Going to the capital

After dinner, while preparing for bed wearing my nightgown which is comfortable may I add, and Marie bushing my hair carefully.

"My lady, I asked around and there are some buildings aavailable for.

"Okay, tell them I will be there tomorrow by 11 am and they should also find some good bakers around 6 should do, ".she said.

" Inform, the head butler that will be going out by 10.30 am and a carriage without the family crest should be prepared by then and the token used by the children of the dukedom".

" Thank you, my lady I will relay the messages".

"Also do you know the place that sells, magic contracts and potions"? I said.

" I don't my lady but I will ask and get back to you tomorrow," said Marie

"Thank you, Marie".

I got into bed and bid good night to Marie.

" Goodnight, Marie".

"Goodnight, my lady".

"Today was a productive and blissful day well except when the duke summoned me, but I am glad I was able to pull through". I thought, as grifted into dreamland.

The next day

My lady, it's time to wake up". Marie said while she opened the window letting sunlight into my room

"Um".I murmured

"Good morning, my lady".

"Good morning, Marie".she replied, while rubbing my eyes trying to stay awake and attempting to sit up.

Today is my first time stepping out of the duke estate and the start of executing my plan while I chose my outfit with Marie and two other maids who were unwilling to be helping me get ready.

Today I am wearing a long black dress with green flower detailing at the neck that complements my skin tone, my hair put in a bun, green shoes with pink flowers on it, and a red lip to complete the look.

" Marie, about the tea shop, I told you to ask about, what did you find". she said, in a delighted voice.

"My lady, from the information I got, there is one downtown".she replied, in a calm and collected manner.

"As I thought, she's smart enough to know what I am trying to convey, I want her to bring her to my side when I leave, that's if she proves herself and continues to perform her duties diligently". she thought as she let out a little smile as she continued to chat with Marie.

While putting on the finishing touch on my dress and shoes, a maid with strawberry blonde hair and brown eyes came to inform me that the carriage is ready for departure.

" Tell the head maid that I will be down soon and Marie did you inform the butler to prepare my token".she said, as looked in the mirror

"Yes, I did, my lady". She responded

As soon as, they did finish putting on the finishing touches on my dress, I told them to leave.

" You two may be excused". she said as she gestured to them to leave.

"Yes, my lady". They answered as the two maids excused themselves.

"Let's go, Marie".

As I walked down the hallways of the dukedom mansion, which had been home to the descendants of marble for centuries with Marie accompanying from behind, as I made my way towards the entrance, I saw the head butler, head maid, and some servants coming to bid me welfare.

"Greetings, my lady".they said, the servants with a tone of disdain, as they bowed.

" You may rise".she said, in a calm manner while surveying their every move.

"Thank you, my lady".they answered

At least, even if the duke doesn't like the original Elizabeth, she is still treated as a descendant of marble, I have to give him credit for that, unlike some nobles who don't care if their children live or die, anyway It would be a blow on his reputation if she didn't.

"Head butler has my token been prepared". she said.

"Here it is, my lady". The butler replied as he handed me the silver-plated token with the dukedom crest on it.

"This is lighter than I expected ". she thought, as she carefully examined the token

" The passcode to gain access is your middle name lady". He whispered into my ear, as the original had a forgetful memory.

"I will come back late, tell the chef

no need to prepare dinner".she said.

"I understand, my lady".he replied

The coachman held one of my hands while I

held my dress with the other and as he helped me into the luxurious black two horse-drawn carriage with gold details on the outside and on the inside, it has red velvet sits which are comfortable and a secret compartment under the seat, as I sat on sit opposite of Marie.

"My lady, we are headed?".asked the coachman

"Marie, we'll be going to the bank(bank) first, so tell him the location". she spoke to Marie in a pleasant tone.

"Yes, my lady".

"Downtown by west avenue, please". She said

"I understand". He replied

I looked at the window of the moving carriage as it left the estate and finally made its way into the the downtown capital.

" The sound of talking, people enjoying their time, children playing and laughing in busy streets is nice to listen especially since the estate filled with people who despise the original Elizabeth and I can't let my guard down and show any suspicious behavior, ".she thought, I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Marie calling me.

"My lady, where are you here".she spoke

"Okay".she responded

" Marie, take this token and withdraw

3000 gold coins, the passcode is my middle name Octavia". I spoke, I am trying to test if she's trustworthy enough and to see she will do more than is required.

"Ues, my lady".she said

20 minutes later

"Miss, I have done what you requested".she spoke.

"Good job, when we get back I'll reward you".

"Thank you, Miss".

" Yourr welcome".

We arrived at the magic shop and step out of the carriage and entered the shop with a signboardwith its name "sola magic shop".

It looked like a typical magical shop I imagined it will be, filled with potions, barrels, magic books, and gadgets, suddenly a handsome man with brown hair and light color purple eyes appeared from thin air.

"W-what the heck". she saids she gasped for air while still in shock.

"Allow me to apologize, I didn't mean to to scare you".

"It's alright but who are you".she responded, as she regained her composure.

"Sorry for the late introduction, I am the owner "Helen Evans Caecilius" but you call me Helen, how may I be of help to a beautiful lady such as yourself, , ".he said

"What kind of playboy lines is this handsome idiot uttering and why are they so many good looking and most importantly crazy people apart from the main characters and here I thought I will finally meet someone normal, ".she said, as she rubbed her temples to calm herself

But why does name heame familiar Helen, it can't be THE "Helen Evans Caecilius" the best mage of solaria even more powerful than all-male leads put together.

The who decided to open a magic shop instead of being the next head of the magic tower, and also for never revealing Elizabeth identity as the one who bought the magic potion to kill the heroine till the very end and his well-known disdain for duke marble and main character for being hypocrites, who are no worse than villains but act righteously.

"umm, my lady". he spoke while tilting his head sidewards.

"You know, I would have found that cute if he wasn't a walking bomb".

" I would like to purchase 20 magic contracts".

"Okay, but why does miss marble want to purchase that".

"As far as know, I don't have to tell you anything".she said, in a cool manner

"Oh, aren't you worried, I"ll tell the duke, that his daughter was at my shop buying magic items".

"You won't".

"How can be you so sure?"

"Because you don't want to associate yourself with the dukedom after that happened". I said.

she felt the temperature suddenly drop and felt an oppressive pressure almost forcing her to kneel.

"He's releasing a very oppressive aura, I can't read his facial expressions, I hope I didn't say something wrong to provoke him, I don't have the power to defend myself". she thought, as she gritted her teeth and squeezed her dress tightly but was dumbfounded to hear laughter suddenly.

"Ha ha ha, I like you, your right that's why so many people come to my shop they usually have secrets to hide, so you have to worry about me revealing your identity, and I want to see your plan play out to screw over the duke and your so-called fiance ".he said, while wiping tears from his eyes

"O-okay I guess".she responded, with a very complicated look on her face

"But how do you know about that ?".

"A businesswoman reveals her secrets just like you don't reveal yours".

"Fair enough and do you need anything else". he replied

"Do you have a magic storage device that can keep a lot of things but small enough to carry around and a magic item that can turn my hair and eyes brown?".I asked

" I do, I"ll go get the items you're asked for".He said as he skipped his way out.

"What weird guy, for the great mage, I thought that he'll be a lot more cold, stoic and serious and to be like in his 60's and but his much more playful and mischievous and much younger than expected.

"What's that ". she thought, as she made her way towards something that caught her attention.

she spotted what looked likes an ugly strange ball-like object with different colors of gemstones that could blind someone from the light it's emitting and examined it carefully with interest in her eyes when he came back, she pointed towards the strange ball-like object and asked what it's used for.

"It used to test the magic affinity of an

Individual".he replied with a nonchalant attitude with placing down things her brought from who knows where.

"But why is this one so shiny and colorful".she asked.

"It's because I thought it's prettier this way". he replied, with a huge smile on his face as he looked at the ball that was poorly decorated with such pride.

"Nope he's blind, I know pretty that isn't pretty that ball looked like something even a toddler wouldn't want, anyway at least it's functional I guess, ".she thought with a twisted look on her face while he was too busy being proud to notice the look on her face.

"Can I try". I asked although I know this body doesn't possess mana only curious to see how it works.

"Go ahead". He replied, having no expectations whatsoever

I put my hand, on the ball-like object it dimmed as expected and showed a strange symbol surrounded by darkness.

"I-Impossible, this has never happened before ". Helen said

"Marie, please excuse us for a moment".I excused her because it's seem like this important and I don't trust her yet

" I understand, my lady". She replied

" What do you mean by impossible". I

asked

" That symbol only appeared in legends, it means that you aren't restricted in you just one or two affinities, you can you all but according to legend only five people ever possessed it but only one could unlock their potential as it's harder to use their magic than a one or dual magic-user and even that person only use low-level magic". he replied

That means if I have mana I might never get to use it and if I do it might be low but I'm pretty sure the original didn't possess any mana, so does have anything to do with me possessing this body, or is the amount of mana directly linked to my soul.

"Honestly, if I thought anyone would have had his power, I wouldn't think it'll be you".he responded in a very sincere voice

Although, I understand where he's coming from as it's a well-known fact that the original Elizabeth had no mana but I can't help getting mad but the good thing is I have mana, and if trained well I can at least have another means to protect myself even it's low-level magic.

"How do I train myself to use these powers". I asked in a sincere tone.

"I can train you but I know you wouldn't want anyone to know about this and as you won't be unable to leave the dukedom often, so it's best to train on your own and contract a magic beast to help increase your magic level".

"But aren't magic beasts rare and consume a lot of mana, even in last 400 years in the royal family of solaria only the current king and crown prince have one and there are only mid-rank level magic beasts ".I said

" Yes, they are so, Good luck". He replied.

This bastard and here thought he was actually going to help do something about my predicament but then again he isn't obligated to but still.

Magic beasts are rare, at first they a lot, and almost every magic-user had one but retreated to the magic forest, where magical creatures and plants originated from when the magic user's started hunting them to increase their power most magic-user knows the history but something that's been left out is that magic beast needs he thethe he magic user's to increase their power.

The ruler of the magic beast established that a contract must be made between the two and one of the conditions is that there will be no hunting of magic beast, even with that most magic beasts didn't want to have contact with the magic user's even if means not upgrading in ranks the the the the magic beast has ranks :

Low level (very slow mana accumulation)

Mid-level(slow mana accumulation )

High level(intermediate mana accumulation)

Divine level(fast mana accumulation)

"I want to thank you for reading this chapter and hope you have a good day".