Lady Ariana Braveheart, previously known as Dame Ariana a [Warrior], wife to the second son of Marquess Braveheart, did not plan to have any more children after her third.

  She was born into a semi-wealthy merchant family. Unluckily for her, though, she was also the youngest of seven siblings. Her chances of inheriting were so slim that she chose to sign up for the Corps instead, in hopes of attaining a higher Grade and catching the eye of a noble household. And though her dreams were far grander than some third wife of the second son that was a lord only by title, her situation was by far the best of the three.

  The first wife of Lord Arnold was his childhood sweetheart, whom he met during his time at the Royal Academy for nobles.

  Lady Helen was a talented [Sorceress] with a bright career as magi. When Arnold proposed to her on their graduation day, she abandoned her dreams of joining the Tower and chose to come back with him to Kilsfort — a backwater town where the Braveheart estate lay. It seemed everything was going well for the young couple, but in just a couple of years, they would be faced with a sad reality.

  Both Lady Helen's and Arnold's high Will Stats made them unable to have biological children. The best chance for a high Grade to have children was to look for someone who would equalize their stats. As a result the most popular couples were magi and warriors, though even they had to worry about the low chance of successful conception if their Stats were too high.

  That's why, only three years after their marriage, Arnold was forced by his father to take on a second wife. Lady Sara was a gentle woman from a well-off family. With a high Vitality Stat and impressive Might Stat, she was granted a Path of a [Berserker]. An unpopular one for women, that's for sure. It was widely believed that the gods themselves chose Paths for the people, so someone's Path was their own business, even if it seemed unsuited.

  Unfortunately, time showed why it's not recommended for women with high Might Stat to have biological children. Lady Sara got pregnant a total of six times. None of the children survived birth except for her last one.

  Lord Arnold was unsatisfied with just one daughter, though. Too bad for him, the traumatized Sara wasn't keen on having any more. Arnold, knowing his father wouldn't be happy if he didn't produce at least two heirs for the family, took a third woman, this time with a lower Might Stat, to be his final wife.

  This decision turned out to be the best thing he could've ever done. Not only was the House Braveheart richer for six heirs from the second son. Arnold's older brother was also busy with two boys of his own. The gods truly seemed to favor the Bravehearts, blessing them with that many children.

  But the most important thing of all, they were fortunate to be the family of the [Hero].

  "Bleh! Why does everything taste like ash? I know baby food isn't considered the best cuisine, but come on!"

  ...And Kirian's, of course.

  "I thought it was just mother's milk that was the problem, but I'm starting to think there's something wrong with my sense of taste." That would unfortunately be true. It seemed the reincarnation did not go as smoothly for her as it did for the hero, and something was irreversibly broken during the implantation process. Now, poor Kirian had to live with the inability to taste anything. At least swallowing medicine should be a piece of cake now. Too bad about all the amazing food she would never get to enjoy. Some people really have it worse than others.

  "What's with all the fuss? Did someone die or what?" Someone, in fact, did die. Jantar, first prince of the Ravel Empire, named after its founder — Empress Miravel the [Last Flame].

  Kirian didn't know it, though. Six months after being born, she could barely catch the sound of her own name in conversations, let alone something as complex as the death announcement of a royal she never heard of before.

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  What a tragedy. Just four months ago, everyone celebrated the long-awaited hatching of Princess Enil, and now they'll have to bury their beloved prince. Although he was almost 300 years old and it was long overdue for his younger brother, Oriel, to take the mantle of a [Bestower] of the empire from him.

  Alas, politics was the last thing on Kirian's mind right now. She was more interested in observing her brother struggle to stand up on his own, without falling on his butt in the process. Kai, the golden child, who got the language comprehension installed straight into his brain, could speak at the ripe age of 5 months. On the other hand, his far less talented older sister experienced what some would call a 'stunted' growth. In Kirian's defense, she was developing just fine for a normal baby. Unfortunately for her, Kai was anything but a normal baby, and his rapid advancement made her look bad in comparison.

  "You're such an overachiever." The [Hero] had places to be, people to save, allies to recruit. There was no time to waste learning how to walk when the demon king actively gathered his army.

  "Eh, I'm bored anyway, might as well join you." Her first attempts could be summarized in one sentence — like the graceless stumbling of a newborn fawn. No insult to the fawn. Nevertheless, even a slow-witted baby would finally learn how to put one foot in front of the other, and Kirian lacked neither wit nor was she taking her first steps, at least in this life that is.

  ***

  Turns out the saying 'everything is easier the second time around' was absolutely correct, and both siblings learned how to walk by the time they turned 7 months old, skipping their crawling stage and going straight to 'menaces to society' one.

  Needless to say, their nanny wasn't impressed. It turns out that being born into a noble household meant being raised by the house staff, rather than their own parents. Good thing both of the twins were actually adults in disguise, or they would grow up to become cold-hearted assholes. At 14 months old, there really wasn't much to do for them but wait for the growth spurt to kick in. Well... almost.

  New Common Grade Skill acquired!

  [Running]

  You become better at running {Unveiled information: Gives a 25% bonus to growing the Vitality Stat}

  Do you want to equip it in your Status?

  Y/N

  "Is there a Skill for everything? Are people here really this stupid to need help in literally running?" That's a bit harsh. The system creates the Skills, not the users. And besides, if Kirian only equipped her first Skill, she would quickly found out why these so-called 'useless' skills even exist in the first place.

  She refused to do that tho, for some strange reason.

  "I don't need some higher power to take control of my body to run. Why would someone willingly choose to surrender their free will just for a bit of power? This world is so strange." Ah, there it is. Good old fear of mind control. Before she became Mai, Kirian's life was completely controlled by her father's every whim. He wanted an amazing athlete, an academic genius, and a loyal son. Now that she got her second chance, she wouldn't waste it by voluntarily giving it away for some eldritch horror to use as a vessel.

  From musing about the morality of Skills pulled her a voice of the last person she wanted to see today. Her mother just entered the twins' shared bedroom, and the look on her face showed how happy she was to be there. That is to say, not at all.

  "Ugh, what now?"

  "Kai, grab your sister and follow me. It's time for you to meet your siblings." After over a year of living in Arkadia, Kirian finally started to somewhat comprehend the local language. In a couple of years, she should be completely fluent.

  "Yes, Mom." Kai's relationship with his mother was a mirror of his previous life. He completely adored her, a side effect of being coddled from the day he was born.

  Ariana expectantly looked at Kirian, waiting for her response.

  "What? You never asked me a question." At first glance, it would seem young Lady Mai was still unable to speak. That couldn't be farther from the truth. She talked with her nanny all the time, and sometimes even with her brother. Though he seemed a bit weird at times, mumbling about levels, Skills and perfect synergies under his breath.

  Ariana scoffed and rolled her eyes. It seemed the child insisted on being stubborn for no apparent reason. She took her youngest's hand and guided him out of the room, not bothering to look if the other one followed. She wasn't here to argue with a toddler.

  Kirian debated with herself for a minute whether she should relent, but in the end, her curiosity won out, and she reluctantly ran after her mother.

  It was time to meet the rest of the family.