The blood had disappeared. The floor ate it up. Leif waved his hand and the body had disappeared, grinning as he took in my reaction. I only watched, unable to even think of anything I could do.

What could I do?

Fight Leif? A foolish idea. Protest? And who would listen? Leif would find joy in getting a reaction out of me. The Duke would laugh on my face. I didn’t even know any of my other family members. I doubted they would help. There were those that might, but they weren’t here.

I kind of realized why people liked the protagonist so much. After all, he would have helped. But the fact of the matter remained.

And I did not have the power to stop Leif.

I had not even received any memories.I might have read the book, but I did not exactly know how to start casting magic. I knew a bit about what to do in later stages, but not how to start without the use of a spellbook or something. And even if I did, Leif was bound to be far more powerful than me.

That was just how the characters were. Aphra was talented enough to not fail his exams, but Leif…he was a character so powerful that even the main character could not defeat him. The conclusion to the series might have been idiotic, but it did establish Leif as a character even more overpowered than the already overpowered mc.

Fighting him was not an option. Not right now.

I looked on, keeping my face level as I tried to calm my reactions. The less I reacted, the more likely that he would leave me alone.

Leif looked at me, examining me in a manner that honestly felt quite derogatory. And then he left with a disappointed expression on his face. Had he really been expecting more of a reaction? What had he wanted exactly? Well, I was glad I did not give it to him.

But now I had to figure out what to do.

I could cry. That felt like an appropriate reaction. Even as I thought of it, I felt tears collect between my eyes, ready to flow at any moment.

But what was the point?

I could cry, and I could scream, but I doubted it could change anything. As much as I may dislike it, I was stuck here. And that meant that I had to deal with it. The path before me was clear, really. The same path that so many protagonists had taken when they came into similar situations.

Take advantage of what I know to survive.

And that brought me back to the book. The thing I had transmigrated into. The kind of book that was read when one had a lot of time and little better to do. A thing that had more plot holes than it had descriptions.

Like, for example, the fact that the magic system went basically unexplained for most of the books! And even when it was explained it didn’t make much sense! This was objectively worse than the average transmigrated side character.

I didn’t even know where to begin getting magic. The protagonist had simply picked up a blade and started casting magic with it. Just like that. The books did mention it did not usually go like that, the protagonist was simply that talented.

I doubted Aphra had talent like that. So what I needed to do was get information about magic instead. The Eldanveir were a ducal family after all, they were sure to have their own magic library. And as one of the members, I should have access to it. I just had to find it.

A knock came from one of the doors, pulling me from my thoughts. I looked up, staring at the double doors that were slowly opening. That was the door that led to the inside of the mansion, wasn’t it? Just who was visiting me?

I still didn’t remember anything about Aphra’s life, and the book barely mentioned his background. If the person that entered knew him, then they might easily tell that his behavior had changed. I had to be very careful about how I acted from now on.

Gulping, I stood up from the bed, trying to put on a brave face as I faced who had come. A man dressed in a black and suit stepped in, even his hands covered with white gloves in a manner that simply screamed that he was from a particular occupation.

This was a butler.

The man’s black eyes roamed the room, gazing past the spot where the body had disappeared, taking in the broken window before landing on me. The eyes narrowed, though I could not quite tell what expression the man was making. The rest of his face remained the same, not letting emotion slip by.

“I shall be serving as Lord Eldor’s butler from this day on.” the butler announced, his head held high in what looked like an effort to look down at me

I stared at him, and he stared back as if expecting something from me. I might have introduced myself, but I had a feeling I would screw it up. The book had mentioned that nobility had a very complicated method of greeting, but it hadn’t gone into depth on how it worked.

Aphra though should have been trained in it. And I was pretty sure the butler was doing it wrong. In fact, I was sure that the butler was deliberately insulting him. Perhaps someone had put him up to it. Another one of Aphra’s brothers?

That was the trope, wasn’t it? That the other family members would come out of the woodwork to put the transmigrated side character down since they didn’t have anything better to do?

The butler’s gaze grew heated as he glared at me, looking like he wanted me to give in or something. A transmigrated character should, of course, use their new knowledge or power to make them give in instead.

Despite my situation, I couldn’t help but grin. Putting arrogant rude people down was my favorite part of a book. And now I got to do it myself.

“Is this your first day?” I asked.

The butler leaned back, visibly taken aback by my question. I clicked my tongue. A visible reaction like that would cause Leif to eat him alive. Perhaps even literally. I guess Aphra wasn’t held in very high regard in the mansion. Even incompetent servants looked down on him.

“Yes, but I do not see how that has anything to do with you.” the butler said, raising his head even higher for some reason. “Lord Eldor has instructed me to inform you that no maid shall be arriving anytime soon. There have been far too many losses to allow servants into such a vulnerable position.”

I grinned. This guy was either an idiot, or someone was setting him up. “Did the Duke ask you to call him Lord Eldor then?”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

The butler frowned. “I do not understand this line of questioning. I am simply following custom -”

I started laughing. I couldn’t help it. This guy was so clueless. This had to be a trap set by someone. I bet they were just waiting for him to say something like this in front of the Duke.

“This really is your first day, isn’t it.” I could sympathize. This was my first day too. “Take it as advice from my friend, call the Duke only by his title. Or call him your grace.”

The butler harrumphed. “I have served many great families before being handpicked by Lord -”

“And would those families happen to follow royal traditions?” I asked, raising my eyebrow. I wonder why the Duke picked him up and then chose not to educate him. Perhaps this was a test or something. How strange. This kind of test seemed really idiotic.

Well, whatever it was, I didn’t really have it in me to find out. I had more important things to do. The butler and his death probably had some purpose in the Duke’s evil plan to take over the world. Cause just about everyone did.

Not that the plan always panned out.

“Don’t you know that the Eldanveir stand in open rebellion against the Emperor? Do you still think we would follow royal traditions? Trust me, do not show any indication that you hold loyalty to the Emperor. The Duke is paranoid enough to kill you for following royal traditions in his palace.” I said, making it seem as if I was doing this for his benefit.

Of course, the butler would see right through my acting. But that would make him think that he had discovered my secret and just think I was putting on an act for him. And that would, in turn, excuse any abnormal behavior he noticed from me.

After all, I would obviously act abnormally since I was trying to put on an act. Even if it was his first day, he might eventually hear rumors that contradicted what he saw here. And if he thought that differed from what he saw me act like…well he just might decide to report it to the Duke. I couldn’t have him pull something like that.

“I see.” the butler curled up his lips, but my words had probably stuck a cord somewhere. How someone could not know that the Eldanveir stood against the Emperor was beyond me. There were signs of a civil war being on the horizon across the world even decades before the book’s timeline.

I frowned. Wait, did I know that? No, it had to be close to be close to the book’s timeline. Leif had looked like a teenager and that meant that Aphra was one too. And that meant that they were at least close to the time when they had to attend the Academy. The book’s timeline had to be near.

I sat down on the bed and folded my legs, trying to act as cool as I could. “Now if you are done with your stammering, fetch me a book on stealth. I wish to practice my magic.”

The butler stared at me open-mouthed before he composed himself. “Of course, my lord.”

A portal appeared beside him as he sent his hand into it and pulled a book out of it. I blinked. That was spatcial magic. Now I understood why the Duke had got this guy. That magic was rare. What bad luck. If he had a less rare magic, then he would have not caught the Duke’s attention. A pity really. And a wonder why the Duke had let him go bumbling around like that.

I took the book from him and returned back to the bed, eager to read it. This was a real life magic book in my hand. But the butler looked like he had something else to say.

Bowing low he said. “The palace shall be acquiring new maids this evening. I shall ensure that one of them is sent to you, my lord.”

“If you shall allow me to take your leave, my lord.” the butler said before moving to leave

“There are two people you need to take care around.” I said, unprompted. “The first is the Duke. Mention anything related to the royal palace around him or display even a hint of disloyalty, and he will kill you.”

“The second is Leif. The bast- I mean, the young lord is the most talented of the Duke’s sons. And his hobby is torturing people. Show any reaction to him, and he will not hesitate to torture you for his entertainment.”

The butler’s body had gone very, very still as I spoke. I wondered if he actually believed what I said. The guy was not gonna survive around here if he believed a random person’s words. But I was not doing this for him.

“Oh, and he has a serious mana addiction. Hide your power around him, or he will eat you. The boy has little to no self-control.”

The butler looked up at me as if wondering why I had spoken so much. After all, it was foolish to do so. The Duke’s action of not giving him information might as well have been sentencing him to death. Why would I, then, give him so much advice?

The answer was simple. I was testing the ‘cheat’. The butler’s tricks and change of heart had made me think of it. Fae magic was a magic of stories. There wasn’t much about how to use it in the books, but there was one line about how to activate it. A Story was formed when a person began to act like a protagonist.

What I was doing was basically mimicking so many protagonists. Just giving advice to random people that might save their lives. That should help me gauge how effective it was. And also, maybe just maybe call for help. I didn’t think I was going to make it out of here by myself.

That just didn’t seem to be an option. This entire continent was the Duke’s territory. I rather doubted I would make it very far even if I managed to leave the estate. I needed help. And there was but one person I could think of that could help me with that.

The protagonist’s overpowered supporter, the Monarch of Justice. And I would need a good Story to increase my chances of getting an audience with him.

The butler left without another word, looking quite confused. The fellow had clearly not taken my advice about hiding his emotions cause they were on clear display over there.

I opened the book he had conjured the second he left. A black page looked back at me, not a word written on it. Of course, it was that way. The spell storage might look like a book, but it was not. The black thing was actually a three-dimensional representation of the spell, containing the information that was needed to cast.

As long as one had the corresponding affinity, they could see it. I held it up to eye level, trying to see anything inside it. How did I pour mana into it exactly? I couldn’t even sense the bloody thing!

I tapped the book, trying to see if I could prompt a reaction. And I did. The second I touched the book’s page, something was sucked out of me. A thing that I was pretty sure wasn’t in my body before poured into the book…and poured right back out. A strong feeling of rejection emerged within my mind as the power returned.

That had to be my mana. But that didn’t make sense. The spellbook had rejected me? Aphra had the darkness element in the book. The spellbook was clearly of the darkness element too. But, it was clearly untrue. The spell storage had rejected me.

That meant that I did not have the darkness element. But that was ridiculous. I stood up, walking over to the first door, the one that led to the bathroom- no that was the closet. But no…it couldn’t be…how was Aphra so poor? The room was just large enough for me to walk in and grab my clothes! Where were the mirrors to double check the outfit? The tiny table with the handkerchiefs, the watch collection…My watch collection!

I took a breath. The situation was getting to me. I can’t let minor problems like a small closet space distract me from more important worries, like my survival. The second door led to the hallway, so I opened the third door and walked into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror.

Staring back at me was, of course, an unfamiliar face. For a moment I was just taken aback by how beautiful it was. Blonde hair that curled forward, flitting against red eyes that I was sure would attract attention. This was the kind of face actors wished they had.

But it was also a problem. The face held great similarity to what was pretty much the only face that had been described in the book. Blonde hair that seemed to shimmer like gold, a sign of the royal family. Red eyes that blazed forth with fire, the symbol of the Rose family, who had been at war with the Eldanveir for over a decade now.

I wonder why the Duke had even kept me alive till now. I had to be causing him great pain just being alive. After all, I had not inherited his bloodline. I had gotten my bloodline from my mother.

A combined bloodline of Eldanveir’s two enemies. That was why darkness had rejected me. If I had her bloodline then it stood to reason I had her element too. I had the blade element, same as the royal family the Duke hated so much.

I really was going to die, wasn’t I?