LILIVIENNE

I’ve been thinking a lot about my plans to survive in this world ever since I woke up as Lilivienne, forgetting about the responsibilities she left to me before I took over.

“What’s happening to you, Lilivienne? We just rehearsed this last week.” The instructor crossed her arms. Why did she have to be so strict?

“O-Of course, miss. I’m okay. I’m just tired…” I excused. I’m not a fan of dancing! Why do I have to suffer this way?

Because of the poisoning incident, the dancing rehearsals for the ball have been postponed. There are only two weeks left before the big day.

Miss Gardner shook her head in disbelief. “We started not just 30 minutes ago. Have a quick break!”

“Can you please do it right? I want to go home.” My dance partner glared at me before dropping my hand. I don’t know where the duke found this guy, but apparently, he is my cousin from my mother's side.

Where should I find information about the mother of this family? I’m sure having an idea who she was would be a huge help to conceal my identity.

After two hours of suffering, the rehearsals were finally done for the day. It was lunchtime when I left the dance room. My father and brother were already seated at the dining table.

They mostly talked about Alasdair’s duty at the palace and my father’s duchy obligations. Since my transmigration, I’ve been eating delicious meals I never tasted in my former life, though I miss what I used to eat in my first life, like fried noodles, rice cakes, and pork dumplings. Should I make a request to the kitchen? Were the ingredients used to make them even exist in this country—

“What are you thinking about, Lilivienne?” I jumped to my seat when the duke mentioned my name. My new name.

“I—I was thinking about the dance lessons, Father.”

“Did you do well?”

“Of course. I’m learning from the best instructor in the kingdom.” Lies. I can’t dance for the life of me! I just wish I could show a decent enough performance at the upcoming ball!

When I finished my food, the duke called for me once more. “Don’t you have business lessons with Countess Clarke at 1 o’clock?” I almost forgot about that. Lilivienne’s usual lessons have resumed after her full week of recovery.

“Yes but—uhm, before I forget. Can you grant me a request?” Both the duke and Alasdair raised their heads.

“Anything that I’m capable of. What is it?” Says the duke.

I fidgeted my fingers under the table. “Can I take swordsmanship lessons as well?”

“You quit your fencing lessons a year ago. What made you want to go back to it?”

“I’m not talking about fencing, but with a real sword, father. Like Alasdair.”

I watched as their expressions turned grim. Did I say something wrong?

“Lilivienne, it’s not a good image for a noble lady like you to take swordsmanship skills like that.”

“Is it? But I’m sure there are female knights in the duchy and the kingdom—“

“Not to a lady of your status. Let your brother do the job. You focus on the family business.”

“I-I’m not trying to be a knight like Alasdair. I just want to learn basic swordsmanship skills to defend myself.” Learning how to use a sword will give me a bigger chance to survive in this life, but they wouldn’t know that.

The duke massaged his temple. “Lilivienne, I’ll assign you some of our best knights if that’s what you want. You don’t need to learn such a thing.”

“But—“

“And you will not bring this up again. You are dismissed.” He pointed at the door. I looked at Alasdair with pleading eyes. If he could just help me persuade our father… but he only avoided my gaze.

Fine!

I left the dining room in defeat. That was harder than I thought. Was it such an offence for a lady if she wanted to use a sword?

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

It was my dream to be a businesswoman in my first life, therefore I find the business lessons quite enjoyable. But during those three hours of lecture, somehow I couldn’t avoid dissociating in my thoughts.

I should look for an alternative option after the duke’s disapproval of swordsmanship. I only came up with it because of our family background. I’m not truly interested in it.

In Remembering World, there are mainly four different classes—the swordsman, magician, marksman and shaman. The twelve out of 88 constellations in this universe called the Triplicity Rulerships permitted mortals to use their elements.

Unlike in my past life where people based their zodiac signs on the date of their birth, in Remembering World, humans can choose and pay respect to the zodiac constellations they owe their elemental abilities when they pick their classes.

Swordsmen and marksmen could master two elements in their lifetime, while the mages—which is the most common subclass of the magician class—could master all four main elements: aero, aqua, terra and agni. In the beginning, mages could only master one element, until the archmages of the Galicia Magic Academy found a way to master all four elements through spells. The Triplicity Rulerships didn’t like what the mortals had done as they feared it would create an imbalance in the world, but the archmages proved themselves otherwise until the constellations eventually let them be. The archmages taught the two classes how to master the four elements without the guidance of grimoires in battle. But hundreds of years have passed and the two classes could only manage to master two elements in their life. Learning a second element was described as similar to learning another language, but a hundred times harder.

In the modern day, scholars haven’t stopped researching other several ways for the swordsman and marksman class to master a third and fourth element using easier methods. They believed that once a person didn’t pick the magician class, one would not pick a grimoire at all.

On the other hand, the shaman was the fourth class to be included in the system and had the rarest number of population. Their unique way of borrowing abilities from nature spirits and contacting the spirit garden excluded them from the bound of Triplicity Rulerships. But it was only a hundred years ago when the nations of all the continents agreed to consider the importance of the shamans, officially forming the four classes.

The four classes were divided into different subclasses. Warriors, paladins, berserkers or any individual skilled with swords, falls under the category of a swordsman—like Percival with his berserking claymore. Most swordsmen join the knighthood, mercenary guilds or are simply adventurers. Paladins—the holy knights—are the only swordsmen who use divine magic and shield skills, like Alasdair. Holy knights wear large white capes, which makes them easier to exclude from regular knights.

Celios was a marksman whose subclass was a gunslinger, as he had the expertise to use guns. But as a knight, he was required to attain swordsmanship skills.

Similarly, Zathrian called himself a swordsman after attaining knighthood. In the game, it was stated that he is highly skilled in archery, marksmanship and hand-to-hand combat, but he was at his best with swords and firearms. In the game, his sub-skills include a revolver, given to him by his father.

Maximilian is an adventuring berserker who can master all the elements, making him the first and only non-magician in the entire continent to do that, catching the attention of rulers and scholars. At the start of the game, the players were given an option to choose the first element they prefer to master, and as they travel the four kingdoms as Maximilian, they can eventually master the rest.

Magicians are usually mages, archmages, sorcerers or clerics. Mages are the most common and versatile with magic spells, yet the hardest subclass to master after the archmage—which is just the higher title of a mage. Clerics come second with their divine magic and healing. They spend most of their time in temples when not on the battlefield. Some other subclasses like sorcerers and witches are still considered a part of the magician class. However, their use of curses and black magic is what makes them evil.

Marksmen are either gunslingers, hunters or forest rangers—they are usually in the same line of work as the swordsmen and mages. Lastly, shamans are commonly spiritualists or spirit-raisers, their source of power coming from nature spirits and souls of the spirit garden. They are rare to find in the cities, as they spend the majority of their lives in remote villages near nature.

Shamans and magicians often get mistaken to be similar—especially on the topic of clergy—but clerics cannot communicate with the spiritual realm, unlike the shamans. Clerics can only act at the will of the gods they worship.

What class should I master that has the biggest advantage for my survival?

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

I found myself standing at the front of the Grand Library as soon as I was dismissed from my business lessons. I stepped inside the building and feasted my eyes on the hundreds and thousands of books throughout the century. It’s only the afternoon. She should still be here, right?

“What shall I help you with, miss—“

“Ah!” My heart almost leaped out of my chest when someone approached behind me. I looked and found a young girl with glasses. Isn’t this Wilona?! The assistant librarian!

“L-Lady Lilivienne? Pardon me for surprising you!” The girl bowed her head repeatedly, somehow she reminded me of Elise.

“Worry not. I’m alright,” I awkwardly waved my hand to tell her to stop. “Miss Jennings, I’m here to see the Head Librarian. Can you bring me to her office?"

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Wilona led me to the Head Librarian’s office. I was greeted by the sight of Odette de Lune working overtime on her desk. The woman’s face in her early twenties lit up as soon as I entered the room.

She closed the book she was writing on. “What is the reason for the sudden visit, Lady Lilivienne?”

I shut my eyes tight. “I want to be a mage, Miss de Lune.”