Once I could move around freely, I was able to get into a decent routine of dusting and wiping down the furniture, washing the sheets, and even cleaning my gowns. After about two weeks the room was finally somewhat habitable. Unfortunately, I ended up have to pry the mattress off of the bed since the wooden boards holding it up were already breaking. It wasn’t easy, not with this frail body, but after much struggle I managed to do it.

Trial and error- just like the mess that was handwashing my clothes. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months.

All that was left now was doing some research… and figuring out a way to feed myself.

I couldn't keep sneaking into the kitchens forever, searching for leftovers and rummaging for scraps. Thankfully, the kitchen staff were too scared of me due to my new reputation to lash out when they discovered a few missing apples, but I did end up having to give back the pretty nightgowns the maids lent me when Dr. Hein was still here.

Just keep moving.

Don’t focus on the actual horror of the situation.

I’ll get out of this hellhole eventually.

Days I spent going from room to room on my side of the manor, searching for any kind of jewelry or map. I needed to know what kind of kingdom I was in, assuming it was a kingdom given the existence of nobility, and how to survive it. I wasn’t at all comfortable with the idea of wandering into unfamiliar territory, especially alone, or just… wandering anywhere in the outside world in general, but… I can’t let my anxiety get the better of me. Now when there isn’t anyone for me to rely on.

Go to the Viscount and ask him for help? With what money?

Nobody ever does anything for free. I can’t even go to the clinic for Dr. Hein unless I have a way to pay for her help.

I… need to stay strong. I need to work. I need to learn.

This body may be sixteen years old, but before I had woken up in it I had been a twenty-three year old woman. I’ve read lots of comics and novels on situations like this, and I’ve done so much research writing fanfiction for accuracy’s sake that some of it has to wind up being useful. I’ve got this. I can do this. Forget the maids, ignore the pain, bury the memories of the abuse, and just focus. Distract myself with gathering knowledge, and come up with a plan to earn money so I can get the hell out of here.

Dissociate from the misery at hand and concentrate solely only the task that needs to be completed.

Yanking open another door, I found a particularly large bookshelf inside the room and made my way over, dusting off the books with a cloth I had brought with me. Coughing into the cloth mask I had found and washed, I began to look through them. “O-Oooh…”

This one actually looks useful.

“I’ll keep you. Oh, and you…” Finally, some good freaking books. “You go there, you here…”

Sorting them based on whether or not they were history books, I set some aside before gradually surrounding myself in a pile of them. Taking a seat on the dirtied floor, dressed in another old nightgown that was practically fraying at the seams, I picked up the fanciest looking history book and opened it, getting to work reading. For everything the Baron’s daughter didn’t know, she had been taught to read, which made understanding the written language much easier.

Flipping the page, my eyebrows furrowed, seeing a name that felt oddly familiar. “Vestoria?”

If the writing was to believed, the kingdom was called that. It had been founded centuries ago by a human king and his… faerie queen?

“W-Wait, wait, wait!” Holy frick. “Fae exist here!? Oooh, I’m in trouble. Or- well, maybe?”

I paused to think about it.

“I do know about some of their rules, so I should be good…”

Maybe I should have been more concerned about the fact that “fae” were mentioned in what was supposed to be a history book. I didn’t really think to doubt it, though. This was another world, after all, and that Count had such heavy red hues in his eyes I was beginning to wonder what kind of world I had woken up in. The fact that fae existed here didn’t really concern me at all.

What concerned me was what was written in the book, because the next few paragraphs were entirely too strange.

It said that the faerie queen had betrayed the human king, flying off in a rage and leaving the human king to marry an elven woman instead- thus starting the elven-blessed lineage of Vestoria’s royalty. Meanwhile, the child that human king had with the fae before her “betrayal” was left to be raised in the cold north, where he would grow up and fight war and war before his own children took after, guarding the gate that led to the land of the fae and ensuring it remained shut. Fae… are creatures of their word.

Sure, they were known to be mischievous creatures who could be enticed into making deals with people- and while they would backstab given the opportunity, they would never go against the terms of the contract or any promises they had made. For the faerie queen to betray the human king she had married, the king would have had to have betrayed her first.

Right? Am I overthinking it?

Maybe he cheated on the fae with the elf, and that’s why she flew off in such a rage…

“Bah.” I scrunched my nose up and made a face, tossing the book to the side. “History books can’t be trusted, anyway. They’re only ever written by the survivors.”

I’m sure some of it is true, but most of it can probably only be taken with the grain of salt. Seeing as the queen disappeared after betraying the king, I don’t doubt that the king tried to erase all evidence of his own betrayal to cast all the blame on the fae instead. Ugh, just great. I’m living in a kingdom that’s pissed off a faerie.

Here’s hoping that doesn’t come back to bite me later.

“Vestoria, Vestoria…” Picking up another book and flipping through the pages, searching for the index, I opened to a listed page that held a map. “Oh! Found you!”

It even had a little description on the side about the kingdom’s relationships with its neighbors. How kind.

Vestoria was known as the nation of humans, despite being ruled by a monarchy consisting of elven heritage, and is currently in a long-lasting alliance with the Ediryn Kingdom, which is the kingdom most of the elven population hailed from. Ediryn was a bountiful land, bursting with nature and magic, while Vestoria mostly relied on its knights to get things done. Bordering the two kingdoms was Celuvia, the land of dwarves, with whom relationships were a bit rocky, and across the eastern sea was Zezia, another kingdom full of humans- but, unlike us, they were on good terms with both Celuvia and the merfolk swimming around.

Farther up north in the northern sea, neighboring where the Grand Duke, a descendant of the royal family, lived, were the merfolk’s enemy- the sirens.

Celuvia was to the south, Ediryn to the west, and Vestoria to the north and east. 

“So…” I tried to process this information. “This kingdom has not only pissed of the fae, but… it’s fighting with the merfolk, too?” Bah. “Dumbass kings…”

I set the book down with a scowl, hunching with my elbows on my legs, rubbing at my face. I groaned.

“I want to go outside even less now…”

This kingdom was in such a mess.

That said, why does all of this… sound so familiar?

I squinted at the pile of books, staring at them intently, before tentatively picking one up and flipping through the pages, curious about the apparent existence of fae. “Come on~ won’t you even say what kind of fae the queen was!? There’s so many! I needs to knoooow!”

Depending on what sort of fae she was, it could be spell big trouble. I desperately wish to know what sort of madness could visit Vestoria as a result of the founding king’s foolishness.

“Damn it…”

My new life involves a world with fae, and someone in the Grand Duchy is apparently descended from one- either the Grand Duke or Grand Duchess, I’m not sure, the pages don’t have the current nobility listed- but these wretched books don’t have any information about what kind of fae the founding queen was? Bastard Baron, abandoning his daughter and taking all the good books to his side of the manor.

Hmph.

Wait, does that mean… the Grand Duchy might be a threat? No, if they were then their ancestors would have tried to destroy the ruling monarchy already. There's no reason for why it would take so long for the faerie queen to get her revenge- unless... she's already gotten it.

I’m missing something.

But what? This is scratching my brain so hard, but it's still so itchy.

Letting out a frustrated sigh and blowing a raspberry at absolutely no one, I closed the book and set it back where I found it, instead getting to work locating paper and drawing utensils so I could start my plan to earn money. There wasn’t a whole lot I could do in my current situation, but back in my world… when I was still “Eleanora Quince” I used to draw a lot. I had relatives who would pester me to sell my sketches, but I never did because I just… wasn’t sure how and I didn’t think it would work.

But now… well, this was the time of nobility! Art is more likely to sell.

So the goal was to make as many drawings as I could and sell them in the marketplace. Thankfully, I’ve always been a pretty fast artist- and, with my knowledge of the modern day, there were a lot of things I could draw. Once I got my hands on some pencils I was able to start sketching, and most of them… were mostly scenes from fanfics I used to write. No one here would recognize the characters, and I changed up the designs a little to fit more with the era, but most characters in ancient artwork are nameless anyway- unless specifically given a name by the artist.

They don’t have to know who I’m drawing in order to like it.

People don’t start a new book because they already know who the characters are, or watch a new anime because they know the backstories of the main characters. They start the new thing because the designs caught their interest. That’s all it really was.

And I was able to draw an alarmingly large amount of artwork in the span of three days. Paintings would definitely sell more, but I don’t have the luxury of purchasing the supplies needed, so pencil sketches were going to have to work.

Carefully placing the sketches in an old messenger bag, I went through all the old storage closets I could find until I found a worn out uniform that looked like it might fit. My anxiety was bad enough as is and I wasn’t exactly keen on getting attacked in the street, so dressing up as a stableboy might help. If people thought I was a boy, then my chances of getting harassed were much lower.

Thankfully, due to the original “Eleanora von Ryker’s” memories, I had a decent idea as to how the currency in this world worked.

She was isolated, but she had been taught a little after her mother’s death before Madam Morgrem came into the picture. My only problem was that I was absolutely horrid at math, so I’m not entirely sure if I would get jipped out of a few extra coins or not.

According the books, the marketplace was outside the Barony, located in Viscount Rischard’s area, and it was bustling. The journey to reach it was quite uncomfortable, as I not only had to sneak out the window, but had worn myself out quite a bit trying to walk my way there following the map I had until some nice people driving a hay wagon offered me a ride. I was a little reluctant at first, as I didn’t really want to trust some random strangers I had just met, but… they seemed friendly enough, and I had a kitchen knife in my bag just in case I needed to defend myself.

Luckily, they really were just friendly, and I awkwardly chatted with them until we arrived.

They even bought a couple drawings off of me when they heard what I was trying to do and saw what I had made and was hoping to sell it for. Even if I didn’t do well in town, thanks to them I would have a little something to get me through the next few days.

But, to my surprise, quite a few people stopped to check out my drawings and even more purchased them. Only after someone stopped by purchase them, though- someone dressed quite fancily. His face was covered by a hood, but I could make out fair skin, dark hair pulled to the side by a navy ribbon, resting on his shoulder, and a silver monocle over grey eyes.

I had just been standing to the side, awkwardly fiddling with my pile of drawings, nervously asking each person that walked by if they’d be interesting in a drawing. I even offered to draw them if that’s what they would have liked, but this man was the only who stopped.

“These are quite good.” He commented, flipping through them. My heart raced, fearing that he might be messing with me and about to tear them up, but instead he just offered me a small smile. “How much are they?”

“Huh? O-Oh! Um…” What did those nice people say? “O-One silver.”

“Just one?” The man frowned at that. “You are severely underselling your art. I understand you’re a commoner, but do you not understand the worth of these?” He waved the few drawings he was holding at me. “Ten silver, at least. If a noble asks, charge them fifteen. Are you just that desperate for money that you’ll accept whatever’s offered?”

I opened my mouth to respond, then closed it, awkwardly fiddling with my bag and stack of sketches. “I… y-yeah… kind of.”

He stared at me. Then, he sighed. “Young man… you need to be more ambitious.”

“Y-Yes, sir…”

“Take it from me, alright? Art is a luxury. Having even a single picture would make some of your status feel immensely privileged. Artwork is a symbol of luxury, as nobility like myself are normally the only ones able to afford it. Take pride in your work, and charge for it properly.” He proceeded to roll up the sketches, and I watched in bafflement as he reached into his vest to pull out a small bag of coins. “My master may just find interest in these, so I shall purchase them. There should be enough in there to cover all five of these.”

“O-Oh, um…” Wow. Okay. I stared down at the bag he was holding out and tentatively reached out to accept it. “Th-Thank you?”

The man nodded at me, a small smile crossing his face then. “The name is Florian Timberwood, second son of Count Timberwood. If things go well and my master is pleased, well… perhaps we shall meet again. Take care until then, young man. Ah- actually, do you have a name?”

A… name? Crap, what sounds like Eleanora? Elvis? Alvin? “Uh… E-Ellis!”

He nodded, then took off.