would, but I think Mira has a far more complete list." Althea said, turning to her poor maid who was trembling beside her.

"Don't be afraid, they don't bite." she whispered, and then continued in a louder voice. "Tell their majesties about the gifts the ninth young marquis sends my way."

Mira's eyes widened at the realization that she knew about them. But the poor girl was far too scared of the Emperor to talk to her now.

"Just yesterday, his lordship sent a vase of dead Renestre's to my lady's room." Mira began, stuttering but not stopping.

Oh yes, the protagonist had mentioned that the flowers signified health. A healthy flower signified that they wanted the receiver to be happy. And of course, dead flowers signified that the sender wanted the receiver dead.

The royal couple frowned in unison, seeming almost of one mind in their reactions.

"The day before that he gifted my lady a horse that had killed every one of its previous owners." Mira continued. "The day before that..."

The list was long, and stretched from guillotines to highly poisonous fruits. Althea had to give it to the male lead, he must have spent a lot of time researching ways to kill someone. If only he had spent a fraction of that time actually getting to know his future fiance.

But no, Neil Bern was many things, but reasonable wasn’t one of them. The boy could not look past how Althea had trapped him in the engagement.

The Empress' expression had grown gradually paler as Mira droned on, her hands clutching her husbands.

After Mira had finished describing a book on various ritualistic ways to die, Althea interrupted.

"Would you please show me what he sent today?" she asked. Althea had nearly forgotten about it, but she had remembered just in the nick of time. The letter had become a big point of contention between the protagonists down the line. Not even the female lead, who hated her, could stand by what was written inside.

Mira's hands trembled as she reached into her pocket and removed an envelope. The Empress's brows furrowed at its opened state, but she did not comment. The old steward, on the other hand, didn't try to hide what he thought of Mira reading the letter.

"Dear horrible fiance." Althea began reading the letter. "I hope this letter finds you deathly ill and on the verge of dying."

The Empress and the Emperor grunted their displeasure, once more acting in an astonishingly synchronized fashion.

"I write to inform you that I have found myself in love with a woman far more worthy than you. But I can't be with her due to your conniving schemes that force me to remain married to you. So, I write to beg you to leave me alone. I will not be the father of your children and will treat you as badly as I can get away with. I wish you dead, vixen."

The Empress's face looked quite pale by the time Althea finished reading the first part of the letter.

"There is more where that came from." she said.

"Neil goes on to ask me to use the guillotine." she said, parsing through the three page letter. "Oh look, here he wants me to swallow one of my earrings on our wedding day so that I can't lie. And here he-"

"That is quite enough Countess." The Emperor said, staring at her. "I can see that relations between the two have reached an extreme stage."

"The ninth young marquis holds a huge grudge against me for choosing him to marry." Althea understood that feeling. But it wasn't as if she had much choice either.

"I can see that." the Emperor replied.

"As you can see, your majesty, I will not be able to have children-"

"And that will risk the Diery line of inheritance. The class may pass on to the younger sibling in case of the older sibling’s death, but that may change if you have adopted children. The System may decide that the line has ended, and that could risk the entire Empire." the Emperor finished for her.

So the Emperor had already thought it through.

"I understand your position, Countess." The Emperor frowned, looking deep in thought. "Tell me, if the Empire of Zun were to attack the Diery county tommorow, what would you do?"

"Protect it?" Althea replied, a bit taken aback by the question.

The Emperor nodded, and then made a hand gesture. A servant came forward, holding a pen and paper. "I hereby declare that Countess Althea Diery has passed the trial of bravery and is qualified to be a guardian of the Empire."

Althea caught her breath. A guardian of the Empire was one of the most powerful positions in the Empire. A guardian could hold a noble title outside the noble hierarchy and report directly to the Emperor. And do so regardless of gender. But the trials were usually a lot more difficult than a simple question. At least, that was what she thought the trial was.

"The late Count and Countess of Diery charged against the Zun horde, guarding the lands of the Empire with their lives. I hold their contribution to be of great importance, and declare the Diery family a guarding family of the Empire.

On reaching the age of majority, their heir will be granted the Diery county as it stands today, to hold till death and pass on to her descendants. The land will be hers to guard and rule within the law of Seleria. So I decree." the Emperor said, his voice somehow echoing.

"And so the people hear." the scribe, steward and Empress said in unison.

"I will make the official announcement soon, you shall leave for your lands by noon.” The Emperor continued in a normal voice. “As a guardian you are now my ward. A squad of the Emperor's guard will arrive to escort you and ensure safety there."

The communication orb cut off, leaving her alone in the room with Mira.

Althea turned to Mira wanting to say something, but found herself taken up in a hug instead.

"Oh, my lady! I am so glad you won't have to marry that bastard." Mira said, holding Althea tightly. Althea returned her hug, a bit surprised by her gesture.

Mira finally let her go, looking a bit sheepish. Althea gave her a little smile, but her attention was elsewhere.

A string of glowing blue words had appeared in the air.

Title changed to Countess Guarding Diery.

Error! System scans detect an anomaly...

Class assignment pending.

Class Mage assigned.

Error! A person cannot have two classes. Class merge in progress.

Class merged to Arcane Druid.

Althea smiled widely. The great golden finger had arrived. Magic.