It’s just one minor demon, why are you all panicking?

- The Wicked Witch Lucillia at the Crown Prince’s third wedding ceremony

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I was back to laying on the bed, kicking my legs lazily over the side. The hospital slippers really weren’t my style, but neither were the rest of the clothes my new identity owned… Troubling. I would have to go shopping sooner rather than later.

The key to casting grand magic was looking like you should be able to do it.

I had sent off Francesca, and she was now preparing the car outside. Hopefully I would be able to leave here soon, but right now, I just needed time to think. To plan.

Monitors and gages were still beeping all over the room, which really messed with my thinking, so I cast a quick Silence glamour over them. I had enough magic for that at least.

Then I kicked the slippers off and slumped backward, throwing myself into the bedding. I had a lot to consider. A proper conquest required a thorough understanding of the target, and the more I considered mine, the more intrigued I grew.

The Martine Republic.

I tasted the name on my tongue. I liked it enough, no need to change it once it was mine. And it was just the sort of place I liked. Isolated, unstable, and in dire need of maintenance. Luckily for the people, I was in a generous mood—I would oblige.

It was a small island nation in the Caribbean Sea, with a population of around two million people, and only one real city, located in the island’s central valley. The rest was all mountains and jungle, with farms and smaller towns sprinkled throughout.

A relative backwater, but one with some resources of note. The mountains had many mines in them, which were the backbone of the economy. Some things didn’t change that much, no matter what world you were in.

But still… I kept stumbling into new concepts and terms as I went through the information in my mind. A million people could fit into one city on an island? And all this was somehow supported by imports and food aid? Absurd.

And this Caribbean Sea… It had a history of conquest. Or colonialism, as they said it here. This island had in fact been passed around quite a bit among major nations, as a sort of hot potato. The result: a rather split population. French, Spanish, English… they all had a place here. Some more equal than others.

United under a king. Or dictator, as they called it here. His father had been the first independent ruler of this island, so the passing from father to son should make the system clear enough to all. Apparently though, he was still just a “president”. And this was a “Republic”, despite there being no votes. Or elections.

Shame. I could have probably done well in those. Just say the right things, bribe the right pockets, and make the rivals… dissapear. I had… magic. Something that apparently didn’t exist in this world. A priceless advantage.

And a family—they had influence too. What semblance remained of that right now, I was not sure.

We used to be a favored ally of the president’s mostly due to our construction company. Whenever the president wanted some grand monolith or huge tower, our family was the one that provided.

Until now. Just why had the president’s son demanded that our nice skyscraper be canceled? I looked from the window at the huge black monolith, which stood out like a black stake struck down from the heavens into the center of the city. Such a shame, I really did like the style…

I thought it was a rather fitting family for me. I did have a good eye for giant buildings, and had never gotten to build any in my last world. Apart from the flying doom fortress incident, but I had pruned that from my memory thoroughly.

I rolled over on the bed. “I swear… If the president’s son keeps messing with my big tower…” What was his name again? Enrique? And why was that strangely familiar, both in my new memories, and my old ones?

It was all faintly tugging at the back of my brain like there was more hidden behind this—not just the memories of my new body.

But how could I have memories of this place? Was it… no, what was that annoying girl called again? Felipe? I frowned. The annoying girl from what?

A book?

I jumped up from my bed and paced around the room. I began channeling my mana, prodding at my soul. If I had the magic that came with my soul here… did that mean what I think it did?

I went to the room’s blank wall and held my hand out. “Soulbound storage: Bookshelf of Horrors.”

A red swirl gradually became more and more solid, then poofed into black butterflies which flew away through the window, revealing a bookshelf left behind. The name was a bit misleading; it was just to make the magic more effective. I didn’t really read much horror, rather it was romance books I turned to when bored.

Yes, of course, I had used my one soulbound storage place for a bookshelf—one had to have priorities and pleasures in life. As for the romance focus—I had no guilty pleasures. I gave up on all guilt long ago.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

I thumbed through the backs of the books, searching for that title I vaguely recalled. I sorted the shelf by colour, so I had to do it one-by-one.

“There: A Maritime Romance — Author: Anonymous.”

I took the book out, dismissed the rest of the bookshelf, then began skimming through, sitting down back in the bed. The details matched. It was the names that had clued me in—the book was rather vague in describing the setting. I certainly hadn’t gotten the impression it was a world like this.

But it was unmistakable. Eerie. The book was telling a story about this very island, and the people on it. I could now even match the names with my new memories. And at the end of it all, when the current president died… the island was torn apart in a bloody civil war.

I shuddered. Not because of that, but because the book really was rather dull and boring—I was sure I had thrown it away. Really, who ends a romance book with the main couple getting hitched, then abandoning their home to war in order to gallivant about abroad?

But the main reason I disliked it was because the main character, a certain Felipe who I could now recall by face in this world, had been so damn punchable. I had wanted to put my fist through the damn book when I was reading it. Wait, was all this just reality finally obliging?

“Why are you here now…” I mused, shutting the book. I had found my new family mentioned in it, but not me specifically. Maybe I just had to read it more thoroughly?

There were two possibilities.

Either the book was somehow based on this reality, a sort of grim prophetic message—though one with a rather talentless author.

Or—this was a fabricated reality: a fake. Somehow created out of this book. The book wasn’t clear about the setting, so either this was what the author’s notes had been like, or reality was filling in the blanks somehow.

Which was it? If the Goddess was involved…

I peeked out of the window by my bedside. If this was all fabricated… Maybe I should poke at the little details, and see how it all came apart? I doubted it could be a foolproof system.

The air outside was heavy with the tropical heat and humidity. I squinted my eyes against the sun, so damned bright—I was not a morning person. The birds were flying in the sky, the city spread below me, and the ocean lay further away—an endless blue expanse.

Looked real enough to me. The people walking about all over were another point for reality, it would take a lot of effort to create all this. But a she just might…

One of those queer vehicles drove past the building. I frowned. Right, a car, a Magicless vehicle powered by… little explosions inside there? Right. Seems likely. I chuckled.

“As a witch, I know a little something about explosions—” I said, speaking to the air around me. Maybe someone was listening. “—and they do not work like that. Why are all those vehicles not burning wrecks? Was this really the best you could come up with? Come on, I believe you can do better.”

Maybe the backstory of this all was also deeply flawed? I considered what I now remembered of history. Again, I frowned. “A little island like that, conquered all those places?”

I blinked. If it was true, I could almost respect it. But this place was also a remnant of that ruin, and at least here, things hadn’t ended well. Or started. Really, now that I thought about it, most points of history seemed to be rather nasty.

I really needed to hurry up and take charge.

One strike against reality, then one neutral. Maybe I should consider something more fundamental. Society?

My eyes widened as I remembered the number one thing I had been wondering about. Weren’t a lot of the big countries here… Then I really laughed. “Democracy? Really? Letting the foolish masses decide things?” I rubbed tears out of my eyes. “Now that’s a laugh.”

Then I stopped, remembering more details. Uneducated? Now that I thought about it… Wasn’t every adult on this island able to read? I blinked, falling silent. How would that work out?

I shook my head, tabling the thought for later. Inconclusive. I would have to think on this later.

Then I was shaken out of my thoughts as the door opened, and a nurse stepped in, hairbun bobbing up and down in rhythm with her thick glasses. “Excuse me, I thought I heard something from here?” She asked, peering around curiously.

I hurriedly dismissed my silence glamour, hid the book behind my back and waved her off “I just remembered something amusing—an old joke.” I hopped out of the bed “Are the permissions cleared? Can I leave? I really feel fine.”

She frowned at me, then took out a notepad. “Well, the papers are cleared, and we would like to have you come by later for a checkup. Of course, we can’t impose on your family, but you two should be able to leave soon.”

You two? Right, at the car crash, hadn’t there been—

And then a girl stepped into the room and my heart stopped.

I recognized the girl’s face. Felipe, I couldn’t remember the surname: main character of the book I had just trashed. A girl from less wealthy circumstances, who had suddenly come into a position of great influence. The rising star in our social scene.

She had skin more tanned than mine and light brown hair, and a decent figure too—but that was all irrelevant really.

It was those eyes… I knew them far, far too well. I would not mistake that blue glow anywhere, nor that look within. She spoke only one word, which filled me with dread.

“Lucillia?” She asked, staring at me.

My mind was in turmoil and panic, but I showed none of it on my face. Shit, if I hadn’t dismissed that glamour just now… My eyes did not have a permanent tell-tale glow like hers, they were only tinged when I used significant amounts of mana. I looked different now, there should be no hints. I was… changed.

I was not Lucillia anymore. This was a new life.

Forcing my body to calm with sheer willpower, I quirked a calm eyebrow at her and cocked my head.

“Ummm—excuse me? My name is Isabel? You should know that” I said, using the full power of my acting repertoire.

It was not a lie—I was now her. She knew it was not a lie.

A fatal mistake. My saving grace.

She flinched, something complex happening behind her face, then slowly exhaled. “Right, sorry. I think I hit my head really hard earlier.”

Then she turned and stalked out of the room, grimacing. Her eyes left a faint afterglow of holy light behind, a trail that slowly faded behind her. I watched her leave silently.

Well—shit.

That made things a lot more complicated.