4| A Slave to Capitalism

Celestia was absolutely delighted after her magic engineering class. The field had evolved tremendously since her childhood, and thanks to knowledge from her previous life, even the complex concepts didn't feel too difficult to learn. At this rate, she could definitely whip up some handy weapons for self-defense – because who doesn't need a magical arsenal these days?

With classes wrapped up for the day,

Celestia prowled around the mansion like a pampered housecat, earning bewildered looks from the staff. In the evening, she sat in a carefully prepared bath as her hair was washed meticulously by the maids.

'Now this is what I call living the dream.'

She went to bed in a soft cream coloured silk pajama soon after.

Celestia's plans for the day were successful, and she hoped the rest of her days would be as peaceful as it was today. But for that to happen, she had to actively change her future.

With a weary sigh, she entered her bedroom's adjoining study. She retrieved a night pearl from the desk's box to illuminate the room and began documenting everything she recalled from the original novel.

Celestia was not a typical cannon fodder female supporting character. She never antagonized the female lead, Amelia Florence, nor significantly troubled the male lead. Instead, she loved him silently from afar, never demanding more. She even supported Zachary and Amelia's relationship, ultimately sacrificing herself for their love.

Many readers felt sorry for her character, and felt that she was too pitiful.

But she was eventually forgotten by everyone. Her sacrifice was not in vain though. The female lead, Amelia, awakened as the Saint on the day Celestia had died, and with a Saint on their side who rallied all the powerful people in the empire under her banner, they defeated the demon king and sealed the demon realm once again, restoring peace in the continent.

No one remembered the young ducal princess who had died for the Saint.

Everyone just considered it as a given, after all, there was only one person who was above even the emperor.

It was the Saint.

During the reign of the first emperor, it was the Saint Cayena who had fought bravely against the demon realm along with the royal family and the four ducal houses, and sealed the demon realm at the expense of her own life.

The Saint had ascended to godhood and shed her mortal shell after her death, and was the only other God after Caelus to be worshipped in the Empire of Kainosia.

Amelia had awakened divine powers that were comparable to the mortal Goddess, so everyone said it was expected for a person who could not contribute to saving the world to give their life for the Saint.

Celestia sneered.

Her character's death, despite being non-problematic, had an obvious cause: she was a pushover.

A few kind words and one instance of defending her at the academy had made her fall desperately in love, willing to die for his girlfriend.

Why was she a pushover in the first place? It's because she was starved for love. Her family neglected her and that in turn affected her confidence to approach anyone. Yup it was all the fault of her father and two older brothers. At least, she was happy for her youngest brother who was taken in by the Kadirah Duchy, her maternal family after his birth.

The youngest, Skye, was a spitting image of her mother, and had inherited her talent for magic too.

So the Kadirah's got custody of him since he could be raised better there. Skye only came to the Aster Duchy once a year to grieve their mother's death.

It was a pity that the seven year old was afraid of her because she looked too much like her father.

Anyways, from this moment onwards, she would blame her trash family, excluding the youngest, for her suffering up until now, and move on. Celestia decided to no longer care about anyone but herself. It was clear that in this world of magic and demons, she was the weakest one, and she had no hopes for anyone to come save her when she was in danger.

Celestia laughed darkly while listing survival strategies for the post-demon-sealing era. Surprisingly, surviving as cannon fodder seemed easier than her previous life.

First priority: reconciling with her father. The reason? Money. Her luxuries stemmed from her Ducal Princess status. Losing him meant losing privileges - and wealth!

Despite resenting his indifference, she acknowledged financial necessity. After careful analysis, the pros outweighed the cons. An idea emerged, but she had to wait until morning to execute it, although, it also required her staying up all night.

She memorized her written notes thoroughly before burning them.

___________________________

Duke Lennox Aster frowned at his office door. Another day without Celestia's visit.

It had been a week since he'd seen his daughter. His second son reported she was ill, yet his secretary mentioned she'd hired three new tutors – history, war strategy and tactics, and magic engineering – on top of her swordsmanship classes.

Though puzzled by her sudden academic enthusiasm, he didn't object. She'd shown no talent for swordsmanship or magic, so new interests were welcome. It was good as long as she found ways to entertain herself.

But was she too busy with classes to visit?

The thought actually stung.

Celestia was his only child who spent time with him. His eldest was drowning in palace politics, the second was a sword-obsessed rat, and his youngest was a magic prodigy who'd fled the nest early, appearing once a year like a rare comet.

Though Celestia was his spitting image, she had a much more agreeable personality – thank goodness.

But last year she'd moved to the academy dorms for some Draken Duchy boy, and now that she was finally home for holidays, she wouldn't even say hello? She'd even skipped their birthday gift tradition!

Was this delayed puberty? Would she start avoiding him like his sons? The room temperature plummeted with his mood.

Right then, his secretary burst in like he'd seen a ghost.

"Your Grace! T-the young lady..." the secretary stammered.

The moment "Duchess's Memorial" left his lips, Lennox bolted from his chair.