In the end Meiris found nothing about the crystal in her chest, despite doing a quick second check. Though that was perhaps because she failed to consider the right place to look for it...

'Suppose I knew this was coming, but to have no idea what I am and be unable to protect myself? That's almost funny...

'No.'

She shook her head-

'I got a second chance. It only makes sense things won't be easy.'

Following the time she spent in the cell, she would often answer her thoughts with a "no". A habit she acquired through repeating and analyzing her memories to understand what led to her misfortune...

But she never found any answers.

----------------------------------------

With the artifacts covered, all Meiris had to focus on was practicing her magic and thinking of the way out.

Though it's not like she had much to consider in terms of the latter. The layout of the palace was quite straightforward. There were places where she was likely to find less guards or servants and those that she remembered having more trees or buildings to hide behind...

The part she was stuck at were the gates.

It would have been far easier if she knew whether supply carts were searched on their way out as they were the most reliable option she could think of.

At first she didn't even think of the issue, but having realized that she was stealing valuable items from the inside herself- It became quite apparent.

'I can hardly imagine no poor servant would ever want to try such a thing... Then again, the palace wouldn't notice a single jewel missing, would they?

'Still... It does sound naive.'

sigh

Having nothing better in mind, Meiris stood up to take a stroll around the room.

The nap she just took was far more pleasant than yesterday's. Even though she noticed that she now lacked the feeling of cold or warmth, the floor wasn't nearly as comfortable as a pillow. Luckily there was one large enough to fit her.

It was clearly intended to have a weapon resting on top, not Meiris, but it was nowhere to be found. Perhaps for the better. Such a large artifact had to be extremely heavy.

Now that she thought about this... It wouldn't have hurt if she tried to pick up a sword.

Yes, she now only felt weaker than when she was human- When she could only train with a wooden replica, but she was curious nonetheless.

There was a short sword in an alley near where she slept that looked like it was light. Its blade had a sky-blue core, surrounded by a sharp, silvery edge.

Meiris gripped its handle and barely removed the weapon from its rack, before its weight overwhelmed her. She fell and the blade struck her shoulder.

"Aghhh-"

A sharp exhale escaped her lips as the pain spread through her body. It wasn't helped by the sword coming to a stop on top of her stomach.

After a moment she turned her head to the left, expecting blood, but saw nothing of the kind. The cloak had slipped far enough to avoid the hit, while her body and clothes... Nothing happened to them.

Luckily the sword wasn't imbued, otherwise that wouldn't have been the case.

'I suppose even pain is now all wrong...'

Her breathing had already calmed down.

'But was it the necklace?'

Remembering what the plaque said, she took out her most recent possession. Yet, she didn't feel as if there was any connection...

A vague idea formed in Meiris' mind, though what just happened mustn't have been because of the necklace if she wanted to do this. Reliance on an artifact she didn't understand was too risky for it.

She carefully lifted the sword off her body with both hands and placed it on the floor. Then, she put the necklace around 10 meters away and returned.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

At first she tried to slice her finger. Next she punched the sharp edge - it hurt, but that was all.

Slowly she grew convinced. Convinced that she would survive jumping off the wall.

It was a dangerously rash conclusion, Meiris knew that, but not exactly an unfounded one. She had the ability to pass through physical objects and even if she felt the pain- She seemingly couldn't get hurt by them. Not through any of the experiments she did in the treasury.

"Huuu..."

She exhaled after jumping off the highest point she could find- A window sill.

'Lovely.'

The pain was definitely an issue, but it passed quickly.

'So I am going to check the carts, otherwise this is probably the best alternative I can hope for...'

Clutching her knees, Meiris looked at the window she just jumped from-

Her chances weren't the greatest. She had no experience at being stealthy, no deeper insight into the guarding procedures of the palace... Or anything, really. The situation itself overwhelmed her...

But at least she now had a backup plan if the carts were off-limits.

----------------------------------------

Four days have passed and no one entered the treasury.

Meiris could always alert the guards so that they would open the door. However, she expected it would be far harder to sneak by them if she did.

Of course she wouldn't yell or anything like that, but a fallen weapon could still raise enough suspicion. It couldn't be blamed on the non-existent wind after all.

Which is why she kept waiting.

She played around with her flames, finally able to throw them. Though the most basic fireball was still beyond her reach - one of the two remaining spells she knew, but still couldn't cast.

Four magic circles weren't a lot, which is how many Meiris knew in total, but it was a decent achievement if one considered how little training she had had.

Yet... No training could compensate for her low mana potential now...

But the time to worry about such things would come later. For the time being, she was practicing wrist flicks.

The most common way to learn magic was through the use of magic circles - a language developed to appeal to the subconsciousness. However, a conscious recollection took a lot of time and was realistically impossible in the heat of battle.

The solution to this issue was a mental trigger, such as a combination of a gesture, intent, sound or something else. In Meiris' case, she would imagine the spell and flick her wrist, simultaneously bending her fingers to ensure she cast the correct one.

Even experienced mages would find using pure imagination unreliable, if no longer unrealistic.

The first magic circle that Meiris has ever learned created pure flame, a rare instance of a maintainable spell that could easily have its mana flow altered.

Once it was floating above her hand, she straightened her index finger and - moving only the wrist - pointed upwards, at the ceiling. In response, the flame accelerated in the blink of an eye and struck the stone brick wall of the treasury.

It was another simple spell with rare characteristics, one of which was the ability to append it to a selection of other magic circles to apply movement.

The target wasn't particularly entertaining in Meiris' eyes, unlike the artifacts with the kingdom's symbols...

But such a petty revenge wasn't worth the trouble that might follow.

Bored of it, Meiris focused on something she thought of a few hours earlier. What was the reason she wore her "regular" clothes, if she died in a ragged mess that could hardly qualify as clothing? Was it because that was the strongest memory she had of herself?

After a while she confirmed her suspicion. She managed to change the color of her clothes to black and the short heels into boots.

Next she attempted to turn her crimson eyes back to their original sapphire-like color. Yet, no matter what she tried, all that followed was a headache. Similarly when she tried to change the shape of her face or hair color.

None the less, she could wear any disguise with little effort. Except-

'It would have been laughably easy if ghosts were either fully see-through or not at all...

'Ah, I can't be this picky, can I? Be it God, or the Artificer's doing- I am grateful. Even if I'm about to die again...

'No.'

Meiris shook her head firmly and sat on top of a cabinet.

'I'm getting out of here...

'Thery, you may have been unable to do anything then, but the fact that you tried is helping me look forward now.'

When Meiris was charged with using widely forbidden mind-controlling magic for her personal gain - resulting in a count's death - there was no one who would stand on her side. No one but her mathematics professor.

However, every doubt he could offer was quickly covered by a bribed witness or an over the top explanation. At the very least his scientific standing saved him from any meaningful backlash, though he did earn a few scowls.

sigh

'Elean would scold me for sighing so much. I suppose she didn't abandon me either... Just... I wish she had done more, even if I know it would cost her dearly...

'Fuck. How could it all have been so simple before?'

Meiris looked up and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

A maid wouldn't save her. The effort would have been even more futile than her professor's.

That is not to say nobody around her had the means to do it. Rather, Meiris had been unlucky to meet people who were either easily swayed, or hadn't enough interest to pay the price of defending her.

That price would be a sour taste if the attempt ended in failure, but a victory would - besides being difficult - pose serious and uncertain implications. Those could also benefit certain factions, but there was no guarantee of success when fighting some of the influential noble families standing against Meiris. Including her own.

Ultimately no one with enough power cared about nor believed Meiris enough to try and prove her innocence.

'No matter, that is no longer my life. I'm free now.'

She looked around-

'Almost...'

sigh

'I really should stop.'

----------------------------------------

tap tap

The sound of footsteps reached Meiris' ear.

It always happened five times a day when the guard shift changed. Thrice throughout the day and twice at night.

Lying on a cabinet by the door, she raised her head to look towards nearby alleys in the treasury.

'Wait...'

Without a clock to track the time, Meiris had to get creative and use the light coming in through the windows. This didn't really work at night, but the day was more important anyway.

And now she had to check twice, because after six days of employing the system - she got the idea on the third day - it was the first time her markers weren't lit up when she heard footsteps.