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Blinding white light flooded the room.
...
When Rovi opened her eyes again, everything in front of her had changed.
The computer desk had vanished, replaced by a long table laden with spice platters.
The intense aroma of spices, mixed with a damp breeze, filled her nostrils, almost transporting her back to her days studying in Europe.
Back then, to earn money, she worked at a Western restaurant every night, grinding large pots of spices. Later...
"Rovi!"
Startled by the voice, Rovi jerked her head up, scanning her surroundings.
She was in a classroom with a very late Gothic style, with tall windows, thick walls, a damp floor, and intricately designed crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.
Sitting in the classroom were a group of twelve or thirteen-year-old boys and girls, with a middle-aged man with golden hair standing at the front desk, who seemed to be a teacher.
"Rovi!" the golden-haired man called her again, his voice stern. "Please stand up and answer my question."
He stared at Rovi intently, his eyes filled with undisguised suspicion.
Suspicion?
Rovi's pupils contracted, and a huge wave of panic surged in her mind, accompanied by unfamiliar emotions flooding her brain.
With the surging emotions came memories flashing in her mind.
She remembered that the original owner of this body had impersonated a noble lady for enrollment but had offended a real noble lady by competing for a dormitory.
What was happening now was the noble lady's revenge; she had seen through the original owner's identity and wanted to expose her in the first class of the school year.
And the golden-haired man was the teacher of this class, Professor Phil.
It was he who had listened to the noble lady's suggestion and singled out the original owner to answer questions.
This class was a potion class, and they were currently discussing the basic spices commonly used by nobles, with questions related to spices.
But the original owner had never come into contact with expensive spices. Just hearing the questions made her soul almost leave her body, let alone standing up to answer.
And why was she so afraid? Because if a commoner pretending to be a noble was exposed, they would be arrested, tortured, and publicly hanged!
Thinking of the medieval tortures, Rovi took a sharp breath.
She quickly calmed down and looked at Phil. "Sorry, Professor Phil, I was distracted. Could you please repeat the question?"
A sneer came from the right front, as the companion of the noble lady sneered, "I don't think she's distracted, she just doesn't know, right?"
With her words, murmurs rose in the classroom.
If she didn't even recognize basic spices, was Rovi really a noble? "Quiet!" Phil slammed his desk, then turned to Rovi again. "Rovi, please identify the spices on the table and briefly explain their uses."
"Okay." Rovi lowered her gaze and focused on the platter of spices.
Cilantro, sweet basil, parsley, sage, rosemary... These were all common seasonings in Western cuisine.
These spices might have been expensive hundreds of years ago, but in the modern era, they were grown all over the world and had become very cheap.
She hoped that the names of these spices hadn't changed in this world.
She steadied herself and reached out to touch the spices, naming each one and its use.
"Cilantro, sweet and spicy, used to treat stomach pain and insomnia; sweet basil, used as a side dish."
"Parsley, a seasoning, can be eaten raw; sage, strong aroma, can be used for cooking or as a fragrance."
...
"Vanilla pods, pods of the vanilla plant, with a unique and rich aroma, can be eaten or used as a fragrance."
"And this one at the bottom—"
Rovi moved aside the herbs and spices and saw a piece of yellowish resin, feeling a slight relief.
It seemed that the noble lady couldn't be completely sure that she wasn't a noble, or she wouldn't have used this thing to test her.
"This is frankincense, resin from olive and frankincense trees, with analgesic and preservative effects."
She withdrew her finger and looked up. "Professor, is my answer correct?"
There was silence in the classroom.
Rovi frowned. Did the names of these spices differ from what she knew?
After a while, she heard Phil's voice.
"Have you eaten all these spices?"
"Professor, aren't these spices commonly used seasonings?" Rovi smiled. "But, I haven't eaten frankincense. It's a medicinal fragrance, better used for incense and essential oils."
Of course, Phil knew this too, after all, he was also from a noble family. But even he couldn't afford to use these spices extravagantly for cooking.
And frankincense, that was an extremely valuable spice, usually only used for sacrifices, because it was said to be the closest scent to the gods... Wait, was there frankincense among the basic herbs?
Phil suddenly realized and walked quickly to Rovi's table. "Can I see your spice platter?"
Rovi took a step back. "Please."
Phil picked up the yellow resin from the tray and sniffed it under his nose, his face changing several times.
"It is indeed frankincense," he finally put down the resin and said, "I may have accidentally put it in when organizing the herbs, I'm very sorry, Rovi. How about adding ten points to your score for this class?"
"Okay, Professor."
Phil took the frankincense back to the podium and lowered his head to record something.
Just as Rovi sat down, the noble lady in front suddenly turned to glance at her with piercing blue eyes, assessing her like an object of uncertain value.
Meeting her gaze, Rovi noticed something intriguing.
The noble lady, named Asina, had a dazzling mane of golden hair, which happened to be exactly the same shade as Professor Phil's hair.
The latter part of the class was calm and somewhat boring, with the students in the class dozing off.
Rovi lowered her eyes as if lost in thought, but in reality, she was sorting through the surplus memories in her mind.
The original owner of this body was originally a humble fisherman, whose village was slaughtered by pirates. She managed to escape and was saved by a few knights.
One kind-hearted female knight gave her a letter of recommendation for enrollment and some coins, allowing her to attend this school.
With outstanding looks, the original owner was almost assaulted several times on the way to school. To protect herself, she began to impersonate a noble.
But this impulsive decision also cost the original owner her life.
In her memories, the original owner's failure to answer Phil's questions today aroused suspicion among her classmates.
They notified the inquisitors of the church, who arrested her and threw her into the church's prison. Unable to withstand the torture, she revealed her true identity.
Exposed, the original owner was first paraded through the streets by soldiers, then hung on the city wall for a full seven days, subjected to the scorn of countless people.
The commoners threw filth and rotten vegetable leaves at her, while her former classmates came to mock her, pointing and sneering with disdain.
Finally, she was sent to the gallows in the marketplace and hanged.
Before dying, she sacrificed her soul to the dark god, hoping the deity could change this world and her future.
It's unknown if the dark god received her sacrifice, allowing Rovi to cross over to the day she was exposed.
Rovi half-closed her eyes, recalling information about the school.
The Heria Academy of Magic, jointly funded by multiple countries, had a very progressive educational philosophy: committed to breaking down class prejudices and cultivating the most outstanding talents across the continent.
Unfortunately, despite the academy's emphasis on "students regardless of status," the nobles here still discriminated against commoners, with a clear line drawn between the two. Nobody took that statement seriously. The original owner infiltrated the view of noble students but clashed with noble customs, destined to be exposed sooner or later.
Today's test was just an appetizer.
At least Asina wouldn't let her off so easily.
In the original owner's memories, Asina had already sent people to investigate her background at this time, but the original owner was exposed too quickly, rendering her contingency plans useless.