“Lord Demon?” That was the first thing I said when I woke up. Yesterday was too unreal. When I slept, I didn’t have a single dream. It made me wonder if the whole thing happened while I was asleep.

It was silly, but good things didn’t happen to me outside of dreams.

I chuckled. “Gideon?”

“Host.”

“I just wanted to make sure you were there.” There wasn’t a reason for calling him, or was the system an ‘it’?

The response was dry, and even when said in that cold, lifeless voice, I heard the censure.

Was it alive? I wondered. There were things it said that sounded automatic, like a pre-prepared speech, but at other times, it was like talking to another human.

I didn’t know why I just didn’t ask.

I’d wanted to explore the system more, but as I was about to check on the storage, quest, and other tabs, Cathrine came in. She was due to show up at any moment now.

Flopping on the bed with my arms spread and the smell of mildew tickling my nose, I organized what I needed to do.

1. Figure out a way to stop my Mana…, Qi from dispersing.

I should call it Qi from now on.

It was impossible to depend on others. More and more, I was experiencing and understanding the nuances of others' actions after living my life as a straightforward/dumb person. They could calculate against me and use me as a piece in their game because I was too weak.

I would try the apothecary, but I feared they would report it to the Duke. In the Duchy, I was the only one who saw that family coming and thought they were the plague. The people respected the Duke’s Family for being generous and fair, which was hard to find in nobles.

I lifted a hand to my face. I’d been eager to use the Remedy Pill but didn’t. There were still eyes watching me, and I needed to show some outward improvement in my health before I took the pill. It would be obvious if I went from gaunt with bruises all over to healthy.

The burns on my face healed, and there was a noticeable lightening of the bruise on my cheek. I knew the potion the Duchess gave me had nothing to do with healing, which meant she must have mixed something in with the tea she threw at me.

It was a clever little trick. Without the system, I would have seen the burn heal and not suspected a thing, only cursing the Duchess for not giving me a better potion when all my injuries didn’t heal.

1. Find out why they switched my marriage candidate.

If I could figure it out, I would be better able to stop it from happening. There was little chance of me cultivating to a level where I could defeat the Duke, all the mages, and the soldiers living in the Duchy.

1. Find out what Viscountess Rintour is up to.

I expected her to get rid of her lover and the maid who knew, but I didn’t expect her to convince the Duchess to send me to magic classes. I didn’t know her and couldn’t guess her motives. It seemed like she was helping me, but I hesitated to think that.

1. Find out what Madeline wants and if she is working for someone.

The easiest way to do that was through Catherine. She was fourteen and talented since she had at least one magic circle formed, but she was still a child. I felt nothing at the thought of threatening her. I would still need to figure out the nuances of the plan after observing her for a while.

1. Develop a respectful but distant relationship with Baron Smolt.

2. Avoid the Crown Prince.

3. Find out why they gave me Qi dispersing potion, why my mother sold me, and what the Duke planned.

It was the least important thing on the list, but the most important to me. I wanted a reason for the life I’d lived. Hating the Duke and my mother was easy, but I needed to stop. My anger was the same as drinking poison and expecting others to die. Time and time again, I was the one to get hurt.

Apart from being the least important, it was also the hardest to investigate.

Who was I kidding; most items on this list bordered on impossible.

The door burst open, and Catherine came storming in. I turned my head to look at her, wondering what made her so angry this morning.

“Miss, can you believe it?”

I blinked, waiting for her to continue, but she stared at me with owlish eyes. “Helga,” she said, stomping her foot.

That was a name I hadn’t heard in a while. The thought made me chuckle. It was only a few days, but it seemed longer. “That doesn’t tell me anything. Didn’t Madeline say she would take care of it?”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Don’t bring my aunt into the. If it wasn’t for that shameless creature.” Catherine stamped her foot. It was the first time I saw her act like a young girl. “Can you believe it? That nasty thing tricked Young Master Bastian.”

Oh, wow. Was the answer that simple? It happened the same way. Helga allowed Madeline to place Catherine at my side, and then Helga started having a relationship with my brother. Either Madeline was more capable than I thought, Helga more alluring than a blood-sucking leech, or Bastian planned this.

I knew little about my eldest brother. The first and last time we met was at my wedding, and even then, we only saw each other from across the room. Bastian was said to be capable, sufficiently powerful, and well-liked by his peers. His only fault was being lusty, a trait most noblemen share.

“Is he someone that Helga can trick?”

Catherine screeched, her eyes turning red. “What else could it be?”

“She’s not the first maid he’d taken to his bed. I doubt she will be the last.”

She marched towards me, and I felt the urge to back away. “Don’t talk about him that way.” Her eyes burned, and I was sure Catherine would attack me if I continued.

I held up my hand in surrender, amused by the display of young love and obsession playing out in front of me. Catherine was an odd creature. A doll whose parts were exquisite, but when the doll-maker started putting her together, they noticed the pieces didn’t fit but continued anyway.

Or the doll-maker knew and did it on purpose. A defective product could be useful. Look at me.

“Would you like me to ask him for you?” I asked.

Her head whipped around. There was a blush on her cheeks, and her chest heaved. “Could you?”

It was supposed to be a joke, but the idea had merit. I was in a passive position, stuck reacting to the things happening to me. There wasn’t too much danger in taking a few calculated risks. “When would I get the chance to meet with him? I guess it may be interesting to talk to him. If I could, I would arrange a meeting.” I couldn’t approach Bastian myself. I looked at Catherine and smiled. My eyes only briefly glanced at the door.

“That must be so nice,” she said, her voice wistful as she helped me get dressed.

I didn’t answer. If Madeline worked for Bastian, the message would get back to him. If she worked for more than one person…, well, so be it.

I needed to act more recklessly and take the initiative. I was constantly in the passive position.

There was a familiar clang as Madeline came into the room. I looked at the chatelaine hanging at her waist. It carried a wand, scissors, a notepad, magnifying glass, and a quill, everything a capable Head Maid needed. Funny how it didn’t make a sound until she entered a room.

I put the matter to the back of my mind. It was best to behave as usual, since I was only testing the waters. “Good Morning, Madeline.”

Madeline was carrying a tray of food. “Good Morning, Young Lady.” She looked at me before shaking her head. “Catherine, you will need to help the Young Lady change. That dress isn’t suitable to wear to town.” She moved to the cupboard and pulled out a mud-brown dress.

Her words should make me happy, but they reminded me how worn out I was. I lived every day on edge, trying to figure out what the surrounding people were thinking.

Even though it was short notice, there was no way I could not go. I had several things to do on this trip, as it might be the last time I get to leave the castle.

“Who will accompany me?”

“Typhon, his son Zagan, and Catherine.”

I looked at the dress Catherine was putting on me, my hair bundled up and hidden beneath a scarf.

“You won’t be using your identity when you leave the castle. It is for your safety and to allow you to walk unhindered.”

“I didn’t have an identity to begin with.”

Madeline paused. She knew what I was talking about. Princess Selena. Princess Tracy. Jal or Young Miss and Young Lady to those who wanted something.

“Will I get to meet Typhon and Zagan before we leave?”

Madeline shook her head. “Catherine, be a dear and go change your dress.”

Catherine bobbed her head and happily smiled before rushing out of the room.

“Such a kind child,” she said, cold eyes looking at me. The kind persona was gone.

I blinked at her, not prepared for the change in demeanor. “You're not kind at all.”

“You might be of some use to, Bastien.”

It shocked me that Madeline used his first name. It wasn’t something servants did, even if given permission. “I’m of no use to anyone but myself.” Catherine’s value dropped lower on my mental abacus. While I could threaten her with physical violence, or Madeline, she wouldn’t know anything important. I might do it anyway, just to practice.

“I didn't think you could do that much, but he insisted on watching you to see if you were worth recruiting or using.”

I reached for my jewelry box as she stood to the side, watching me. I chose the finer pieces and put them in my bag to sell.

Selena was a threat to Bastian. The Duchess gave me a clue yesterday, her bitter words about families favoring sons to inherit. That didn’t apply to Selena because she had overwhelming magical talent.

Was that talent enough to abandon the Royal Family?

Something eluded me, the last piece of the puzzle. There was something that made the Duke and Duchess so confident in Selena that they risked everything for her.

Was it a prophecy?

Or divination?

They might know about the civil war or the Holy Nation operating in the dark.

“Is it fun stealing from children?” I asked.

Madeline instantly knew what I was talking about. “Amusing enough. I was taking back what should have been mine.”

“I’m taking it you are the older sister of Cathrine’s father?”

“The oldest unfavored daughter of the first wife. Very similar to Bastian.”

My head whipped around, jaw slack. Bastian wasn’t the Duchess’s child?

Madeline watched, a smile on her lips. “You’re better and worse than you were in the past. At least you’re a little smarter.”

“Worse?” I asked. My mind focused on the word ‘past’. Fear gripped my heart as I wondered if she’d noticed something.