Questions hurried to and fro in my mind, but no answers met them. I decided that the only thing I could do was to sneak around and gather information. After a couple of hours, I succeeded in finding out some info; however, I was even more confused because a funeral was being prepared. A very hushed-up one at that. What in the world was going on? Well, I didn't care that much as long as I was left alone; however, curiosity got the better.

I was not allowed to leave the room I was bound to, but with the scurry of busy servants, it seemed I was invisible. So, when I was finished admiring my new self in the mirror, I sauntered out of my room and hid in a shadowy corridor filled with cobwebs and a perfect hiding place. "He---died—suddenly—sad---expected though." I snatched words from the air and tried to fit them into the puzzle I was forming in my brain. Someone died, hmmmm. Hushed voices bounced into my corridor, "Poor young master, only 16, everyone is so broken-hearted."

What, so it was the youngest son who died, the one I had not seen. Yet, the book said nothing about the youngest son dying from an illness. He was praised as patriotic because he overcame his sickness and volunteered to go into battle, where he tragically died.

This intelligence gathering is kinda fun, I thought, as things become a game to me. Slither around in the shadows, find out info, and piece things together. Everything took a turn when I found a secret passageway behind a random portrait of a frog with a lute.

This was the most excitement I had in ages! My face almost stretched into a grin. I stepped into the small space's dark reaches and ventured inside. It was a tunnel that led to other tunnels that led to even more tunnels! This is the perfect place to begin my life as a professional spy, what fun.

Trekking in the dark was interesting until I got tired; there was no sound and no light, and I was getting bored. But then I came to a patch of light and recognized an expensive-looking tapestry that I had seen in the grand room where I had met the marquis. Looking closely at the tapestry, there were rubies in the eyes of a lion playing the piano.

What was with these animals playing random instruments? The taste of nobles is really something else. Then, startled out of the imagination of frogs and lions in an orchestra, voices reached me through the thick cloth of the lion and his piano.

"My condolences for your loss, your grace." A small squeaky voice harped. Then another voice that I remembered to be the marquis shot out, "It is nothing; I will make more if needed. However, I had plans for Aster before he died. It is a pity."

It seems that this family is weirder than a lion with a piano.

The cricket-like voice shot in again, "If I may say something, your grace, I was thinking. We could use that charity case your wife took in, but only after we take the blood needed, of course!" I strained my ear to the cloth as the voices became lower and was stunned to hear the next few sentences.

"Her blood contains so much magic, and it will only take a year for Edward to get better. After a year, we can send her in place of Aster to bring fame to the house of Vale."

The Marquis replied, "Why, Henry, that is your best idea since birth! Make sure that no one squeaks a word of Aster's death. This could be an excellent plan."

There was a short silence, and the voices continued, "Now that I ponder the idea, I believe that as long as she's put on the front line, there is no probability of her living past a few months. Any loose ends will cut themselves off!"

"Oh my," I said under my breath as I heard wine glasses clink with a rich, triumphant ring. A rat squeaked at my feet. I decided I shouldn't linger any longer and get caught for a bit of poisoned cheese. Slinking through the shadows, I turned over the conversation I had just heard, dunking it in and out of ideas, trying to find the most plausible tasting one.

The twists and turns of the little rat halls were confusing at first, but I could remember the way quite clearly. When I finally found the frog tapestry, it felt like hours since I had first entered. I was both surprised and not surprised that no one had noticed my absence.

It was good that I never kicked up a fuss at being left to my own devices. I sunk onto my bed, lost in thought. It made the most sense that I was not a daughter of this house, as Mrs. May said, but a charity case.

Maybe the magic that brought me to this world made my blood gold. It seems like they thought it would take three years to heal their son, but when they tested my blood, they found it so good it would only take one year.

I am quite a useful blood bag, I hummed, but am I truly the charity case? I never confirmed if it was truly me they were talking about. But then again, who else would they be talking about? The maid's disdain, pity, and disrespect all melded together coherently. If I really were a daughter of the Marquis, I wouldn't be treated this way… would I? Yet, the most enormous flag is that they do indeed take my blood.

I wanted to be entirely sure that I was the subject in which the Marquis and his cricket were yammering about. At first, I was quite stumped on figuring things out, but it was much easier than I thought. I snapped out of my thoughts and heard voices arguing outside the door.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Why do I have to feed her? What if I get commoner filth on me?" Another voice I recognized to be my usual maid shot back, "I always have to feed the charity case; now it's your turn!" I chuckled to myself, finding out that information was surprisingly easy. Or I was just surprisingly lucky. I hurried back to the bed as the wooden door swept dutifully open. A tall, mousy woman stood towering over me; she looked rough and bulky, maybe from hard house or farm work. In the dark eyes that glowered down on me, a cruel glint sparked from them.

She threw my food on the ground, and most of the bowl's contents spilled onto the floor, "lick it up, Mrs. "Noble," she said, pausing to laugh at the joke only she knew. From the look of her sun-hardened face, she must hate nobles; now that she had a chance to treat one however she liked, things were fun. Even if I was only a noble in name, I am sure it didn't matter to her.

I refused to look at her and huddled in a corner. She stomped over, irritated about being ignored, and, grabbing my hair, yanked me over to the slop and proceeded to force my head to the dirty floor.

I tried to wriggle out of her hand, but each time I moved, my scalp was threatened to leave my skull, so I wrapped my hands around hers and dug my nails into her meaty wrists. I was so weak, so pitifully, disgustingly, wretchedly weak.

At that moment, I hated my thin form more than the maid who practically ground my face into the floor. Second after grueling second ticked by, and finally, it was over. Her stress and anger satiated, she kicked the bowl for good measure and walked calmly out the door.

Number 1. I am in a fantasy world, 2. I am relativly safe 3. I have talent in magic, 4. I am being used as a blood bag, 5. The food is yummy, 6. I am a charity case, not a daughter 7. I will be sent to war in a year, 8. The only nice person is Mrs. May. 9. I am terribly weak.

Well, if I ignore the negatives, I see this as a win! It's like I have a superpower to know the future! So, all I need to do is get strong enough to survive the war; I think that's the best thing always. If I somehow fake my death, no one will be the wiser, and I'll be free from any chains till I get strong enough to break them off myself.

I had already tried to use this world's magic as soon as I heard about it, but nothing seemed to work, no matter what spells or incantations I tried. I'll probably need a teacher, I sighed to myself. But who would teach the charity case that will die in a year? Strength: I've always wanted to be strong, to stand on top of the world and be like Superman.

What is strength? I guess it would start with the basics: pushups, pullups, sit-ups, and running, right? I hope I can do that easily enough, but I would like to try boxing. That would be so fun! It seemed the man at home always got a kick out of punching me. I wonder how it would feel to be in his shoes…

However, if this is a fantasy world, then wouldn't swords be better? Ehhhhh, but I feel like hand-to-hand is cooler. Well, I'll just start with ten sets of everything then. Is there any fast way to get strong, though? I tried to get any extra gear in my brain pumping and thought hard about the contents of the novel. Was there anything in the book that talked about superpowers?

The book was mainly about the country's politics and romance. The heroine falls in love with the crown prince, and it's nice and fluffy. I do remember that she had several other love interests; however, the fantasy setting and her getting saved by cool powers were the most exciting parts of the book. Ah! I remember one of the love interests became powerful by finding an ancient artifact at the end of something called a dungeon. He fell into a pond near the great Marquis' estate! I just need to find that pond.

I did not ask for permission to leave the castle; I seemed to be invisible as I quietly kept my head low. I felt like they saw me but ignored me because it was too much of a hassle to bother me. These servants don't understand how precious my blood is, as they let me go so easily. The Marquis locked me up for a reason! Not that the Marquis would let all the servants know that the heir to the Marquis' land was on the brink of internal combustion.

Or how much this charity case was needed. Now! I plan to jump into all the big bodies of water I see until I find this dungeon. I know what a dungeon is; it has monsters and other stuff; however, in the book, the Marquis's son had such a pure heart of wanting to protect his love that the dungeon let him have the treasure, no questions or monsters needed. I want to protect myself; shouldn't that be enough? Well, maybe not, so just in case, I grabbed a kitchen cleaver and armed myself with as many pointy rocks as I could.

It's not like I could master the sword or get super buff in the span of a year with no teacher, so this seemed to be the most likely path towards life. In my eavesdropping through the walls of the castle for at least two weeks now, I had gathered together a tiny bundle of information.

The estate had around five different bodies of water, but the pond that the book talked about was in a dark forest. Most of the servants said it was haunted cause someone got lost and died there a hundred years ago.

There were three lakes in the forest estate: the mystical, mythic, and legendary lake. They were pretty trashy names, though, for what sounded like beautiful lakes. So, my adventure began; I started out towards the forest, ready to jump into the first lake I saw. It was visually stunning for a haunted forest, the green grass encompassing all that the eye could see, and the towering pine trees pointed heaven with graceful branches.

I trekked for about five minutes till I came to the first lake. With rocks and a cleaver, jumping into the deep end of a lake was not logical, so I leaped into the shallow end. I waited for at least twenty seconds until I came up for air. Nothing magical happened, so I guess this isn't it, I thought disappointedly. Dripping wet, I slopped and slopped, maybe ten minutes, until I found the next lake, Lake Mythic; it was shimmering a brilliant blue and quite gorgeous if not for all the frogs that croaked around it.

I edged over the muddy bank and slipped twice before I could throw myself in and be fully submerged. Again, I waited twenty seconds, and again, nothing magical happened. There is no way my luck was this terrible that three lakes would procure nothing. I really hope this last lake works. Fifteen minutes dripped by as I dragged myself to the next lake. "This has got to be it," I said, awestruck; the water shimmered golden, and the soft ripples on the lake sparkled like jewels.

"Now, this is legendary," I exclaimed simultaneously, cringing at the over-the-top name. This time, I slowly submerged myself in the water, and just as golden waters closed over the top of my silvery hair, I felt something happen. It was a tremor in the water like an earthquake, and then I felt myself spin slowly, then faster and faster until a whirlpool had swept me up, and everything went white.