Reincarnated as a Dark Elf

  Chapter 8

  Chapter title: Deeper Revelations Found along with Enemy intentions

  Grace was in the Carrahe Royal Library reading books at one of the desks.

  The Royal Library was a place with walls and shelves made of bright red woods. Books of all sorts of subjects sat on the shelves. It was a two story place with a large window on the far wall in the center that lit in plenty of light from outside. Red carpeting was everywhere. Winding staircases made for easy climbing were at separate ends of the library. Wooden desks also made of red wood were scattered around. Displays of barbarian armor were lined up as decorations against the walls. In short the place was open and welcoming.

  “It’s probably a good thing that I’m a regular at the Library which saves me the trouble of explaining why I’ve been hanging out here everyday trying to case the library's restricted section” Grace thought.

  She was wearing a dark outfit that allowed a good deal of freedom of movement and the quietest shoes she could find. Along with the usual rings on her fingers that allowed access to the magical storage space. A belt with some pouches on them.

  “Here’s another one princess,” the senior assistant librarian said to Grace without much emotion giving her a book.

  “Well mostly, the Senior assistant librarian is eyeing me. He doesn’t like me very much” Grace thought.

  “Could you get another book for me from the top shelf? It’s about Carrahe history from a century ago. Please Mr. Senior Assistant Librarian” Grace asked oh so politely.

  The Senior Assistant Librarian was a man in his mid-thirties and dressed as a scholar would be. Dark robe, hat, and a suit n tie.

  The man climbed up the ladder to the top of the shelf grumbling he muttered under his breath “How long is this Dark Eared brat going to keep bossing me around.”

  “Well this is what you get for harassing me, you jerk” Grace muttered under her breath. The man had no idea she could hear him.

  “In case you were wondering, I found the Royal Library almost as soon as I arrived in the Palace and began reading its books since my parents taught me how to read. But I ran into one problem. The Chief Librarian's assistants kept taking books out of my hand. The Senior Assistant Librarian was particularly prolific and all of them all said why don’t you go outside and play, or play with dolls or go think of marriage and so on and so forth. They might’ve sounded polite but the contempt on their faces said otherwise. I complained to Chief Librarian Dolz and he wasted no time disciplining his staff saying I could read in the Royal Library anytime I wanted as long as I followed the rules and thus the Chief Librarian became one of my favorite people in the palace; some of his assistants have even assisted me since then. Thank you Dolz” Grace inner monologue.

  “Thank you, you may go now” Grace said to the Senior Assistant Librarian. The man wasted no time walking away after giving a small bow. He seemed relieved.

  “Yep not one of my favorite people” Grace thought as she made a few of her memory sphere’s secretly detach from the Senior Assistant's two keys and a pin he was wearing. And per a special ability the memory sphere’s had turned into exact copies of the keys and a pin perfectly mimicking every aspect of them. They would be needed later. She puts them in one of the pouches around her belt.

  She had a plan for breaking into the Royal Libraries Restricted section. But she was going to enact it later.

  For now she was going to read the history book she had been handed. It talked about Queen Heather I the Law-Giver, the Great, Great, Grandmother of the current Queen Heather II. It read a little bit like a love novel.

  This is how the history unfolded as Grace came to understand it. Heather I the future Law-Giver was born in the Kingdom of Cornwall far to the west and was a normal human. By her own admission she was an orphan and never knew her parents. Lacking prospects in life she tried to become a nun. But fate had other plans. Carrahe under the rule of King Gerhard the Annihilator rode out of the North on his dragon with many other dragon riding legions a lot like Genghis Khan and his horse-ridding hordes. They came, they saw and annihilated whole enemy armies and enslaved whole population centers only to be repopulated by people from Carrahe. Carrahe was more Empire than Kingdom.

  The Future Queen was taken as a slave and sold to king Gerhard’s Heir, the future King Otto the Splendid. He liked Heather’s intelligence and fearlessness while she liked his strength and fortitude. But she refused to be with him until she was freed.

  Once she was freed she did marry the then Prince Otto and they wasted no time having children. One of whom would be a future ruler of Carrahe. She also went native and became the first-non Carrahe Barbarian to tame a dragon and would even lead troops in battle.

  While Otto would become known as the Splendid. Heather I would become known as the law-giver for the unusual but comprehensive set of laws she had passed relating to important but mundane things such as farming and infrastructure, to others like Liberty, Equality, and Universal Suffrage.

  Grace had to read that again “This sounds very familiar. They read from my old world. Who is Heather I the Law-Giver” she thought. Then she read on.

  The end result of all the laws passed Carrahe was a better kingdom overall. Heather the Law-Giver was especially proud of the laws she passed to help Carrahe Barbarian Women. Her laws helped them to bring them both to equality but parity with men. The Queen proudest achievement.

  But in helping Carrahe women she ended up neglecting the slaves. The ones taken prisoner in all the wars Carrahe fought. Them and their descendents. But the time Heather I the Law-Giver got to this issue it might’ve been too late. Slavery had become entrenched in Carrahe society. Even Gerhard the Annihilator took slaves. He even made it an artform.

  Once Heather I the law-giver tried to pass laws doing away with Slavery and Feudalism only for many of the nobles most passionate about supporting slavery blocked and protested against its passage. While other Nobles defended the Queen’s laws.

  This was the start of divisions in society. Where Pro-Slavery Nobles who supported Slavery appeared while Free Nobles who supported it’s abolition appeared.

  For a brief moment Civil War seemed about to follow. Until Otto the Splendid stepped forward and offered a compromise. The slave nobles would allow slavery in the territory they governed while the free nobles could abolish slavery if they wanted to and the Royal Family would stay neutral and settle any disputes that arose.

  The result was that Carrahe society became divided. But a Civil War had been prevented.

  For the rest of her life Queen Heather I the Law-Giver would put limits on how much both Feudalism and Slavery would spread. With varying degrees of success.

  Queen Heather I the Law-Giver would pass away at an old age. With failing to abolish slavery and feudalism her greatest regrets.

  Grace closed the history book on Carrahe’s most controversial ruler. And sat back with her arms over her head.

  “Queen Heather the 1st, I respect what you were trying to do but you tried to change too much too quickly and reality fought back. Noe Carrahe is heading for something that’s going to be tragic and I fear it will be soon” Grace thought. She felt trepidation over this turn of events.

  “Your Highness” came a male voice that snapped Grace out of her thoughts.

  Enter Chief Librarian Dolz. He wore the robes of a scholar and a round dark hat. With spectacles and had a long white beard and blue eyes. He looked and sounded but like a certain Mentor and Teacher character from a franchise about a British Boy who learns magic and fights the machinations of an evil sorcerer.

  “Hello Chief Librarian and good day” Grace greeted politely. She got up and curtseyed a little.

  The Chief Librarian looked kindly and then he said after he bowed respectfully “Princess the Library is closing for lunch and I must politely ask for you to leave until after we are finished.”

  “Oh crap, I lost track of time. I’d meant to leave fifteen minutes ago to give myself a better alibi” Grace thought.

  She chose to make the best of the situation “I see, well I guess I will be going. But may I take this book, please” Grace asked with a huge smile, holding up the history book she’d been reading.

  “Very well, just bring it back tomorrow” Dolz relented.

  “Of course, thank you” was the last thing Grace said before cutseying and then leaving the Royal Library.

  She didn’t go very far. She hid behind a nearby curtain next to a large window that showed a nice view of the mountains.

  Minutes later the chief librarian and his many male and female assistants all filed out of the library. One of whom locked the door behind them.

  “I determined that the best time to break-in to the restricted section was around Lunch or Dinnertime when everyone is gone. Otherwise someone is always working day and night. I don’t want to risk someone seeing me” Grace inner monologue.

  Grace made the blue magic circle that opened up the magical storage space, put the history book inside and took out a special hood and cape. Once worn they would allow one to blend in with the background. But only when the wearer didn’t want to be found. It didn’t work if the wearer didn’t care if they were spotted. Which helped a lot.

  After putting it on Grace emerged from out behind the curtain blending into the background. She went over to the Royal Library door. She took out the keys she had made earlier from the memory sphere’s after detaching them from the senior assistant librarian. Reaching the lock wasn’t easy for a child. But she managed to unlock the door. But it wouldn’t open.

  “Damn, of course a bunch of muscular people would use big heavy doors” Grace thought with frustration and sarcasm.

  So she made some large metal hands out of the remaining three memory sphere’s and she used them to open the door which opened with a small creek. Then she slipped through the door when it opened wide enough. Then she used the metal memory sphere hands to close the door again. Then she used the memory sphere key to lock the door. All just in case.

  Walking over to the door to the restricted section while still blending into the background. Grace felt nervous trepidation and looked it, on her face as she. The door said restricted in the kingdom’s native language.

  Grace put on the memory sphere pin and lamented out loud but quietly “I really hope no one catches me, not just because of the trouble it will cause the royal family, who were kind enough to take me in, but I would destroy the trust the chief librarian has in me” she had to stop herself from shaking.

  She came to a magical device that served as a security device. If triggered it would sound an alarm and trap whoever tripped it in a magical cage. Or that was how it was explained to her by the chief librarian. Taking the memory sphere pin off her dress she put it to the devices eye, A sound was made that said the device switched off.

  Putting the pin back on Grace unlocked the door to the restricted section. With the help of the metal hands she opened the door.

  Using Hawkers Sense to scan the library just in case. When it looked like the coast was clear Grace stepped inside the restricted section.

  Inside the atmosphere was a bit darker than the rest of the Royal Library. Bookcases filled with books were all around. Books with dangerous spellbooks, or dangerous knowledge, or old books that needed to be preserved. Along with certain research materials and strong oddities also sat on the bookcases.

  “I was here yesterday with the Chief Librarian, I used my innocent yet curious little girl routine to get him to show me the inside of the place, although he forbade me from stepping inside. I did lean inside using Hawkers Sense to case the place and locate where the book was. I could never have gotten away with this in my last life” Grace inner monologue.

  Grace used Hawkers Sense to bypass any and all traps in the restricted section. There were several.

  She came to section three and with Hawkers Sense located the book she came to find. It was a big black book.

  Grace took the book. It was heavy for someone of a child’s strength. So she put it on the ground. She nearly dropped it. It was half Grace’s size. Then she spotted something quite shocking.

  Written on the front of the big black book. It said “The True Life Story of Heather the 1st the Law-Giver” and even more shocking it was written in English.

  “I never thought I’d see this language again” Grace said in English. She was feeling a little emotional at that moment. “So this is the language no one can read. Except for me” she also said in English.

  The Carrahe language reminded Grace a little bit of certain Middle Eastern languages of long ago. But couldn’t place where.

  Many thoughts went through her head before she made herself focus.

  Making the blue circle with her hand Grace took out a camera from the magical storage space. The very same Grace’s dad used to take the family photo of the four of them.

  Opening the big black book right then and there and using the camera to take pictures of every single page in the book. There were a lot of pages. And Grace had to aim the camera carefully. She worried about running out of film.

  Soon took her last picture with the last of the film and then she just barely managed to return the book to its shelf.

  Grace exited the restricted section without incident and closed and locked the door and reactivated the magical security device.

  And was heading out when she heard noises at the library door. Someone was unlocking the door. Grace froze. Her special hood and cloak stopped working and she became visible.

  In came Chief Librarian Dolz and all of his male and female assistants. They didn’t see Grace who dove behind some tables and chairs.

  “I can’t afford to let anyone see me,” Grace thought.

  She crawled towards the door like some mouse using the tables and chairs as cover only to stop short when she spotted two library assistants standing next to the door talking.

  Frowning Grace put the camera she had been carrying into a large pouch on her belt. She didn’t dare risk putting it back inside the MSS at this point.

  With the help of a few of her memory sphere’s Grace knocked over an armor display of barbarian armor. The assistants went over to pick up the display pieces.

  Grace then used her Quick Step to rush out the door. Thankfully no one noticed her. Although Quick Step does make some noise. But no one thought much of it.

  Out in the Hall Grace began walking towards her room with the hood up and the cloak closed despite it not working properly.

  “I need to recharge this thing, mana capacity. I should’ve checked it before” Grace thought.

  Grace kept on walking and didn’t stop. She felt that if she could get to her room she would have a decent alibi in case the break-in was discovered. She might’ve been five years old in this life but still she didn’t want to take the chance.

  “Hey” came an unfortunately familiar voice as Grace went around the corner.

  When she was around the corner Grace gave her hood and cloak some mana and this allowed her to blend into the background.

  Just in time. Around the corner came two muscular young men about sixteen and fourteen respectively although they didn’t look like it and they had brown hair and eyes. They were both dressed like young nobles.

  Grace had to stifle a groan “Oh great, it’s Egon and Wentz Meyer, two entitled brats from a wealthy noble family. Those two were my tormentors and harassers from day one here and all because I’m half Dark-Elf. I was bullied and harassed as a child in my last life on Earth all because I had a mental disorder which made people think I was stupid or crazy or unhinged. But none of that was true. I was such an easy target. The gods have such an ironic sense of humor” Grace inner monologued with anger on her face.

  “Hey, was that the Dark Ears?” one of the Meyer brothers asked.

  “Probably she does like the Royal Library” the other Meyer brother answered.

  “Lets go look for her” the first one said.

  They both smile maliciously as if they were about to do something enjoyable but wrong. They quickly ran off. Not knowing how close Grace really was.

  “No way, I’m revealing myself to them, they’ll taddle-tale on me and say I was close to the Royal Library near the time of the break-in” Grace thought.

  Then she went visible again. “Ugh I need to charge this thing properly later” she remarked under her breath.

  Grace began charging it as well as she could as she went through the halls of the royal palace. It was just going to take awhile. She hoped she wouldn’t get exhausted in the process. Draining one’s mana was exhausting.

  As she walked towards her room Grace continually kept seeing Egon and Wentz and hiding from them. This happened several times. She feared it was only a matter of time before they found her. They seemed very intent on finding and bullying Grace.

  The situation got so bad that she had no choice but to take a chance and hide behind a random door which she somehow managed to close.

  “Ah shite, what are you doing girl” came a cranky voice.

  Grace froze in fear and terror before barely turning her head with one finger over her lips “Shhh, please let me hide here for a little bit” she asked. Then her hood came down revealing her head.

  Turning around Grace noticed she was inside an Alchemist’s office. And standing in the middle of all the alchemy tools, ingredients, and oddities was a person dressed as the court alchemist.

  Grace took a moment to forget herself and geeked out. “Ahh, ha, ha YOUR A DWARF” she shouted.

  “Aye, that I am” the Dwarf man said looking at Grace as if she had lost her mind.

  She instantly rushed over to the Dwarf man at lightning speed “Who are you, what’s your name, do you fight with an axe, do dwarves really live underground, and do female dwarves have beards or do they go without” Grace asked in rapid fire succession.

  “Back down, have you ever heard of personal space” came a second voice.

  It belonged to what looked like a large talking owl with brown and white feathers about the size of the Dwarf man. Both the owl and the Dwarf seemed to speak in what sounded like Scottish accents. And the owl got in between Grace and the Dwarf man.

  The Dwarf man was almost five feet tall with a dark beard, hair, and eyes. He wore workers clothes and overalls, a wide brimmed straw hat sat on his head. The symbol of the Court Alchemist was on his shirt sleeve. The symbol was of a cauldron being stirred by someone. The Dwarf man was stirring an Alchemy pot.

  The Owl attempted to shoo Grace away.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Wait Albis” the Dwarf man said to his companion “If you look at the child’s Ring Finger you’ll see she’s wearing the royal ring which means she’s royalty and theirs only one member of royalty that’s a five year old Dark Elf and that’s Princess Grace” he pointed out.

  The Dwarf man stopped stirring his alchemy pot “Apologies, for Albis speaking so casually to you your highness” the Dwarf man said as he bowed to Grace.

  Grace in this moment had recovered herself enough to say “No, I’m sorry, I should’ve controlled myself better when I saw you. You’re just one of the few people here who isn’t a huge muscular Carrahe Barbarian outside of my baby sister” she apologized. “And your name would be” she then asked.

  “I’m Yengis Scoon from the kingdom of Scatia, far to the west” the Dwarf man introduced “And this here is my Mana Fairy Albis” he said gesturing to the Owl next to him.

  Both of them bowed and Grace curtseyed in return.

  “So your highness is Haakon’s little girl,” Yengis remarked.

  Grace quickly looked around in a panic.

  “Oh relax your highness, it’s just the three of us” Yengis assured.

  Grace felt better “How did you know my dad and how did you know I was his child” she asked.

  “I was one of the people who ran the Litmus test that confirmed who you were,” Yengis answered.

  “Confirmed who my sister and I were,” Grace corrected.

  “Yes of course” Yengis began “But more importantly I went to St. Rava at the same time as your dad Prince Haakon” he said.

  “Oh yeah, dad did mention his old Almamatter” Grace thought.

  She went over to a stool close by that was next to a table and in front of a window that let in a lot of sunlight.

  “Tell me more, tell me more” Grace asked sounding like the child she was supposed to be and she even swayed her head back and forth.

  Yengis smiled and decided to sit on the stool on the opposite end of the table Grace was sitting at. Without saying it he decided to take a break. Albis brought them some tea and snacks as they spoke.

  “I didn’t like him at first” Yengis started “I thought he was the bastard son of some nobleman from Carrahe and I was convinced that he was ashamed of his heritage because he was so unboastful about himself, it took a long time for us to realize he was a prince. Such humility amongst the upper classes is so vanishingly rare” he said.

  “Makes sense, you should’ve seen my face when I found out he was a prince”Grace interjected.

  “You should’ve seen ours” Yengis interjected. They both had a nice chuckle.

  “Whose us?” Grace asked.

  “The rest of the Alchemy Workshop your dad led at the time. It was common at Alchemy school. It consisted of the Prince, me, my sister Alba, her future husband, and several others. We would come together, do alchemy projects, do research, and find alchemy ingredients together. Things of that nature” Yengis said.

  “Sounds like a study group” Grace thought.

  Yengis continued “Your dad never boasted about himself but he boasted about alchemy often. You could tell that he loved it. And he made all of us around him love it too. Including this average Alchemy student with only a passing interest in the craft” he said.

  “Dad must’ve been wonderful,” Grace remarked with awe.

  “He was as brilliant as the sun and as free as the wind. His death was a loss to us all. He would’ve contributed greatly to this world had he lived” Yengis said sadly. Then a tear rolled down his eye before he continued “I won’t ask how he died. I’m certain you don’t want to relive it. Instead I choose to remember how he lived as brilliant as he was free-spirited.”

  “That’s no surprise in his last life on earth dad was a free-spirit too. No one could keep him pinned down for long. Only Mama Kerone succeeded” Grace thought.

  Then she suddenly found herself crying “I miss him” she said.

  Albis offered Grace a hanky and she blew on it.

  “You’ve been through so much, if you like your highness I can tell you more about your dad anytime you come by” Yengis offered.

  “That’s most kind of you Lord Yengis” Grace replied. “But I would like more than to hear stories of my dad. I would like to become your apprentice so I can work my way into going to Alchemy school.”

  Yengis looked surprised, “Why would you want that?” he asked.

  Grace smiled warmly “You weren’t the only one dad inspired to love alchemy. He did that same for me and I’m certain he would want me to carry on his legacy” she replied.

  “Since his passing I’ve looked at Dad’s plans that he had stored in the MSS he gave me. Many of them were recreations of everyday things from Earth like cameras. While others he made were the stuff of the imagination like Airships” Grace inner monologue.

  Yengis appeared reluctant to accept. Had this come from anyone else he would’ve refused on the spot. Or that’s what Grace surmised.

  He sighed “Ask the King and Queen for their permission. They are your legal guardians” Yengis said.

  “Yay,” Grace said. She hugged Yengis and even kissed him on the cheek. It made him blush and smile.

  “Thank you, and goodbye,” she said.

  And Grace was out of the alchemist office.

  It seemed Egon and Wentz had disappeared. They appeared to have given up on their search for their quarry.

  But Grace didn’t take the chance. She put her hood up and closed her cloak and activated it. She blended into the background as she began to make her way back to her room.

  Thankfully the rest of her trip back to her room was uneventful.

  As soon as she reached the door to her room Grace put her hood down and opened her cloak as she stepped through the door.

  Inside her room was Lenny and Enkida cleaning the room as Lotta’s direction. She was acting as a good teacher towards her two young charges.

  They had brought Grace her lunch. It was another stew with some bread. Something she had come to like since reincarnating into Argea.

  With fear in her heart Grace very quickly removed her hood and cloak and put it through the magical circle that was the opening to her MSS before anyone could notice. She felt some relief when the magical circle disappeared without anyone noticing.

  Then Lotta spotted Grace “Princess Grace your lunch is here” Lotta announced.

  “I’ve come to love the stew in this kingdom, but I really miss Meat Loaf” Grace thought absentmindedly before focusing on what she needed to say.

  “What are you doing here besides delivering my lunch?” Grace asked.

  “We have to clean all the rooms at least once a week, princess,” Lotta answered.

  “I just hope someone doesn’t ask Lotta if she found me in my room at this time” Grace thought and secretly prayed for her to get away with what she did.

  Grace then went to have her lunch. She was served briefly before all three servants went back to cleaning the room. She ate while they cleaned. Soon enough the servants finished cleaning and Grace finished eating her lunch.

  “I appreciate everything you do”Grace started with a smile “But I would like to be left alone for the rest of the day” she ordered as the 5th Princess.

  “Yes, your highness. I understand but I must remind you not to be late to dinner this time the Queen and King weren’t happy when you showed up late the other day” Lotta reminded.

  Grace grimaced at the reminder. She felt embarrassed. It wouldn’t do, even to keep royals waiting even if they were members of the same family.

  The servants took the reminders of Grace’s lunch and departed leaving her alone.

  As soon as they were gone Grace wasted no time locking the door leaving the key in the keyhole. Then she closed and locked all the windows before pulling all the curtains closed making her room very dark. Then she pulled out a lighting device from the Magical Storage Space. Then took out the camera from her pouch, put it on the table where she ate lunch and waited for the pictures in the camera to finish developing after sitting down.

  As she waited she reflected a little bit “Good thing, I usually order to be left alone at this time of the day a couple times a week. Mostly it’s either to practice with my memory spheres, for wish I’ve improved a lot, or look through Dad’s and Mama Kerone’s stuff in the Magical Storage Space, or practice my Dark Elven swordsmanship. If I get good enough I might one day come up with a Dark Elf, Carrahe Barbarian variant of swordsmanship. But that’s in the future” Grace inner monologue.

  Grace sighed and looked up at the ceiling in a brief moment of exhaustion. “I can’t trust anyone with my true mission if you can call it that. I fear that they might end up like Dad and Mama Kerone did. I told them everything and they were kind enough to help as much as possible but now they’re dead and gone. And to top it all off if Aries told me was correct I wonder how true this mission is. Are the gods playing with me and this whole thing turns out to be one gigantic hoax or is this for real and the spirit of the Goddess of Death is trying to find this World Ender to destroy all worlds. I wish the Queen of the Gods would be honest with me. This feels a little like the boy who cried wolf too many times. But one thing I know for sure is that I have to help protect, if I can, my newfound friends and family from the machinations of some very evil people. It’s the least I can do for helping me and my sister Genja” Grace inner monologue.

  The bell on the camera sounded. It signalled that it was done developing all the pictures Grace had taken in the royal libraries restricted section.

  She watched as the camera spit out polaroid style pictures after another. Text was clearly visible on the pictures. Which meant Grace had succeeded at taking the pictures of those book pages. But to read them she was going to need a magnifying glass.

  Grace reached through the blue magical circle of the MSS and she took out a magnifying glass. And by the light of the lighting device on the table began reading the text of the book she had risked so much to see. She spent several hours reading it all. She lost track of time in no time flat. The true story of Heather I the Law-Giver was just so interesting.

  It helped confirm much of her official history. But here was what wasn’t covered. For these pages were written by the queen herself.

  As Grace suspected Heather I the Law-Giver was reincarnated too.

  In the Queen’s last life she had been a suffragette circa 1912. She had studied history and law passionately. But left university life due to circumstances beyond her control. She became a passionate suffragette that believed in equality, and parity between the genders so much that she was considered incredibly radical. Then she was run over by a delivery truck and killed.

  “Queen Heather, I get the feeling you would’ve been right at home in the Women’s Lib Movement of the 1970’s” Grace remarked.

  Next moment she knew Heather was reborn as a baby in the Kingdom of Cornwall. She was reborn as an orphan girl. Much of the next story covered what was mostly known already; she was taken as a slave. Then came to work for the future Otto the Splendid.

  Heather while working for him heard whispers of a secret war between two secretive orders the Ashe and the Spider-Temple.

  It seemed that Gerhard the Annihilator was firmly in the backpocket of the Spider-Temple at the time making full use of his Weapons Master Job Class and his Can Weaponize Anything Skill.

  Grace had to read that again “The Annihilator was a Weapons Master like me with Can Weaponize Anything too” she remarked out loud. Then she made herself focus on the story again.

  It seemed King Gerhard had lost his family as a child due to the machinations of the Spider-Temple and one of their members took over educating him and they manipulated him into their weapon against any and all of their enemies. And that included—the Ashe.

  As a result of these manipulations Gerhard the Annihilator turned into a dictator. A paranoid and evil man that was oppressive to anyone he saw as an enemy. And he had many enemies.

  “Gerhard the Annihilator was an evil man. One that is still praised to this day. Carrahe is quite the messed-up place partly thanks to this evil man. And I don’t want to turn evil like him. But I fear it might happen anyway” Grace thought. She was rocking up and down on her chair in an uncontrolled manner. She felt very worried.

  After some time Grace kept on reading.

  The future Queen Heather learned some secrets she shouldn’t have and a Spier-Temple member almost killed her. But a member of the Ashe saved her. Then she became an Ashe spy. She married her husband Otto and she quietly convinced him that the way of the Spider-Temple was evil and dangerous and he reluctantly turned away from it. And they plotted a way to kill the out of control King Gerhard. He had turned into a monster.

  But the king had survived several attempts on his life already. Until the future Queen Heather as per orders from the Ashe talked with King Gerhard and she persuaded him to personally lead an expedition to a dungeon known as the Thokk ruins, a place that was said to house an artifact known as a Pandora’s Piece. A piece of a lost civilization that was considered quite advanced.

  However the place was guarded by lots of dangerous monsters, particularly at the end by one especially dangerous and powerful monster. Many adventurers died thanks to that monster.

  Gerhard the Annihilator was just arrogant enough to go along with it. With a group of handpicked warriors he entered the Thokk ruins. And then next anyone knew it a warrior from the Annihilator’s group emerged from the ruins and announced that the King was Dead.

  The Warrior described the monster that guarded, the Pandora’s piece as a very powerful creature. A creature that only puts obstacles or puzzles, or riddles in front of them. But the King arrogantly attacked the creature to die a miserable death.

  Before dying in Heather’s arms the warrior spoke in the future queen’s ear “I did my duty to the Ashe, I made the king emotionally vulnerable using manipulation before the king faced the monster and I killed him midst battle. Now the rest is up to you” and they were gone.

  Heather would later learn that anyone who holds the Weapon Master job class was especially vulnerable to being manipulated by others more so than most people. Especially if it was emotional manipulation.

  A shiver went down Grace’s spine and she stopped reading. “I Hold the Weapons Master Job Class. I’m especially vulnerable to being emotionally manipulated by anyone who would want to hurt, harm, or kill me. I must never tell anyone my true job class. To the world I’m going to be an alchemist and Magical SpellSword” Grace thought with some determination.

  But she was also shaking a lot. It took some time for her to stop. Then she continued reading.

  With the King’s death the future Otto the Splendid and Heather the Law-Giver ascended the throne despite some push back from some in the royal court about their new Queen being a former slave. But Otto was very supportive of his wife and she was able to ascend.

  Once on the throne both the King and Queen purged the royal court and the military of any and all Spider-Temple influences and members. The Ashe took care of them from the shadows.

  From this point the history of Heather I the Law-Giver follows much of the official history. She passed many different laws and helped Carrahe women to gain equality and parity with men. She even changed the succession laws giving women members of the royal family an equal chance to inherit the throne. Which was why Hilda was currently the official heir apparent and not her younger brother Prince Helmet nice and competent though he was.

  But where she found success in equalizing Carrahe women Queen Heather failed to help free its slaves and to abolish feudalism. It was mostly due to the slave nobles led by the Duke of Augsburg Wilhelm Chenider. Who was the most passionate and capable leader of the Slave nobles. While the Free nobles led by Henrick Jarlson supported the Queen.

  It seemed a Civil War was about to erupt. King Otto had to step in and mediate the dispute. At the end of it tragedy was averted. But tension and divisions still remained.

  Two things the Spider-Temple was content to encourage from the shadows because they had figured out that Queen Heather had manipulated King Gerhard to his death and they were especially unhappy about the King and Queen keeping the Spider-Temple and all of its influences out of court politics. They were especially irked when the royal family secretly allied itself with the Ashe. They made several attempts on the Law-Giver only for them to fail in one way or another.

  The Law-Giver also made sure her children and grandchildren steered clear of the Spider-Temple and their dangerous ideals and encouraged them to think for themselves. She was happy to know that none of them became ensnared in the Spider-Temple’s web.

  In fact some of them even joined the Ashe instead. Including one young granddaughter named Hedy who the Law-Giver described a little bit as an arrogant Strumpet but respected her decision to join the Ashe. And would one day become Queen Hedy I and lead for decades only to step down after her husband died.

  Grace stopped reading again “The Royal Family knows about the Spider-Temple Ashe War in the shadows. So when I described to them who my parents’ killers were they knew who I was talking about. They knew. Are they even doing anything about it!! Calm down. Anger will get you nowhere. So Grandmother Hedy is a member of the Ashe. Yeah I heard that her husband Hans died under mysterious and suspicious circumstances. Grandmother must’ve given up her throne to become an Ashe member again and hunted down all those responsible for her husband’s death. I’m going to have to consult my dad’s journals but I’m sure they’ll confirm what I suspect. What an active retirement you must’ve had grandmother. Well that’s what I think. Wouldn’t surprise me at all. I must remember this piece of information” Grace inner monologue.

  She continued to read.

  Queen Heather the 1st the Law-Giver would rule alongside her husband King Otto until near the end of their lives and then they retired. The story ends with the now dead Queen giving a warning and a piece of advice:

  “If you have read my life story then you must be a reincarnated person like me or learned English from someone who is and I must say this to you: Do not trust the machinations of the Spider-Temple they will only lead you astray. But if you are a reincarnated person then I leave you this piece of advice: don’t tell anyone you are reincarnated unless you can completely trust them. I found that several people who were reincarnated into this world had something unfortunate happen to them after telling someone they shouldn’t have. The only ones I ever trusted with my secret at all were my husband Otto and my eldest granddaughter Hedy but if you can’t trust anyone completely then keep your secret to yourself.”

  That was the end of the message.

  “Wait Grandmother knows about her own being reincarnated. Does she know dad and mama Kerone were reincarnated too? Is she aware that I’m reincarnated too? At the moment it’s too soon to tell” Grace thought as she sat back and sighed.

  She had a lot to process. This was a lot.

  “I’ve just had my world rocked” Grace thought “The Royal Family didn’t tell me that they knew about the Ashe and the Spider-Temple. But that’s understandable. I am a child afterall. They don’t know I’m reincarnated from another world. They are only going to see me as one until I grow up again” she thought.

  Then she frowned while looking at the ceiling “But more importantly the Von Kurtz Royal Family is in danger. The Spider-Temple is manipulating the controversy over Slavery and my being adopted into the royal family. The Spider-Temple goon at the publishing house was right, they were planning something and it makes sense that it would be against the Royal Family for which I am a member. And worse I’m right in the firing line, so to speak. And it’s happening soon. “Oh boy” they said sarcastically. Worst of all, no one will believe me if I raise a stink about this. They'll likely call me crazy if I tell anyone or worse. The Ashe are likely aware of this situation. How could they not be? Which is just as well. I’m nothing but a helpless child” Grace inner monologue morosely.

  “You’re far from helpless. I should know” came a familiar voice.

  Grace stopped looking at the ceiling and suddenly found herself looking at Aries in the mind scape. Aries sat on her throne of skulls naked restrained in the chair as usual.

  “You have your memory sphere’s and the abilities I’ve granted you,” Aries pointed out. “You have been practicing with them have you?” she asked Grace out of concern.

  “Yes,” Grace replied. The Dark-Elf little girl looked and felt like she wasn’t trusted by the ex-goddess of war.

  But she moved on. “I copied down the contents of the book you wanted me to read. The one written in the unreadable language. To say that it shocked me with its contents would be a severe understatement. Why did you get me to read it? I was nearly caught sneaking out of the Royal Library” she asked.

  “You needed to see the true situation you had been thrust into and I knew you would” Aries replied now she got a lot more serious “Now this is going to be my last instruction to you for awhile so listen up” she commanded.

  “I’m listening,” Grace replied with resignation.

  “Grace Von Kurtz, I task you with bringing Karl Quisling and Princess Heidi back together and ensuring they get married again and I want you to do the same with Captain Eric Thane and Princess Hilda. And this all needs to be done soon within a matter of weeks” Aries commanded.

  Grace’s mouth hung open at the shock of the command. As if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

  “Is that a joke?” Grace asked, hoping and praying against hope that it was.

  “No” Aries replied casually “I want you to bring together your two adopted older sisters with the two men they love and make sure they get married” she repeated.

  “You want me to play cupid” Grace remarked, surprised still in her voice and feeling severally out of her depth “My Romantic life in my last life was non-existent due to something I’d rather not repeat” she said. She felt incredibly nervous not wanting to hear this anymore.

  “Yes, I know what that is,” Aries remarked.

  Grace suddenly felt panic and showed it “How did you find out” she demanded.

  Aries took a moment to laugh “I might be dead but I’m still a goddess. However I won’t reveal to you what that is, so to put you at ease” she answered.

  Grace instantly calmed down but it wasn’t total.

  “How do you expect me to bring those two couples together? Do you have any ideas? Grace asked unsteadily.

  “You might know more than I” Aries began “I know in your last life you enjoyed watching romantic comedies and even read a few love novels all to get girls which you failed to do, I’m sure you can think of some examples” she remarked.

  “I was quite the eccentric in my last life, which probably didn’t help with getting the girls,” Grace remarked, fully recognizing the irony of being reincarnated as a little girl in Argea. She still felt uneasy.

  “You can do it” Aries encouraged with a smile. She even sounded reassuring.

  “One more thing” Aries said changing the subject “If you continue to investigate Lady Lyra Bergen make sure to accurately confirm who she is before turning her in or maybe killing her yourself” she pointed out.

  “I’m aware of that. Why are you even mentioning this to me” Grace asked.

  Aries gave Grace a mischievous smile “Be careful Grace, obsession and revenge are a very dangerous combination and they make one blind” she warned.

  “What is your point?” Grace asked.

  “”You need a different reason to drive you for the sake of the mission the Queen of the Gods Senoma gave you, please” Aries seemed almost pleading.

  Grace changed the subject “The spirit of the Goddess of Death Madea is she manipulating someone in the Spider-Temple” she asked.

  Aries went silent on the subject.

  “Who is the goddess of death manipulating?” Grace asked. “Are they a member of the Spider-Temple?” she asked again.

  “Well if you must know—” Aries began but her mouth was suddenly closed shut and unable to open for a few moments.

  Grace felt frustrated “So you really cannot speak of who it is” Grace remarked “Do you gods all love playing with people? It won’t be long before resentment starts to develop against you if it hasn’t started already” she warned, sounding angry without raising her voice.

  Aries found her voice again “You may not believe me, but I agree with you” Aries said. She looked very sorry “I just wish it didn’t take me dying to realize this fact” she added in.

  Grace didn’t say a word in response.

  “It seems our time is up. Someone is coming” Aries pointed out.

  In an instant Grace was back in her room in the Royal Palace.

  “Princess Grace are you in there?” came a familiar voice.

  It was Rowena. Lotta and Lenny’s mother and Enkida’s adopted mother.

  Grace quickly looked at the table and noticed the pictures, the magnifying glass and the lighting device. She gathered them all up and quickly put them in her MSS. The pictures were the hardest to put all of them in that space.

  Then running over to the curtains she opened them and noticed that it was dark out.

  “Oh crap I think I know why Rowena is here” Grace whispered.

  She quickly mussed her hair up as quickly as possible to make it look like she had been asleep. And tried to pretend to be groggy.

  Then the key in the key hole of the door fell to the ground and Rowena unlocked the door and the maid came through the door. “Princess Grace dinner is nearly ready to be served and you’re the only one not present” Rowena announced.

  “Oh no, I’m sorry” Grace said looking genuinely sorry and was.

  “Appologize to your family, your highness, I was sent to fetch you” Rowena announced.

  The maid signalled and several maids came in. They helped Grace to dress in a yellow dress in no time. And she was off to dinner being escorted by Rowena.

  Once she arrived at the dining room which was a nice friendly place. Grace apologized to her adopted family for being late.

  At dinner at some point Grace did ask if she could become the apprentice to the Royal Alchemist. This caused quite the stir before her request was granted.