Reborn again to change WHAT?

Chapter 1

The gory sword slipped from his hand with a loud clatter on the marble floor echoing his sorrow through the bare hallway of the giant Whittling Mansion. He trudged a weak step towards the large white bed dazzled by the brilliant moonlight seeping through the large window where a gentle breeze fluttered with a farewell. Tears uncontrollably drifted down his haggard face as he lifted her lifeless fragile body to his arms and buried his grief in her cold shoulder as his powerful arms wrapped around her. A loud clanging bell rose from the tower visible to the large window "Good bye, Lady Edith. May you find peace!" loud wailing of the remaining few servants of the mansion rose from the ground as they huddled in the cold staring at the tower. Soon the moon hid beneath the clouds as the clanging bell succumbed to silence.

[   This is the end of one of Edith's lives...   ]

I looked up to the shelf and hesitated wondering if this would really suit me. In my past life without a doubt I would have taken the 'Beast taming magic' just because my father, Duke Whittling thought it was a good idea since I liked animals but going through the same class again with Professor Delvin made me feel sick because he liked to keep his students past lunchbreak, a time which was very much important to me.

I took the book, 'Plant growth magic' it said in the title and somehow my eyes kept wandering to it so with my decision I went to the girl in the library Miss Wendy Lithe, the female protagonist of the story I am in and to which I have been reborn again even though I lived a really blameless sort of life. Maybe not entirely blameless after all I was a little spoilt when I was young but dying of an incurable illness was not expected then. I wondered if I would not live past 20 years again in this life. But worrying about something like that was useless since if it goes according to the story and even in my past life, my illness showed itself when I was 19 years old, hardly any time to do anything.

Wendy was really beautiful with golden hair and lovely pink eyes. She comes from a noble family which is quite poor so she is constantly looked down upon by others but then the male lead, the crown prince will fall in love with her and then happy ever after... or so I thought but in my past life Wendy didn't really like the crown prince much and hung out with the second male leads more and in the end they got killed because the crown prince was jealous of them and surprisingly his act actually made Wendy fall for him while realizing such an aggressive man needs her to keep him in good influence. After the shocking revelation about her character then I wanted to avoid her in this life but it was difficult when we were practically roommates.

"Hi Edith," she called my name in a lovely tinkling voice and I forced a smile "Hi Wendy, on duty today?"

"Yeah," she smiled sweetly "Remember to go to Professor Magnus's class, he is preparing the portions today. If you miss it you will have a lot to do." I coughed a bit and then quickly turned away to hide my frown for some reason she thinks she is my mother or something. Always she has to remind of my classes as if I keep skipping them.

Outside the library I met Hans who was busy carrying a box of books to the 'Club of Oculus' holding the great seniors of Know-High Academy like the prefects in my world. They held meetings and pretty much had authority over regulations and organizing of events. And of course they are from rich and powerful noble families and the crown prince is soon to be one of them.

"Edith, Penny was telling me to tell you to remember about tea." His light brown hair was quite fuzzy and it gave me the urge to touch it sometimes but I held back because it was not manners for a noble lady like me. Hans was very cute like a young boy though he was 16 years old like me and he hated it when people mistook him for a junior due to his babyish face.

"Oh right," I smiled at him "Would you like to have tea with us too Hans? We are going to Fresh Delights."

His eyes lit up and was about to accept when someone grabbed his collar from behind. It was Senior Reggie Will, the outstanding 18 year old son, of Duke Will of the powerful aristocrats. "Hans, why are you slacking off? James is waiting for you."

I giggled and seeing me Reggie bowed slightly "Lady Edith, I will take this troublesome guy with me." He was about to take the crying Hans away when I stopped "No well...would you both like to have tea with me and Penny today. We are planning to go to the Fresh Delights because it is a good day today."

I am not sure but Reggie's eyes widened as he seemed to not have expected such an invitation. Hans wrenched himself free and with a wide smile grabbed my hand "Really Edith, you are a lifesaver. I can finally escape having horrible tea with Franz." He replied alluding to his roommate who only talked about the digestion mechanism while eating which was endured much by Hans who didn't have strength to defeat him in a Science battle.

Reggie cleared his throat "Thank you my lady, then I will accept."

Penny hugged me when she heard Reggie was coming to our little outing because she had a strong interest in him. I didn't really understand her but she knew Reggie when they were young so there must be some inside story. We both got ready and she combed my long pink hair which was the main beauty of mine. I knew I was moderately pretty with dark eyes and a slender figure but my hair from my mother was the main thing I considered beautiful because it gave me a good feeling to see it shining under the sun. Penny had a very lustrous brown hair which she kept up in a ponytail and she had a good figure since she practiced martial arts. Though we were not roommates we often hung around together and I found we had similar hobbies.

In my past life I had a friend too, whom I trusted the most and who backstabbed me later. Even then, Penny was the one who took my side though I hadn't associated much with her. Making a choice again was not difficult besides I had come to the academy earlier than my last life because I wanted to leave soon before...before I met... him.

Reggie was as dashing as ever and Hans was also quite cute. The four of us arrived at the Dessert shop which was famous for the best confectionaries and cakes. I ordered my favorite Dark Chocolate Frost cake which had small chocolate icicles in the middle of the cake.

Penny and Reggie talked a while since they had known each other and Hans and I marveled at the food like little children and were busy eating them.

It was a fun day as we also had a walk in the market before heading to the academy right near the curfew hours.