Chapter 2: Unfamiliar World

(A/N: These chapters are all copy and pasted from my original version on Wattpad. Go follow this story on Wattpad for faster updates)

Ash Valencia's POV

As the blinding blue light faded away, I slowly blinked my eyes in confusion, taking in my surroundings.

'What was that? I was drugged...no, I didn't die. Where am I?'

I open my mouth to talk but the only thing that comes out is, "Agh! oog bahh woo."

'Agh...oog...bahh..woo...? I can't talk...? Is this some kind of sick prank someone has played on me? ...Doesn't seem like it... Alright, I just need to assess the situation, figure out my whereabouts, then I'll figure out what to do.'

I do my best to glance around to see where I was and what was happening.

I'm in some kind of a princess-style bed, there's a warm blanket wrapped around me, this unfamiliar woman is looking at me very...affectionately...and she appears to have very...limited clothing on. The room I'm in and the way everyone here is dressed is very...outdated one could say.

The woman staring at me had a very other-worldly appearance. Long deep red hair draping all the way down to the middle of her arms. Her strange blue eyes seem to sweep over me in one glance. Her exotic appearance was breathtakingly beautiful.

It looked like something from the Victorian or archaic eras.

Everyone here is female and they all appear to be wearing maid's outfits except for the lady holding me. "Congratulations Madam! She's a very healthy baby girl!"

'Baby girl?'

I scan the room again looking for the said 'baby girl'.

'No sign of any babies here. The lady wearing a maid outfit looked at me when she said that...wait.'

"Ah...my sweet little angel.", The woman holding me sighs happily, "Your name will be...Ash. The first-ever sound you made in this world sounded something like that. Are you happy with your name my sweet baby?", rocked me slowly from side to side.

The woman holding me smiles and kisses me on the forehead. As I had always hated physical contact, my initial reaction was to shove her away but I just felt my limbs flailing around. Then I notice that my arm and fingers are very stubby and short... all the signs point toward it. I sighed.

'...I am that baby.'

There's no other explanation for it. I sighed again, it was something I was actually capable of doing in this under-developed newborn body.

"Teresa? Is there something wrong with my baby? I think she just breathed a little heavily. I thought you said she was healthy?", The woman panicked a little as she looked towards the lady called Teresa.

Honestly, I think if I were in her place, I would've panicked too. It's definitely not normal for a newborn baby to be sighing.

"The baby is perfectly healthy, madam, she may just have a little trouble breathing since she's just been born", Teresa assured the woman.

The woman sighed in relief, "That's good. Im glad your healthy little one".

She cradled me and started rocking me back and forth again. I felt myself start to doze off...Then I fell asleep.

*****

I woke up staring at the ceiling. I looked around just to make sure what I saw and experienced earlier wasn't a dream of some sort. I sighed again, still here. Though I appear to be in a different room.

This room has decorative wallpaper and baby toys. Seems like the nursery to me...well, my room now I guess. I see Teresa and the woman who I could only guess is my mother in a very excited conversation. My stomach growls a tiny bit. I guess I'm hungry now, I do my best to talk and get Teresa to notice me but she seems to be very focused on my mom.

I try to get up and only end up flailing my limbs around stupidly. Damn these useless infant limbs...

'...Guess I don't have much of a choice then...'

"Wah! Bagh! Oogu!", I start making random baby noises and it seems to have gotten the attention of my mother and Teresa.

"She's awake Madam! You should feed her now. I think she may be hungry.", Teresa advises my mother.

My mom looks happy as Teresa brings me out of the crib I was stuck in and into my mother's arms. She keeps smiling down at me with such affection...I don't like it...it makes me uncomfortable... After being fed, I feel sleepy again, damn this newborn body. I can't even stay awake for 30 minutes... I refrain from sighing again to not worry Teresa and my mom, then I feel myself quickly succumb to my sleepiness.

*****

It's been about 2 and a half years since I've been born into this world. During this time I've noticed and thought about some things. I've technically just been planning for the future, sorting out information in my head, figuring how to deal with events due to come, and other things like that. Here's a little summary of it:

'1. This world seems to be in medieval times or more than a few centuries before the 20th century. The people wearing maid or butler outfits are the servants of this family. My personal servant's name is Teresa. She's also the head maid. She has dark brown hair and peculiar yellow eyes.

2. My name is Ash Valencia. The same last name of the villainess from the book "Yuri Entranced", Ruby Valencia. I am the little miss of this house. The 4th born child of the Valencia house. I have 3 older brothers who are very obsessed with me since I'm the only sister they've had and my parents are Duchess Valorie Valencia and Duke Evan Valencia. Just like the character "Ruby Valencia" did from the book.

3. This country is called "Aurora" and its crown prince Alexander was born just a few months before I had been born. I can only assume that Yuri had been born later than me since she was younger than Ruby in the book.

4. I don't think I had died on Earth since all I had been doing was reading my book. Unless the boba milk tea I had been drinking had been spiked, there was no way I could've died. The last thing I remember was the book glowing and exploding in blue light and that couldn't have killed me...right?

5. I might have been reborn or transmigrated into this story but that's only ever happened in books. It's a wild guess but that does provide somewhat of an explanation for my situation. How it happened is something I've yet to figure out.

6. In the book "Yuri Entranced" Ruby Valencia met a horrid ending due to the way she acted and how she treated others. A typical villainess. Every last one of the male leads hated her but Yuri never did, making the male leads like Yuri more. Ruby also had no protection or useful skills meaning she couldn't defend herself from anyone or anything making her very vulnerable. She died because of these and many other reasons.'

'With all these in mind, I concluded that I was in the world of "Yuri Entranced" and that I have taken the place of the main antagonist, Ruby Valencia. And since I've read the book many times over and over again, I know what's going to happen to "me" if I don't do something.'

'I know that this world does have magic but despite that fact, medieval times lacked a lot of technology and information we have in the modern world so I plan on being the one to introduce such technologies to them using my skills and talents that I never found a use for. If I do that and prove to be a very useful, talented, and smart person, with all that and a change of personality, I think I can avoid my death.'

Another advantage I have is knowing the events of the future, although these events may or may not occur due to my interference in the future, I think it's still useful to have such information.

I spent my days thinking to myself and practicing my movement like talking, crawling, then walking, then jumping, and all sorts of physical activities. One thing I like to do is to have Teresa take me to the library to read so I get to learn more about this world. Its mathematics and other teachings are very outdated and behind to the point where I've learned every single thing from the elementary school books to the highest grade teachings.

I did notice that they dont have a lot of formulas and theorems we use in the modern world so I also plan on teaching that to the people of this world. I am already very well versed in manners, etiquette, formalities, and other necessities so I doubt I will have to learn such things. The one thing I am not familiar with is the magic here.

After finishing every book in the library, I decided to start learning about magic since magical abilities have a lot to do with your worth as a person in this world and I plan on getting a head start with that.

*****

I drowsily opened my eyes when I saw 3 pairs of eyes staring me down. I didn't even bat an eye. I was used to this by now. My three brothers Elijah, Elrich, and Carsian looking at me in my crib sleeping was quite creepy at first but I realized they were just admiring me. For what reason? Not sure. It could just be a sibling thing. As a former single-child, I wouldn't know.

"Look! She's awake now!", Carsian reached down at my face and pinched my cheeks red.

"Dont do that Carsian! You're hurting her!", Elijah scolded him and smacked his hand away.

"She doesn't seem like she hurting. Look! She's not even crying! All babies cry when they're hurt.", Carsian stated, cradling his hand, not really caring.

Elrich removed Carsian's hand from my face gently, "She never cried even once ever since she was born. Isn't that right Ash?", he smiled at me affectionately.

I responded with a simple, "I don't cry."

Elijah asked, "How is she able to talk like that already mom? Babies usually only talk like that once they've received lessons on the precision of language."

"You're right, how does she even know the words she speaks? Isn't she still only 2 years old?", Carsian wondered.

"I guess our little sister is just a genius. That's the only reasonable explanation.", Elrich answered. All four of them nodded, agreeing to Elrich's answer. I sighed. These people are such fools for Ruby. Well...for me I guess. "Bruvver. Im hungy.", I said, "giwv me food plis?" I can't even speak properly due to my teeth not being fully grown, what a pain. Though I guess it would be somewhat freaky if an infant/toddler spoke with perfect pronunciation and grammar.

"Sure! Your older brothers will give you some food!", Carsian smiled, "Let's take you to the dining room".

......................

~Eldest brother Elijah~

He's 9 years old right now. He's the most responsible, reliable, and smartest of all three brothers. He is the first heir to the Dukedom of Valencia so it was a given that he'd be the smartest and most responsible. He's the one with the most manners and common sense. He often protects me from brother Carsian's rough behavior. Like our father, he has blue hair and silver eyes. He's a little bit skinny for his age but that could be fixed with a better diet and more eating. Once when mother took me out for a stroll, I heard girls gossiping about how cold he was and how it made him seem attractive but I could only scoff at them. Cold? That push-over? What nonsense.

~Second brother Carsian~

He's currently 8 and a half at the moment. He's a little rough but never seems to be that way on purpose. from what I've seen, he's outgoing, positive, somewhat insensitive, hates his studies, and just a very energetic person in general. I've never seen him in action before, but mother says he's super talented at swordsmanship and she even called him a genius of swords. He's got red hair like mother and silver eyes just like father and eldest brother Elijah. He has quite a nice build and a little bit of muscle which I can only guess was from training with the sword. He loves to show off and I will admit, he has quite the bunch of girls fawning over him already. Why? Because apparently, he's good-looking. He's also quite the push-over. Only for his sister though.

~Youngest brother Elrich~

He is currently 6 years old and he's is a very cute boy. He's got big innocent-looking eyes, a warm smile, the kindest personality, and he's a great listener. But one thing I am sure about is that this boy...is not the slightest bit innocent. He may look the part but that "warm smile" of his never quite reaches his eyes. Behind that mask of innocence is a heartless, sadistic, and psycho monster. At least, that's how the author describes him. Despite him being a so-called "monster", I've never been afraid of him since he's such a fool for his sister and also since Im not particularly scared of such people. He has blue hair like father but his eyes are gold, like mother's. He's my favorite brother since I think he's cute, even with that "monster" side to him.

~Valorie Valencia~

My mother in this world. Despite being 42 years old, she looks like she's just entered her late-twenties. She has red hair and striking golden eyes. Some say when she was younger, she used to be very sociable but after father got sick, she had to take care of Valencia Duchy's affairs and business making her neglect social gatherings, meetings with friends, tea parties, and banquets altogether. She was and still is known for her elegance, grace, and ability to see through anyone and everyone's true intentions making her impossible to lie to. She always appears to be poised, collected, and nonchalant when she's outside the Duchy but she's somewhat of a tomboy when no one's around. She cares very much for me and is always affectionate towards me which I find...irritating at the very least.

~Evan Valencia~

My father in this world. The head of the Valencia Duchy and also a professor in the Aurorus Academy. He rarely comes home and from my perspective, he's a total workaholic. He has a kind personality but he's a little strict sometimes. He also may not show it but he's also a fool for his daughter, I guess it runs in the family. He teaches tactical magic usage and many say he is quite talented himself though I've never seen him in action before. I wonder if I'll be in his class when I attend the academy. I don't know much about him since I don't see him very often so there are many things I am not sure of when it comes to him. But I do know that since he is a duke (which Is a very big figure in this society) he does have a lot of followers, influence, connections, power, and support which may be very useful to me in the future.

......................

After I finished up my small breakfast of soups, broth, pudding, and milk, I asked Teresa to take me to the library with Carsian and Elijah to see their lessons and also for me to learn more about magic. On the way there, I took the time to admire and appreciate the work and craftsmanship that went into decorating the halls and this entire mansion.

The variety of decorations, furnishings, and paintings there were made out of rare material shocked me. I knew that the Valencia family was rich but I never expected there to be gold or silver everywhere I looked. The walls were painted with glittering rose-pink flowers and were lined with carved silver. It was truly breathtaking.

It didn't take long to arrive at the Valencia Library. It was huge. Menacingly huge, with thousands upon thousands of books. And I had read through all of them, soaked up all the knowledge I could've learned from those books except for the books regarding magic. Those took a little longer to understand and comprehend since I was unfamiliar with them.

Magic was the one thing I wasn't familiar with within this world and I will admit, I am looking forward to the day I'm able to use magic. Since I'm able to understand the books, I hope I'm able to have an advantage at using magic since it might be a huge help to me in the future.

I saw my brothers sitting at a somewhat large table with books, papers, and quills sprawled about. I also noticed a brown-haired man with glasses standing in front of a chalkboard talking to them. Teresa set me down in a chair next to Elijah's and I was greeted with him putting me on his lap and caressing my head.

I am embarrassed to say...I nearly dozed off because of him.