I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism!

“So, which brother will you marry?” Penny asked with a trace of smugness on her face. “All of father’s children are talented in our way. Father says Dennis is a young alchemy prodigy. He won the alchemy competition, even against the young Stride lord. Jealous people claimed big brother cut some kind of deal to allow younger brother to win, but isn’t that just the whining of losers?”

“Dennis is a bit young still…” Abigail responded, her expression complicated.

“Well, if it’s a martial talent you want, then there is always my older brother. Even though he placed third, you should know that this was an abnormality. That magistrate grows more unreliable every year. He’s even let bandits ravish the countryside, or so I’ve heard. If it had been run by a proper official, I’m sure brother would have obtained first place.”

“Cousin, we’re on the way to the magistrate’s mansion. You shouldn’t say such things.” Abigail reminded her.

“I would never do anything to embarrass sister,” she responded. “I can call you sister, right? Well, we’ll be sisters soon enough. If you’re worrying about someone embarrassing us, you really should watch out for this uncouth servant girl. She hasn’t even learned any power circuits after I’ve gone out of my way to stay with sister to educate her.”

“I’m sorry, my lady. I can’t read your notes. Perhaps, if you could instruct me-” Mara said before Penny cut in.

“Excuse me, we’re speaking.”

“S-sorry…”

“Honestly.” Penny rolled her eyes. “Do you think Grandmaster Bai has much time to train me? For the first three months, all I had were his study notes. You should be ecstatic that I’m willing to lend you even this much. If you can’t use them to excel like I did, then you shouldn’t blame others for your inadequacies.”

Mara winced. “Yes, my lady.”

“Hmph…” She turned away from Mara, “Where did you get such an uncultured girl from? A menagerie?”

“Mm…” Abigail gave a noncommittal response, causing Mara to sink more into herself.

Normally, she would cut into Penny’s tendency to look down on serving staff, especially since Mara was her cousin and by every right just as much a noble as either of them. Adding to that, her innate mana mutation and the Capala family would be jumping for her approval until they found out her connection to the Lyn family. Thus, Abigail could only continue to treat her as a maid she pulled off the street.

Even then, she wouldn’t allow Penny to abuse her staff, but her mind was lost on the events from earlier that day. After the tournament, the three of them returned to her mansion to get ready for the banquet. Naturally, all of the families were invited. This was their chance to try to court any particularly impressive talents into their family. Sometimes this was done with promises of money and power, and in rare occasions, this might even go so far as to lords offering their daughters in marriage.

This was exactly the situation that Abigail found herself pushed into. Her uncle had planned it all out. Abigail had fled to Stormberg precisely to avoid being dragged into the house’s political maneuvering and had her success running this branch been better, perhaps she would have been allowed to remain aloof from those things. Unfortunately, the alchemic crop fields kept perishing inexplicably, and her uncle started to use all of his resources to pressure her, even getting those from the main family line involved.

He had managed to defeat her excuses, eventually pushing her into making a last-ditch agreement. That was an agreement to pick the most qualified competitor from the tournament to become her husband. She had thought that this would give her some time, but it turned out she was too naïve. No sooner had she made this agreement than it was spread all over town. At first, she thought it was a leak among her servants, but she came to realize that it had all been planned by her uncle in the first place.

He had positioned the tournament this year, with one son sitting at the 4^th evolution to dominate the martial tournament, and a background deal to get his second son to dominate the alchemy tournament. Despite what Penny stated, she wasn’t so foolish as to believe that Jordan didn’t sacrifice his shot at winning the alchemy so that he could have a chance in the top three of marital combat. Despite coming from an alchemy family, Jordan always cared more about the martial path. This, and Abigail knew that he had always desired her, ever since she moved to Stormberg. In the few meetings they shared, he had always stared at her in an unsettling, almost predatory way.

Thus, she was left with either marrying Jordan, who was part of a rival family and would likely desire her body. Not only would she lose her purity, but her family would consider her all but a traitor. Although the Stride family wasn’t large enough to pose a threat to the Capala family, if Abigail married into the Stride family, she’d have to take the Stride name and thus leave the Capala family. Considering she was an innate strength mutation carrier, such an act would be a slap to her family’s face.

That meant that to maintain the Capala name, her best bet was to marry one of her cousins. It wasn’t abnormal among the paragon families to have cousin marriages. Even brother and sister marriages occurred from time to time, although they were a bit rarer. It didn’t matter which angle she saw it from. If she declared she was looking for martial talent, Brandon was undeniably a martial genius. If she tried to sidestep him by claiming she preferred alchemic talent, his little brother had her blocked.

She could always aim for the winner of the blacksmith tournament, but it would quickly become a joke. Besides the same issues with changing her family name, the Capala family didn’t deal in weapons and armor, so it made no sense to marry a male with that expertise. It would do nothing to benefit her family. In that way, her uncle made sure that all of her options were sealed.

That said, she hadn’t panicked. Rather, she had waited for a miracle. Perhaps, someone could rise and overset the balance. They would have to swat away all of their enemies. They couldn’t be from one of the rival families. Ideally, they shouldn’t have a last name at all. Someone with little value and little ambition, someone she could easily control. That way, she wouldn’t even have to give herself to him if she didn’t want to. The less involved with politics he was, the better it would be for her.

For a brief time, she thought that Sammuel the Broken would be the one for her. After all, he was blocked from having any ambitions. He’d never be able to evolve and he was forbidden from having children. Furthermore, with her mutation, she was physically stronger than him, so he wouldn’t be able to bully her. Unfortunately, he didn’t even make the top three, not that she was sure she could select him if he did.

“We’re here.” Penny coughed to get Abigail’s attention.

She gave the other girl a gentle smile. Although she knew that her uncle had put Penny there to further pressure her into getting his way, she knew that Penny herself wasn’t a particularly plotting individual. She didn’t have much in her mind at all beyond her status. Even her progress in alchemy was quite a bit slower than her family would have liked. Although she knew this attitude would annoy most people, to Abigail who was constantly being schemed against, she found Penny’s upfront personality to be refreshing.

Mara opened the carriage doors and helped both women out of the carriage. Penny acted as if this was expected, while Abigail gave Mara an apologetic look. The group headed into the banquet hall. Seeing her uncle and brothers, Penny immediately waved and headed over to them. With Penny gone, Abigail used the chance to speak to Mara.

“Are you doing okay? I’m sorry about Penny’s attitude. I will talk to her about it.”

“No! My lady, that’s not necessary!” Mara protested, but when she saw Abigail watching her, she continued. “I just admit, ever since I came to live in your mansion, everything has felt out of place. I’m not used to such a lifestyle as this.”

“What about… your brother?” Abigail asked cautiously.

“Brother? Ah! Spirit? What about him?”

Abigail resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Mara was also someone who didn’t seem to have a single calculating bone in her body. However, Abigail rather wished she would be a bit better at such things. If that was the case, she might be able to confide in her a bit more. Unfortunately, Mara was an open book. Her feelings for her so-called brother were plain to see.

“Would he have any ambitions toward power?” she asked.

Mara blinked and then shook her head. “Spirit? He just wants peace. He’s a little perverted sometimes, but I don’t think he’s ever wanted for anything since I’ve met him, the least of all power.”

“I see…” Abigail responded, falling back into consideration.

When it came to miracles, there was one last option. Someone appeared on the top three that no one expected. He had reached first place. He had shown no interest in marrying her, and while there might be some who would say such a thing as a trick, she believed he had no intentions toward her. If that were the case, then wouldn’t he be the perfect choice?