I think I just died…

I can't quite recall what happened… The memories of the past few days are covered in fog. The last thing I can recall is the blinding flash of lights and then… An unbearable pain, a smell of burnt tires and a sense of oblivion.

The first thing I see upon opening my eyes is a woman I've never met before, dressed in a funny hat. She is leaning over me, carefully studying me. I’m placed in a bed with a canopy, golden walls and furniture are shining under the sun rays reflected in a large vintage mirror.

Pulsing pain fills my head.

“Victoria, you are awake…” A quiet mutter is coming from the woman, her voice is tainted in amazement and… Something that seems like disappointment.

“Who are you? And where am I?” I manage to utter. Thoughts are racing through my head with no speed limit. This doesn't look like a hospital, so where am I then? Who is this old woman dressed up in a black and white attire?

“I am your maid, young lady. You are at home, the Sableford Estate. Oh, I need to report to the Earl of Lemeria about your awakening, you scared all of us.”

“…huh? What happened?”

“I wish I knew. Three days ago, you were found unconscious in the backyard. You were… You were almost…” She falls silent, as if she wasn’t sure whether this is something I should know.

“What?” I demand.

“This must sound ridiculous. The horseman is certain he saw you up on the roof, as if you were about to jump, but it’s impossible.”

“I don’t understand…” A quiet whisper lingers on my lips.

“Me neither.” The maid frantically nods, “You would’ve never done anything like this, Victoria. Not you,” for a brief moment, I can feel a contempt undertone in her words. Immediately, the maid gets a hold of herself. “Yes. It’s not possible. Besides, there is barely a scratch on you. Although you wouldn’t wake up, your brother even went to town to get a healer. I will contact him shortly to let him know there is no need for that any longer. Though, what truly happened? How are you feeling?” The maid finished off her monologue.

“I-I… don’t remember anything…” I barely manage to utter, it almost feels like the mouth doesn’t belong to me. Tears slowly start to build up in the corner of my eyes. “What is going on?” Panic is crippling down my spine. “Cou-could you please pass me a mirror?” I ask, and the woman slowly nods, she outstretches her hands holding a tiny round mirror, I gently lift it up to a head level and see…

A layer of smooth pale skin nearly shining from the inside covering my face, full bright lips, and eyes as deep as an azure ocean. What a beauty… But how? How did this happen?

With soft touches, I examine the face, the hair which is silk to the touch, can’t compare to my real hair…

“My Goodness, what a beauty…” Slips from my lips.

The maid gives me a sceptical glance, it seems like the body I currently possess wasn't the most pleasant to the woman, yet this is no time to evaluate their relationship.

“Your beauty is truly legendary, Victoria.”

Suddenly, a line from a novel “Story of the Lost Daughter” comes to mind, and the words are so clear in my head as if someone whispers them in my ear.

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“Victoria was just as charming on the outside, as corrupted on the inside. Although her eyes are captivating to men, her poor manners and awful temper turn them off. Not a single person could endure Victoria’s company for long. The woman was surrounded by flatterers and gossips.”

“Please… Please, leave me alone…” I say out loud in a shaky voice.

“Of course… But if something…”

“Do not come back until I say so!” I unconsciously raise my voice.

With a small nod, the woman silently disappears behind a door. A second barely passes until I jump out of the bed, dizziness, and weakness invading the body. It takes half an hour for me to come to my senses, and the same amount of time to figure out that I in fact got relocated into the world of the novel “Story of the Lost Daughter”. Though not in the body of the main character, but rather the villain’s. Immediately, everything seems to be too real, I even pinch myself and the pain is very much present. However, there is still a chance that all of this is just a sick joke… Or my imagination… What if I fell into a coma after the car accident? Or lying unconscious at the scene? Yet, deep down it feels too real, there is no way dreams can be so realistic.

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. How did this happen? Thoughts are racing through my head while I have a look around the room. “Not only that, but I also ended up in the body of the main antagonist of the book…” Cold from apprehension, I investigate a Magic Wall Calendar. According to the calendar, the villain also known as Victoria has exactly three months to live from this point on.

In reality, my name is Kate. I am an ordinary student more on the “nerdy” side, nothing exceptional, living off scholarships, a part-timer in an “off-licence” shop, dreaming of a bright future… I was in love only once, yet was betrayed by the significant other, and ever since then I promised myself to not let anyone enter my shattered heart. And why fall in love in real life, when I can read all these love stories, where everyone lives happily ever after, no broken hearts, no betrayals. Win-win. And as you have probably guessed by now, my favourite love novel is a fantasy story about a lost daughter named Elisa called “Story of the Lost Daughter”.

Elisa lives impoverished, yet manages to keep a pure heart, which helped her to develop a talent for healing magic. The main character alongside Elisa is a horrendous werewolf Prince called Alan, the eldest son of the Cesarius clan, the heir. As cliché as it can get, Elisa falls in love with him at the first sight, alas bad luck because Alan finds his True Love in the beauty of Victoria Sableford.

In the upper-class society, Victoria is well known for her unbearable temper and a lack of good manners. Behind her back, she is called “mad lady”. This seems like the end because nothing can withstand the Fate since it is such a rare thing to happen.

Seeing the relationship between Alan and Elisa, Victoria gets greedy, she would do whatever it takes to bring Elisa’s innocent character down, once almost killing the rival. Consequently, Victoria turns to the forbidden black magic, trying to cast a spell of oblivion on Elisa and a love spell upon the prince. She would blackmail the prince's father to insist on an early wedding, however, the wife's status couldn’t save her from an inevitable end. Eventually, Alan sees through her facade and learns how far rotten Victoria truly is, and after another attempt at hurting Elisa, the prince pierces Victoria’s chest with his sword. Yet, this isn’t as simple as it seems because according to the law of this world, if your True Love is killed, the other heart dies as well. Nonetheless, the Mark disappears from Victoria’s wrist and appears on Elisa’s. In the end, Elisa and Alan get married, have wonderful children and live happily even after. The end.

As a child, this book was gifted to me by my mother, though I only read it for the first time when I was a teenager, this is when my fondness for love novels was born. Back in my world, I dearly loved the book, so much that I would bring it along with me everywhere I go. The book was like my lucky charm, it helped to heal my broken heart, yet in the end it turned into a curse…

“Alright… Stay calm.” I tell myself. “There are two options: reveal my true identity to everyone in this book. Although, this might get me in an asylum. The second option, however, is more appealing, it is to proceed as is, and treat this as a parallel reality. And if this is my imagination, playing with me, I can’t possibly mess anything up”

I’m not planning on dying either way, yet the thought of living in such a beautiful body drowned in luxury, knowing no trouble suits me well.

“Though, what am I going to do with my murderer? According to the plot, we are about to meet soon, at the Ball,” I realise. “I just won’t approach him. He’ll meet Elisa, and they will live happily ever after, just like the book says. All I have to do is to hide my Mark of True Love. Easy-peasy.”