“Lady Carine?”

“Uwah?!”

I whipped around, nearly dropping the book in my hands. It was Leila, again, appearing out of nowhere like a ghost.

Could you stop that, please?!

“It is time to rest, My Lady”

“W-what? Already?” I said, my hands still on an open book.

Around me were several books with most of them I already skimmed through.

I had plowed through seven of these books in that measly hour, and what did I learn? Nothing! Well, nothing about my actual powers.

Most of the things I learned were things about how to identify Aetherian Symbols to determine Talents, the rarity of Talents, and various uses of each Talents. Without a Talent Appraisal Scroll, all this knowledge would be as useful as a chess piece in checkers.

Deciding that reading more probably wouldn’t help, I stood up, brushing off the dust from my skirt.

“Sorry for the mess, I’ll clean it up.”

“There is no need, My Lady. The maids will handle it. You should rest as per your mother’s orders.”

“A-ah, thanks, Leila.”

I reluctantly gave the book in my hand to Leila, which she deftly returned to the shelf. Without saying a word, we headed for the door.

“Ah, before we leave, Lady Carine. Would you like a bath?”

My steps stalled. My mind went blank.

“A bath?”

…

This is… unexpected.

Seeing Leila’s figure should have been thrilling, but from Carine’s eyes, it was just... ordinary. Sure, she was a beauty and all, and part of me still found it stimulating, but it was nothing like the reaction I used to have.

This is tough… Am I just not in the mood?

“My Lady?” Leila’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “Am I being too rough with the cloth?”

“Hm?” I glanced back at her. “No, it’s fine. Please continue.”

“Very well.” Leila nodded and resumed washing my back.

I decided to let go of my overthinking and simply enjoy the rare luxury of being pampered.

The warm water, the soft scent, and the gentle feeling of being washed made me feel so comfortable that I almost fell asleep, though I managed to stay awake.

As I let Leila do her work, my mind focuses back on my earlier research. I still needed to find a way to learn what my Talents are, or at least a scroll that I could use to reveal my Talent Symbols.

Of course, I could ask to see the one my parents had used when I was young. But even without that, maybe my allowance money could get me one.

Okay, I had a Plan A and a Plan B for Carine’s Talent Scroll. But what about Feyt?

After washing my back, Leila moved in front of me, her chest right up at my face. I tried staring at them with intensity, but still nothing. I could only let out a sigh at my disappointment.

Leila stared at me with a gentle smile on her face. She didn’t notice me staring, did she?

Speaking of being a girl… I looked down at my own body, and yep, my “junior” ain’t there. I mean, what do I expect, really? Even though I still have one as Feyt, it was still weird realizing I didn’t have one down there.

As if reading my mind, Leila spoke up with a gentle smile as she rubbed my shoulders. “Don’t worry, Lady Carine. It will surely grow when you are older.”

It will grow huh... what a weird world...

“Wait, huh?!”

Carine will grow a “junior” when she gets older?! What does that mean?!

“Worrying about your chest size is not something embarrassing at all, My Lady.”

O-oh, right, chest size…

—

While I was busy being confused about Leila’s comment, a peculiar commotion brought my attention to Feyt, who had already woken up from the nap a while ago.

My body was still sore all over, I could barely sit straight up in my own bed.

The commotion was coming from the living room outside.

“I told you I wanna sleep~” I heard Fray whine.

“Don’t spend the entire day in your room, dammit!” A masculine voice shouted. “You haven’t been home in two months, at least say hi to your friends!”

The floor they were standing on was creaking like crazy.

What’s going on out there?

Then, I heard calm footsteps approaching my room. It was Mom’s.

“Feyt? Are you fine?”

Mom knocked and I opened it. She was wearing a beautiful dress, definitely not a dress she would typically wear around the house.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

After checking on my head and bandages, Mom said she wanted to meet her friend who manages the pub at the village’s center. And, unexpectedly, she asked me to come with her.

Why would a kid like me go to a pub?

“What’s wrong, Feyt? Don’t want to visit Ricent?”

“Ricent?”

The moment I said that name, memories flooded me.

…

“Hey! Kick the ball to me!”

“No! No! No! To me! To me!”

“I’m open!!”

Several kids were shouting at the small me. Earlier in the morning, Mom and Dad had pushed for the 9-year-old me to go outside and make friends. I soon came across a group of older kids playing ball, and I politely asked them if I could join.

They were so kind to let me join, but now, it had turned into a messy situation. I stood still with the ball in front of my feet.

“Hey! Kick it already!”

“Kick it here! Kick it here!”

“Oi, he’s from the other side!”

Their shouts, their commands, their victory cries, all of them came barraging my ear I had trouble discerning who was talking. I could even hear the people shouting prices at the market, middle-aged women gossiping by their houses, and the steps of people traversing the village.

Even when I was a child, my ears were already super sensitive.

“Tch, if you don’t wanna play, just leave!”

I considered it, and as I was about to nod and leave, one of them approached me.

“Hey, you okay?”

He has shoulder-length brown hair and similarly brown eyes. He was significantly taller than me, I had to look up just to establish eye contact.

His smile was warm and gentle as he asked, “What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

"No, I'm not sick... I just... don't know which one to hear out. I don’t know who’s talking…"

“Hm? What do you mean by that? You just do what you want if that's a problem!”

“But, what if I kicked it to the wrong person?”

“Don’t worry bout’ that! Just do what you want and have fun!”

I hesitated, then nodded.

“Alright.”

“Great! I’ll head back to position and you just pass it to whoever you want! Just, don’t throw it to the other team, kay?”

I scanned the field in front of me, recognizing one of the older kids as part of my team, I kicked the ball over in his direction. The game resumed, and although I still could hear everything around me too clearly, over time, I could only hear our game as I sweat and have fun.

After the game ended, the kids dispersed, some heading home, others to different games. The boy with the brown hair stayed by my side.

"You did great out there," he said, patting my shoulder.

"Thanks! I'm Feyt, by the way."

“Yo! I’m Ricent!! He forcefully shook my hand. "Hey, next time, do you want to come over to my house?" Ricent asked. "We can play some more, or just hang out."

"Sure, I'd like that!"

As we walked towards Ricent’s house, I felt a sense of hope. I had made my first friend, and he wasn’t all that bad.

By the way, the first time I went to Ricent’s house, I learned that Ricent’s mother was also Mom’s friend.

The reason I knew that was because, the moment I entered the pub for the first time with Ricent, I found Mom drunk singing on the empty stage with Aunt Diane covering her eyes in embarrassment.

…

And that… was my memory of Feyt when I was 9-years-old.

So, Ricent’s my first friend. Well, couldn’t think of another

I hadn’t even thought about socializing with people outside of my family. Guessing that this was the perfect moment to meet my friend for the “first” time in a while.

“Alright, I’ll come.”

“Good!” Mom clapped her hands. “Now, those two…”

Mom took a step to the side as she looked back, revealing the living room. Sis was being pulled by the arm by a muscular man with dark hair. That muscular man was my Dad—Rayn.

What is he?! A gorilla?!

His build was crazy big, I felt like I was staring at a walking tower of muscles! The worst part of the scene before me was Sis, she was actually standing her ground against his pull!

She’s also a monster, huh?

“Come on–! Fray–!” Dad said in between breaths. “Don’t be a damn–! shut-in–!”

“Don’t wanna!~ I already go out enough at my job!!”

The two were locked in a stalemate, and I commend the floorboards for accommodating these two gorillas.

Mom held her head as she sighed. “We’ll leave those two here for a bit. We’ll head there first, Feyt.”

Is that really okay?! They might destroy the house if a fight broke out!

“Come on, Feyt! Let’s go!” Mom took me by the arm.

“R-right…”

As we stepped outside, Mom held my arm firmly as we walked, guiding me down the familiar path to the village center.

We continued in silence, the only sounds coming from our surroundings and Mom’s occasional humming. Eventually, the pub came into view, its wooden sign swaying gently in the breeze.

I half-expected to hear the usual clamor of voices and clinking glasses, but instead, it was eerily quiet. Probably because it was early noon?

Mom pushed open the door, and we stepped inside. The pub was empty, save for a woman behind the counter. With long, dark green hair tied back, she was polishing a glass, her expression as intense as I remembered.

She was Ricent’s mother—Sis and I called her Aunt Diane—known for her no-nonsense attitude and strict demeanor, a stark contrast to Mom’s bubbly personality.

“Hello there!” Mom greeted her energetically, waving a hand. “Is the booze ready?”

Aunt Diane set down the glass and gave a glaring side-eye. “The first thing that comes into your mind is always booze, huh? And can you tone down your voice?”

“Hm? Not like there’s anyone here, though?”

Mom–?!

I stared at her, dumbfounded.

“Excuse me, but I have to ask rude customers to leave.”

“Haha, calm down! Calm down!” Mom waved her hands. “That was a joke!”

Aunt Diane picked up another glass and began cleaning, then she sighed. “Tch, I can’t believe someone like you could actually get married,” she whispered to herself, I heard it though.

These two are quite the pair.

Aunt Diane looked down at me. “Feyt, if you’re looking for Ricent, he’s upstairs.”

“Oh, may I?” I pointed at the stairs.

“Sure,” she nodded. “Don’t need to worry about your mother, I’ll make sure she won’t cause any trouble.”

Why does it feel like I’m the parent here?

“O-okay! I’ll go upstairs! See you, Mom!”

“Buh-bye! Have fun!” She waved as I walked up the stairs of the pub. “Now, pull out your strongest stuff!”

“Hey! Don’t just pull them out of the shelves! Can you even afford those?!”

…

In front of me was a wooden door. I gently knocked on it and a voice responded.

“Coming!”

The door opened to reveal a teenage boy slightly taller than me. His brown hair had been lengthened to around shoulder length, and his facial features had become more manly.

Seeing his face, I realized I felt a sense of comfort like I could hang around him all day if I wanted to.

“Ahh! Feyt! You’re here!”

“Hi, Ricent.”

Ricent stepped aside, allowing me to enter his room. It was surprisingly tidy, I didn’t remember it ever being in this condition. Usually, it was chaos.

Also, the room was quite spacious, definitely bigger than mine. The window also uses actual glass instead of just wooden shutters back in my room. Honestly, I was jealous.

Wait, what am I jealous of?! I live in a goddamn mansion for god’s sake!

I watched as Ricent pulled out something from his desk. It was a deck of cards bundled together by a small thread.

“Hey, hey! Look! Mom bought me a new stack of cards yesterday! Wanna play?!”

“Cards?”

What sort of card games do they have in this world?

I was admittedly excited, I was quite fond of card games back in my past life.

What kind of game would this fantasy world have?

“Sure! Let’s play! What are we playing?”

“We’re playing ‘Dark Card’!!”

“‘Dark Card’?! That sounds cool! How do I play that?!”

“Haha! Don’t worry, I’ll teach you the rules! I see people in the pub play it all the time!”

Without wasting any time, Ricent sat on the floor and I followed suit. He unbundled the cards and began shuffling them.

He placed the shuffled deck between us and began explaining the rules.

After hearing Ricent’s scuffed-up explanation, I understood the rules of the game clearly. To put it simply:

Dark Card was Old Maid.

It was frickin’ Old Maid.

Sure, they called the game Dark Card, but that made it worse in my opinion.

Putting my disappointment aside, I decided to just go ahead and play the game.

“What’s up, Feyt? You look disappointed,” Ricent asked, raising an eyebrow.

“...It’s nothing…” I reluctantly picked up my cards.

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

image [https://i.imgur.com/RdC5Gde.png]