New World

IVY'S POV

After reading more about this world, I discovered it's also called "Earth." But unlike my world, it only has one named planet; the rest are just stars, and it relies on magic instead of science. Earth has five continents, and each continent is a kingdom: the East, West, North, South, and Central Kingdom.

Originally, this world didn't have magic, but a thousand years ago, a great catastrophe occurred. The world became infested with magical monsters, and to counter them, humans began manifesting magical attributes. The first attributes were water, wind, earth, and fire—primarily used for defense and offense. Over the years, these evolved, forming countless new attributes, including healing, ice, lightning, and more.

The first to manifest these attributes are known as the Great Four, the founders of the North, West, East, and South Kingdoms. The Central Kingdom was formed later by an evolved magic user.

The East Kingdom is called Aeltharys. The royal family's name is Nephthysus, and their attribute is wind magic.

The West Kingdom is called Ravessia. The royal family's name is Terrasis, and their attribute is earth magic.

The North Kingdom is called Draevenloch. The royal family's name is Aurelmar, and their attribute is water magic.

The South Kingdom is called Elarion. The royal family's name is Ashenfyr, and their attribute is fire magic.

The Central Kingdom, Cindralis, has the royal family Embercrown, whose attributes vary.

The battle between humans and monsters mostly took place in the central continent, which is why it was the last to become a kingdom. Much of it was a wasteland.

The Cindralis Kingdom was founded by a woman named Ellaris Embercrown. She was the first to manifest an attribute beyond the original four—a healer. Her father, Duce Embercrown, was a fire user, and her mother, Marlin Crystalwave, was a water user.

After the war, Ellaris used her healing magic to restore the continent—the land, the animals, and the many casualties left behind. She was then crowned queen and named the central continent the Kingdom of Cindralis, partly in honor of her father, a fire user.

Over time, many other attributes evolved. Anyone could be born with any attribute, regardless of their lineage or parentage.

Eventually, families began to develop their own specialties. For example, the Ravenshield family became known for their combat magic. It didn't matter whether one was born with water, earth, fire, wind, or another attribute—they excelled in combat. No one knew why this was the case.

Strangely, the Great Four families—the royal families of the other four kingdoms—never experienced an evolution in their magical attributes. For instance, everyone born into Draevenloch's royal family would always be a water user, no exceptions.

However, it was different for the Cindralis Kingdom. In Cindralis, no one could predict what attribute a royal child would have. For example, Ellaris's son, the second ruler, was a wind user, while his younger sister was a lightning user. The current king is a fire user, while his siblings have varying attributes. Some share the same, while others have unique abilities. The current crown prince is also a fire user.

As the attributes evolved, so did the technology. While it's not as advanced as the technology from my world, it has its own perks. Just as electricity was the major power source in my world, the major power source in this world is magic stones.

Magic stones are monster cores. Yes, even though humans won the battle against monsters, some still lurk around. Magic stones are like the hearts of these creatures.

Magic stones have many uses, but their most common application is storing and releasing magic. For example, a fire user can store their magic in a stone, which can then be placed in a tub to heat bathwater.

Transportation here isn't advanced; they use horses and carriages. Communication is mostly done through letters, but it's faster than in my world's medieval period because they use wind mages and teleportation stones, although the latter is expensive.

The economy uses a coin-based currency: gold, silver, bronze, and copper coins. Copper is equivalent to 1 dollar, bronze to 10 dollars, silver to 50 dollars, and gold to 100 dollars.

The power structure follows a nobility hierarchy: Duke/Duchess, Marquis/Marquise, Count/Countess, Viscount/Viscountess, Baron/Baroness, Knight/Dame, and commoners.

By the time I finished reading, it was already dark outside. I looked up to find a very upset Anya glaring at me.

"My Lady, the physician said you should eat and sleep a lot! All you've done is eat and read. At this rate, how will you recover in three days?" She practically had smoke coming out of her ears.

I couldn't help but laugh, which only seemed to upset her more. Ever since I woke up and she realized I wasn't the scary "Lady Ivy" anymore, she's become more audacious, speaking her mind freely. She's sweet, though, and honestly fun to have around. I've already decided I'll take her with me when I get married.

Ugh, just thinking about the wedding with that jackass puts me in a foul mood.

"Anya, let's just run away and start a new life. We can take all my clothes and jewelry, sell them, buy land, and become landladies," I joked.

She laughed. "That's considered theft, my lady. And to top it off, it would be disrespecting the royal family—a crime punishable by beheading."

I faked a shiver as though I felt chills. "Well, that doesn't sound nice."

Anya helped me close the books I'd finished reading and put them away. "I've prepared your bathwater, my lady. After your bath, I'll have dinner ready." She led me to the bathroom.

After my bath, I ate dinner and was practically forced into bed by Anya. Lady Ivy had been such a fool to treat this sweet girl badly.

That night, my sleep was filled with the memories of my death. I don't remember being afraid of dying in that moment, but the dream felt like a nightmare. I didn't want to die.

I wasn't supposed to die. Why did I die? Why did Jack betray me?

I felt emotions I'd never experienced before, and when I woke up, tears were running down my face.

What the hell was that?