Perfect Timing

*Author's note- Forgive my mistakes; Florania is the name of the Kingdom and Florain is the surname the royal family bear.*

Lily sat at the most quiet section of the imperial library, her head buried in books she had read more than once in her previous life. She read them for fun and out of boredom before little Lorain was born, and after he was born, she finally found a brighter meaning to life. However, she had to read this books again to remember their contents clearly.

Flipping through the pages of the magic book, she sighed, running her fingers through the dusty pages. The books had long been abandoned at a secluded section since magic has seized to exist for centuries now.

Keeping the magic book aside, she picked up one about the kingdom's resources. Everything was as she knew it; medicinal herbs and agricultural were the main resources of the Floranian kingdom, poison however was solely for the Eastern region, hence it was never recorded in any books. In the last few pages, an element finally caught her eye, one that she had ignored in her past life, but this resource will soon become a well-sorted out resource in Floranian kingdom and the entire Obelian empire.

Graphite. A black soft-textured material used in the creation of refractory molds, smooth cannon balls...and pencils, not just any type but one that could be erased with a single piece of bread. This was one of the things that made Florain an even wealthier artistic kingdom, so much so that it almost made the Emperor run mad in anger.

Since Florania was a kindgom in an empire, not only was it situated at the border of the Obelian empire, it was also the only kindgom that refused to go down without a fight even other kingdoms decided to merge as one. Coupled, with the magic powers that the rulers of Florania had, the founding Emperor of Obelia could only agree to letting Florania be the only kindgom with a monarch in the entire empire.

Lily closed the book, a wry smile forming on her dry lips. She picked up the small book in which she had written the future events. She wrote down the exact period in which the pencils were first created, it was still a few years from now, and beneath, it she wrote about the locations in which graphite mines were later discovered.

With a snap, she stood up, stuffing the book into her skirt. The first way to get a land at the age of nine was by getting the approval of the King. Dusting her fluffy skirt, she placed back the rest of the books on their shelves.

The most effective method of getting the King's approval was by making him happy, and the only way she could make her father happy was by-

"Hello." A sudden voice interrupted her train of thoughts, causing her body to involuntarily shrink up. She paused, moving her eyes to the direction of the voice. That bright golden hair, and those deceiving green eyes, however, the person who was standing in front of her wasn't the woman she knew, but a little five years old child.

"Sister." Her eyes beamed with a smile, however, Lily shrunk up with blood-curdling fright.

"Sister." That same word that Camille had uttered when she watched Lily being dragged away. And those eyes, those eyes that cursed her as she was dragged away to a cell, those eyes that watched happily as Lorain was slaughtered.

"Ha!" Lily scoffed with eyes wide open in exasperation. Has this child always been like this? How did she fail to notice all this while? The hatred hidden behind those round green eyes.

"Sister?" Camille stretched out her hand to touch Lily but her small hand was immediately swatted away.

Lily forced a smile. Ignoring the surprised look on her younger sister's face, she gulped down her frustration and brewing anger.

With a conceded smile and eyes that looked down upon its opponent with a condensing aura, Lily stated, "You can't go around addressing me like that, Camille. It should be 'Your Highness, the first princess' when we're in public, okay?" Lowering her head, to meet the eyes of her younger sister in the darkest way possible, she smiled teasingly, "Now, let's see you try."

Enjoying the sight of an angered little child, her clenched fist and her tensed body were signs of this great anger.

'Just what made this child like this?' Lily couldn't help but wonder. 'How could a five year old emit such vile emotions, or could it be that she also returned from the past?' At this thought, Lily backed away from Camille.

"Your Highness...the First Princess." Camille's voice cracked as she struggled to voice out this hateful words.

'Why was she annoyed by this? She's not even an offspring of the King.' Lily shook her head. How glad would she have been if she wasn't truly royalty.

She quickly left the library, heading straight to the kitchen where she would finally start her climb to her father's heart.

"Excuse me." She stopped a passing servant.

Confused, the servant stared at the child in front of him. Though, her clothes were quite worn out, it was still the kind that could only be available for nobles, but at much, she should be from a fallen household or so.

"Yes?"

Lily furrowed a brow, knowing fully well what was going on in the servant's head. After all, not a lot of people knew how she looked even though everybody now knew of her existence as a legible heir to the throne.

"What exact day is it?" She asked.

The servant squinted with an annoyed look, "The twentieth day of the Chloris month." He still answered despite his annoyance.

"Ah, what perfect timing." Lily smiled sinisterly to herself.

"What?" The servant flinched.

"Oh, it's nothing. You may leave, thank you." Lily waved her hand, walking away.

She didn't even have to do anything since this golden opportunity had suddenly fallen into her laps. It was the day when the king was first poisoned by a subordinate colluding with an enemy, and...it was the day when she was almost beaten to death by her mother's maids, that was what spared her from the interrogation before the main culprit was caught.

Lily's smile cracked as those unpleasant memories flashed in front of her eyes.