Somewhere in a forest around the Rothssey kingdom, a little girl ran hastily without daring to look behind her.

Her small body bruised, with scratches all over due to running inside the forest without any protection and barely covered with rags that hid her modesty. Her hair long dirtied, no longer resembling the previous color it once had days ago, her expression desperate and terrified.

Terrified from the men she had barely escaped, as their screams resounded in the seemingly silent forest, calling for her to get back lest she faces the consequences.

She only tried harder, knowing that she will be hurt again, just like she was the previous few days.

She might not fully understand what the men meant when they talked about her being 'pure' and 'rare pet', but she knows that she hates the way they looked at her, the way they touched her, when they hit her for not obediently listening to them.

She doesn't want to deal with that anymore.

It was simply sheer luck the carriage she was in suddenly got destroyed out of nowhere, with strong wind knocking the men away as she frantically ran away without thinking.

She doesn't know how long she had run, a few minutes or hours, but she knows that even as her lags ached and her lungs burned, she has to keep going, lest they actually catch up to her and hurt her even further.

But no matter what, she was only an untrained kid running away from multiple adults in an unfamiliar territory, while still hungry and thirsty.

Luck can only go that far against such odds in her situation.

She found herself hit with a wave of water, tripping her into the grass, as she coughed, trying to stand up, but a hand caught her, raising her frail figure.

Her body locked from fear as she ended up seeing the furious face of one of her capturers, looking as if he was considering to just kill her and be done with it. Unfortunately he was out of mercy.

"You brat!" He hissed, his voice full of venom and rage. "Don't you know your place yet!? You are a slave. A. Slave!"

He put little pressure on her neck, which caused her to gasp trying to breathe, her body finally moving frantically as her small hands tried to move his arms from her throat, as her legs flailed wildly without any success.

"We will make sure you learn your place, and you better say goodbye to our previous generosity! From now, you will regret daring to run away!"

The girl was becoming even more frenzied as her body tried to get the much needed air, as she felt her body getting numb, only her utter desperation and terror were pushing her into overdrive as she feared for what would happen to her if she couldn't escape.

'NO! I don't want to be dragged back there! I don't want to be hurt!'

Tears still spilling from her eyes, a sensation of rage barely made itself known inside of her, as she lamented about her situation, how unfair it is, and how she doesn't want to suffer by the hands of her captors anymore.

She doesn't want to.

No matter what.

No matter how.

She hateshateshateshatesHATES-!

Something in her snapped, and the only thing she saw before losing her mind to primal instict was the shocked look on her captor's face, as flames exploded from her, consuming him as he screamed in agony, before he fell on the ground, dead.

She could only look at his body for a second before she heard his friends finally reaching her location, rage and fear still clouding her, as she moved once more.

---

It had been a couple of days after Layla had her first experience in the dungeon.

The reincarnator opted to have the next few days go normally while her body adapts to the increase of her magic reserves, so no monster hunting and killing.

She also decided to spend that period of time by refining her mana control to adapt to the increase of her magic output. One can never have too much control over magic after all.

Which is why she was currently in the pool inside her house, walking above the water while slowly making different shapes with it.

She looked at the water she was manipulating, as it was reshaped from a ball, to a cube to other forms, thinking about her next plans.

'I wonder when I will get strong enough to enter that difficult dungeon.'

Layla was thinking about the "final arc" dungeon from the game, the one where the game's playable characters went to fight monsters that easily equaled and surpassed the demon queen in level and later in sheer stats and power.

That dungeon's position was already known to her, she only needs to grow strong enough to fight in it.

'I have my work cut for me.'

Layla mused in her mind, before she heard the sound of someone knocking on the door, and then a maid asking for permission to enter.

"Enter!"

A maid opened the door and entered as Layla walked out of the pool, her clothes rapidly warming, no longer wet with water.

"Layla-sama. Your father and mother is asking for your presence."

Layla blinked.

"My parents? Do you know why?"

The maid nodded, stating that they have guests and a formal bussines to do so she should get proper clothes for the occasion.

"I wonder what it could be."

Layla questioned as she walked along the maid to her room, and picking a dress to wear.

"I am not sure myself, but I have heard that the Hoen family will be the ones making the visit."

Layla raised her eyebrows.

"Hoen? The duke's family?"

That name... Wait, wasn't it the family of Zain's fiancée in the game?

So does this mean that Anna and her brother will be engaged from when they are almost seven years old?

Zain was currently about to reach his seventh birthday while she had her birthday almost five weeks ago, reaching six.

'My brother will most likely be engaged to Anna, if this went like the story of the game, and then it will be almost another nine years before the game's plot starts properly if nothing deviated that much, or at all.'

She pondered as she wore the dress and looked in the mirror.

'I will have to defeat the demon queen before the game plot kicks in, or at most before the second arc begins. That's assuming the heroine is not a reincarnator that wants to date the capture target guys and wants to also bring my "death flag". That would be really awkward. And annoying. And probably dangerous for her if something happened and I became ruthless in the future.'

More power to the Heroine in this world if she wanted to date her brother and the other capture targets (assuming Anna and the other fiancées and the friends-with-benefits were fine with that) but if she thought bullying Layla (and possibly any friends she will have at that time) was a great idea...

'Well, I will deal with that when it comes. Let's see Anna now.'

Checking one last time, she then went along with the maid towards the room where the duke's family will stay during their short visit to talk about whatever deal her father deemed important enough, and on the way she ended up meeting her brother Zain, and both went together, still accompanied with the servants.

As she entered the large room, she saw the duke's family along with her own parents sitting on lavish sofas with a table separating them, filled with cups of tea and sweets.

She formally greeted the visitors with a bow, as did Zain and the two went to sit with their parents, and she got a quick look at the nobles sitting on the opposite of her before her father spoke.

"Now that Layla is here and Zain are here, we shall start the bussiness."

Gabriel, her father said in what she felt to be a regal authoritiative voice that caused Layla and Zain to unconsciously straighten up from the seriousness in it.

'My father is still a king and he means bussines now, huh?'

She wondered as he spoke to her and Zain.

"Layla, Zain. I shall first introduce our guests. The man in front of you, is Fulbertus von Hoen, a duke, and one of the influencial nobles in our kingdom."

The man Gabriel introduced was a tall guy almost reaching two meters, feeling slightly buff and muscular like Gabriel, with a blond hair and green eyes. He wore a typical fancy noble suit that Layla saw when she went to the high-class parties. He also was looking indifferent.

"On his side, his wife Lilla von Hoen, and their daughter Anna von Hoen."

The wife was an attractive woman that seemed to be in her thirties, with an attractive voluptuous body, a seemingly slim waist and a large bust. She had a fiery red hair and orange eyes also wore a fancy red dress that complimented her looks, as she smiled at Layla and her brother when she looked at them.

Meanwhile, the girl with them, Anna, looked like a younger version of her mother with the red hair and the orange eyes that looked even more mesmerising than her mother's reminding Layla with the way the sun sets, blanketing the world in orange. She wore a frilly red-orange dress that would made her eyes stand out even more.

The girl in question bowed for a moment when introduced, then she picked up one of the sweets to pass up time as the rest picked something as Gabriel stopped for a moment.

Layla looked at the older girl in front of her, and she felt that just that face alone will give Anna a lot of admirers in the future. Even more so when Anna kept looking at her and her brother curiously, her eyes seemingly looking at their souls. Not literally, luckily. Probably. Layla hoped.

'The game doesn't give Anna's image a justice, it seems.'

Layla thought before her father started to talk once more.

"As you know, our families are very influencial and had a long history of being close to each other, along with many of the older noble families."

He looked at the children for a second before he continued.

"And as such, sometimes, solidifying our relations is a must, do you understand?"

Well, that was simple to understand as far as Layla thought. Nobles live in politics, and making connections and relations with other nobles is one way of increasing one's political strength.

She simply nodded along with Zain and Anna.

"Which is why, it was decided that for now, it would benefit both our families and the kingdom as a whole to strengthen each other once more. Which is what I called you here for."

Gabriel and Emilie (Layla and Zain's mother) looked, focusing on Zain with a serious look.

'Here we go...'

Layla could think in her head before she heard her father's proposal.

"Zain von Rothssey, as the first prince of the Rothssey kingdom, would you choose to be engaged with the daughter of the noble house of the Hoen family, Anna von Hoen?"

Albeit it was stated as a question and a request, Layla didn't doubt for a moment it was an order, at least for now.

There was really no choice for Zain in here, or Anna for that matter to not be engaged for years to come.

If either rejected things right away, they will be covinced to wait for "a while" before they break the engagement for real, and even then it will be years before it actually gets voided.

Zain also knew of that, he was the prince, and even as a child he also was info-dumped about his position as the future king and what his obligations are.

He looked at Anna's face as the girl in question smiled brightly.

"Let's do our best, Zain-sama~!"

Her voice was childish and it had an excited tone in it as she put one of her hands on her chest.

With that innocent look and excited voice, it was clear what Zain had to do.

"Let's do our best. Anna-chan!"

Layla watched with hidden amazement as her brother's face reddened when he looked at Anna's sweet expression and agreed to the engagement.

After that, Layla, along with Anna and Zain were told to go outside the room and enjoy themselves inside or around the castle for an hour or two so the adults can discuss and finalize the finer parts of the deal.

So it was natural for them to go outside and bask in the sunlight as the children sat on a table set on the garden, as a couple of servants brought them some nice cakes and tea to pass time with.

As the three sat together, Layla and Zain looked at Anna as she beamed, enjoying the tea for a moment before she sighed.

"So... How are you feeling?"

Layla started what she felt to be an appropriate question, and was rewarded by a smile.

"I am fine, thank you, Layla-sama! Zain-sama!"

The redhead's smile caused the two kids to smile in return.

"Just Zain please! You are my fiancée after all!"

"Call me just Layla as well! We will be friends for a long time, I feel it!"

The kids took a couple of minutes staying like that, before Zain broke the silence.

"So, Anna-chan, do you train in magic?"

'Well, I can't say changing the subject to magic was unexpected.'

Layla mused as she saw Anna nod, as she created a small fire in her palm.

"Um! Do you want to see?"

'Well, that escalated quickly.'

Layla deadpanned mentally as she felt the air around Anna change, the feeling of innocence suddenly disappearing, and what felt like a desire for showing off her power making itself clear in her orange eyes.

With a shout, Zain agreed immediately.

Her brother seemed to want to see magic, it seems.

"You two are serious? You only met for less than an hour."

Layla raised a brow.

"Bu~t sister!"

Her brother was now pouting at her.

"Don't you feel it? It's the call of the battle! I and Anna-chan must see each other's magic and one-up ourselves to know each other!"

"Saying what you heard from your magic mentor or read from a story won't work-"

"It's fine! I want to!"

Layla's deadpan voice was cut off as Anna looked at her with an excited look.

"I want to test myself too~!"

"Okay then, whatever."

Layla just shrugged. If they want to blow things up, why not let them?

'But to think that my brother's fiancee is so excited about the prospect of seeing magic, or maybe it's because she is a child? I think I might have been like that if I was not reincarnated, or if I didn't get my memories back. Probably.'

She mused as they walked to a wide area behind the castle.

It was the training ground area their family owned, and Zain, sometimes her as well, trained in magic and sword/weaponry as well.

The ground in the area was rocky without any plants or grass around, and there were multiple human-sized straw dolls for target practice.

Layla picked a chair and sat a few meters away from her brother and his now-fiancée, as the two faced a target practive, their bodies glowing from their mana.

Zain started, raising his hand as an arc of water was created, and it flew towards the doll, and sliced it in two.

He looked proud with a tinge of smugness in the air.

'Damn, he looks cute at this point. Hope he won't become a jerk later...'

Layla sweatdropped as she watched them.

Anna nodded.

"Impressive! But I am better!"

She threw a ball of flame that burned her target, and she looked as the entire dummy disintegrated.

This time the redhead was the one looking smugly as Zain pouted, and like any typical quarrel between two smug snobs with magic powers, it escalated into verbal fight then an actual fight with magic. Nothing super lethal that won't be easily fixed with few minutes of healing/light magic anyways.

The result was Layla eating a cake as she watched the two fought like any children fight when they want to one-up the other.

"I attack you with this stick!" Anna held a small wooden stick and swung it at Zain.

"It doesn't work because augmentation magic!"

"Foiled again! Surprise! The stick was on fire this whole time!"

"Uhh, I break the stick!"

"I punch you!"

"I block your hand!"

"Foiled again! Surprise! My hand was on fire this whole time!"

"I shoot you with my water beam attack!"

"Your what?"

"Wryyyyyyyyyy!"

And then Zain's body flew away thanks to water.

Typically no one won.

Meanwhile, Layla was wondering why her brother screamed "Wryyyyyy!" then chalked it up to reality collapsing for a second or something.

---

Ten minutes later, Anna left with her parents leaving two smiling kids.

Layla enjoyed herself for sure today even if she didn't fight or exercice herself.

'I wonder how things will go the next few years.' She glanced at her brother Zain that was still smiling for having so much fun, internally pondering to herself.

'Zain, I can see you at least enjoy her presence for now, even as a playmate and friend. So, will you forget this when you grow? Or will you still care, unlike your game version?'

Layla wondered about that for a moment.

This world was real, no longer a game obviously, and there were things already different, but just how much is able to change, and how much is forced to stick without being able to move?

'Well, I will see where things will go. For now, I should return to training.'

With that, she prepared herself to the many busy days she will have defeating monsters and growing stronger.