Even though I knew tomorrow would be a long day, sleep refused to take me into its comforting embrace. I rolled out of bed and grabbed my sword. Having a quiet home felt weird. There was always someone making a ruckus around here, myself included. Each step seemed like it was made by a giant, broadcasting that someone was awake when they should be asleep.

I went to the training grounds where the straw dummies were. I didn’t plan on hitting the dummies; they were a pain in the butt to replace and it wasn’t worth it. Instead, I would do the time-honored technique of swinging a sword over and over again. The repetitive movements allowed me to think and train at the same time. Two birds with one stone!

Am I making a mistake by going?

The sword made a whooshing sound as I brought it downward in a straight overhead strike.

How many times did I turn fate to the game outcome? The last obvious mistake I made was with Barnett.

Several years ago

Poor Barnett had been at his wits end the entire week. Usually, my sleepless night training sessions were spent alone but every night this week Barnett had been out here when I arrived at the training grounds.

I didn’t feel as close to him as I did Etana, Sage, and Aaron so I left him alone, but tonight he sat on one of the weight benches, hunched shoulders and head hanging low instead of swinging a sword.

Something about that lonely back halted my steps.

I couldn’t leave him alone in good conscience tonight.

“Barnett?” I greeted as I sat beside him.

“Lucina?” He glanced at me and raised a brow. “Get to bed.”

“No.”

He gave me a healthy shove. “Go on. This isn’t a place for kids.”

“I’m twelve now, thank you very much. That’s more than halfway to being of age, ergo, I am not a child.”

He rolled his eyes. “Then shut your mouth and let me think.”

“Is it about working at the inn or at the workshop?”

His thick bushy black brows scrunched up. “You may not get it, but when you’re my age, a decision like this affects the rest of your life.”

There was one thing that was in the game but did not exist in this world – airships. Airships were ubiquitous in all classic RPG games. It followed the progression of vehicles – first by foot, then the mounts, possibly a sea-faring ship, and lastly, the airships. The airship was vital in order to wrap up all the sidequests before facing the final dungeon.

Not a single one existed yet.

The only ones who could fly were those who could raise and handle a flying mount, both difficult and expensive for the average civilian. Even though our father was a general, we still didn’t have unfettered access to flying mounts.

Barnett? He wanted to create a carriage that could fly. One that didn’t need a mount. He also loved to cook. If I told him that he should go be a chef at the inn, he may never invent the airship. And if he never invented the airship, then a big part of Alexious’ war tech advantage vanished.

But was that fair to him? Denying his ultimate dream in order to achieve my goal would make me a different sort of villainess. Though the game never said who invented airships, so Barnett may not have been the one to do it. DIdn't the patent for lightbulbs get turned in days apart back in my old world? I wasn't exactly certain of that fact, but it did make sense that more than one person in this world wanted to make a ship that could fly. “You should choose the workshop.”

His jaw clenched. “It would be better to go to the inn. Flying is just a dream.”

“I don’t think so.” I stood up and pointed to the sky. “In fact, I bet you’ll be so successful we’ll see the lights of airships in the sky at night instead of stars!”

“Easy for a kid to say.”

“What’s so bad about that anyway? Sounds like all you think as an adult is that things are impossible.”

“Because adults can reason better than children.”

“Sounds like an excuse for someone who is afraid of failure.”

“Get out of here!” he spat.

I didn’t argue that time. I said my piece. If he still chose to chase a dream as a chef, the fault didn’t lie with me.

The next morning, however, Barnett announced at breakfast that he would be joining the Ruther Workshop. While I didn't want to claim credit for his decision, I did hope that I helped nudge him to where his heart truly desired. Looks like airships could still dot the sky.

99… 100! Overhead complete. Now for diagonals.

Barnett still hadn’t invented airships, but from the way he described things when he visited, he seemed like he was close to cracking the tech. The mixture of happiness for my brother realizing his dream and horror at yet again guiding the hands of fate to the game scenario kept me up at night.

Oswald, on the other hand, joined the Knights of the Silver Sky, the collective name for the guards that accompanied and protected Prince Teo.

The idea of my brother taking a fatal blow for that snake ignited rage in my heart every time I thought about it.

If Teo wasn’t around in the game world, did that mean he met his end before the game started? And if so, did that mean Oswald would also meet the same fate? It seemed likely.

I couldn’t allow myself to think I escaped the game scenario until I reached the age of Game Lucina. Until then, I had to act like the game events would occur no matter what.

But without any sort of hint as to what kills Teo, I had no clue how to save Oswald. I could only pray to the Mother that Teo’s death came by something outside of battle at worst or my own hands at best. I would never kill my brother, after all.

100! Now to do straight thrusts.

At the very least, a letter needs to go out to Alexious. He may not appreciate my plus three. Plus, it would prove Sage wrong. If Alexious did this entire masquerade to invite me, then he would try to get me to go alone. Not that I believed her theory for a hot second. This was mere ceremony to provide proof that he did not see me in that sort of light and indulge in common courtesy of informing the host the number of guests that RSVP.

After straight thrusts came below cuts, when I arced the sword starting from the bottom to the top. A classic RPG flashy movement. Ending moves or flashy skills didn’t seem to exist in this world. It made sense though it still was disappointing. After finishing those exercises, I rolled my shoulders and hopped in place. Now was time to incorporate footwork in time with the swings and then I could try going back to sleep.

Cleric Kajille came by every Yukisen, the last day of the week typically reserved for rest. Not in our family, of course. We usually had a light training day on Yukisen and saved the rest day for Marise, the third day of the week.

I waited for the golden light to subsist before opening my eyes.

Cleric Kajille scribbled numbers on a sheet of paper and held it out. “Congrats, Lucina. You did it!” Her dark violet eyes became encased in deep wrinkles. No one really retired in this world, but I had a feeling that reading our stats was something like a retirement job for her.

My family treated the numbers as a game, though not in the same way a video game would. Mostly, the common thread of larger numbers equals better was the beginning and end of their cares.

However, for someone like me, who wanted to min-max my stats, these weekly sessions proved the most important asset in my training. By knowing the number of experience points needed to gain a level I could see how effective my training for the week had been. From there, I could revise my sessions.

Maybe in my old life, if I wasn’t bedridden, I could have focused more on strength training and exercise to understand how to increase my individual stats. But I didn’t. I only knew game numbers. Though the experiments were slow-going, I had some theories about what exercises best increased experience. First, of course, monster hunting. The bread and butter of battle experience always resulted in massive increases. But real-life monster hunting proved too dangerous to do reliably. That was why we focused more like athletes would have in my old world. The weeks I engaged in late-night sword swings resulted in more experience. Granted, those were more to clear my mind than actual training, but it was good to know that those sword swings provided some notable gains.

“Cleric Kajille!” Adira called. “Would you like to take some roselle preserves home with you? I have some fresh bread for you as well!”

Cleric Kajille did a small dance. “You know I can’t say no!” She waved to us. “See you kids next week!"

“What’s yours say?” Sage asked, standing on her tip-toes and looking over my shoulder.

I pushed the paper to my chest and held my head high. “What about you? Gain that level?”

She shrugged. “I’m just ten points away. It’ll be gained by the end of tomorrow.”

A laugh bubbled in my chest. “Guess who gained a level?”

“What?” she shrieked. “That can’t be true!”

“Read it and weep,” I cooed. “See that big number 17 at the top? I’m going to hit 20 before I get to the academy!”

She frowned. “That means you’re almost at my level.”

“What are you going to do when I pass you?” I taunted.

“You’re not going to pass me!”

The laugh coming from my chest somehow felt rather villainous. Well, everyone was a little evil inside, right? Snooty Sage needed to be knocked down a peg or two!

Sage rolled her eyes. “I’m going to get ready to go to the capital. Coming?”

I needed to go back to our room too, but it wasn’t to get ready. I wanted to compare my stats from the last level to this one. “Of course. You take a bath first.”

Underneath my bed was the box where I kept my journal and the letters from Alexious. The box itself had been a gift from Alexious after I complained about my siblings always reading our letters. It looked a tad too fancy for my tastes; the outside had carvings of azalea-type flowers inlaid with mother-of-pearl and gold accents. The locking mechanism, however, utilized magick so my siblings’ paltry stats could not open it. I placed my hands on the edge and fed it a burst of magick. It clicked. I fed it a second burst. It clicked twice. Finally, I pushed a flower petal disguised as a button. Once opened, I pulled out the flimsy paper notebook, stuffed to the brim with the stat sheets from Cleric Kajille and my training research. It ballooned several times its size as a result, which made it difficult to keep flat. The chunky notebook had its own charm, though. It'll be a sad day when I use up all the sheets and have to start over with a slender notebook.

I laid on my bed and opened to the last level up page.

Level 16

HP 97

MP 80

STR 38

MGK 58

AGL 48

RES 44

MRES 66

Next to it, I placed the sheet with my new level and stats.

Level 17

HP 111

MP 84

STR 38

MGK 58

AGL 49

RES 44

MRES 66

Ugh, what a crappy level up! Only my agility increased by one point. Well, I should be thankful at least for that because my strength still hadn’t increased a single point! I turned pages back in my journal. The last time I gained a point in strength was level 13.

I needed to figure out a strength buff to balance it out. Still, it was odd I had gone that many levels without increasing it even a little. There had to be an explanation for it. Games could blame RNG but real life didn’t work the same way.

Maybe some stats had certain soft caps. No matter how I trained and worked, once the peak was hit there wasn’t much to do. That meant that other stats would have their own peaks too. I wonder if Alexious would have any insight into that theory.

Strength seemed like something that could increase indefinitely, though. Bodybuilders didn’t exist here but Percival had the same massive muscle size. Why would my strength cap out at a certain point? I suppose I’ll ask Alexious about that as well. What would be most beneficial would be some sort of anatomy class. I hope that Sovalian Academy had something like that to take and it would be available to me and not exclusive to clerics.

Still, the magick stat seemed rather low for someone who started with double-digits. Surely, if my magick stat were comparable to say, Aaron’s strength stat, I should be in the 80s at this time.

But my family was not adept in magick arts at all so I rarely had an opportunity to train them outside my own haphazard studies. Hopefully my magick stat hadn’t deteriorated to the point that I wouldn’t be allowed entry into the program at the academy.

Even lacking that focus would be okay if my average strength compared to my siblings. Each of them seemed to breathe and increase their strength stat! True, their magick stats weren’t anything to speak about, but considering I did the same training as they did, wouldn’t my strength stat be higher than 38?

Though my level number seemed high for my age, I felt like all my stats were actually mediocre in the grand scheme of things, especially compared to my older siblings. None of them saved their sheets so I had no point of comparison until I managed to reach their level and we could directly compare stats.

“Lucina!” Sage called as she threw open the door. “What the heck? You’re still in your training gear! You haven’t done anything!”

Sage had already put on a loose pair of linen pants and a simple embroidered top in a cheery pink. The pink matched the flush of her cheeks. She had even taken the time to rebraid her blue hair with a ribbon added inside for a pop of yellow.

“Just give me a little longer.”

She grabbed my arm and pulled me off the bed. “You need to bathe and redo your hair and get dressed and—”

“Okay, Mama Sage! I get it already!”

She pinched my bicep. “Etana’s almost ready too and you know once she’s done we’re going to be out the door.”

I trudged over to the bathroom. The bath water felt lukewarm, at least. Taking a cold bath sucked and reheating a bath was a pain. Part of me wished I could catch a case of food poisoning right before the ball. I left that world behind me years ago. But Alexious had agreed that I could bring along my siblings, so that lifeline was cut.

After washing the sweat and grime off, I mimicked Sage’s attire with a simple pair of brown slacks and a light blue top. The top had been Sage’s before mine, so the vivid blue had paled to a soft sky blue. The joke was on her, though. It may not be new but the thin material felt softer than silk. I braided my hair and wound it into a bun before putting a hair stick through it.

Even with my late start, I still beat Etana. While Sage and I dressed for comfort, Etana put on a dress complete with a corset and flowing sleeves. She curled her hair and even put on a tiny bit of red rouge on her lips and cheeks. She looked pretty but now Sage and I were probably going to be mistaken for servants with our plain getups. And let me tell you, nothing would tickle Etana’s fancy more.

Adira waited for us at the front foyer.

“Let’s go!” Sage cried out as she gave Adira a hug and went outside.

Adira pulled me aside and whispered, “I have given Etana money, but should you need more, this is yours to use.” She patted my head with a small smile. “We sold the jewelry as you requested, but we have not dipped into any of the sica, thinking you would desire it for your dowry. Use it as you see fit.”

I could hear the implications in her tone—well, you’re in favor of a prince and likely future mistress so there would be no need for a dowry.

Rather than a dowry, I could use this to seed my journey with Valerian once I rescued him. Whatever dresses my sisters wanted better be covered by the sica our parents gave us! I tucked the coin purse deep into my pocket and thanked her.

We climbed into our family carriage. Normally, we would have walked, but since we needed to possibly transport dresses back, we took the carriage.

Aaron drove us.

Aaron was a skilled driver, but he also loved speed.

I both loved and dreaded riding with him at the helm.

Nevertheless, we made it to the capital faster than any other driver would have.

And that was when our horror story began.