Today is the 5th of Virgo. It’s been a while since my little personal party. All this time I have been stuck in the mansion.

The people of the city, for the most part, strangely enough don’t hate me or fear me. In fact some of the women actually came looking for me again as well as some men. There are a small group of people that actually have something against me but they don’t have the balls to do anything.

I've been studying and training inside the mansion all this time and my needs are being fulfilled by Monica but in her stone cold face as always. I guess I have to accept this.

I learned some high class manners, how to walk, talk, how to eat, etc… Nothing really hard, just boring.

Sophia is working like a mad woman trying to fix the situation Monica put her in. She had to spend almost all of the money available both to her and the city. With this she came to me out of all people, to help raise money somehow as part of this was my fault.

Since I have no reason to refuse I gave her my plan based on the laws I learned.

We made some changes to the tax in this city where people don’t have to pay tribute anymore to the governor at the end of the year, as this was the way to collect taxes here and it was quite the amount, but to pay 5% of any money earned in this city via any transaction to us by the end of the month. Receipts were a thing so I made sure to inform that all shops must have a way to give one in any way. I also made Sophia send letters to merchants from everywhere saying that if they opened a shop here in the next month they would have less taxes to pay as long as they stayed here at least until the end of the year.

One of the important laws of this kingdom is that cities don’t pay tribute to the king of any kind, even taxes, but any services done by the kingdom must be paid as they have a lot of people in their payroll. Most cities just pay for guards and people to handle bureaucracy which generates a hefty income for the kingdom. The only time services are not paid is if they are in the interest of the kingdom like killing hordes of monsters or a group of bandits causing mayhem.

This city does not need help from the kingdom so we can keep our money. In just a month lots of shops opened here making people come here just to buy stuff generating revenue for us. Living here the merchants don’t have to pay the tribute most cities have that usually amount to 30-50% of their profit. We got a lot of money at the end of the second month and the city became more lively so the people probably forgot about me a little.

Right now I am having a discussion with Sophia and Monica.

“I am not going to wear that.” I say standing my ground.

“This is the dress of a famous stylist in the capital, everyone wants one.” Sophia says to me.

“Lady Sophia, you also said this dress was not beautiful, why did you buy it?” Monica says, scolding Sophia a little.

“The people there told me that the dresses were being sold really fast and I needed something that could show that Lucia was part of the high class.”

“I will walk naked in front of the King before you put me in that dress.” I say pointing at the monstrosity that she brought to me.

The dress in question is a multi-layered white dress with so much unnecessary stuff on it that you could make another 3 dresses out of it. The dress makes you look like you are obese just by puting it on, I maintained my body slender and health, I will not appear fat in any way. Also it looks like something a clown would use to make fun at a noble woman in a play, you would just need to paint it a little.

“And what do you suggest?” Sophia asks me.

“I would buy a dress for myself but I have no money and I can’t leave.”

“What, now you are asking for money?”

“I am asking for nothing. I am just saying that you don’t know the value of money, you also don’t seem very familiar with being feminine. The clothes you bought clearly don’t do any good to the eyes.”

I was a man, but she is more of man than I ever was, most of the time.

“Lady Lucia is correct, you always had only fight in your mind, I could have found something if you so wished.”

“ “ Mira adds.

“ “ Yin and yang also put their two cents in.

“See even they think you don’t have an eye for that.” I say pointing to the swords.

“You know they are just swords, right?” Sophia asks me, concerned.

“And? Does that make their opinion less valid?”

“...” She sighs. “Ok, you win. Next month you buy your dress. I will do something with this.”

“If people really don’t have any sense of fashion try to sell it. Someone might pay for it.”

“May I ask what you know about making clothes?” Sophia asks me.

“I can’t sew clothes myself, but if I just had to design the clothes I bet I could make something better than that dress at least. Expensive clothing should either protect you more than normal or make you more beautiful just by using it. That thing in your hand doesn’t do either.”

Which is my opinion. I am not in any way a fashion designer or anything, but I know how to make someone look good with normal clothes.

After our exchange we go our separate ways. Sophia probably went to the market leaving me alone with the maids. As I continue reading my books in the office Monica starts to clean the place.

“Hey Monica. How old is Sophia?”

“She will be 23 years old this year. Why do you ask?”

“I can’t tell because of the scars and her mana. It would be inappropriate of me to ask her to tell me.”

“You seem to care about lady Sophia even a little, huh?”

“Not really. She is using me for a political reason, right? I will treat the people I do business with the respect I would like to receive, just that.”

“I would like you to become her friend if possible.”

“That is not going to happen. She is too pure.” Which is true, she is a pure maiden in all the ways someone can think of.

“The lady has little experience with men. If her scars could be cured she would probably regain her confidence.”

“Shame there is no healer who can make spells like I do. My healing is powerful enough for me but I don’t think I could heal a scar that stuck like that as I am sure that a lot of people tried to fix that.”

“You are correct about the fact that a lot of people tried their luck in healing the scar of lady Sophia. But what do you mean the way you make spells?”

“Oh, I guess you never saw me really use any spells after I first got into town. I don’t use runes.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“And I am the queen of a fallen race of gods that went extinct millenia ago.” She says sarcastically.

“Wanna bet I can use a spell without using a rune?”

“I am prohibited from making bets with you as long as you live by order of lady Sophia.”

“Can I at least show you?”

“I can’t see why not. Let’s go outside.”

We then move to the backyard.

“Show me.” She says.

“Sure.” I put my hands up. “Nova Blast!” I shout, creating a small ball of fire that goes up and explodes just above the wall.

As I look to my side Monica is frozen in place with wide eyes.

“Hey, are you ok?”

“Don’t leave the house.” She says to me while running like I have never seen her before.

Around half an hour later she comes back with Sophia. At this point I was back at the office.

“What is this? What would be so important that you took me away from my duties?” Sophia asks, confused.

“Lady Sophia, you must make this girl stay in your debt forever.” Monica says with the most serious face I ever saw from her.

“What?” we both say confused.

“This girl can use spells like no other people can.”

“What?” Sophia asks again.

“Wait a minute. There is no way I am the only one. There is a whole Magic Institute just for that. They must have found out about it but not published how to do it as it is deadly and painful.”

“What are you two talking about?”

“This girl doesn’t need to use runes.”

“But you need runes to make spells.” Sophia says.

“No you don’t.” I say.

“I will only believe it seeing.” Sophia says.

We then proceed to go outside again where I do the same thing.

“By the gods, it is true.” Sophia says surprised.

“This is the find that will bring a new era.” Monica says.

“Hold on. I know what I can do is not common. But there is no way I am the only one who knows how to do this.”

“Yes you are. I swear on my life that not a single person in this world has any record of what you just did.”

“Monica did you just…” Sophia starts to ask.

“Yes, I did.” Monica responds without hearing the entire question.

“How much was this time?”

“35”

“Do I have to go after something?”

“There is nothing to go after this time.”

“Can I ask what is going on?”

“First to my office. Our situation changed.”

We then proceed back to the office. There Monica puts lots of spells to seal off the office.

“Lucia, as of this moment the church can’t touch you.” Sophia says to me.

“Why would that be?”

“Because they won’t enter a war with the Great Magic Institute.”

“I am not part of their group. I don’t think they would fight for me.”

“They will once we show you.” Monica says.

“What? We will just go to a public place, make me use some spells in front of people and the church will have to put up with me even if they serve the gods themselves?”

“In short, yes.” Sophia says.

“And how does that change our situation?”

“If you do that you won’t need to become part of this family and I will not need a successor right now. Just showing you to the world will give me the leverage I need to hold this position.”

“And I will not be hunted down to be caged and teach this to random people against my will?”

“Only if you antagonize the people in power.”

“I am not planning to do that yet.”

“Then you accept the new terms?”

“I can’t see why not.”

“Then I will make preparations. Monica, give Lucia some money and go with her to buy a dress. We are having a party at the Moon Saloon.”

“As you wish my lady.”

I don’t really understand everything that is going on but if I can get my freedom sooner this is better.

Monica picks up some money in the vault that is located in Sophia’s room and we meet outside the mansion. Right now is just before noon.

“Let’s get something to eat while we are at it. I don’t think we will be back for lunch.” I say.

“As you wish.”

We begin to walk around the middle of the city. There is a fountain there and most of the big shops are around here. The best blacksmith of the town has its shop here, along with the best tavern in the city as Monica points me. The other places were bought by merchants and made into shops. All of them were just normal houses now customized for the needs of the owner. Someone is making a second floor.

We walk around checking every merchant, even the ones you would normally not be worth of notice. After buying and eating some sandwiches from a small food stand at noon we finally find something good enough to be acceptable for the high class.

“Sir, I would like to buy that dress and everything with it..” I say pointing to a red dress.

The dress is very simple in design but the quality of it is noticeable. It was a strapless dress where looking from the front it was a minidress but the sides and the back had the length of a normal dress going all the way to my knees. As part of the dress there was a corset to accentuate the figure, in a slightly stronger red, made out of leather. To finish it off there were two long knee boots that would go all the way to the middle of my thighs more or less. It was made of the same leather of the corset. Everything together was quite beautiful, at least for me. I would look sexy in that without being slutty.

“Merchant, how much would that dress cost?” Monica asks.

“It would be 200 Kir my ladies.” He says lying through his teeth.

I saw the price as soon as I entered this man shop, it was 75 kir for everything. I was going to say to Monica to pay a little more and ask the man to find more things like that but if he wants to screw with us I will pay in the same coin.

“It’s a shame, and here I was thinking I found someone who could provide dresses for me and lady Sophia for the years to come.”

He is in shock.

“What?”

“How could I do business with someone who changes it’s prices based on who he is selling to? I saw the price before you hid it. If you are going to overcharge us more than 100% of the value of your product why should I do business with you when I could probably find something similar in other shops and buy more with the same money?”

“I’m sorry, please don’t let word of this go out, I will even give you a discount.”

“Monica please close the shop for a moment, we will discuss business with this man.” I say with an evil face.

After Monica comes back we move to the back room where this man sleeps. It is also his office.

“First, to the ground, show that you are really sorry.” I say joking but the man actually does.

At this point I look to my side and see Monica salivating.

As I lived with her for a while I discovered something. She is some kind of sadomasochist. She gets pleasure in being dominated and dominating other, thats why it takes so long for her to enjoy sex, you need to dominate her to the point where she can do nothing or let her use you like a toy. I will not be her toy but this man can be useful for a few minutes.

“Monica, he is all yours, be quick and don’t tarnish this man's masculinity. I will be getting the dress and we will be going.”

“Hehehe, as you wish Miss.”

I then go back to the shop and begin to bag my purchase while leaving the money on the counter for the man.

“You filthy dog, all you deserve is punishment. Lick it, lick it like the dog you are. If I had the time you would be properly educated but for now you will show how sorry you are.” I hear her saying to the man while I hear the sounds of slaps and kicks.

Few minutes later the man and her come out of the room. The man has slap marks on his face and Monica is back to her stone cold facade.

“Well I hope you enjoyed it for what it is worth. The money is on the counter.”

“Have a good day sir.” Monica says with a predator smile. The man flinches a little.

As we are going back I begin to talk with Monica.

“You need to find a partner.”

“I would say the same to you Miss Lucia.”

“My situation is a little different than yours.”

“There are plenty of people who would enjoy your company.”

“I don’t want company, I want a partner.”

“Hmm, still looking for love?” She says, teasing me.

“I already found love. But it looks like this time I will have to cultivate it myself.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Love is not just found, it can be cultivated if two people want it. All you have to do is to truly be open to it.”

“You say that like you have experience with that.”

“I have.”

I know well that if you don’t try to cultivate relationships they will just break. Love is the same, all my past life I tried to fit in, tried to see things from other people's perspective, to be part of their life but it was all for nothing. If someone isn’t open to you, you won’t be able to grow your relationship with them.