A very pretty shade of red filled my vision. It was quite fascinating, since I never expected to be still conscious after such a hard fall. It must have been like... 7 stories? Surely in my mind that always meant instant death. However unfortunately for me I could still feel all the broken bones and half my face smashed into the concrete. However the pain didn't last forever. A wave of heat started spreading all over my body, taking away all the unpleasant pain. The world around me felt like it crawled to a stop. I could clearly see distraught people with phones in their hands. Are they trying to snap a picture of poor little me? Or are they actually trying to be helpful by calling an ambulance?

No matter what their intent is, it won't be my problem in a short while. My consciousness will fade along with my life. I have never really believed in afterlife. The only thing I had a resemblance of faith in was the karmic reincarnation. However as a cynical pragmatic I've accepted that the world isn't a nice place and instead of being reincarnated to live as a tree, there will simply be nothing. Pitch black nothingness.

However~ what is this strange feeling? It feels strangely similar. The blinding light of the car headlights. Screaming of the passerby humans.

"One last push Your Grace. I can see the head clearly."

Are you serious? Is someone actually giving birth right now? It sounds muffled but still quite close. As if those voices were standing right... Ah... the light.

His consciousness passed into the blinding light. In the same moment however a new life was born. A life destined to be filled with strife and struggle. The future Young Duchess was born. The first daughter and also the first of her name; Rebecca Lovelace.

A soft moaning echoed throughout the chamber. Wet nurse making slow and steady steps towards the mother to present her the product of her hard won battle.

"It's a girl Your Grace." wet nurse carrying the newborn noted.

"And a mighty beautiful one at that!" her assistant added.

Taking the wrapped babe into her arms, the Duchess couldn't do anything else than smile. "Rebecca..." she said whilst stroking the babes short hair. "I'm sure you have the potential..." She stroked her hair one last time and gave the child away.

"You have lost way too much blood. You must rest now, Your Grace."

The Duchess nodded and waved the assistant wet nurse away with the babe.

"I will do so. Make sure to inform the father of these news."

However the father, Duke Lovelace, did not even bother to visit neither his wife, nor the newborn child of his. Under the excuse of being busy with work, he gathered information about their well being from the servants.

On the other hand Young Duke, an older brother of Rebecca was quite ecstatic about the new member of the household. He visited the babe on every occasion he had.

---

I wiped my eyes several times. However it still didn't change the fact that I was currently sitting on the cold wooden floor playing with what seems to be a plush doll. I tried pinching myself just to see whether I was lucid. However the pain felt quite real. Now what the hell is happening. I have a body of a small child.

Looking around me confused me even more. The room didn't feel quite like the ones I was used to. Maybe a European household? It was a kitchen from what I could distinguish. Wooden ladles and steel pots neatly stored underneath stone counters. There was also a kiln with clay tiled top. Most likely for the cooking. Very rustical. Despite the old feeling this place has, I feel like it has to cost quite a bit to get a kitchen this size. Who even needs kitchen this big?

The massive wooden doors to the room flew open. A small boy with dark and shiny hair flew in."Becca!"

Uh oh... I can't quite describe why, but my body moved on it's own, crawling around the countertop to hide from the boy.

"Ic hæbbe þe nu.~!" He quickly ran up behind me and picked me up without any problems. I felt rush of excitement. A short laugh escaped my mouth before I composed myself again. Who the fuck are you? And why are you touching me.

"Ōh, hit þyncð þæt þū eart swīðe sprǣcful tōdæg, Becca." The boy noted as he carried me away.

Becca? That's a girls name boy. I'm... wait, who am I? A flash of realization hit me. It felt though as if I suddenly became sentient once again. What is happening? Who am I? What am I doing here? My mind filled with questions I could not answer in time.

My hand stretched out. A pool of blood forming beneath me. I've died. Soundless tears started flowing from my eyes. This caught the boy off guard, he started panicking.

"Hā, hā, hwæt is onfōng? Hwæt is wrang, Becca?"

Even if he asks, he surely has to know that I have no way of telling him. He just wiped off my tears and carried on through the hall. We met Tila, an old servant who took care of us.

"Oh, þǣr eart þū, Mīn Hlāford. Hit is tīma tō bæðe þǣre Hlāforde."

There is no way I understood a single word. The Young Duke just nodded and went along with the servant.

I just keep staring at my crotch. Each time I switch focus on the boy sitting across me I find something strange. He has something between his legs. However I'm on the other hand missing something. The gutteral feeling of dread I have when watching empty space between my legs bothers me quite a lot. Then the realization finally hits me... I'm missing a DICK! In panic I try reaching there, stumbling with my hands in search for something.

"Geong Dama! Þū splæst þæt wæter eallum ymbe, þū mōst nē tō dōn!" The servant lady berated me. I turned my head back towards the boy. Teary eyes on the brink of crying.

"Tila, Bēcca wæs swā þeah swā pleoþende!"

"Wīfmann scēal þurh æfstan beon leornod tō rihtum gewunian fram byrþenne, Mīn Hlāford." She puffed out her chest, trying to look confident in her teachings. 

No matter how long I listened in to the speech, I couldn't decipher a single word. Sometimes it almost sounded like English, however whenever I thought I might understand them, another sentence completely destroyed my confidence.

Feeling defeated I once again looked downwards. Just to be met with just another defeat. Where is my cock...

---

With every passing day my consciousness returns back to me. I finally understand the situation I find myself in. I have died and came back as the daughter of Duke Lovelace. The boy accompanying me for most of my waking hours is my brother Corbin. Even the language seems clearer now. The servant Tila comes by everyday and takes me around the mansion and teaches me how to speak. It seems that both of my parents aren't in the estate at the moment. The only reason I know how they look right now is thanks to the portrait hanging in the entrance hall of our mansion.

"Do you know who that is Becca?" Tila asked me while pointing to the woman on the portrait.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Mother." I responded sharply.

"Yes, that is the Duchess Morrigan Lovelace, your mother Becca. And that over there?" She pointed right besides her to the man standing proudly.

"Father." Again I responded sharply.

"Correct again, the Duke Johan Lovelace, your father. Before he became the Duke of these lands, your daddy used do be a very influential merchant. Same as your grandfather The House Forger, Becca."

"I see..." My eyes still lingered on the pair depicted in the painting.

My mother, Morrigan, is a beauty without a match. In my past life she would definitely be out of my league by thousands of kilometers. With long dark hair, which in light of the portrait turn to a shade of purple hang low below her waist. A perfectly symmetrical face with two light blue jewel like eyes.

Next to her my father, Johan, who's sun kissed red hair I've inherited. His eyes were cold and dark. A far cry to the jewels that my mother possessed.

My brother Corbin and I were perfect mix of both of them. While he was born with the dark and commanding eyes of the Duke and shiny dark hair of the Duchess, my crimson hair was matched with the light blue jewels.

After touring the entire mansion with Tila, we've returned back to my chambers.

"Now does the Young Lady want to play with dolls?"

"I don't want to."

"What would Young Lady like to do then?"

Ever since I've gained sentience I tried to not rouse too much suspicion. Even though I was capable of speaking in full sentences, I thought that doing so would only rouse suspicion from such a young child. I also tried to play as other children would, however I couldn't force myself to play with dolls.

"I want to play knights with Corrin."

Tila gasped for breath from my suggestion.

"My Lady... What about the tea set? Shall we brew some tea and invite Mr.Bear?"

Mr.Bear is a stuffed doll I sleep with. Surprisingly it's the only thing from this clearly girly themed room I didn't mind as I used to sleep with a stuffed bunny in my previous life.

"No I want to play with Corrin!" I commanded.

"My Lady, that's simply not possible right now. Young Duke's schedule is packed with lessons now. We shouldn't bother him."

It's true that I've been seeing a lot less of him. I sighed and nodded.

"Tea..."

"Splendid idea My Lady! I'll call for it right away!"

I played pretend for what felt like eternity. After that we ate supper and she tried singing me to sleep. However she got tired earlier than me and fell asleep. This was my golden opportunity. Tila told me countless times about how this mansion has a splendid little library, that my mother built. However she never let me touch any of those books.

I tried sneaking out as quietly as I could. It was dark already, and the corridor was poorly lit, so my eyes couldn't adjust well. The mansion at this hour looked scary. With no servants roaming the halls and the deadly quiet I felt like I was in one of those B horror movies.

Finally, the library, I climbed the cabinet next to the door, so that I could reach the doorknob. Thud! FUCK that hurts! The sound of my body hitting the floor echoed along with the screeching opening of the door. I really hope no one heard that. With the fear of getting caught I gathered all my strength to get back on my feet and hide inside the room. Clack. Closing myself in the room meant cutting off the faint light of the candles outside. However I knew that... Yeah still there. I took a candle and matchsticks from the table right besides the entry.

The light danced upon the majestic bookcases filled with leather books. My eyes glittered. Back in my previous life, I've always been an avid reader. It didn't really matter whatever the genre the book was, I just loved laying my eyes upon the endless sea of words. It might have been just because of my height, but the enormous size of this in fact little library made me search for words on how to describe it.

"Majestic" was the one I lowly muttered and settled on.

Strolling through the bookcases I settled on a random book and laid it out on the ground.

"Drycræftas on Þeorian and Þēawian"

Of course I couldn't read a single word. Flipping through the book I noticed there were also illustrations. The first one was a human anatomy body. This one I was very knowledgeable in. After all I studied this in my first semester. What caught my eye in this anatomical illustration specifically was the dissection. What I assumed to be the liver was enlarged and didn't look anything like a normal one. It had a spiraling shape similar to that of a snail's shell. "Blōdhwīlare."

Continuing my listing through the book, there were interesting occult circles, flowers and weirdly drawn disproportionate humans. I took the liberty to make fun of these drawings in my head.

Click, Clack! The door to the room opened suddenly. What? Huh?! My hands quickly stumbled for the candle and I hastily blew the fire. A figure dressed in all black entered the room and looked straight at me. My heart stopped. I couldn't clearly discern who just entered. However I knew I would suffer consequences if a maid found me roaming the mansion this late at night. The worse case being, this isn't a maid. The person slowly stepped towards me and felt fear. My body instinctively crawling backwards hit the bookshelf. The mysterious person stopped right above me and crouched down.

"Hello my little bird. What are you doing here and at such hour?" It felt as thought I knew the voice. It was a soothing angelic voice, as soft as silk.

"I'm reading..." I replied shakily.

The person reached out to me and picked me up. She smelled of lilies and gooseberry. Stretching out her arm she flicked towards the candle, the candle knot flickered and light again danced in the room. I was hit with the smell of burning oil.

"Now were you? Magics in Theory and Practice..." Now illuminated by light it was easy to discern who this person was.

"Mother?"

"Yes my darling?"

"Would you teach me how to read?" The Duchess, my mother smiled slightly.

---

With the arrival of my mother, she personally took up my reading lessons. With her help I've been able to read the Magics book in a year's time. A feat of course deemed quite unusual. As children usually take up literature classes at age 7. My mother seemed utmost pleasured, thinking her child has to be a genius.

I was quite excited to learn that this world had the concept of magic. However my excitement dissipated when I learned that using magic was way more complicated than just screaming some words and pointing my finger.

"Firstly, Becca, Magic has some requirements. First one is called a sacrifice or also kindling. You can't create matter from where there is none. Second is the catalyst, a place where Magic matter gathers, scientifically we call this matter potentia or vis. Third requirement is the grounding of the magic, in this case it's the casters body. Do you understand Becky?"

I nodded and pointed at the spiral organ in the place of liver.

"What's this for then?"

"This is the Blōdhwīlare, a organ that cleanses your blood from tar. When you cast a spell, the grounding material, your body, is tainted with tar. Without this organ you'd die after only casting handful of simple spells."

"Does everyone have it?"

"No. This organ is the privilege of mages. Only those coming from their blood have it."

"So if you're not from a family of mages, you can't learn magic?"

"There are ways for people to use magic without it." She flipped a several pages onto the one where the disproportionate humans are. Then she points at the devices strapped to their waist, which I've previously missed.

"These constructions work the same way Blōdhwīlare does. However the procedure of attaching it to the body is a horrible one." She then silenced herself for a while. "And as you can see, the people not used to having potentia within their bodies mutate quite faster than those who are do."

So they weren't just poorly drawn humans. A chill ran down my spine. The figures with long reaching arms and crooked legs now filled my mind.

"Do I have a Blōdhwīlare mother?"

"Unfortunately we still don't know that..."