Every afternoon since that day, I have visited the Head Librarian’s office to attend her magic lessons in secrecy. My father and brother thought that I was indulging myself in some botany study. It was a good excuse, as I already knew every plant’s characteristics in this world from playing the game too much if they ever put me to a test.

“Do I have to memorize and annotate as much information as I can?” On the third day of magic lessons, Odette put another pile of books at my desk. “How long do I have to do this, Miss de Lune?”

“Not for long, my lady. It is indeed a tough task, yet every mage I knew has gone through it, even the children attending magic academies. You ought to learn the basic formulas so it’ll be easier to enchant the more complicated spells. By the way, how’s your mana concentration going?”

“I-It was harder than I thought. I stayed up all night trying to move the mana all over my body. As of now, I can only do it on my left palm.” Doing mana concentration has drained me so much that I slept longer than normal. I almost got late to my dance lessons which got me scolded by my father and my instructors. 

Mana concentration is the foundation of elemental abilities in this world. The mana concentration of magicians is the hardest. Unlike the swordsmen, marksmen and shamans, their manas are concentrated on their arms to use their weapons and make their abilities work. Magicians put minimal energy into holding their grimoire or staff, as they put it to enchant spells with different mana volumes and formulas. Shaman spells are not as complex as a magician’s spells—although they both perform magic for different purposes—it could depend on how powerful the spirit a shaman is summoning. Shamans usually use a staff or an axe, so they are pretty skilled in both combat and spirit magic.

Compared to the three classes, magicians have to put extra work into mana concentration based on the spells they enchant. Among the magician subclasses, the mage can learn a thousand spells in their lifetime—with newer spells getting discovered by scholars each year—compared to the abilities that the three classes have had, which were only half the number collected in comparison by the end of the game. Thus, making mages the most powerful and hardest to be.

Mages are a very important foundation in every kingdom in this world. Anyone would think that this makes them in demand despite being the most common magician subclass, but going through sleepless nights studying in an expensive academy to become a licensed mage for one-third of one’s life makes a person change their mind. However, the other classes have advantages that magicians in general lack—like the physical strength and stamina of swordsmen in close combat, the agility and accuracy of marksmen, and the versatility of shamans. 

In my case, I’m not interested in becoming a licensed mage to work in an academy or join a guild. I'm doing it solely for myself. 

A week has passed since my magic lessons with Odette de Lune started. I would spend half a day reading, annotating and memorizing formulas. She said I have excellent mana concentration and am improving faster than expected for someone who isn’t in an institution. Learning how to enchant basic spells isn’t far too soon than I thought. 

The Becketts returned by Sunday morning. I had to cancel my magic lessons on Monday for the tea party—which was something I hated to do—but this party is as important as that. 

I have to see for myself if my hunch was right, that one of the Beckett sisters is a member of the Forsaken Order.

The tea party was set in the green garden of the mansion. All of Lilivienne’s so-called friends were invited. I learned all their names thanks to Elise, after acting forgetful of who was there at Ayana’s tea party.

“I don’t want to take offence, but how you get treated by your friends, especially Lady Ayana Beckett, makes all of us think that you’re the only one with good intentions.” It seems my maid was right. This was my tea party, yet the way they smiled at me wouldn’t reach their eyes. I could see the disgust behind those hand fans, relaying secret messages to one another.

I felt a drop in my stomach, and an urge to throw up. It shouldn’t bother me if they don’t like Lilivienne, but suddenly my past life flashed before my eyes. Those painful memories of me getting bullied by my classmates for being “weird”, and getting stabbed in the back by my friends who only clung to me because I was “smart.” I got betrayed so many times, that I knew when a person was being genuine or not, but what about the original Lilivienne, did she ever know these women’s real intentions before she… disappeared? 

I gripped my skirt tight to compose myself. That’s when the Beckett sisters arrived. I expected them to be wearing extravagant dresses in an attempt to outshine everybody, to be competitive and have this mean look, but it was only Ayana who fit those expectations. Her older sister, Susanna, was the opposite. Her dress may not be as extravagant as Ayana’s, yet it was still decent in nobility standards. 

I looked at her intently. They truly have violet eyes. Susanna has paler skin than her sister, her brown hair was in a tight bun while her sister let loose those curly strands. They are quite opposite of each other. It was unexpected. But yet, it’s the more reason to get suspicious. Is it a fashion preference to dress gloomy when they grow up together in the same household, or is there a deeper reason?

“Hmph.” The lady beside me scoffed. She raised her hand fan and leaned toward me. “Just look at her dress. Totally a freak, isn’t she?”

What?

“And Ayana, she’s trying so hard that it’s so shameful. She thinks she’s better just because she went abroad, but she still reeks of Evermore dump.”

Why is she saying this to me?

The ladies giggled and had these meaningful stares with each other only the four of them could understand.

Are they stabbing me and the Beckett sisters? Or is everyone at this table stabbing one another? 

Their attention to me immediately moved to the new arrival, Ayana. Despite backstabbing her, I can see that they have a closer bond with her than they had with me—making me feel like an outcast—just like my experience in my first life.

But I didn’t let any depressive thoughts slide, I took it as an opportunity to observe both sisters, yet Susanna got my attention, as she was deeply staring at me. I felt chills down my spine, and cold sweats drying in my skin.

What is this weighing feeling? I can’t breathe!

I started distributing my mana throughout my body and smiled at her. “It’s nice to see you again, Lady Susanna.” I offered my hand, but as soon as she accepted it, I felt worse. Is this anxiety?

My eyes fell on the necklace she was wearing. “I love your locket, where did you get it?”

Her other hand grasped it like I would steal it. She dropped it calmly when she noticed the confusion on my face. “From Aurelia. I apologize for my sudden reaction. It just matters a lot to me.”

“I see…”

I took my hand back and sat down. My heart won’t stop pounding so fast and my head throbbing in pain. I couldn’t describe it properly, but the entire time she was close to me, it was as if something was trying to snatch my soul!

Was it my body reacting to black magic?!