“Ouch.”

  “It doesn’t hurt that much.”

  “But it does! Ow-ow-ow-ow!”

  “Consider it a consequence of your actions.”

  “You can be really harsh, you know that Han-chan?”

  “When it comes to your safety, I don’t py around.”

  Hina pouted silently for a bit as her friend continued to wrap up her ankle, which had been sprained after she fell out of a tree trying to return a baby bird to its nest. While Hanako wasn’t being rough with her, every little moment felt jarring and sharp, like having needles stabbing straight into her bones.

  Her silence did not st long. It was impossible to stay mad at her best friend who was only looking out for her.

  “Did you always carry around bandages with you?” Hina inquired as Hanako finished the job. Hina lifted up her leg so she could marvel at Hanako’s impeccable bandaging skills.

  “As captain of the kendo club, we tend to get into all sorts of small accidents, so I made sure to pick up first aid training as well as a rudimentary first aid kit.”

  “As reliable as ever, Han-chan. No wonder you were voted css representative this year.”

  “It wasn’t as if I had a choice in the matter,” Hanako responded, though she smiled, regardless, at the given praise. She was packing away her extra supplies, which took up quite a bit of space in her book bag, Hina remarked when she took a peak. That was surely more than just for small accidents – was that an AED?!

  Hina stared incredulously at her friend. “Are you trying to become a paramedic, Han-chan?”

  “Having one of these devices is normal,” Hanako stated simply, having honed in on what her friend had been staring at.

  “WHAT NORMAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT CARRIES AROUND A MACHINE FOR TREATING CARDIAC ARREST?!”

  “To help others, of course?” Hanako spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world to say. “I don’t need this after all. I’m young, healthy and I’m very capable of taking care of myself. Other people though…humans can be so fragile…”

  Her hand nded on Hina’s bandaged ankle, making the girl both flustered and worried. The tone in which Hanako had spoken in was tinted in mencholy, her eyes distant as if looking at something so very far away. Her mind lost somewhere else.

  “Han-chan, you’re a human, too,” Hina pointed out, voice gentle.

  “Heh. But I’m a lot more sturdy than most. Especially you, you troublemaker.”

  There was a soft caress along her leg, followed by a gentle, friendly pat on Hina’s knee. The first action made her shiver, while the second just made her sulk at the reminder of the mess she had made of herself.

  “At least the baby bird got home.”

  “You could have asked someone else for help, you know.”

  “Urk.” Well, that was true. Hina hadn’t really been thinking straight when she found the little bird and began climbing the tree like her life depended on it. Had she waited, Hanako was supposed to meet her in the school yard anyways and her friend was much more capable than her, not to mention taller. She could have just asked Hanako to do it and there wouldn’t have been a fuss. And yet, she had wanted to do it herself…

  “It’s good that you want to help, Hina. I’m not mad about that. What I am mad about is that you put yourself in danger. You’re lucky it was only your ankle and not your head.”

  Ah, she was being scolded. Rightfully so and Hina bowed her head in acceptance of her scolding.

  “I’m not saying you shouldn’t help, but there are smarter ways to do it, you know?”

  Kneeling in front of Hina, Hanako reached out and tilted her chin upwards so she could look her in the eyes. Those usually sharp and calm eyes were smouldering with intense worry and care, which only served to make Hina feel worse. That was disappointment, not anger. Hina wished Hanako was mad. She could deal with someone being mad.

  Hanako’s hands found her and she could feel the slight tremble in her friend's hands.

  Oh.

  Hanako had been scared. She was doing everything she could to keep from having an emotional outburst.

  “You’re my only friend in this world. You’re my sun, Hina. And I wouldn’t know what to do if something happened to you. So please, next time…don’t be afraid to ask for help. You can’t help others if you end up needing to be saved yourself.”

  Hina bit her lip, thinking on those heartfelt words. Eventually she nodded, agreeing. Even if she felt stupid for all of this, she understood that she shouldn’t do anything that would cause her harm when there would be better ways of handling things.

  “I’m sorry, Han-chan. You’re right. I was being dumb.”

  Hanako smiled then, looking quite relieved.

  “Can I ask you a favor though?” Hina segued, sounding almost guilty.

  “Anything,” Hanako replied.

  “Can you help me get home? I don’t think I can walk on my own…”

  “Oh? Shall I carry you back home in my arms, then? Your mother might faint if she saw us coming in like that, though,” Hanako teased, turning the atmosphere lighter with a pyful wink.

  Hina could not believe her and smacked her friend in the arm in indignation.

  “You’re the worst!”

  “Hahaha! I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”

  “Father, can a woman be a duke?”

  “What a strange question to ask.”

  “But can it happen?”

  “If you’re talking about Duke Sincir, hers are some very special circumstances.”

  “But you would know how it happened?”

  “Well…”

  Soleil was riding with her father in a carriage taking them to the shopping district of the capital. It was during the long ride that this topic came to mind to the young woman and her curiosity got the better of her.

  In the Saint’s Thorny Road novel, Duke Florian Evanthe Sincir was a mystery only mentioned in passing, a super power in the Empire second only to the imperial crown. However, that was all that was known, or at least, hinted at by the author. There might have been more in the unreleased second volume, but of course, thanks to dying before she could read it, that information was lost to her. And in her current life as Soleil Lorainne she was even more ignorant of who Duke Sincir (Florian) was!

  Her father, who visited the capital in a show of fealty to the Emperor and the Empire every year (not to mention, a man who traded correspondence with those closer to the political scene of Aurea regurly), would most likely be her most important font of information.

  “I don’t know all the details, but it is in part due to the original oaths sworn to the first emperor ages ago.”

  Soleil leaned closer, eyes shining with interest. “Tell me more, father!”

  Seeing how fascinated his daughter was, Orion chuckled and continued speaking, “The Sincir territory became a dukedom in part to the actions of the first Duke Sincir, during the Unification War.”

  “The war which helped found the Empire?” Soleil posed.

  Orion nodded. “That’s right. Long ago the empire was but several territories with individual sovereignty. However, the first emperor unified them all, either through diplomatic talks or through war. Many preferred to keep to themselves, so there were, unfortunately, many cshes as a result. And at the time, the first Duke Sincir was the first emperor’s right hand man.”

  “I see, I see! And then? And then?” This was a detail she’d never heard before, so being told a deeper hidden lore of her favourite novel was amazing, like hearing it straight from the author’s mouth during a conference. Soleil was getting hyped up.

  “The first Duke won many battles in the name of the Empire. Most could say that the Empire we know today was forged through the contributions of war made by the Duke. When peace finally came, Duke Sincir was awarded the Sincir territory and duke title. The emperor promised that they would always control that territory, that it would have its own sovereignty so long as a duke was in charge. However, the moment someone no longer kept the seat of Duke, it would revert back to control of the Empire.”

  Soleil was fascinated by this detail into the history of their nation. The family certainly sounded like fierce individuals, as seen in Florian who had an intensity to her unmatched by those around. She could only imagine what her ancestor was like. Probably akin to a monster, if he fought so many battles that the foundation of an empire resulted from his victories.

  Knowing this came the million dolr question:

  “And how does that allow a woman to take on the title of Duke?”

  According to the w in the Empire, there were two requirements for one to be allowed to take on any noble rank:

  First, the heir must be over 20 years old. This made sure that the person in question would have enough experience and education to look after their territory, though it wasn’t uncommon to wait until they had shadowed their parent for a good few years before taking over the reigns.

  The second requirement was that the title must be passed down to a member of the family either through bequeathment or inheritance. This could be the current holder of the title retiring and giving up the title to their heir or in the case of most, when the title holder passed away.

  “Due to the threat of losing their sovereignty, the current Duke Sincir had to take over. Knowing the current duke, she surely must have taken advantage of a loophole which allowed her to assume the title.”

  “You seem to know her rather well, father.”

  “I suppose so. The former Duke was the current Duke’s older brother and he tragically died alongside his wife around five years ago. Those are the facts that I know to be true.”

  Soleil perked up at the hidden meaning in those words.

  “That implies there are things that may hold a truth in them. Or…?”

  “Just vicious rumors, honestly. Or, at least, I hope that they are.”

  The way her father said it, it would seem that he would not eborate further. There was a frustrated crease in his brows that told her that it would be wise not to delve further. That the subject would be taboo currently. Soleil decided to table the discussion for now; she could always try to ask for more details ter, if possible.

  Although the very source of the information she wanted was currently living in the adjacent vil on the pace grounds…

  But it might be rude to bring it up to Florian out of the blue, no matter how she seemed to favor Soleil. The Duke may have called her a friend, but friendships among nobles tended to be shallow at best, from what she had seen in the romance genre. It may just be a passing rk for Florian. And considering how people reacted to her st night, she didn’t want to start toeing the line right off the bat on their ‘friendship’.

  Even back in Japan, nobody would straight up just go ‘I heard there were juicy rumors about your family, please spill the tea’. The very idea anyone could be so bold as to dredge up sensitive topics like that in any world was mortifying. Imagine doing that to a duke.

  “Thank you for telling me, father. I never knew any of that.”

  Orion sighed, his expression moving to something more gentle, if somewhat fatigued by something on his mind. “You’re welcome my dear. Now, are you excited to see the stores?”

  Soleil picked up the change of subject with gusto. Best to let sleeping dragons lie.

  “Oh, yes, father! I can’t wait to see what books we can bring home with us!”

  “Hahahaha, you truly are your daughter’s mother…”

  The rest of the ride was filled with light hearted conversation and the tome treasures they would bring back home to their territory.

  The Royal Quill was the rgest bookstore in the entire Empire, with distributors from a variety of territories within the Empire as well as the rgest imports from other nations. Their collection was so rge that their main location was as rge as a two story mansion, boasting the fullest collections of fiction and non-fiction in the entire continent. They replenished stock twice a year; once in spring and a second time in autumn. This accounted for having texts meant for those entering the royal academy for their education in the spring and having new releases for winter when most would be stuck inside due to the harsher weather.

  Having only just left her home recently, Soleil never set foot in this paradise of books before. It was only her father who made selections before coming home with a decent pile of new books. Usually between ten to fifteen for his family to enjoy until his next visit to the capital in the following year.

  There would surely be much more than that coming back to Lorraine this time, since Soleil was now here to actually speak of the tastes of her mother and herself.

  Of course, it wasn’t just pleasure reading the young dy was interested in, now that she knew for sure that she was stuck in a terrible doomed timeline where she and many innocent people were going to be hanged for treason. Now, more than ever, her recollections of the Saint’s Thorny Road were imperative to survival and she needed to apply it carefully.

  Luckily for her, the events of both timelines followed the same pattern, with key differences in triggers that could result in a good or bad end. Soleil had two choices: muck up her qualifications at the Saint trials so much nobody would even think to have her stand in as even a lesser saint, or to trigger the good ending fgs herself so any need to reverse time and start again would not be necessary!

  Of course, she was a powerful noble dy from the country with no notable skills, so as much as she’d like to py the hero like in so many isekai type stories where the protagonist in a side character’s body used their savvy to have things go their way. Hina was much more realistic about her situation.

  “You can’t save the world, if you can’t save yourself,” Soleil told herself. A wise bit of words Hanako once told her. Probably not those exact words, but the spirit of the idiom was the same.

  Her intelligence was decent, due to all of her reading, but it wasn’t like she could magically read a technical book and suddenly know how to perform anything mentioned.

  Her strength, while amazing, was not exactly one in a million. There were even stronger people out there, like her father for one. The man may be unassuming at first gnce, but he was good enough to hold back an invasion with just a small battalion of soldiers.

  And she knew for a fact that her magical ability was nowhere near that of her mother’s who was both an excellent mage and excellent lesser saint, in her heyday.

  When you look at such exceptional parents, Soleil had to weep at how decidedly average she turned out compared to them. And to think she would have to further embarrass them by acting like a useless fool ter on to keep herself safe.

  Mother, father, please forgive your daughter, she is doing this for a good reason! I promise to become the very epitome of filial piety after I can assure I won’t be hanged in five years!

  Okay, so the fg at the ga was a bust. So what comes next? The sequence of events would determine what books she would be looking for on the shelves of the book store.

  The next fg was the beginning of the Saint trials where girls all over the Empire would gather to vye for the coveted title of Saint of the Empire, which came with great prestige and remuneration to their families. During this time several commoners would either try to send their daughters, or allow their children to be adopted into noble houses who did not have a daughter to send to participate.

  Of course, there were also people who abducted young women in order to profit from the imperial coffers by having those girls send back the allowances given to them to their kidnappers. The girls were usually threatened with harm to themselves or to their loved ones if they did not comply. The newer regutions about the trials where the women were cut off from the outside world had helped a bit, but these sort of things still happened regardless. If the illegal activity happened off of imperial grounds, then there was nothing that could be done. Moreover, these were commoners, so their treatment was often unfair. Truly, she had been lucky to be born as Soleil, even though she was of a lower ranked noble family, it was much safer and cushier for her than if she had been born to a commoner family.

  A little prayer for the commoners of this world; may we finally advance as a society and close the css gap in the next few centuries. It may be a while until we hit industrialization.

  That was what she knew to be true about Aurea. They weren’t in medieval times, thank goodness for that, but feudalism still existed and they were at a level closer to Renaissance Europe where many things were being explored in science and art, as well as actually expanding horizons beyond their own continent. The eastern continent was only a recent entity to the Empire as of one and a half centuries ago. So there had been many advances in a variety of areas.

  No ‘discovering’ chocote for me, Soleil thought with a ugh.

  It was kind of silly how so many stories she used to love enjoyed making the protagonists expert business savants, bringing in luxury goods that emuted things from the modern world. In truth, many analogues already existed and the way those stories treated people was almost insulting. Just because one area couldn’t figure it out, didn’t mean that the origin of those goods wouldn’t have already figured it out on their own. That was just the logical advancement of things!

  A human had to have partook of the meat of another animal at some point to figure out if it was edible or not. Whatever is avaible was what you had for your daily diet. One pce ate bread and cheese as their everyday meal, while another pce ate rice and fish every day instead.

  Now, to keep herself alive, she needed knowledge.

  While her education was standard for a noble, it was not all encompassing. Private tutors taught her the basic knowledge needed for her, such as arithmetic, reading, writing, dance and etiquette as well as basic history. Anything beyond that would be up to her as an adult. At home the pursuit of knowledge was always encouraged, though the topics she picked growing up were varied, though not things she could truly use to her advantage. After all, before her past memories return, Soleil simply picked whatever grabbed her interest.

  Flowers and their secret nguage were not going to save a nation, let alone her own neck.

  She wished she could ask one of the clerks to help her pick out some books, but how did one say ‘I need books to keep myself from being implicated in treason in five years’ without sounding like some kind of maniac? So she had to slowly check each spine, trying to find something useful. And considering the size of the main branch of the Royal Quill bookstore, it may take her all day just trying to finish exploring one section.

  Reminds me of that one Swedish furniture store. Once you go in, forget the rest of your day.

  Walking along the shelves, she traced her finger underneath each book title before passing to the next. Her father was elsewhere, having left to make other purchases for the territory, knowing his daughter would most likely be enraptured by books all day long. So Soleil didn’t have much in terms of a time constraint. They had six days left in the capital before they would make the trek back home.

  “Oh, here we go. A History of Aurea.”

  It was a tome thick as her thighs and maybe for a normal person, would probably be too heavy to hold in just one hand. But for Soleil, such a book was as light as a pocket sized novel. She certainly felt the initial heft once it got into her hands, but she held it happily. Pressing it close to her face, she took a good long whiff. Ah, nothing like that new book smell.

  Considering the thickness of the book, she hoped it would have the knowledge she was hoping for. Particurly, a history of all the diseases that struck the Empire in the past and the conditions that caused them to arise in the first pce. The pgue in the novel didn’t have a specific name, but she knew the symptoms. Diseases never simply strike once, not when the society they lived in was not as expeditious about cleanliness as the modern world. Aside from avoiding her own death fg, it would be best to avoid getting sick by accident as well.

  “Myths and Legends of Aurea.” Another book that not only would serve her pursuit of knowledge, but would double as recreational reading. Slipped on top of the other book she’d already picked up. It was always good to know in depth about the mythological standpoints of any given fantasy pce, if you wished to survive. In the original novel, Alperene had pleaded to the God of Time on the day of her execution, though the details of how or why it had worked were entirely unclear, especially when you figured in how many people would make prayers at the temple every day and nothing would come of it. So looking up things about the gods may work in her favor. Maybe if she also prayed every day to someone, she could avoid a very bad ending for herself.

  In this manner, Soleil made her rounds through the history section of the book store, plucking books and adding them to the steadily growing pile. While her bance and grace was absolute garbage on the dance floor (except where Florian was concerned, blushing as she thought about how the Duke even managed to make a clumsy oaf like her look and feel lovely in the ballroom), when it came to carrying stacks of books, Soleil was an expert. Maybe she just needed a heavy stack of items to counterbance her to solve her issues?

  Other shoppers saw her prodigiously rge stack of books, looking on in worry as the pile was high enough to reach a good few feet above the young dy’s head. Her sight was blocked, so it seemed all the more precarious as now she couldn’t perfectly see where she was going. While she occasionally looked around her books, holding them at an angle all the time was a little straining, so they were usually right in front of her face.

  A crash was inevitable.

  She’d walked into another patron who also had herself a pile of her own books. Nowhere near as tall as Soleil’s, but enough that it also concealed her face. Books were scattered all over the store floor as the girls also took a tumble together, trying to catch the toppling tomes from hitting the floor. Soleil was more or less fine, nothing sprained or broken, but her behind would be smarting for the next few minutes.

  “Ow…” mumbled the other victim of this little accident.

  Sounded like the other person was simirly aching.

  “I apologize, I didn’t see where I was going,” Soleil said, going over to the other woman to help her up.

  “No, I also wasn’t watching my step, it’s my fault,” the other woman insisted as she patted herself off of dust.

  “No, seriously, I was at fault,” Soleil said, unable to let go because she had caused an accident.

  “I disagree; clearly I was in the wrong.”

  What was with this circur argument?

  “We were both at fault,” Soleil said, compromising on the matter. “Are you alright? Nothing hurt?”

  “Nothing that a bit of rest won’t cure,” the other dy replied cheerfully.

  Her hair had fallen into a mess and she was now brushing everything back into pce with her fingers. Silky brown locks were cleared away, revealing a lovely, heart shaped face with sloping wide hazelnut eyes. A tiny beauty mark sat squarely under her right eye, charming all who saw it. Smooth skin, pink lips and long shes that could put a model’s to shame.

  Soleil had to hold back from suddenly shouting in surprise, because though there were many people out there with brown hair and brown eyes, this girl exuded an air of ‘main character’.

  “I’m gd that it’s not serious…um…?”

  The girl smiled and it was like Soleil’s heart skipped a beat, her beauty was just that awe inspiring.

  “Oh, my name is Alperene Albrecht. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Shall we pick up our books?”

  “Ah…sure. I’m Soleil, by the way. Soleil Lorainne.” Soleil pstered on a stiff smile, trying to keep calm while her brain was moving quickly to process what was going on. As she picked up her third book from the floor, it finally clicked and everything exploded in her mindscape, resulting in a rge freak out. Soleil was internally screaming.

  What was Alperene doing in the capital? According to the events in the novel, in the first timeline she never entered the capital until the Saint trials. However, in the saved timeline, she was sted to make her appearance at the Emperor’s birthday ga, alongside the Crown Prince, who had also been a no show, now that she thought about it.

  Just what is going on?!

  “Oh, this one is quite heavy,” Alperene stated, struggling with the History of Aurea history book.

  “Oh, um, let me have that, Lady Alperene, it might be too much for you,” Soleil said, picking up the heavy book with ease, single handedly.

  Alperene looked impressed, cpping her hands. “Wow, you are so strong, Lady Soleil! Amazing!”

  “Hahahaha…” It felt embarrassing being praised by someone for her strength.

  The books were once again sorted, each grabbing their respective piles.

  “I’ll be headed to pay for these,” Alperene said, “would you like to go there together?”

  “Oh, I’m still looking around, at the moment.”

  “I see.”

  The female lead, Miss Saint of the Empire herself, managed to do a graceful curtsy despite being so encumbered, bade her farewell and headed off to the registers in order to finalize her purchases. Soleil stayed behind, sending her off with a smile, only resuming her mental freak out when the female lead was no longer in view.

  Why was Alperene here?!