The book was almost as boring as a mechanical physics textbook. The one thing that made it a tiny bit more interesting was the author's writing style. And the fact that Pulsie actually knew the stuff, so they weren't completely lost.

"The book is incomplete." Pulsie stated.

"Oh, I hadn't realized. The book ending mid-sentence just left me confused, you know." she said, sarcastically.

"Well, you did look kind of lost." Pulsie replied. "But that might just be the book. Did you actually pay attention in your tuition?"

Althea gave him a look that told him what she felt about that. The plant simply sat there, swaying with the slight wind.

"The magic portion does not start till college." she stated.

"Well, you're out of luck then, Countess. Unless something changes, you're going to spend the rest of your life as Countess. And Countesses don't go to college, their heirs do."

"Well, don't I have you?" Althea replied, giving Pulsie a snarky smile. "I am sure you can teach me, Professor Pulsie."

The plant seemed to visibly shudder at the idea.

"Where are we, anyway? Is there a lot of time left?" Althea said, ignoring her familiar's reaction.

"Silverbirch trees." Pulsie said, looking out. "The trees only grow in a thirty-kilometer radius around the palace. Even in other fertile environments, they won't grow. The trees require the same soil and water to survive. And even then they will die in a decade."

"Oh?" Althea raised an eyebrow. "The Silverbrich trees seem mysterious."

"Yes, old records state that the grove used to glow at night. But that may just be rumors. The grove hasn't glowed in millennia, if it ever did." Pulsie said, and Althea was sure that she heard a little wistfulness in his tone. The little guy must be curious about his kind.

"Deadre should be less than ten minutes away." the plant said. Althea just stared at the trees with him. Just white tree after white tree. The trees looked kind of like the tree in the Diery emblem. But that tree had a glowing canopy and a brown trunk.

And then Pulsie ruined the moment.

"I wasn't joking about you being different, you know. The old you wouldn't have read the book, or tried to understand it." the plant's leaves turned to her, and for a second Althea felt like a pair of piercing eyes were staring at her.

"Well, things have changed." Althea said, giving him a fake smile. But that did not quite work against a plant.

"Yes, but so have you." he said, turning his leaves away.

A head peeked through the window before Althea could reply.

"The Steward wants to ask if we should do a greeting, Countess?" Anthony asked.

"A greeting?" she asked.

Anthony nodded, as if expecting that she would not know. "The Deadre palace is the oldest palace in the Solerian Empire, the only one to survive the burning. The military has a tradition that they will pay respect to the history of the Empire. A ceremony called the greeting. But since this is not a military expedition…"

"Tell the Steward to do the greeting. I think it is a nice tradition." Althea gave him a small smile as he rode ahead to inform the Steward.

The plant remained silent throughout the rest of the journey, and Althea let him. The conversation was one she did not know how to have. How did she explain her transmigration? Did she even know enough to satisfy him? The answer to that one was no.

And what if he decided to reveal it? Would they believe him or her? What would happen then? Even if she was believed, the rumors would stay. But keeping it secret…might be something she was unwilling to do, even if it was an option.

Althea hadn't realized it before, but the old Althea hadn't gone. No, far from that. The more she used her way of speaking, acting, living, the more the old Althea emerged. The differences were already visible, she was acting vastly different from before. That she was sure of.

Where the Althea of Earth began, and where the Althea of Soleria ended, she did not know. But she did inherit something. A care for Pulsie. An unwillingness to risk their friendship. Or that could just be the bond.

The trees passed by as thoughts ran through her head, feeling surreal in this new reality of hers. A place of magic, trees, and nobles. The trees changed to shops as they entered the city, not even stopped. A rider must have been sent ahead now that the Steward wasn't casting spells again. The carriage ended up stopping, but she was still in a funk.

Taking a deep breath, she composed herself, projecting what grace she could, and stepped out of the carriage. Pulsie waved his leaves as she stepped out, and she gave him a smile.

The soldiers were already lined up in neat rows behind her, the Emperor's guards around her carriage, with the Steward at the very front.

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"Countess, do you want to…" Anthony began asking.

"No, let the Steward." she said. Anthony returned to his position, and the Steward began.

"I, Ven Sorelian, Steward of the Empire, greet the honored founders. I bow to those that have given their lives in service to the Empire. I honor the history that lives within this palace." he said, and then kneeled on one knee. The army followed suit, Althea just doing what they did.

"And do solemnly declare, that I shall serve the Empire with the Empire in my heart." And then the Steward raised his head and shouted. "And my heart in the Empire."

The army shouted with him, Althea tagging along, but not quite a part.

The gates of the palace opened, an old man coming out along with rows upon rows of servants. Althea looked up at the palace as the servants cleared the carriages. The palace was shaped like a blooming flower, a stem reaching up and then separating into six inclined sections.

The sections weren't too inclined, even the highest section was at most forty degrees, but it was tall. So tall that she had to wonder how it had been built. A wood palace that rose at least fifty floors. Just the cost of cleaning had to be huge. But looking at the soldiers staring at the palace, she could see why her family had kept it.

The family had fallen from power centuries ago, but the palace remained to remind people why they had their title. Althea took Pulsie out of the carriage and walked towards the doors with as much grace as she could muster. The army ceremony thing might not have her as a part, but this did.

A few wisps of mana gathered around her unbidden, she ignored them.

"I would suggest going to the vault-" the Steward began.

"I am aware, Steward Ven. Please, lead the way." she answered.

"Countess!" another voice shouted as she approached the gates. "There are several things that require your approval."

"Yes?" Althea said, looking at the old man in front of her.

"The coronation jewels have to be removed and cleaned, my lad-I mean, your grace." he said.

"Please do so then." she said, keeping her tone polite. The man probably needs permission or something.

"The Diery vault is spelled, you'll need to remove them yourself." Pulsie chimed in. "I can come with, though."

"I see." Althea said. "I will retrieve them then."

The old man nodded eagerly. "Thank you, your grace. And we didn't expect to hold the coronation for months yet, so we merged it with the Silverbirch festival. I have already checked the schedule, we can merge it in."

Althea frowned. The coronation was a week-long event on its own, to merge it between another? How would that work? A coronation was supposed to be the attention of the day.

"The Silverbirch festival is a millennia old tradition, your grace." the old man explained. "The late Countess also did something similar the year you were born. A coronation is bigger, but I think this will work."

The old man fished out a piece of paper and presented it to her. Althea read it with a raised eyebrow. The plan was…impressive. Now, she did not know much. But she had studied events as a compulsory subject for five years and as an elective for the rest of her schooling. And it gave her enough information to say that there was a good chance it would succeed.

Althea handed it to Steward Ven who merely glanced through it before handing it back to the old man.

"I don't foresee any problems." he said, his tone bored.

"Thank you for your effort, I do appreciate it." Althea said, giving him a smile. Well, etiquette was a compulsory subject too. And for good reason, she used it most of what she had learned in her classes.

"I am glad to serve, your grace." the old man bowed, returning her smile.

"Anessa will lead maids to collect the jewels, your grace." the old man said. "I assure you, they are trustworthy."

"I will leave it to you then." Althea said, following the Steward, who had already started walking.

The halls went by faster than Althea wished they would. The wood was dull, and monotonous, but there were a bunch of things to see. The Bern mansion was a pale blue monstrosity decorated with little but white furniture. The Diery mansion was old, dark wood, with wooden furniture and gold finishes.

The glass cabinets had colored glass, and the paintings looked like they belonged in another age. The decorator must have tried their best to project the family's wealth and heritage. And it worked. Althea was sure that every piece of furniture was an antique with history. Just being in this hall helped, she was sure.

The group approached what looked like an elevator lobby. Two doors with an up button between them. Althea narrowed her eyes at them, wondering what they could be for.

"The two doors lead to elevators, your grace." Anessa, the maid that the old man had pointed out, said. "Mana powered them centuries ago, but they have still fallen out of use."

"Why is that?" Althea asked, "I would have thought they would be very useful"

"The elevators cost too much to run now. A thousand years ago, they ran on their own." Steward Ven piped in. "But it will be better if we use them now."

Anessa’s eyes widened as the Steward opened the lift. And what a lift it was. Althea hadn't seen such a large lift before, it was the size of her and Karen's bedroom. A normal one back on Earth, not the noble-apartment sized ones she had now.

The Steward touched a faded button, passing mana into it. ALthea watched, wide-eyed, as massive amounts of mana passed into the button. And she thought the mana he had shown before was massive.

The Steward was frowning by the time the lift left out a scary screech. Althea clutched at the walls for support, shocked at the lack of holds. The lift then propelled itself upward, stabilizing a bit. Althea straightened herself, looking back at the maids.

"Are you alright?" she asked. A maid had fallen, and a few others looked a bit unsteady on their feet.

"Yes, your grace, we're all right." Anessa said, as other maids helped the fallen maid up. Althea nodded, letting her handle it. The lift arrived at their destination soon enough. The doors creaked opened by themselves to show a white, glistening door behind what looked like a scary spell. The spell was visible, crackling as if to tell people to stay away.

"The spell was set by Archduchess Leresia Diery, one of the nineteen founders of the Solerian Empire." The Steward said, deciding that it was time for an impromptu lesson. "The spell has been reinforced by every Grandmaster in the Diery family. The magic is old, but still strong."

The Steward took a deep breath, as if savoring something special. Althea stared at the barrier, crackling as it was. The place did not look old to her. The palace seemed to have aged extremely well. A testament to the spells around it? Perhaps the staff? Or both. Hmm, both sounded good.

Althea turned to the Steward, who was watching with her closely, and then towards the maids who were waiting eagerly. And then she walked through the cracking barrier and right into a ten thousand-year-old vault.