Queen Amalee dragged me through the royal palace without saying a word. I didn’t say a word either because I had the feeling that I wouldn’t like what I was about to hear.

  Leading me into a room, inside, it looked to be a really big dressing room, in which there were a lot, and I mean a lot, of dresses.

  Finally letting go of my hand, I looked through the rows of dresses and was a bit perturbed that they all seemed to be strangely in my size. They all looked really expensive and overly extravagant, and I finally realized what she had brought me here for.

  “Rita, could you stop using your magic? I want to see your beautiful silver hair and red eyes.”

  I did as she told me, then briefly debated whether I should run away because… I absolutely loathe what Queen Amalee is going to make me do. Do I really have to try all of them on?

  I can’t stand having to look for new dresses that I’ll only wear a couple of times. Getting one made or finding the right one to buy is such a hassle and a pain, and then having to go through the trouble of wearing it is a whole nightmare on its own, especially with how much of a waste of time and how restrictive they can get as they become more elaborate and ornate. That’s precisely why I stick to simpler dresses and outfits. It saves me from this kind of trouble, even if Clare constantly urges me to wear something more fitting whenever I have to attend formal events.

  As if reading my thoughts, Queen Amalee snapped her fingers, and several maids hurried in through the door.

  “Huh?”

  They wordlessly began dragging me to the fitting room to my right. When I tried to resist a bit, I found that their grips were way too strong for just ordinary palace maids, like, a lot more.

  The curtain fell shut behind me, and I briefly considered escaping. However, in a matter of seconds, they had undressed me completely, even the sling on my arm, which I guess proves just how capable the queen’s personal maids were, in a scary way.

  I was almost impressed, but I soon realized that all my paths of escape were completely cut off because there was no way I was going to run through the royal palace naked.

  Damn, she got me. Grumbling to myself, I gave up and did not try to resist at all, letting them do as they pleased like a doll.

  When they were finally done, all the maids stepped away, and I looked at myself in the mirror.

  I was wearing a crimson dress with soft, layered frills that moved gently when I walked, making me look like a bouquet of roses.

  Sliding the curtains open to show me Queen Amalee, she placed a finger on her chin and nodded but sighed at the end.

  “No, this wouldn’t do. It doesn't match your eyes at all. Why don’t we try the next one?”

  Saying that, Queen Amalee snapped her fingers once again, and the maids closed the curtain once again to make me put on another dress.

  Seeing what I'm wearing, once they were done putting the next dress on me, I wore a silver gown with soft, cascading layers, threaded with faint touches of red over black underlayers. The colors blended together, making the dress look like a single piece of finely crafted jewelry made of silver and ruby gemstones.

  Opening the curtains once again for Queen Amalee to judge, she decided that this wasn’t a good fit for me either because the red didn’t really suit me and contrasted too much with my eyes.

  Snapping once more and more and more and more, I was slowly losing my sanity as we went through who knows how many dresses, where I stopped counting at thirty because I just gave up at that point.

  God, I hate this. This is torture; someone end me already.

  Looking at the clock, the sun had fully set around now, and I just wanted this to end.

  I had basically dead eyes, though, and given my default expressionless face, nothing really changed outwardly.

  Expecting to hear Queen Amalee say what was wrong with the current dress I was wearing, which I didn’t really bother to look at through the mirror, Queen Amalee snapped her finger and… let out an approving hmmm.

  Surprised by it, I looked at the dress I was wearing first and turned to Queen Amalee, hoping it would finally be over.

  I was wearing a dark midnight-blue dress with a simple, elegant top that faded into a much more vibrant dark blue. It started slightly below my chest area and led into fabric that wrapped around my neck like a collar, which helped hold up the top but left my back partly open and my shoulders a bit bare. Following this was my skirt, which was really puffy and frilly, with a layer of see-through black fabric flowing lightly over it and some layers of fabric with the same vibrant dark blue underneath.

  In addition, the dress sparkled like diamonds, arranged in a way that resembled stars in the night sky.

  Overall, it was much less over the top than the previous dresses I was wearing.

  As I turned to look back at Queen Amalee, as if she read my thoughts, she said.

  “Amazing, isn’t it, Rita? You just look stunning.”

  A bit hesitantly, I was about to ask if it was over when a knock came from the door. Then, hearing Edwen's voice, asking if Queen Amalee and I were done, since it had gotten dark already, which I couldn’t blame him for, since this was not in fact for a bit.

  However, when I saw a faint, mischievous smile form on Queen Amalee’s lips, I had a bad feeling about this.

  “Yes, we just finished; come in.”

  Hearing that, Edwen came and walked in. In the process, he saw me and immediately stood still right where he stood, and once again, I caught a glimpse of what he was thinking.

  Goddess?!?

  Oh, great, he is thinking I am a goddess again. Why this again? This is getting really embarrassing if he keeps looking at me like that. Wait, no, why does it feel like he is going to prostrate himself before me, like I’m an actual goddess, pleading his devotion and all?

  Breaking him from his stunned silence, Queen Amalee asked how I looked, to which Edwen took a while to respond as his face slowly reddened. Then, without a word, Edwen ran out of the room when his face fully ripened like a bright cherry tomato.

  Seeing her son running out like that, Queen Amalee couldn’t help but giggle a bit at the scene she had intentionally created.

  Then, signaling to one of the maids to close the door, Queen Amalee walked toward me.

  “Rita, could you please turn around, dear?”

  Not really knowing why she wanted me to do that, maybe to get a better look at the dress from a different angle, I did what she asked.

  I felt her gaze on my back with much seriousness. A second later, I felt her touch my back, feeling her finger going down from my shoulder, down to my waist, with her grinacing in the end.

  Oh, right, the scars on my back—no wonder she was grimacing.

  Since this dress leaves my back open, it poses a problem because I’m supposed to be pretending to be myself, and having my scars out in the open would raise some rather problematic questions.

  As I thought that, I felt Queen Amalee hug me from behind.

  I didn’t say a word as I let Queen Amalee continue to hug me because I was taken by surprise and didn’t know what to do in this situation.

  After what felt like half a minute, she finally let go and said, “Please don’t scare me like that. Why didn’t you let me help you?”

  I took a moment to understand what she meant till I realized it was about the incident I had made a couple of days ago to get rid of my bullies.

  Trying to avoid her gaze that was reflected through the mirror that was looking at me, I tried my best to sound as apologetic as possible, though nothing really changed when I said sorry for making her worry.

  A silence fell between us; neither of us talked, and I was feeling really guilty for making her worry.

  I didn’t really tell her because I didn’t want her to get involved, since I could take care of it myself, but I should have at least told her about my plan, or at the very least, done something not to worry her.

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  Feeling like Queen Amalee was sensing what I was feeling, I saw her form a gentle smile as she placed her right hand on the top of my head to pat it, saying what I was thinking.

  “It’s fine; what’s done is done.”

  I… really messed up here.

  Also sensing what I was thinking again, she continued to smile, as I said.

  “I will try to tell you what I can next time… Queen Amalee.”

  “I am glad to hear it, now…”

  Suddenly changing her tone to a much more playful one, as if her sad expression was never there, I was getting a really bad feeling from it.

  “Let’s try a few more adjustments and see what accessories work best with this dress.”

  Oh come on!!! I screamed that in my head, with this new hell coming.

  Lasting throughout the night, when it finally ended, I finally got out of that hell when all was done.

  Outside the room, one of the maids led me to a carriage Queen Amalee had prepared for me to take me home. I couldn’t help but feel a faint twitch in the corner of my eyes, an involuntary reaction to the ordeal I had just survived.

  That had never happened before. Not even in my past life, with all the death and destruction, had anything made my eye twitch like this.

  I looked through a window, seeing the late-night sky and my slight reflection through it. I had dead eyes, which I could see, though nobody else, other than a select few people, could see, or maybe not, since my eyes are literally twitching right now.

  As I continued to think that, the maid who was escorting me suddenly stopped, just as we were about to leave through the main entrance.

  The maid, bowing and greeting Edwen, brought me out of my stupor.

  Awkwardness was written all over his face with a hint of a blush, in which he looked like he didn’t know what to say but spoke anyway, seeing my sorry state.

  “Ugh… Blake… ugh… are you okay?”

  “No… I just want to go home and forget that today ever happened.”

  “I see; maybe we should skip tomorrow's training.”

  “Yeah…”

  Saying that, I walked past him while signaling the maid to open the door outside, where a carriage was waiting for me.

  Getting in, I knocked on the window to tell the coachman to send me back to where I was staying, which was Alice’s manor.

  Then, once I was outside the royal palace grounds, I let out a massive groan and slumped into my seat, no longer caring for decorum until we reached my destination, where I tried my best to look presentable.

  We pass by the gate and then finally reach the main entrance, where Clare, who seems to be waiting for me, is.

  The coachman opened the door for me, and I stepped out.

  “Good evening, my lady…”

  Seeing my dead demeanor as Clare was greeting me for coming back, she suddenly asked if I was okay.

  In response, I simply said we would talk about it inside, in a flat tone that would sound normal to most people, but to Clare, I sounded completely dead and tired.

  Letting her hold my backpack, we walked to my room, and once Clare closed the door behind her, I immediately plopped down on my bed and just said, “Queen Amalee… forced to try… too many dresses.”

  Saying only a couple of words because I didn’t have the energy to say much, Clare seemed to catch on to what I was saying, since she knows I absolutely hate shopping for dresses.

  Already knowing what I wanted, since this was how I typically acted when we shopped for new dresses or had fittings for custom ones, though never to this level, she excused herself from my room, wishing me goodnight.

  Though I was mentally dead tired, I made sure that, before Clare left my room, I would wish Clare a good night back.

  As I said that, I could feel Clare smiling at me. Then, once she quietly closed the door behind her, I nudged off my shoes with my feet and slowly and sluggishly made my way through the center of the bed to place my head on a pillow and put a blanket over me.

  I slept throughout the quiet night, and once I felt the morning sun on my skin, groggily, I rose from my bed and rubbed my eyes.

  Remembering what happened yesterday, which I desperately try not to remember, I reached for the bell on my bedside table to ring it.

  In a matter of seconds, like Clare was waiting for me to ring the bell, Clare came in.

  “Good morning, did you sleep well, my lady?”

  “Yeah, and good morning to you, too, Clare.”

  Helping me out of the comfortable bed, I moved to sit down on a chair, feeling the warmth of the morning sun through the cool, chilly air as Clare prepared the bath.

  At least yesterday is all over now. Today should more than make up for it because I’m fighting someone really strong.

  I stared out the window and waited for Clare to finish preparing the bath for me. When she was done, she came out and told me that it was ready but also asked if I needed any help removing my clothes.

  “No, I’m fine. I could do it myself.”

  Nodding at my response, Clare then bowed and said that she would be fetching me my breakfast while I relaxed in the bath.

  Seeing Clare leave, I slipped my toe into the hot water, exhaling in ecstasy for a bit, followed by my entire body. Submerging most of my body in the bathtub, with my face being the only part above water, I stayed like that, enjoying it all, until I heard Clare coming back in.

  Deciding to cut my bath a bit shorter than usual, since I was starting to feel hungry after not eating dinner last night, I got out of the bathtub and dried off before asking Clare to come in and help me dry my hair and change into a fresh set of clothes.

  Once that was done, I walked back into my room to see a big meal placed in front of me.

  On the table, I saw this world’s version of French toast, two fairly thick slices of pan-fried ham, a mushroom and herb omelet, a small bowl of fruit salad, and a pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice.

  Since I could only use one arm, most of the food had been prepared to make eating easier, like the ham being pre-cut and the French toast being surprisingly soft and delicate, allowing me to take pieces of it off with little difficulty using a fork.

  As I ate, I asked Clare about the box I had sent home, specifically if they had done what I asked them to do, which was to store it in a place away from us with someone guarding it.

  “We have placed it in the mansion’s main vault, and Lady Alice will be available to discuss the matter later tonight.”

  “I see.”

  My original plan had been to discuss what to do with it with Alice when I returned. However, I didn’t really ask that yesterday, since it completely flew through my mind because I really wanted to go to bed.

  We have to approach this cautiously because it’s basically a Pandora's box, where who knows what will happen when I open it, other than it not being good.

  Downing the last drop of orange juice in my cup, I made sure to mind my manners and dab my lips with a napkin and went to the bathroom with Clare to change into a new set of clothes.

  Helping me change into them, which consisted of a white, loose-fitting button-up dress shirt; black pants with a heavy-duty belt to hold most of my gear; a pair of sturdy yet flexible boots; and, most importantly, a sports bra, a different one from the one I wore yesterday.

  Once that was done, Clare pulled my hair back into a ponytail. When I finally looked at myself in the mirror, I saw someone strikingly androgynous, leaning more toward the boyish side with the clothes I wore and my hair tied back since it wasn’t all that uncommon among male adventurers with long hair.

  Satisfied with Clare’s handiwork, I turned my hair black and eyes blue as she draped a cloak over me, tying it securely, then handed me a pouch stuffed with gold coins.

  Going back to the wooden box my brother had given me that was from my bastard of a father, I need to prepare for what happens next, so equipping myself is a requirement.

  Finally, when everything was done, Clare followed me to the main entrance and wished me well for the day. I said the same and began walking away.

  I pass through the garden and through the gate with a place in mind, specifically a decent weapons shop that Clare had recommended, in addition to two more stores to get my equipment and a bunch of other stuff.

  Once everything was done, which hadn’t taken very long, I made my way toward the dojo Isaac had said I could visit anytime today.

  Reaching there in roughly an hour, I soon found myself in front of the dojo.

  Seeing the walls that separated the outside from the inside, I noted their distinctly Eastern design contrasted sharply with the Western-style buildings around it.

  My right hand, which was resting on the hilt of my new sword, which was a rapier that I fortunately was able to find, moved to knock on the wooden gate.

  I knocked and waited a bit for someone to respond, and just when I was about to knock again, wondering if there wasn’t anyone inside since I arrived here much earlier than expected, I heard my name called from a voice I recognized.

  “Blake?”

  “Isaac? What are you doing here outside?”

  “This is the time I usually come to the dojo, but you're here surprisingly early.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t help train Edwen today, because… ugh… reasons…”

  Trying my best not to remember the hell that was yesterday, Isaac said, “I see," and offered to open the gate for me.

  Letting me in, the first thing I saw was a surprisingly zen garden and fish pond that was of an eastern design, the first one I saw in this world.

  Isaac, noticing me staring at the garden, smiled and said, “Are you surprised?”

  “A bit. This place looks really unique.”

  “Yeah, he—”

  About to explain where his master got his inspiration for this place, I heard loud shouting coming from the dojo.

  “Come on! Swing! Swing! Swing! Do you not hear your sword’s voice?!!! Do you want me to hit you again?!”

  “No, Master!. I can’t feel my arms any—GAH!!"

  "QUIET! Any more complaining, and I will hit you twice as hard as before.”

  Hearing a second voice filled with despair and agony, a voice that sounded strangely familiar, like someone I knew but couldn’t possibly be here, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was imagining things.

  I turned to Isaac, about to ask what was happening, and he had a wry smile and said.

  “It’s a new student that my master had kid—I mean, found and taken in from somewhere while he was traveling around the kingdom.”

  Huh? Did I hear him just about to say kidnapped? What do you mean by kidnapped, and why did he look deathly afraid when he corrected himself?

  Not really noticing my confusion and bafflement beneath my usual expressionless face, he stepped toward the dojo to slide the door open, causing my eyes to widen when I saw who was inside.

  There was an older, middle-aged man wearing a gi, wildly swinging his wooden sword in the air as he shouted with intense fervor at the guy I immediately recognized.

  “Huh? Why the heck is Alex here? He shouldn’t be here until a month from now… right?”

  Looking at him with tears in his eyes, dirty clothes, messy hair, and the bruises and cuts all over his body, it was as if he had been dragged halfway through the kingdom to be here.

  And on a secondary note, what is that jet-black sword he is swinging?