It felt strange to be up here, sitting on the back of a monstrous white wolf on the cliff’s edge while gazing down at the tens of thousands of soldiers down below.

Norsewood’s warriors were joined by the Snow, Wood, and Valley Elves, Mountain Dwarves, and One-Horn Demons. Far across the horizon on the opposite side was the enemy invading our land, the soldiers who were once my husband’s ally from Athol, a country my husband once loved and served.

It was hard to imagine that I’d be here, aiding my beloved husband, the man known as the infamous, cold-blooded warrior Lord Aldric Templeton, Earl of Norsewood, now the Ruler of Blackfield. Because really, not long ago, I was  back on Earth, very much alive and kicking and going about my day, looking forward to the next phase in my life, looking forward to starting a new job as a research scientist working in one of the biggest medical research companies in the world. But apparently, life had the knack at giving you an unexpected twist when you least expected it.

Aldric, beside me and sitting on another monstrous white wolf, shouted, “Hellfire!”

Immediately, a gust of wind swirled, and materializing out of thin air was a behemoth of a dragon, hovering above the air.

I could never get used to seeing that legendary monster, the one that could destroy a city with a simple breath of his fire, the one that nearly killed Aldric and his men during our dungeon conquering episode, the one that kept toddling around after me in his small, too-cute-for-words form and begging me for sweet Chinese buns.

Who could have believed that a mighty dragon was addicted to sweet Chinese buns? Or anything that was a bun and had sweet fillings inside it? Ridiculous, really.

On a side note, who could have believed that my capture was worth a king’s ransom? Because that was exactly what those bastards were here for, kidnapping me, and of course, seizing the land Aldric and I and our people had worked so hard on cultivating.

Apparently, in their eyes, I was a saint, whatever that was, and I was worth destroying a newly built nation for.

Indeed, this was the story of my life. Or rather, my second life as the infamous earl’s legendary bride.

So, how did I even get here? Let’s go back to when it all started when I was done in by Mr. Truck saving a boy’s life, when I opened my eyes and found myself in this world that was full of magic, monsters, and mayhem.

* * *

When I woke up, I sensed everything was wrong—the sight of the ceiling, made of sticks and straws and looking ready to collapse on top of me; the bed I was sleeping in, which was hard; the blanket that was covering me, which was coarse; and my body, which was sore all over like I had been beaten to an inch of death’s door.

I stirred and shifted, and instantly, pain echoed through my body like a raging inferno, and I wanted to scream. What came out of my mouth was an agony of groaning instead, followed by huffing like I couldn’t breathe properly. I felt like someone had smashed my ribs in.

What?

I relaxed back and tried to recollect what in heaven had happened to me because I was sure something had happened.

I racked my brain, thinking back, hard.

Graduation!

Yes! It was my graduation day. I had put on the regalia and talked to Mom and Dad, or what was a portrait of them anyway, informing them that I was graduating with a master’s degree in medical health science and that I’d be starting a new job as a scientist in one of the biggest research companies in America, in the world, within a week. I told them I was looking forward to the next phase in my life and that I was happy and that they needn’t worry about me anymore from up there.

“I know you’re proud of me,” I had said, gazing at the photo of the loving couple who had raised me until I had turned sixteen when they had passed away from a freak accident. They had been the only people I had in my life, and I had loved them dearly.

I racked my brain some more, trying to figure out what happened next. Ah, that was right. In full regalia, I had taken the bus, which was running late. Once I had gotten off, I had to sprint down the block to get to campus and then—

A full-on pounding came hammering in my head, and I felt breathless and dizzy.

I took in a deep breath and then… everything came flashing back—me panicking, the boy standing there in the middle of the road and staring blindly at the oncoming truck, the mother screaming, me racing across the street toward the boy, and then the hit.

Oh…

I see.So that was what had happened. An accident. I wondered if that ran in the family. First, it was my parents, and now me being hit by a truck.

I let it sink in for a few moments, glad I was alive. I had cheated death, unlike my parents. I hoped that boy was safe and fine, too. I was certain he was safe since I had made sure I had pushed him out of the way before the truck could reach him.

I shifted my gaze to stare up at the ceiling again. One thing was for certain, that ready-to-collapse ceiling did not belong to a hospital, let alone a twenty-first-century building. The way it was positioned and joined was too haphazard. It wouldn’t even pass the inspection phase during its building period, even for a barn or a hut.

I turned my head and scanned the room, my eyes wide. Slowly, something I felt could only be surprise, shock, and dread began to descend.

What the heck?

Wattle and daub constructed walls. Open fireplace. Wooden furniture. Dirt floor.

Surely, I was dreaming, right? Because this looked nothing like a patient’s room in a hospital. In fact, it looked more like the interior of a peasant’s house in the medieval period.

The door opened, and I watched a woman, dressed in what appeared to be peasant’s medieval-style clothing, walking in.

The moment she saw me gazing at her, she looked stunned. Then she rushed over, calling out, “Quinn! Oh, Quinn!” She came to sit on the side of the bed and cupped my face with hard, calloused hands, tears brewing in her eyes.

Who was this woman? Why did she look so worried about me?

That intense headache came again, and I gritted my teeth. Suddenly, memories came flashing into my mind’s eye, and as I worked to process it all, I widened my eyes in shocked surprise.

I was Quinn Fairchild. Not the twenty-five-year-old Quinn Chen living in America in the twenty-first century who went to her graduation ceremony and got hit by a truck, but an eighteen-year-old Quinn Fairchild, daughter of Elizabeth Fairchild, living in the kingdom of Athol in a world called Eseron.

What the heck?

“Quinn?” The woman’s soft, gentle voice called out to me. “How are you feeling, daughter? How is the pain?”

I continued to stare at her. Damn, but she was a beautiful woman with pale-blond hair and green eyes. There were some lines on her face, indicating aging, but she was still beautiful nonetheless, and she was supposedly my mother. More specifically, Quinn Fairchild’s, this body’s, mother.

I licked my dry lips and said, very hoarsely, “Mother?”

She smiled, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Oh, Quinn. I was losing hope that you’d ever wake again. I…” She leaned in and kissed me on the forehead. “I’m so sorry it happened again, my dear. I’m so sorry.”

Happened?Yes, indeed, what the heck had happened to me? How did I, Quinn Chen, a young woman who was about to start her brand-new life working in one of the biggest medical research companies in the world, end up here?

Was this supposed to be a joke? Or was I hallucinating? Dreaming? I mean I had been in an accident, after all.

But why did everything seem and feel so real? Surely, the feeling of pain couldn’t be fake, which was currently raging throughout my body.

The woman, Elizabeth, moved back and said, “You must be thirsty and hungry, my dear. I’ll prepare something for you.”

I watched her fluffing about, looking relieved as tears continued to pour out of her eyes and flowed down her cheeks. While she was preparing what I could only ascertain was tea, I rack my brain once again as to how it was possible that I came to be here. Instantly, memories of both Quinn Fairchild’s and my own came flooding in again.

I flicked my gaze to Elizabeth and involuntarily said, “Mother.”

Damn! It was the Quinn Fairchild part of this body that was calling out to her, the part I couldn’t seem to control.

Elizabeth turned and smiled at me. She was still brewing tears, apparently.

“Did you want something?” She came over as she wiped tears from her face and, somehow and with a lot of pain on my part, she managed to sit me up and rest me back against the head of the bed. Then she brought around a cup of tea and began to aid me in drinking it.

It was a little bitter, though the temperature was a perfect-warm. I began to half sip, half lick like a kitten as if my life depended on it. I was more dehydrated than I realized. I managed to finish the contents, and once I was done, Elizabeth praised me for doing such a good job, like I was a toddler, and then returned to preparing what could only be soup.

It tasted bland, and though eating did not please me one bit, I emptied the wooden bowl regardless because my stomach needed it. My health needed it.

Elizabeth laid me down on the hard, uncomfortable bed again, saying, “I added some herbal medicine in the tea, so it’ll help ease the pain and make you sleep better.”

I see. The pain did cease, but very little. Exhausted again already, I closed my eyes and fell into a slumber instantly.

It took me two weeks to feel better enough to get out of bed, and after going through a whole lot of confusion, fear, denial, and identity crisis during those two weeks, I came to fully accept that I was no longer living on Earth and wouldn’t be starting my new life working as a research scientist, my dream job. I did hope and pray a lot that I’d wake up to find myself back in my old life, but that was not meant to be. I could only surmise that Quinn Chen had died from being struck by a truck while saving a boy’s life, which was so cliché. I was done in by Mr. Truck.

I rested my back against the wall of the dilapidated cottage, the home of not only Elizabeth and Quinn Fairchild, but Maria and Liam Fairchild, too, Quinn’s cousins. There was no doubt that Elizabeth and Quinn were poor, as shown by the place falling apart.

The fact that Quinn’s father, the bastard lord who resided in that fancy manor I could see looming overbearingly in the distance within the estate, did not aid in Elizabeth’s and Quinn’s destitute life was very apparent to everyone. To that despicable bastard, Elizabeth was merely another woman serving under him he had taken advantage of, and Quinn was merely another of his illegitimate children.

I chuckled in amusement. I couldn’t believe that I had died and awoke to find myself now living the life of a girl not only the bastard child of a cruel, selfish earl but a girl who was being mercilessly bullied because what I had woken from had been the aftermath of a beating by none other than the earl’s two legitimate sons themselves. Or rather, Quinn Fairchild’s half brothers.

Ah, I remembered clearly, via Quinn’s memory, as if it had been I who had been beaten, the whip slashing on my skin and the kicking of booted legs again my frail body.

I raised my gaze heavenward and sighed. I said, “I know it’s nice of you, whoever you are up there, to reincarnate me and give me a second chance at life, but couldn’t you at least give me some sort of advantage here? Like a blessing or something?”

Silence. But, of course, what did I expect?

I stood, my body still aching somewhat severely, but I gritted my teeth and bore it. Despite the pain, I refused to stay in bed another day. I needed to walk about and get better as soon as possible. Prolonged bed rest led to muscle wasting and a decline in health in general.

I was about to turn on my heel when an unimaginable pain ripped through me from my midsection. I sucked in my breath and could only huff as I collapsed to the ground and curled over in a fetal position. The torture coursed through me like a raging inferno, hot and furious. To me, that insane agony felt like an eternity, but I knew it only lasted a few seconds. When it was gone, I lay there, breathless.

What the heck was that?

I raised my hand to wipe the perspiration from my forehead, and that was when I felt something was different within me. I frowned. There was also something strange about my hand, too. I lifted the other one up and glanced from one to the other. I could see some sort of stream of golden particles exuding from the palms of my hands and floating around it.

I widened my eyes. Was this…

I flicked through Quinn’s memory, and then there it was, the girl had learned something about magic.

There was magic in this world, which was blessed by the Gods or Goddesses, the deities. Apparently, one was considered very lucky to have been blessed.

If Quinn’s memory served me correctly, one was either blessed with the creations, destructions, healings, or foresight ability, and under both creations and destructions, there were sub-classes such as blacksmithing, horticulture, and agriculture for creations while those blessed with strength, swordsmanship, necromancing, monster taming, and such likes were under the destruction’s ability. But, once again according to Quinn’s memory, there was no mention of this flow of golden particles I was seeing. Could it be mana?

If this was indeed mana, then how could I possibly see it? Perhaps this was a blessing from the deities? If so, then I’d gladly accept it.

I tilted my head to one side, wondering what other blessings I could have received. If I was lucky enough to have more than one, then I’d like the healing ability, since that’d be the most useful to me. Well, I had one in four chances to get that, and right now, I desperately needed it. There was no harm in testing it out, right?

Having understood how crazy everything here was—if my being reincarnated into this world wasn’t crazy, I didn’t know what was—and have acquired Quinn’s knowledge of magic, what little there was she had learned, I was confident in how to make this work.

A grin on my face, I said, “Heal,” as I touched both my palms to my chest where my broken ribs were. I felt this warmness washing over me as I watched—wide eyes in pleasant surprise—the glow of particles, or shall I call it mana, dancing about in the space close to my chest.

I couldn’t believe it. The pain was slowly receding and then… gone. I sat up.

“Oh, my God!” I chuckled. “I’m blessed with a healing ability.” I burst out with a “Yay!” with my arms widespread and fists pumping in the air. My request, or rather prayer, had been answered. I flicked my gaze heavenward and did a thumbs-up. “Thank you. You’re awesome.”

I imagined the big man, or woman, up there smiling and winking at me, but in reality, there were only dots of clouds against the backdrop of the gray autumn sky. Oh, well.

I stood and dusted the dirt off my pants. Then I stretched and jumped up and down a few times, testing out my new body.

Hmm… Not too bad.Since I had always been in so much pain previously, I had never paid attention to my height. Now, I noticed the view from the ground felt… shorter? I wondered how tall Quinn was. As for me in my previous life, I had been five foot seven, having inherited my height from Mom, an American woman with ancestors from Europe.

I drifted my gaze across my new pair of limbs. They were too thin and short, and obviously, this body’s overall height would be nowhere near the five foot seven of my previous body. Considering Quinn’s upbringing and the family being so damn poor, I doubted the girl had enough to eat to even support her growth. My estimation was that Quinn was probably around five foot two at most.

Short.

So. Damn. Short.

I wondered if the healing ability could encourage bone growth. From Quinn’s memory, however, healing magic could only cure physical injuries, such as a broken rib, stab, or cuts to parts of the body. I suspect healing what was already lacking, such as essential nutrients, malfunction of the body system in genetic disorders, and pathogen attacks on the body and immune systems in infections and diseases, was not possible. I guessed apart from the genetic disorder, severe infections and diseases from bacteria and viruses could be solved with antibiotics and vaccines, and a deficiency in a particular nutrient could be solved with supplements and a proper diet.

I wondered if it was possible for me to create medications with healing magic. I could always explore that possibility later. For now, my priority was to fatten Quinn’s frail body. After that, it’d be me leaving this place.

I was given a second chance at life, and I wasn’t about to live it as an ill-treated bastard daughter of some despicable lord. I had my new life ahead of me, once again, and a whole new world to explore, and I wasn’t going to let it go to waste.

That said, I wasn’t going to be leaving this shithole alone. In this new life, I had a new loving mother in Elizabeth. She’d be devastated if I were to leave her behind. Not to mention the lord’s legal wife and their children would continue to torment her at every chance they got, and I wasn’t going to let that happen any longer either. There were also my new cousins, too, Maria and Liam.

And speaking of.

I watched as the two figures came strolling along the pathway, and the moment they saw me, Maria rushed over, her face full of concern.

Now that I wasn’t alone, it looked like I had to pretend to be unwell and in pain, since I wasn’t going to let it be known—at least not yet—that I had acquired a blessing and had already completely healed myself, not especially when, according to Quinn’s memory, a blessed one was obliged to serve the kingdom and work at court under the royal family.

Those blessed with a healing ability were rare and were usually either given the option to join the military as part of the medic team or work in the palace and serve the royal family and the nobility.

There was no way I’d agree to do either of those two things. Technically speaking, I, as Quinn Chen, was not a citizen of this world, let alone this damn country, so I had no obligation to serve the kingdom or the royal family. I’d be using my blessing for myself and with whomever I like, thank you very much.

“Quinn! Quinn!” Maria said as she hurried to me. “What are you doing up and about? You should be in bed.”

Ugh! This girl was a headache to deal with. She fussed over me like a mother hen during the last two weeks when she was aiding Elizabeth in taking care of me and would cry every chance she got after catching a glimpse of my horrible condition. I understood she loved Quinn, or rather now me, as her cousin, and I understood it had been because of her that Quinn’s body ended up in that state, but…

I flick through Quinn’s memory and saw that day clearly in my mind’s eye. There in the secluded area at the back of the Bedford Manor, Austin and Charles, Lord Bedford’s sons, had cornered Maria and did only what entitled, privileged bastards like them did to a vulnerable girl like Maria.

Maria had already been in an uncompromised position, her maid gown torn and skirt up, cheeks bruised from slaps while lying on the ground, helpless, when Quinn witnessed the horrid scene. Quinn had rushed forward and started shouting and bashing at Austin and Charles with her puny fists. Hence, the girl had ended up being the target of Austin and Charles instead, for interrupting their fun time.

I could surmise that Quinn had died sometime after that beating, and I, from the twenty-first century who had also died from Mr. Truck, had reincarnated into Quinn’s body.

From Quinn’s memory, it was due to Elizabeth’s fear of Quinn getting unwanted attention and being subjected to unwanted sexual harassment that had led to Quinn dressing as a boy. Since Quinn was a unisex name, no one had ever questioned Quinn’s true gender. Though Quinn had never been subjected to any sort of sexual harassment, she had always been bullied.

Maria was pulling me by the arm and leading me back into the cottage, while Liam walked silently behind us.

I glanced at Liam. I didn’t miss that despite his thin physique and pale complexion, no doubt from lack of nutrients the body desperately needed, he was a good-looking young man with dark-brown hair and brown eyes. He was twenty-three, and if he were born on Earth and my cousin there, we’d get along famously since we were close in age. Come to think of it, he looked to be around five foot seven, slightly taller than Dad, who had been a Chinese American man. I had no idea how Liam could get that tall when he clearly didn’t have enough to eat like Quinn, but I supposed some people were just blessed with height.

From Quinn’s memory, Liam wanted to be a knight and had taken every opportunity he could get in the little spare time he had working as a stallion boy for Lord Bedford to train himself. It seemed he had even requested Lord Bedford to transfer him into the knight department as an apprentice, too, but that bastard had declined Liam every single time simply because Liam was a Fairchild, which didn’t surprise me.

Well, once we got out of here, I was sure Liam would be able to join an academy or something and become a knight, undoubtedly in shining armor.

Inside our lovely delipidated cottage, Maria made me climb back on the bed and propped me up with pillows behind me and a blanket on top. I sighed because there was no use going against Maria.

“Now, I’m going to make us lunch,” she said and toddled off to the other side and started her cooking endeavor.

Liam pulled a chair, put it near the bed, and sat down. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

Wonderful now that my broken ribs and other wounds were all healed, and the pain was gone.

I said, “Getting there.”

Liam leaned forward and ruffled my hair.

Oh, wow, but it felt strange to be on the receiving end of that endearing action, considering I was two years older than him. Then again, I was Quinn Fairchild now, an eighteen-year-old pipsqueak with barely enough meat on her bones.

“Your face is all but completely healed,” Liam said, a smile on his lips. “I’m glad.”

“And still damn beautiful like always,” Maria commented from the other side of the room. “I was so worried you’d get scars.”

Scars? Like I’d worried about some damn scars on my face.

Beautiful? Why did Maria use the adjective beautiful when referring to my face? Was I, or rather Quinn, beautiful? I didn’t know because I had yet to see what this new me looked like. As for me as Quinn Chen, I was considered quite a beauty, apparently, because of my mixed blood.

It didn’t take Maria long to finish making lunch, and now, here I was, staring at my bowl of runny soup and bread in a brown color that was as hard as a damn rock. I found tearing the bread into pieces and dipping it into the soup softened the texture a little, but it was still hard to swallow.

Ah, damn, but I’d do anything for soft white bread, be it in the form of French toast, sandwiches, or filled rolls. In fact, I’d do anything for the damn soup to have some sort of taste to it.

Bland.

So. Damn. Bland.

I chewed on the piece of bread and instantly felt the ache in my gums and tasted the saltiness of blood. Not to mention the loose teeth.

Ah, scurvy. Obviously, Vitamin C was severely lacking in Quinn’s diet. I glanced at Liam and Maria. They chewed like they had a sore tooth, and I bet they could taste their own blood mixed with the bread, too. I wondered if fresh fruits and vegetables were not part of a diet in this world? The soup did contain some vegetables. I could count a few peas and bits of chopped carrots and onions floating about in the soup.

Right, finding fruits and vegetables with high Vitamin C content in this world would be my first objective. As for the mineral iron? With the typical pale complexion, which was prominent in this family, it was certainly iron deficiency.

Though neither Elizabeth nor Liam or Maria had never complained of fatigue, I bet they felt it most of the time and I was also willing to bet they thought it was normal.

From Quinn’s memory, most in this town, especially the poor, looked as pale and as lifeless as these three people, so I could only assume that lacking vitamins and minerals essential for healthy body functions was typical in this world due to poor diet. One could get iron from eating red meat, but that was expensive and usually only served to nobility and the wealthy, which explained why those pigs living in that manor were so full of energy—leftover energy they used to beat the life out of Quinn.

It looked like I’d have to come up with something before everyone in this family’s health got any worse. It would be great if I could create pills or supplements like the ones back at home.

After popping a spoonful of tasteless soup into his mouth and swallowing, Liam said, “There’s a lot of uproar at the manor.”

Tearing apart more of the hard bread with all her might, Maria nodded. “Lady Calla and Lady Iris have been boring their eyes out and throwing another of their nasty tantrums since yesterday afternoon when they heard the news.”

I raised my brows. “News? What news?”

Maria said, “Well, everyone in the manor and town knows by now, that on King Henry’s order, Lord Bedford has to offer one of his daughters as a bride to the infamous Lord Aldric Templeton, Earl of Norsewood.”

“Infamous?” I asked. I didn’t know there were infamous people here in Athol, the kingdom I was currently in, according to Quinn’s memory.

Maria said, “Well, I guess you don’t know because you are never interested in that sort of thing, but that man, Earl of Norsewood, he’s rumored to be a ruthless warrior from up north. Apparently, his conquest in battles is many. I heard, according to rumors, that he has killed many monsters and enemies and he does so without mercy. Because of his skill and talent in combat, especially in this latest one where he annihilated the army of Tasal only a few months ago, he has garnered King Henry’s great favor and received rewards—gold coins, land, and a new bride.”

Gold coins and land as rewards for something like winning a battle I could understand. But a bride? Seriously? Unless it was something to do with an alliance?

I asked, “Why a bride as a reward? And a new one? Does that mean this Earl Norsewood already has one?”

Liam answered my questions for me. He said, “King Henry is notorious for doing that. But, well, so did every other previous king of Athol before him. It’s to form alliances. Although I don’t know how Lord Bedford will benefit from this

one. Everyone knows the lord of Norsewood doesn’t play politics.”

Maria nodded. “None of the other nobles desire any connection with him because of his ruthless, cold-blooded personality.”

“And the fact that Norsewood is a region in the far north at the border, right next to Blackfield, the territory of monsters. It’s an impoverished, isolated region with poor harvest for centuries, so there is no benefit to anyone who becomes an alliance with him.”

I guessed it was the same in every world. The top one percent only join hands for connection and profits.

“Despite their nasty personalities,” Maria said, “I feel a little sorry for Lady Calla and Lady Iris. One of them would have to be married to the infamous Lord Norsewood. I heard he killed his last wife because she couldn’t sire him another son.”

“Neither of those two would be able to handle Lord Norsewood. He’d be the type of man who simply doesn’t take bullshit,” Liam said. “A great warrior doesn’t take bullshit.”

“Lord Norsewood is a great warrior in your eyes, Liam?” I asked. “Despite his cold-blooded nature?”

“I don’t believe in rumors, Quinn,” Liam said. “You of all people know that. I only judge a man through his actions.”

I didn’t believe in rumors either, nor did I ever judge a book by its cover. Like Liam, I judged a man through his actions.

“Lord Norsewood is a great warrior,” Liam continued. “He works hard in protecting his land and people and the land and the people of this kingdom. The same can’t be said with our current lord.”

From Quinn’s memory, there was something about that fat pig Lord Bedford never even venturing out into the battlefield during any raids of his territory, nor had he ever personally stepped up to protect his people, let alone offering to go on a year-long battle to protect the kingdom of Athol. He left that dangerous job to the knights serving under him.

“When either Lady Calla or Lady Iris left for Norsewood after the marriage, there’ll be at least one less to torment Aunty Beth,” Maria said. Then she glanced at me. “And you, Quinn.”

Ah, yes, now that Maria mentioned it, those girls did like to pick on Quinn, didn’t they? I guess it was simply because Quinn was an easy target and their half sister. Or rather, half brother since Quinn had always disguised herself as a boy.

Thinking about being a target of bullies, I changed the subject and said, “I was thinking of leaving when I’m better.”

That caught both Liam’s and Maria’s attention. To say they both looked shocked was an understatement.

Maria said, her voice shaky, “Leaving? What do you mean, Quinn?”

It was natural they were stunned to hear the likes of me, or rather young Quinn, uttering that sort of thing. The previous Quinn wouldn’t even dream of thinking of something like this. Apart from the fact that she was a commoner girl and had no place of her own in society, Bedford was home, where she was born and raised, and she’d die here, which she did, as with the mindset of every girl living in this town. Besides, where would she go? How would she survive the dangerous journey when she didn’t even know the way without any aid and especially threading through dangerous terrains where monsters roamed?

“Leaving as in leaving this place for good,” I said. “I’m not sure yet where I’ll be going, but I’ll do some research and—”

“Lord Bedford won’t allow you,” Liam said. “Besides the fact that our family owed him a huge amount of debt, the likes we can work for the rest of our lives and still wouldn’t even be able to pay off, he’s your father and you’re a girl.”

I narrowed my eyes, a flare of rage rushing through me. I said darkly, “That bastard is not my father.”

“Quinn?” Liam said, looking taken aback by my chill tone. “You don’t normally—”

“I’m not the Quinn you used to know,” I said honestly. “After what happened, I’ve changed. I’ve been through death if you must know.” Which was true.

“Yes, you’ve been through that… near death,” Liam said. “I understand you’re angry.”

“Don’t say that that bastard is my father, ever again,” I said firmly. “You, too, Maria. I have no ties with him and that is that.”

This was also true. I, as Quinn Chen, had absolutely no blood tie whatsoever with Lord Bedford.

I continued. “And I’m serious about leaving this place. If neither of you two wants to come along, that’s up to you. Your choice, but I’m not going to linger here and let that lot make my life a living hell.”

Maria said quietly, “Still, Quinn, as Liam said, you won’t be able to leave. The debt…”

I sighed. “Let’s leave that for now,” I said. “I’m tired.”

I wasn’t, but I needed time alone to think. Surely, with knowledge from my previous life, I’d figure something out. Not to mention my blessing, too.

Maria got up and took Liam’s and my empty bowls and spoons and began washing them. Liam reached his hand out and ruffled my hair. He said gently, “Don’t think too much and too hard. You’re still young. Everything will work out for you. I’m sure of it. For now, just get better.”

Everything will work out for me. Yeah, right. I had thought so, too, but life tends to throw you a curveball when you least expected it. I sure as hell wasn’t going to leave anything to chance this time.