ailaaurie

Chapter 32: Playing God and Making Terrible Mistakes

“Tori, have you ever thought that you may be doing too much?” JP asked as he and Sonia arrived at Cafe Fortuna and found Tori lying across the chaise by the hearth with one of the accent pillows resting lightly on her face.

“No,” came the muffled response from the unmoving young woman in pants and a long sleeve shirt.

“You need to rest,” Sonia said as she pulled a chair from one of the vacant tables and sat down beside the chaise. She raised her arm to get the attentio...

Chapter 31: An Increase In Allowance

There were two big things Tori noted that would be highly beneficial to her success that refugee camps in her original world often lacked. The first was the obvious: her number of resources. She had money and connections that could fund and support the entire project. This included basic needs for food, water, shelter, and sanitation. She even had enough pull to get a medical staff on site.

How long she could provide those things was what she was uncertain about.

It made it impera...

Chapter 30: Her Own Personal Supervillain Lair

As her roommate, Ilyana was very much aware that if it were up to Tori, Tori would sleep in and lay around doing whatever caught her attention at that moment. Not to say that Tori was lazy - she was far from it. Tori simply didn’t like stress and would tackle the cause of it as soon as possible to get it out of the way, so she could focus on something she enjoyed.

Ilyana wanted Tori to do things she enjoyed, but Ilyana’s chances to help were limited.

“Headmaster says only tw...

Chapter 29: You Piece of Sh-t World

“Oh my, it looks lovely, Miss Guevera!” Headmaster Laurent looked at the small metal tin with a wooden tray inside. The carefully designed charcuterie board was made up of cured pork leg, bread, dried fruit, and cheese from Presidio. She’d made several boards that morning, before she left for Lycée.

She wasn’t trying to bribe the headmaster, but he had been very understanding towards her and was a big supporter of Lions Gate. Besides, the tray was small, only three times the si...

Chapter 28: Due to an Old Wrist Injury

“Do you know how much work that is?” Tori sat on a cushioned stool in front of an ornate vanity table. The reflection on the mirror in front of her showed her pretty face with an exasperated expression.

“Of course, I know how much work that is.” Henrik’s voice came from the open comcry somewhere amongst the various make-up brushes, hair accessories, and palettes on the table. “But no one has had that sort of food before and it’s delicious. Not to mention that the burritos ...

Chapter 27: A Chat With Swords Next Time

“Is this it?” Sebastian stood in front of the store that had an image of a lion’s head above its name on the signboard, above the door. The two windows on either side of the door had mannequins posed in down vests and coats. Past them, they could see several people in the store.

“This is it,” Tori replied. She was a bit impatient. They’d spent the morning going to various markets in Horizon, looking for additional ingredients for Tori’s lunch and dinner the next day. Her p...

The Abduction: Part III

It was an unprecedented move to have the Anlar Fleet of Soleil’s Western Armada to round the coast of the empire and enter the gulf.  The official reason was that they were requested to assist with the sudden influx of pirates and raiders along the coast after the largest raider organization fell and left a power vacuum.

If someone were to ask Sebastian, he’d say it was revenge.  The O’Tuagh March was furious that someone had not only kidnapped, but nearly starved to dea...

The Abduction: Part II

His head hurt.  There was a dull, throbbing pain as he opened his eyes and squinted at the light that came from the window.  As his vision cleared, he saw the familiar carvings of clouds and stars of the wooden canopy of his bed.

Sebastian could feel something cool resting over his chest and he lifted his blanket to see four flat air crystals, two over each side of his bare chest.  He squinted, wondering why he’d need air crystals.  He’d only need them if he was ...

The Abduction: Part I

He would rather be anywhere but there, in the dusty all too familiar halls of the Fortress’ library.  His green eyes drifted outside the narrow windows, towards the garden where his family’s knights were training.  He narrowed his eyes.  The sword was much more interesting and fun, not to mention fitting for the heir of the Guevera March.

Going through a battlefield, sword in hand, fighting enemies of the empire was where he belonged.  Not in the library, staring...

Chapter 26: This Has Been a Depressing Day

She expected this from Kasen, but not Sebastian.

“So, yes, the quality of a crystal does depend on where it's sourced. The better the vein it’s from, the stronger, sturdier, and longer lasting that crystal is.” He was hunched over a large oak table in the fortress’ library with a massive map of the world as they knew it unrolled on top. The corners and edges were held down with various books, a candelabra, and a hollow bronze bust of one of their ancestors. “There are places w...

Aila's Ramblings - 11/12/21

So, guess who hurt her freaking upper arm last weekend.  This stupid dork.  It’s not so much an accident as it is being old and sleeping weird.  Anyway, it was a strain to type for a day, so I decided to just write out notes for upcoming chapters and “The Abduction” using gdocs’ voice-to-text.

You can imagine how well that worked.  Here are some wonderful highlights:

• Victoria      became Laboratory, Pretoria
• Sebas...
  2021-11-12 20:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 25: Could Almost Kill for a Good Burrito

For an introvert, going to a party was like going to war. There was a lot of mental preparation that was often involved, and armor that manifested in nice clothing, shoes, and overall put together appearance. It was like this for Tori every time and she was used to the stages of preparation.

Tonight, they would be attending the winter ball of Count Ferrero, one of the main vassals to the Gueveras. The Ferrero Estate was just outside the east gates of the city and it wouldn’t take them...

Chapter 24: We’re Mutual Enemies

“It has four legs! It’s a farm animal!” Mateo sat on the edge of the carriage bench; his eyes fixed on the paper card his brother held above his head. “You can ride them!”

“Cow!” Marco shouted across from him.

Tori squinted at her little cousin and the card that said ‘horse’. “You...ride cows?”

“You can ride a cow!” Marco defended himself.

“It’s pulling the carriage right now,” Tori said in a deadpan voice.

Marco looked at her quiz...

Chapter 23: Get to Know Me a Bit Better

Duels were uncommon at present. Usually, when there was news of a duel, it was more like a drunken brawl on the outskirts of town or two high ranking nobles had enough animosity that they’d finally agreed to a physical altercation to settle matters between them.

Ewan couldn’t even remember the last time he heard about a duel in Horizon. They were so rare that when one happened, it was big news, especially if it was between nobles or wealthy individuals. As for duels between students...

How This All Happened

So, here's how this story came to be.  

I've been a fan of isekai since the late 90's and recently have been seeing a lot of reborn as the villainess media lately.  I do enjoy them to varying degrees, but found that I tend to lean more towards wholesome family and friend interactions, which tends to be sidelined by the major plots of revenge and romance.  

And that's super understandable, but when I get stressed and tired, I just want to read something light and hap...