ailaaurie

Chapter 186: You're Not Supposed to Be Here

She wasn’t surprised that everyone understood her decision. Ewan even offered to come, giving up all the snacks he had allotted to go and support his master.

“When I called them last night, Axton said for you to return on the ship as planned,” Tori told him as she stood beside him on the steps of the Fortress. “Axton says that he’s not sure how he'll take it when the time comes and doesn’t want you to see him in such a state.”

Ewan furrowed his brows and his face sad...

Chapter 185: Now Who's Crazy

Was it a tragic love story or just a tale of revenge? No matter how Tori looked at it, it was both. On one side, a young, fragile love was broken after betrayal and madness. On the other side, one partner resented the other so much that she asked to be buried in a place where he could never find her, if only to deprive him of the ability to be near her remains.

Tori sat on the edge of her bed, stroking her mother’s hair back as Antonia lay across her bed, tired after angrily crying an...

Chapter 184: Did Marquis Guevera Approve of This

Confusion filled Axton’s face as he seemed to weigh the comcry in his hand. The corner of his lip twitched, and he shook his head. “I...I don’t think I heard you correctly....”

Tori heard her mother take a deep breath and slow her voice. “Axton, Rebecca Walter, your father’s mistress, was found dead this morning on Sun Garden’s grounds. It looks like she was strangled to death and there was dark hair and some blood on her hands. Mr. Merced called me when he couldn’t reac...

Chapter 183: Disturbance in the Force

“Why are you crying?” JP asked his sister with crinkled eyes.

Sonia sucked in a breath and shook her head as her eyes watched Tori trot around the corral on a pure black horse.

“I’m just so happy for her,” Sonia said. “She’s such a beautiful horse.”

Henrik squinted and gave her a questioning look. “Are you happy for Tori or are you happy for her horse?”

“Both.”

Tori listened to the conversations around the corral praising...

Chapter 182: I Took Matters Into My Own Hands

The top of the southern battlements had been an original part of the Fortress, but in the past centuries, it had been renovated and expanded to become less a defensive position to observe territory and fire arrows from, and more a rooftop garden. When Grammie was the ruling Marchioness, that was what she used it for: growing plants.

On one side, it overlooked an inner courtyard of the original Fortress structure and on the other, the more recent outer courtyards before the newer outer w...

Chapter 181: Maybe They Would Offer Him Potato Chips, Too

“Thank you for your help tonight. I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Tori hated that tonight’s dinner was so mentally exhausting. Tomorrow was the wedding and she had to wake up early to prepare for the ceremony as the groom’s sister, but all she wanted to do was sleep in and put off dealing with her mother’s sister, and mother’s sister’s goddaughter.

Piers sat on the sofa in her room, holding one tumbled amethyst at each of her temples to ward off her headache. A co...

Chapter 180: I Can't Have Nice Things

“I don’t want to be the villain here,” Tori said as she cornered her brothers on their way back to their rooms. “But which one of you took it?”

“Took what?” Sebastian had a pleasant look on his face despite his ruffled hair and dust coated clothing. As soon as the war games party had returned, they went to eat at a large grilling celebration. They all smelled like marinade.

Kasen tilted his head to the side and gave her a questioning look. “What are you talking abo...

Chapter 179: Don't Want To Be a Necromancer

Axton’s lip twitched as he stood outside Fiona’s chicken enclosure, seemingly trying to hold back a smile. A few paces away, Tori stared at her niece’s prized rooster with a neutral expression. Every so often, she heard Axton let out a wheeze or snicker.

Her eyes narrowed. “Just let it out.”

“No, no.” Axton’s voice went up and down with barely controlled laughter. “He was wrong to say it.” A half snort, half laugh left him, and Tori’s eye twitched. “You’r...

Chapter 178: As Beautiful as Fiona's Rooster

She kissed flushed cheeks of the giggling toddler in her arms and then nuzzled the side of her head. “Hi, Fifi! Have you made yourself at home?”

“Hmm...yes! I like it here!” Fiona beamed and tightened her hold around Tori’s neck, giving her a sloppy kiss on the cheek. “But I still missed you.”

“Aww...I missed you, too.”

“Fifi!” Ilyana appeared beside her and extended her arms.

“Auntie Ilyana!” Fiona raised her arms towards her and Tori passed ...

Chapter 177: An Unforeseen Sense of Crisis

“I’m not judging you.”

“Yes, you are. I can see it in your eyes.” Tori narrowed her gaze as JP looked around the private Tres Arcos dock that was around a cove and led to beachside fortification.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You’re thinking that I’m rich.” She watched JP raise his arms and seemed to motion all around him.

“Are you not?” he asked. “Who has a private dock?”

“Other marquis families. It’s practical so military and pol...

Chapter 176: Size Does Matter

How influential was the charm? How much of Dimitri, and the other love interests’, affection was sincere and how much was the result of the charm?

Tori shifted uncomfortably at Dimitri’s words. She couldn’t rule out the chance that without the charm, one of the love interests could have sincerely fallen in love with Alessa. Dimitri was around Alessa before Montan gave her the charm, after all. It wouldn’t be the first time a teenager fell in love fast.

Her stomach twisted ...

Chapter 175: A Long and Storied Life

“How could you do this?” Ilyana’s face was red, and her lower lip trembled with indignation. “After what he did and said about you?”

“Do you have time to do this? Our final exams are coming and you’re short of time as is,” Henrik said with a frown as he sat on a plush chair. Ilyana paced in front of the hearth at Cafe Fortuna, unable to calm down after Tori told them that she would be visiting Dimitri every other day.

Tori took a deep breath from where she sat on t...

Aila's Ramblings - 10/23/22

📢 NEW CHARGING SCHEDULE!!!

I can finally switch to the alternate payment system for patrons to be charged on the date that they signed up, not at the first of the month. If this option existed when I started, I would’ve definitely taken it, but at the time, we only had once choice.

✨Charges for November will be made on the same day a patron signed up. ✨

For example, if you signed up on May 10th, then you will be charged on November ...

Chapter 174: Dig His Own Grave and Then Backflip Into It

The Guthrys brought Dimitri back from their village.

In some cases, being out in the countryside, without the pressure and stress of a bustling, chaotic city, could help a person relax and recover without too much external stimulation. However, the countryside didn’t always have the medical specialists and technology to meet the particular needs of someone sick or injured.

That seemed to be the case with Dimitri. He wasn’t exactly thriving in the village.

The letter from...

Chapter 173: This is a Sack of Rice

Tori stood with Kasen behind her, staring at the table with five men around it. Several of them were avoiding her gaze as her eyes narrowed. She wasn’t angry. She just wanted to know what they were doing there.

“I was not informed that there were visitors on the island,” she said in a low voice.  Okay, so I’m a little annoyed.... “When I said the delta was open for guests, that did not include Anahata Island.”

Instructor Ignatius’ head was the lowest an...

Chapter 172: I'm Sorry I'm Late

He couldn’t remember when he started to hate his half-brother. Was it when his mother died? Or was it when he figured out what severely weakened her to the point that she could not recover from her disease?

Axton had been sent to the palace to befriend and accompany Piers, who was an unsociable child, but when he was older, he realized it was to keep him away from his father. Axton’s godmother, the Empress, had tried her best to answer his questions and as he grew older, she told hi...

Chapter 171: Don't Worry, Mommy

She nearly whipped her head back to look at her brother. Tori’s mouth opened just a bit as Kasen slid a single sheet of paper across the table.

He just straight up went and ordered him to do it. Kasey...you are amazing.

She mentally praised her brother as Montan’s face paled. His wide eyes looked across at Kasen with a mixture of panic and surprise.

“How did you know...?” He turned his head towards Tori.

“My sister was curious about the charms you ma...

Chapter 170: Die, Pinecones!

“You are studying very well, but you don’t have to push yourself. You’re only eight. There is plenty of time for you to become more than proficient with charms and energy. If you have any questions, ask. There is no shame in struggling or not understanding the first time,” Kasen said as they stood beneath the shade of the tree, beside the Sword Association’s outdoor kitchen.

Robert was picking up charms almost alarmingly quick. Kasen had also discovered he was sensitive to ene...

Chapter 169: You Don't Go to This School

“One coin for Fifi.”

“Thank you, Auntie!” The little girl clutched her shiny gold coin that Tori won from Gideon against her with gleaming eyes.

“One coin for Robi.”

“Thank you, Auntie Tori.” The boy in the wheelchair smiled as he accepted the coin.

“One coin for Marco and one for Mateo.”

“Thanks, Cousin Tori!” The twins extended their hands to accept the coins.

Tori lifted the last gold coin from the velvet pouch. “And the last co...

Chapter 168: Mine's Still Better

Why did it slip her mind that early in the ‘game’, Alessa could possibly get something from the love interests to help her along her way? Wasn’t this common in games?

Link goes into the cave and the old man tells him ‘it’s dangerous to go alone. Take this.’ Then he hands him a sword. That charm is the sword. Tori drew a little 8-bit sword in the margins of her notebook as she tried to rationalize what was happening.

She supposed it made sense. If Alessa was go...

Aila's Ramblings: 9/23/22 - I'm on Vacation

Okay, I am officially on a scheduled writing break for 2 weeks.  This was announced a few times - as well as the countdown on RR, but I don't recall if it was announced here.  

🔊 Break: September 26-October 7

✍️ Regularly Scheduled Updates Resume: October 10 (Monday).

🥳1 Year Anniversary! 🥳

So, I've been on RR and writing away for about a year now.  According to RR, I've wr...

Chapter 167: Animals Are Better Than People

The indignation was palpable, and Tori could only stand there, staring at the old man while wanting to both scream and throw the table at him in frustration. She couldn’t find any more words to express herself, so she could only stare at him as the tiniest thought of ‘don’t hit the elderly’ echoed in her head.

The Emperor Emeritus froze as soon as he heard her accusation and seemed to realize he said something he shouldn’t have. His narrowed eyes, which were glaring at the com...

Chapter 166: You're the Cause of My Stress

Was this how it felt when people said a ‘bolt from the blue’? Tori stared at Gideon and everyone else stared at her after her sudden comment caught them by surprise.

Gideon seemed especially stunned to hear her words and furrowed his brows as he jerked his head back. “What?”

“Rosiek gave Hart the Golden Cow?” Tori asked as she gritted her teeth.

“Yes, last week. She said she didn’t have time to really look it over since we had midterm exams-”

“I hav...

Chapter 165: When He's Excited, I Get Nervous

“No, they are not going night sailing while drunk. Are they crazy?” Tori frowned as she sat at a table and looked up at one of the imperial knights. “It’s too dangerous! They could easily lose their balance, fall into the water, and drown.”

“It’s fine, pupil! I can swim!” a red-faced Master Ramos assured her as beside him, the Emperor Emeritus nodded.

“I, too, can swim!” the old man slurred. The imperial knight on either side of them kept a straight face, but f...

Chapter 164: Life Is So Hard

It was approaching the three-year mark of when Tori woke up on a bed in Presidio. She counted another three months or so and then there was her rebirth anniversary. In that time, Alessa Hart had always been the source of her, the villainess’, ‘death flags’, as the genre would call them.

Alessa was the heroine, and it was the heroine’s influence over the love interests that would be used to first get the villainess kicked out of school and then later killed.

This was the lo...

Chapter 163: Besmirching

When Tori had revealed who she told Henrik to send an invitation to, Ilyana and Albert began yelling at once, spooking Alexander who was in his basket next to Tori. The other two teenagers had bombarded her with questions starting with ‘why’ to ‘are you crazy’.

She was not. At least not in extreme means.

Henrik had told her that Annika’s party would have a lot of business associates and their families. It was basically a networking event. When Tori asked why Annika didn�...

Chapter 162: Attracts Attention Like Flies to Horse Dung

“I need to ask you an important question.” Tori stared at Piers, who sat to her left at a table above Cafe Fortuna. Piers gave her a stoic nod, expressing his permission. “Is your father going to pay for it?”

Axton squinted from her right.

While funding was an important question, they all knew it was a bit crass to charge the Emperor. Tori knew that, but had no problem with it and decided to do it as often as possible to supplement her resources. The Emperor was flush with...

Chapter 161: He Should Be Hiding From Me

Tori knit her brows together.

There was a lot to unpack with what she was seeing. Even though it seemed that they only caught the tail end of the conversation, it was clear that Fabian, at the very least, suggested that Adrien’s hospitalization wasn’t because a ‘feral woman’ randomly attacked him. Tori didn’t know how much Fabian saw that night at the bookstore, but he should’ve seen enough to conclude what had happened.

Fabian also didn’t seem to have mentioned she ...

Chapter 160: Trouble in Paradise

“Fifi, we’re going to eat!” Tori raised her arm and waved at the ice rink she had created parallel to the creek, near the resort tents. Numerous children and a few adults were skating around the large rink as laughing and screaming filled the air.

The little girl bundled up with a yellow chick-shaped knit cap topped with a red pom-pom kept her eyes on her feet and the skates attached to them as she made little pushes to propel herself forward. She almost looked like a ball in her ...

Chapter 159: Ew. Ew. Ew.

“Did you do it on purpose?” Henrik asked as the carriage moved along.

Tori kept her eyes out the window. “What if I did?”

“What did you tell her that made her lose her mind?” Ilyana asked beside her. Tori pursed her lips. “Was it about Instructor Ignatius?”

Henrik raised a brow. “Is she not over him? Isn’t she the one who dumped him?”

“There are some people who will dump someone, but they still don’t want that other person to be with someone e...