Althea passed through the barrier without any problems, the barrier crackling behind her. Suppressing an urge to turn around, she strutted through the doors, Pulsie reaches a leaf out to brush by the doors.

"Magic construct." he mumbled. Well, now she knew what it was. How exactly did he know that, though?

The white doors led to some sort of lobby that led to even doors. Three to be exact. The Treasury, Manual hall and… Observation chamber? Althea did not know what the third one was supposed to be, and why it was in a super secure vault. But she had a feeling it was not simple. A certain plant's leaves turning unnaturally towards it might have something to do with it.

Althea walked towards the Treasury, opening the golden doors. As expected, the inside was laden with gems. Thankfully, she already had an idea as to her family's wealth, or she would have fainted from shock. Now, she could try to walk through shelves without looking at the jewels. If you didn't look at them, you couldn't get shocked that bad…right?

The six objects resting in the middle of the massive treasury. A crown, a tiara, a sword, a pair of rings, a necklace and finally, a pair of bracelets. Althea picked up the tiara, sure she would have to make several runs.

But of course, the tiara had a tail. A bunch of strings of…was that amber? How did they make a jewel into-actually, she knew how. Magic. The tiara was amber and emerald too. Althea put down Pulsie, looking at the plant.

"Are you ok with staying here a few minutes?" she asked.

The plant's leaves turned towards her slowly. "Oh, sure. I will just gaze at the sparkly stuff while you carry them around."

Althea wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic. In the end, she decided that he was being serious. And she was running out of time. The vault would be here in a week, but she just had the evening to choose and learn her art.

Althea picked up the pillow under the tiara, taking the strands in her other hand. And then she charged at the closed double doors. The doors opened with far too much resistance. But now she was looking at the even bigger pair of doors. Well, there went acting ladylike. Althea charged through the second pair of doors, wincing as her shoulder hit the doors.

The barrier crackled as she passed, earning a glare from her. The maids were ready to receive the tiara, probably knowing about it already.

Althea looked at the white vault doors that had banged shut with irritation. Well, they better have a healer on hand.

As it turned out, she did not need a healer. Just a salve to heal her bruises. Thankfully, the other bruises she could carry on one hand.

"Well, I think shoulderless dresses are out of the option." Mira had joked, much to the Steward's displeasure. In the end, she returned for the manual only after lunch, Pulse in hand.

Pushing the doors open, she walked straight into the Manual hall, walking into shelves on shelves of books. For a second she thought they were all manuals and nearly had a heart attack. But that just wasn't possible…right? Even if the family was old, there were too many manuals.

"I only sense the manual mana in a few of these books." Pulsie said. "What are those words?"

Althea rushed to the slab of stone Pulsie was pointing at. There were indeed words inscribed on it. Blowing the thin layer of dust, she read it. A list of names, from one to twenty-seven. The first was 'A manual for lesser druids.'

Althea would have tried to figure out more if not for Pulsie cracking at the glass beside her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Can you remove this thing?" he said. Althea complied, trying to lift the glass, but finding it stuck.

"Try-" Pulsie began speaking, but Althea had already acted. A little wisp of mana blew against the glass, unlocking it. Come on, a locked manual in a manual hall? The storybooks said it was mana.

The manual in question was quite curious indeed. The first page had several parts of it burnt, charred holes where there should be words. But that wasn't right. A manual would self-heal unless magical fire destroyed it- her thoughts were interrupted by a little leaf touching her neck.

Althea looked to find it connected to a quivering plant that was holding the leaf like a weapon.

"D-don't move. I have an earring in there, and I am willing to use it." Pulsie stammered. Althea took a step back, earrings weren't that dangerous, but they could still make her lose her voice. If the super intelligent plant in front of her didn't chip anything else.

"D-do you know h-how I found out about you?" he asked. Althea did not answer, it was a rhetorical question. And she might have stepped out of leaf range, but the plant looked a bit crazy.

"Althea, she…she was kind, and helpful and friendly and my best friend." Pulsie said, phrasing the last part more as an accusation.

"But she wasn't very bright." he continued, growing in confidence. "Oh, she wasn't a fool, but she wasn't overly smart. And she wasn't a leader. No, she was quiet, and reserved, not confident and charismatic. But you, you have a presence. A presence that she didn't have."

Althea opened her mouth to reply, but Pulsie cut her off.

"Don't give me that 'things have changed shit.' " Pulsie shouted. "Just because you got a fancy new title doesn't change you. Althea was my only friend. A bit clumsy, not very smart and far too obsessed with her useless books and etiquette, but she was my friend!"

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Pulsie's shout reverberated through the Manual hall. Althea let him talk, talking now wouldn't work too well.

"I don't care if you think you're a better choice, if you think Althea would have ruined the county. I don't care how you fooled the spell, you aren't getting away. The Observation chamber is a mana hole, but it has a lot of mana." The plant began to glow a light green.

"And I can use it to end you. I will take this legacy with me, but at least you won't get it. Leo will just have to make do without it."

"If you have any last words, then you better say them." the plant said.

Althea let out a breath, and began. "I didn't do anything to her, I just want you to know that."

The glow stopped getting brighter.

"How exactly did you take her place if you didn't do anything?" Pulsie scoffed.

Althea shrugged. "I don't know. I just woke up here the day before yesterday."

"So that was when you changed."

"I know you won't believe me, but I really didn't do anything." Althea took a step closer. The wise action would be to run. But she had a feeling she wouldn't get past the door if she did that. "

"I come from a different world, one without magic. I couldn't have done this even if I wanted to." she said, stepping closer.

"Do you know what my first thought on transmigrating here was?" she asked.

"That word, I don't know it." Pulsie noted, his voice telling her how little he believed her story.

"Transmigrating is finding oneself in another world, usually in another body, one day. There is an entire genre about it in my world." she replied. "Now back to the point. I found some things in this world…unlikable."

"So your world didn't have magic, but you knew about this one." Pulsie said, dryly.

Althea paused, he did have a point. "Well, I don't know about that. What I do know is that I read a book called The bloody prequel. A book about a maid named Emilia Harkins, who fell in love with a nobleman."

Pulsie withdrew his leaves, but did not stop glowing. "So, Althea was what, the villain?"

"In a manner of speaking. In my world, we call characters like her cannon-fodder. Althea was barely mentioned in the book except being the rich wife with no friends." Althea replied.

Pulsie scoffed, as if to remind her that the old ALthea did have friends.

"The story takes place three years later, when Emilia is eighteen. Just yesterday, she would have been forced to move-" Althea began, but was interrupted by Pulsie.

"I am not interested in this made-up future," he said. "Tell me, how did you know so much about her? Are you keeping her somewhere? What was your plan?"

Althea looked at him with surprise. And here she thought that he was interested in the story.

"I inherited her memories. And more." she replied.

Pulsie's leaves bristled. "Do you have a point? I don't see any reason to keep you alive."

But even though the plant was threatening her, the glow hadn't increased in a while.

"I don't know what happened to Althea, or why I am here." she said, stepping closer until she was next to the plant. "But I know that at least a part of her merged with me. I was just an orphan in my last life, I couldn't pull off my actions without Althea merging with me."

"And I am just supposed to believe you." Pulsie replied. Althea just had to believe that he was cracking at this point.

"I don't know how to prove that I am speaking the truth. I don't know of any truth potions or spells. But I do know that her memories weren't the only thing I inherited. Althea cared for you, and the more I live here, the more I care about you. Just like she was your only friend, you were hers."

Pulsie’s glow faded as he let his leaves fall.

"I will let you live for now." he said, and then grudgingly continued. "There is a way to tell if you're telling the truth."

Althea raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"The familiar bond, it is intimate magic. Two bonded familiars cannot lie to each other. If I do ever lie to you, you will know."

Two bonded familiars. Wait, it couldn't be.

"Pulsie, am I your familiar?"

"Yes, you are my little human familiar." the plant said seriously

How interesting.

The two familiars stared at each other, unsure how to move forward.

"Do you want to…read the manual?" Althea asked in the end, pointing at the burnt book.

"Yes, please." Pulsie replied, and Althea moved him to face the book.

"Where is your face? Can you see the book?" she asked.

"I am a plant." Pulsie said as if it explained something she was missing. "I can see from any part of my body."

Althea wondered why he didn't just read books himself if he could move his leaves and see from any part of his body. But she kept the question to herself. The conversation was too delicate for now. Pulsie was still threatening to kill her just minutes ago.

"The-" she read the title, the rest of it burnt away.

"Well, that is certainly a complete title." Pulsie joked.

Althea gave a light scoff at that. Ok, a bit too early to joke.

"Aren't cultivation manuals self-healing?" she asked, mostly rhetorically.

"Yes, they are." Pulsie said. "And I think, so is this one. Look at the edges of the burn."

Althea did, but she did not notice anything out of the ordinary. Just a burn.

"No, look closely." Pulsie said, helpfully.

"I am." Althea replied, a bit irritated.

"Well, the edges are healing. Just very, very slowly." he replied. Althea raised an eyebrow at that.

"The fire must have been something, the manual will probably take decades if not more to heal at this pace." Pulsie said.

Althea nodded, and then moved on to actually reading the manual.

"The manual has some requirements. If you meet them, turn the page, you will be unable to if you don't."

"Perhaps this explains why only the first page is burnt." Pulsie said.

"To access the contents?" Althea asked.

"Or because the other pages have additional protections. A lot of manuals have protective spells to, well, protect them." Pulsie said.

Althea shrugged, Pulsie had the better explanation. But she still liked hers.

"The elements of fire, earth, air, water and" Althea read, stopping at the burnt place where the fifth element was to be.

"A magical plant as familiar." she looked at Pulsie.

"I am not magical." the plant said. Althea raised her eyebrow. "Was it someone else threatening to blow us up?"

"Well, that was…conditional." he replied. Althea just shrugged and read on.

"A class related to nature and magic." Well, she had that one. And that was it.

"Pulsie, is there any danger in attempting to activate a manual even if you don't have the requirement?." Althea asked, but she knew the answer as soon as she asked.

"Not usually." she answered with Pulsie.

And then she turned the page.