As Celia went to bed in Rowena's body, she still couldn't escape the thought that this was all some sort of delusion, despite the fact that she had every reason to take her pain seriously.

'I might just wake up in a VAULT issued hospital bed and, in that case, a shitty one,' she imagined, 'I should probably enjoy this comfort while I have it.' Who would stand to disagree?

Maybe she was just in another country? But if this character existed as a real person, wouldn't she have filed a copyright lawsuit against the author of the book?

In a moment of shock, she opened her eyes in the now darkened room. 'Right, Sarah Dent!'

Of course, how could she forget? If this was the world someone had imagined, then how had she ended up there?

Was it the quirky author who had somehow brought her here? The theory might be lacking, but it was the only thing that added up in her mind, when everything else wouldn't do her the favor.

Starting with her heart that had stopped beating back then, it all made no sense. She clearly felt it, as if it was being ripped out of her chest, which was impossible. But could it have happened if her soul had actually traveled to another body?

In that case, would she have broken the contract she had with Pan? There was a bout of panic creeping up inside of her, as if reality had only now started setting in.

'Maybe that's why he's gone,' she mused, but didn't want to go in that direction any further as her breath hastened substantially.

It was hard to acknowledge the fact that she had left her body behind. To admit that this was real – that she had actually woken up in the body of another, and in the world of a book to boot – would be to admit that there really was another world besides her own.

But if Rowena had died as described in the book, why did Celia wake up and live in a body that must have already been dead? If there were three weeks left of her punishment, that meant she had already served the first week and should have died approximately today.

"Souls carry life," Celia remembered as she thought about that fact. That's what they taught her in fourth grade.

It meant that the Visitors had originally been souls cannibalizing each other in the World Beyond the Surface. The moment they did that, they would have turned into a spirit that lived for consumption. They craved the energy of life and followed its scent all the way to the world of the living, where there was an abundance of it.

They became smarter and more vicious as they grew more twisted. But souls did not interest them any longer. Once they had turned into a will-o'-the-wisp, they came for the living.

'So there definitely was Life Force that could have helped, but…' Her thoughts got complicated. "Would that be enough?" The question fell softly into the empty room, with no one to answer it.

'Indeed,' a deep male voice invaded the space in her head, 'it would be enough to barely bring the body back to the brink of life.'

"Sure, makes sense, but what if the body's so trashed it won't make it anyway?" she pitched another thought out loud.

'Then it will revive still, only to die again.'

"Sounds horrifying…" Her words trailed off as her tired brain suddenly jumped back into a fully capable working mode.

She sat up straight on her bed, her heart racing as fast as a mouse's. "Pan?"

'It is I.'

'Where have you been? What happened?' Celia tried not to speak out loud in her excitement, lest she alarm anyone who might be wandering the halls of her annex.

For a long moment, silence filled the bedroom again. She almost thought she had imagined his voice, for she had wished for him to be there so badly.

'I have followed your soul.'

'Wait, so my soul really did travel somewhere? All alone? Seriously?'

'It is as it seems.'

'More words, please. We have a situation here.' Her urgency should have come through even though she usually hated talking in her mind.

'There is nothing more to be said.'

'Of course there isn't.' Though of course there was.

Rolling her eyes, she settled back down and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Her head was in chaos, she didn't know what to feel, in spite of that she started to calm down.

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

There was so much to say, so much to ask. For starters: How could her heart have stopped? Surely Pan would know. But she couldn't be bothered asking, because he had already said that there was nothing more to say, which meant that he would be silent now anyway.

She had known him long enough that her frustration about this behavior had long since ceased to exist. After all, he wasn't a person, so why should he feel the need to be personable?

Getting angry was just a waste of energy. He would talk when he was ready. And knowing why it had happened wouldn't change anything for her anyways.

Aside from that, that bit of leftover frustration toward him settled nicely over her mind like a blanket. A feeling she was very familiar with and the assurance that came with him being there; he, who would never change his ways.

An invisible weight had been lifted from her shoulders, so much so that she felt lighter already. Her eyes almost didn't want to stay open.

In fact, it made her so relieved that she became outright naive, thinking that maybe this wasn't actually such a big deal. And she hadn't slept with such relief in a long time.

Waking up, she almost felt like a newborn baby.

However that complacency was quickly overshadowed by the absurd memory of having taken over someone else's body, and looking at her elaborate canopy after opening her eyes she knew it had not been a dream. The softness of her mattress also gave it away.

Her thoughts from the night before returned and she sighed as she ate a hearty breakfast that was duly prepared for her. This morning, another servant had joined them.

A redhead with a short bob stood next to her. A look of blank disbelief on her face.

"Ah, I have a question," Celia asked before tilting her head. If she had to stay in this body for a while, she should make sure to live as well as possible. "When is the Grand Duke coming back?"

Celia had to get used to her role in this place, starting with her name and her family. She never had one of her own, so it shouldn't be too hard for her to accept that of a stranger.

Of course, there would be no real feelings involved, but if she stayed long enough, she could get along just fine. A family was something she had always wanted when she was younger anyway.

"His Grace will be arriving in about three weeks, as you have already been informed. Your presence at the temple has been requested immediately upon his return." She said more than she needed to remind her mistress why she had been placed under house arrest in the first place.

Norina had the feeling that she hadn't yet grasped the gravity of the situation.

But Rowena knew all too well. 'Yes, the Duke was busy leading his troops against the Visitors in order to defend the Arlen Empire's western border, mainly the Granbell Mountain Range and the great Gloria Forest that was part of it.'

In the original book, the Duchy's Silver Lion Knights Brigade would reclaim that Territory as planned, returning not only on time but unexpectedly victorious, only to have the Grand Duke learn of his daughter's demise when he arrived at the capital.

'He's a bit cold, but I know he cared. Poor guy was devastated by the news. But that part of the story is now null and void.'

Although the picture of a happy family in her mind may have lost some of its luster over the years, it was still a worthwhile endeavor to her. Sadly, Rowena wasn't on good terms with her family, for one reason or another, and Celia couldn't access the memories of that body at all.

So she had to try to make a good impression when there was nothing she could do about the fact that she had no information about what was going on in that household.

'Just what made Rowena the 'crazy daughter' everyone was ripping into for all of the five pages she was ever relevant?' she earnestly wondered, 'Was it just her appearance?'

Nobles were pretty superficial after all.

She should probably do something about this problem first, even if that wasn't the real reason.

"I also need your help with something," Rowena added after having kept silent for about a minute.

As she had gathered, this was a real world. 'Fucking up my own life was VAULT issued, but I can't have the same shit twice.'

With that resolve, she sighed and made eye contact with the two maids, Norina and Liza, who seemed to be all ears.

'Let's see, how should I put this?' Shifting her eyes, she weighed her options. "Where could I go to be alone for a while?"

Both servants exchanged a few uncertain glances before they came back to their mistress.

"You can be alone wherever you want, my lady," Norina assured her.

But not without the bobcut maid clearing her throat: "As long as it's within the annex, she meant to say. With all due respect, my lady, as you know, His Grace's orders are absolute."

"I'm aware of that," she replied nonchalantly, "I was asking for a slightly larger room, one that would be suitable for training."

There was another moment of silence before the two could think of how to respond to that idea. "You wish to exercise? Shall we ask Madam Ilona to hire someone to train you?"

Celia immediately shook her head. "No. I don't want it to be something grand, I just," she thought, having to pause on her demands, "I feel like I should do a bit more for my health. You see, if I get any weaker, I might not even be able to walk anymore at some point."

Of course, this assessment was downright hysterical, but it just managed to shut the two of them up enough for her to hear about a room they had in the basement for such reasons. It wasn't that surprising for them to have a basement, as they were in Avarinth, the capital of the Arlen Empire, and yet it still managed to make her raise a brow.

Getting up from her seat at the dining table in one of the annex rooms, she shook off the icky feeling it caused and walked past her two maids until she stopped and turned to ask another question.

"But you could actually ask Madam Ilona to hire someone else for me."

Surprised but smiling, Norina put down the cloth she had used to wipe the table after clearing the plates and stood at attention. It wasn't as if she hadn't heard all the rumors and thought they might be a bit exaggerated, but she was still very suspicious of her new master.

'I wonder what happened. I know I haven't really known her, but it's obvious she dinnae take care of her health in a whilst,' Norina had to admit, 'I'm well chuffed. Does that mean the rumors were all a load of tosh though?'

The false Rowena, on the other, was already a step ahead of her. It was high time for her to take the reins and make some preparations for a brighter future.

As far as she was concerned, it couldn't hurt to know a thing or two about conduct and gain some favor in the process. All she needed was a little bit of trust and support from her "father" to not end up being used by the Emperor as a ribbon tied around a business contract.

'Thank fuck they don't really question me.' Celia – no, Rowena – was relieved at their attitude towards whatever she said, even if they might have been insincere for all she knew. "I need an Imperial Etiquette Tutor. Can you get me one?"