Ingrid could not really remember how she died— or maybe her mind just doesn't want to recall it and maybe she did not really die.
One of the two, she quietly thought as she gracefully drank her cup of tea which was placed on the table. There were many things that she wanted to figure out currently but her memory proved to be a hindrance since she could not recall those certain memories, mainly, who she was and her background. Maybe I'm having a problem with my brain, lack of space to store memories perhaps? She thought, curling her fingers around the cup.
No, she was certain it was not the lack of brain cells or the like. She felt perfectly normal and she would certainly doubt a five-year-old would have a problem in her mind.
Strangely, she could recall a certain game she played when she was a teen. Something called "Rise of Greed", which was a game catered to young girls. It was a pretty straightforward otome game (1) where you should choose between five capture targets (2) and find your own happy ending. She had played the game a couple of times— well maybe not actually a couple of times? Ingrid unconsciously winced. She actually finished all the routes existed and she was addicted to it. Her past self almost failed some of her subjects because of focusing entirely on the game.
In truth, she was not a gamer or anything of the like. She just got interested and well, she could not control the urge to play it at home and not attend her classes at the same time. At that point, she knew she was doomed and she accepted it.
If her memory serves her right, she graduated the university anyway and got a diploma.
Sighing in lament, Ingrid elegantly stood up from the wooden chair she was sitting on and was about to dust her clothes but stopped herself at the nick of time. It was a habit she had grown into from her past life but needed to remove in this life.
She was now Ingrid Astor, a member of the prestigious Astor Family and the sole heir and daughter of its backbone and leader— Ralph Astor — and something like dusting off clothes was against the etiquette. Her mother, on the other hand, Alicia Astor, also came from a prominent family which more or less could stand at the same ground as the Astors. It was a pity that the two people were restricted within the confines of the rules of an outstanding family because she was pretty sure that if they were placed in a mediocre one, they would act as fantastic parents.
It had been five years since she found herself in this world. She was an infant back then and appeared in the glory of her naked body. Thankfully, unlike any other infant, she did not cry and wail. Nevertheless, it was not a good experience. Losing control over your body and pooping uncontrollably, it was a nightmare. From the novels she had read in the past which strangely she could flawlessly remember without a hitch, they did not inform her that she would need to deal with these horrible occurrences after she was reborn.
A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. She found herself in an elegant room she had been living for years now. The child raised one of her eyebrows as she inquired, "Yes, what is it? You can enter."
"Milady?" The door opened and a man in his mid-forties appeared beside the door, lines around the lower part of his face was evident as well as the lines around his eyes. He was carrying a towel which he smoothly handed to her as if he had done this action in the past many times. "The Mistress wants to see you in the study."
Ingrid took the towel from him and wiped off the crumbs on the corner of her lips. "Please tell her I'll be right there, Claud."
She nodded at him comfirming that she would go and bobbed her small head to the right.
"Of course, as per your order, Milady." The man named Claud gracefully bowed as he exited the room.
Silence once again reigned after he left. It took only a few seconds until Ingrid decided that she should move.
The girl brushed the lone strand of her hair in front of her face and massaged both of her temples. She proceeded quietly to her mother's study, she could not help but think what would they discuss.
• • •
Ingrid had just seated after a long while when her father entered her mother's study with an indifferent face. From what she could observe, her father does not look very happy and would vent his anger any second now. Mentally rolling her eyes, she decided not to involve herself from the mess her grandfather made.
The ruckus happened earlier when her mother, Alicia Astor, called her daughter inside her study. She had no idea that what was waiting for her was her own grandfather— her father's father—waiting to create a ruckus in his son's home. Ingrid could not recall the minute details because to be honest, she could not care less; however, if this house would become a marketplace after the fight, she needed to intervene.
Combing her long silver hair to the back of her head, she decided to just go with the flow if worse comes to worst.
A wrinkle appeared on her small forehead as she recalled what happened. The fight basically begun like this: Arturo, her grandfather, showed great interest in sending her to the most prominent school in the country. On the other hand, her father had already expressed his concerns beforehand.
Ralph Astor greatly disapproves in sending her only daughter and the sole heir of the family to a place they called "the most prominent academy" in the country. He had been there and he knew how toxic the environment could be. Although there were pros, all he could remember was the cons as to why he shouldn't send her lovely daughter inside the academy filled with beasts.
The silver-haired girl regretted not wearing thicker clothes as she crossed both of her arms in front of her. Her lilac eyes flickered between the stoic faces of the two men before her; both of them standing their ground and not intending to back out. Ingrid was annoyed that she wore a dress as she sat in the middle of the cold elegant well-furnished room.
A sigh escaped on the lips of the person beside her. Alicia gently placed her tea on the coffee table in front of her. The woman slowly batted her lashes and glanced at the two men fighting. Her lilac eyes— similar to her daughter— slowly moved to gaze at her daughter beside her. She smiled and ruffled her daughter's silver hair and in turn touched her own.
Alicia reminded herself to cut her long red-locks in the future and faced her daughter as she asked distractedly, "Do you want to go play in the garden?"
She desperately wanted go elsewhere and distance herself from this nonsense.
Before Ingrid could reply that yes, she would love to, anything to escape the mess in front of her, her father gloomily interrupted her. "Alicia, help your husband defend the right of our daughter. Please, do not go elsewhere for the mean time," he pleaded but with his cold expression, no one could understand what he really wanted to do.
Arturo looked at his son in disdain. Brushing off the dust in his expensive suit, he smiled at his daughter-in-law. "Of course, Alicia is not simple minded, unlike you. She will clearly side with me—" scoffing at his son, he continued, "—all I want is the best for my granddaughter! Seeing as she is a good seedling, why couldn't you be smart for once and stop being block headed?!"
"I just want the best for my—"
"The best my ass! Listen to your father just this once and believe me when I say she'll rise to great heights—"
"Thank you for your unsolicited advice, father. But hear me out—" Ralph sighed and coldly stared at his own father as he combed his silver-hair back. A trace of tiredness could be seen from his face, "—go outside. Ride your own damn car and go back to mother! Let's see if you'll still stand your own ground." A hint of smugness surfaced from his tone as he coolly leaned on the table beside him.
The elderly man slammed his hand on the table trying to prove his point. From this point on, Ingrid knew the debate was just staring to unfold and sat back on her seat and relaxed her body as if she was watching a good show.
Arturo faced his daughter-in-law, his face contorting in irritation. "Alicia, tell your husband how idiotic his idea was!" The little girl's grandfather could not help but resort to this kind of tactic. He knew his son knew what he wants, he acts on it effectively with determination nobody could stand in his way; nevertheless, his son was still afraid of his wife so he better give him face and agree to his conditions.
The room turned silent for a moment and the red-haired lady smiled as if she was not called to act as a referee to the situation at hand. "Both of you are debating for a long time, and my study looks as if," her voice trailed as she sipped tea from her cup. "it was run over by a bull. Don't you notice that the person of interest is not in front of you. Why don't you ask her first? Since she will be the one that will suffer from the situation if you make a wrong choice," Alicia said sarcastically as she, again, gently smiled at the two men before her.
A sneer appeared on the red-haired woman's face, in one glance her gorgeous eyes showed how she disapproved of their barbaric means.
Ingrid nodded, mentally praising her mother for thinking logically. Alicia Astor proved quite to be an enigma, she was born and raised in a powerful family and yet she lacked the splendor and pride stereotypic rich young ladies have.
"Ingrid, what do you say? Do you want to study at Académie Royale?" Alicia carefully studied her daughter's face, observing to see some changes in her daughter's facial expression.
"Whatever you desire, Mother." Ingrid obediently answered as she pondered on what she would do later in her room to be entertained.
• • •
Continuously tapping her study table, the girl coldly stared at the book in front her.
Ingrid organized her thoughts inside her mind. She needs to go to school the following month, however before that, she was required to take the entrance test. She had no problem with the exam since she could recall all the knowledge from her previous life— pretty much that is. She could still not remember her family background, name, what she looked like, where she studied and what was she doing before she entered this world.
This world and her past world have small to no difference in general namely the atmosphere, technology, architecture and the likes. What differed, on the contrary, were their history and the people who had lived in it. Looking back, it was no wonder that when she was born, she thought she was still on earth, little did she know she had traveled in time and space only to land in this exact place.
Adding fuel to the fire, the poor her needed to study.
Again.
After the fight in her mother's study, her father and grandfather had finally reached a middle ground, and that was she would enter the Academy nonetheless. But if she decided that she did not like the Academy, she could transfer anywhere she liked. They had tried to persuade her though but Alicia glared at the two immature men until they finally gave up.
If I could find something more entertaining than reading this calculus book, she indifferently thought standing up to reach for her black tea at the far end of the table. She sipped a little and placed it beside the red book before her.
Ingrid was fine in any arrangements, she was not really a five-year-old child and would not fuss over it, her mind was that of a thirty-something-year-old woman or whatever her age was when she disappeared on earth. Although she was sure she studied for 17 years only to find herself in a 7-9 job, sitting and typing for a whole day.
Mirth flashed in her eyes as a thought surfaced at the back of her mind. "Académie Royale is it?" Ingrid whispered as the corner of her soft red lips slowly raised.
Académie Royale is school for children in rich and prominent families of the country, Pella, and since this country had abolished hierarchy hundred years ago, there were no groups or clans with royal blood anymore— well except Evreux Family who owned one of the largest and most powerful company in the country. Some people had even gone to lengths to research about their past and found out that they descended from a royal bloodline hundred years ago. This is also the family where one of the capture targets would come from.
Alexander Evreux, the heir of the family and their so called "Golden Man". He entered the Academy at five-years-old, the same age as her, and became known ever since.
The Académie Royale was a school that offers pre-school, primary school, middle school and high school. There were two kinds of people inside the school: rich people and the scholars. The Académie prided itself from giving the best education, it was also known internationally and if anyone asked Ingrid what she thought of the school, she would say they should have attached the term "globally competitive" beside their name. Anyway, the truth was far from reality since the students were not really harmonious and instead they gave off a certain kind of toxicity where it pressures its students to strive harder by defeating others.
Ingrid knew what her father said was right, she even heard that students from the Académie even goes to cram school just to maintain their academic standing.
On the other hand, the game would begin years later so she still have many time to prepare… or not. It was in high school where the canon would begin— the heroine would enter the school because of her high score in the high school entrance exam. As a result she gained a scholarship. In spite of that, it was hard to get admitted in it without the money.
The plot would proceed by being cliché, the protagonist would be bullied since she was not as rich as her peers. She would then meet the capture targets, "capture" their hearts, and possibly marry them in the future.
Now where would the villain, Ingrid Astor, come to the picture?
Pretty much everywhere, Ingrid thought as she leaned on her seat and inhaled, feeling problematic.
The silver-haired girl remembered how the villain showed her stubbornness in every single route. The character was pretty much there to act as a cannon fodder from the start since she bullied the heroine for her low standing.
As the player behind the screen, her past self hated Ingrid's character to the point where she would even laugh out loud whenever she defeated the villainess because of how vile the character was. In her opinion, if you combine all the negatives in the world to create an individual, you would create Ingrid Astor.
The little girl clicked her tongue because of her thoughts. She stood up and elegantly closed the book she was reading. Ingrid gracefully walked inside her room, her little shoes making squeaking noises. Noting to mention to Alicia that she would prefer normal shoes rather than the ones that would squeak in every step, she left her room.
Ingrid decided to wander around the mansion's library to browse books about science so she could entertain herself. Watching television hurts her eyes so she had grown to dislike it.
• • •
A couple minutes later, Ingrid found herself in the garden, her frilly little skirt and long silver locks swayed because of the wind. Raising one of her eyebrows, she stared long and hard in front of a couple of plants which looked strangely familiar. Curiosity filled her mind. She did not notice the dirt sticking through her clothes.
The dirt even got in front of her newly bought shoes but she indifferently glanced at it as she drew closer. A memory then resurfaced as she remembered what kind of plant was in front of her.
"It's a sweet potato, my dear."
Surprise showed on Ingrid's face but it was gone as fast as it appeared. Turning her heel and facing a red-haired woman wearing a long cotton dress with polka dots, she nodded her head and greeted her, "Mother." Her voice and face appeared ice-cold, seemingly inappropriate for a child, however the woman did not seem to mind it.
"I would like to see you smile more, Ingrid," Alicia told her softly while she tried to sit to reach her height. Her hand touched the girl's soft cheeks and she continued, "However, it seems you inherited your father's genes. It seems I cannot force you to do something you can't." A sigh escaped her lips as she stood up straight and held Ingrid's tiny hands.
"The plant down there is called a sweet potato, Ingrid. It is a large looking lump of bulb when cooked, on the other hand, when freshly harvested it looks like a large lump of dirt." Alicia guided her to an iron seat in the garden; she lifted her by the armpits and placed her above the cold table. "Why are you here in the garden, my child?"
A stiff smile appeared on the girl's face as she slowly voiced out her thoughts. "Mother, what would you like me to be?" Her small voice was hard to hear because of the wind.
Ingrid remembered what happened in-game, she recalled even her family would have the same fate as her, maybe worse.
They would be the shame of their "prominent" community and would be ostracized. It was all because Ingrid shamelessly tried to go in between the heroine and the capture targets. In return, since all the capture targets came from prominent families, they would gang up on the villainess family causing her father to get depressed. As a result, their long running business would abruptly fail and they would go bankrupt; their former friends would also shun the Astor Family and their life would be in shambles. Her mother, Alicia, died because of sickness since they could not send her to hospital for they had no money.
Ingrid herself died under an unknown cause while the head of the house, Ralph Astor, eventually killed himself because of the disappearance of her daughter and the death of his wife.
"Silly girl," her mother pinched her right cheek as she laughed. "I would want you to be whatever you want yourself to be."
The silver-haired girl stared at her mother in front with hooded eyes. She used her hand to support herself against the cold surface of the table. An unknown feeling sprouted inside her as she leaned her head to the right.
Guilt?
The word sprung at the back of her mind and her eyes cleared in understanding.
All this time she thought she needed to do something.
Something that would change their fate, something that would turn things around— a large mistake.
Everything felt surreal when she was rebirthed. Afterwards she realized she was inside the game she played in the past. Ingrid realized until now, she was just going through motions. Clasping her frilly skirt, a genuine smile appeared on Ingrid's face. She was being problematic and getting stressed over the unknown. Although it would help if she could plan ahead, she was mainly burdening her own self.
She's not inside the game.
She's Ingrid Astor, a real person, and not some 2D character.
Glossary
[1] otome game: literally "maiden game", sometimes contracted to otoge, is a story-based video game that is targeted towards women.
[2] capture targets: the several male lead that you needed to increase your affection with in the game.