Path to the Apocalypse

Victoria arrived back at her room, standing in the middle as she breathed heavily, tensed up as she looked for something, anything to vent her anger on. She just wanted to break something! To tear down this stupid society and rebuild it into something good! The more she learned about this place, the more she hated it! Women who were forced to marry just because of politics. Servants who were treated as objects to be used! Sects that would risk someone's life, then forced them to join them as if they had done them a favor! Nobles who were so entitled, they believed they could take whatever they wanted, no matter who it hurt! Who took credit for the work of others without a blink! All Victoria wanted to do right now was make it all burn!

Victoria continued to stand there for a moment, her anger boiling within her, before she let out a growl, snatching up her daggers and heading towards the training fields. She needed something to fight. At this time of day everyone was either eating or resting, so the field was empty, leaving Victoria's only option as the solid wooden training dummy. It was probably for the best, anyway. The way she was feeling right now, she might have killed someone.

Victoria unsheathed her daggers, immediately going on the attack, slashing and stabbing the dummy over and over again as she tried to vent her rage, or at least tire herself out. She pictured everything she hated about this world as she went, seeing AJ, Duke Duhallis, that bitch from the Hidden Blades, the vague silhouette of Ursa's handler, and finally, the Marquis. The Marquis was the most frustrating one. The rest were simple. They were selfish, evil. She didn't like what they did, but she got why they did it. But the Marquis? He was a good man! He cared about people, he wanted the world to be a better place, he wanted what was best for his children, so why. Didn't. He! Get it! Why was he stuck in this stupidity of noble privilege?!? Why couldn't he get that commoners and women weren't some sort of commodity!?! It was just so stupid! What sort of world makes good men coddle monsters?!? Almost encourage them!?!

Victoria let out a shuddering sob as she fell to her knees before the shredded dummy, woodchips strewn across the field. She missed home. She missed people she understood. She missed people who understood her! She just felt so… alone. Nothing made any sense to her anymore. She just… she felt so out of place. Like this world was rejecting her. And it kept getting worse. Every time she explained something to someone, every time she tried to convince them there was a better way, it was like it went in one ear and out the other! Even if they understood and accepted her argument, they just didn't seem to care! When she talked to Maurice, it was as if he was just fascinated that such a system could exist, with no inclination or idea that such a system could exist here. It seemed like the more she tried, the more resistant people became, and she just couldn't figure out why. Were her ideas just not good enough? Was the idea of treating people like people too radical?

Victoria staggered to her feet, slowly making her way back to her room, completely drained of energy. From a castle window, Albert watched her go with a conflicted expression. He wanted to go to her, to comfort her, to be her father, but… everytime she brought up these strange ideas, something visceral inside him bubbled up, completely rejecting them. He knew that even if he went down there to talk to her, to try and make things better, they would just argue, and everything would get worse. He'd never felt so helpless before. Why could he not just be there for his daughter? Why could he not just accept that they had different views? Why did he have to reject her ideas? Albert sighed as Victoria disappeared into the castle, his gaze turning to what remained of the dummy she'd turned her frustration on, a testament to the inner turmoil within her. The conflict within him raged as he stared at the dummy, unable to make a move until the sky turned dark and the dummy faded from view.

*

"Miss Victoria? Are- are you okay?" Beatrice asked as Victoria returned to her room, noticing the stray wood chips peppering her clothes and tangled in her hair.

Victoria sighed, shaking her head. "I'm fine. It's… just been a long day." She assured the concerned looking girl as she headed into her room.

Beatrice hesitated for a moment, before following her inside, closing the door behind her. "Miss Victoria, if- if there's anything I can do to make things better-"

"Just call me Victoria." Victoria interrupted. "And I'm good, really. It's just… frustrating. But nothing's going to change that, so… I should just get used to it."

"What's frustrating, Mi- V-Victoria?" Beatrice asked, flushing as she said Victoria's name without the Miss.

Victoria paused, glancing at Beatrice, before letting out another sigh and sitting on the edge of the bed, patting the spot beside her for Beatrice. As the maid hesitantly sat down, Victoria began. "I just don't understand how the nobles can just dismiss an entire class of people as beneath them! I mean, I get it. People like to be in power, like to be above everyone else, but… how can a good, decent human being defend that standpoint when it's pointed out how backwards it is?!? I get AJ. He's not a good person. But the Marquis? Maurice? My mother?!? I just… how? Why? It makes no sense!" She ranted, venting her frustration, before throwing herself back on the bed with a groan, covering her face with her hands.

Beatrice listened attentively, frowning slightly as she heard these strange ideas for the first time. She mulled them over for a bit after Victoria finished, trying to process them, before hesitantly speaking up. "I- I don't know how- I- I am grateful for what the Marquis, what you have done for me. I think- I think this… dismissal? It- the- the nobles don't need to do anything for us. It is only through their mercy that we are allowed to serve them. Taking back that gift if they deem us unworthy of it… only makes sense, right?" Beatrice offered, trying to make sense of the way she saw things. Without the nobility, without Victoria and the Marquis, she and her brother would be on the streets, if they were lucky. They could be dead, or worse, she could be forced into a life of prostitution… Beatrice shuddered at the thought. She only felt gratitude for the chance to be Victoria's maid. In her mind, it was pure charity, and if that charity stopped… what she'd already gotten was already more than she deserved.

Victoria frowned, pushing herself up on her elbows as she stared at Beatrice. "What about what AJ made you do?"

Beatrice froze. "That- that was… unpleasant. But- but I can't expect the Marquis to take my side over his own son's, can I?"

Victoria groaned. "See, that's where I have a problem! I get that the whole lord/servant relationship is a mutually beneficial arrangement that both parties get something out of. Even if it wasn't, you agreed to this, and that's your business. But you didn't agree to be blackmailed by AJ! What he did was a crime, and there should be consequences for that! If he'd done it to some other noble, he'd be lynched, but no, because it was done to a servant, he just gets a stern 'don't do that' and that's it! Even worse, they ask if I want to get rid of you, the victim! Why should you be punished for his actions?!? It's insane!"

"I- I don't- it's just the way it is, isn't it?" Beatrice stammered. "Nobles are the ones who maintain law and order. Why would they punish themselves? If you have to choose between anyone being able to hurt you, or a few people, isn't the few the better option?"

"Wouldn't it be better if no one could hurt you?" Victoria retorted.

Beatrice frowned. "I- I suppose?" She replied hesitantly. "But… how would that be possible? Someone has to be in charge of enforcing the law, and who is good enough to punish themself over others?"

It was Victoria's turn to frown. She wanted to explain the legal system from her old world, but… weren't cops still corrupt back there? Weren't politicians? How were they any better than corrupt nobles? She could say they couldn't do as much harm, but… was that really true? 'All cops beat their wives' was a joke back on Earth. Half the politicians she'd heard of were accused of being pedophiles or rapists, sometimes both. Though… wasn't a pedophile inherently a rapist? Not the point. The point was, her world had just as much abuse of power as this one, maybe a bit less, but maybe a bit more as well… the people in her old world were good at hiding the things they did wrong. In this world, they didn't bother.

"Huh…" Victoria grunted. "That's… actually a very good point." She paused, thinking it over for a bit longer, before falling back onto the bed with a sigh. "I still don't like it though." She grumbled. Even if it was a fact that those in power would take advantage of those in vulnerable positions, it still didn't make it right. Plus, her world did do a better job of putting less people in vulnerable positions… she thought. It wasn't like she could do a study or look it up anymore. That world was gone. Then again, the inner city was a mess… ugh, fuck it. The world sucks. All worlds suck. Viva la revolution. Which, honestly, just puts different people in position to abuse other people, but hey, as long as it isn't you, right?

Victoria's mind was beginning that long, dark spiral into the depths again, when suddenly she felt arms wrap around her, tentatively tightening in a hug. Victoria glanced at Beatrice, whose head was resting on her shoulder, raising an eyebrow as the girl flushed furiously. "You- you looked like you needed a hug…" She explained.

Victoria suppressed a smile as she wrapped her arms around Beatrice in return, squeezing her tight. "Thank you." She muttered, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the comfort of another human being, feeling a bit of the loneliness she'd been feeling recently fade away. Yes, everything she knew was gone, her family, her friends, her world, even her body, but… that didn't mean she couldn't find a place in this new world, with new friends, new family. Maybe it would be difficult, but she knew that as long as she was patient, as long as she kept looking, she'd find people who got her. She always did.

*

Victoria woke up the next morning with a stiff groan, attempting to sit up before a muffled complaint came from the huddled form firmly latched to her body, squeezing her tightly. Victoria froze for a moment, before remembering what happened last night. She must have fallen asleep while she and Beatrice hugged… *Though at this point, it's really more of a snuggle.* Victoria thought to herself as she felt Beatrice's leg draped over her own, the maid's entire body plastered against her side. *Another night wasted.* Victoria sighed bitterly, cursing herself for falling asleep instead of using her points to keep herself awake so she could cultivate. While her points were outpacing her cultivation at the moment, it was already clear that her points could learn from her cultivation. Advancing her Runes and reaching the higher stages of cultivation would only benefit her. Plus… she still had to enter a sect, and she was fairly certain they wouldn't take her points into account. Particularly since she wasn't going to tell them about them.

Victoria laid there for a moment, considering her plans for the day while enjoying the far from unpleasant sensation of Beatrice cuddling against her, before letting out a sigh and shaking Beatrice lightly by the shoulder, waking her up. "Goodmorning, sleepy head." Victoria teased her with a smirk as she raised her head with a low groan, blinking blearily.

Suddenly, Beatrice's eyes widened as she jumped to her feet. "M-miss Victoria, I-I-"

Victoria giggled as she watched Beatrice flush nervously, not sure whether to flee the room or beg for forgiveness, before covering her mouth and beginning to flush herself as she realized she'd just giggled. She shook herself, coughing awkwardly as she got to her feet, grabbing Beatrice by the shoulders and looking her straight in the eye. "Beatrice, it's fine. You didn't do anything wrong, okay?"

"But- but-" Beatrice stammered, looking between Victoria and the bed, her flush deepening. "We- we-"

"We cuddled, yes. And I enjoyed it. Didn't you?" Victoria asked, unable to stop herself from grinning at Beatrice's adorable fluster. Yeah, she was definitely in trouble here, but she just couldn't seem to stop herself.

Beatrice hesitated, looking down as her flush deepened even further, before nodding stiffly, in a small, jerking movement. "It- it was- nice." She replied in a barely audible whisper, her hands going to cover her face as if she couldn't believe she'd actually just said that.

Victoria couldn't help but watch her shift awkwardly, unable to tear her eyes away from the pure adorableness. After a moment, she reached forward, lightly pulling Beatrice's hands from her face with one hand, while the other reached under her chin, raising her face. "Thank you for comforting me last night." She thanked her, looking Beatrice deep in her wide, astonished eyes.

"A-as you wish, Miss-" Beatrice replied, her flush unable to go any deeper, before Victoria interrupted her.

"Victoria. Just Victoria." She corrected her.

"Victoria…" Beatrice let out in a low mutter, almost like she was savoring the word.

Victoria smiled. "I'll see you for lunch, Beatrice~" She added teasingly, before heading out the door, heading to her training courtyard to start the day, leaving a flustered Beatrice standing there, watching her go with an almost longing look.

Victoria's day progressed normally, but Victoria felt a sense of… comfort that had been missing for a long while. The training was the same, but Victoria felt much more relaxed while doing it. While she sparred, she made jokes with the Cultivator she was sparring, having fun with it instead of turning it into the utterly mechanical affair it'd been the past few days. Over lunch, she and a nervous Beatrice chatted as she asked her questions about her life, learning about her brother, her interests, her hobbies, what she thought of the kingdom, and anything else that came to mind. It quickly became clear that while Beatrice was uneducated, she was actually quite bright, capable of making some rather astute observations. Victoria wanted to introduce her to GoChess to see how she'd do, but they'd already spent too much time talking and she had to get to her meditation.

"I see you're feeling better." Maurice commented with a chuckle as Victoria entered his office, humming lightly. "Is there someone special we should know about? Though I fear our friend the Duke would be very disappointed…"

Victoria snorted, shaking her head. "The Duke can be as disappointed as he likes. It won't change anything. But no, it isn't that. I just- I realized that though this world may be different from the one I know, that doesn't mean it's worse. I've been focusing on the things that were good about the other world, while forgetting everything that was bad." Victoria paused for a moment, before letting out a sigh. "I guess I'm just a lot closer to the bad here. I only have a general knowledge of the other world, things everyone would know, but here… I'm part of the nobility. I can see the bad happening, so it's much easier to focus on."

Maurice nodded. "Most things look better from a distance. The past, the future, both unattainable states of perfection for everyone but those who call it the present. We forget that with every positive, there comes an accompanying negative. The things that make life so good for one, may make it unbearable for another. Every choice made is another choice discarded. Such is the nature of the world."

"Right, the opportunity cost." Victoria nodded.

Maurice frowned. "Could you explain that one?"

Victoria shrugged. "It's basically what you just said. Anytime you do something, you give up everything else you could have done instead. Usually it's applied to economics, where you have multiple options for where to put your money and whatever you choose means you can't do something else with it. Like, if you invest money, you can't easily spend it, but if you have it available to spend, you won't make any interest on it. It's a tradeoff."

Maurice nodded along, not quite understanding everything she mentioned due to the difference in culture, but getting the gist of her explanation. "I see. An interesting term." He paused, before continuing. "Well then, shall we begin your lessons? Today we're going over the collapse of the Callowan Empire, which-" Maurice launched into a history lesson on the factors leading to and effects of the Empire's collapse. It followed a similar pattern as the empires back on Earth. Empires grow large and powerful, until no one can challenge them, then they grow complacent, weaken, turn to infighting, and then collapse, splitting back into several different groups, until a new power rises and the cycle repeats.

*Do people just need an enemy?* Victoria wondered to herself as Maurice continued. It seemed like even when things were going well, people needed something to fight against. Without an outside force, they turned on each other. Why? Did they just get bored? Victoria could understand that… That's why she spread the system back on Earth, though she wasn't sure if that could be counted as the same thing. She wasn't looking to create enemies just… competition. Plus, it made the world more interesting. Personally, Victoria hated having enemies. Why did people have to make things so personal? Why hate each other over a difference in opinion? The amount of fights people got into over gender… you'd think turning from a man into a woman would have helped her understand it all, but it did not. She didn't feel any more or less like herself than when she was Thomas. Just a different package for the same being. Maybe she was missing something? Did she need to try having sex first? With a guy or a girl? She was sure Ursa would be down, and there was always Foratuna… then again, maybe Beatrice would be willing? Her mind flashed again towards images of the two of them entwined on her bed-

Victoria shook herself, refocusing on Maurice's lecture. *Stupid rabbit trails, always getting me in trouble.* She grumbled to herself, trying to calm down. She managed to pay attention for almost fifteen minutes before her mind drifted off again. *I don't think people do it out of boredom…* She thought to herself, frowning slightly. *Well, maybe some do, like internet trolls. But otherwise… Do people really believe that the people in their own country, their own neighbors are trying to hurt them? I mean, I get that what's good for one person isn't necessarily good for another, but that doesn't mean you need to be enemies over it, does it? People are always going to be different. Wouldn't it be better to focus on making sure there's enough leeway for anyone to live how they want, as much as possible? Of course, that would mean giving people the freedom to do what they want, which… Well, that's pretty much what every government ever has tried to avoid. Maybe the government itself is the problem? Any system that gives people power will attract people who want more power, which will obviously lead to conflict, because we can't all have all the power. Of course, the converse in anarchy… that's a bit too much freedom.* Victoria's frown deepened. *Of course, that still doesn't explain why people are so willing to hate someone, for really no reason. Are people just that angry, and looking for someone to blame it on?* Victoria paused for a moment, before shaking her head with a sigh. She just didn't know, and thinking herself in circles probably wasn't going to help her figure it out.

Victoria turned her attention back to Maurice, occasionally getting lost in thought again, but getting most of what he was teaching her either way. With how high her stats were, even if she barely paid attention, she could absorb whatever Maurice was teaching her easily. Since he focused on teaching her history and culture, it was all pure information, nothing to really think about either way, so all she had to do was remember it.

After Maurice finished his lecture, the two of them headed to dinner. When they arrived, Victoria calmly took her seat at the table, ignoring both AJ and the Marquis beyond the strictly necessary etiquette to remain polite. As much as she'd realized that this world wasn't necessarily worse than her own, that still didn't mean she liked the corruption. Maybe they weren't monsters… well, maybe not the Marquis. AJ was still a shitbird. Anyway, maybe the Marquis wasn't a monster, but he was still a part of the problem, and Victoria would not pretend to be okay with that. Maybe corruption was a natural facet of government and law enforcement, but that didn't mean you should just accept it! Just because something is natural doesn't mean you shouldn't expect better. That's why we wear deodorant.

"Victoria." Albert called her name a few minutes into the meal.

Victoria politely placed her utensils down on her plate, before turning to the Marquis. "Yes, my Lord?"

Albert frowned at her distant behavior. "How is your cultivation progressing?"

"Quite well. I have reached the fourth level of Energy Gathering in Spirit, and I believe I should be able to Assimilate the Bladework Rune in a few days." Victoria replied simply, before returning to her meal.

Albert's expression twisted at her response, feeling a mix of pride at her accomplishment, and bitterness at the way she'd reported it, as if he was her superior, instead of her father. He sighed, turning to Urse, hoping that maybe by talking of something else he could draw Victoria out from behind the walls she'd built up. "Sir Ursa, I hear you've taken on a disciple recently. A Qi Cultivator, yes?"

Ursa froze, flushing slightly as he coughed awkwardly. "Ah, yes, that would be correct. Though, I am simply teaching her the basics at the moment. She was a commoner before she Awakened, so her knowledge is… limited."

Albert nodded in understanding. "I understand perfectly. Many of our Cultivators began as commoners. But, as long as you are patient with them, they can become your most loyal vassals, or even the closest friends." He added, sharing a smile with Maurice. "Though… I hear the two of you are already quite close." He commented, a tinge of amusement creeping into his tone as he winked at Ursa.

*Oh, they're talking about Foratuna.* Victoria, who had been very confused, suddenly realized. She internally praised Ursa for coming up with such a simple explanation for Foratuna's sudden presence. With his frequent trips into town, it wasn't that far-fetched to believe he may have stumbled across a recently Awakened young woman and taken a fancy to her.

Albert glanced towards Victoria. "Victoria, you recently began cultivating as well. Maybe you and Ursa's disciple could train together? It might be nice to have a training partner around your level."

Victoria snorted. "No, I don't think that will be necessary." Training with Foratuna? She'd be lucky if she didn't end up killing the bitch.

"Victoria! Don't be rude!" Melissa scolded her. "Why can't you train with the girl? Because she was a commoner? She's a Cultivator now! Maybe you two could even be friends!"

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Mom, that isn't- look, I'm already at the fourth level of Energy Gathering. Do you really think she'll be able to catch up with me? It'll just be me lowering myself to her level, which won't help me at all, and it wouldn't be better than training with anyone else for her." Victoria quickly came up with.

"She's right." Ursa quickly added. "Foratuna hasn't even formed her Core yet. The gap between the two of them would make training together pointless at the moment."

Victoria paused as an idea occurred to her, a slow grin tugging at her lips. "Maybe she could train with AJ. You're close to Assimilating your Riding Rune, right?"

AJ froze, not expecting to be brought into this conversation, especially not by Victoria. "Uh, y-yes. I-I was planning on Assimilating it within the next few days." He answered nervously, wondering just what Victoria was getting at. Why would she care about his training?

Victoria snickered internally, turning back to Melissa. "See? Much closer in level. They'd be perfect partners." She grinned. If she could have Foratuna seduce AJ… since Foratuna was a Cultivator, it wasn't like when AJ slept with Beatrice. Cultivators have status. Even the Marquis wouldn't be able to save AJ if it came out that he'd raped a Cultivator! Cultivators were the foundation of the kingdom! If the nobles began to treat them like commoners… there would be a revolt. Or at least, the Cultivators would be motivated to choose a different country to make their home.

Ursa nodded slowly, not sure why Victoria would want this to happen, but knowing he needed to go along with her plan. "That's not a bad idea. Foratuna could certainly use some combat practice."

Albert hesitated slightly, sensing something… strange about all this, but he couldn't find any reason to reject the idea, especially since he'd been the one to bring up Foratuna being Victoria's training partner in the first place. He couldn't very well say that AJ didn't deserve to have a training partner, now could he? "Very well. Once the two of them have condensed their cores, they shall begin training together." The Marquis nodded.

Victoria failed to suppress a grin as she turned back to her food. AJ would get what was coming to him. It was just a matter of time.

*

Over the next few days, Victoria returned to her routine, with a few minor differences. Her Bladework Rune had reached the ninety-nine percent mark, just waiting for that flash of inspiration to advance, so Victoria began to work on her Craft Rune instead. The Craft Rune felt a lot like the Design Rune, except it was a lot more focused on the work, rather than the result. When she meditated on the Design Rune, she had ideas for many different things, products that would make her life better or more comfortable. However, when she meditated on the Craft Rune, the ideas focused on methods. Ways to heat metal so that it could be molded in just the right way. How to cut two boards so they could slot together and not come apart easily. Ways to mix ingredients together so that each ingredient evenly spreads throughout the entire concoction.

Much like the Design Rune, the Craft Rune was very broad. It focused more on teaching her ways to think about things, rather than specific instructions on how to do things. However, like the Bladework Rune, it also made her want to move. It made her fingers itchy, like she needed to be doing something. A few minutes into her meditation, and she already found herself searching through her blueprints, looking for something to make. Grand designs were tossed to the side as she pulled out her design for deodorant, pulling out ingredients as she began to experiment. The issue she'd been running into was that she couldn't get the deodorant to the right consistency. It was either too hard, barely spreading when rubbed, or too soft, leaving massive clumps with each swipe. Now, with the Craft Rune, Victoria was full of ideas on how to fix that.

Other than the burst of motivation to work on her projects, Victoria began to spend more and more time talking with Beatrice. Maybe it was because Beatrice liked her, but Victoria just enjoyed being around her. She was attentive, easy to talk to, insightful, and just too damn adorable. Victoria was tempted to see if she wanted to cuddle overnight again, if she wasn't using points to stay up and cultivate. Also, she still wasn't sure how she felt about her, plus… if she was going to actually be with Beatrice, she wanted to be honest with her, tell her about herself, her real self. And… she wasn't sure how she would take that. What would she think about her actually being a man from another world? Would she still like her? Or him? Whatever she was, the uncertainty kept her from actually pursuing anything with Beatrice.

Unfortunately, the more she interacted with Beatrice, the more… frustrated she became. The pent up desires kept threatening to explode as she watched Beatrice hesitantly make her way through some new insight, or flush as she teased her about calling her by her name. When she took a bath, she found herself lingering on certain areas, before she caught herself and hurriedly moved on. Day by day she could feel her resistance growing weaker, and she had no idea what to do about it. Eventually something was going to give, and she just hoped she didn't do anything too bad. If she could just bring herself to masturbate… but it still felt wrong. Maybe if her system had a-

Victoria froze in the middle of the day's lesson with Maurice, her mind having drifted off, wandering towards her frustrations with Beatrice and her hormonal frustrations, as a stray thought flashed through her mind. Could her system have an orgasm button? How would that work? How many points would it cost? Why the fuck hadn't she thought of this earlier?!? All she needed was the result, right? If she could avoid all the… touching, she could avoid the awkwardness. The wrongness. She could get her release, without doing anything weird or perverted!

Immediately she pulled up the system, creating the option. It barely even cost any points! Victoria supposed that made sense though. It wasn't like the system was actually changing anything, it was just… stimulating. That couldn't be too hard, right? *Let's see how good a job it does.* Victoria thought to herself, activating the option without a second thought, completely forgetting where she was and what she was doing. An absent thought flitted through her mind. *I'm a girl now, right? How much of a mess can I cause?*

The moment she hit the button, Victoria felt her entire body clench as waves of pleasure began to surge through her. A light gasp escaped her lips as she curled over as if in pain, short, high pitched moans squeaking out of her as she began to shudder. *Wh-Why isn't it stopping?!?* Victoria panicked as she remained in this state for a good half a minute, before the sensations finally began to subside. She slowly relaxed, still gasping slightly as aftershocks flared up every now and then, before finally the entire experience was over. She looked up, immediately flushing deeply as she saw Maurice staring at her with a concerned expression.

"Are you okay?" Maurice asked hesitantly, not sure what to make of Victoria's strange behavior. Was she hurt? Maybe- maybe she was cramping? He'd heard women would do that when they were on their- Maurice coughed awkwardly. "Ah, hm, do- do you need to take a break? We- we could continue your lessons at a later time if you aren't feeling up to it."

Victoria was about to shake her head, denying that anything was wrong, when she shifted nervously and felt a… dampness. She froze, her flush deepening even further. "I-I could use a short break." She mumbled in embarrassment.

Maurice nodded sagely. "You can return whenever you feel better." He assured her kindly.

Victoria nodded, getting to her feet and rushing out, her legs tightly pressed together as she prayed to any being who would listen that no one could see the wet spot. Once she returned to her room, she quickly breathed out a sigh of relief as she examined her pants. The dampness had thankfully been mostly confined to her underwear, only some light spots seeping through at the crotch, not even visible unless someone was really looking for it. Groaning in a mix of shame and relief, she collapsed onto her bed. How could she be so stupid?!? Was she that horny? Had her lizard brain seen the orgasm button and just thought 'pleasure good'?!? And why- why had it lasted so long? Was that normal? Back when she was male, it barely lasted any time at all, maybe a few seconds, tops! A bit of build up and then boom, done! But this… including the aftershocks, the entire thing had lasted practically an entire damn minute! She'd known males and females had different… experiences, but she'd thought it was just that females could have more! She didn't think they lasted for an entire damn minute!

Victoria groaned again, completely embarrassed as she thought back to what had happened, curling up in shame. She'd done that right in front of Maurice! He was like her grandpa! And she had orgasmed in front of him! Gah! Thankfully he didn't seem to realize what had happened, or at least, he was polite enough to not say anything, but still. Victoria couldn't believe she'd actually done that! She just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

After a few minutes of sulking, Victoria finally picked herself up and put on some new pants and underwear, tossing the soiled clothes in the laundry before pausing, a flush slowly creeping up her neck again. Beatrice did her laundry… what- what would she think when she found the soiled garments? Victoria quickly scrambled over to the laundry basket, fishing the clothing out again and balling them up, looking around nervously for a place to hide, or better yet destroy, the evidence. *Under the bed? No, Beatrice cleans the bed, she'd find it there. She- she cleans the entire room!* Victoria glanced at the fireplace. *I could burn them! But I'd need to start a fire… which is what Beatrice does…* Victoria's breathing quickened as panic began to set in. She needed to get rid of these clothes! If she could get them out of the room, she could bury them in her training courtyard or something, but how was she supposed to explain her carrying a bundle of clothing around the castle? She couldn't sneak the clothing into someone else's laundry either, because she was the only one in the castle who wore this style of clothing, and that would only cause more questions.

Suddenly, she had an idea. Could she use points to destroy the clothes, or at least change them? She knew she could use points to make things or change people, but she'd never tried to use points on something that already existed that wasn't actually alive. Pants couldn't have the system, so how would that even work? However… the points themselves worked like energy, didn't they? Victoria hesitantly placed the bundle of clothing on her desk, before sending out a cloud of points, covering the clothing as if she were scanning them into her design space, infusing the points into them. She then paused. How was she supposed to actually put this into the system? A delete pants button? What pants? How was she supposed to define that? What was the relationship between her and the pants? "I just want to destroy these clothes!" Victoria groaned, and suddenly, they were gone, along with a little less than ten of her points.

Victoria's eyes widened for a moment, staring at the empty desk, suddenly remembering something she'd forgotten from when she first discovered points: she was the one who controlled them. The system itself was just a tool, an interface that helped to quantify everything, to make it easily understandable. It also let other people use and gain points, people who didn't control them the way she did. But she didn't actually need the system. The points responded to her will, not the system's. The system only did anything it did because she wanted it to! The system was just an extension of her ability to use points, and she could use them without the system as well. "Huh… how did I forget that?" Victoria muttered to herself, before pausing. "Probably could have just gotten rid of the mess too… would have been cheaper. Am I just stupid?" Victoria stood there with a frown, considering it for a moment, before shaking her head and sighing. "I should get back to Maurice."