The City, The Castle, and The Lords

Other than being a great Mafia Queen, or an equally great interior designer, Seraphina also had some other skills that she was quite proud of. But because of her identity, she never really got enough time to use those skills to their best capacity.

So, as she got an idea of her life in the Shadow Castle, she realized that it was finally time for her to use those skills. That's why the next few days were filled with all kind of chaos that she alone created in the castle. She was running up and down, checking every unoccupied room in the castle to see what interesting things she could find. She also roamed around the gardens, front and back yards of the castle to find as many items of use as she could.

Mortimer was perplexed when she went to him, demanding certain dangerous tools that a lady shouldn't even know about let alone being able to use them - knives, chisels, saw, hammer, and so on.

The butler was so horrified that he immediately went to inform the Shadow Lords about Lady Winters' weird demands, only for the men to tell him to keep an eye on her. Hence, started Mortimer's new duty of spying on Lady Winters as she delved into creating beautiful stuff from all weird and unnecessary scraps. Within two or three days, he watched the woman creating so many beautiful things that could be used for decoration.

After watching her working her for a while, he soon realized that the lady was probably more skilled in using those tools than he ever could. Eventually, he stopped keeping an eye on her by the third day and returned to his daily schedule.

What Mortimer didn't notice was how his every report about Lady Winters' daily updates surprised his Lords. Though all four of them kept their expressions masked, each one was taken aback after hearing what their possible-future-wife was doing while causing so much noise all day.

On the other hand, Seraphina was completely unaware of what was going on with the men of the castle. She was busy using her DIY-skills to decorate her room and bring it to life. But after working so hard for days and creating so many beautiful things, she was still not satisfied.

"Why are you carrying that long face? What's wrong?" The little creature asked as it kept swinging where it was hanging from the beam above the window.

A sigh escaped Seraphina's lips as she answered, "I love plants and flowers a lot. But there's nothing here. All the greenery is dead in this place." The sadness and disappointment was more than evident in her tone as she confessed the reason that was making her upset.

"The air, water, and soil of this place isn't suitable for planting anything at the moment. That's exactly why the Afterlife Council has to provide food and water for the people here. However, you are here to change exactly that."

The little creature's words made Seraphina turn all her attention toward it. "What are you talking about? Can I grow plants and flowers?" She asked excitedly.

"Of course, you can. Or how are you going to revive this city? But you will need to level up to gain the spells/equipment that can help you in this task." The little thing explained as it kept swinging without any fear of falling.

Seraphina was silent for a moment as she pondered on the information she just recieved. After a while, she finally asked another question, "Which level can give me those spells/equipment? And what I can do to level up?"

Realizing that she was serious about the topic, the fluffball finally stopped swinging and jumped down to sit on the top of the wooden shelf next to the window. The next moment, a huge transparent screen appeared in front of Seraphina.

"You are lucky because agriculture is the first stage of revival added to the system. That's why, from the moment you will make it to level one, you will start gaining powers that will help you in making agriculture possible in this place. The screen in front you explains the powers you will gain at level one and the task you will need to complete to reach level one."

Seraphina read the content on the screen while the little creature kept explaining. "Level One will give you two rewards - a vial of Green Poison, and the Divine Filter. One drop of Green Poison is enough to eliminate all the contamination of the soil in an area of fifty meters. As for the Divine Filter, it can filter ten gallons water in a day."

Seraphina was surprised to know that even Level One provided such rare rewards. This made her excited to see what rewards awaited her after Level One. "It says that to reach Level One, I will need to do one task that can help this city in taking its first step toward revival. What can I possibly do?"

A frown appeared on her face as she pondered on what kind of thing she could possibly do to complete this task. She was still busy thinking when the little creature broke the news to her.

"You don't need to worry about that. You have already made it to Level One." It announced before it signaled toward the screen. Seraphina watched in surprise as the screen changed and a huge congratulations appeared on it. The next moment, the screen showed her Level Zero changing into Level One and the screen offered her to equip the two rewards.

"How-?"

Seraphina was at a complete loss and she quickly looked at the fluffball for explanation. It was only when the little creature spoke that she found out the one small, but very important, detail that the Afterlife Council forgot to inform her about.