Mist Empire’s Rise: Fake Noble to Fog Queen

 

The history books in the library were not as detailed as the religious scriptures, and most of them were heroic biographies.

Luo Wei took down a heroic epic titled "The Song of Aldrich" and flipped through a couple of pages. The entire book was steeped in mythological elements.

The book began with the creation of the world by the ancient gods and narrated the adventures of Aldrich, the son of the God of Wisdom, on the Western Continent.

The opening described how the gods created the world and the birth of humans: The Creator God took out His heart and transformed it into Galan, then sprinkled His blood to create humanity.

Fearing that humans would be cold, He gouged out His left eye and turned it into the sun, bestowing warm sunlight upon humanity; fearing that humans would lose their way in the dark of night, He gouged out His right eye and turned it into the moon, granting humanity pure moonlight.

After the Creator God's demise, His soul nurtured many new gods. These deities were born upon the heart of the Mother Goddess and continued to bless the humans on the Star of Galan.

The book also recorded a great war two millennia ago, said to be a war of faith among the gods.

This war caused the paradise of the ancient humans to be incinerated overnight, transforming into a barren desert where not a blade of grass could grow. That desert became the wasteland known as The Wastes today.

After that great war, the gods no longer descended to the mortal realm but remained seated high in the clouds. Humans migrated to a new continent to recuperate, and this new land is the Western Continent where they reside now.

Legend speaks of a third continent on the Star of Galan called The Misty Plains, located north of the Western Continent. However, the northern seas are perpetually shrouded in thick fog, and no one has successfully penetrated the fog belt, so the existence of The Misty Plains remains unconfirmed.

If only The Misty Plains truly existed, Luo Wei mused. Should she ever be exposed, she could flee there to survive.

As dusk fell, Luo Wei read a few pages before going to register for borrowing the book, planning to peruse it leisurely back in her room.

Just as she left the borrowing area, four or five young men approached from the opposite direction, with one of them heading straight for a collision.

With a "thud," the book in Luo Wei's arms was knocked to the ground.

A hand snatched up the book before she could, and the young man flipped to the cover, drawling, "Let's see what book this commoner is borrowing... Uh, 'The Song of Aldrich'?"

After reading the title, he glanced at Luo Wei and suddenly fell silent.

This abstruse ancient epic gave him a headache just by looking at it, yet the lady before him had come specifically to borrow it?

If she were a commoner, she definitely wouldn't read this kind of literature - they could barely read at all.

The other young men also realized this point, and they exchanged meaningful glances without uttering a word.

The young man who had picked up the book thought quickly and immediately handed the book back to Luo Wei, his attitude doing a complete 180-degree turn: "My lady, please forgive my rudeness. There was a misunderstanding earlier. Here's your book back."

Luo Wei frowned slightly and reached out to take the book.

"Ah, wait," the young man suddenly changed his mind again, his eyes gleaming with a hint of cunning, "Beautiful lady, I've been reading this book recently too, but there are some parts I don't quite understand. Might I ask for your guidance?"

Very well, another one trying to test her.

Did he think she couldn't comprehend the ancient text? This was far simpler than classical Chinese.

Luo Wei withdrew her hand and said indifferently, "Go ahead and ask."

The young man opened the first page of the book and randomly pointed to a paragraph: "I don't understand this part."

Luo Wei looked at him with a strange expression. He couldn't understand the first page?

The young man's face stiffened slightly. He knew that saying this made him look foolish, but he had only ever skimmed the first page of this book, so only the content on the first page was somewhat familiar to him.

"Alright, give me the book. I'll explain it to you," Luo Wei said.

The young man returned the book to her.

Luo Wei pointed at the text in the book, her voice soft and melodious: "The Mother Goddess fell, her soul conceived by sensing the energy, giving birth to various gods within a small space, bestowing divine favor upon the eight directions; each god ruled their own domain, and at this time, chaos began to separate, life and darkness were severed, and all beasts..."

"This passage means..."

It wasn't until she finished explaining everything that the young man's doubts were completely dispelled.

He thanked Luo Wei, and as he left, he took a careful look at her face, feeling somewhat smitten.

This young lady had snow-white skin, a flower-like appearance, red lips, and white teeth. She also had glossy black hair like ebony and a pair of mysterious black eyes.

Although she was dressed very modestly, her elegant demeanor and rich knowledge unmistakably displayed her noble status. She was clearly a true aristocrat!

Axina had said she was a commoner, but she must have been jealous that this young lady was more beautiful than her.

The young men went back to find Axina, only to be berated by her.

"Fools! There are also intelligent and studious people among commoners. Do you think everyone is as ignorant as you?"

One of the young men retorted, "But she didn't even go looking for arithmetic books. Axina, you must have made a mistake."

"Enough, all of you get out!"

"How could the dukes have sired such a bunch of idiots?"

Axina was so furious that her face contorted. She never imagined that sending these guys to teach Luo Wei a lesson would backfire like this. Not only did they fail to intimidate her, but they even came back having switched sides!

The young men were also weary of this spoiled little princess. After being scolded, they left with sour expressions.

Both parties parted ways unhappily.

Meanwhile, Luo Wei walked past a rose garden and saw their dormitory.

It was an ancient Romanesque building, standing quietly on the lush green lawn. The semi-circular arched doorway and rounded dome exuded a dreamy atmosphere.

Her room was at the end of the corridor on the second floor of the dormitory. It had a prime location; she could see the lake surface by opening the window, and there was even a small balcony outside where she could sit and enjoy tea.

Her conflict with Axina stemmed from this dormitory room.

Luo Wei had arrived first, and when Axina came later, she also fancied this room. But because Luo Wei had already moved her belongings in, the school teacher still assigned the room to Luo Wei.

After returning to the dormitory, Luo Wei stood by the window admiring the scenery for a while. When the sun set, she returned to her desk and lit an oil lamp.

On the table, there was a handheld bronze mirror lying face down. She reached out and picked it up.

The dim mirror surface reflected a youthful face, and Luo Wei was startled.

Wasn't this exactly what she looked like when she was fifteen years old?

She had thought her appearance might change after transmigrating, but she didn't expect the original owner to look identical to her.

In the mirror, a delicate-looking young girl with black hair and black eyes stared back at her motionlessly, as if looking at herself from the previous world.

Luo Wei blinked, now somewhat doubting whether she had transmigrated in soul or body.

However, it was fortunate that the original owner looked the same as her, with black hair, which happened to be the most noble hair color in Western eyes.

If she had transmigrated and ended up with red hair, she really wouldn't have been able to pretend to be a noble — in the West, even nobles with red hair would face discrimination.

After looking in the mirror, Luo Wei seemed to understand why the teacher who assigned the dormitory rooms had favored her.

It was probably due to stereotypes, making the teacher think that she, with black hair, had a higher status than the blonde Axina.

This was truly... good news.

Luo Wei put down the mirror and walked to the wardrobe to change into a linen nightgown.

Looking back at the woolen undergarment she had taken off, she frowned slightly.

The original owner had spent all her money on outer garments worn on the outside, neglecting the clothes worn underneath, giving Vina an opportunity to criticize.

But actually, the woolen undershirt she wore was very soft, obviously carefully tanned, and washed very clean. Even if it wasn't white, it definitely didn't look dirty.

However, Vina was right about one thing: true nobles wouldn't wear woolen undergarments.

This was because the wool dyeing and textile technologies were not yet advanced at this time. The woven wool garments were rough and heavy, and the color wasn't pure white enough, so nobles generally wore fine linen or cotton clothes.

Luo Wei rubbed the woolen undershirt in her hands, a series of processing techniques flashing through her mind.

If the technology wasn't advanced, why not make it advanced?

In the 21st century where she had lived, fabrics made from animal fibers were much more expensive than those made from plant fibers.