I thought my head only hurt this bad after a memory dump, Liliana mentally complained as she left the room that had been devoted to her lessons. Secretly referred to as ‘The Torture Chamber’ by Liliana. She had been so excited to learn more about the world she’d found herself in, and she couldn’t deny that she had, but at a cost.

The cost was dealing with Justine Beckett for no less than six hours a day. She was grateful that she only had schooling for four days a week. If it were anymore Liliana wouldn’t be able to promise that both of them would walk out of that room alive.

That letter opener was looking rather promising, Liliana thought darkly as she rubbed a sore spot on her back from where Miss Beckett had hit her with a thin switch. Miss Beckett didn’t just teach History, Mathematics, Mana Theory, Languages, and Calligraphy. No, she also taught Etiquette. And Dancing.

[Dancing] Reached Level 8!

[Etiquette] Reached Level 9!

Liliana glared at the notifications. They didn’t pop up during her lessons, she had too much attention devoted to trying to please the ever unhappy Miss Beckett. Her first month in this new life she’d gotten out of dancing practice using her health as an excuse, even if her health was most definitely recovered. Now though she’d been pushed through an entire week of the lessons as Miss Beckett tried to make up for lost time by running her ragged. It was a mix of her sadistic lessons and Liliana’s previous experience with the skill that had gotten it to such a high level in a week.

At least my Dexterity capped out two days in. Getting hit by her damn switch even got me a point in Vitality. Though I think that was a pity point. And somehow dancing well increased my Charisma, or was it the etiquette? Liliana was lost in her thoughts and didn’t notice the figure entering the same hallway until she was feet away.

“Hello, dear sister,” A deceptively suave voice, deeper than any fourteen-year-old boy had a right to, interrupted her thoughts.

Alistair Thornebell-Rosengarde

Level: 53

Rank: 8

“Alistair,” Liliana responded curtly, meeting the boy's golden eyes. His complexion was far darker than hers, a gift of genetics and frequent time spent under the harsh rays of the sun. The gold jewelry he wore, strapped around his wrists and forearm, circling his fingers, dangling from his neck, and even dripping off his ears contrasted beautifully with his warm tawny brown skin. If the color didn’t pair so wonderfully with his skin and eyes and symbolize his affinity for Light magic, Liliana would call it tacky. However, no matter how much she detested the boy before her she couldn’t fault his fashion choice. Or, more likely, his mother’s taste.

His golden eyes flashed with surprise, as it had the past three times they’d run into each other and Liliana hadn’t immediately followed him around like a lost puppy showering him in praise. Oh, the urge was there, the vestiges of the original Liliana pushing for that, but who she was now would never follow around a self-important prick like him. It might be dangerous for her cover but she was too prideful and too stubborn by half, to play the part of a simpering girl.

“Still failing your classes?” Alistair tried to cover his surprise as a haughty smirk dropped onto his face. Liliana wanted desperately to smack it off of him. He always liked to hold her struggling in classes over her head. Even if she was now entirely certain that she was ahead of where she should be, the Governess was simply trying to belittle her by presenting problems out of her depth to make her seem stupid.

What did I expect though? As a villainess, the entire world is pitted against me until I break, Liliana thought with no small amount of bitterness. She couldn’t let the darkness such treatment fostered take hold. If she did she’d fall into the same trap the original Liliana did. And she did not fancy an early death via beheading.

“I am doing fine, I appreciate your concern dear Brother,” Liliana responded cooly, her own mask of cold indifference in place. Her Mother's advice from a life passed ringing in her head.

Don’t give someone trying to bring you down any ground. They’ll latch onto the smallest bit of weakness and tug for all their worth until they unravel you. You’re an unbreakable wall for them to shatter themselves against. And then when they’re least expecting it, strike back ten times as hard.

It had been advice given to her when she’d suffered bullies before cancer had robbed her of even that childhood experience. Some had found it amusing to mock her for having someone else's heart, eager to attack the ‘sick girl’. An easy target. Her mother’s advice had worked then, and it would work now against a similarly immature adversary. She wouldn't give Alistair anything to dig his claws into, and eventually, he would become bored of trying to get a rise out of a dormant volcano.

“That’s not what I heard Miss Beckett telling Mother the other day,” Alistair taunted, trying to drag a reaction from her. Liliana merely stared at him for a few awkward moments before she shrugged delicately.

“I’m simply behind in my studies after my sickness, it is no matter and will be resolved soon enough,” Liliana assured her brother, acting as if there was no double meaning hidden behind his words.

And resolved it would be. As soon as Liliana could level and get her first Tame. Her best bet at making her life here easier was by becoming something of use to her Father. The only reason Miss Beckett could make Liliana’s life awful with impunity was because she had no favor from the Duke or Duchess. Getting the favor of the Duchess was a lost cause. The woman hated her through and through. Getting the favor of the Duke was an attainable goal. A difficult one that held its share of dangers, but one that was achievable nonetheless.

Until then she had to grit her teeth and not make waves. Had to suffer through hours of mentally and physically painful lessons, had to spend her afternoons sweating over her lesson books until the words swam in her eyes. Had to squeeze in her clandestine training in every evening. Had to spend late nights reading the ancient tomes she’d scrounged from the hidden room in the library. Had to train with her Mana Manipulation to try to learn new spells. Had to wake up before the sun rose every morning so she could do her practice sets and stretch out painful muscles.

Her days were long and arduous, yet there was never enough time in a day for her. Her sleep had suffered, and the memories she was still integrating were pushed in at increasing speeds to make up for it. Astrid left a vial of the pain tincture by her bed every night for her inevitable morning migraines.

It was by and far the worst month of her life, both of them. Yet it would all be worth it. She never forgot what she was working towards, the power to avoid her fated death. The power to defeat the likes of Alistair, a Hero destined to end her life with his blade. Every time she saw him it was another reminder that she was working on a deadline, the sand trickling down with each passing day. More than her boons or any aid from a fickle Goddess, she had the edge over her peers, because she wasn’t fighting to kill, she was fighting to live. And nothing called out to the most primal of human instincts than the grasping hands of the Reaper. Nothing could spur a human into feats unimaginable than fear for ones life.

“Oh, what? Are you going to become a genius overnight?” Alistair laughed as if she’d just told the most entertaining of jokes, his guffaws filling the hallway. Liliana’s fists clenched as anger roared to life in her chest and she clenched her teeth to avoid letting loose the stream of vitriol boiling on her tongue.

Can I stab him? Can I? Liliana asked in her mind, hand twitching as if to grab a nonexistent dagger. Liliana took a deep breath to corral her emotions, her control holding on by the barest of threads. She knew it wasn’t the smart thing to do, not the sensible thing by far, but she so badly wanted to fling a [Light Burst] in his face and watch him choke on his own laughter.

No one in her family knew she’d Awoken. Only two people knew other than Liliana herself, Astrid and Silas. They had both agreed to keep it a secret, with very little convincing needed. It was a bit sad that her treatment was such common knowledge that others wouldn’t hesitate to lie for her simply because they knew the information would just be used to hurt her. Didn’t mean that Liliana wasn’t prepared to use that very fact to her advantage. If she had to play the part of a poor, sad, and hurt little girl who was unloved by her entire family to get what she needed. Well. She would play that part, and it wasn’t even a lie.

“No, not a genius,” Liliana responded simply. And she wasn’t, that much was obvious. Her boons helped her, sure. She leveled up skills easier and gained Stat points at a rate that couldn’t be matched. But she was no genius or young prodigy. No, everything she had she worked for. She bled, sweated, and cried for.

“Don’t you have a sword lesson soon, dearest brother?” Liliana asked, her voice carrying a bit of sickly sweetness to it. Her face kept the same cold mask as Alistair calmed his laughter and fixed her with another confused look. She stared back, meeting his eyes until he blinked and looked away with a scowl.

“Yea, I do. I spent enough time messing with trash already.“ Alistair bit out before he stalked away, his irritation at his failure to get a rise from her obvious.

Liliana’s mask finally broke when his back was turned and a sharp smile fitted in place on her lips. As much as her anger had demanded she fight him, with her words or fists, she couldn’t deny that it felt good to win a fight without stooping to his level.

You have gained a point in Wisdom!

Oh, so the System agrees it was a good choice. That’ll put me at 20! Liliana’s smile morphed into one of actual happiness as she looked at the newest notification. She’d gotten a point of Wisdom several days ago after figuring a particularly difficult hypothetical question.

It meant she now had three capped-out stats, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Dexterity. Speed and Endurance were tied at 17, not surprising as she tended to train them both at the same time by running frantically from Silas. The man had found her ‘game’ so funny that he’d turned it into actual training for her. They now spent an hour each day with Liliana trying to flee the man in the forest. They’d keep going until the hour was up or Liliana managed to bring the man down, suffice to say she hadn’t been able to end the training before the hour mark yet.

Liliana started to walk again towards her room, her body on autopilot as she thought over her stats. Her Charisma was her lowest stat much to her irritation. She hadn’t cared about it originally, thinking it was a fairly useless stat other than the benefit it gave to two of her Skills. Until she’d found out that Bonding was affected by Charisma directly. The lower the stat the worse the chance of a successful Bond.

It was part of why she hadn’t been pushing as hard as she could to go after some level one creatures. The book she’d found the information on stats in had also stated that raising stat points through training after level one became far more difficult than simply leveling. It hadn’t stated the exact curve of difficulty but the book seemed to think that leveling was more profitable overall, and a better time investment after level one. However, it would be foolish of her to give up the free and easy stat points she got by training at level one, especially since it has alluded that stat training afterward was far more difficult. The book had said that the exception was combat, but Liliana wasn’t sure why. She theorized it was because you were fighting something to the death which increased the stakes. She couldn’t say for sure, however, as she hadn’t found any conclusive information. Sometimes when reading it felt like the books assumed she knew something she didn’t, but she wasn’t sure what she didn’t know to find out.

Liliana was under a time limit herself, she had less than two years now until she could get into the Academy where she’d have access to rare and valuable information not available anywhere else. She had less than eight years until she reached her destined death, and likely when the ‘great evil’ Vita had set her after appeared. She was willing to spend the necessary time to raise her stat points during level one, but it had been nearly two months and she hadn’t maxed them all. She knew from her time with the game that it took maybe a day to level to ten. Which would give her 63 stat points. In a single day.

The main reason she hadn’t set off already to stab a Slime and get the free level and points was she knew she wouldn’t be able to slip away from the manor so easily. She had also just begun to grasp her weapon by this point, and didn’t entirely trust herself yet against something truly trying to kill her. She would admit, she was scared. She didn’t want to die yet. So she was placing a delicate balancing game of becoming strong enough to kill low level mobs in the area, while also trying to become strong quickly enough that she could survive this world. After all her stepmother had already tried to kill her once. Liliana’s story wasn’t well known in the game in its entirety so there was no telling if her stepmother had tried again. Liliana somehow didn’t feel the woman was the type to quit after failing once.

Still, the allure of instant stat points was tempting. The ability to do weeks of work in a single day made all of her struggles seem almost pointless in comparison. Silas and Astrid had cautioned her against going out before she maxed her stats though, she was sure it was because they were concerned for her safety. She certainly couldn’t imagine someone like her stepbrother reserving so much patience in training, he’d undoubtedly leveled the very day he’d Awakened. The thought of him, and others her age, gaining levels daily while she grinded away for a measly stat point or two grated on her patience like nothing else.

But Liliana was stubborn, to a fault, and she was a bit of a completionist. She had never played a game without being no less than ten levels higher than whatever boss she went against. So going out with less than maxed stats tasted like failure to her. And Liliana Rosengarde did not fail.

But how can I increase my Charisma? And not for the first time Liliana pulled up her Stat sheet to [Identify] the stat.

Charisma: Determines one ability to charm other sentient beings with their words, actions, or presence.

This stat can be increased by charming other sentient creatures and compelling them to listen to you. Charming those who are antagonistic to you will provide better results.

Liliana sighed as she dismissed the notification. It was more information than the first time she’d used [Identify] on the Stat, a result of the skill leveling. When she’d had, it confirmed that [Identify] affected the information the system gave you about stats, skills, and spells. She’d started using the skill constantly. She didn’t even notice it anymore, she had it more or less active at all times, identifying everything in her vision.

That had also resulted in her developing a new skill, [Persistent Casting], which despite its name could be used on General skills too. It did mean she got to go completely on autopilot when she had to embroider. She’d grumpily told the System that [Autopilot] was a better name for it but she hadn’t gotten a response and the skill name stayed the same.

Liliana finally reached her room, which was as far from her schoolroom as was physically possible, most definitely not a coincidence. She gratefully entered, shutting the door on the judgmental eyes of the servants in the hall. She might have been caught up in her own head as she walked but she could never quite shake the pressure of others' gazes unless there was a physical barrier.

“Lady Liliana, how were your lessons?” Astrid asked, dipping into a deep curtsy. Liliana had become more comfortable with her, both because of the woman's unending well of love and acceptance and the memories she now held. As such, she’d tried to get the woman to stop curtsying to her every time she came into a room and to refer to her as just ‘Lily’. Yet the woman steadfastly refused, though she still permitted Liliana to call her ‘Auntie Asi’ provided they were in private or with Silas.

“Dreadful, absolutely dreadful Auntie Asi,” Liliana whined as she took a seat. Gone was the cool and collected young lady’s voice from before, now she sounded every bit a fourteen-year girl complaining about difficult schoolwork.

“What did she have you learning today?” Astrid asked as she sat and picked up her current project. She was making another set of training clothes for Liliana, she’d already made her two sets but the woman seemed dead set on making sure she had a different one for every day of the week. She’d found out that the ‘Tailor’ surname wasn’t simply a family name, it was because her parents were tailors. Most of Liliana’s dresses were made or altered by Astrid or Astrid's family. It was the only reason Liliana had so many despite being the unwanted daughter.

“We went over the Treaties of Anatilion, reviewed a new book of Poetry by some person known as ‘Lumin’, and went through the entire bloodline of the royal family again. The rest of the day was proper etiquette for accepting a Marquis into your home and dancing,” Liliana regaled Astrid with her list of daily tortures. She was actually interested in the history of this world but all the fun bits, the great battles, were skipped over or dumbed down into simple numbers. Numbers that were often turned into math problems for her to solve.

Two months ago did she know how many rations were needed to feed an army of fifteen thousand troops with a minimal loss of life from malnutrition or starvation? Or how much said rations would cost? No, but now she could rattle the numbers off.

Did she think she’d need to know that information? Probably not, as she doubted she’d be leading any armies to battles. And if she did she’d be sure to hire someone far more mathematically inclined to deal with the supply. She could admit understanding it would be useful for any noble looking to manage their own estate and militia. If one didn’t know the cost of things then they could easily be swindled by their own employees.

She’d never be caught dead telling Miss Beckett that she honestly enjoyed the feeling of figuring out difficult math problems. For once in her life, a problem could be solved simply and cleanly. Mathematics was difficult and made her brain hurt, but it was also beautifully simplistic in the fact that for every problem there was a definite answer.

“That does sound rather difficult My Lady,” Astrid admitted though the amusement in her eyes belied her tone. She found Liliana’s griping entertaining and Liliana pouted at her in response.

“Astrid, do you know how I could raise my Charisma? It’s my lowest stat,” Liliana decided a change in topic was necessary, she didn’t need Astrid laughing at her misery.

Astrid set her project down as she considered the question. Liliana always appreciated that no matter how dumb her questions might be Astrid always tried to answer them to the best of her ability.

“Well have you tried raising it by spending some time with the horses?” Astrid ventured, even if she knew what the answer was. Astrid was with Liliana most of the time, except during her lessons with Miss Beckett.

“What would horses do for Charisma?” Liliana asked, honestly confused. It had to be humans or intelligent monsters right?

Liliana reviewed the stat one last time and realization hit her like a lightning bolt. Sentient creatures. Anything that could think or feel could be affected by Charisma. That meant even normal animals could fall under its effects.

Liliana jumped up, her exhaustion from earlier gone as energy filled her, Astrid watched her with benevolent amusement already setting her sewing aside.

“To the stables!” Liliana declared and marched towards the door before stopping. Liliana had never been allowed to learn to ride, and as such had never had cause to visit the stables. In her other life, she’d visited the stables in the game but that was from other positions. She knew how in theory but it would be strange for her to know the way to a place she’d never been in this life.

“This way My Lady,” Astrid chuckled as she passed Liliana and led the way. Liliana gratefully followed the maid, once again struck by the complicated web of etiquette that governed her new life. Normally Astrid had to remain four steps behind her at all times, but if she was doing a task such as showing Liliana somewhere she was permitted to walk a pace ahead of her.

Liliana was practically vibrating with poorly concealed excitement. She was going to raise her Charisma and it wouldn’t even mean she had to get hurt doing it! And maybe she could get some kind of Animal husbandry skill or something, which would be useful when she eventually had her own magical creatures. She knew no one else on the estate had a Bond. From her research Bonding was a rare form of magic. Soul itself was no more rare than any other magic type. Anyone who was level 20 could get the affinity unlocked the normal way. Getting it to the necessary 90% affinity was nothing more than a matter of training the affinity up. Same as with any other.

No, Bonding specifically was rare because most people didn’t want to put themselves in danger by trying to tame something stronger than themselves that might decide they made a better snack than a partner. That and the fact that magical creatures usually required a good amount of resources, and some even had very specific dietary needs.

The varied, and sometimes bizarre, dietary requirements of creatures was something she’d discovered when reading a neglected bestiary in a dusty corner of the library. She suspected it was so unused because it was geared towards Bonding, rather than extermination. It didn’t so much tell the easiest way to kill a creature so much as going on and on about each creature’s natural habitat, behavior, diet, and such. Invaluable to a Tamer, useless to some idiot with a sword trying to indiscriminately murder every magical beast he or she came across.

“Here it is Lady Liliana, “Astrid spoke up, breaking Liliana out of her thoughts. Liliana looked and saw a large building before her, the sounds of horses filling the air, along with the underlying scent of manure. Her nose wrinkled a bit at the pungent aroma but she didn’t comment, she was well used to stink from her weeks of copious sweating during her training.

Liliana walked forward towards a small door next to the large grand ones probably meant for letting out multiple horses at once. She didn’t hesitate before throwing the door open but a single step inside had her looking around in confusion. She wasn’t sure where to even start!

“Lady Liliana?” A voice called out and she jumped, looking around to locate the source. Her eyes settled on a man in his forties, a sweat-soaked white shirt over stained brown pants. Simple wear but Liliana assumed anyone working with horses wouldn’t wear their Sunday best to muck out stalls.

Tom Marshall

[Stable Master]

Level 87

“Hello Mr. Marshall,“ Astrid greeted the man with a shallow curtsy. The man returned her greeting with a deep bow. When he stood again Liliana searched his face and relaxed infinitesimally when she found no malice or disdain lurking in his warm brown eyes.

“Is there anything I can help you with today Lady Liliana?” Mr. Marshall inquired and Liliana nodded with relief.

“Yes I wanted to,” don’t tell him about raising your stats! “spend some time with the horses. I’ll admit that I always fancied them but until now I was far too afraid to venture this close. Perhaps you have a gentle horse I can get to know?” Liliana sighed internally, congratulating herself on a well-worded request. That sounded believable, right? All girls loved horses, she herself had a horse phase when she was about ten.

[Deception] reached level 10!

Well, it was good enough for the System, Liliana mused as she awaited Mr. Marshall's response. He was looking at her with a considering air, pausing on her rather fancy dress. She repressed the urge to fiddle with her lacy fabric, she knew it was far too nice to be around a stable but she couldn’t exactly go gallivanting around in her training clothes in broad daylight!

“We do have an old mare, she’s getting too on in years to do any real riding but she’s still a good trainer horse. And if you give her some sugar cubes she’ll love you for the rest of your life,” Mr. Marshall finally said and Liliana rewarded him with a beaming smile. The expression seemed to catch the man off guard a little and he blinked a bit before returning it with a more reserved smile. .

“Could I trouble you for some of these magical treats?” Lilian inquired and Mr. Marshall nodded, digging in a pocket the man produced a good handful of them. His hands far eclipsed Liliana’s though and she had to cradle the sugar in both of her own.

“My Lady, I can carry those for you,” Astrid offered and Liliana shook her head.

“No, do you have a handkerchief? I can hold them that way. I wanted to come here so I’ll carry my own sugar,” Liliana explained and Astrid smiled as she produced the requested handkerchief. Between the two of them, they managed to transfer the treats and tie them up for Liliana to carry.

“If you would Lady Liliana,” Mr. Marshall bowed again and tilted his head. Liliana nodded and let the man lead the way. Her eyes scanned every bit of the stable as they walked, she saw many different kinds of horses. Ones that were so large Liliana was sure they could squish her like a bug and not even notice, smaller ones that looked sleek and fast. Others that danced in their stalls, all pent up energy, and ones that snapped out at them as they moved. The few that snapped caused Liliana to jump a bit, to the amusement of Mr. Marshall who was clearly trying, and failing, to hide it.

“The warhorses have a bit more spitfire in them,” He explained after the third such instance. Liliana nodded but didn’t take her eyes off a pitch-black stallion as they passed. He might scare her and she was certain that a horse like that would never deign to listen to her, but something in her called out to such untamed ferocity.

Wonder how much Charisma I would get by making a horse like that like me, Liliana mused, remembering the note about charming antagonistic beings giving better rewards.

“Here she is,” Mr. Marshall finally stopped by a stall, thankfully nowhere near the bad-tempered warhorses. Inside was a medium-sized mare, dun in color with a few white patches on her. Warm brown eyes met her own and Liliana was gone.

“I love you,” She murmured walking to the stall door, not noticing the way Mr. Marshall and Astrid shared a look and a grin at the young noblewoman's reaction.

“Her name?” Liliana asked though her eyes never left the mare’s, who had begun to amble towards the charmed girl.

“Star, because of the spot on her forehead,” Mr.Marshall informed her, “typically only the war horses or personal steeds get the more prestigious names. Star here was always a training horse for the guards,” he continued as Liliana seemed to soak in every bit of information.

“Hello, pretty Star,” Liliana cooed as she grabbed a few sugar cubes but Mr. Marshall stopped her before she could hold them out to Star.

“Ah don’t feed her like that, she’ll take your fingers. Do it like this,” Mr. Marshall instructed, digging out more sugar cubes and placing them on his own hand, keeping it flat like a plate and angled down a bit. Liliana eagerly copied him, not even noticing that he hadn’t been referring to her properly for a while now.

“It tickles!” Liliana cried excitedly as Star first took the offerings from her hands. Her fingers were wet with horse slobber but Liliana was staring at the horse like she was the most beautiful creature she’d ever seen.

As the noble girl set about spoiling the mare with sugar, the adults took a step back, both keeping an eye on her but letting her enjoy her moment.

“Never seen a noble act like that with a horse,” Mr. Marshall confessed as the stable filled with the bright sound of Liliana’s laugh when Star decided to nudge her chest with her nose.

“Lady Liliana has a soft spot for animals of all kinds,” Astrid informed him, her face full of love as she watched the young girl.

“And she’s not like most nobles,” Astrid added with a bittersweet smile.

“That’s true,” Mr. Marshall admitted.

The two stood back and watched the spectacle of a young noblewoman buying the fealty of a horse with treats.

“I’m out of sugar! Can she have more or should we give her something else?” Liliana asked as she looked over at the adults. Star seemed to think the girl had more treats hidden and nosed her, lipping at her dress in search of the elusive sugar. Carefully Liliana placed a careful hand on the mare’s nose, when she had no issue with it her hand delicately stroked the silky fur. The mares head was almost as big as her own torso, Liliana being small as it was. As her hand reached closer to the top of her head the mare pressed more into her chest and almost sent the girl sprawling.

“Star loves a good petting or brushing,” Mr. Marshall explained with a grin as Liliana obeyed the mare’s unspoke demands and devoted both her hands to petting and scratching the mare.

You have gained a point in Charisma!

Liliana smiled brightly at the alert, she had almost forgotten about her reason for coming to the stables in the first place. After meeting Star, she was certain she’d visit even if she didn’t get a stat boost. The mare showed her more love and affection in a few minutes than her family had in years.