Eva jolted awake, gasping. Her eyes darted left and right, but no matter how much she looked, she couldn’t understand what was going on. She sat up and noticed that she was in a bedroom, with sunlight shining brightly through the window, which made no sense to her. The north barely sees the sun, let alone receives this kind of light. She got up, still looking around, and a sense of… nostalgia overwhelmed her. She noticed the silk bed canopy, the jewelry on the walnut cupboard, and the dark dresses in the giant wardrobe. She had seen all those before.
Then, she saw the mirror, and her eyes widened in shock.
Eva rushed to the mirror, her hands clasped on its edges, her face near touching the surface. In the mirror was herself, though there was something amiss. Her green eyes which shined like two pieces of jewels were still prominent like before. Her flowing blonde hair which had been praised by all in the empire was still the same. Her stature and proportion, however, were out of place. Her height seemed to decrease while her limbs seemed to shorten. She noticed that she was wearing a white and breezy nightgown and realized what happened. She looked around the room again, and each second that passed confirmed what she suspected.
She was back in the Vallou Earldom, her birthplace, and other than that, she seemed to have become younger. Eva grabbed her head, trying to process what happened when there was a knock on the door.
“My lady?”
Eva composed herself in a second and hurriedly tucked herself back in bed before saying, “Come in.”
The door opened, and Sofia walked in and bowed. Eva hadn’t seen the maid in years, but there was no way she could mistake her for someone else. This girl had bronze hair and tanned skin, traits of people from the south, had a small face and big dark eyes from the oriental. Eva trembled a little. This girl was supposed to be dead.
“My lady?” Sofia glanced up, expecting Eva to allow her to relax.
Eva coughed. “Be at ease,” she said.
The maid straightened up, her face showing worry. “My lady, are you alright?” she said, walking to the bed. “You… look startled.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Never mind me.” Eva waved away the concern, looking at Sofia sharply. “Now that I think of it, how old will you be this year, Sofia?”
The maid paused, looking confused and sad. “My lady… my 15th birthday was 2 weeks ago…”
Eva did a quick calculation in her head, recalling her maid’s birthday and comparing the time. And she realized: Somehow, she had traveled back nine years ago, when she was still the 16-year-old Lady Eva, the eldest daughter of Vallou Earldom. She didn’t let her surprise show, however. “Is that so. It looks like I am quite tired. What day is it, anyway?”
“The seventh of Month Isidoros, 267th Imperial Year, my lady.”
Eva recalled the events that would happen soon, and she froze in place. In a year, she would be betrothed to Minos and sent to the north. And that would be when all the misfortunes in her life started festering and coming up to the surface. And now that she thought of it, the cause of it all was—
“Sister!” A cheerful girl who inherited their father’s black hair and their late mother’s emerald eyes rushed into the room, jumping onto the bed, hugging Eva in a tight embrace. “Why are you so late today? I didn’t want to have breakfast without you, so I came here!”
It was her.
Eva’s first instinct was to strangle her on the spot, to release the anger that had been pent up all these years, to nip the poisonous ivy in the bud, so she reached her hands out… and stroked her sister’s head gently. “Lena, a lady needs to have her composure and elegance at all times. Didn’t Mother always tell you this?”
“But—“
“No but.” Eva smiled, even if that made her sick to the core. “Be a good girl and wait properly. I shall be ready in a minute.”
Lena looked genuinely disappointed. She climbed out of bed, looked back at Eva for a brief second, and ran out of the room as quickly as she had come.
Sofia sighed. “The young lady really should take after you more, my lady. That way his lordship will be able to rest—“ The maid paused. “M-my lady? I-is something the matter?”
Eva glanced at the mirror and noticed her own expression. It was one of pure disgust, a face so contorted and twisted, she from the past would never be able to imagine it was her face. She looked away at the window, facing the sunlight shining through. “I feel quite tired today, Sofia. Please tell my sister that I won’t be able to join her.”
“U-understood, my lady. What about your meal, though?”
“Have it delivered here.”
There was a moment of silence, and Eva didn’t need to look back to know that Sofia was having an awkward debate with herself. It almost made her feel better. Almost.
“Then… I shall take my leave, my lady.”
A moment after Sofia exited the room, Eva got out of bed and strode over to the cupboard, her eyes fixed on the shiny stones and antique rings. She grabbed a handful of jewelry and let it slide through her fingers, landing back on the wooden surface. “Dear sister…” she murmured, her tone unamused, her eyes freezing cold. “I hope you will be able to smile later…”