According to this body’s memories, Estella’s injuries were self-inflicted. Today was the crown prince’s fifteenth birthday. The emperor extended his invitation to all nobles in the land, and the Geris dukedom also got invited. The duke’s most favored mistress, Leila, wanted to accompany him. According to Étoile’s noble etiquette, however, mistresses and their children cannot attend royal events unless receiving explicit permission from the lady of the house. The duchess did not entertain the idea of Leila embarrassing her in front of other nobles and denied her request.

To the duchess’ annoyance, the duke later spent thirty minutes comforting the sobbing Leila, meekly curling in his embrace, placing them behind the departure schedule. Estella watched the entire scene unfolding from the carriage window with indifference. She had seen Leila’s grand performance of fragility and crocodile tears thousands of times and felt unimpressed. In the end, the duke soothed Leila by promising her a gift from the capital. She slowly released him and waved goodbye with a yearning expression. No wonder the people once called her the Shining Star of Neola, a famous theater troupe in Geris. Estella found her acting skill impeccable.

After the carriage arrived at the palace, her father marched off to socialize. While her mother, paying attention solely to her four years old brother, led him along to the noble wives’ table, leaving Estella with a few attendants to roam the ballroom by herself. The crown prince, too preoccupied flirting with other beautiful ladies, did not come to greet her. Although they were cousins and fiancé and others hailed her as the rose of Geris, he had no interest in little girls.

Estella did not mind his distant attitude. After all, she only wanted the worthless fool for his position, not love. Surveying the room, Estella noticed the other noble ladies already established into little cliques. Despite her upbringing advising her to mingle, she did not proceed. She was tired of the useless gossip and occasional backstabbing to make alliances. In reality, with her status as the duke’s daughter, she was not obliged to. She instead designated an obscured table in the far corner as her temporary refuge for the night.

Time passed by without incident. The guests were gradually leaving. Estella decided to stroll in the royal garden alone before the celebration officially adjourned.

“You all wait here.” She ordered.

“Yes, milady” The attendants complied and stopped at the garden entrance.

The Étoile empire’s royal garden, Empyrea, boasted as one of the Crea continent’s most magnificent gardens, containing a diverse selection of unique flowers and plants collected from throughout the known world. The geometric spiral garden spanned several noble estates and was complete with a grand lake at the center. As visitors advanced inward, the garden’s species progressively became more exotic.

Following the spiral to reach the center would take hours. Estella, however, knew a shortcut the royal gardeners used to speed up their work process. Approaching closer, she noticed a figure standing beside the lake.

Who could it be at this hour? Visiting the royal garden without permission from the emperor was a privilege only for high nobles and royalties.

Estella hid behind a nearby bush and used a body-enhancing spell on her eyes for a clearer view. To her surprise, the figure resembled the third prince, Alexander. He dismissed himself from the celebration earlier for an unspecified reason.

What was he doing here?

The prince seemed to converse with someone, but the distance was too great for Estella to hear. Yet she could not perform another spell until the next hour. A superficial limit enforced by the magician association to deter abuse by magic users outside their circle. Outside of human-created magics, the users could still employ their respective affinity magics, or elemental magics, to their desire.

A plan suddenly popped into her head, a brash and daring plan. Because of his affinity for fire, the third prince was weak against water. If he “accidentally” slipped and fell into the lake, maybe the throne would have one less contender. Her path to queendom would have fewer obstacles.

Estella closed her eyes and concentrated on the plan in mind while water particles remaining on tree leaves and flower petals transformed into an icy mist, swirling her. Her body temperature lowered, and tiny azure fires radiated from her pupils when she reopened her eyes. Estella traced a small magic circle with her fingers and pointed it at the ground. The mist flew toward the unsuspecting prince but halted, to her surprise, at the last moment. It bounced off an invisible wall and swung back toward her at rapid speed. Unable to react in time, Estella helplessly watched as the mist struck her in the stomach, knocking her backward. She lost her balance, tumbled, and hit her head on a nearby boulder.

Blood gushed from her mouth and head, splattering on the ground and tree leaves. Choking on blood, Estella attempted to call for help, but no sound came out. Her eyes lost focus, and she could feel her consciousness slipping. Then, before the darkness took over, she saw a shadowy figure closing in.

Elaine pinched her forehead. She could feel another round of headaches coming. Since Estella was only a side villain, the book dwelt little into her life or history, just a little information here and a minor detail there.

What a troublesome, and not to mention foolish, little girl. What made her believe a royal family member would not have at least some protection for himself? Also, who was the third prince conversing with, and what was that shadow?

Elaine had too many questions and no one to answer her.

Estella died, and Elaine became the unwilling replacement, forced to deal with the aftermath. Estella from the book survived because she lived and breathed this environment her entire life. Elaine was different. Before this, she was just an ordinary college student. No amount of books Elaine read in her previous life can replace experience. So how can she survive this dangerous world filled with betrayal and death?