“Maria, today is the day you shall meet your future husband. Don’t look so worried, he’s a sweet guy and you shall do your best to help him out in his journey in the future” rose-red eyes looked at the older woman. Her mother is in this world.

[Silvya Kishin, the mother of the holy oracle. A cold woman who would do anything to achieve her goal]

Silvya Kishin, the woman who had birthed the oracle in this world. She was kneeling in front of her eleven years old daughter, the oracle at that very moment. Maria felt guilty to be in her current body at that very moment.

The older woman had a dark complexion with pale blond hair, a foreign look in the kingdom of Luma she had been told in the first briefing. But somehow, it did not seem as odd as the Pinkish hair of her daughter.

“Why am I even explaining all this to eleven years old? Well, just be on your best behavior and no more dangerous tasks, alright? We cannot fail this marriage” Maria nodded as the older woman glared at her.

Silvya stood up and finally, Maria was alone with her thoughts. Silvya was a good mother, if not the most attentive one or most loving one. Her profile had detailed her as such and Maria chose to believe in it.

But Maria had never been able to call her mother but she could respect the older woman. But it still did not help that the older Woman felt more like a teacher than a mother to her.

“Maria, come forward and meet the Lucis family. This is Nick, your future fiancé” Silvya came back with a beautiful family behind her. All the servants bowed to the new addition to their room. Maria had not even realized that the older woman had been gone from the room.

[Nick Lucis, the likely hero of the prophecy and the first MC of this world. He will become the strongest life form in this world and assemble a harem of beauties led by the holy oracle at his side]

Nick, the child her mother was pointing to was a really beautiful child with black hair and black eyes. His black eyes looked bored to be here and we’re likely looking around for a way out. There was no doubt in Maria's mind that he would grow up to be a handsome man.

“Maria, come and greet the royal family. I’m sorry your majesty, she’s a little overwhelmed” the glare Silvya gave Maria told her that she was in trouble and should follow along with her instructions. Yup, she was a cold one alright.

To Maria, there was no other choice but to follow her mother’s instructions. And this was the royal family in front of her and everything in Maria's profile had made her out to be a sweet child.

So Maria gave a small bow to the family, the politest she could muster, and looked over to her supposed ‘fiancé.’

Who seemed not to pay any attention toward her at all.

Instead, his gaze seemed to be fixed at a blond child behind the royal family who looked oddly out of place with the black-haired family. The child was staring at Maria with an intensity that she had never experienced before and it made Maria nervous.

“Nick, you bow too. Greet your future wife politely” the female of the black-haired pair, the queen scolded the small child and pushed him forward.

The child, Nick, looked unhappy to be forced into such a situation and his face twisted in a frown. It became even worse when the child realized that his blond child has their attention shifted away from him.

He did now back to Maria and that seemed to please the queen enough to let the topic drop. The queen looked embarrassed but not surprised.

“Can I go now? I would like to explore this place a bit more” The young prince whined at his mother who looked more and more embarrassed at his display. However, she did not contradict her child.

Not that the young prince cared all about it.

“Fine, you can go” the queen seemed to have accepted her fate and just sighed at her useless son.

“Uh, can I go as well?” another voice asked. One Maria had not even noticed before but now held her attention.

Contrary to her first look, the family contained four people, not just three. The one who had called everyone’s attention was a figure similar to Nick’s but a little more

feminine.historical

“Neah, you want to go as well? Very well, I shall allow it but not alone. How about having young miss Maria here accompany you both?” the queen asked in a finalized

voice.

[Neah Lucis, the other child of the royal family. Born under a powerful curse, she can either become the salvation of this world or the destroyer. The oracle is advised to stay away from her or something bad would happen]

Neah looked happy enough with this arrangement but the prince seemed to have issues with it. Neah looked like a happy child, a sweet one even and Maria could not figure out why she had been warned as such.

“No, absolutely not. She can keep Neah company for as long as she wants but I want nothing to do with her” before anyone could say anything more, Nick left the scene.

The blond child just looked at the royal family before hurrying after the young prince as well.

“Foolish child. I’m sorry for his behavior and I promise to have it corrected soon. Please pardon his behavior” the queen seemed to be at a loss for words.

“We don’t mind. We understand that the young prince is going through a phase. Hopefully, he will come back to his senses quickly and see that a union between him and

Maria is for the best” Silvya encouraged.

Not that she could do anything else or take offense.

As a monarch of a fallen kingdom, Silvya was as good as a prisoner of the Luics royal family, a bargaining chip to keep the enemy soldiers quiet. She had been the daughter of an oracle (when the world still had a living one) and had been forced to marry to produce the next oracle.

It did not help that her husband had died as soon as Maria had been born and that changed the sweet lady Silvya had been.

“Let’s go. I’m interested in what you can show me” Neah took charge as soon as she realized the mood had worsened.

Maria did not need another reminder to leave the tense room. Her mother’s disappointing gaze was enough to make her aware of her shortcomings.

“Thank you for getting me out of there” Maria’s words caused the young princess to blush. The pale cheeks finally gained color and the young girl looked away from

Maria’s gaze.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. I’m glad to be of help. I just wanted to meet you once and you’re beautiful as well” the other girl seemed to go red after she finished her words.

Maria could only smile in amusement, not taking those words to heart. She had heard them enough to know that they did not mean anything.

“Hopefully, your brother would think like that as well and find me beautiful” Maria muttered half-heartedly.

She could see her fiancé in the distance and saw him turn around when her eyes met his.

“My brother? He’s a fool and he doesn’t know what he is missing not choosing you. If it had been me, I would have chosen you in a heartbeat” Neah’s voice was bitter and low enough to tell Maria that it was not intended for her ears.

Still, it did reach her and it warmed her heart.

She hated feeling like this, the feeling of being glad and warm because of someone’s words. They made her yearn for more when she knew she could not get any more of

it.

Also, it was all because of this one problem she had constantly blazing in her head.

[Warning: Contact with the second MC established. The oracle is advised to stay away]

Second MC? There was something like this in this world. Maria had a bad feeling about this whole situation. She knew that Neah was important, but a second MC?

She had only been in this world for a few hours but it all felt like it was out of order. Having a fiancé, a family, was all new.

But it was not really something she wanted. Also, staying away did not seem like a possibility at this point.

She was so lost in her head that she did not even notice the weird words of the princess.

“If my brother doesn’t want you, then can I steal you from him? I promise to cherish you and to never let you get away” Maria, unaware of those words, nodded her head.

She missed the glint of steel as well as the new light in Neah’s eyes.

(I won't be able to reply back to most of your comments, especially the late ones since I will manually have to open up the chapters to do so. But do remember that I will be reading them all and I would be happy for all your feedback.

Power stones, as well as reviews and collections, would be greatly appreciated from your end)