The captain leaned forward in his chair, scrutinizing my, no doubt, wild appearance. He didn’t speak until the female knight, Shael, left the room.

“Why are you lying, Lady Lilliana?” he asked, his previously gruff voice now taking on a gentle tone.

“I am not lying,” I insisted, crossing my legs and resting my hands atop them.

He raised a curious eyebrow, gesturing at my posture with a casual wave. “Explain how that makes sense, given your current behavior. You seem nothing like an amnesiac and more in control than ever.”

I returned his wave with narrowed eyes. “Perhaps it’s the lack of memory that gives me confidence.”

“Perhaps,” he said, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “Or perhaps you're simply showing your true colors.” I glared, imagining how easily I could have bent him to my will in my previous body. The heart energy the captain radiated felt no stronger than that of a warrior with a silver core and perhaps a heart ring or two. Yet, oddly, the majority of energy radiating from him felt… different. It came from much lower than his heart, pulsing from just above his naval.

I frowned, trying to read his expression while probing him with what little energy I had. He easily rebuffed my attempt, now mirroring my frown, but not before I sensed a pulse from that second source of power near his navel.

What is that? I wondered, my curiosity and the beginning of panic coursing through me. I’d never felt a power source originating from anywhere but a heart’s energy core. Something’s not right.

“What did you just try to do?” The captain growled, standing abruptly, his face a mixture of confusion and irritation.

“I…I’m not certain,” I replied, the lie as natural as breathing. “I wondered if you meant to harm me, and something in my heart reacted.” I cocked my head, watching his reaction.

How does he not know about energy sensing? It’s a basic use of heart energy.

Something was very wrong. My heart began to quicken as the reality of my situation began to dawn on me and I felt my fingers cling to the edge of the chair’s armrest. The captain must have sensed my panic because he sat back down, his anger replaced with something resembling concern.

“Where am I?” I asked, trying to keep down my rising sense of panic.

The captain eyed me again before shaking his head and finally releasing a heavy sigh as if not quite believing me, but too exhausted to argue against the wants of a young lady. You are in House Silverwater territory, within the Lysorian Kingdom.”

Lysoria? I had never heard of such a place and I was confident I knew every kingdom or empire in Ordite. Most of which I'd warred against, at one time or another. There was no way I wouldn't have heard of this Lysoria if it truly existed. Either this captain was lying, or something unexpected had occurred during the Soul Transference.

I asked the most obvious question I could think of. “How fares Aedronir?”

The captain tilted his head, puzzled. “Aedronir?” He paused, pursing his lips. “Do you mean Aedonia?”

Who in all the Hells is Aedonia? I wanted to scream but choked down the instinctual reaction, relying on my royal training to restrain the panic bubbling in my gut.

“What continent are we on?” I asked, biting my lip, anxiety peaking.

“Pularea, of course.” He sighed. “Lady Lilliana, I grow tired of these charades—”

Whatever he was thinking of saying next was cut off by the entrance of a woman I assumed was a doctor, judging by the clean white robe she wore and the large gray bag that smelled strongly of medicinal herbs. The doctor's face was warm, despite the wrinkles of age that she seemed to wear like a badge, each of her steps confident and solid.

She approached me with the quick, efficient steps of someone accustomed to military discipline. Despite the neutral way the doctor schooled her facial expression, however, I could tell there was annoyance there. Disbelief. Perhaps, even a bit of scorn.

Just whose body am I in?

“Captain,” the woman said, giving the knight captain a quick nod of respect before setting her bag on the floor next to me and kneeling so we were at eye level. Then she turned to look at me. “I hear you are having trouble recalling memories, Lilliana?” Shael entered quietly behind the doctor, but I paid her no mind, glaring at the mere doctor who dared address me without a title.

“Are you a noble, doctor?” I said, lips curling into a scowl.

“Excuse me?”

“Do not make me repeat myself, servant.” I glanced over to Shael, disdainful. “This is who you bring? Was there no doctor available with even a modicum of respect for noble bloodlines?”

The doctor looked ready to argue, but Shael stepped in, pulling her aside. The two leaned their heads close together and, although they whispered low enough I couldn’t make out any distinct words, it was clear they were arguing. After nearly a minute, the doctor backed up with a loud exhale and waved her hands in resignation.

“Fine, Dame Shael. I understand.” She knelt once again before my crossed legs, her expression carefully neutral. “I apologize, Lady Lilliana. Please, describe your symptoms.”

I nearly laughed at my impulse to kill her for such disrespect. What would I even kill her with? These scrawny arms? This nonexistent heart core? No, I’d have to bide my time. If this Lilliana was indeed low nobility, her bloodline would serve me only so far if I killed everyone that bothered me.

“I remember only the most recent events…with Brian.” I gestured to the bruises on my arm and what felt like a blackening eye.

“May I?” she asked, reaching for my head before I could answer. I grit my teeth, painfully aware I was no longer Queen of Aedronir. I didn’t even know who I was, but certainly not a queen.

The doctor's hands were cold and clinical as they gingerly pressed different spots along my face and skull, making their way to the tender skin around my neck. After a moment, she turned to the captain with a noncommittal shrug.

“It could very well be some form of brain trauma. It wouldn’t be the first time concussive force causes memory loss. The bruising and tenderness suggest concussive or blunt trauma was applied to her with quite some force.” The doctor didn’t seem to care that force came from Lilliana’s brother. “There isn’t much I could do, but generally symptoms such as these fade over time. I suppose I could brew some medicine for the pain.”

“Her memories will return?” Shael’s hopeful tone surprised me. Why would she care if Lilliana’s memories returned? I imagined most of the Silverwater staff would have preferred if Lilliana vanished quietly in the night.

“I think it’s very likely.” She still shot me a particularly doubtful expression, but I couldn’t tell if she was lying and doubted my memories would come back or if she doubted they were gone at all.

“Thank you, doctor,” the captain said, dismissing her. She nodded and left without a backward glance.

Some doctor.

“Alright, Lady Lilliana,” the captain grunted, leaning back into his plush chair. Shael stood next to the closed office door, her posture at ease if still attentive to her surroundings. “Let’s say I believe you. It is my duty, of course, to help the young lords and ladies of House Silverwater find their way. What can I help you with? I do not have much time, but I will impart whatever knowledge I can.”

I doubted he’d be fully forthcoming, but I had no other options. He did seem to have a soft spot for the girl whose body I now occupied, for whatever reason, so perhaps he would answer honestly.

I swallowed the building saliva of anxiety and asked my question. “What is the name of our world?”

The captain’s eyes widened slightly as he glanced at Shael. She didn't react to my words or his look, remaining stoic. The captain shrugged and responded. “Graedon.”

My hands gripped the chair armrest tight at his words, dirty fingernails caked with blood and dirt dug into the plush material. This was not Ordite. Not my world. Although Soul Transference had been entirely theoretical, I’d never read that it could move a soul to a different world.

A Queen does not panic. My father’s words rang in my ears, surging through me like a bolt of lightning. My muscles instantly relaxed, fingers loosening their grip upon the armrest, and the turmoil roiling in my stomach all but vanished. Calm. Calm. Take what you know, and turn it to your benefit.

“Tell me about my family,” I said. I'd confirmed my broader situation; now I needed immediate details.

The captain peered over his desk, his expression still stoic and unreadable. “You must truly have lost your memories to be asking such a mundane question of me. As you likely have already figured out, you are Lady Lilliana Silverwater. Your father is the Baron and Patriarch of House Silverwater. Your mother is Mathilda Silverwater, daughter of House Goldenhearts, who rule over the Goldenheart Duchy. Your siblings are Brian, Aedrius, Morgana, and Raphael. You are the youngest. Bri-”

“How old am I?”

The captain smiled wryly at the interruption. “You are eleven. Your brother, Brian, is fourteen. Morgana and Aedrius both reach the age of majority this year.” He must have seen my confused expression since he clarified. “Seventeen is the age of majority. Raphael is the oldest and current successor of the barony.” I waited for the captain to say Raphael’s age. When he didn’t, and I found I didn’t really care, I moved on.

“If we all share the same mother, what causes this… treatment?” I asked bluntly, not quite sure how else to phrase the beating.

The captain hesitated and Shael bowed her head respectfully before opening the door and stepping out. It closed with an audible click. “Baroness Mathilda is, technically, not your mother but your stepmother." That made sense. So rather than being my siblings, they were my half-siblings. "I would not be telling you this if everyone did not already know.” He hesitated again and, though he tried to disguise it, I could see there was struggle in his eyes. And disgust. “Your mother was a maid, who the baron became quite infatuated with. You are the result of that infatuation. Your mother attempted to usurp the Baroness, leading to her banishment from the estate and House Silverwater territory.”

“She’s alive?”

By the look on the captain’s face, it was clear the answer was a resounding no. Still, he only shrugged. “It is possible.”

Sounds like a nice way of saying he raped a maid and then kicked her out, I thought, remembering the many examples of such behavior from nobles even in my own kingdom.

I only had a single, pestering question left for the captain. If I was going to rise in power in this new world, I would need to be able to rely on my previous knowledge. “What realm is your heart core?”

“My heart core level,” he repeated, lifting an eyebrow. “Why would you want to know that?” When I didn’t answer, the captain relented. “Heart cores are rather rare. Mere knight captains do not have access to the House’s cultivation guides.”

“How many heart rings, then?” I pressed, desperate for some answers that would depict this world’s general power level.

“Twenty-one rings.”

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I gawked at the ridiculously high number of heart rings around an uncored heart. It should have taken him only three rings per core realm. To maintain twenty one heart rings around one’s unprotected heart was essentially suicide. If the captain were to use his heart rings to wield a level of heart energy above the bronze realm, the pressure would strangle his heart leading to a swift and unavoidable death.

“Do you have any attributes that you know of?” It was a bit of a reach as energy users wouldn’t realize what affinities their core had until they began reaching for the bronze realm, but I figured it was worth a shot.

The captain looked at me like I’d grown a second head and asked him if he’d like one too. “What are attributes?”

Something was seriously wrong with this world.

Fundamentally, raw heart energy without any attribute affixed to it was a neutral energy that all hearts produced as a natural part of being alive. The amount of raw energy a heart could gold, however, was severely limited in mortals and could only be expanded by the process of cultivating the heart core; the repeated circulation of that neutral energy, and spreading it throughout the body. After an Awakened energy user gathered enough heart energy, they could condense it into heart rings and, later, into a core.

How was it possible for the captain to have twenty one rings and have never heard of core attributes? It not only meant he had never even attempted to try forming a core, but that he didn’t know he could.

What backward information is being taught in this world?

Someone knocked on the office room door just as I opened my mouth to ask what House cultivation guides were, and a slim, extremely tall man bowed through the doorway. He wore a particularly clean and straight black suit, with a stiff white dress shirt underneath that came together with a red bowtie. “Sir, the Baron has called for your immediate presence.”

The captain nodded and stood, motioning toward Shael. “Dame, show Lady Lilliana to her chambers. Find me afterward at the Baron’s office.”

The dame saluted, placing an open palm against her chest. “Yessir.” She beckoned me to follow. “Lady Lilliana, please follow me.”

_________________________________________

I woke the next morning, my head still reeling from the previous night's conversation with the Knight Captain. I was truly in a different world. Far from being able to obtain my vengeance, I didn’t even know if my enemies were still alive. For all the information I had regarding Soul Transference, it could have taken centuries for me to reach this new world.

I swung my legs off the bed and looked around for the bell that had adorned my bed chambers for the past 30 years. I felt instantly ridiculous for doing so. Of course, it wouldn't be here. There wasn't anything of use in Lilliana's desolate boudoir.

The room was located in a remote corner of the Baron's stone mansion, far removed from the luxurious and opulent quarters inhabited by Lilliana’s ... more favored siblings. The location itself spoke volumes of her place in the family - out of sight, and out of mind.

Neglect hung around the room like some evil curse. It was sparsely furnished with little evidence of Lilliana's noble bloodline. The stone walls were bare, devoid of the ornate tapestries and lavish luxuries that decorated the rest of the Baron's home.

There was a single, narrow window allowing some light to filter into the room. It cast long shadows that had stretched and warped the previous night as the sun set below the horizon. To call it eerie would be an understatement. And the furnishings in the room itself were modest at best and downright awful at worst. The bed still stood but was missing a wood peg at the left bottom edge where there was a large splinter in the wood. What I figured had once been bed linens lay torn in the far corner and I hadn't bothered to pick them up. I'd much rather sleep without bedding than those rags.

There was a worn writing-table near the window. Though it was small, scarred, and very tattered, it was stable enough that I'd found myself spending more time there than on the bed the previous night after I'd returned. I'd found a small piece of parchment crushed into a ball stuck between the desk and the wall. I hadn't been able to find an inkwell or quill, so I'd simply tucked the crumpled parchment into one of the desk's drawers for another time.

I dressed in basic trousers and a shirt. That was all Lilliana's closet had so the choice was made for me.

Before sleeping I had located a mirror in one of the empty neighboring rooms and had taken a look at the state of my new body. It was beyond disappointing and quite frankly, horrifying that an entire noble family would allow one of their heirs to fall into such... an awful state. There was no muscle or fat anywhere on the body. Lilliana had been on the brink of death.

Everything else was fairly standard, even in my world. Brown hair, brown eyes, small and round face. Though it didn't really matter. Soul transference would, theoretically, slowly morph this body to match my true appearance which would unlock upon reaching a silver realm core. However, it would take some time to reach as Lilliana's core had not yet awakened. She was only eleven and being unawakened at that age wasn't abnormal.

Still, based on what the knight captain said about not having a heart core and their rarity, it seemed like the level of heart cores in this new world couldn’t be any lower.

I needed to raise my strength back to what it had been on Ordite and, after forcing this world to kneel at my feet, increase the level of heart energy proficiency in the world. It would become my personal army. I would also need the help of energy scholars much smarter than I was to figure out the science of full-body transference or long-distance teleportation. Some had considered me a genius in war and bloodshed. That hadn't extended to the sciences of heart energy.

I slipped on a pair of heavy and tattered brown boots and made my way to the mansion's training yard. The Captain had given me some rough directions to it and it wasn't difficult to figure out. Other than the occasional maid or butler scurrying past me, the only noise came from the soldiers training so I simply followed the familiar sounds.

Although I still couldn't fully wrap my head around the fact I'd succeeded in transferring my soul across worlds, I didn't feel sad about leaving Ordite. There was nothing left for me there except for vengeance. And that would come one day. But everyone I knew or had ever cared about was long dead. Some by my own hands. Some by others. One by her own.

I entered the training grounds and was greeted by a wave of unobstructed sunlight. It was a sprawling expanse of carefully manicured graveled and grassed fields. The air was filled with the sound of clashing swords and the rhythmic thud of training dummies, a familiar symphony of martial training that echoed across the grounds. For a moment, a small, tiny moment, I forgot where I was. What had happened to me? The mansion was connected to the training area, separated only by a wide stone wall. The hallway I'd found myself walking opened into the outside, with no door in sight. An odd structure, but there were doors leading to other hallways so I figured it wasn't too unreasonable.

At the center of the training grounds loomed what looked like some type of lookout tower. It was clad with red and purple flags depicting the same blue, long-beaked bird and moon everywhere else in the mansion. The training ground was split into various training areas, each apparently tailored to a specific aspect of combat. I ignored those and started walking along the outer rim.

I shook my head, clearing it of thoughts, and took off at a steady jog. I ignored the shouts and calls around me. It took all I had to focus on breathing and keeping this body moving. In. Out. In. Out. It wasn't long before my legs started to give out. My lungs were already screaming. I didn't stop. In. Out. In. Out.

I cursed the weakness of my new body and its inability to create energy within my heart. The only way I could properly gather power within myself was by creating a heart core for Lilliana, but her body would crumble under the pressure of awakening. Especially with the purity I would aim for. Until that point, I was limited to physical exercise to create energy within my heart. When enough was there, I could condense them into heart rings. Eventually, that would coalesce into a core and I could begin circulating existing energy to create more.

But that was a long way off.

This new world seemed to focus on building heart rings without any concept of forming a core. No wonder this world was so behind. The awakened here didn't seem to understand how to embed the heart rings into their hearts to create a core. If the Captain proved to be someone I could rally to my side, perhaps I'd save him from his imminent death.

Eventually, I collapsed. My brown hair was completely plastered to my forehead and my clothes were soaked in sweat. I lay there, breathing heavily, and closed my eyes. My unawakened heart beat a little stronger than it had yesterday.

Good.

I started to purify what little energy my exercise had forced my heart to produce. Before the Soul Transference, I’d mastered two forms of heart energy attributes - lunar and necromancy. The latter was an energy attribute type I’d kept completely buried, hidden away even from those closest to me. If I made it back to Oridte, I would unleash the full, unbridled extent of my fury and mastery of the forbidden energy attribute on all that had betrayed me.

I looked within the pathways of my body, spotting to small streams of energy; one a dull white and one a brilliant silver. The dull white I knew to be neutral energy, raw and without an energy attribute. The gleaming silver energy, however, was the valuable remnants of my lunar attributed energy. Small and feeble, but I knew it would one day roar like a raging river again.

I grit my teeth at the thought, digging my fingers into the soft dirt removing a clump of dirt, and twisting my body so I leaned against the base of a tall wooden post, my chest heaving with the effort of each breath.

While creating a core did improve the speed of manifesting raw and attributed energies, the further an Awakened traveled on the path of cultivation, the more energy would be required to achieve the next level. In my previous life, I had reached the peak of a Diamond Core practitioner, which was practically unheard of in Ordite and had required a tremendous amount of resources and time to form even a single heart ring. I had likely spent more time on a single diamond heart ring than I had when progressing from mortal to platinum core.

This life’s climb to power would be similar, except for the chance that Lilliana had a natural affinity to an energy attribute that I did not have in my previous life.

The thought of obtaining a new energy attribute completely unknown flooded me with adrenaline and I couldn’t stop the small smile that curled my lips. First, I’d shed the mortality of this body by awakening my core and achieving the cultivation level of a bronze realm core. Then silver, gold, platinum, diamond, and whatever legendary realms of power lay beyond that.

When some strength returned to my legs, I climbed to my feet toward the soldiers. I wasn't sure they would allow me to join their routine since I was technically eleven years old now. It wasn't like I would be able to keep up. But at least it would give me some physical goals to work toward. In this life, I would make sure to cover all of my past weaknesses. If I had been as strong in close combat as I'd been in long-distance heart energy, the Empire would not have captured me so easily.

This time I would make sure to leave no openings. The betrayers of Ordite would watch as I burned down their world and I would enjoy the despair in their eyes. The thought made me smile. Just a little.

"My lady?" Shael asked, looking at me with concern. Her entire body was caked in sweat and dirt from the training field.

"I want to join."

"You what?" The rest of the knights stopped their sparring to look at the disturbance, bouncing between me and Shael.

"I want to train with the soldiers."

"I don't think that'd be a good idea," she said, hesitant. Some of the soldiers started to laugh and she shot them a glare that shut them up.

Regardless of what the Dame believed, I needed to push myself as far physically as possible. And I needed some experience using this body in combat. Or as close to it as I could get it. "It's not your place to decide that," I stated simply. "And I doubt the Baron would mind very much, even if I happened to die from exhaustion." That was true enough. None of the soldiers denied it, nor did Shael, but they at least had the dignity to look awkward about their silence. "Anyways, if I fall behind you can just leave me. I'll figure it out."

The Dame regarded me for a long moment and then slowly nodded. "Are you familiar with swordplay, lady?"

"Yes."

Shael looked at me again, disbelief evident. "If I decide your swordplay is not enough to give my soldiers some practice, I will remove you to the wooden dummies." She pointed to a small row of upright wooden logs. "Understood?"

I wasn't pleased with the tone, but considering my current position, I said nothing and walked over to take hold of a wooden practice sword. I swung it lazily a few times to judge its balance and weight. I found it surprisingly heavy.

"Strong wood," I muttered, drawing a raised eyebrow from Shael. The Dame didn't say anything and motioned toward a soldier to approach. The soldier was younger, maybe sixteen or so? Older than the boy, Brian, from earlier. There was some scruff on this young soldier's chin.

"This is Lucid, my squire," she said. "You'll start with him since you're both learning."

Lucid grinned, flashing white teeth in my direction. His brown eyes looked down on me with more pity than disgust, which I found interesting. "Go easy on me, my lady," he said, obviously thinking this was some sort of rich child's momentary desire.

I was never the best at swordsmanship, but my generals had insisted I train at it every day. I hoped to last a few minutes before my arms gave out. Unfortunately, my arms proved to be even weaker than my legs. Less than sixty seconds had passed and I was already having difficulty keeping the wooden practice sword at the ready.

Lucid's strikes shouldn't have been heavy. They really shouldn't have been. His form was off, his strikes too wide, his footwork was all over the place, and he didn't use his hips properly. In the end, it didn't matter. I was just so incredibly weak. The kid could have slapped me with a pillow and I would have been blown off my feet.

Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad.

He lunged at me, the point of his wood blade directed toward my heart. I ducked, only using the edge of my blade to redirect Lucid's. It soared a foot to the left of my head. I used the duck to twist around his sword, so I stood outside the reach of his extended arm. Lucid moved to readjust but my wood blade was too close. It thwacked weakly against the side of his head.

He looked at me, perplexed, then broke out in a loud laugh. The other soldiers stopped to see what was happening. Some gawked at my blade still touching the side of Lucid's head. I wasn't sure why. The kid was constantly full of openings. If I couldn't dodge a few wild hits, I wouldn't have been much of a Queen.

A clap from Shael sent the soldiers back into practice and their attention returned to their training. "Impressive, Lady Lilliana. I have to say, for someone with no memories and weak muscles, you have rather refined footwork." I just shrugged. I highly doubted Lilliana's memories contained any footwork training anyway. "Keep going. See if you can do that again. Lucid, if you get tagged by her sword again, I'll have you running until your heart rings scream. Got it?"

Lucid snapped to attention. "Yes ma'am!" He turned back to me, sword at the ready. This time his playful little smirk was gone, replaced by a determined expression.