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  2. She Who Became Immortal

  3. 001 – Euphemia Grimwood
She Who Became Immortal

001 – Euphemia Grimwood

My name is Euphemia Grimwood.

I'm the second daughter of the Grimwood family, just turned sixteen.

With my silky golden hair, though lacking a bit of body curve, and my youthful face, I often pass for younger than my actual age, perhaps by a couple of years. That's what I believe, at least.

I am Euphemia Grimwood.

I am indeed Euphemia Grimwood.

Though I feel distinctly changed from just a moment ago.

That's because memories from my past life have resurfaced.

Memories of a man in his thirties, living on modern Earth around the year 2100, now coexist within me, creating a rift between who I was moments ago and who I am now.

But no matter.

I am still Euphemia Grimwood.

The second daughter of the Grimwood family, sixteen years old, with my golden locks, a vision of loveliness with a youthful countenance...

And now, I am condemned to the flames.

Currently facing execution by burning.

Allow me to introduce myself.

I am Euphemia Grimwood, born as the second daughter of the Earl's family — in simpler terms, me — and I was raised amidst an abundance of affection that bordered on suffocation.

My father, mother, siblings, and all the members of our household doted on me relentlessly.

After all, I was quite the adorable child.

Some would even go as far as to compare me to an angel.

The treatment I, Euphemia "super cute" Grimwood, received changed when I turned eight.

This world is vastly different from Earth, more akin to a realm of "swords and magic".

A medieval fantasy realm where monsters and demi-humans roam, and where the laws of physics differ from those of Earth.

In essence, it's what some would call "reincarnation into another world".

In the Louisse Kingdom, noble children have their magical abilities assessed at the age of eight.

They perform this rather inhumane and discriminatory practice of ranking children by touching some sort of crystal ball, discerning the color and intensity of light or some such thing. As you'll come to understand from the narrative, my "magical talent" was deemed negligible.

Following that, the treatment towards me underwent a significant change... or rather, it worsened considerably, and even as a child, I could sense the discomfort emanating from my family and household members. Nonetheless, I remained endearing.

It must have been quite awkward for them to treat someone as adorable as me as if I were worthless simply because I lacked talent.

However, my reputation suffered greatly.

This world is far crueler than Earth; even there, the disabled are treated with kindness, and the homeless are given a chance...

But here, if you lack talent, you might as well be trash. No questions asked.

The stigma surrounding me became too much to bear.

The societal norms here were far harsher in comparison to Earth.

In a world governed by swords and magic, information about people from distant lands usually spreads through word of mouth. As far as my knowledge extends, printing technology doesn't yet exist here. Books are handwritten manuscripts, with plant-based paper being scarcely available, and rumors suggest that alchemists monopolize this technology.

But I digress.

For those unacquainted with my appearance, Euphemia Grimwood is often labeled as "talentless and inept," a label that proved useful in tarnishing the reputation of the Grimwood family.

I'll spare the details, but there were factions both hostile and amicable towards the Grimwood family, and it was decided that I would be betrothed to the Muller family, who were closely associated with us.

Nobles prioritize blood ties; strengthening lineages through marriages with those possessing magical talents is a common practice.

Thus, my father and the head of the Muller family reasoned:

"Euphemia herself holds little value, but her lineage does."

What were my thoughts at that time?

I can't recall distinctly. I remember feeling deeply shaken by my own perceived worthlessness due to my lack of talent, but afterward, everything feels like a blur.

Moreover, as a noble's second daughter, whether or not you possess talent holds little significance; you're primarily married off for political expediency. So when the engagement was arranged, my reaction was more along the lines of, "Ah, I see." My father must have felt relieved, or something to that effect.

As for my fiance — Eckhart Muller — what sort of person was he?

To be honest, my initial impressions of him are vague. It's expected that the second son of a noble could be serious, proud, or domineering, but I recall Eckhart leaning more towards the serious side.

Our relationship wasn't marked by passion or coldness; instead, it was fairly amicable.

The Grimwood Earldom and the Muller Earldom share adjacent borders, leading to frequent encounters between us. Consequently, I crossed paths with Eckhart on numerous occasions.

I'll reiterate as many times as necessary: I was considered cute. Euphemia "too cute" Grimwood. No matter how often you heard "Euphemia, the talentless," Eckhart couldn't help but be drawn to the genuine me.

Each time we met, he would blush and nervously attend to me.

I wouldn't categorize that as love. The notion unsettled me.

Nevertheless, it was like this:

Exceedingly adorable, yet possessing a worthless magical talent.

That's me, Euphemia Grimwood.

The peculiar aspect of my relationship with Eckhart began about a year ago.

In the Louisse Kingdom, noble kids like us had to go to the academy when we turned fourteen. This starts what we call the "academy arc." But honestly, not much exciting stuff happened there.

I, Euphemia, was pretty average among all the noble brats at the academy. While I wasn't the only one lacking talent, there were others like me, especially the kids of high-ranking nobles. You couldn't really make fun of them openly. But I think the academy shook up Eckhart's beliefs quite a bit. That's what I believe, at least.

For me, life at the academy was full of surprises. People can be really weird. I don't know if it's because they're nobles or if they were just born that way, but there were lots of people even weirder than me. Take the Gillette twins, for example. They were amazing at magic and obsessed with getting better at it, not caring about anything else. They were like kids building sandcastles, but if you messed with their "sandcastles," they'd hurt you bad.

I heard they hurt three other students at the academy—burning arms, freezing legs, cutting off fingers. But they got away with it because they were "magically talented." 

That's all that matters to nobles sometimes. It's kind of messed up.

I'm just glad I still have some humanity left.

Why is magic so important to nobles, anyway?

Well, because they see us as weapons in battles. Just having strong magic can change the course of a fight, and nobles know that well. It's like saying,

"If others have missiles, I should have them too."

Showing off your power can keep you safe from attacks. It's not a nice thought, but sometimes people can be really cruel when it's about protecting themselves.

Eckhart was like that too.

Does this kingdom even have diplomacy or friendly relations with other kingdoms?

It doesn't seem like it.

During the long break when the academy closed, Eckhart met a girl named Mizetta back in the Muller Earldom.

She didn't have a fancy family name, just Mizetta.

She was one of the few non-nobles with an amazing talent for magic.

That's why Eckhart chose her over me, and even the Muller family picked her instead of me.

She must've been really talented.

And because of that, I got sentenced to burning at the stake.

All because of unfair rules and people's questionable standards. It makes me wonder if these were all fake.

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