I wake up curled up with Blizzie on Alias's rug. It is rather soft I must say.

"New record. I did not know that you would be able to make it so long. A week is a marvelously long time! Or close to a week. Does time really matter? You made it more than a day!" Alias says cheerfully. I don't feel cheerful.

"Where are we?" Blizzie asks.

"I died." I tell Blizzie. "I guess you come with me now since you are my familiar."

"Oh." Blizzie says and begins exploring the area that we are in. "Upset you died. I saved you." Blizzie says. I can hear that he is sulking.

"I know Blizzie. You were very brave. I'm sorry that I did what I did. I don't know if you will believe me but it is for the best."

"If Aria says so." he huffs, then walks over to me. "Blizzie trusts Aria."

I stay sitting on the rug and Blizzie crawls into my lap. I pet him and he begins to purr. I really am sorry that I did that in front of Blizzie. I just...

"I'm sorry Aria." Alias says and joins me sitting on the rug.

"You have a comfy bed and a comfy rug. Your room is nice. Do you maybe perhaps want a roommate?" I ask Alias.

"I'm sorry but not right now. I'm perfectly happy watching you from afar. Though I have to admit I might have been a little lonely not being able to see you face to face."

I am a little startled by his response but then I think about it. Alias said that he is the god of this world, not one of the gods. This makes him the only god overseeing this world. I can see how that would make things a little lonely.

"I'm sorry Alias. Should I die more often to come visit you?"

"It might be more helpful than hiding away in a shop working on a project." he tells me. I know that he is right. I suppose I just wanted to live quietly. Living quietly helps no one though.

"Alias I have been thinking. How am I supposed to change the world through romance?" I ask him. "And yes, I know that you are right. I won't lock myself away so much this time." I tell him.

"Very good. And I have actually been thinking about that question a lot. I wonder if something that might help is changing others perception of you."

"What do you mean?" I ask Alias.

"What do you mean?" Blizzie echoes. I don't know if he knows what we are talking about, but I love that he wants to be a part of the conversation.

"What I mean is don't look for love right now. Instead, I want you to go through the routes of the OG male leads."

"Umm. why?" I ask him. How is that a good idea.

"Because you can unlock them in a way. I have been working on your status screens and I found something out when looking over your relationships." Alias tells me.

"Care to let me in on your findings?" I ask him.

"Do you see how Blizzie no longer has any bars above his head?"

"Isn't that because he is my familiar?" I ask Alias.

"Yes. But in order for him to be able to become your familiar you had to increase his friendship to the max."

"That's true, but I am not sure what you are getting at." I tell him.

"Okay, think status screen in your head." he tells me. I follow his instructions and I see a large screen pop up.

"Don't worry. When you decide to look this over time will freeze." he tells me.

"Isn't that a good way to get out of dying? Just leave the screen up and leave the area?"

"That would be nice if it worked. I do not recommend it. That will cause everyone to try to murder you."

"Oh." I say quietly, then turn my attention on the screen in front of me.

I see different areas:

RELATIONSHIPS

"Go ahead and click on relationships." I do so.

RELATIONSHIPS

Sir Blizzard

Irick Glassel

Jeofry Finius Duckson

Heinrick Smithers

Jason Elgrove

Iris Ebony

Aiden Grayling

Bennett Glassel

Poppy Pinery

Bobby Brown

Jasper Stone

Taylor Morrison

Andrew Elison

Samuel Redding

Alexander Ludus

"Click on one of the names." he tells me. I obey.

Irick Glassel

Friendship: 0/100

Suspicion: 10/100

Romance: 5/100

Relationship with Others

Information Missing

"Wow." I say. I don't know how else to respond. I can pull these up any time and check in on how people see me. Also, relationships with others? Is that going to be important? I suppose it will help me in learning about how everyone is connected to one another.

"He is my brother. Why is he romanceable?" I ask Alias.

"Because. He doesn't see you as his sister. At all. See look." Alias says and draws my attention to the romance.

"I haven't interacted with him yet. Why is there a number there?" I ask, confused.

"Because. He hates Aria and is attracted to her, though just a little." Alias tells me. The thought hurts my stomach a little. Is this part of the reason that he hates Aria?

"Why is he already suspicious of me?" I ask him. "This is starting me at a disadvantage."

"He is always suspicious of Aria's intentions. Sorry that this is being carried over to you. Unfair, I know. You can look at all of these other relationship screens later, when I send you back." Alias tells me. "Look at the other sections."

Recipes

Unlocked Characters

"Obviously the recipes are what recipes you have learned. I told you that you would get to keep the ones you unlocked. See, I'm a pretty great god aren't I!" he says cheerfully.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"You really are. I can tell that you worked hard on this." I say, complimenting him. "What are the unlocked characters?" I ask him, pressing on it.

Unlocked Characters

Sir Blizzard

"This is what I learned by observing the benefits of maxing out Sir Blizzard', aside from him becoming your familiar. Unlocked characters are characters that you have helped become uncorrupted. They will keep all of their memories from all resets, as well as all previous memories. They can become staunch allies to you.

"Warning on the OG male leads. I know that none of them are the correct route. However, you need to uncorrupt them. While doing this do not let their romance bar go over 50 percent."

"Why? What happens?" I ask.

"It can't possibly be just as bad, if not worse, than if you fill up the suspicion gauge."

How is that even possible? Worse? What is worse than being murdered? I'm sure that this is a naive question, so I don't ask it out loud.

"How goes my Aria training?" I ask him.

"Still working on it."

"Did you set up for me to meet with the old Aria? Did you know that she is in my old body?"

"I had my suspicions that this was the case." he tells me. "I did not set that meeting up. Did you learn anything from her?"

"I think by talking to her I am more easily able to access her memories. Also, she went over the dances I will be doing at my birthday party." I tell him.

"That's tomorrow, isn't it."

"No." I tell him. "It isn't. I do not want to go back to my last checkpoint. Not even close. "Put me back to before I met Alex." I tell him. "I don't plan on pursuing him. If we meet again, it will be by chance alone."

"Are you sure about that? You will lose a lot of progress."

"I can't salvage that relationship." I tell him, a few tears building in my eyes. "I have to go back to before I met him, or I will just go back to working on that project with him. It's just not an option."

"Oh Aria." Alias says and pulls me into a hug. I allow myself to cry a little before pulling away.

"I don't know him. Why is he hugging you!" Blizzie says, fur raising a little. It seems he is a little more protective of me now.

"A friend. A good friend." I tell Blizzie.

"Oh." Blizzie says, pausing for a moment. "You may pet me."

Laughing Alias reaches over and pets Blizzie. "Thank you Blizzie. Your fur is magnificently soft."

"I am best cat."

"Aria, are you sure you want to go back that far? That puts you back to before your first conversation with Bobby."

"I am sure." I tell Alias. "I want to repurchase my sword and dagger after all."

"Goodluck." Alias tells us both before snapping his fingers and sending us back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I take a calming breath and try to remember everything that I had already done. I close my eyes a moment and do my best to recall. It seems my recollection is strong. Samuel's was the last shop I went into before going into Alex's shop.

I walk up to the smithy and put my hand against the cold metal of the door. I let the cold calm my nerves before pushing the door open.

"Hello, give me a moment!" I hear a voice shouting from somewhere deeper in the shop. What a familiar line.

"Hello." I tell him, and flash him a small smile.

"A... Aria what are you doing here?" Samuel asks, stuttering a bit.

"I came here for two reasons today actually." I tell him.

"Oh?" he says, seeming confused and curious.

"First and foremost, I would like a matching sword and dagger. I have come to the realization that I miss spending time with a blade."

"Oh! I'm honored that you came to my shop in order to buy one! What is the next reason?" he asks me.

"I wanted to make sure that you are coming to my birthday." I tell him. I almost said birthday party but that sounds so childish. Birthday ball may be closer I suppose.

"Why are you suddenly asking me this? Are you sure that you are okay with me coming?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you have spurned all of my advances. And why didn't you have the common decency to do it to my face. You went through Iris instead. Is it because I went through her first?" Is this how the conversation went last time? It seems familiar, but I also feel like some of his wording has changed.

"I hate to say it but I am utterly oblivious. If you were sending Iris to me to show me of your affections, I may not have understood." I tell him.

"How could you not have understood them? At different times I had her bring you chocolate, flowers and a poem!"

"Please don't think too poorly of me for saying this, but I have people send me a lot of gifts. Oftentimes those gifts aren't sent out of any form of goodwill. They don't want me to see them as favorable, but instead they want my father to think that they are favoring me, so that he will favor them."

"That sounds complicated." Samuel says, and it seems like he is seeing things from my point of view. "If that is your view on being given gifts, would it have changed if I had come in person?" he asks me.

"Actually, yes. I am usually rather remarkably good at reading people and their intentions. By sending Iris it muddied what your intentions were. I couldn't see the look in your eyes or hear your voice. I couldn't see your sincerity."

"Do you remember Iris bringing these to you? It was her idea for us to become a couple. I am sure that she would have said something convincing."

"Samuel, it has been a while since Iris, and I have had a real conversation. We aren't friends anymore; she is friends with Irick. I don't trust Irick, so it's possible that I wouldn't have trusted Iris. I am really sorry Samuel ." I tell him.

"It isn't like you to apologize." he tells me, and I see his suspicion bar rise.

"It isn't every day, or even every year, that someone sends me a real gift." I retort and see his suspicion bar empty.

"I knew you couldn't be as bad as everyone says you are." Samuel says. I almost want to respond sarcastically, but I don't.

"I feel each person should determine on their own the way they view another person." I say and shrug my shoulders. "Now then, are you going to help me find a sword and dagger set?" I ask him.

"Of course, I am!" he says. He goes on the same spiel he did the last time I bought a weapon from him, and he leads we to the same sword and dagger. I test the sword out the same way I did last time as well.

"I'll take them." I say. "And I plan on wearing them out." I add.

"Are you sure? It doesn't really go with your outfit."

"And why does that matter?" I ask him casually.

The answer is that it doesn't. Everyone is afraid to call me out. And maybe people will be less likely to randomly murder me if I begin to wear a sword. I wish I could wear pants like other princesses in light novels, web novels, web cartoons and video games do. Why does that have to go against Aria's known personality? Oh well, I'm going to change perceptions enough that it won't be a big deal if I wear pants at times.

"My sword!" Blizzie says happily.

"Do you mind helping me strap the dagger onto Blizzie? He is Sir Blizzard, my fuzzy little knight after all." I tell Samuel.

"Of course, he is!" Samuel exclaims. "Come here Sir Blizzard." Samuel says and Blizzie comes running up to him.

"Make me handsome!" Blizzie says.

"I love chatty cats." Samuel comments before strapping the dagger onto Blizzie. "There you are. Very handsome." he says. Blizzie struts a few steps.

"Thanks Samuel I appreciate it. Now then, let's discuss cost."

After I pay Samuel I make my way out of his shop. I feel good having a sword, but I should really practice how to use one. Before I find a place to go practice though, I want to check on how my conversation went.

I pull up my status screen and click on Samuel's name.

Samuel Redding

Friendship: 10/100

Suspicion: 0/100

Romance: 20/100

I suppose that this will go easier with people who already like me. I hope that I am correct about the people that like me. It will be devastating to think that someone likes me only to realize that I am wrong. Feeling no confidence, I close out the window and make my way back to the castle.

If I had continued to see the knights often, I would have gone to their training area. When everyone began to dislike me however, the knights stopped letting me come around, although it seemed they were sad to do it. I don't think that all of the knights hate me, I just think that they aren't able to support me either.

The only other place that I can think of training is the castle training grounds. There is an outdoor and an indoor training area. Irick mainly uses the outdoor one, unless it is too cold. It is a nice temperature today though, so it shouldn't be a problem. I am just going to drop by my room and change first. I suppose that I should also tell Poppy what I will be doing.

I enter the castle and then enter my room, not passing by another person. I do enter the castle through the doors that lead into my wing of the castle. A place they say that no one with even an ounce of sanity goes to.

"Poppy!" I say as I enter the room. "I have made a decision." I tell her.

"Oh?" she asks, dropping her book to the floor and starting at me intently.

"Oh, it's nothing that exciting."

"I'll be the judge of that thank you!" she says and stares at me more intently.

"I am going to go back to practicing the sword, most likely at night. Oh, and I plan on helping with preparations for my birthday this year. I think it is about time I take some part in it, especially since my husband may well be chosen for me this year."

"Well obviously on the first point. You always going back to practicing the sword at times of stress. And yay! You are finally listening to me on helping with the party preparations. Now if only you would listen to me and put in a good word about me to Irick."

"I don't talk to Irick. He hates me. I've told you this."

"A girl can dream. And he is rather dreamy." she says with a soft sigh, picking her book up off the floor.

"Sure, of course a girl can dream. Why you would choose to have those dreams be nightmares though is beyond me."

"Were you needing me to accompany you?" Poppy asks me.

"No. You can go ahead and keep reading. Just having my bathing items together, and pajamas laid out when I get back."

"And for food?"

"A soup or stew with bread sounds like just the right thing to eat after a workout." I tell her.

"Is it any wonder that the king feel that he needs to find you a man? Honestly!" Poppy says, throwing her hands in the air, book flying out of them and back onto the floor. That poor book, what did it ever do to deserve such treatment?

"I wish I could disagree with you." I tell Poppy.

I move to my closet and pause.

"You forgot where your handkerchiefs are again, didn't you."

"It seems that way." I tell her.

"Front drawer of your wardrobe. Not your closet." Poppy says, sounding almost exasperated. I guess that Aria also forgot often where she keeps things.

"Honestly Aria, what would you do without me?"

"Sleep in, miss meals and become an unsocialized heathen." I tell her and flash her a grin. She bursts out laughing, hard, sounding more like a hyena and less like the tinkling of bells. I like it when people laugh like that.

"Come on then, let's find you some pants." she says, wiping tears away from her eyes.

A few minutes later I am walking out of my room and making my way to the indoor training room. I quickly find myself standing outside of the room.

Checkpoint

I enter the room and look around. I am not alone. Sigh.

Irick turns to me, narrowing his eyes. "What are you doing in here?" he asks. I wave my hand to indicate that I have a sword and that I am wearing pants.

"I'm here to train." I tell him. Ignoring him I unsheathe my sword and walk over to a large empty area and begin some warmup swings.

"Why are you here when I am in here?" he asks me, sounding rather aggressive.

"It's a big room Irick. Stay out of my way and I will stay out of yours. Unless you care to spar?" I ask, just throwing the idea out into the open.

He stares at me for a moment. I look to see if his suspicion bar is going up. It isn't. We must have had conversations like this before.

"You have fifteen minutes to warm up. I am going to go grab Bennett to referee."

I almost open my mouth to respond but decide against it. I have fifteen minutes to get a feel for how this body moves. I access my memories and am pleased to see that Aria never really stops practicing the sword, she just hides it most of the time, it keeps people less wary of her. I am hoping that I can use this to my advantage.

It feels like the fifteen minutes flies by and that no time has passed when Irick and Bennett enter into the room.

"Hey sis!" Bennett greets me cheerfully.

"Benny! It's nice to see you!." I shout over to him, sheathing my sword and making my way over. Bennett demands that a sister should be familiar with her brother, and that I must call him Benny.

"Oh! Is that a new sword? Can I see it?" he asks excitedly.

"Of course. You need to hold onto it while we spar, don't you?" I ask him.

"Well, I do, but that doesn't automatically give me permission to unsheathe it." he tells me. I suppose that isn't untrue.

I hand my blade over to Benny. Blizzie follows after me and paws at Benny's leg. It seems that Blizzie really likes Benny. And who can blame him? Me and Benny have always been close. I have memories of him crawling into bed with me when he has nightmares, wanting me to be there to celebrate all of his milestones. When he was still a baby Irick told me to stop acting like Benny's mother. I punched him. In the face.

"Irick I need your blade too." Benny says, reaching out his hand. Irick sighs melodramatically and drops the blade into Benny's waiting hand.

"Aria, since you challenged me, it means that I get to pick my weapon first." he says, walking over and picking up a strong looking wooden sword. It looks like it was purchased very recently.

I choose my sword next. I look through them, picking them up and giving them test swings until I find one the is the correct length and weight for me. It looks well used. I look at the hilt and see my name carved onto it. I suppose I never replaced mine.

"What parts of your body will be exposed in your party dress?" Irick asks me, taking his stance.

"My back, my arms, the sides of my legs going way up. My face. Why do you ask?" I ask him.

"So that I can do my brotherly best not to bruise those areas. Although, if I make a mistake, I will just give you a jar of my salve. Think of it as an early birthday present." he says.

"If it's a birthday gift, give it to me for the areas you bruise that won't be displayed. I want to dance gracefully after all. Didn't you say that at least I am a good dancer?" I ask him. I see anger burning in his eyes.

"Are both fighters ready?" Bennett asks us.

"Yes." we both say.

"Then let the match begin!"

We spend a few moments, circling one another, testing for weaknesses. I think that I see one but do not go after it, feeling that it must be a false opening. I see Irick smile when he sees I noticed and didn't attack.

"Too scared to attack me?"

"Of course not. I'm not stupid though. I'm not going after the first opening that you give me."

Irick rolls his eyes but keeps his mouth closed. Why do I have a feeling that he thought this match would be over by now.

To tempt Irick I intentionally leave myself open at two points. I watch him, seeming like I was genuinely leaving myself open. He grins like a predator and rushes in to attack. I do a quick maneuver and knock his sword out of his hands. I could end the match now but choose not to. Instead, I smack him in the back of knee, causing him to stumble forward.

"What are you waiting for? Pick up your sword."