Juris Wynter...
She is the third daughter and the fifth child of the Baron couple; Nedrick Wynter and Lani Wynter.
The Wynter family is known for their dark hair, fair skin and eyes in the pure color of blood. Although the black hair is common among people, it was their eyes and skin that makes them unique.
Just like the royal family who have rare features that are only found in their bloodline, the Wynter family is the only one known to have crimson eyes and skin as white as snow. Because of their features, people often compare them to a famous fantasy creature often found in literatures, -vampires.
Although vampires doesn't seem to exist in this world, -which is a very good thing-, Juris found some similarity between her original world and this one. Nonetheless, natural red eyes is not really a normal in her original world either, unless you have sore eyes.
Leaning her back against the soft couch with a book in hand, Juris leaned her chin on her palm and watched her 'siblings' clamoring among themselves, talking about how their instructors are teaching them basic magic.
Yes, magic.
She had watched her older siblings, their and her own instructors, confirming it with her own two eyes multiple times already. Magic did exist in this world. They said that only the noblest people chosen by the Gods are able to use magic. And those chosen people have mission, one of them is protecting their own homeland from the evil.
As for whatever that evil is, the current Juris clearly had no idea.
The original Juris is just an eleven-year-old child, so she can't really depend on the owner's memories. She had no choice but to find out everything about this world on her own. She can't really ask around because it may look weird. But thankfully, despite the weird worm-like writings, the original Juris knew how to read which makes it easier for her to gather information with the use of the books in their library.
That is her very reliable source of information as of now.
After recovering from her fever, Juris wasted no time in visiting the library of the Wynter Estate. And it has been two weeks since then. She wasn't too fond of reading anything other than novels and mangas but she had no other means to find out about everything she needed to know.
From all the reading she had done, she found out that this world depends on magic and magical tools. There were no hints of any technological advancement. And it looked like it wasn't going to bloom in the years to come as well.
Juris started from the very basic; How do people lived their life in this world?
The answer is very simple but is something very hard to accept if you had been living in the modern world. The equivalent of technology from the modern world is magic in this world. It's just like those fantasy tropes that she, and you readers, had watched and read.
Everything in here revolves around magic.
People had their own mana which they needed in order to use magic. Magical stones as sources of light, ancient scrolls for using strong spells, dragons and other magical beasts as guardians and means of transportation...-if you have ever played an RPG game, I'm pretty sure that you're quickly following what this author is going after and didn't require any more explanation.
Putting that aside, Juris admits to herself that being in this world is going to be a very thrilling experience.
I mean, there's magic. And great otaku minds could only fantasize about it. But here she was, being able to witness it with her own two eyes.
"Uwaaaaahhh!!!"
The youngest of the siblings exclaimed in delight after seeing a fish made out of water floating above the hands of the oldest child. The floating water fish reminiscent of that one character in that famous game shows during her idle animation.
"That's so cool, big sister!" Airyn clapped her hands in delight.
Following her actions, her twin also clapped with the same enthusiasm although in a milder manner. Sigrid, the fourteen-year-old oldest child, smiled widely as she watched over her siblings.
Going back to the Wynter family, the Wynter couple have eight children in total.
Wondering how Juris is the fifth child when there's only a three year age gap between her and the oldest?
Sigrid Wynter is born together with another three. In short, she's from a quadruplet set of children. Two boys and two girls. After them, Juris followed as a single born child. With a one year gap, Jayse Wynter is the next one. Just like Juris, he is born as a single child. Lastly are the four year old twins. Airyn and Aeryn are identical twins with different temperaments.
"I can do the same."
Mavi, the second of the oldest, also held out his hand and produced a much more bigger water fish.
Children with magic are normally taught at the tender age of five. Juris and her siblings were no exception. Although everything that are taught is just basic magic, the instructors were all careful with their students. They never wanted them to use their powers in doing something bad because it will greatly reflect poorly on their position as an instructor.
Juris blinked her eyes lazily.
The quadruplets are doing a great job in entertaining the young ones. The girl felt a slight shift on the couch she's sitting in. She didn't even need to turn to the side to see Jayse wearing the same blank expression as he watched their other siblings.
Unlike their siblings, Jayse and Juris are the only ones that were born as a single child. The quadruplets and the twins are getting along so well with their counterparts, so it wouldn't be really strange if Juris and Jayse stuck to each other being the only single borns.
Back onto the subject of magic, it is divided into four basic elements, namely: Water, Earth, Fire and Wind. There are also rare ones like lightning, ice, light, dark and other categories. Cue the [Avatar: The last Air Bender] introduction speech, Juris just slightly shook her head at her silly thought.
Now, just because magic is real and usable doesn't mean that you can cast it whenever you like.
There is a thing called [Magical Affinity]. Just as the name suggests, people who can use magic will have their own affinities to a certain element or category. If one is compatible with the wind element, that person can utilize wind spells without any difficulty. But if they try another element that they're not compatible with, it will be a very difficult task, because using magic that is not compatible with you will cost more mana.
Take the Wynter family for example.
They are compatible with the water element, so obviously, the children will focus on water based magic. Although rare, there are people who have affinities in two elements. It was actually a double edged sword. Having two element qualities will actually exhaust one's mana more quickly than the others. So even if there are a few people with compatibility of two elements or more, they are always deciding to focus on only one.
The elemental magics are not the only magic that is available. Just like technology, magic exists to make people's lives easier. There are magics used in mundane everyday lives and magics used for the people's entertainment as well as convenience. So it wasn't really wrong either to say that this world's technology is the magic itself.
Juris glanced down at the book in her lap.
The book was about the history of the kingdom they're living in. The Kingdom of Ostia.
She hadn't started reading it yet. But she was about to, if not for her older siblings insisting that they wanted to show how they have gotten far in terms of using their magics, eventhough basics. Jayse, despite not wanting to take part in their commotion, was forced to show a trick or two as well. Out of them all, only the twins are not yet given an instructor because they're only four. They still have one more year to wait.
"Big sister Juri! It's your turn next!" Airyn exlaimed with glittering eyes.
"Airyn!"
Mavi suddenly cut in, stopping his little sister from speaking further. Startled at her brother's sudden angry shout, the little girl shuddered visibly. Her red eyes started to get wet, wondering if she ever did something wrong to be yelled at like that by her brother. Mavi realized what he did and suddenly covered his mouth with his hands.
He kneeled in front of his sister and apologized, gently wiping her falling tears.
Juris just watched them silently. She knew why Mavi acted like that and she can't blame him.
Juris, from the very beginning is an energetic and happy child. Despite having a weak body, she was brighter than anyone else, often described as the shining ball of sunshine of the Wynter Estate. She was adored by her friends, adults and child alike.
Until two years ago.
When she was nine years old, an incident occured that traumatized Juris to the point that she became detached to her family unlike before. She was also almost drowned to death. After everything that had happened, the poor child became afraid of massive bodies of water, thus it could be one of the reasons that are refraining her from actually learning when it comes to using her magic.
Although, that is just like putting a wool over one's eyes. It was clear from the very beginning that she wasn't able to use magic.
Her parents were aware but are far more concerned for the state of her mind and health, rather than her inability to use magic.
The girl who once shined like the sun no longer existed. In her wake, only the shell of the silent and dull child remained. The face once full of laughter and smiles became blank and devoid of anything.
Thus, earning her the nickname of [Living Doll].
Mavi and their siblings are very well aware of how Juris was very sensitive of the topic so without thinking twice, he lashed out. Although he admitted that it was an error on his part. Airyn is just a child. And when the incident happened, they were only two so it wasn't really strange that they won't know anything.
"It's alright, brother Mavi."
Putting the book on her lap to the side table, Juris stood and smiled gently before replacing Mavi in front of Airyn. She patted the young girl's head.
"Lookie here, Ai." She said, snapping her fingers in front of the girl's face.
The sound caught Airyn's attention. With curious eyes, she watched her sister. Juris held out her hand and raised her index finger. She pointed at her other hand that held a small crumpled paper. She threw it in the air and caught it with both hands. Holding out both her fists, she showed her palms only to show that the paper had disappeared.
"I'm not great at using magic like our older brothers and sisters but I know a few tricks."
The child's eyes glittered in amazement and Juris released a sigh when she smiled.
"That's still amazing, big sis Juri!"
Airyn exclaimed pulling her silent twin beside her. The twins held each of her hand and inspected it. Looking if the paper had really disappeared or not. Their older siblings watched and bit their lips, seeing that Juris is trying so hard to prevent the visible shaking of her hand.
The incident from two years ago still haunted their little sister and they can only stay quiet for not being able to do anything for her.
Juris was startled when the twins suddenly held her hand close to them, as if hugging it. Their little hands provided warmth to her now cold hands. The gentle squeezes sending her silent messages. The girl blinked, unable to comprehend what was happening and was just staring at the twins in confusion.
"Big sister Juris, you don't have to be afraid. We're here."
Ah.
So even the youngest had noticed her distress. Is this because of their close connections to each other? She never expected that. The current Juris didn't know how to react. In her original world, she's detached to anyone, just like previous Juris. Cooped up in her room, she didn't know anyone out of the comforts of her safe haven, [aside from that person].
But right now, she's living as Juris Wynter.
And the least she could do was to fulfill the goals of the original owner. Despite being traumatized and hating the water, the girl is still trying her best to lessen the worries of her family. She's still learning magic, despite not being able to produce any good results.
Such a kind child.
She promised herself to care for the Wynter family, not because she replaced Juris. It was in preparation if there will be a time that the original Juris will return.
'Because I don't belong here.'
---
It's been weeks since Juris had recovered from her fever.
Back then, they were all scared to death seeing that the child's temperature wasn't even dropping even one bit. And it goes on for almost a week. Juris's weak constitution is known among their household, and it didn't proved much of a problem before. But eversince the incident that traumatized the little girl, she became sick often. And this is actually the first time that it was this bad.
Thankfully, after Juris hyperventilated, her body temperature finally dropped to normal. Lani and her husband were really relieved to see that the girl is up and about her feet. And if there was one thing that she could notice, Juris is finally showing some emotions as well unlike before, albeit still awkward.
This is actually a good sign of recovery.
She could only hope that Juris isn't pushing herself and that her improvement will be a constant thing. Lani only wants the best for her daughter after all.
As of late, there was no problem with her fifth child. Juris is known to be studious and hardworking when it comes to her studies, so it wasn't really strange to see her going in and out of the library to read books. The one thing that bothers her the most was that her third daughter kept bothering her about going out to the town to buy something.
Lani told her that it was better to just let the maids and butler handle everything she wanted to buy but the girl insisted that she wanted to go herself. The mother was worried. If given permission, this will be the very first time that Juris will be setting a foot out of the estate eversince two years ago.
What could be so important that she needed to go out there in person?
"Mother." Juris called out, a blank expression on her face. "Please let me go. Martha and old Lloyd will be with me all the time." She continued, pertaining to her maid and the butler of the house.
The mother of the house only pinched the bridge of her nose. This is already the 44th time. And it's just the second day since her daughter started pestering her for permission. Behind the little girl stood Martha with a helpless smile. She was happy to see that her young mistress is slowly going back to her old self.
"Juris. How many times do I have to tell you that it's dangerous outside?"
"That's why I'll have someone to accompany me."
"Juris, you can't."
"Why can't I?" The displeasure in the child's voice is blatantly obvious. She crossed her arms across her chest with a childish huff. "Mother, it's been two years since I stepped outside of our home. I want to go around."
"And I told you that you can't--"
"But older brothers and sisters are permitted as long as they have company. Do you plan to keep me caged in this house forever?"
There was bitterness in her tone as she interrupted her mother and turned around to leave. Lani called out after her child but was only ignored. The maid followed behind closely, watching the small back of the girl.
"Young lady, your mother only wants to keep you sa--"
"Of course I know about that."
Juris stated with a calm voice, as if she wasn't having a childish tantrum earlier.
Martha was nevertheless taken aback at her sudden calm behavior. Meanwhile, Juris was biting her lower lip out of frustration. It was rude to walk out just like that. But she wanted to get her point across that she really wanted to go out.
If she continued to keep being kept in here, she won't gain any more information that she needed to get her hands on. Books are reliable source of information. But even they have their own limits.
Gossips from the town contains all the latest and juicy news, whether it was something private or not. There was no way that she would let that chance get away. Besides, it was already getting boring inside the Estate. If she have her game consoles, computer and phone, it will be a different matter.
But that is not the case.
And since she's inside a world where the fantasy is the reality and the norm, of course, the otaku heart within Juris wants to see more of the things this world had to offer. Let's be honest here, if you were in her case, you would probably do the same.
"Young mistress, please don't be mad. I'm sure your mother on--"
The young girl abruptly halted her steps, turning her body a little to the side to glance at the young maid following after her. Of course, Martha also stopped on her tracks seeing that her young lady had stopped.
"Can you please leave me alone for now?"
"Eh?" Martha blinked.
"Please leave me alone for now."
"Oh! As you wish, my lady."
Juris turned around and left. With a heavy sigh, she reached the outside of the huge house and came across her younger brother who was casually leaning against a tree.
"Sis. You wanna go out?"
"Eh?"
She could only blink at his question.
Without a sound, Jayse pushed himself off the tree and started to walk away. 'Did he just asked me if I want to go out?' Still confused, Juris just stared at her brother's retreating back. Not until his words finally sunk in that she was hurriedly following behind him.
"Jaye, where are you going?"
She asked when the younger boy had lead her towards the furthest part of the garden. The boy answered, not even bothering to stop or turn to look at her.
"A secret gate."
"There is?!"
"Sshh.."
At Jayse's warning sound, Juris covered her loud mouth with both hands. She trailed behind her brother until they reached the wall separating them from the outside.
'Uwah. This feels like [Attack on Titan]. Me being separated from the outside by this wall.'
Juris thought to herself as she eyed the tall and smooth wall before her. Her eyes never missed how her brother's usual blank expression donned a smirk as he turned to her before pulling on a bunch of pots, revealing a small hole fit for a kid. Jayse crawled inside and of course, she wouldn't want to be left behind so she followed after her brother.
The boy held out a helping hand when she reached outside. Since there are a bunch of grasses and plants as well on the outside wall, it wasn't really hard to conceal the secret hole to everyone.
Hand in hand, the brother and sister combo set out on their journey to town.
===
Little Tidbits:
- The original name of the soul inside Juris is Anasthasia del Prado, Ana for short.
- Coincidentally, Juris's full name is Juris Anasthasia Wynter.
- The Wynter siblings all have their second names but didn't prefer to use it because they don't like it at all.
- The Wynter Siblings in order:
Sigrid
Mavi
Avis
Ingrid
Juris
Jayse
Airyn
Aeryn
- Juris's name is pronounced as [Yu-ris] and Jayse's name is pronounced as [Jay-si], not [Jey-si].