Returning to reality, Lellia clutched her head. The memories of her life after death had surfaced, leaving her mind in a daze.
She had realized her past life on the day she fell into the water at the temple, but suddenly having detailed memories flood her mind left her completely disoriented.
'Perhaps I shouldn't have read that novel.'
That problematic novel she had been immersed in before dying was exactly this world.
"…."
Lellia stared at the screen with a bewildered expression.
No matter how things had come to this... for this game to appear here!
The game screen she had been viewing on her phone now appeared right before her eyes. Moreover, at a much larger size.
Perhaps from the shock, her body trembled uncontrollably.
To calm herself, Lellia first hugged the rabbit doll and took deep breaths.
'First, stay calm.'
Holding the rabbit doll, she soon found peace of mind.
'So this pocket watch granted the wish I made before dying in my past life...?'
The pocket watch resting on her small palm still appeared faded and worn.
'Like what Juliana did, did it grant the wish remaining in my subconscious...?'
Lellia blinked blankly, dazed.
'Rather than lifting the binding spell, it granted an old wish?'
If that was the case, the binding spell clearly hadn't been lifted. She felt somewhat scammed, but... for the current Lellia, it wasn't a bad thing either way.
Lellia raised her head again to look at the screen.
[To regain the title of 'Legendary Alchemist,' you must clear the newly added recipes! =͟͟͞͞(•̀̀‸•́ ‧̣̥̇)]
The alchemy tool displayed a speech bubble again. Then, cute young dragons appeared.
The young dragons gathered together, rolling around like cotton balls and squealing.
Lellia unconsciously reached out and pressed the screen. When she placed her hand over the alchemy tool, a recipe list appeared.
'This actually works... that's basically the same as the Philosopher's Stone really granting my wish.'
Though she hadn't entered the game itself, being able to have this with her was something to be grateful for.
She felt so relieved that tears almost welled up.
After realizing her past life, she had actually been afraid. A strange world, and the fact that she was born into a role that dies—vague terror had filled her.
If not for her friends, she might have truly met the same ending as the original Lellia.
'But they came with me too!'
Perhaps because she had lived holding onto this game until she died in her past life. It felt like meeting family again.
Come to think of it, they were practically family. After all, aside from relatives waiting for her death insurance money, she had no one.
"…."
Tears kept welling up. More tears flowed than last night, which had been so lonely and painful, soaking her sleeve.
'Stop crying. This isn't the time to act like a child. Calm down first!'
Lellia wiped her tears vigorously, took a deep breath, and examined the newly appeared recipes.
Dozens of unfamiliar recipes had appeared. Quite a large amount. The ingredients were also things she'd never seen before.
In the original 'Alchemy Lottery' game, the alchemy ingredients were brought by these young dragons.
The dragons farmed in the game's fields, gathered tree fruits, and mined ores.
'Are these ingredients the same?'
When she clicked on a grayed-out deactivated ingredient, a message appeared.
- [!] A new alchemical substance from another world. What kind of ingredient could it be? Look around your surroundings to find the ingredients!
'Is it telling me to find them in reality?'
After pondering for a moment, she pressed the back button.
Then she scrolled to the end of the recipe list. The final recipe, the Philosopher's Stone, was deactivated.
'I guess it's locked again since it's an item that requires all recipes to make...'
Lellia closed the recipe list and pressed the inventory icon.
'Surely I can use items too?'
Just in case, she clicked on the stamina recovery potion among the magic potions she had prepared in advance.
[Item Quantity Owned: 9999]
How many would you like to take out?
A message appeared when she pressed the screen before her eyes. She entered the number 1 and pressed the confirmation button.
"Wow...!"
In an instant, a magic potion bottle appeared in her palm. It was the same bottle design she had seen in the game.
"Oh my god. Oh my god!"
Lellia muttered in a strange voice and downed the recovery potion. It wasn't just her imagination—she really felt strength returning.
The efficacy was certain. Which meant....
Other items could all be used in reality as well.
Her entire body shivered with amazement.
Lellia checked her inventory window.
The inventory contained all the materials she had collected.
9999 9999 9999 9999 9999....
Material items came in bundles of 9999, and she owned about 20 bundles on average.
Seeing the endlessly aligned items ending with the same number brought peace to her mind.
Wow, this is why people must diligently collect items!
'Yes... diligence saves the world!'
She was so moved that tears almost came again.
'But how do I turn this screen on and off?'
Just in case, she touched the jewel on the necklace where the sound had first come from. Simultaneously, the screen disappeared.
"...Oh!"
When she touched the necklace's jewel again, the screen appeared. Whether it was fingerprint recognition or something else, she didn't know, but she liked it very much.
Lellia held the necklace in her hand and smiled with the corners of her lips raised.
The sorrow and despair that had tormented her last night were now forgotten, her mood improved to the point she couldn't even recall them.
Lellia put on the necklace and looked around the room.
Perhaps this necklace and pocket watch were gifts her mother had left behind. At that thought, her chest ached.
'Let's use this to get outside the Imperial Palace.'
Lellia touched the blue jewel of the necklace she wore.
When the screen appeared, she pressed the bag-shaped inventory icon. Then the list of items her past self had created rolled out.
'I need items that will help me escape.'
But most of the items she had prepared in advance were quest items sold to village residents.
Things like stamina recovery potions and antidotes.
Otherwise, there were sauces for cooking, glue, spirit water, herbal tea, and such things.... Though there were some strange things occasionally.
Things like cold medicine tasting like lizard tail, wound ointment smelling like garbage, useless things like mushroom-shaped erasers.
'Something helpful... this is it!'
Lellia discovered one thing. She hadn't made many, but 20 would be sufficient.
'Sleeping potion!'
Since her goal was to escape from the Imperial Palace without anyone knowing, it was an excellent potion for evading the knights. It was also in spray form, making it convenient to use.
Lellia took out several stamina recovery potions and sleeping potions from the item window and packed them in her bag.
'It's better to escape as quickly as possible rather than wasting time.'
Perhaps at breakfast later, Cedric and Damian might tell Emperor Perseus about her.
'Then the Emperor will be very annoyed with me. He'll want to chase me out.'
Moreover, since she had even created wounds on Juliana's body, they could hold her accountable.
'He wouldn't kill me...?'
Honestly, she couldn't be certain.
In the worst case, she would die, and in the second-worst case, they would try to chase Lellia out of the Imperial Palace as quickly as possible.
That method would be marriage.
Lellia shuddered and left the cottage.
And just in case, she walked toward the tower.
Even though she was hungry, she didn't feel weak or distressed at all. The recovery potion's effect was part of it, but with her mind reassured, the body's hunger felt trivial. All of this was thanks to this necklace obtained through the pocket watch.
Arriving near the tower, Lellia stood at a distance and looked at the place where she had spent her childhood.
Naturally, she had no memories from when she was an infant, but she had some memories from her early years.
The nanny who raised Lellia under Princess Iris's order was a kind person.
'Though she abandoned me and returned to her family.'
It wasn't that she couldn't understand. That said, she wasn't in a position to take young Lellia with her either.
When her parents were about to die, Lellia, who wasn't even the real princess's daughter, wouldn't have come into consideration.
'Still, seeing how she came later and confessed the truth... she must have felt some guilt.'
Lellia's true identity wouldn't be revealed until the nanny returned.
'If only I had resembled Mom even a little.'
Elizabeth, like the brothers of the Superion family, was a beauty with red hair.
But Lellia had silver hair characteristic of the imperial family.
'Plus, Princess Iris's husband had green eyes...'
It was natural that no one recognized Lellia.
That fact felt newly regretful and sorrowful.
'Emperor Perseus isn't enough, even my uncle can't recognize me... I guess I don't resemble Mom at all.'
It was regrettable. If she resembled Mom even a little, she would have been less lonely whenever she looked in the mirror.
Perhaps it was because she was too small and unimpressive. After returning from the neutral zone, she hadn't been able to eat properly, so she had become gaunt.
'Never mind, it doesn't matter anyway.'
Lellia pulled herself out of deep thought before she could become sadder.
Near the tower, several soldiers, workers, and servants were coming and going.
Just as Cedric and Damian had said, it seemed they were really renovating it into a place for viewing constellations to give to Juliana as a birthday gift.
'...Hmph.'
Lellia bit her lip hard. To Juliana, they were reliable and wonderful older brothers, but to Lellia, they were practically villains.
'It's fine. I have friends stronger and more wonderful than Cedric and Damian.'
Moreover, I was the leader of those friends.
'No need to feel intimidated. Now I have this too.'
Lellia touched the necklace. Her mind felt reassured.
But at that moment, an uneasy thought crossed her mind.
'What if it's all a dream and it doesn't appear again?'
Lellia swallowed nervously with tension and touched the blue jewel. Fortunately, the screen appeared perfectly intact.
Just then, the alchemy tool floating in front wiggled and displayed a speech bubble.
[Master! To clear the added recipes, you need to acquire new ingredients! Currently, 'new ingredients' owned by Master: 0.(•᷄⌓•᷅)…]
"…."
'New ingredients...'
After pondering for a moment, Lellia checked the new recipe list. The ingredients for the newly created recipes were all deactivated.
[system: [!] A new alchemical substance from this world. What kind of ingredient could it be? Look around your surroundings to find the ingredients!]
Come to think of it, those deactivated ingredients were quite bothersome.
She remembered that in her past life too, those gray inactive ingredients had bothered her so much that she had played the game like crazy.
'Is it really telling me to look around? Like an augmented reality game?'
Lellia started walking in the opposite direction from the tower. Then the alchemy tool displayed a speech bubble.
[~~Yay~! (ง˙∇˙)ว~(ว˙∇˙)ง Searching for ingredients~~]
'It's correct!'
But now wasn't the time to leisurely search for new ingredients and unlock recipes.
'Sadly, I have to escape today, so I'm busy.'
Just then, perhaps reading Lellia's inner thoughts, the alchemy tool displayed a new message.
[Would you like to proceed with auto-search? ʕ•̀ o •́ʔ]
'Auto-search works too?'
[We can identify materials present along Master's route and auto-search! The fee is 1 gold per hour.(๑•̀.•́๑)]
'I guess it can read my mind and answer...'
Lellia blinked in amazement. The alchemy tool started spinning round and round as if excited.
'1 gold per hour...'
Lellia looked at the owned gold written at the very bottom of the screen. It was money she couldn't use in reality anyway.
'A shame. I have so much money.'
Since she had no use for it anyway, she thought it worked out well.
'Then I'll proceed with auto-search.'
[Excellent choice, Master! I'll let you know immediately when ingredients are discovered!∠(･`_´･)]
[system: 'Auto-search' is in progress--]
Lellia touched the jewel again to hide the screen and started walking diligently.
She headed toward the east gate where the castle's servants passed through.
Standing at the edge of the woods, Lellia observed the numerous people coming and going through the small castle gate.
'So many merchants coming and going.'
Probably because Juliana's birthday banquet was approaching.
'In the original work, they threw a party so grand it made people stick out their tongues...'
Lellia lowered her body to avoid being seen and approached where the carriages passed through.
The castle servants and merchants were all focused only on moving their cargo. Only spirited voices urging each other to hurry echoed back and forth.
Lellia slipped into the third warehouse where servants no longer passed and hid her body.
'Let's secretly get on a carriage leaving the castle and slip out.'
A good idea. The carriages of merchants passing through the Imperial Palace had lax surveillance. After all, they were people who passed through every day.
'Is leaving like this the right choice?'
Perhaps due to tension, her heart started wavering strangely. In truth, she was afraid.
The world wasn't safe enough for a ten-year-old young girl to wander around freely.
'Still, as long as I have this necklace...'
At the very least, she wouldn't encounter dangerous situations. Moreover, if she was lucky, she could even start a business.
'Though alchemy is illegal...'
Still, if she didn't get caught by the temple, she could live quite wealthy. High-ranking nobles often purchased alchemical potions secretly.
'If necessary, I can make flame potions and attack.'
Among the recipes and materials she already possessed, there were quite a few things useful for self-protection.
'Don't hesitate.'
Lellia made a firm resolution and spied outside through the crack in the door.
After a long time passed, it was late afternoon.
Several soldiers appeared. They approached the merchants preparing to move their cargo and asked something.
A merchant with a bushy beard shrugged and shook his head.
The soldiers looked troubled and this time approached where the servants were. Right in front of the warehouse where Lellia was hiding.
Thanks to this, Lellia could hear the conversation between the soldiers and the servant.
Perhaps they were acquaintances, as a tall soldier naturally called out to the servant.
"Hey there."
"Oh my, long time no see, sir."
"Yes, greetings can wait... did you happen to see a young girl with silver hair and green eyes wearing a robe?"
At those words, the male servant carrying cargo while sweating tilted his head and answered.
"Haven't seen anyone like that at all. What's the matter?"
"...It's nothing. His Highness the Prince is looking for her. If you find her, bring her to the main castle immediately."
"Yes, well. Understood, sir."
When the soldier left, the servant bowed his head.
Lellia, surprised, had been holding her breath the whole time, and only after the soldiers disappeared did she finally exhale.
'The twins are looking for me? Why?'
Why indeed. Their purpose was clearly to torment her.
'To show off in front of Juliana, acting like wonderful older brothers, they probably want to punish me, who's practically a villain.'
Nasty fellows.
Lellia bit her lip and suppressed her angry feelings.
In the original work, the two brothers weren't villains at all.
To Juliana, they were kind older brothers, and to the imperial citizens, they were respected princes. They were generous to the Imperial Palace's subjects, strict with knights—perfect beings.
Moreover, with their handsome and dashing appearance and excellent manners, they were the ones who made noble ladies' hearts flutter at every ball.
They were truly the very model of exemplary princes.
But to Lellia, they were objects of fear. Perhaps even more frightening than Emperor Perseus.
The Emperor simply found Lellia repulsive, but the princes believed they had to torment Lellia to avenge their mother.
'Since Princess Iris really did torment Mom a lot...'
Lellia clenched her fist tightly. Knowing they were looking for her made her heart even more anxious.
'Tonight, I have to get out of the Imperial Palace no matter what.'
Eventually, the sun set and late afternoon arrived.
It was when the last merchants who had entered the Imperial Palace were leaving. Lellia quietly slipped out of the warehouse.
Then, walking like a stray cat, she stealthily climbed onto the back of a cargo carriage.
Fortunately, there was a small space next to the large boxes where she could hide her body.
'Ugh. If I were just a bit taller, I wouldn't have been able to hide.'
Lellia curled up round in that space. And waited for the carriage to depart.
She was so tense that cold sweat streamed down her, but passing through the castle gate was surprisingly easy.
The carriage rattled past the castle gate and traveled along the road.
Seeing the gate grow distant, she felt a strange sense of liberation and fear that made her head spin.
'Now I really need to keep my wits about me.'
Unlike the safe Imperial Palace, outside was dangerous. But in some ways, the inside of the Imperial Palace was just as dangerous for Lellia.
Lellia made up her mind firmly and hugged her bag tight. Having packed only the bare minimum of precious items, the bag was light.
A small rabbit doll, fountain pen and letters, the pocket watch.
That was all.
She would have liked to take everything from her mother's cottage, but already the pocket watch and this necklace were enough.
Lellia looked at the scenery outside visible through the gap in the carriage's canvas covering.
Before she knew it, the carriage had passed the central road leading to the Imperial Palace and was heading toward the bustling street lined with merchant quarters.
'If they find out I've escaped, they might block the capital's gates. I need to get out as soon as possible.'
She was anxious without a concrete plan, but her will was firm.
When the carriage stopped, Lellia slipped out quickly before the merchant could even get down from the driver's seat.
Then she pulled her robe's hood down deep over her head.
Fortunately, the dark evening streets were full of bright lights and many people.
The imperial capital's security was relatively safe, so quite a few shops remained open even at late hours.
Moreover, perhaps because festival season was approaching, a night market seemed to be open nearby.
She could see young children holding their parents' hands, carrying lots of food.
'That looks delicious.'
Only then did Lellia remember she had been starving all day. But she soon shook her head.
'I don't have money anyway, and this isn't the time.'
To avoid looking like a lost child, Lellia walked close to ordinary adults with a bright expression.
So that to strangers, she might look like their child.
Making her way through the crowd like that, Lellia suddenly stopped.
'What's that carriage procession?'
In front of a certain merchant building, large carriages were lined up.
The family crests drawn on the carriages weren't clearly visible, but seeing how incredibly luxurious the carriages were, they were definitely from a noble family.
'Are they trying to leave the capital?'
Well-dressed servants were loading something abundantly onto the carriages. As if departing on a long journey.
Peeking out from behind a carriage, she could see large horses and people wearing armor that knights wore.
'A knight order's procession?'
The expressions of the knights packing their belongings looked very bright. As if they were people who found the journey departing this night quite enjoyable.
'Going to their hometown? Or... ah! Are they going there?'
What Lellia thought of was 'Rendinium,' called the holy land of knights.
Rendinium was a place she learned about through her friends' stories while in the neutral zone.
Romeo had said.
"I want to go to Rendinium in the Auroria Empire later! I heard it's full of brave knights, is that true, Leo?"
"...Huh? Um... well..."
Lellia had equivocated, searching her memories of the original work at the time.
"It's in your empire. You don't know? You idiot, are you really the Crown Prince? Why are you so stupid?"
Romeo had teased Lellia, who couldn't answer immediately.
"No, I know! I've just never been there personally..."
"Really? Well, I guess a Crown Prince raised delicately in the Imperial Palace wouldn't have gone anywhere. Anyway, I want to go there. It's the city where the Oracle Knights stayed and shared deep friendship before founding the five empires. My dream is to become a strong knight!"
Romeo had said that, showing off.
At those words, the content of the original work had come to mind late.
'Rendinium' was a city considered a holy land for knights and those dreaming of becoming knights.
That's why many knights, regardless of nationality, traveled there or used it as a stopover.
Thinking about that time, Lellia narrowed her eyes.
'That Romeo guy... said he wanted to be a knight but becomes a mage...'
Lellia shook her head slightly.
Just then, the carriage where Lellia was hiding lurched and moved.
A huge knight with a splint on his leg, perhaps injured, had climbed onto the carriage.
"Damn! Not being able to ride a horse, it's a knight's shame."
"Get over it. Are you going to keep whining like a child? You're stuck with the carriage until we reach Rendinium, so don't move a muscle."
"Hell!"
The tall knight who had supported the huge knight held the carriage door and grinned as if teasing someone inside.
"If you hate it that much, get healing from the capital's priests."
"Absolutely not! I'd rather die than get healing from the priests here."
"Always so stubborn..."
Lellia pretended to doodle on the ground to avoid being seen by the conversing knights. Like a local merchant's child.
But she felt a persistent gaze behind her. Lellia's back stiffened.
"Hey, kid. It's dangerous sitting behind the carriage like that."
"Huh?"
Lellia quickly raised her head.
The tall knight who had been talking with the knight inside the carriage shrugged and spoke.
"It's dangerous there. Where are your parents?"
"…."
Lellia randomly picked someone far away.
"They told me to wait a moment."
"Is that so? Then go wait over there? This carriage will be departing soon."
"…Yes."
Lellia nodded and stepped aside.
Such a kind knight.
Usually, knights are unkind. If that man had been an unkind knight like most, he might have just kicked Lellia away.
The knight confirmed Lellia stepping aside and walked ahead to climb onto a large brown horse.
More than ten carriages began preparing to depart.
She hadn't made a concrete plan for where to escape yet, but it was better to leave the capital first and then think.
Lellia looked around and quickly slipped into the cargo-loaded side of the carriage. It was the carriage the huge knight was riding in.
Fortunately, this time she could hide in a slightly larger space than when she had left the Imperial Palace earlier.
'I can lie down.'
Lellia thought thankfully and lay on her side in a comfortable position.
"We're departing!"
A loud shout came from outside the carriage. Soon after, with the sound of horse hooves, the carriage began to rattle and move.
'Maybe because it's a luxurious carriage, it's less uncomfortable.'
A relief. It would take quite some time to reach Rendinium. The problem was arriving there without being caught.
'If only I wasn't hungry, I could keep hiding in the carriage...'
Lellia frowned, clutching her starving stomach. Still, with the stamina recovery potion, she wouldn't starve to death.
Thus, she gradually fell asleep.
The carriage left the capital and began racing across the rough fields.