I froze as the assassin dashed towards Luminaria Edelgard - the princess of the Edelgard Kingdom, and the most important person to me in the world. I couldn't do anything as my the blade grew closer towards my friend's neck.

I cursed my own fear, I cursed my own powerlessness.

I screamed internally, begging to be able to save her.

Time stopped. In that moment, a tsunami of memories forced their way into my mind. Memories of another person and another world. A lifetime's worth. A piercing pain struck through my head as 'I' tried to reconcile with 'myself'.

Who am I?

I am Tiana Bracklin, the daughter of a duke.

But also someone else.

Before I could figure out what was going on, the part of me that loved Luminaria screamed out to save her.

All parts of me agreed that a young eight year old girl didn't deserve to be killed.

I lunged forward with a burst of power I didn't know I had. A katana from my old world appeared out of thin air and I beheaded the assassin.

"Tia?!" Luminaria shouted.

I stared at my own bloodstained hands in wonder. Another assassin tried to enter the carriage, and before I knew it I had flown out in a rampage to support the knights that were supposed to escort us.

My memories cut off at that point.

My eyes shot open. My whole body was tense as I listened to my surroundings, and I slowly sat up on the bed to look around. I was in the infirmary of the Royal Castle of Edelgard, hidden from view by curtains. Shadows of nurses could be seen running back and forth.

I breathed out a huge sigh and tried to recollect my thoughts.

In this life, I was Tiana Bracklin, eight years old. I said this life. As unlikely as it was, it seemed like the attack on Princess Luminaria caused me to remember my previous life in another world before I was reincarnated into this one.

Previously I had been a boy - or rather, someone who was forced into being a boy. I died regretting that I never got to be a girl, and desperately wishing to somehow be reborn as a girl. I softly smiled as I looked down at myself, still wearing the same dress from during the attack.

Congratulations, old me, it seems like you got your wish.

It didn't seem like I was injured. The katana that I used was lying beside me on the bed in its sheath.

Why the hell would they leave a weapon beside a resting little girl?

Actually, before that, where the heck did it come from? There was magic in this world, so it might have been some kind of unique skill I got at the same time as my memories.

I picked up the sword and unsheathed it. My face was reflected by the metal.

It feels weird and embarrassing to say it, but from the perspective of my old memories, I was a rather cute girl. Pink wavy hair framed my face, and my eyes shone red like bright rubies.

So this was who I am now.

Rather, this was who I had been for eight years.

I'm still me. I'm still Tia, I just happened to have more memories to aid me than before.

At least that's how I wanted to think of it. I've always been weak to existential thoughts in both lives, and I didn't want to freak myself out wondering about the state of 'Tia'.

So I've decided.

I am the same Tia.

The curtains ruffled and I quickly sheathed my sword.

"Tiana-sama!" A nurse gasped as soon as she saw me sitting up. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine, thank you." I lightly bowed my head. "How is Her Highness?"

"Her Highness is safe, thanks to you. Though, everyone in the castle is wondering how you managed to repel all of the attackers almost singlehandedly."

I raised my eyebrows. "Did I? I don't remember what happened at all." I remembered killing the first one, but I thought it might be easier to pretend that the whole thing didn't register in my mind.

"Is that so? From what the knights said, Tiana-sama was like a whirlwind on the battlefield."

I made a wry smile. "Surely they must be mistaken. I'm just an eight year old girl." I held up the sheathed katana. "Why was this left beside me?"

The nurse shook her head. "We can't separate it from you. It refuses to move too far away and would fly back every time." She took the sword from me and walked back a few paces. The sword jumped out of her hands and flew back to me, hovering by my side.

I stared at the floating sword blankly.

A knight came into the infirmary and headed towards me. "His Majesty has summoned Lady Tiana Bracklin to the audience hall."

"She's still recovering," said the flustered nurse.

"I'm okay," I said as I climbed out of the bed.

"But Tiana-sama-"

"Thanks for worrying about me." I gave her a smile. "But my body feels great."

I followed the knight down the corridors. I never thought of them much before, but with the memories of a commoner, the decorations in the castle looked ridiculous and gaudy.

The knight opened a door for me, then waited outside for me to enter. The audience hall was huge and sparkled with gold decorations. Facing me were the king and queen, Leonardo Edelgard and Alexandria Edelgard, on their thrones. The king was a tall heavily built man with orange hair and beard, and the queen was a slender beauty with golden hair and sapphire eyes. Standing beside them were First Prince Roy, Second Prince Chrom, and First Princess Luminaria. Luminaria looked almost like a miniature version of the queen, a cute beauty. Towards my sides as I walked in were knights and other nobles.

It seemed like news of my odd katana had already reached the king, because nobody tried to disarm me.

I walked until a short distance away from the throne, then curtsied and knelt down on my knee. "Tiana Bracklin, daughter of Duke Bracklin, at your service, Your Majesty."

"Raise your head," the king commanded.

I followed his order and my eyes met with Luminaria's. Luminaria gave me a small smile.

"Lady Tiana, I am told that it was thanks to you that my daughter Luminaria is still alive. I cannot thank you enough for your bravery and actions."

"My apologies, your majesty, but I barely have any memories of the incident. As such, I am not sure I can claim any credit."

"Regardless, there's no way I can refrain from rewarding my daughter's savior. Name anything and it shall be yours. Or how about an engagement to one of my princes?" The king chuckled. Roy and Chrom dropped their jaws in shock at the statement. Perhaps it hadn't been discussed beforehand.

Though being the daughter of a duke, it had long been speculated that I could end up as a fiancé to either prince. The prestige and powers of a house were more important than the person in question when it came to marriage amongst royals and nobles. Many noble girls would be ecstatic to be engaged to a prince.

But not me.

"Rather than a prince, I would prefer to take Princess Luminaria's hand in marriage." I mentally kicked myself as gasps rung out around the hall. It seemed that with the return of my memories I became more of a reckless dumbass like I used to be in my past life.

The king roared with laughter. "You two are really close friends aren't you? But I'm afraid I can't give you Luminaria. You may be inseparable now, but one day both of you will find a fine man to fall in love with."

It was fine if that was how that twit wanted to interpret it for now. It calmed down everyone in the hall as they were relieved that it was just an eight year old's misunderstanding of friendship, so I avoided trouble.

Previously I thought that it was only friendship too, but with my memories and experiences from another life, I now knew that I was wrong. I loved Luminaria romantically. I always liked girls in both lives, so even death won't cure me from being a lesbian.

But as a member of the nobility I am more constrained, and as far as I knew this world barely acknowledged that gay people existed at all. Lesbian marriages weren't allowed yet.

Well, it's nothing a coup d'etat or two wouldn't fix.

"In that case, I would like to have some skilled knights and mages train me to use my new powers, so I may better protect Princess Luminaria from harm," I said.

"How admirable!" The king boomed. "I will arrange for that soon. Take your time to rest and recuperate. Even if you don't remember what happened, I'm sure that you are exhausted."

I bowed my head. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

I exited the audience hall and met with my personal maid Lescia. She was 13, and her dark brown hair was usually tied up in a bun. Her eyes were usually sharp but at the moment they were tinged with worry. "Tia ojou-sama!" She ran towards me and grabbed my hands as tears fell down her cheeks. "We were so worried when we heard about the carriage.

"I'm back, Lescia." I smiled. "I'm tired, could you take me home?"

"Yes, of course!" Lescia led me to my house's carriage. I napped on the way from the castle to my family's residence in the capital. The moment we returned I immediately went to my room and collapsed on my bed.

I did a good job of staying calm so far, if I'm allowed to say so myself.

I mean, reincarnation? And weird new powers? What is going on?!

And I died pathetically without achieving anything in my last life?!

Since I got a new chance at life, I better make the most out of it!

I'm not going to just lie around and be a calm noble girl. I need to train my swordsmanship and magic to the best that I can! And I'll make sure to study and know about my territory in depth too! And, most of all, I'll have to enjoy finally being a girl and go out and get girlfriends!