Professor Xander summoned me to his office 2 days after the palace summons. I met him at his training room after I finished all of my classes.
"You called for me?" I asked after I sat down on the table he was in.
He handed me some papers and prepared tea.
"What's this?" I asked.
"Open it so you will know." He replied.
I opened it and saw all kinds of information regarding Crown Prince's Stefan and his supporters.
"Oh my god. Thank you! How did you get this?" I asked.
"There's no need to thank me just for that. All information there is known to most people. It's not that hard to gather them." He replied.
Two weeks have passed since we were summoned to the palace. People had heard of our heroic activity, some of them praised us, and some of them reprimanded us but who cares at least now they know that women can also do what men can do. I heard from Lis that her father had proposed to let women with high magic aptitude join the Magic Army Division. This is already a big step in Lis' goal. "When are you returning to your duchy?" Wischard asked while we were having lunch in our restaurant. We probably come here every weekend. They love the food here and Greg also released a new food in the menu. "Probably on Wind 255." I answered. "Why not on Dark 251?" Xavier asked. "I to
"Does Sussie not know about your organization?" I asked Lis. "Yeah.. It's not that I don't trust her but it's not something someone could just accept easily. I also don't know her stance regarding this issue." Lis explained and I nodded. "How about we ask her subtly?" I suggested and Lis nodded. "So what is it that you want to ask?" Lis asked again. I'm not really sure how to ask this. Should I just say it as it is? "Say it already." Lis insisted. "Fine. It's about Xavier." I started. "What about him? Do you like him?!" Lis asked, shocked. "No! Oh my god, no!" I denied vehemen
Days passed by quickly and now it's time for us to travel to our duchy. Prince Stefan had finally graduated and now is a mature member of the society. I sighed thinking of that, I feel sad that now he will have a legit form of power but this could also be some form of opportunity for me.The more Prince Stefan shows his incompetence in politics, the more loopholes, I could use to cancel our engagement. "Wow, the carriage of the ducal house is really something else." Tille commented. "This is not from our house. It's mine." I replied. I customised the carriage for my comfort. I heard from Carmella that even if you use the gate to travel it'll still take us 1 whole day to reach the duchy so I asked Vincent if he could lend me a hand and customise a carriage for me.
We were wondering why the carriage suddenly stopped when Carmella knocked on the window. "Lady Audrey, the knights are here." Carmella informed me. "Knights?" Lis asked, shocked. "Don't worry. I think they're mine." I replied as I opened the door and stepped out of the carriage. I saw a group of knights standing in the middle of the road, there's about 50 of them. "We greet the young lady." They said in unison. It was a bit intimidating when I heard that but I try my best not to flinch and to appear strong. The man in front suddenly came up and knelt in front of me and offered his sword. I panicked a little as I thought he was gonna hit me with it but Lis, who had come down
"My lady, the servants have been gathered by the knights in the main hall. Here are the reports I found on the study and inside the butler's room." Carmella said as she passed me a couple of books. I scanned the books knowing already what was written there. "Head Maid Caliana, didn't you say the budget was cut? How come it says here that you're receiving the same amount of budget as 5 years ago? There's even a 10% increase from 6 years ago." I asked her. "I don't know anything. Butler Rumlar was the one who told me that the budget was cut. My lady, believe me. I know nothing of this." She begged. "Why should I do that? The castle maintenance being embezzled by you people. The proof is already right here in my hands." I asked.
I told the carriage to stop and jump off the carriage the moment it did. I ran to the nearest tree with the knights following behind me anxiously."This… this is…" I said excitedly."It's a mulberry tree, my lady. Is this the first time you saw one? There are plenty of these trees in the duchy." Knight Walt said and I looked at him happily."There's a lot of this tree? That's good. That's good." I said excitedly."Why did you suddenly jump off?" Lis asked when she reached us."I found the solution to my problems." I answered and started looking at the leaves of the tree."What are we looking for, my lady?" Knight Walt asked.
It's finally the day for the guys to arrive, we are all waiting outside the castle door for them to arrive. There have been a lot of changes that happen in the castle since we arrived here. For one, we hired more employees for the castle and the castle management drastically improved under Head Maid Giselle and Butler Rydel. I have also informed my father about replacing the head maid and the butler. I told him in my message that Butler Rumlar and Head Maid Caliana were embezzling the funds and were selling the items inside the castle so I fired them and replaced them. I didn't tell him that Butler Rumlar also stole a part of the revenue the duchy was receiving. He didn't need to know that. He'll continue to receive the same amount anyway. I have informed Butler Rydel regarding the arrival of Xavier and the other guys last week. He immediately set off in clea
The following morning, I woke up early to check the silkworm. The day before, some eggs had already hatched. I was so excited to see them squirming yesterday. The greenhouse was also built according to my specification and Butler Rydel asked the gardener about what vegetable or fruits would be better to plant, something that can easily grow. They decided to go with lettuce, carrots, and radishes. I placed the boxes where the silkworms are in the greenhouse as I figured the temperature inside is the same temperature needed for the silkworm to grow. It will also save me some magic stones. When I entered the greenhouse I saw Healer Jan looking around. "Good morning." I greeted him. "Did you think of this?" He asked and I nodded.
I can't believe this day is finally happening. The sky is blue and the birds are chirping happily. Everyone is anticipating this day. I'm so nervous right now, I'm scared to make a mistake. What if I trip and fall face first? That would be really embarrassing. "Saintess, it's your turn." One of the attendants told me and I shakily walked to the center aisle. Don't trip. Don't trip. Smile. This is a happy day. I've safely arrived at the stage and smiled at Xavier. He looked as nervous as I was. The commentator said something that I can barely hear due to my nervousness. I just need to wait for the signal and do my part. It didn't take long before the commentator gave me the signal. One of the attendants came forward with the crown. Don't drop the crown. Don't dr
"Who is getting married to whom?" I asked, shocked. "You to me." He stated. "Xander, you don't need to do this for me but thank you." I replied and entered the mansion. I appreciate Xander's kindness but I think Lady Julia needs him more than me. He doesn't need to sacrifice his love for her just to save me from my predicament. I have 5 years, I'm sure I'll find someone. Another week of adjusting from the aftermath of the dragon case and I'm already bored. Yes, that's right. Bored. I have achieved all my previous goals the past year and now, I suddenly lost my purpose so I'm here in my mansion sipping my tea. I've just finished breakfast and now, I'm wondering what to do next. Should I go back to the duchy? There must be something to do in the duchy. Should I?
A week has passed since the verdict was announced to the public. Count Blyth was executed 3 days later, Stefan and the former queen were sent to the borders, and my father, Lady Madelyn and Emily were sent to prison. They still tried to appeal to me for help but since I'm not crazy, I ignored all their appeals. They are already lucky I'm not suing them for their attempted murder on me. I also met the former queen in the prison before they left for the border. I've asked her what I had been very curious about for a long time now. Why did she put a seal on me?"I didn't put a seal on you." She replied when I asked her. "Really?" I replied sarcastically. "You are not Audrey." She said and I was shocked.
The next day, Carmella woke me up early and helped me get dressed. After we went to see Lady Julia yesterday, I was out of it. I couldn't believe what was happening. I felt betrayed but I also felt so sorry for her. I mean I should have known, right? I was being self centered and only saw my problems. I didn't even realize she was suffering, no, I ignored it. I was too preoccupied with my jealousy that I didn't see the signs. "My lady, you are ready." Carmella said when she saw me just standing there. I looked at the reflection once more before going out. Xander was waiting for me outside. I couldn't look at Xander after we left the Tower of Magi yesterday. I don't know how to face him. I don't know or want to know if he knew why Lady Julia acted the way she did. "Are you ready?" Xander asked when he saw me
"I know the person?" I asked, shocked. Xander nodded gravely. "It's Julia." He said and I looked at him shocked. I couldn't speak for a few moments and tried to understand what he was trying to tell me but I just couldn't comprehend it. "No. There must be a mistake. I mean why would she poison me? There's nothing she can gain in doing that. She must have been framed. There's no way." I told him and denied their accusations to Lady Julia vehemently but he just sighed sadly. "The poison was found on her body." Xander explained. "Someone could have put it on her." I reasoned but Xander shook his head. "She admitted to poisoning you
Healer Jan let me rest inside my tent while Xander guarded me. I fell asleep quite fast as I was very tired from the battle. My muscles are aching. I wanted to rest but I couldn't sleep deeply. I am having a very light sleep. I can hear the rustling of people walking around my tent. "Thank you for coming back, Audrey." I heard Xander say as he stroked my hair. He kept on murmuring things but I couldn't really understand them in my half awake state. I'm going in and out of consciousness which is very irritating when you just want to sleep. I guess my mind was still hyperactive due to the battle. I tried to relax my brain but it really wasn't working. I heard someone enter the tent. "Hey Xander. How is Audrey?" I heard Lad
"Audrey!" I heard someone call my name. I opened my eyes and saw that everything was white and in front of me and I saw my reflection. Is this the other side? Is it over? "Audrey?" My reflection called, which shocked me, after all, reflections don't talk. "Audrey?" She called once again. I looked at my hands and noticed that it's not the hands of Lady Audrey but my hands, the programmer Audrey. "Am I hallucinating?" I asked. "No. This is the place where our soul stays in our body." Audrey or Lady Audrey explained. "In our body? You are still in this body? Did I possess your body?" I asked, shocked.
Everything happened fast, after he breathed fire on Xander and the others. He charged towards the knights and the weapons, and destroyed it. Afterwards it set its eyes on me and charged towards me. I evaded the attack and used the earth magic to throw rocks at the dragon and pulled it down towards the ground before I looked around and saw the damage. Time suddenly felt very slow, I saw bodies on the ground. I saw the healers running and trying to save those that they could. I kept on looking where Xander was but I couldn't see them. I saw Lis shouting at me. "Audrey! Audrey! Snap out of it and move!" I finally heard what she was shouting about. "Xander…" I called out but I didn't hear any reply. The dragon tried to
"Are you alright?" Adekin asked. "I'm alive." I replied. It feels like we've been fighting the dragon for a week now but honestly I'm not even sure if an hour has passed or not already. I'm physically tired. I should have also trained my body. I almost got trampled by the dragon if Adekin didn't save me. "You need to be more careful." Adekin chided. "I know but my stamina is bad." I replied as I tried to catch my breath. "Tell Xavier to start firing the new cannons to the dragon. The mages are running out of mana. Tell him to keep it busy while the mages regain their mana." I told him and assessed the situation with the dragon. Sussie and Xander are currently fighting