noblewoman → peasant-wife

I blinked and the reflection before me changed.

It was still me but... something felt off.

Maybe it was the change in dress?

It was still expertly handcrafted by the best in the kingdom and with excellent materials, that much I could feel alone. Yet, the chest section definitely lost the fancy white floral embroidery that decorated the edges, changed out for a simple lacy see-through edge. Cute but mundane red ribbons were pinned where the spaghetti straps connected to the rest of the garment, and the heart-shaped cutout was plugged in with a diamond-shaped ruby with a gold trim. The earrings also became diamond-shaped rubies caged with gold. Even my choker was not spared, now a lacy black article pinned closed by another diamond-shaped ruby rimmed with gold. At least my hair still neatly fixed into twin braided buns.

I studied the slight blush on my face, my upturned lips forming a genial smile, and my ruby red eyes that exuded warmth and altruism. Despite the apparent changes in my dress, it was still me. At least, I believed it was me - it was hard to tell who was who at this point, my Lilian-side and my James-side progressing in fusion and reconciliation.

To repeat an earlier point, I think, there I am but who am I exactly? This time, something in my mind - or rather, I think its my soul - gravitated towards what might've once been the Lilian-side. I tried to look for my James-side but... if it was still there, then it was nothing more than pockets of dull red that lingered in a sea of Lilian's gold. Interesting, given I still sport ruby red eyes that represented that 'possessed by viewer' keyphrase. Perhaps, its became an intrinsic physical part of my person at this point in reconciliation?

Speaking off, I would have to investigate the smartphone to see what changed exactly. Just earlier, the James-side was there and active (they were the reason why I had an urge to explore my body) so... maybe the smartphone took in one last thought from that side before-

-ah. I see.

Oh, James-side, I really pity you for this last act of pettiness.

The words 'peasant-wife' sat where 'noblewoman' was in the textbox, the certain cause to why my dress changed and why I felt off. Because while I knew I was a lesser noblewoman (though elevated by virtue of being engaged with the princess and queen as a chosen consort), newfound memories in this mind of mine said otherwise. Where I once walked in wealthy clothes and lived in sprawling rich homes, I could now only recall a simple but homely life in a village within the kingdom. Servants and well-dressed noble parents were replaced with rambunctious siblings (I thought I was a single child but maybe its different now) and a pair of loving and hard-working parents.

I... don't feel entirely wronged by this.

My previous life as a lesser noble was... something, I think- I know that it while I was materially off, there was societal pressure and the threat of a dagger (real or imagined) that hid in the shadows. My noble parents loved me, but they also saw me as a tool as far as I could recall. Whereas my new life as a commoner saw back-breaking labor and concerns of banditry, had a large and happy family that supported each other.

The issue is that in a grand scheme of things, to borrow a phrase from my James-side's Earth, we are back to square one. I'm still the chosen consort engaged to the both the princess and queen by virtue of inheriting my James-side's impacts in this world, but while that means I'm elevated to a noble title-

-it does not change the fact that I'm still a random peasant woman that the princess had chosen on a whim (... I think it was whim, but knowing the truth, it was matter of my James-side having manipulated things into favoring them, ignorant of the ramifications that would span out) and thus, liable to causing civil unrest among the noble houses. Of particular, the ever-so rancorous oldbloods that once filled the kingdom's positions, now replaced by newblood houses and even well-performing commoners if they proved their worth.

The new me loves the princess dearly - my old Lilian-side had no romantic feelings before, but I suspect that I've inherited not only some of the lusting for women from my James-side, but also his surprisingly goodhearted nature and guilt he felt in potentially dooming Armelia to either civil conflict or demonic hordes.

But just as I inherited empathy and guilt from my James-self, I'm still the hyper-intelligent and politically savvy Lilian-self; one that's aware of the potential powder keg that could blow up (another borrow Earthian phrase) should I continue to pursue my love with Princess Arma.

Damn you James-side, why must your petty nature act up at the very last moment? I understand why, my old Lilian-self had problems if we're being frank, but now you're ironically the bloody tactless one.

Eugh, and I forgot my James-side is now me, so I'm cursing myself for something I technically did but didn't really do.

Composing myself again, I know I'm still in sound mind. I could recall memories of leaving my home village for the capital city, of studying in a library in an academy of some kind, aiming to achieve a position in the royal government. Political and economic treatises, manuals in magic and even longsword fighting (formal duels were something that happens occasionally in Armelia), anything that could give me - a commoner girl - an edge over my nobleborn peers.

I also, for some reason, recall studying the art of... seduction, my using my body to- oh, I'm positively blushing. I couldn't recall why I pursued that, maybe beyond a less-than-ideal fallback or maybe my new history had my lust not tempered until recent. Thankfully, and perhaps morbidly, I never had a first time due to the skewed male-to-female ratio Armelia now faces, and the derision I faced from my nobleborn peers, both females and few males there was. As far as I know, its been nothing but... analogous cylindrical shapes and fingers that graced my privates... until that 'fated' meeting with the princess. My face heated up recalling the moments that led up to it (ironically, the aforementioned "study of seduction" did jack-squat to help me there), yet my more analytical side compared it to what the late James-side truly knows.

There was still the question of how smartphone will reconcile its existence in this world, but a device as powerful as this one will likely brute **** reality to accept it. Maybe I'll know of the history of how I came into possession of it, upon exiting this editing phase.

(peasant-wife, direct angle, austere blonde hair, composed and beneficent, slender elegant build, unnaturally-excited smile, standing straight, holding smartphone, royal and wealthy apparel, posh castle bedroom, mostly gray brick scenery, [possessed by viewer | KEYPHRASE UNDER REVIEW])

[AN: More playing around with civitai.com tools and tricks, not too keen on losing out some of the details that the AMM SDXL model in Openart.ai usually adds in. Still, at least I can keep things from looking too harsh in terms of saturation and line thickness. This chapter might be subject to having its image change if I decide to revisit the change again and regenerate the image.

Also, our new Lilian, as Ai-R suggested in the previous chapter, will definitely have inherited more than just James' personality but plenty of his history - something that I'll try to explore in the next chapter; should it be an Exit or another keyphrase add/swap.]