Well... I was Lydia. It's not like there was anything I could do to change that, right?

All I could do was just act normal and pretend I was her. Not too hard... right?

This would be easy...

...right?

It started to hit me that whatever was happening to me was a lot bigger than I thought. That or I was in a really intense dream, but that's what all the characters in my favorite books think.

I tried again to speak, but still all that came out was a rasp that hurt my throat and was barely audible.

Lydia giggled. "It's my voice, silly. Well... now it's yours. Tell them your name; they're waiting."

With that, she walked away and left the room, and the people in front of me were moving again.

"If you're not ready to speak yet, that's okay," Kyur said.

I wanted to say my name and be over with it, but a part of me didn't trust him, and another part of me was just scared and didn't feel ready to speak yet.

So, even though I kicked myself for it, I gave him a slow nod.

He smiled understandingly.

"Prolly cause you were so rude!" Myu prodded.

The man gave her a small glare, but a guilty one.

"Well, young lady, allow me to introduce myself properly this time."

I nodded again, my mind reeling at being called female.

"My name is Lasory Kyur. I am a Messenger for the King of Sakari, and this is the Myu-Sakari estate."

I thought for a moment, then slowly turned my head towards Myu, who was smiling sheepishly.

"And this," Lasory began with a smirk in his voice. "Is Princess Myuila-Renee Sakari, the second child of the Family."

"You know I hate being called that!" she shouted.

Tilting my head to the side, I furrowed my brow and gave them a strange look.

My mind went straight to the fact that there aren't any monarchies or kingdoms or empires I know of that speak English, at least none by the name of Sakari.

Then I started to question why I'm in some royal mansion.

This is all way too sketchy.

Tch. I guess I'm forgetting that I'm not supposed to question things.

I straightened my posture and looked at Myu, who had guilty written all over her.

"Yeah, I'm the Princess, but that's really just a title. My sister and my dad have all the power."

She seemed content with that fact, shrugging her shoulders as she said it.

I gave a "that's fair" look and a small nod. Myu stuck her tongue out at Lasory, who gave a playful gleam in return, and then the girl looked at the empty table in front of her and dashed out of the room.

"Well, young lady, would you care to follow me so I can show you a few things around here?" Lasory offered, reaching towards the door.

I nodded as Myu hurried back into this sort of lounge area and handed me a small hand-made bowl full of some nuts, some of which I'd never seen before. Then again, I do have a nut allergy.

But... I guess this isn't my body, right? So maybe I don't have an allergy anymore...

I internally shrugged and grabbed a pinch of some cashew-shaped nuts, tasting them tentatively.

When I realized they were actually super good - and salted, too - I ate a few more and gave Myu a nod to say "these are pretty good."

"You like em? Picked by my own hands," she cheered.

I nodded again.

Lasory smiled warmly. "Lady Sakari, I'll be showing this young lady around a little of the estate. You ought to see Ms. Ayami."

Myu pouted, but obeyed. She gave me a cheery wave, then spun around and walked towards the maid, presumably Ms. Ayami.

I then followed Lasory, who took me to the doorway.

"This room right here is a lounge area that Myu herself had requested to be made. It's stunning, isn't it?"

I agreed wholeheartedly. If this were my own home, I could see myself spending my free time here. Probably drawing or napping up in the hammocks and snacking.

Lasory led me back through the halls, and I realized again that my eyesight as a whole was about as good as putting two potatoes in my eye sockets and trying to see out of them.

Anything after about 10 feet away from me was a total mystery, so walking around a giant mansion was a bit rough.

Luckily, though, I think at some point or another, Lasory picked up on the fact that I can't see shit, and was more descriptive about what he was showing me, taking care to get me closer so that I could actually make out what he was trying to show me.

I followed Doctor Kyur to a part of the mansion that took a much different tone. It was a small few turns away from the courtyard, and it had a more open, spacious, natural feel with dark, polished wood making up most of the floor, walls, and ceiling, which was much higher up.

This area was just a hall that ended in a T, and Lasory took me to the one door on the left, which opened up to a neat, window-lit library, with books covering just about every facet of the room's surface.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

It definitely wasn't huge, but it was a quaint, cozy area whose age was well-mixed with the heavy use and good upkeep of the dated texts.

"This is our library," he introduced matter-of-factly, like he was introducing a person. "If you need me, you'll probably find me here."

He hesitated, then took a small book out of the pocket of his strange outfit, seeming to remember that he'd forgotten it there, and tossed it onto a bookshelf with a practiced nonchalance, and to my shock, it slid into its spot with ease and finesse.

Hey guys I think I found the bookworm!

"You're always free to read my books, though not a lot of the people share my love for them."

I nodded thankfully.

He paused for a moment like he didn't know what to say next. I must've given him the idea that I didn't like the library, which was far from the truth.

Lasory hurried out of the room and led me up a round flight of stairs then through a few turns and another flight.

We eventually reached what seemed to be a dark attic with a round window letting in sunlight on an extremely dusty floor.

"For now," he began. "This is where you'll have to sleep if you want your own room, as we're rather stacked with people at the moment."

I looked around. It had a bed, room to stand in almost the whole area aside from one end, decent lighting and a few candles for the night time (though I saw no lightbulb), and it was kinda cozy.

He put his hand on the back of his neck and looked a little sheepish. "Sorry that it's not much."

I gave him an honest smile.

It's really not a problem. I've always had a thing for dark attic rooms anyways.

I heard a woman's giggling. Familiar. "Still don't know how to use your voice, huh?"

My attention quickly diverted to the corner of the room a bit to the left of Lasory.

The same girl I saw earlier in the lounge was standing there. She had the same pink sweater and skirt on, with an innocent, yet this time slightly amused smile shining through her round, thin-framed glasses.

Lasory furrowed his brows as he noticed me glance over to the corner and then back at him, but made no comment on it, and continued speaking.

"There's really not much else to show you for now," he began. "I don't want to overwhelm you, and most of the stuff here would probably bore you. It's not super lively."

I smiled again.

"You can't go forever without speaking, you know," the girl teased.

"I have some other things to check around on, but Myu and Miss Ayami will be up here soon to give you some company and some other things I'm sure you'll need."

I nodded lightly, and he left in a hurry. I felt bad, like I'd been keeping him for too long.

After that, I was left to myself, other than the girl. Well, she was probably too old to be "girl", but she didn't seem old enough to be "woman" either.

With a sigh, I sat down on the bed at a dark outlet of the room, and the girl... woman... person... Lydia I think her name was... stood up from leaning on the wall and sat beside me. Aside from our clothes, I noticed once again that we looked identical.

"I'm sure your head's spinning so hard it's hardly on your shoulders anymore. For what it's worth, I'm sorry," she said softly. Her voice sounded light, yet well-matured, and getting a closer look at her facial features, I'd guess she's no younger than her late twenties, but the rest of her body was small enough to make her look maybe 12 or 13.

"My name's Lydia," she introduced cheerily. "And I'm a ghost. More specifically, I'm the ghost of you... me... well, I'm the ghost of the body you now own."

It sounded weird to hear, and maybe it's the shock of all these new places and faces or the daziness I can still feel a little bit, but it just didn't strike me as wrong. Everything about this just felt normal, yet some small part of my brain just keeps screaming out that something is wrong.

Then it hit me.

I know why I can't speak.

If I'm Lydia, then that means so is my voice.

"I'm Vincent," I tentatively greeted, though it sounded a slight bit cracked.

"No, you're me now," she affirmed once again, keeping her cheery, overbright tone.

"What do you mean?" I asked, a little more strength and clarity in my voice this time.

"You may have your own mind, but your body used to be mine. So get used to it." It wasn't a threat, but more of an offer, like it was an opportunity.

If she claims to have died, and that I'm somehow her now, then she's awfully lax about her death.

She held out her open palm with a warm smile.

I took her hand and shook it, noticing again that she was ever so slightly transparent. A ghost.

You reach out your hand and no-one else feels a thing.

"Nice to meet you," she cheered as a tear fell from her eye, and her voice echoed. She faded away, and I was left wondering what happened.

She'll be back soon, I'm sure.

I turned and laid back in the bed that had nothing else on it, using my hands as a sort of pillow and staring at the ceiling in thought. However, it didn't take long at all for my eyes to get heavy and for me to drift off to sleep.

~

I woke up some time later to feel more weight on the bed than was on it when I passed out.

Opening my eyes, I had to resist every urge to not jump back and shriek when I saw Myu's purple hair in my face. She, too, was asleep.

I had a blanket over me, one we were sharing.

Shit. She's like a cat in my lap. If I move, she wakes up. If she wakes up, then I feel like an ass.

"She's a heavy sleeper," Lasory said at almost a whisper as I heard him coming up the last few stairs, which surprisingly didn't creak.

I haven't moved an inch. How does he know I'm awake?

I slowly rolled out of the bed and stood up, taking care not to wake the sleeping princess.

Lasory stood at the top of the stairs, and the maid from before was attentively waiting by the wall across the room with a hint of irritation on her face.

"I have some more I want to show you, whenever you're ready. Miss Ayami would like to tend to you first, though."

I nodded cautiously, and he went back down the stairs.

Miss Ayami emerged from the shadowed part of the wall with a scary face of contempt and frustration.

She took a deep breath and tried to brighten up some.

Maybe I remind her of someone.

The maid was holding a neatly-folded set of what appeared to be clothes, and handed them to me.

"Will these be suitable for you, young lady?"

I was a bit flustered at being handed clothes like this, especially when they looked like they'd be more on the feminine side.

I nodded.

The maid walked to my backside and asked me to raise my hands, and I did so without thinking about what it meant.

Next thing I knew, she was trying to take off my shirt, and her cold fingers touched my skin, making me jump out of the way and scream.

She seemed to be angered at this.

I hit my thorax with my fist a few times, trying to clear my throat.

"Sorry," I squeaked out in a still-hoarse voice.

She hesitated for a moment, then huffed and tossed the clothes towards me. Then, she tried to regain her composure.

"You may dress yourself. Please come down when you are finished."

The maid spoke in a monotone, formal manner, then bowed and left.

I turned behind me, and Myu was silently sleeping facing the wall.

A body mirror stood leaned up against the wall, I guess put there by Miss Ayami, and as I stared at it, I took a deep breath and slowly began to take off my shirt, pinching at the ends while letting out a shaky breath.

My heart rate was definitely starting to pick up; I don't like undressing, let alone around people, let alone strangers, let alone in someone else's body.

But if this was my life now, then it's something I have to do and something I have to get used to.

So, I took off my shirt and tossed it on the ground, and my breath stopped when I was greeted by the sight before me.

Nothing else covered my torso; nothing shielded me from the horror before me. My skin was covered in scar after scar, most of which were smooth and old, and judging by their shape, they didn't seem... accidental.

What had this poor girl been through?

Honestly, I wasn't even that focused on the fact that I was staring at the naked upper half of a girl; my attention was all on the history written on this body, on the fact that I could count almost a dozen marks on just the front of my torso alone.

After that, I was afraid to keep stripping. But for the sake of my own curiosity and for doing what's right, I removed the last of my clothing.

While not as many, there were still scars on my legs, as well as a few near my shoulders. I was practically trembling.

What happened to her?

Who did these things to her?

I couldn't bear to see my skin anymore, so I dressed as quickly as possible and went down the stairs, trying to hide my shaking hands and wipe the shock from my face.

Lasory and Miss Ayami waited at the bottom with the latter in a formal, tidy posture.

"Well, young lady-"

"My name," I cut him off, in a little clearer of a voice than before. "Is Lydia."

My name is Lydia.

I... am Lydia.