…

…

What was happening?

While fighting my fading consciousness, I could hear the sound of chatter and the wail of sirens in the distance.

“Where is the girl?”

“Quick! She is over here!”

My eyes seemed to have been glued shut by a sticky liquid, but I forced them open. The view of the asphalt that stretched long before me was from an angle I had never seen before. The repetitive wails that were progressively getting louder rang into the core of my bones as I became aware of the fact that my face was pressed hard against the prickly and uneven ground.

“Does anyone know her? Can someone call her family?”

“How pitiful, she is so young…”

“Is the ambulance not here yet? We need to be faster-!”

- Bzzt -

As if a landline that had been cut, silence and darkness enveloped me.

It was a strange sensation to be unable to move or speak; like I was floating around in limbo. At the same time, it was disconcerting. My instincts told me that this was not the kind of place I should be staying in.

Scary.

I wish I can hurry up and get out of this dream, I prayed with all my heart.

“Do you want to get out of this nightmare?”

From the darkness, an unfamiliar male voice spoke calmly and without feeling.

“Then I will help you with it.”

Without waiting for my reply, the voice had answered his question for me.

In the murky darkness, a hand stretched before me and aimed straight for my neck.

No!

The hand tightened around my throat mercilessly.

I have to do something! Push him off! Scream! Something!

As desperate as I was, it was to no avail as I had no control over my movements.

Badump. Badump.

I could hear my heart thump louder and louder as it got harder and harder to breathe.

If it continued, there was no doubt I was going to die.

“No… I don’t want to die…”

“I don’t want to die!”

Mustering all the energy I had, I shouted from the bottom of my lungs.

My eyes flicked opened and I sat up with a start.

“Hah… hah…”

My eyes were unused to the darkness, but it was alright because I could see familiar shapes and feel the soft sheets under me.

It’s okay. I am in my room. That was just a nightmare, I repeated to myself as I tried to calm myself down.

Thump.

I jumped at the faint sound of something dropping onto the ground. I heaved a sigh of relief when I realised it was just a toy bunny that had rolled off the bed. It was surely a sign from my bed that my brother should stop gifting soft toys to me.

But still, it had been a while since I had that dream - the scene of my ‘death’.

It used to occur every night right after I recovered my memories. Like today, the dreams were often vivid, short and fragmented. Sometimes it was just the screech of tyres, other times it could be the headlights approaching in slow motion.

How many times have I repeated that already? Perhaps even more times than I can remember?

But it didn’t really matter, because right now, that was just a nightmare and nothing more.

“What is the time now?” I muttered to myself absent-mindedly.

Attracted by the faint light emitting from the gaps between the curtains, I got off my bed and walked towards the windows.

Like a glowing pearl hanging from the earlobes of the sky, the unobscured moon chased away the darkness of the night. It was a beautiful night, but I was unable to appreciate any of it.

Hah.

I rubbed my temples as I recalled the happy homecoming that was not meant to be...

*****

“We are very sorry.”

Three lowered heads faced us from the middle of the lobby.

“I have no words to describe my regret at the amount of danger the both of you have been put through,” my father apologised with his head still down.

His words only served to cause more bewilderment. I turned to Prince Charles to see if he had any idea of what was happening. But from his face that had turned a ghastly shade of white, it seemed like he was just as clueless as I was. Would he be okay? Even though he was just looking better, things seemed to have turned a deep dive for the worse.

I slowly reached to hold his hand and squeezed it gently, hoping that it will bring him strength.

His hand was cold but he flashed a feeble smile at me and held my hand back in return.

“What do you possibly mean?” he asked in a composed voice.

Without a moment of hesitation, my father replied, “The purpose of today was to squirrel out those who are against the Royalty.”

At the back, a small commotion happened.

It seemed to be from a group of guards in plain clothes who had been following the carriage.

Although his face continued to betray no emotions, Prince Charles tightened his grip on my hand.

It was painful but I resisted the urge to pull away.

“Your Highness. I was in the know as well,” a man in his late twenties stepped up to stand beside my parents. Although he was dressed casually, from his toned body and strict aura, he was probably an important person.

Prince Charles stared at the man hard. “Commander, was that why you were testing me while we were searching for Lady Liliana?” he questioned with his voice strained.

The man looked away, an action which the boy took as affirmation.

“And was it,” he gave a deliberate pause, “decided by my father?”

“I... am unable to answer that.”

The tension was palpable. From the number of befuddled faces on the people around us, this was probably something unanticipated. The situation had spiralled into something much more serious than what I had imagined.

“I do not understand. If the perpetrators are after the Royalty, if I am the one being tested, why does Lady Liliana have to be involved in this?” Prince Charles demanded to know.

“Because,” my father answered in a heavy voice. “This is planned by those against the engagement of the First Prince and the daughter of the Remington family.”

As expected! I am not popular at all!

Not wasting her skills as a socialite, my mother took a step forward and addressed the crowd. “I am sure everyone has many questions. Why don’t we head to the lounge to explain everything?” mother suggested as she leaned to touch father’s arm slightly.

My father put his hand over hers as he nodded. “Yes, we should. Your Highness, this way please.”

Just as I walked past him, he stopped me with a hand. “Liliana, I heard that you have injured your ankle. Why don’t you return to your rooms first?”

What?! You are going to chase me away before telling the whole story? As if I can let you do that!

“The injury is not too bad. I can still take it. Please let me listen as well,” I said as firmly as I could.

For some reason, my father looked surprised. “Very well.”

We were then ushered by my parents into the guest lounge.

From the conversation that flowed after we settled down, I learned that my deductions had been completely wrong.

Christian did not orchestrate the kidnapping for a grand reason like saving his family - he had orchestrated it on the orders of the King.

The King had received reports of something swirling under the surface but had been unable to get a hold of their tail. Christian was chosen to approach several suspicious persons, and lucky enough some took the bait.

The kidnapping attempt was meant to be warning against the Royal family. Hence, the masterminds had carefully chosen throwaway mercenaries from a foreign nation to do the dirty work. It did not sound like the smartest attempt to protest against the Royal family to me, but it seems like there were real people who thought it was a good idea.

While working together to orchestrate the kidnapping of the Prince, Christian managed to figure out the identities of a few nobles working against the Royalty and had been giving updates to my father and the King. So from the very start, Prince Charles was in no danger as the event was pre-planned.

However, unexpected things happened.

One, the guards sent by the Remington household did not follow the carriage. When questioned, they said that they were told that they had been taken off the task the night before.

What did that mean?

As father explained, Christian furrowed his brows but did not say anything.

Two, I was targeted. The people who had kidnapped me seemed to be working for an organisation different from the anti-engagement faction; most likely opportunist trying to profit from the chaos. They had managed to catch two suspicious men related to the kidnapping, so it should not be long before they find out the mastermind behind that as well.

Three, a magical beast appeared at the borders. As it was wandering close to a village and was reported to be destroying farmland, father had no choice but to go with mother to stop the magical beast even though he had wanted to oversee the operation. Subduing the magical beast took a longer time than expected, and they had just reached the mansion slightly before us.

I had not heard of a scenario like this in the past of the Prince and the villainess in the novel, but as it did not dwell much on the characters’ childhood, it was not entirely impossible for something like that to have happened either.

“Liliana? Are you alright?” My mother who was seated beside me placed her hand on my thighs and prompted gently. I took a glance at my father and the unit commander seated opposite us, and then to Prince Charles who was beside me. As there were a lot to digest, I was unsure of what to say in such a situation.

Incidentally, Prince Charles was still holding my hands even while we were seated.

Mother raised her hands to wipe away dirt from my face and her deep blue eyes wavered as she looked at me.

“I’m so sorry, Liliana. You must have been terrified,” she said before enveloping me in a hug.

Mother had always portrayed herself to be a strong and capable woman so it was unsettling for me to see her showing her weakness like this.

“I-I’m fine…”

It was not my intention to sound so hesitant, but what was done was already done. My mother, whose face I could not see, started trembling as I felt wet droplets on my back.

“Everyone must be worn out from the long day. Why don’t we call it a day? We can continue the conversation tomorrow,” my father interjected through the awkward silence. It was indeed a good time to break up as everyone looked exhausted.

Slowly, almost unwillingly, mother had separated from me…

*****

Grace had then brought me back to my room and helped to bathe me and provided a light supper before leaving me alone to rest. In this fashion, it had led to the current time.

As I leaned against the windowsill, I heaved a heavy sigh.

Today, I was kidnapped and as a result, met Sui and the heroine. I had interrupted the meeting between the two of them and turned it into something that was completely different from the original story. If only I had not been blinded by my curiosity and approached the heroine.

It was a blessing everything ended well this time.

However, if the scenario changed too much, it would be dangerous because it may lead to a different ending from the story.

There were still seven years before the start of the main story so I should not be changing the storyline before the ‘play’ even began.

“I have to reflect on my actions…” I patted my cheeks resolutely as I closed my eyes.

Hah…

Even in my last life, I was never a smart kid. My grades were average and I was not particularly talented; all I had was an unusual obsession with romance stories and love for daydreaming. Situations like this were out of my league. The more I thought about things, the more unsure I became.

Haah…

Despite being clearly past my bedtime, I was not sleepy at all. Not knowing what to do with myself, I continue to stay by the windowsill and idly watched the scenery. At least, that was until a familiar person entered my line of sight.

What was he doing here?

A pepper-haired gentleman wearing a black swallowtail coat was walking around the perimeter of the house. I continued to observe him from the windows and I soon noticed something odd - he was walking with a strange gait. Did he injure himself?

He seemed to be unsure if he should enter the house as he only stood near the door with a thoughtful expression despite having keys to the building.

To be honest, I had questions for him.

From the explanation given, he was tasked by the King to approach the detractors.

But why was he the one chosen?

If I was not mistaken, Christian had served in the Royal Palace before coming to the Remington household. Did that mean that he had always been working for the Royalty?

But if he was working for the Royalty, why was he staring at Prince Charles with animosity that day in the lounge?

As thoughts swirled around in my head, the man below suddenly looked up and met my eyes. He looked startled but quickly returned to his usual expression and gave a nod.

Well, I guess it was a good chance to clarify things.

I hobbled down the stairs.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” I asked tentatively the moment I opened the door.

The man was waiting at the bottom of the steps.

“Good evening, Lady Liliana. Please pardon my intrusion at this timing. In fact, I was not expecting Lady Liliana to still be up at this time,” he said as he lowered his eyes.

“I was unable to sleep,” I explained. “Are you looking for me?”

“Yes, I did not have the chance to talk to you earlier so I was wondering how you were doing.”

His eyes went to my ankle that was treated and wrapped in bandages.

“That ankle… How does it feel now?”

“Um, it is still throbbing but I am able to walk without too much difficulty. Thank you for your concern.”

“I see…” Christian closed his eyes and made a pained expression.

“… Are you okay?”

Watching him, I felt a strange sense of apprehension. I had known Christian since I was a baby but he had never shown such outward emotions before.

“So pitiful.”

I froze at his words. At that moment, I felt as if the whole world had stopped save for me and the man in front of my eyes.

“For parents to have devised such a plan that place their daughter in danger! Can people like that still be called family?” In an extremely pained and regretful tone, Christian slowly breathed out these words.

“Lady Liliana, I have always watched you from afar so I know the suffering you are going through. I have seen how you were isolated in a separate building - unloved and distant from your family. Even the one and the only maid who has been taking care of you will be leaving soon-"

“W-wait. What do you mean by that? Diana will be leaving soon?” I asked hurriedly as his words snapped me back to my senses.

“Have you not been informed of this?” Christian gave a small sigh. “Her contract is going to be up soon. The reason her family has called her back this time is to discuss her future.”

Her future…

It was the first time I had heard of that. But then again, Diana rarely spoke about herself so it would not be strange for her to not inform me. For example, I had only recently found out she was of noble birth, hadn't I?

Christian walked up to the door. The distance between us was less than a metre, separated only by the doorway.

“You must be confused,” he said in a pitying voice as he looked at me who must have had a really stupid expression on her face.

He bent down so that our eyes were at the same level.

A gentle smile stretched across his face as his eyes curved into half moons.

“Don't you want to change your life?”

It was a soft and sickeningly sweet voice.

“Instead of staying here where you get used like a tool and everyone is hiding things from you, don’t you want to go to a place where you are free to determine your future?”

“Who are you?”

I took a step back. This man was not Christian. Although I wouldn't go as much as to call myself close to him, I understood him enough to know that he was not a person who will say things like that.

This person was a ‘wolf’ wearing the skin of Christian.

Just then, my father’s words resounded in my mind. There was ‘someone’ who had ordered the guards not to follow the carriage. The person with enough power to do that in this house was probably my father or - Christian.

“My time will be up soon, but I wanted to see you in any way I could,” ‘Christian’ said as he straightened.

“You are a smart young lady, so you should understand what I am saying, right?”

“Look over there,” the man said as he pointed at the main building in the distance.

Even though it was deep in the night, the mansion’s lights were still on. No doubt its inhabitants were all in a frenzy handling the aftermath of today’s incident.

“Even though everyone is awake, there is no one here to care about you - the one who had been kidnapped and injured.”

Taking my silence as agreement, the man continued.

“Haven't you gotten tired of this life? You have no allies in this place. You are being treated as a tool to pull closer ties with the Royal family. There is no one here who is truly happy about your existence.”

The words were as sharp as needles; piercing through my heart.

“Aren’t you frustrated? Don’t you want to go to a place where you are able to live freely?” While saying that, the man slowly stretched out a hand.

I took another step back.

“I understand. But I will have to decline your offer. ”

“Why? Because you do not trust me?” the man asked with a wane smile.

That was clearly a rhetorical question as no one with the slightest bit of common sense would have walked away with a stranger like that.

But that was not the only reason.

“Even if it is someone whom I am close to,” I paused as I considered my words, “even if it was Diana making the offer, I will not leave this place.”

My words were decisive and without lies.

“Because this place is my fortress.”

Since the fire, there have not been instances of my magic going of control. But till I had my charge, I was still a walking hazard. When I am in this building, others do not have to worry about my magic hurting them, and I can live easy knowing that my magic will not go out of control. This was the best arrangement for me now.

There will be a time where I will need to leave this place. And that time will come seven years later.

The man burst out in laughter.

“I see…!” he said as he wiped tears from his eyes.

Even though I knew that it was not really Christian, it felt strange to see a usually stoic man make such animated expressions.

“You.” The man gave a sly grin.

“I thought that you were a bird trapped in a cage, but to think that the bird herself had clipped her own wings to stay in the cage!”

…

I was well aware that the man had said something rude but I couldn't care less anymore.

It did not take much for me to realise this man was obviously delusional. The distance between us was less than a metre, if he decides to grab me or whip out a weapon, I was going to be a goner. There were probably guards near this building, but how should I attract their attention before this man takes action?

At that instance, I really regretted not learning any self-defence techniques.

“That’s enough.”

From behind me, a deep voice boomed.

“Wind!”

Before I could get my bearings, a gust of strong wind blew from behind me. My hair fluttered messily around me and I crouched in a bid to avoid getting blown away. When I opened my eyes again, ‘Christian’ was a few metres away and patting his clothes nonchalantly.

W-wait! It should have been impossible to use magic in this building?

“You must be the Magician in charge of this place. Not the most pleasant way of greeting guests, I must say.”

I whipped my head around and found myself face to face with the elderly gardener. He calmly placed a card into his breast pocket.

What was he doing here?!

He was in his usual rough gardening clothes, but there was a strange air around him that made him barely recognisable. It was the first time I had felt that the kind and wrinkled elderly gardener was intimidating.

He placed a hand firmly on my shoulder before pulling me behind him. “Our young mistress must be someone very important to you to risk coming right into the enemy’s home ground.”

“Was today not enough of a lesson? Who sent you?” he demanded in a growl.

“No one,” the man answered before giving a chuckle. “Oh, should I have said the name of my enemies? I guess I just lost the chance to get rid of a few people,” he mocked.

“Humph. Stay arrogant while you can. There will be many chances for us to get information out of you.” The gardener narrowed his eyes as he regarded the cocky man.

“O mighty roots sleeping under the ground. Seize him!” he shouted as he raised a hand.

For a moment, the air around him seemed to shimmer before the ground shook and long snake-like roots sprung out of the ground and lunged towards ‘Christian’ as if they had a mind of their own.

The other man dodged the roots nimbly. As the gardener clenched his teeth, more roots sprouted out, twisting around and threatening to wrap the man around in their grasp. It seemed to be working as the man’s movements grew increasingly sluggish.

A few missed the man narrowly but he showed no signs of fear. And then, perhaps seeing that it was a losing battle, he risked the chance and fired a spell in our direction.

“Ice barrage!” Underneath his clothes, a dozen or so ‘something’ lit up for just a split second.

In an instant, the air turned cold and a dozen of ice shards formed in mid-air before flying in our direction.

“A useless distraction,” the gardener muttered before taking out two cards from his front pocket.

On the cards were a word each - 地 and 籠. To translate it loosely, it meant ‘earth’ and ‘cage’ in the language used in my previous life - Japanese.

It could be said to be a blessing for me in this life. The ‘ancient language’ that Magicians used for written spells was none other than Kanji. Although not quite a ‘cheat’ it meant that I had the upper hand as I was familiar with the writing system. The only thing was that all this knowledge was still useless to me as I have not developed my charge and so was unable to use magic.

“Lady Liliana, be careful.” In the time I was distracted by the words, the gardener had turned around to face me. Before I could understand what was happening, he hugged me while covering my ears and eyes.

I closed my eyes in reflex just to hear the sound of loud cracking.

“Tsk. The barriers are stronger than I thought.” It was the first time I heard frustration in the other man’s voice.

“Activate.”

From the corner of my eyes, something shone faintly.

“Ice- Arghhhhh!” Just as the man seemed like he was going to cast another spell, a deafening rumble covered his voice, and he let out a blood-curdling scream.

I quickly raised my head. Before us, the ice shards which should have pierced through us had fallen to the ground in pieces right before the doorway while an irregularly shaped cage-like object had sprung up in the middle of the garden.

In the middle of the cage, pointed rocks jabbed into what seemed like the motionless body of a human.

“Is he d-dead?” I stammered as I felt my knees weaken.

The gardener stared hard at the unmoving figure before letting out a sigh. “No, he got away,” he said in a disappointed voice before stepping out towards the earth cage. I quickly scuttled after him.

“Look, it is just a wooden puppet.”

As I observed the ‘body’ carefully, I realised that it was just a humanoid wooden puppet wearing clothes and a wig.

“... The coachman?” I let out a gasp. The features, the colour and style of the wig and the clothes were what the sleepy looking coachman had worn earlier. But when I met him, he had been animated and very human, was that all an illusion? A product of magic? Was that the reason why he had avoided stepping into the building?

On the exposed part of its body, I noticed words carved into its wooden surface.

‘人形’

‘精□転□’

‘□倣’

‘氷□法’

‘人□’

‘□神転□’

‘模□’

‘氷魔□’

Just like that, the words repeated again and again. The Kanji were tiny and covered every inch of its body in a haphazard manner. Some of them had become unreadable from the rocks jarring through its body while others were covered by his tattered clothes, but I was able to roughly grasp the meaning of the words.

Puppet, Mind Transfer, Imitation and Ice Magic; they were the runes responsible in bringing the puppet to life.

Just then, the battered body of the puppet shuddered.

Was it coming back to life? When was this going to end?!

“Lady Liliana, please stay back,” the gardener warned as he raised his hand to shield me.

As our eyes remained glued to the puppet for its next action, smoke came out of the puppet, and in a matter of seconds, it became a charred lump and the words on the puppet were no longer readable.

“A self-destruction spell.” The gardener shook his head. “With this, it will be hard to trace its owner.”

Seeing that the danger was over, the elderly gardener went close to the cage and waved a hand, causing a part of the cage to collapse, allowing him to enter.

As I watched the elderly man examine the earth cage, I was unable to contain my curiosity and blurted out, “I didn’t know that Mr Gardener was a Magician.”

“Hoho… Did I surprise you?” The elderly looked up from his work and let out his usual laugh.

“It is not wrong to say I am just a gardener now. I am too old to be in the battlefield after all,” he said with a faraway look from his eyes.

“Lady Liliana… Pardon me for eavesdropping, but just now when you said that this place is your fortress, did you really mean it?”

My heart skipped a beat at his sharp gaze.

“Ha… Haha… So you heard that? It’s a little embarrassing…” I tried to laugh off the topic.

“Lady Liliana is a smart child. You must have realised that something is wrong with all these happenings,” the gardener continued somberly. “Isolating a young child in a building with strong magic resistance and purposely surrounding it with a maze as a symbol of fortification is not something most families will do.”

“You know that fully well, don’t you?”

I lowered my head. “It is because I almost burned down the mansion, isn’t it?” I answered faintly.

“That was an unfortunate accident,” the gardener said as he shook his head.

“It was proof that you have a high aptitude for magic,” he said as he placed his hands behind his back and gazed up at the moon.

I followed his gaze and shivered.

Cold. I wrapped my arms around myself. As I was distracted earlier, I did not realise how chilly the autumn night air was. This was especially so for me as I was just wearing a thin nightgown.

“Lady Liliana. The truth is…”

My heart pounded as I held my breath.

What was he going to say?

Don’t-

In the quietest corner of my heart, I prayed.

Please don’t say it!

“It is because Lady Liliana is such a cute child!”

“Eh?” My jaws dropped.

“Lady Liliana’s cuteness and good behaviour must have spread far and wide for it to be even recognised by the Royal family.” The gardener beamed proudly as if he was talking about his own granddaughter.

“Unfortunately, it is common for cute children to be targeted by strange men. More dangerous situations like today may appear, but do not worry because we are all here to protect you,” the gardener said gently as he came forward and stroked my head.

“Is that so?” I asked as I gave a stiff smile. As far as I was aware, I was a child with a villainous face and an infamous reputation.

“Of course! Lady Liliana is the pride of the Remington family. What other reason can it be?”

Faced with the innocent smiling face of the gardener, I let out the breath I was holding.

“L-Lady Liliana! Thank goodness you’re here!”

I turned my head to see Grace running towards me across the grass.

“I was woken up by a huge rumble. I was so worried when I ran up to your room and saw that you were not around!” Grace exclaimed. I could see that her face was pale and covered in cold sweat. She must had been really frightened.

“Mr Holdsfield?” She looked confused upon recognising the elderly man beside me.

“And what is this?” she asked as she spotted the cage behind us. “Hyaa! A c-corpse?” She screamed upon seeing the charred wooden puppet.

“Miss Grace, why don’t you take the young lady back to her room first? I will report this and get it cleaned up in a while,” the gardener said calmly.

“Alright...” Grace replied even as her eyes watered.

“Please c-come, Lady Liliana,” she said with a forced smile as she held my hand and gently pulled me towards the building.

The gardener nudged me and said. “Go ahead. I will get everything cleaned up before morning comes.”

I surveyed the usually beautiful green lawn covered by exposed roots, the broken trees, and the pointed ice shards.

Will all of these be gone by the morning?

As my heart wavered, I realised that we had already reached the door.

I turned back to see the gardener waving goodbye to me.

Was it okay for it to end like this?

But the truth was, I was already tired.

I was no princess trapped in a tower. The mysterious man was right; I was the one who had chosen this life.

And then, I stepped back into my peaceful ‘fortress’.