Things could definitely be better.
That's the train of thought Dahlia had been stuck on for the entirety of the carriage ride home.
It took her a long time to calm down after finally exiting the hallucination and even now her sense of what was real was still ruined. Despite the primary effects having long since ended, it felt as though some of the more key sensations of her hallucination were still lingering.
She could still feel a constant dizziness and anxiety and her sense of direction was in shambles. Because no servants were willing to interact with her, she had somehow got lost in the house she lived her whole life in and it took her fifteen minutes to finally enter her room. Plopping down on the bed, she stared at the roof and tried to mentally force it to stop spinning.
'Where do I even start?'
Eventually, things calmed down a little and she rolled onto her side, looking at the nearby shrub on her desk.
"Maybe you were right. I really was putting off thinking about my options if things went wrong. What was it again? Plan four: wait. Yeah, really helpful past me."
She sighed. Something told her there would be a lot of sighing over the next few weeks. Rubbing her face, she spoke her thoughts out loud while using her little shrub as a sounding board.
"Things really are a mess. I knew my parents would be upset, but reality is even worse. Now that my aspect was found to be dark attributed, not only are they furious but they plan to monitor me closely and prevent the secret from ever getting out. Options that I might have had before are basically non-existent."
The thought of running away from before crossed her mind and she just scoffed.
"Maybe if I was worthless and just a bit of an eyesore they would let me run away. With how things are though, without a doubt I'm both a huge weakness for the family as well as a massive bargaining chip. If I'm being honest, I'm shocked I'm not chained down already."
All the revelations from the day's ceremony were still needing to be processed by her. She was kept ignorant for some things too. Although she could tell something was unusual beyond just her aspect, no one had yet told her about her mana proficiency. Additionally, only her parents and their direct subordinates were aware of her bloodline's potential origins.
Luckily, for the moment Dahlia was so busy trying to deal with one problem, she didn't need to be made aware of other concerns just yet. The first step would be figuring out how to deal with the 'marriage threat' that loomed over her head while also not getting murdered or imprisoned by her parents. After that, thinking about her aspect might be an option, but for now it was a secondary concern.
"Ok… So. First things first, I need to make sure I don't anger my parents. Right now I'm obedient and they let me wander around the manor unattended, but if I show a single hint of resistance I can kiss that freedom goodbye."
She looked around briefly, trying to see if there were any signs of mana manipulation.
"I don't see anything yet, but we only just got back. I wouldn't be surprised if they start monitoring me from now on as well so maybe I should stop talking to my plants. Hmm…"
'Right. Keep my thoughts to myself right now. Sorry lil' plant, I guess you'll have to be lonely for a bit.'
Escaping marriage or getting any sense of true freedom at this point was going to be a huge issue. She would either need to trick her parents into letting her go or get support from someone with substantially more influence than her parents. Well, her father was only a baron so finding someone with more influence wasn't impossible but with how valuable she was, she suspected he wouldn't listen to anyone unless they were more than at least a count.
'This all leads back to an important aspect of it all. My lack of awareness outside as well as needing support from external sources. I already figured I'd be waiting until the debutante before doing anything, but now that simply running away is completely off the table, finding good connections is far more important than I originally expected.'
She slammed a pillow on her face and screamed in frustration. Feeling the futility and lack of control like this was common, but now that there were added factors as well as a time frame, things had become much more stressful.
Her thoughts started to go over what little she knew and what changes she would have to accept.
'It's not like I love my parents or anything. I really, really hate them. But… despite that, the desire to be loved by them one day is what has kept me going for so long. They're all I've ever had and as much as I couldn't stand them, I've also been completely dependent on them. Suddenly needing to leave that behind is scary.'
Peaking over the pillow she just screamed into, she then looked at the small plant.
'This might be silly, but leaving behind my garden and greenhouse feels heartbreaking too. Even if I somehow manage to escape this place to a new "happy" life, I'll have given up every single thing that defines me and gives me purpose. Can I really last like that?'
Dahlia was well aware that she had developed some unhealthy habits. Her dependency on her parents and plants were incredibly obsessive. Without a doubt these obsessions formed a foundation for her so that she didn't give up, but without them, that giant foundation would soon crumble to dust.
Less pleasant attributes of her mindset were able to be kept in check for the time being, but without the glue that holds her together, she could rapidly go into a free fall. As soon as that happened, she would quickly suffer the consequences and there was no telling if she'd be able to recover.
'What will I rely on once I leave? It might feel like an exaggeration, but I really do need something to keep me grounded. There's no way I can bring my plants with me… maybe there's a local gardening group? I could join them, make friends, and take care of plants.'
Honestly, it didn't sound too bad. In fact, something like that could be really nice, but how often was there a powerful noble who was willing to be your friend while also running the local gardening club?
'Maybe I should just join a cult. A valuable aspect combined with noble blood? They'd love that. If they got me, they'd probably protect me from my parents too and not let me go as well. I'd practically have a bunch of free bodyguards in that case.'
She had a serious expression on her face before giggling at herself. She was a little ashamed, but she may have considered that option honestly for a moment. Now realizing how dumb it sounded in retrospect, she decided to put a pin in that one.
'Worst case scenario, if I don't get along with a single person outside the family, maybe I'll try to hunt down a cult or something. I say that as if it's an easy option though. It's not like people walk around with signs saying "cultist" on their foreheads.'
Rubbing her temples and grumbling, Dahlia sat up and took a deep breath. She tried to imagine what life might be like in just a month or two. Everything would change. It was between that or holding on to the past and suffering because of it.
No, that couldn't be seen as an option anymore. She refused to bow down and accept a future without purpose. Moving to her desk, she took out a scratch pad and started to make some quick notes. Nothing was particularly detailed due to how little she knew, but after a couple hours of effort, Dahlia had created a bare bones structure of how to gain the aid of an influential noble.
Were they female or male? Old or young? What type of noble were they and what kind of influence could they have on the Lionysus family? These questions and more formed a "choose your own adventure" series of branching paths that each led to a different anticipated personality profile as well as how to best interact with any given person.
She looked at all of her hard work and wore a huge grin. Stuff like this was exhilarating to her. Who needed action, adventure, excitement, and romance? Sure, she's read those books in the library but none of them gave the same thrill that making a good spreadsheet or creating a complex psychological profile could give.
'I wonder how people choose those other aspects over doing paperwork? I feel like people's priorities in society must be messed up.'
It's not that she didn't fully understand. She lived nearly all her life searching for the praise of others. But stuff like praise can be earned through hard work and impressive calculations. The whole "relationship" part often romanticised in novels always seemed to overcomplicate things.
'If I want someone to praise me, then I'll give them reason to praise me. What's up with the whole hot-and-cold chase that lovers do to garner attention? It just feels like a waste of time.'
She shrugged, knowing that maybe she was just different. There was never an instance where she felt particularly comfortable being pursued by the few men she's interacted with. The idea of romance at those times was as far from her thoughts as possible. Instead, she'd much rather hide and avoid human interaction altogether.
Looking back at the sheets she had written, she grimaced a bit. Some of her possible plans involved flirting and trying for the romance aspect of things but… she really, really didn't want to go down that route. Looking at the options, her eyes fixed on a couple that had a similar theme of 'nice old ladies'.
'Maybe if I play my cards right, I can get a doting grandmother? I hear that grandparents like to spoil their grandkids, make tasty food, and also like to garden. Honestly, that sounds really nice!'
Looking over the history of the region's noble houses, Dahlia tried to find something that might suit her requirements. She lacked all modern information on them, but their basic history could act as a solid first impression.
From what she could find, of all the local nobility that she had the chance to interact with, there were only a handful of matriarchal households. Of these, the most impressive were the Margrave to the northern territory and the Archduchess whose territory they were currently in. In both cases, the women leading these families would have immense sway that nearly no one could oppose.
Dahlia was even more interested in the two as they both had bloodlines that would make them long lived. Even without knowing the current political landscape, it was a good bet that both houses were run by someone who could double as her adoptive grandma.
She pulled out the portfolios her father had given the other day and quickly flipped to the attendee list of the debutante. It showed that her potential suitor Lord Alcaster would be there, but that wasn't what she was looking for.
Although it provided no information beyond the names, the list showed all predicted attendees of the debutante and Dahlia scoured the list trying to find the family names and titles she was hoping for.
There. Right near the bottom, looking like it must have been added at the last minute, there was a name that brought an excited smile to Dahlia's face.
"Archduchess Valentina Lukresh. I can't wait to meet you."
Looking back at her notes, she read through the small amount of information she had on the Archduchess.
The Lukresh family was absurdly ancient, outstripping the age of the empire by a fair margin. The family used to be royalty in their own right, being one of the three largest kingdoms that were conquered and absorbed into what was now known as the Kallisto Empire. Despite a massive war spanning two whole human generations, the conflict ended in a shocking degree of peace where the Lukreshes were taken in and granted the title of Archdukes, with their old kingdom now being considered their grand duchy.
The actual negotiations back then are completely unknown, but it was clear that something acceptable was found. Despite starting on such rough terms, the Lukresh family quickly became one of the most trusted noble houses by the imperial family and as a result, their power skyrocketed throughout the empire.
Dahlia couldn't help raise an eyebrow looking over the information. She had read all this before, but looking it over with the thought of becoming a part of their family left her feeling funny. Of course, the family wasn't defined strictly by their royal relationships. They were also well known for something else.
It was a family of vampires.
Well, not always pureblooded vampires, but as far as bloodlines are concerned, anything 90% and above was a force to be reckoned with. Most families with such high natural purities invest absurd amounts of wealth throughout their lives until they finally purify their blood until they become the real thing. While some might never achieve that goal, a house as long lived and rich as the Lukresh family almost certainly is led by a true vampire, and something about that idea made Dahlia shiver.
She couldn't tell whether it was fear, or some strange type of anticipation, but something about a vampiric bloodline intrigued her to no end.
'I wonder if they'd bite me. Is that just in fiction, or do real vampires do that? I really like garlic too… hmmmm, I hope that isn't an issue.'
She chuckled a bit as she quietly reached over to pamper the lonely shrub beside her.
'I guess I can be thankful I have a dark attribute instead of light. Maybe it'll make them like me more. Actually… I remember reading something about vampiric aspects. What was it again?'
She flipped through a couple books until she found what she was looking for. Apparently all vampires born with a high enough purity will have some type of 'blood' related aspect. It comprised the elements of life, death, and water, while certain variants could become even more complex. Honestly, the fact that something so powerful was so easily inherited showed why high quality bloodlines were so feared.
Looking closer, Dahlia also found that, while schema are completely independent of lineage, apparently the Lukresh family had a generational schema passed through generations called 'Vampiric Bloodlord'. Very edgy.
Much to her dismay though, the actual magical theory of Vampiric Bloodlord wasn't discussed so she had to close the page feeling dissatisfied. Nonetheless, a wry grin broke out as she thought over everything and came to an answer to one of her previous questions.
'Blood this, blood that. Yup. They're definitely going to bite me.'