1 Kathy

Daylight creeps through the partially open window curtains, gently casting a warming touch on objects that are right in front of it. The chandelier glistens and the gold trim shines.

The middle of the room, slightly shaded by a large chair, is blanketed by several sheets of paper. Upon closer inspection, the sheets form a ring, with each sheet containing a distinct set of shapes and scribbles. The ring surrounded a little girl.

(My name is Katherine Alia Svetlana or just Kathy. Formerly I was Amy Harvard, a chemist. A chemist who was just minding her own business and walking to the shops in the evening when a drunk driver suddenly sent me to the person upstairs.)

Kathy grabs additional paper and places her current sheet to the side. Her silver hair flowed down her sides which formed a graceful, shining river.

Diligently, she continues scribbling until her pile of paper becomes completely depleted. The finished product was not in fact the ring she created around her.

(To an adult these will look just like the drawings of an ordinary child. This is actually the timeline of this world, it is not completely accurate however.)

The newly arranged papers formed a long line, from the year 1599 to 1621.

(I have memories of my past life, but they are very vague. It's like trying to find things in an incredibly dense fog. I know that the current me and the world I am in is from a web novel that I read in my previous life, it was called "Blank Title".)

Kathy numbers the papers in chronological order before starting to place them in a pile.

(In this novel Katherine, me, would get accused of bullying Katyusha for being a commoner and out of jealousy for her closeness to the crown prince. Katyusha would be my sister, who was actually dearly loved by Katherine in the novel. She is adopted into the family when she is 13, when the novel starts. I also get accused for attempted murder of the crown prince and then executed.)

She stops at one particular sheet of paper.

(Katyusha gets executed for being disrespectful and disloyal to the royal family in 1620.)

Kathy finishes collecting all the papers and carefully stashes them into the back of her wardrobe.

(At the end of the novel, Katherine and Katyusha are framed and thus are executed. The difference now is that I know who will frame us.)

She sits on top of her window sill and stares out at the lush, green prairies that surround her beautiful home. Trees break up the horizon, with a splatter of wispy thin clouds here and there. The sun has just begun to fall. Her sapphire encrusted eyes and thin lips gave her a naturally sinister face.

(I somehow need to avoid not only my own execution, but Katyusha's as well. Whilst doing that I can prevent the collapse of the family because our deaths don't happen. The Agathine Family, like our family, is one of only 5 families with the title of Duke. They would ultimately destroy our family so that their heirs would marry into the royal family.)

She heads out of her room and wanders around the empty corridors, often stopping any passing servants and praising them for their hard work.

"Our little miss is so lovely, she cares dearly for us-"

The servants often gossip.

Kathy eventually turns towards the corridor that leads to the kitchen, it passes the lord's office, her father's office. The door is labelled clearly with a plaque, she questions a passing maid,

"Anya, when did father begin working?"

The maid ponders for a second before replying,

"Master entered his office at around 5 this morning, young miss."

Kathy thanks the maid then checks a small pocket watch that she carries around her neck,

"That means he has been in there for… at least 12 hours."

"That would be correct. Our young miss is so talented!"

The maid proudly stated.

"Thank you for praising me. Can you come with me to the kitchen, I want to get some cakes and bring my tea set into the office."

"With pleasure."

Kathy returns with a tray of small, lightly powdered cakes in hand. Anya,the maid who was carrying Kathy's tea set, was standing behind her.

Kathy, with her hands full, knocks on the door with her shoes. Several seconds pass before a reply came through,

"Yes, come in."

They both enter,

"Father, working for so long is not good, I brought cakes and drinks."

"Kathy, thank you for worrying-"

His slightly greyish hair betrayed his otherwise flawless face that hid behind his reading glasses.

(Mikhail Lev Svetlana. After finding out his two daughters had been framed he set out to take revenge. He would carve his way through the guards at the Agathine household and then cut down Duke and Lady Agathine themselves.)

"The tea you made today is splendid, I can tell you have been working diligently. Don't fret, I will finish working now."

Kathy and her father sat down together. As the sun dipped below the horizon and the room turned dark, Kathy got up and began lighting the candles.

"Kathy, are you okay doing that? We can get a maid to come over and do it."

Her father spoke worryingly, as if she would hurt herself.

"Father, I have nothing to do. It's so boring sitting around. This is the most exciting thing I have done all day."

(Perhaps now is a good time to ask.)

"Could take swordsmanship lessons? That way I won't be so bored."

The candle lights flicker, a few moments pass as Duke Mikhail ponders. He begins his thoughts,

(For a girl to be learning sword fighting, if word got around then people will have very different opinions on not only Kathy but our family as a whole. However, this is the first time she has asked for something selfishly.)

He looks up at the child standing in front of him. Her silver hair was shining in the dim light but her face remained straight.

(If she is able to defend herself then a guard won't be necessary and she would have more freedom. Kathy always liked having independence, and she has no malicious intent either.)

After moving back and forth and weighing up the pros and cons, he came to a decision.

"Alright, I will permit. I will send a letter to the educational institute asking for a tutor. Emiya will let you know when they arrive."

He sighs and then asks her to return to her room.

"You can go now Kathy, let me just tidy my office, then I will come and read you a book before you go to sleep."

Katherine simply nods and exits.

(In the novel, before the framings he spent very little time with Kathy or Katyusha since he was so busy.)

Kathy looks outside just as the curtains are closed, the stars shine and fill the night sky. They produced glorious patterns. There were circles with red borders and blue cores, vibrant blue dots and points that flash periodically.

"It's good that there is no light pollution."