7 Chapter 7: Prescience

I woke up at around 10 in the morning. A small groan escaped my lips as I forced myself to get up.

'DING'

'Subject: Good Morning!

From: God

Good Morning! I was so bored without you T-T'

'DING'

'<l Mission:

You have only meager knowledge of this world. Find and read books from the 'library' about this world.

Time: 1 day

Reward: none'

'Library? I am not allowed out of here. I will get badly punished if I am found…'

The door slowly opened, and light poured in.

"Good morning Lady Everflame, we have prepared breakfast." the maid said in a casual voice.

After the prior day's events, the servants had started using formalities to address me. However, although they do not use a tone of mockery or contempt, they do not use the same respectful tone that they used towards Sage's father. It was a casual tone as if they were talking to their equal. I am not complaining though, this is more than enough. It was way better than the voices of pity and occasional scorn that they used before.

"I see, thank you. I will arrive shortly," I replied. "Ah, by the way, is it possible for you to get books from the library for me?"

"Of course, what would you like me to get?"

'Score!'

"Please get books about history and geography. General information about the world,"

"Okay," the maid replied. "I will leave it on your desk if you are fine with that."

"Thank you,"

I got up and went to the bathroom to refresh myself. Using a water mana crystal, I washed my face. Unfortunately, there is no toothpaste here, but there is a mouthwash similar to 'Listerine'. For that, I am eternally grateful. I then proceeded to change my (now proper) clothes, and let myself be escorted to the miniature dining room.

~fast forward dramatic food session~

As I let the last spoon of lukewarm soup slide down my throat, I once again was reminded of the newly discovered beauty of food. Before, I used to eat bland and cheap foods like porridge or sauceless pasta, as I could not afford more luxurious meals. Spices like salt, sugar, etc. were all considered unneeded luxuries. Okay, I am getting a bit off topic here…

I allowed the servants to escort me back to my room, and then plopped down onto the (now not rock hard) bed and started reading the books the maid had left on my desk when I was eating.

Education is an essential necessity for me if I want to survive in a world like this. Although there are not many who do not discriminate against women, they still exist. Education will make me a valuable asset, and the discrimination will make people unsuspecting of me, therefore political enemies would not attempt to get rid of me if they wanted to bring down something I was involved in. Although revealing my reincarnation, and how I know the future may be beneficial, it would probably do more harm than good. First, I probably would be taken as a crazy person, thus worsening my situation, and also, even if they believe me, them relying on my prescience would change the future, and therefore, I would become useless. It would be better to keep this knowledge to myself and reap the benefits. I once read an interesting quote in a novel about a person in a similar situation to mine (reincarnated into an anime/manga that they have watched). It said "I am not a goddamned oracle; that's not what prescience means, anyone who tells you otherwise is a dipshit. Prescience is like knowing the pattern, the way things could have been. It's like Schrodinger's cat, it could be dead but it could also be alive, and maybe you know that live cat, but when you open the box, you trap that cat in one form." basically, it says that although you know what happens, things can change, and although you may think that you may find a 'live cat' when you open the box (in this case opening the box means going into the future, and the live cat means the plot and events of the otome game), you may find the dead cat instead (meaning that the plot strays of path and the events change). When I open the box, I certainly want to see the live cat, as that is one of the only gifts I have from coming from another world. The fact that I spectated this world from above, and know future events, important facts of important people, who is more corrupted versus who is a decent person, and all makes me feel more safe and secure. I know who to and who to not avoid, how to not get on other's bad sides. This information helps me and plays an important role in having a safe and happy life. If I spill this knowledge, ripples will certainly form, affecting the world in ways that I won't know and can't predict. S--

'Knock knock'

"Ah, yes?" I said, snapping out of my thoughts

"The Marquis requests for you to come to the garden to get your magical abilities tested."

"Okay, thank you for informing me," I replied, grabbing the brush to quickly smooth out my hair.

I opened the door, and let the servant escort me towards the garden.

"Wow!" I blurted in amazement as I saw the magic circle. A pinkish stone glimmered in the middle, while 8 yellow-glowing stones encircled the center. If I remember correctly, the pinkish stone was an appraisal stone, while the 8 glowing stones were…. I think an amplifier, safety barrier, accuracy increase, mana manipulator, pure mana storage, and I forgot the rest. But boy, it looked EXPENSIVE…

"Please step in the middle of the circle," the servant asked.

Doing as told, I carefully stepped on the pinkish magic stone, avoiding stepping and messing up the magic circle.

"Than we shall now start the ceremony"