The New World

Lillianna woke up and swung her legs from the bed (modern sprung mattress: contemporary setting, check). She considered the bedroom she found herself in, then turned to the tiny little ball of fluff that the system liked to appear as. Lillianna thought that the form was chosen in equal parts as a pun on its serial number – KT104 – and to manipulate the host into regarding the system as harmless and sweet. She didn't mind paying along when it suited her – and stopping when it didn't.

"What's the story?" she asked.

"A re-incarnation," replied Kitty. "Dorothea died divorced, broke and alone, and has recently come back to the point her husband first proposed. You're the husband's sister, her main antagonist."

All the information necessary to play her character had been inserted into her brain as usual, but also as usual, Lillianna liked to go through the highlights consciously. Not a bad starting point. Her original had rich parents who had died tragically (and predictably) when she had been fourteen. Her older brother had been just twenty and recently graduated at the time, but he had taken over the company and guardianship of her without complaint. Seven years later and she herself was in her final year of university, still living with him, while he had proved himself as even more successful than his parents. And found himself a girlfriend.

"CEO pampers the beauty, huh. Any system prompts for her?" asked Lillianna, walking around the room. "Or just the standard 'you're so pitiful, fate is giving you a second chance' nonsense?"

The room was expensive and a little too tasteful for a young girl. It was predominantly in shades of grey, with a few splashes of accent colours, all set out like it was being posed for a magazine shot. Lillianna opened the wardrobe and looked through the clothes, all in the same aesthetic. Instead of the bright, light colours that would be more suitable for her age, her clothing was in deeper and richer shades of burgundy, forest green, and midnight blue. Clothing that took more gravitas to look convincing than a university student could usually manage. Lillianna shrugged and laid out an outfit from the available options. The original might have battled, but she'd be able to pull it off. She could pull off anything.

"No system prompts," said Kitty, "but she does have access to the system store."

Lillianna smiled. It was always more entertaining when her opponent had more advantages to attempt to fight with. "Better and better. She did she accept the proposal again this time around, correct?"

The kitten hesitated.

"How much to purchase that information?" asked Lillianna impatiently.

"It's free," said Kitty with obvious reluctance. "Yes, she did."

"Oh, good," said Lillianna, deliberately trying to provoke the system now. "I don't have to work around someone who is actually taking responsibility for her own unhappiness and changed things. I'll get to have fun."

As expected, the kitten immediately fluffed up in indignation. "You're not here to have fun for yourself! You're supposed to be here for her. This is her story. She's the main character. You're supposed to stay within the natural confines of fate."

Lillianna walked through to the en suite bathroom and ran her hand approvingly over the marble countertop. "You and I both know that just means I can't do anything to make her suspect anything is wrong. If she continues to believe that she's only special one in this little story, I can do whatever I want. I don't have to let her win."

"I don't understand why you always take such an instant dislike of the main characters," complained Kitty, following her into the bathroom. She looked like someone had dropped an extraordinarily puffy hand-towel in the middle of the gold-flecked grey tiles.

"It saves time," Lillianna said.

"That's not fair," said Kitty. "Most people are nice."

Lillianna shrugged one shoulder. "Perhaps. But those nice people are hardly ever selected for these little games, are they? Main characters are specifically chosen because they're whiny self-righteous idiots who blame everything else but themselves for their failures. And look - she accepted the engagement again. Doing the same thing again, even when she knows it won't make either her or my brother happy."

The kitten shook its head, shaking its entire little body in the process. "Maybe she agreed to the engagement the second time around because she really loves the man. Maybe now knows where she went wrong, they'll have a deep and satisfying relationship."

"Want to take a bet?" asked Lillianna, crouching down to look at the kitten face to face.

"A bet?" Kitty asked suspiciously.

"Yes," said Lillianna. "You get her system to slip her information about something wrong with our male lead – whathisname, Raphael – that she can fix easily. Something that will damage him personally, but not his future earnings or anything that might in turn hurt her. If she fixes it, then I agree to play to her level, and provide only enough challenge to prove her love and determination to herself."

"And if she doesn't?" asked Kitty.

Lillianna tapped her fingers against her lip as if she was thinking. "I get to covertly slip her information in the future through her system."

"Something that isn't true?" asked Kitty, the wide eyes widening even further.

"Oh, don't be like that," said Lillianna, bopping the kitten lightly on the nose. "We both know that systems are not required to tell clients the truth now, don't we?"

"That's…" Kitty trailed off. "I don't think that's appropriate."

"See?" said Lillianna, returning to her feet. "You also already know she isn't a good person."

The kitten hissed, or at least attempted to. The sound from the tiny body was not enough to be suitably terrifying. "Okay, I'll take the bet. If you win you can slip her a lie one time. But if you lose, you have to promise to really commit to inspiring her to her best life."

"Deal!" said Lillianna immediately. She strongly doubted that she would need any additional advantages in the game, but it would be fun to wave her victory in the system's face. "Set a short time limit on that, will you? I don't want to wait forever for you to admit that Dorothea doesn't care about my dear, sweet, innocent brother."

"You don't care for your 'dear, sweet, innocent brother' either," said Kitty, still grumpy. "You were just calling him whatshisname. At best, you'll treat him like a chess piece you prefer not to lose."

"But I," said Lillianna, with a curtsey, "never claimed to be a good person."

"You do!" said Kitty, fully indignant now. "You claim that all the time! You always play the villainess as having a heart of gold but tragically misunderstood by the main character."

Lillianna laughed, and picked Kitty up rather than answering. While Kitty was still spluttering in protest, Lillianna dropped her outside the bathroom and closed the door. Even if the system took the form of a harmless animal, and even if that kitten was actually entirely in her head, Lillianna wanted at least the illusion of privacy.

Once Lillianna was bathed and dressed, she joined her brother at the breakfast table. One of the staff slid a plate in front of her almost as soon as she finished sitting and Lillianna nodded her thanks. The excessive and romanticised concept of how the very rich lived had been a bit of the shock the first time she encountered it, but she was an old hand at it now. Servants and expense and formality beyond any reasonable level - like an actual sit-down breakfast every morning.

Also perfectly in line with her expectations, her brother Raphael was gorgeous. He was tall and athletic, with high cheekbones and piercing blue eyes. Both his body and his jawline were masculine enough to be sexy, but not so pronounced as to be intimidating. Handsome, intelligent and rich, with the only flaw of being too reserved. Perfect for the female lead to swoop in and teach him how to really enjoy life.

Lillianna didn't know if the mind of her 'brother' was original (if anyone was original) or not, but she had learnt to stop looking out for it. Ironically, the way the main character lived was the best way for her to live as well: as if she was the only one with special knowledge and abilities. The system was draconian in preventing cheating and attempts at collusion. Even if her brother was on the same page as her, she'd still have to give him good, in-universe, in-character justifications for any change in attitude he had towards Dorothea.

Raphael rearranged his cutlery, which revealed his nerves even if his expression did not. "I just wanted to let you know that I proposed to Dorothea last night, and she accepted."

Lillianna waited a beat too long, and then put on an obviously fake smile. "Congratulations. I hope you will be very happy together."

"I know you don't like her at the moment," said Raphael, "but I hope that once you get to know her, you'll come to appreciate what a wonderful person she really is."

"I'm sure," said Lillianna, looking at her hands still grasped in her lap. "What were you thinking about… I mean, I guess I'm old enough to start looking myself."

"Looking for what?" asked Raphael.

"My own place to live," said Lilianna, keeping her voice very quiet. "I mean, you've already been extraordinarily generous letting stay here all this time. But you can't want me around after you get married."

"Nonsense. This is your home. This will always be your home. If nothing else, you own half of it."

Their parents will had left them the house jointly, although Lillianna thought they'd probably intended the children to sell it and split the sales price. The house had been one of the biggest arguments between Lillianna and Dorothea in the original story. Dorothea had refused to live with Lillianna and Lillianna had refused to leave her childhood home. Eventually, Raphael had settled the matter by building a new house for himself and Dorothea, despite how strongly he also felt about their home. Lillianna didn't know who Raphael had blamed most for that sacrifice, but she wanted to get out ahead of it.

"But—" said Lillianna.

"Do you want to move out?" asked Raphael.

"No. No, I don't. I love this place."

"Then don't," he said firmly. "It's not as if it isn't big enough for all of us."

"Thank you," Lillianna said, smiling properly at him. Raphael returned the smile with his own approximation of the expression, and they finished up breakfast without any more mention of the impending marriage.

Lillianna headed into university humming under her breath. She had people to manipulate, situations to set up, and many other plots to plot. It was going to be a good day.