Dia took a bite out of the emerald-green mountain sitting in front of her, and then shivered as purest lifeforce seeped into her body. She could feel her muscles trembling with every gulp, which took in oodles and oodles of lifespan. Considering that every pure-ranked lifestone granted her a month’s worth of lifespan, just a few mouthfuls was enough to make sure she celebrated five more New Moons’ Eve.

“Ah, this is the life.” Dia flipped to the next page of her little book, before tossing more lifestones over. This had been her daily life for the past two weeks — her father had happily opened the vaults for her when she made the request to just indulge in lifeforce. The results were shocking, too — within the past half month, her lifespan had ballooned by a staggering four hundred years. Simple calculations would reveal that she had eaten a total of around four thousand eight hundred lifestones — pure-ranked ones at that — and she wasn’t going to let up anytime soon.

This was her unprecedented chance for a major boost when this trial ended, and no one was going to tell her otherwise. Of course, she had gotten sick of eating those green gems some time ago, but since this was for her own good…

There were ways to deal with this, though, and the one she was currently using had her pretending that every lifestone was a snack. It went without saying that if she really ate this many sweets, she probably wouldn’t be able to sleep for tonight, but this was a special sweet.

Probably.

Tossing another handful of sweets into her mouth, Dia flipped to the next page. One sad thing about going back in time was the fact that the series she had been following, which was centred around an assassin reincarnated as a young child, naturally didn’t have the latter volumes released. It was unfortunate, but at least she had something to read while filling herself with lifeforce.

Another green sweet arced over and landed into her mouth, and Dia braced herself for another wave of sweetness. This was indeed her daily routine now — wake up, wash up and dig in.

“Still, if Father wasn’t restricted from growing stronger…” Dia looked at the massive vault filled with lifestones and other artefacts. Lustre was one of the few territories that hadn’t been affected by the lifestone shortage, which accounted for the vast stash.

However, there was something restricting her father from growing too strong. Which was odd, but since Dia didn’t know the specifics of the restrictions that bound her father…

“Milady.” Lucy, who had been reading her own book too, looked up. “Today’s rather special.”

“The dinner with my father, yes?” Dia got up. “Well, I suppose I should stop eating then.”

“Yes, milady.” Lucy supported her to a standing position. “I have advised the chefs to prepare savoury dishes for your next meal, in light of the…lifestones.”

“Thank you.” Dia looked at the green mountain. “Incidentally, do you not feel anything when you see so many lifestones? Some of them are pure-ranked ones. Selling a single one could bring you vast wealth. You’d never need to work again.”

“Please don’t tease me, milady. You know as well as I do about the security surrounding this place.” Lucy rolled her eyes. “You might as well just give me money directly. Wouldn’t that be better?”

“Sure.”

“Milady, I was just joking. There are other reasons why I’m working here,” Lucy replied. “Ladies in waiting are not commoners.”

Dia thought for a moment. “Indeed.”

She took out a small bag, before filling it up with the pure-ranked lifestones here. The pillar she had been eating from was still as thick and imposing as ever, although its height had fallen ever since she moved to this pillar two days ago.

“Milady, you sure are…hardworking.” Lucy scooped up some lifestones and poured it into Dia’s bag. “What caused this?”

“What caused this, you ask…” Dia glanced at her mission and then shook her head. There was no way she could tell her that she came from the future or something; if she didn’t get it wrong, it was only her mind that travelled back in time. Her real body was almost certainly still lying on a bed of barriers, although only a day would have passed when she returned.

“Milady?”

“Sorr— my apologies. I was lost in thought for a fleeting moment of time,” Dia replied. “My thoughts have a tendency to wander these days. Perhaps, I am thinking about a better past…but no matter. To answer your question, I thought about working hard when I saw the Field of Flowers and Fruits. Grand they might be, and expansive their territory, but they are ultimately just ornaments and baubles for the strong to admire.”

She tied up the opening of the bag and handed it to Lucy. “The only thing that can persevere through the tide of time is power. I had already figured that out long ago, but it is wise to be balanced in many aspects. Such is life…”

Dia glanced at her half-comprehending caretaker-slash-maid, and then shrugged. “Don’t worry too much about it. All this will be a waking dream, soon enough…”

“Uh, very well, milady. Let’s return to your room first, then.”

The two of them returned in silence. The Lustre Palace was a bit larger than the Nightfall Palace, but it was also sensibly arranged. The core parts of the palace were all located next to each other; if this place was ever attacked, the guards could conduct a fighting retreat, falling back from the external areas and buying time for all the sensitive items to be stored in the same location.

This was also a reason why she had escaped easily back then, since the palace was designed to keep people out, rather than trapping them in. Of course, she had a sneaking suspicion that her father had allowed her to escape — there was no way he actually had a heart attack…

After popping the bag of green night snacks onto her bed, Dia changed into a nice gown with Lucy’s assistance, and then made her way to the smaller dining hall. The big one was reserved for troublesome events; the small ones were for family, and her father was already sniffing at the savoury dishes when she stepped through the door.

“My dear daughter!” Her father smiled as she took a seat. “How goes your lifestone eating?”

“It’s going very well. Thank you, lord father.”

Lucy chuckled. “Lord Duke, the princess has been eating them very diligently. She’s even getting nauseous from eating too much.”

“Is there a medication for that?” her father asked. “Feeling sick is not a nice sensation. Or should I send for a physician?”

“I-I’m fine, father.” Dia looked at her father squarely, and in that instant, the memories of her final interaction back then rushed through her mind. How much of that memory was something her mind thought up? Was his expression then really one of anger? Or was it something else?

She could not reconcile her caring father now and the Duke Lustre that had stripped her of her position and forced her to flee. It didn’t make sense, unless she went by that theory earlier…

“Father…”

“Yes?” A twinkle popped up in his eye. “Do you need more lifestones?”

“I just wanted to call you a few more times,” Dia replied. “And the vault has more lifestones than I can possibly finish in a decade. There’s no need for more…”

She turned to the savoury dishes laid out on the table, and her father laughed. “Very well. I can see you’re really…hungry too. There’s no need to be polite today, my dear daughter. Go ahead and dig in.”

Her father was, as usual, as inscrutable as ever. While she could vaguely feel his care and love for her, that was all. Dia couldn’t tell what the intensity of his feelings were.

He had always been like this, after all.

Dia took a seat, and then pondered in silence. She didn’t quite know how to talk to her father, especially since they usually interacted in more formal settings. In addition, it had been quite some time, and…

She focused on eating instead. While there were many questions she really wanted to ask, Dia knew that this was not the right time. Any wrong step here, and the changes she had already made could very well spiral out of control. For now, she just needed to focus on gobbling down as many things as possible, and prepare for her return.

There were still a lot of things that didn’t make sense to her. For instance, what happened to her body’s original Dia? When she returned, would she have a weird, one month’s gap of memory? Or would something that would allow her to smooth things through happen?

Dia shook her head. The month that led up to her escape was quite unmemorable, if nothing else, and she couldn’t remember anything much save for that final visit to the Field of Flowers and Fruits.

“Daughter? Is something wrong?”

Dia jumped. “No, nothing. Just thinking about the food…”

“I hope you like them.” Her father laughed, and then took out a wooden board. “Hmm. I wonder if there’s anything new today…”