"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 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, and I silently cursed 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 few days since I had woken up as I took to thinking about it. It had been enough time that I could just about start 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 could dredge up of being Esra were more like…recordings of someone else I could watch, 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 couldn't really remember much of my previous life.
From what I could 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?
"What a worthless existence…." I mumbled to myself. I don't know why I'm here, but it doesn't matter. It's…another chance.
That still left me with a…bit of a problem. I had taken over the body of Esra, 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.
Getting found out sounded like an easy way to test if I could get reborn as someone else instead.
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 I couldn't tell if that was because he just didn't know his own daughter very well, or if he was simply a little dim. Maybe it was a bit of both.
None of the other maids and manservants had seen through me either. They seemed to go out of their way to notice me as little as they could get away with.
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 finally.
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 I could make 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'."
Anias looked at me for a long moment, and then she sighed. "Most people are 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, we call them. They let people do things they never would have been able to otherwise. 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 had had some time to take this all in, after what I'd seen my Father do.
"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 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. The pain left as soon as it had come, leaving 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, staring down at me intently.
"I'll say." I said with a shake of my head. My entire body was still twitching with power. "This…this is going to take a lot of getting used to." I slowly rose, plopping back down into the chair.
"So this is…my gift?"
"No." Anias shook her head. "That is just your mana flowing through your body. Everyone is granted a certain level of added…power when they use their 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?"
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.
I finally shook my head. "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."
It was about time for me to figure out just what being a noble was all about.