“I bought the house.”

“You bought it?” The owner looked startled. “At the very least, your master should come see it in person. I don’t believe a servant like you can afford that price.”

“Then how much is it?”

The owner held up three fingers. “Three hundred gold coins.”

Isn’t that the same price as last time? Considering this house was even newer than it had been ten years later, three hundred gold really wasn’t much.

“No problem. Can I pay in cash?”

“Cash?”

Under the owner’s suspicious gaze, I opened my Item Vault and took out a bag full of gold coins. But his eyes didn’t stay on the money. He stared fixedly at the spatial rift that snapped shut in an instant.

“Miss, that was spatial magic, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. Item Vault.”

“Are you a mage?”

Huh? Why did everyone keep asking that? Didn’t Aleister say spatial magic affinity was relatively rare, but not hard to learn? It had only taken me about a week to learn this spell. Could it be that in this era... it was actually very rare?

“Heh.” The owner removed his hat and bowed politely. “My name is Wellington. If possible, I would be honored if you could introduce me to your master.”

“If I need property again, I’ll come back,” I said, trying on a smile. “Just remember to give me a discount next time.”

“Certainly.”

Back at the real estate office, Mr. Wellington quickly found the transfer contract and deed. I signed them one by one, then placed three hundred gold coins on the table. Most property purchases were paid in installments. Cases like mine, paying everything at once, were uncommon.

With the deed in hand, I held up my umbrella and went to the city administration office near the ducal castle to process the ownership transfer. The official handling my paperwork had a pinched, monkey-like face. He hemmed and hawed, saying I was missing this and lacking that, that my documents were incomplete...

One gold coin was enough to shut his filthy mouth. I got the metal house plate without any trouble.

After that, I installed the metal plate on the main gate at the end of the arched bridge. With that, all the residential paperwork was finally complete.

Owning property was something worth celebrating. I went to the entry hall, sat on an old chair, and cut off the psionic link with the doll. My vision rapidly pulled backward. I took a deep breath and returned to the attic of House Lude.

The length of my limbs and my height changed violently once again. It took me several minutes to adjust.

“Victoria, where did you go?”

The black cat was lying on the bed, paws tucked under itself as it watched me. A trace of worry showed in its golden eyes. It hadn’t gone off to look for dried fish. It had chosen to stay with me instead.

Chris could be thoughtful sometimes. He just never admitted it.

“I went to Golden Lion City,” I said as I climbed down from the recliner. “It was lively over there. I successfully registered with the Alchemists Guild, and I even bought a house.”

“Bought a house? Victoria, are you insane?”

“I want to leave this family as soon as possible. A property is necessary,” I said. “Chris doesn’t want to stay here either, right? That kitchen aunt only pets cats to satisfy herself. She doesn’t care about the cat’s feelings at all.”

I had hit a sore spot. Chris looked away.

“I’m going to use the bathroom, eat something, and then continue.”

After saying that, I left the warm shelter surrounded by windbreak walls and went to the washroom at the end of the attic. It was freezing along the way. The cold stung my skin, and more than once I pulled the blanket tighter around myself.

After coming back from the toilet, I ate the sandwich I had prepared that morning. Then I returned to the recliner, picked up the Psionic Headband, and put it on.

Chris had disappeared again. But I was sure that the moment I entered the linked state, he would quietly show up. I was his contractor. I could feel that he was right beside me.

“Start connection program. Enter!”

When I opened my eyes again, the dim and icy room before me came into view. I was back inside the doll, back in Golden Lion City.

There was still a lot to do. First was the housekeeping company.

I outsourced every room except the alchemy laboratory to a housekeeping company from the noble district. More than a dozen servants spent two hours cleaning the place until it was spotless. By the time they finished, the furniture I had ordered had arrived as well.

I replaced all the rotten, outdated furniture and inspected every room to make sure everything was in order. Next, I would personally handle the alchemy laboratory, but before that, it would be best to lock it up.

The clothes and bedding I had ordered were delivered soon after. The whole house quickly returned to a state where it could be moved into at any time. Now only some small items remained to be bought, so I decided to head out.

I activated the barrier device I had prepared in advance. A defensive barrier enveloped the entire house, making sure no one could break in. It was a safeguard, and one of the greatest lessons from my previous life.

Because I had neglected to set up a proper defense system, I had once come very close to dying at an assassin’s hands. After all, a brilliantly gifted Arcanomechanical Artificer was bound to attract plenty of jealousy.

Standing on the stone arch bridge at the entrance, I used Ancient Alchemy to repair and reinforce it. It took me about ten minutes. The newly reshaped railings greatly improved the bridge’s safety. At the very least, I no longer had to worry about falling off.

Black water drifted with white chunks of floating ice, moving slowly through the narrow canal. Golden Lion City had many natural waterways. This was one of them.

The embankments on both sides of the canal had been reinforced with stone to highlight the “taste” of the noble district. But because of that, the little river also looked exceptionally neat and tidy.

I turned back to look at the two-story house behind me. It stood quietly in the wind and snow. Snowflakes filled the sky, swirling around the steep roof and blurring the brass weathercock.

I had once spent an entire summer in this quiet little house. As scenes from the past surfaced one after another, I truly felt grateful that Chris had used magic to help me at the critical moment.

In this life, Katherine had only pushed me down the stairs and broken my leg. In my previous life, I had been left paralyzed from the waist down. Until the day I died, I had been confined to a wheelchair.

Being able to walk on my own two legs was such a wonderful thing. Some things people take for granted are only treasured after they’re lost.

It was getting dark, and the wind and snow were growing fiercer. I had to head to the commercial street as soon as possible.

So I gathered my scattered thoughts, turned around, and walked toward the commercial street. It was a gathering place for merchant houses that specialized in selling all kinds of rare goods to noble lords. I could buy almost everything I wanted there.

The streets there were smoother as well. Beautiful four-wheeled carriages rolled over the stone-paved road. Well-dressed coachmen sat at the front, braving the wind and snow to deliver their masters to their destinations.

Meanwhile, inside the warm carriage cabins behind them, the nobles either laughed and chatted loudly or closed their eyes to rest, enjoying every convenience that money and power could bring.

“Miss, have we met before?”

A strange voice sounded by my ear. I turned around and elegantly rested my umbrella on my shoulder.

A female knight in the order’s uniform was staring at me in surprise. More precisely, she was staring at the doll I had made.

Most female knights were decorative vases, just there to pad out their résumés. But this one was different. Even through her padded robe and cloak, I could sense how toned her body was. The sword at her waist was also clearly made with real combat in mind, sharp and heavy.

Still, that head of red hair stirred my memory. I had seen her portrait in the gallery of the House of Northenberg.

Her name was Lilia Grant Northenberg. She was Freud’s legal wife.

But judging from the current situation, the two of them apparently weren’t married yet.

“My apologies, Lady Knight,” I answered politely. “This is our first time meeting today. I’m quite certain of that.”

I had only just completed this doll, so there was no way it could have met Lilia before.

“If you don’t mind, how about we sit over there and talk?”

“Are you hitting on me?”

“Hitting on you... I mean...”

Lilia raised a finger and scratched her cheek, her eyes darting around. The gesture looked exactly like some middle-aged guy failing miserably at flirting.

But I didn’t really know Lilia. I had only seen her portrait. By the time I met Freud, Lilia had already been dead for many years.

According to her epitaph, she had died in a battle against magical beasts. Even her body had been eaten by them.

Although the Duke of Northberg held enormous power, there were many Demon Realms within his territory. Because of that, the knight order often had to purge the magical beasts pouring out of them, and every year there were heavy casualties.

Lilia had been one of those sacrifices.

I knew perfectly well that she would die. I didn’t want to get involved with her.

And yet, for some reason, I was still drawn to the unique aura around her.

“Come on, pretty maid miss. Let’s go sit together.”

“W-wait a second.”

While I was lost in thought, Lilia grabbed my wrist in one swift motion. Without giving me any chance to refuse, she pulled me across the street and into the café opposite us.

As rich, fragrant coffee was set on the table, I felt like I had fallen into a massive crisis.

“You really look alike,” Lilia said, propping up her chin as she watched me. “Are you from the Lancaster family?”

I shook my head. I had no impression of that family name at all.

“Then let me guess. Is your name Jenny?”

I shook my head again. Jenny was my mother’s name. She died not long after giving birth to me, so I had never met her.

“That’s weird.” Lilia folded her arms and thought as hard as she could. “Why do you look exactly like Sister Jenny? It’s like you were cast from the same mold.”

I didn’t know who this Jenny she was talking about was, but I guessed she had mistaken my Arcane Automaton for the woman in the portrait.

Wait. Could that woman in the portrait be my mother?

“But, miss,” Lilia said, her gaze suddenly sharpening, “the way you walk is very distinctive. Did you train in dance?”

A chill ran through me. My heart suddenly clenched.

The human body was incredibly precise, and everyone’s habits were a little different, so people’s gaits varied in countless ways. But to place every step at exactly the same distance every single time? An ordinary person couldn’t do that.

To keep my secret from being exposed, I decided to play along with her for now.