"Ah…I could really get used to this." I said, eyes closed and bathing in the sunlight. It was just perfectly warm enough to make me want to soak in it forever.
"I see that My Lady has really started to change."
I half-opened one eye and glanced at Anias, sitting across from me. The woman was giving me a rather considering look, making me silently curse myself.
"Well, the weather is just right. If I knew it could get like this, I would have gone out a lot more often."
"Hmm."
It had been a week since I had woken up as I took to thinking about it. It had been enough time that I was starting to understand the kind of situation I was in.
I had, somehow, woken up in the body of Esra Veyne. At first I had thought that I had simply regained my memories of a previous life, but I was increasingly sure it wasn't that. All the few memories I dredged up of being Esra were more like recordings of someone else, rather than my own lived memories.
On the other hand, my recollection of my time on Earth did all feel like things that had happened to me. I remembered little of my previous life.
From what I did remember, I had barely lived a life at all. Most of my time had been stuck inside doing…what? That part was hard to remember. Just about all of my memories were like that. Living the same day every day, bound to what must have been my room. Did I even have any friends? Did I ever even do anything? I was fairly certain all I ever did was read.
"What a worthless existence." I mumbled to myself. I don't know why I'm here, but it doesn't matter. It's a chance to do something different.
That still left me with a bit of a problem. I had taken over the body of Esra Veyne, the daughter of Duke Adrian Veyne. What would happen when people found out I wasn't who I appeared to be? So far, I had been pampered and cherished to an almost absurd degree, but that wouldn't last if people found out.
Then, I'd all but forced a maid out of the house. I didn't know it at the time, but Martha had been with the Veyne's for years. Maybe it was unwise to expose the woman. It had felt right at the time though.
It would have been much easier if I was some nobody that would pass beneath everyone's notice. Alas, a lot of people did care about every little thing I did or said.
So, these last few days have been stressful. My father hadn't seen through me, though if that was because he just didn't know his own daughter very well, or if he was simply a little dim, was anyone's guess.
None of the other maids and manservants had seen through me either. That left me with only one concern: Anias. It didn't take long to realize that the woman was damned sharp. Her gaze always had a way of making one feel like she was looking at both the seen and the unseen at the same time.
There was also the fact that she often made mention if I did something or said something the real Esra probably wouldn't have said. Still, it was a big leap to jump from a few inconsistencies to Esra not being Esra, so I was safe for the moment.
All of this would have been much easier if I knew what Esra was supposed to act and sound like in the first place! From what I had been able to gather, Esra was something of a shut in. A girl who more or less never left her room unless she absolutely had to. Esra didn't speak with anyone that wasn't her father or Anias, and I doubt she spoke that much with those two either.
That should have been a good thing, except I had soon realized it wasn't. It made it harder to pretend to be her, at least. The last thing I wanted was to be holed up in my room all day. And so I had to feign being someone who was just coming out of their shell, and hope nobody saw through it.
"My Lady, do you feel up to trying that then?"
I looked across at Anias. The way the woman had said the word made it clear that I should know what she was talking about. I didn't.
"Err…I feel as ready as I ever will?" I answered.
Anias beamed at me, rising quickly. The woman's entire body started to glow with a pale orange light. Outwardly, I wasn't too surprised. I had seen this a few times before, and it was always just as surprising each time I did.
Anias closed her eyes, presumably to concentrate. My gaze drifted towards the mansion as something floated out one of the open windows towards me. The shape grew larger, until made out…a set of gauntlets?
They landed on the table in front of me with a heavy thud, and then Anias sat back again, the glow around her gone.
Was I supposed to know what these things were? Would it be suspicious if I asked?
"I am sure you have heard of these before, but this will be your first time actually seeing a pair." Anias cut off my thoughts. "These are a pair of mana infused bracers."
Apparently, my confusion must have shown, because Anias nodded. "These will help reveal your 'Gift'."
I had only the vaguest idea what she was talking about.
Anias looked at me for a long moment, and then she sighed. "Everyone is born with mana, it's the life force that runs through everything. Through you, through me, through the trees and the plants you can see in the distance. Some people however…." Anias reached forward, grabbed my right arm, before pressing them into the bracer.
"Some people are born with more. Gifts, as you know. They let people do things they never would have been able to otherwise. Mana can make you faster. Stronger. Can aid healing or keep you on your feet. Gifts are more. My telekinesis is one such Gift, as you've just seen."
The bracer snapped around my arm, somehow both perfectly tight and yet not tight enough at the same time. "And you're saying that I have one of these 'Gifts' too?"
"You should." Anias said oddly. "You've never let me test you before but you should have one."
That sounded promising enough. I'd had some time to take this all in, after what I'd seen my Father do. If I did have some kind of amazing power like Anias, it was time to discover it.
"Alright. What do I have to do?"
"Nothing. Right now, your body's mana is dormant. Asleep. These gauntlets are going to shock your system a little." Anias inspected me, even as she put the second gauntlet around my other arm. "This might tingle a little. It might even hurt."
It did. I grunted as my body felt like it had been punched from every direction all at the same time. I let out a gasp of pain, and fell right over from my chair before I even knew it. I was on my hands and knees. It took a while for the pain to leave. Anias looked down at me worriedly. Thankfully, it eventually did leave.
It left me with strength. Every muscle I had tingled with energy, with the desire to move, to do something.
"This feels…."
"It's quite exhilarating, isn't it?" Anias asked me, visibly relieved.
"I'll say." I said with a shake of my head. No wonder Esra hadn't wanted to go through that. My entire body was still twitching with power and remembered pain. "This -this is going to take a lot of getting used to." I slowly rose, plopping back down into the chair. All I wanted to do was bounce up and down.
"So this is my Gift?"
"No." Anias shook her head. "That is just your mana flowing through your body. The energy you feel comes from your mana. You have more mana than most, so the effects are stronger for you than they would be for most people."
Anias leaned in closer, inspecting me. "Don't you feel…something?
"What am I supposed to be feeling?" Was this something I should know about too?
Anias sighed. "It's supposed to feel like an urge. Like your body demanding you do something specific with all that mana roaring inside of you. That's what a Gift is. When I channel my mana, my body wants me to move things, I suppose. Your father's Gift gives him the urge to move his own body. That's how everyone's gift works."
I closed my eyes and tried to think. Power roiled around inside me, but the urge Anias spoke of was absent.
Shaking my head I muttered, "I don't feel anything like what you're suggesting."
Anias looked at me for a moment longer, and then she finally nodded her head. "I see. Well, sometimes people's gifts manifest long after their mana does. And sometimes…."
Before she could continue, a manservant rushed towards me.
"My Lady, they are here."
I turned towards Anias, who nodded at me.
"Yes. Tell Father I'll be there."
We had guests. Noble guests. It was about time for me to figure out just what being a Duke's daughter was all about.