After the duke left I desperately scrambled after him, confused, scared.

“Welcome back to the duke's estate mistress Alice” the maids chanted.

The maids working here had come to collect me, after their greeting they silently gestured for me to follow. I walked on after them, taking in the elegant garden. All one could see for miles around were neatly trimmed hedges and stunning fountains, the water crystalline. I felt an urge to walk over and touch it, but I refrained, afraid of being chastised. This place was just so different to the filthy residence of commoners like me.

In my time living with my mother, my new but old mother. I had been constantly told to keep to myself, to not get in the way. That helped me realize that in this world, everyone must wear a mask, they must act as is most appropriate for the situation, or they will be swallowed by those playing this wretched game.

I continued to follow the maids to my chambers, to the chambers of a girl called Alice. That was the mask I would now wear, or I fear I will be disposed of. I glanced up, seeing the maid in front of me stop.

“We have arrived.” She stated.

The doors to my bedroom had been opened, I could see a huge four poster bed at the back of the room. Otherwise, the room contained only shelves upon shelves of books and a small armchair. I proceeded to walk into the room, spotting a stairway leading to the second story as I did so.

To the right of the door there was a towering staircase, it was wooden and looked fancy, the dark oak wood standing out against the pale white walls and light-brown wooden shelves. The railing of the staircase was composed of many patterns, each one seamlessly linking up with the next. Trying not to gasp, I casually sat down in an armchair.

Remember Aretta, I mean, Alice. Your name is Alice, you are a noble. These are normal furnishings for a noble.

Still sitting, I wondered. What do nobles do in their free time? After this thought, I realized.

Am I stupid now or something?

I was in a room surrounded by books! What else would a noble do with books? Eagerly grabbing a novel off the shelves, I began to read, while uncomfortably aware of the maids and guards watching me.

Wait, guards? Why do I have guards?

Momentarily distracted by the new arrivals I looked up from my romance novel. One guard, taking this as a cue to introduce himself said, “It is a pleasure to serve you my lady, I have been recently hired by Duke Lambourg, your father, to guard you, My name is Samuel”. I continued to stare at him, not shocked by anything he had said, but wondering. Why did I need guards? The second guard, interpreting my stare as a prompt for him to speak, began to introduce himself as well.

“It is a pleasure to serve you my lady. I shall also serve you under the command of Duke Lambourg, my name is Alestair Constark.”

After realizing that I was acting in a very un-Alice-like fashion, I quickly waved my hand dismissing them.

Is that a noble thing to do? I hope so.

The guards seemed to accept my gesture and took their posts. One, stationed himself behind me, while the other went to guard the door from the outside. Pretending to read, even though I had lost all interest in the book by the time they had finished introducing themselves, I began to think.

So one of my guards is a noble, and the other a commoner, okay. I wonder if there is much of a power difference between them?

Putting my current thoughts aside, I began to go over what I knew from the novel. In the book, Alice was said to have been abandoned in a church by her mother, her father had never been in her life. Alice had grown up to be a pushover and an unusually small child for her age. After being proven to have all magical affinities at her baptism, Alice was engaged to a marquess’s son at the age of 8. Soon after the announcement, a girl called Catherine Shanler had organised to meet up with Alice for a tea party, before viciously stabbing her through the heart.

I must avoid the same fate. I know that it was me who was stabbed in the novel, not Alice, but the replacement Alice. I remember the heroine mentioning it before I put the book away.

After committing this misdeed a small army of people bounced out the bushes, cloaked in black, these people murdered everybody in Alice’s family. Not a single survivor was found. Although they were outnumbered by the guards of the ducal residence, they seemed to be extremely powerful mages so they won almost instantaneously. After this, the heroine, who was about fourteen at the time, appeared, claiming to have witnessed Alice's murder.

She pleaded her case to the king but to no avail, her young age just wouldn’t allow her to be taken seriously. This ultimately led to the heroine and Alice’s fiance working together to find evidence and solve the mystery a few years later when a similar act occurred. It was discovered that this new murder was connected to Alice’s and they began to uncover just how deep this mysterious act had been buried. Solving the crimes that they had discovered, they slowly worked towards finding out exactly what had happened to Alice.

I got bored towards the end, so I don’t know how things went. Oh how I wish I had finished that book.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

When I finished thinking I looked up, only to see my maids looking at me with worried expressions visible on their faces.

“Are you alright Mistress Alice? I would be happy to call a doctor if you need.”

Confused, I looked at the maid. Why would she think I was sick?

Wait, am I acting too differently from how Alice would act? I guess that I haven’t turned a single page in my book.

I began to panic, “No, no I’m perfectly alright, just tired. Yes, I'm just tired, don’t worry”. This only attracted more weird looks, this time from my guard as well. I just looked down at my book, shut it and walked over to my bed.

I really need to learn how to act, whenever I get flustered I end up acting strangely. Maybe a book would have some tips? Besides, I know that Alice was a pushover, but that wouldn’t allow her to survive as a noble, maybe I should act timid but not like a doormat? That wouldn’t be too out of character for her. I need more information.

My mind wandered back to earlier, when I was examining the staircase from my chair, I had wanted to go up, but was unable to find a plausible explanation for a random visit up the stairs, so I had held back. While this was happening my eye had fallen onto an unusual book by her bed. Perhaps a book Alice had enjoyed?

Standing by my new bed, I grabbed the book from the bedside table. It was strange, there was no title on it. I opened the book, only to see handwritten passages written within. Was this a diary?

Should I really be reading somebody else’s diary? I guess it is eat or be eaten in this world. I have no choice. Besides, it should help me realize how to act as her, it will give me an idea of her personality.

And with that, I began to read.

***

Monday, the 1st of August

Today I woke up and my maids dressed me as usual. But today, my favourite maid is missing, I wonder what happened to her? This has happened so many times, I should stop getting attached. When I went outside my room for breakfast I almost ran into my father. His gaze scares me. He always speaks so formally, I mean, I’m his daughter, am I not? He should act with some kindness. Otherwise I find myself unable to face him. Whenever he does look at me, I feel a shiver creep up my spine and other times, it’s as though his gaze goes straight through me. As though I’m not even there.

Wednesday, the 3rd of August

I’m soooo bored, everyday is the same. I wake up, get ready, have breakfast, study, have lunch, study, have dinner, read, go to sleep and then repeat! I only get a few hours each day to do what I want! The only time that I can read is after dinner, and even then I can’t read what I want. I’ve been told not to read that ‘trash’ as he calls my romance novels, and whenever a trader stops by the estate, my father will interrupt them before they can offer me their books! His excuse: ‘That filth is unsuitable for a member of the duke’s family. I DON’T EVEN WANT TO BE IN THIS FAMILY!!! It’s like I'm suffocating. Sorry for not writing yesterday, my father made me meet up with the marquess’s prince again, he keeps pushing us to play together.

Thursday, the 4th of August

Nothing new has happened today, I just want the 31st to come already, then I'll finally be able to use magic! I can imagine all the possibilities, I could probably even be allowed to leave the mansion other than when visiting the marquess’s son! I’m almost 7, soon I’ll be baptised. My father said that when I’m 7, I’ll have to study even harder! But I don’t mind, because I don’t think that studying more is even possible, I mean, I already learn for 8 hours a day. The rest of my time is spent reading, sleeping, or eating. Speaking of which, would you believe that I’m forced to take almost an hour to eat a single meal! I mean it’s preposterous (that’s a word I learned in my lessons today), they say that it’s ‘ladylike’ to eat in tiny bites. How am I even expected to eat like that?

Friday, the 5th of August

Tonight, father ordered the chef’s to make a huge meal for dinner, with all my favourites included. There was chicken and tomato soup. Father barely ever lets the chef’s cook these meals, I don’t think that he likes them. Then, for dessert we ate a tart but filled with apples! They were so sweet but fresh! Usually we only eat super sugary desserts as signs of our ‘wealth’. I wonder why my father is being so nice today. He usually doesn’t care what I want, it’s like he doesn’t even care who I am, as long as I act like a ‘proper’ noble lady. Sometimes I feel like I could easily be replaced by anybody else. I try to act good, I don’t complain when forced to study, but other times, I just can’t sit back and take it. Sometimes I act badly, and my father looks at me as though I’m worthless. It scares me.

Saturday, the 6th of August

Today father sent me a message through a maid, we’ll be going somewhere! I’m excited, I’ve never been outside the estate other than when we visit the marquess and his son. I wonder where we’ll be going. I was told that it was a ‘surprise’ but I really want to know. I pestered my maids, trying to get them to tell me. They all said they didn’t know, but one started to look really uncomfortable, it was my newest maid, she then started apologising. Why? I stopped asking because it seemed like it made her sad. I wonder what’s going on, I heard from another maid that something was wrong with her son a while ago. Maybe that’s it? I’ll try to find out later, once she calms down. I’ll tell you what happens tomorrow!

***

I closed the book with a sigh, placing it back onto the desk and collapsing onto the bed. I had opened it somewhere around the end, most of the entries being the same. But the last writing, on the 6th of August, had been her last, and now, here I was, likely to succumb to the same fate if I’m not careful.

Something had happened to Alice, something to do with the duke. I think that I may know what fate she had met, but I’d prefer not to say.

What does this mean?

This simple question popped up in my mind. What does this mean? It means that I must be the perfect daughter from now on. I must learn to act in a manner befitting of the duke’s daughter. Even if I’m not.

I picked up her diary, and while I felt sorry for using it like this, I had no notebook to write in, and I certainly didn’t feel comfortable asking for one.

Picking up the book once again, I walked over to the stairs and stepped up, my guard trailing behind me. To my delight, there was a table and a quill, as well as an ink pot sitting beside the quill. It was as though everything had been prepared especially for me.

While in my past life, I was quite the pushover, but this time, I would not allow myself to die again. Not like this atleast. Just as those reincarnates say in books, I shall live to have no regrets. I sat down, and placed the diary on the hard wooden desk. Dipping my quill in ink, I smiled, this definitely felt like something out of a book. I allowed some ink to drip off the feather, not wanting it to drip onto the parchment. Once I was satisfied, I began to write.

***

1. Learn to act (read books on it). I need to know how to act so that my emotions aren’t written on my face for all to see. I also need to appear like the perfect noble girl, or I might be disposed of. I can’t openly practice as I’m always being watched. Even now my guard is standing behind me, I’m lucky that he doesn’t seem to have an interest in what I’m writing, he might see me writing in some weird language and think that I’m summoning demons or something.. I’m sure there must be something in this library-like room with a book on acting, judging by her journal entries, Alice seemed to be quite the actor at times.

2. Make connections (I don’t know when, but once I escape, I’ll need to be self-sufficient). I need to be able to socialize, this will help me gain friends, allies, and business partners. I can make opportunities with my modern knowledge. I only need the connections to make that happen. I doubt that the duke would allow me out of the estate so easily, so this will probably come later. I’ll probably need manners for this so I’m kind of thankful for my new tutors. Once I leave this estate, I’ll go to a new orphanage, I’m too young to be taken seriously. There I will try and survive until I'm old enough to forge these connections. This aim is more to learn manners at the moment rather than making connections right now.

3. Learn Basic Knowledge (Do my best to read as many of the books in this room as I can over the next 23 days). Any genre should do, I just need a basic understanding of this world's norms and rules. I can learn a lot from even just this world romance novels, however boring they may be, they contain appropriate and probably acceptable actions that I can use as a base for my etiquette classes. I should be able to learn things like history, law, and geography through my tutors. Mathematics, economics and management are probably the same as on Earth, if not less advanced.