3 Idolizing a Mary Sue

----

Mary Sue: (originally in fan fiction) a type of female character who is depicted as unrealistically lacking in flaws or weaknesses.

----

The carriage driver communicated only in grunts.

No, it was accurate to call him more of a guide, Yu Yan thought.

None of them spoke to each other. When the guide needed something to be done, he would point and grunt, frown if they did it wrong, and roughly correct them after grunting again. Belluse had informed Yu Yan that he went by Charon, a fitting name.

Yu Yan had marked the path on a map, but the guide carried her route out so accurately that she had no complaints.

As an heiress and as a queen, Yu Yan had no experience living in the wild, much less surviving on dry rations and the occasional freshly grilled fish.

All three shared a small tent, and they would all get up at the crack of dawn after a snack. Eat, sleep, drive, and repeat.

That had been Yu Yan's life for the past week.

During that time, she reviewed the calculations she had made.

In "REBUILD", there were four Legendary Swords, representing the respective elements of earth, fire, air, and ice. Each of them were scattered in four Kingdoms: Joyeuse, in Likator; Clarent, in Evangeline; Durendal, in Elevyar; and lastly, Excalibur, in Resilia. After stealing Zhang Xuehua's Claim, Ye Zhao got claimed by Excalibur instead. This led to the two of them agreeing to cooperate and find the swords together, a quest for power to fuel Ye Zhao's dream.

Yu Yan had purposely chosen the furthest possible village from Durendal's location, so in no way, shape, or form, would she ever meet Ye Zhao.

Yu Yan had never gotten to chase her dream of living a full, free life. Sometimes, she wondered if she had been blessed with the opportunity to chase her dream of freedom.

Her privilege had only been shackles.

She had also taken it upon herself to drill herself on "XUEHUA'S RESILIA", the original plot that followed Zhang Xuehua as the protagonist instead of Ye Zhao. Yu Yan had wrinkled her nose at some of the story chapters, as Ye Zhao's actions could be seen as stealing Xuehua's future achievements. However, he - apparently, according to the five-star reviews under the author - made up for it by sheer hard work, a more realistic protagonist than the naturally talented Mary Sue that had been Xuehua.

Ye Zhao had fallen in love with Xuehua, idolizing her, as "XUEHUA'S RESILIA" was his favorite novel and Xuehua reminded him of his ex-girlfriend. Ye Zhao had also been reincarnated into the story with the ability to see game screens, which had greatly helped his rise to the top...

"It's night," Belluse whispered, "Your Majesty."

Yu Yan inclined her head and reached for the collapsible tent to set it up.

Night had set on the brittle carriage road. The stars were now sprinkled against the deep sky, and the moon was a full, silver orb that Yu Yan could easily see. Back in the modern world, she had never seen as many stars as she did now. The atmosphere got chillier the closer they got to Elevyar, which made Yu Yan grateful for Belluse, who had packed extra clothes. The cold night was almost refreshing.

This newfound freedom that the journey provided had drawn all of the complaints out of Yu Yan's head.

She liked travelling, exploring, and immersing herself in new worlds.

Escape. That was what Yu Yan liked.

Untangling the ropes that held the tent to the carriage, she took the tent stakes and pierced it through the ground. Belluse was readying the food, and Charon was starting the fire. It was an unspoken process, now, after seven days together.

Outsiders would gape at their efficiency - most would wonder if they had been travelling together for years now, unlike the reality of seven days.

Yu Yan hadn't taken her mask, cloak, or gloves off during those seven days, and both she and Belluse upheld their identities to the utmost confidentiality.

Yu Yan approached Charon, gesturing towards Belluse and the fire, tapping an imaginary watch on her wrist.

[Are you done yet?]

Charon grunted in reply, nodding his head.

In response, Yu Yan tapped Belluse and flicked her thumb towards the fire.

[We can cook on the fire now.]

Belluse gave a small nod, passing a small bag of dry provisions to Yu Yan. The duo set it next to the fire and watched as Charon experty heated up the food.

The meals were small, usually just a square of meat and two pieces of vegetable, along with a swig of water, but it was enough.

Two more weeks.

---

Charon sighed.

The two women that had boarded his carriage were professional enough.

The taller one evidently seemed to be the master, and the shorter one seemed to be her maid. The taller one commanded an air of sharp regality, an almost knife-like aura. When she lazed around, her aura dulled, but it never completely disappeared. She seemed to be from a comfortable enough upbringing, but the feeling he got was that she had lived longer than even him. The shorter one's aura was also sharp, but less than the taller's.

But Charon never tried to deduce his passenger's identities. Most of them were the rich and powerful, and it would be a pain to get mixed up in their business.

Both women were masked and covered up from head to toe, which obviously gave off the sense of, 'don't ask who we are.'

So Charon didn't.

No matter how strangely efficient they seemed, and the lingering of kerosene and smoke on their clothes when they had arrived on the first day, Charon wanted nothing of it.

'Drive them to Elevyar following the route on the map.'

Easy enough instructions.

Charon didn't know their voices, names, or faces.

Whether they were arsonists, or serial killers, as long as they paid well, Charon would transport them.

It had been the third day of the third week, and the carriage had neared Elevyar. The thick luscious Resilian cedars slowly transformed into the thin but graceful Elevyarian pines. The sky was an elegant shade of periwinkle, and the fresh scent of dew tainted the air. It was spring in Elevyar, and Charon's carriage had crossed paths with trading merchants, lugging goods to Resilia unbeknownst of the current situation.

Charon pitied them.

No one had known the seemingly trivial villager protests would lead to the entirety of Resilia being shaken. With the incompetent queen-puppet and the corrupt nobles stringing her along, it was a time of turmoil...and war.

Charon had received news of the queen's suicide by burning herself and her attendant alive. The villagers had captured the nobles by sheer strength and number, and currently it was anarchy.

The queen, for once, made a slightly smart move.

In Charon's line of work, information was crucial.

But the identity of his clients had always been omitted.

The journey would likely end at night, and his work would be done.

Slowing down the carriage as the sun set, he knocked on the carriage.

Creak. The taller figure opened the eye-level breathing door, and blinked behind the mask. Her eyes were always sharp and darting, almost like a deer's.

Charon pointed to the ground, then towards the direction of the Silver River Bridge, then tapped his wrist. [We'll arrive soon.]

The figure had always understood his gestures. With a nod and another creak, she closed the small door.

The journey would end soon.

----

[We'll arrive soon.]

Yu Yan relayed the message to Belluse, who nodded.

Yu Yan had already planned her life in Elevyar.

Invest in a few businesses with the wealth she carried, become an influential figure in the village, and live her life out peacefully. Perhaps she would start a bakery, or a small library. Maybe even find love, start a family. And she would take it easy, set Belluse free.

Nothing big, like ruling the world.

Having big dreams and chasing them were tiring.

In "REBUILD" and other transmigration novels, there had always been an unexpected twist due to the butterfly effect, so, although Yu Yan had made sure it was unlikely that she would bump into Ye Zhao, it wasn't impossible.

In "REBUILD", Yu Enterprises had existed, in a way. Yu Enterprises created the Yu SmartFridge, an appliance that had been listed even in "REBUILD", in Ye Zhao's former home. It was likely that another Yu Yan existed in Ye Zhao's former modern world, so if Yu Yan had to introduce herself, she would do so as that Yu Yan, another transmigrator who had read the novel "XUEHUA'S RESILIA"; this was a solution that could occur without revealing the existence of "REBUILD".

As Yu Yan planned for every single loophole - what if Belluse died? What if she wasn't welcomed? What if the businesses she invested in failed and she ended up penniless? What if she was chased out of Elevyar? - she was thorough in her plans.

She couldn't afford to not be.

Belluse's purchase of false identities would support most of her endeavors. Belluse was now Lucia Bell, and Yu Yan was now Ingrid Signia, a former noble lady from Resilia. The Signia family was a crumbling baron's family that actually existed in Resilia, a family renowned for their elusiveness. According to the original plot, the baron's family had been killed shortly after the rebellion.

'Aiyo, I'm committing treason and identity theft…'

And murder. Of course, she skipped over it. Murder was a line that Yu Yan didn't want to cross, and now that she was pretending that she didn't step over it, she might as well go along with her brain's charade.

Otherwise, she might actually have to acknowledge it.

She opened the door and realized that night had fallen.

She could see the bridge and the lights in the distance.

The Silver Bridge, and the faraway town.

Elevyar.

----