"Aliana Grace Hover, are you out of your mind?!"
A thrown pillow greeted Aliana as soon as she stepped foot into the apartment she shared with her two friends.
"What the hell, By. I got us a job and you freaking throw a pillow at me?"
Natalie was nestling on her couch while eating chips, shifting her eyes from the TV to her bickering best friends.
"I've told you, Instagram's comment can be seen although your account is private! What the hell are you doing swooning over your ex's elder brother EXPLICITLY?"
It took Aliana a minute to process what Ruby said, "Oh, that."
"What do you mean, oh that? Marc betrayed us! He blamed us for the tomb raiding his crew was doing. The entire Feather Society shunned us! We are the most jobless thief crew I have ever known."
Aliana hung her bag on the hanger by the door, "I broke up with Marc, not Nick. Besides, Nick is super hot, duh. As someone who's into hot guys, it's normal for me to swoon over him. Oh, and for the record, my relationship with Marc is only known to a few. That's why he was not burdened to let me take the burn for that imperial tomb's raiding."
Ruby propped her head, "You are surprisingly generous for someone made as a scapegoat."
Natalie took another bag of chips from the drawer, "Generous my fart, don't you hear what she just said, By? She said she got us a job."
"So what job did you get for us?"
Aliana's wicked smile answered Ruby, "Marc's job."
"What?!"
Ali glanced at them, "You guys don't really think I'm flirting with Nick for nothing, right?"
"So you flirt with Nick to dig for information about Marc's next target to sabotage him," Natalie shrugged, "I'm in."
Ruby rolled her eyes, "I'm the most furious with his betrayal, of course I'm in. So what's the plan?"
The moment was like yesterday, they set up the robbery for two weeks and the day before Halloween they were ready for action.
The target was a tiara Bvlgari design inspired by Infanta Sofia of Spain. The hidden designer was said to have a massive crush on the beautiful royalty. The backstory of naivete and unrequited love spread worldwide. On the day of its release, Bvlgari held a private show for only a selected few and never released its picture to any media or personal.
150 years later the public finally got a chance to see the masterpiece.
The trio was a thief, but they're an educated one.
Newton University was a leading institution in terms of Archeology and Antiquities, their school, and most importantly the place of display for the Diadem of Love.
The robbery should be just a piece of cake.
Yeah, right.
.
.
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"My Lady!"
The sobs and wailing forced her to open her eyes. Aliana could feel her entire bones right now. The intense pain made her tremble.
"Oh! My! My Lady! You finally awake!" The woman in black and white uniform wiped her tears and run out, "The Lady is awake! Sir Ed, Sir Lex!"
Aliana was in pain, but she could feel how soft the bed she slept in was. The massive chandelier hung in the middle pouring the room with warm light.
Extravagant was too simple to describe the room. It was something out of the 18th-century European movie. The bed was definitely a King bed size, the sheet was uniformed with the bed curtain, and there was a walk-in wardrobe left open.
Rushed footsteps followed by unfamiliar faces made her froze.
This definitely wasn't the environment she knew. Something was not right.
"My Lady? How do you feel?"
The throbbing in her head reminded Aliana of the purple light she saw before she fainted.
"My Lady, are you alright?" A blonde man in armor couldn't hide his worry, his fingers fidgeting on his sword's scabbard. "Excuse my carelessness, I should have re-examined the perimeter and assigned someone more experienced to guard your tent."
"My Lady, please don't blame Lex. As the head of your security, I shouldn't delegate my duty to someone else. I really-"
Aliana cut them off with her vomiting and dry coughing.
"My Lady!" The woman from earlier propped her back with pillows and handed Aliana a glass of water, "This is chamomile tea, I especially add honey for this."
Aliana was wasting her youth if she still did not understand what happened right now. She was either died and reincarnated with her previous memory or she was transmigrated to some fantasy book.
While the three were talking, her eyes catching small flickering light like a speck of dust around them. The knight had a bright bluish flickering light around him while the older man got a denser yellowish light surrounded his body.
On the contrary, the woman in the maid outfit got no light or flickering light at all. Her worried expression was genuine, she was certainly someone close to "Aliana."
"Lex, get the doctor now. The Duchess is-"
Aliana interjected, "Sir Ed, I just need more rest. Please don't worry."
"Sirs, let's let the Lady rest." Anne had worked with Ducal of Jovan since the era of Aliana Jovan's grandfather, she knew very well the character and behavior of the members of the Ducal family. They were the only family that still retains their peerage title through contributions on the battlefield to this day. Looking weak in front of their troops was not an option for a commander like the Jovan family.
If Aliana knew what Anne was thinking, the girl would have laughed out loud.
Aliana was experiencing an identity crisis, she didn't care about the authority of the leader, she just want to know what happened to her until she was thrown into this strange place.
After the three of them left, Aliana was pensive in front of the window.
The Ducal of Jovan was a noble family who gained honor and power thanks to their contributions when the Khai Kingdom conquered the surrounding kingdoms and formed one empire, the Lyn Empire.
Adrian Jovan was a warrior who rose to rank because of his strategic mind and skillful swordsmanship. Later he married a Magika and made his household the powerhouse of Warrior Magika - mastering both the art of war and the essence of life.
Aliana Jovan was the only descendant of Ducal of Jovan, born in a reputable family with rare innate of Magick and the best resources money could buy - Aliana Jovan was an influential figure.
Magick was the essence of life, the source of energy and life force.
Every practitioner was called Magika, but those who concentrated their magick in combat and martial arts called Warrior Magika, Pixie Magika focused on medicine and array, while the Witch Magika excelled at spells and potions.
Aliana Jovan was a Warrior, her magick was elemental. Diffusing the elemental magick to her weapon of choice and multiply the impact hundreds fold. Guaranteed massive destruction to her target.
The great power was amazing but also deadly. The same reason why Aliana had to lie down for the past month.
Of course, Aliana Jovan's training over the past 18 years had prepared her to wield this much power, but after forcing Aliana Jovan to win an impossible battle, the nobles following Queen Regent filed a petition that Aliana Jovan's handling of the war between Lyn and Kalos was barbaric and that she should be punished so that the war commander did not dare to do evil.
Trying to calm the drama of her own making, Queen Regent decreed that Aliana Jovan - Duchess of the Ducal of Jovan should receive a thousand lashes of celestial lightning as punishment.
It didn't take a genius to know that what happened was a trap to weaken Aliana Jovan's power.
The Imperial Court was divided into supporting and opposing parties. Since the era of Aliana Jovan's grandfather, Ducal of Jovan has always been a neutral party and only sided with the people. The Red Battalion or better known as the Jovan Army had an undeniable reputation in every level of society.
It was a blessing and a curse at the same time.
There were many parties trying to draw Aliana Jovan to their side in order to take advantage of the Red Battalion. Likewise, the people who tried to harm her to take over the leadership of the Red Battalion were plenty.
Aliana Jovan's bed rest for this month was not only to recover the lightning strike of the sky but also because someone had infiltrated Aliana's encampment area on the border of Kalos and poisoned their troops' water supply.
This mass poisoning was then blamed on Aliana Jovan by supporters of Queen Regent, causing criticism from officials and the people of Lyn and Kalos.
Aliana woke up just the day before Alian Jovan was scheduled to leave for her fief, a district in a borderland name after their great ancestor - Adrian city.
Just an hour from Kalos's biggest tribe's camp - the Nam.