"So Mordred's gotten really interested in helping the rebuilding efforts?"

  "Quite, she's actually getting up on the regular and heading out to help out around the city," Kuch mentioned with a hum. "Even as the days get colder, she just bundles up a few more layers and trundles out. I think she's also asked something about the castle servants?"

  "Yes, she's requested that they actually knock on her door until she gets out of bed. It took a bit for the servants to get used to it, especially when the first few times they beheld the visage of a dragon awakened from slumber," Vio commented with a small giggle. "But once they realized she doesn't bite them for doing the job she asked, they've gotten a lot more lax. I think one of the washerwoman even uses a ladle and pot to rouse her best."

  "And of course, once she's up, she might as well go put some time at the construction site." The doll faintly recalled how in FLOW, there actually had been some events structured around helping to rebuild some cities which had been devastated by war or conflict. They had namely been crafting and gathering events, which meant Mikel hadn't really been too involved with them. Noel definitely would be far more interested now, so perhaps they would get involved in some way.

  Mordred getting into it was definitely unexpected, but a good way for her to at least pass the time in a productive manner. The only downside was that her constant presence helping out at the construction site meant she wasn't available for taste testing my experiments at making beet sugar. At least there was another eager volunteer who was available instead and could be trusted to keep things under wraps.

  "So, you said that you could actually produce sugar from beets?" Vio asked, looking at the boiling pot Kuch was tending to. "That's definitely either lost knowledge or not very well-known in the empire. If you could successfully figure out a method that lets us use it without [Brew], then we'll make quite a bit of money off it."

  "That was what Petula said too. I figured that there's no reason we can't make a little bit of coin while also trying to feed our people." They paused, then sighed. The acolyte gave a wordlessly questioning tilt of the head that eventually prompted Kuch to share some worries. "So I've figured out what's the matter with your niece, and it's not going to be a pleasant discussion. It's not hopeless, but it's going to be very harsh to put up with for the moment."

  "Ah. An uncomfortable truth?"

  "Yes. And I'm just worried that she might buckle and break under its weight-"

  "She won't," her aunt confidently told with a reassuring nod. "Despite looking like her mother, Petula's more like her father, my brother, than she thinks. She might lose and vent her frustrations for the moment- but she'll bounce back soon after. I've seen the way she puts in time at practice and training, more so than anybody else, despite lack of payoff yet. So long as she has that belief it'll come one day, she'll press on."

  "But that's the issue," Kuch quietly mentioned while using a ladle to spoon out a small sample. "There might not be that reward if I- Noel- can't figure something out. Because this is something that even Lighthouse struggled with."

  "That...might be more difficult to come back from." Vio fell silent, briefly thinking. "At that point, maybe she needs reassurance from a familiar face. I could head towards Puppet Atelier if you'd like to give her a pep talk."

  "Thanks for the offer. I'll be sure to inform her family if it's needed." They judged the slightly murky fluid in a saucer and made a face. "I don't think this is what I'm after."

  "Doesn't look very good, but hand it over. It's not my first time tasting bad things, and you still might be onto something all the same." She took the offered sample and sipped at it, making a face when the taste hit her tongue. "Ugh, nope. Still tastes just like the dirt it came from."

  "Figured that just boiling cut beets wouldn't do the trick. Hm. Let's try reducing it more."

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  "I've hit my...limits?" Petula asked, obviously sounding confused. "What?'

  "It's difficult to parse, I know, but trust me on this. The people of this era are comparatively weaker than that of Lighthouse, perhaps due to weakening magics in the world." That was a half-truth, half-lie. There definitely was less magic about, but only because crystals and spellcasting had become so rare now. "It is a tragedy that I am working on to overcome, but for the moment, I cannot do much without powerful, legendary items that I do not have access to."

  "But what does that have to do with me?" she asked, confusion plain on the woman's face. "Especially about skills? I've seen my family acquire [Blood Harvest] so much sooner than me, surely if I've hit my limit, then they also have-"

  "It's because your blood flows a different ways than theirs," I finally revealed with a sigh and held up a hand. "Not in the sense that they aren't your family in blood- you're definitely your father's daughter and your brother's sister. But what flows through your veins is a different potential compared to them, one in which [Blood Harvest] is not so easily acquired."

  She blinked a few times, then looked down at her hands in the seat I urged her to sit upon for this. "So...I'm not going to be able to ever use [Blood Harvest]?" the vampire asked in a quiet, resigned tone. Her voice quivered and she sounded almost heartbroken. "It's...truly beyond my reach?"

  "Not without overcoming your limits and then some," I muttered and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "But did you remember what I said? A different potential is in there-"

  "But would it be something that I would be proud of?! Something worthy of House Cordis!" Petula erupted and leapt to her feet, that lifelong frustration finally boiling over. She jerked and ripped her shoulder away from her hand, actually almost yanking my entire wrist off from the force of it all. "What have I worked tireless for, without complaint, all this TIME!"

  I barely managed to dodge out the way when, with a powerful kick, she sent the chair clattering away. Oh dear. I was maybe regretting sending Frie away just a tiny bit, now that I had a very irate vampire throwing a well-deserved tantrum with nobody to stop her. "All my life, I just wanted to prove to my family that I can at least do something other than just being an aide. That his wife, my mother, who I killed by being born, she didn't die in vain! That she at least gave her life to bring about a woman who could at very least, give her own life too in service of House Cordis-!"

  "That's all I ever wanted! To be the best daughter from her sacrifice! To be...to be worth it."

  "And now, because of this...stupid world, I can't?" she weakly finished, the rage petering out. The inferno I hid from now finally burned out, becoming just floating ash which was all that was left of the pyre. "I caused so much trouble for my family before, and it was all for naught? I shamed myself in front of somebody from Lighthouse and for what? Just embarrassing everybody who's put so much trust in me."

  "Petula, please. Calm down. You should be able to still pivot and pick up some other skills to be useful-"

  The wooden rapier we'd just discovered the joy of using was dropped to the floor and she wordlessly turned about, heading to her room. I watched her go and sighed, reaching down to pick up the practice sword. It sounded like she needed time to think after my little reveal, and I don't think my suggestion was very well welcomed.

  I sighed, not happy with how quickly that had escalated. How powerless I was to stop it. All that good progress we made felt...pointless, I supposed. "What do I say, Cordelia?" I asked the empty air with regret. "Was I wrong?"

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  It didn't sit right with me either, the way that people were arbitrarily limited by the greed of publishers long gone and the only way to overcome was a cash shop item. That was the sort of thing Lighthouse had hated, it wasn't just a quick shortcut like a party crystal, but an actually necessity being priced out. To just accept it as fact and pivoting into another build that was more viable- that hadn't been how we ever operated. We'd push on and did the impossible, which had led us to beating Harbinger even.

  Argh, I wasn't going to give in yet, there had to be a way to try overcoming the limitation that I hadn't realized yet-!

  An idea struck and I retreated to my workshop, hands twitching with the anticipation of work. It was a bit of a long shot admittedly and I definitely didn't know if it would work. It was at least worth a shot and if it didn't- then, well, hopefully it would still be a little way to help break Petula out of her funk.

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  Petula felt angry, embarrassed, and ashamed all at once. Was she a child, throwing a fit? Or was she a dutiful daughter who knew when to plainly accept the truth?

  She'd buried herself into her pillow until sleep took her. She was not in a right state to show herself in front of Master Noel right now. Neither was she in any condition to be of any use to...anyone.

  Maybe deep down, she realized it long ago. That she was destined to end up like one of the minor cousins and relatives of House Cordis in time. Somebody who still was loved and valued, just...not as much as her father was. Or her mother had from all the stories she'd been told about the woman.

  For what reason was she born if only to disappoint? Constantly fumbling everything? Perhaps true wisdom was just...giving up, and going with the flow of things. Admitting that she was never going to live up to the legacy that she had built up for long for in her head-

  "My dear, that is no way for a daughter of my blood to think. Have a seat and partake in some tea- that should calm your nerves."

  Petula blinked when instead of that blackness of her thoughts, she suddenly found herself seated at a balcony table? Her head snapped around wildly and she took in the breathtaking sight of the estate looking so...pristine. That wasn't to say that the Puppet Atelier she saw wasn't glamorous- but this dream version of it radiated with such light and warmth that the current version didn't. But surely it would, merely because it was all in her head-

  The sound of a cup being set before her brought the vampire out of such thoughts and Petula turned to see a smiling maid there, one whom seemed to share a lot facial features to herself.. "Drink. It's Master Mikel's favorite blend and never fails to calm him down."

  Her hand shook as she followed the bidden order unthinkingly, and she brought the surely fantasized serving of tea to her lips. Moments later, her eyebrows shot up when instead of something like so overwhelmingly sweet as she did like, this tasted more refined, with a slight bitterness beneath that helped keep it from being overbearing at the same time. She finished it off in a single gulp and stared at the flavor she was pretty sure she couldn't have dreamed up.

  "Is this a...vision?" Petula quietly asked the maid who was calmly refilled the fine cup. "Or am I just hallucinating?'

  "I would like to think it more an echo. A faint resonance, if you will, likely made only possible because of the blood that courses through you. Our kind feel it more keenly than any others, just like how puppets are able to feel magic so much more thoroughly."

  "Forgive me though, because surely, I can't be talking with my great ancestor right now."

  "That's all right dear, you may choose to believe my words however you like," Cordelia answered with a smile. "Just as you may choose to believe that your efforts may yet still one day bear fruit."

  Petula flinched, then reached to drain the next cup of tea. The bitterness was more prominent this time. "But it won't," she mumbled. "Noel made it clear. I can't be like you. Or the rest of my family. I need to just give up and become somebody else-"

  Her brooding was interrupted by the maid huffing and flicking a lock of hair out of Petula's face. "Nonsense. There is a time when one ought to accept the truth. Then there is a time when the truth so happens to be more malleable than you think."

  "W-what?"

  "Noel- oh, beg pardon, Master Noel now, are they not the single greatest crafter in your reckoning?" she plainly stated. "They are one who molds reality into whatever they so wish with either their hands or mind. Even if the way is unclear or unknown, they will be the one to light the path in time.

  "That is the way of Lighthouse, is it not? Is that not the legacy that you aspire now to live up to?"

  Petula was silent for a moment, stewing in those thoughts. About how she was about to settle for what was known, instead of what still aid before. She took the third cup of tea and downed it immediately, pushing up to rise from her seat. "You're right. I don't know what I was doing, just giving up like that- I never have. Why should I start now?" she growled. "If the world's got limits, I'll ask Master Noel to break them for me."

  "A good attitude, though keep in mind that this is admittedly a new venture being embarked on. Some...teething issues are to be expected." Cordelia hummed. "I suppose I'll be seeing you for lessons."

  "Wait, lessons-?" Petula's vision swam and she realized she was stirring awake. However, her ancestor had one final thing to ask.

  "Oh, and please don't mention this to Master Noel. Knowing the poor, mad puppet, they'd do something like dig up my ashes to make into a doll if the notion so crossed their mind. And I do so enjoy my retirement."

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  I emerged out my workshop, carrying something in my hands, and blinked when I heard somebody going at it from the training room. Walking through the connecting wing, I took a peek and saw Petula back at her drills, looking both refreshed and determined already, as if the meltdown had never occurred. I pushed open the door wider to enter and she noticed, withdrawing from the dummy and wiping off a layer of sweat on her forehead.

  Had she already been training long before I finished? She recovered that quickly?

  "Master Noel," she began with a serious expression, then bowed her head. "Firstly, I apologize for my unsightly loss of manners. I said things that I never should have, and know better than to ask you to simply forget about them. If it offends you still, I will write to my father to request a replacement-"

  "No!" I blurted out, interrupting her with a frantic hand wave. "No, don't worry about it at all! I enjoy you being here, and I know I also said some pretty bad things too. Stuff like giving up on your dream to being something else, which in hindsight was pretty rude. I'm sorry for doubting your resolve."

  "And I, for doubting that you would have my best interests at heart. Nevertheless," she said while placing a hand over her chest, "I am committed to this path of mine, to become truly worthy of my ancestor. So I won't waver, no matter how much you tell me there are easier ways."

  I blinked, then nodded, recognizing her resolve. "You're sure?"

  "Yes. I am prepared to do whatever it takes."

  "Good." I grinned and held out the clothes I had stitched together while she rested. "Now, put on this maid dress. There's something I want to at least try out."

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