“A spellbook?” Amara repeated, incredulous.

  I once again checked Cael’s memory banks to confirm my statement.

  “Yeah, a spellbook. Or a grimoire. Something that can teach me some new technique or help me refine something I already know or… something.” I shrugged. “I dunno. Knowledge. Written knowledge.”

  “No, I know what you meant,” Amara said, her voice hollow. “I’m just used to you telling me how useless they are…”

  “Right…”

  “When I tried to read to you from our family’s archives, you told me the parchment wasn’t fit to wipe your dung with, and that I should devote all of my time to physical training. That reading was a pursuit best left to scholars and cripples.”

  God. Cael was so punchable. I’d punch me.

  “Well… I changed my mind?”

  “You seem to have changed in a lot of ways…” She bit her lip. “I’m not complaining. A spellbook sounds like an actual good idea. I just never would’ve expected it from you.”

  I didn’t really know what to say to that. I was mulling over my response when she added:

  “To be clear… I don’t care why you’re acting differently, Cael. It doesn’t matter to me. If this is the new you, I’m glad. You’re far more easy to deal with.”

  I understood her meaning. Even still, I raised an eyebrow. “If the old Cael was so terrible, why were you hanging around with him in the first place?”

  She sighed. “I don’t know. It was nice to have options, I guess.”

  “Even if you think that option is a complete asshole?”

  She smirked. “It felt better choosing the asshole I knew. Damian could be anybody behind closed doors, and how would I know until I was stuck with him? At least I know you won’t beat me, or worse.”

  I didn’t have to search Cael’s memories to know those concerns were genuine. The prospect of being sold off by your family to the first Ascendant with a good name wasn’t exactly a pleasant one and didn’t promise any guarantee of a pleasant husband.

  Even still, the implications of this situation affected me, too.

  Chiefly, did I want to marry this girl?

  I barely knew her. Cael didn’t even like her, but that hardly seemed relevant when I thought about it. There was no way I could go through with marrying her or pursuing any kind of romance with her without letting her know I was a whole new person, either, and that was assuming she was even willing, or that I was.

  Then there was the matter of me being a reincarnation. Maybe she already knew I was, or maybe she had other ideas of what had happened to Cael, but that matter only complicated things even more…

  “You look hard at thought,” she said after a while.

  “You could tell?”

  “Yes. Your face being all scrunched up gives you away a little.”

  I laughed.

  I sighed.

  “Uh. I dunno how to phrase this without sounding like an ass.”

  “Try.”

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Assuming I survive this whole Damian thing, you have to marry me to please your family, don’t you?”

  Her eyes lost their sparkle, like candles violently snuffed.

  “Bit late for you to be having cold feet, isn’t it?”

  “Not what I’m saying, just…” I thought about how to phrase it properly. I gave up on thinking. “If there was a way for us to avoid marriage and for you to keep your position in your family, would you—”

  “If it involved me marrying Damian, no. In that case, I’d much rather you fulfilled your promise.”

  “What if it didn’t involve marriage at all?”

  She blinked. Put a finger to her chin. “An outcome where I don’t marry anyone?”

  “I dunno. Yeah. In theory.”

  “What are you getting at here?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m just trying to figure out if—”

  Amara tutted. “Look. I understand you have no interest in me. If you actually do manage to survive, our wedding will be political in nature and that’s it. I won’t expect to have a home with you, nor to see you often. Take another wife for all I care, just don’t do it immediately.”

  “It’s not that—” It was kinda that. “—I just don’t want you to be forced to make any choices. Me either for that matter. I’d rather you have a good option, too, rather than the lesser of two shit ones.”

  I was being honest. Whether I’d inherited this mess or not, I genuinely felt bad for her. I knew what it felt like to have decisions made for me and not get a say in them, but never to this level.

  I wanted to help.

  Amara looked at me for a long time before she spoke.

  Her emerald eyes glinted. “This sounds like another of your fanciful promises.”

  “Maybe it is. I’m not sure, honestly.”

  “Well, I’ve grown somewhat accustomed to them. If that’s what you want, let’s work towards a future where we’re both happily not together.”

  Like that, a bond was forged. A weird one, but it was the closest thing to a friendly interaction I’d had for a while, and I was gonna run with it.

  “Deal.”

  We shook on it. Turns out that was a custom here too.

  She also squeezed my hand like a motherfucker. My fault for forgetting this was magical hardass world.

  Once the throbbing in my palm had subsided and I’d dragged my way back to the hospital, I started figuring out a game plan in my mind.

  I could probably fake being injured for another couple of weeks at the very least. Three at a stretch. Putting my body to work training might have lengthened my recovery, in theory, and that was what I was previously counting on, but that was before I learned Amara was in the picture, and that a daily supply of strong medicine was on the table.

  With those pills, I could likely get myself back to full strength within a few days, and that meant I could get at least a couple of weeks of no-holds-barred training in.

  That alone wasn’t gonna be enough to bring me to Damian’s level. Even with my soul buffs in effect, I wasn’t sure if Cael’s previous soul had had any buffs of its own, and regardless, Cael had already trained pretty often. Not like a maniac, but he wasn’t quite lazy either.

  Study was going to be the difference-maker here, I was sure, and I honestly wouldn’t be shocked if that was the key to me finding a way out of this…

  After all, Cael’s Intelligence score had been ten. Same with his Willpower.

  Not dumb as bricks if the average was 15, but kinda lacking nonetheless.

  My soul buffs had brought me up to a 15 on Intelligence and a 16 on Willpower. Nothing amazing, but a five and six point increase in both mental stats felt like it was pretty damn significant, and a big part of me wondered if Cael was being majorly held back by his lack of interest in the development of his skills and knowledge of mana manipulation, alongside his lack of application when it came to his own neglected bloodline skill.

  Honestly, when I examined Cael’s brain for knowledge on magic in general, I found that beyond some of the basics, the space was fairly blank. It’s like the dude had just fully enmeshed himself in physical improvement from the age of twelve, when he initially gave up on refining his techniques, and hadn’t picked up a book since.

  That was probably why he’d only reached the third stage of Tier 1 in the next eight years. Considering the start in life he’d had and the expensive elixirs he regularly quaffed, that seemed pretty underwhelming of a result.

  I was almost sure it was a lack of application on his part.

  Well, screw it. I was fixing that.

  Yeah, me. Master rank Phone Scroller.

  I was gonna try applying myself.

  And I was hoping that despite my average intelligence, my Expert [Memorisation] skill and specialised [Crammer] skill would help lead me to results.

  After all, I didn’t need to understand all of it. I just needed to shove as much into my head as humanly possible and make it stick.

  If it worked with Python, hopefully it’d work with this.