I touched my face. Big, round, fat. Small green eyes, a potato nose, and plump pink lips. And a rash of the same pink pimples.

Thin mouse-colored hair, gathered in a braid. A dress... A green dress that clings to the figure in such a way as to emphasize the not-so-small belly...

Sky God! Take me out of this... body! Return where you got it from!

My name is Hanna von Leyman. I am the daughter of Duke von Leyman, and I am not the... ugly one!

I was born in Alvares Empire, in the year 1075. I had an unusual magic from birth with a violet tinge of power. By the way, there are only seven colors of magic: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. This is why magic is often depicted as a rainbow circle.

(Archmages are still arguing what was the first: the rainbow or the magic)

Every person has a magic of some color. In my family, it is an indigo color. And it was assumed that I would have the same, just like Prince Dionys, to whom I was to be betrothed.

The violet color represents the most unpredictable magic. While all the other shades imply strictly defined abilities, in the case of violet, it could be anything. It's for this very reason that the betrothal never took place.

There aren’t that many violet mages, and there aren’t any archmages and masters of violet color at all. I studied at the Academy of Light, trying to reveal my abilities, but it didn't work out very well. It was my fifth year at the Academy, my last year. If this year it will not be possible to reveal my abilities, then... I will never be able to work — no one needs a violet magician in our Empire. I will never be able to get married — who needs a bride with an undisclosed ability? It's like a time bomb.

I looked in the mirror again — a fat girl in a green dress was looking at me. I wanted to grimace. I've always been a beauty! I used to be beautiful! I have wonderful golden hair down to my toes, a perfect figure, blue eyes... I had. An ugly girl was looking at me right now.

Maybe it is some kind of nightmare? I pinched my thick arm.

Wow, it hurts!

Okay, Hanna, pull yourself together. What's the last thing you remember?

No, I don't understand anything. Today was an ordinary day, no different from the others. I went to a rune class and then spent an hour fruitlessly trying to reveal my gift while sitting in the meditation hall. Then… Then there was lunch… Then I trained at the training ground until the evening. I went to my chambers…

Nothing foreshadowed trouble. I was getting ready for bed when I suddenly lost consciousness… And I woke up already... with this. Like this.

I looked again in the mirror.

Sky God, how did I become so ugly?!

***

Low ceiling. A small room that barely fit two narrow beds and one large closet that filled almost the entire wall. From the window, there was a breathtaking view of the forest, illuminated by a silver moon, and the darkening peaks of the mountains in the distance.

A cursory examination made it clear to me that I am still at the Academy, but in a dormitory for commoners, and this, apparently, is the room of my fat body.

So I'm also a commoner now?! I am the Duchess von Leyman, not only did I get a fat and fat body, but I also became a commoner! Ugh. I am also a commoner! It even sounds ugly.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

I won't set foot here! Where is my real body? I'm coming for you!

"Lebedia, where are you going? Lebedia!" The stern call of the local commandant sounded practically in my ear, and it took me a moment to realize she was addressing me.

The appearance of the tall girl, in a tightly buttoned dark blue dress with tightly pursed lips, made it clear that she was not a very pleasant person. And a commoner, too. I don't like commoners. They're rough, uncouth, with mere specks of magic, only getting in the way of us, the true mages of the seven colors.

"Do I have to report to you?" I clarified, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course! It's already late, and second-year students are not allowed to roam the Academy at night!"

So I'm also a second-year student?

“You have no right to forbid me. Do you know who I am?” I asked.

Usually, that line would put an end to any objections. But...

“Anita Lebedia, one more word, and I will be forced to report your behavior to Dean von Reis!”

Anita Lebedia... right now I'm not Hanna. I'm a commoner. Fat ugly commoner. Normally I could always push my status, but now… What can I do? Who am I?

"Go back to sleep, Anita. You'll go wherever you need to go tomorrow," the commandant added more gently.

“I need it now!” I blurted out.

“Where to?”

“To the East Wing! I forgot my...” I wondered for a moment what I could have forgotten there. Nothing came to mind. “My thing!”

The commandant's eyes widened.

“What could you have forgotten in the aristocrats' dormitory?”

“Something very important! My... my pendant! It belonged to my mom, and I'm afraid of losing it”.

The lie came off the tongue easily and naturally. Before I had time to think, could a commoner have such a trinket?

But, it seems, the woman was penetrated. Apparently, I seemed pathetic to her. But it doesn't matter. It's more important to find out what's wrong with my real body.

“All right, but quickly!" the commandant hissed. “One foot here, the other there. And don't try to use magic!”

I knew this, I'm not little. Beacons react to the use of magic inside the walls of the Academy.

I knew the way to my own dorm by heart. But when I reached it, I stopped and hid behind the wall. All because professors and doctors crowded at the door to my chambers.

And then I saw myself. My real body, the body of Hanna von Leyman. It was lying on a stretcher, wrapped in healing blue magic.

“Faster, faster, she needs oxygen!” medics were fussing.

"Does anyone know what happened here?" a security officer was asking sleepy students. No one knew.

“Tell us, what's wrong with Hanna? Will she live?” someone asked.

“She's in critical condition! Her vital signs are almost at zero," the security guard replied.

“What the hell happened here?” the thought was beating in my head. I somehow looked devastated as the gurney with my pale body left for the medical building. What happened to me? Why did I suddenly become a different person, and my real body is almost at death's door? Sky God, why are you doing this to your ward? As if I didn't have enough suffering with my violet magic!

***

There was nowhere to go, so I went back to the commoners' dormitory. At night is really not the best time to find out anything, although I really wanted to. But my mind understood that with my current appearance if I got caught in the wing of the aristocrats, I could run into big trouble.

The aristocrats do not like commoners. Including me. Commoners don't know how to dress, talk rudely, don't know the rules of etiquette, don't have money, and, moreover, claim some rights in the Empire. Outrageous! The magic of the seven colors has always been a sign of aristocracy. The fact that some beggars can use it does not mean that they should study magic and apply for high positions.

Due to the reforms of the late King Sigismund, commoners are now educated alongside aristocrats. The Academy of Light, a prestigious educational institution, has also opened its doors to the lower classes.

Unbelievable, and now I — me! — am in the guise of a commoner! I need to sort out what happened as soon as possible and bring everything back. I'm Duchess Hanna von Leyman, and that’s final!

With these thoughts, I went into the room and was displeased to find another commoner there. By the way, beautiful. Actually, I, Hanna, was called the angel of this Academy, and my portrait hung in the main hall all last year. But, looking at the girl, I fleetingly thought that she could well compete with me for the title of the first beauty.

“Anita!” the commoner rejoiced. “I was already scared where you were. By the way, you look kind of weird. Something happened?”

I look weird, yeah. It's not me at all!

“Nothing," I said shortly. Indeed! To communicate with some commoner!

"You need to study less," the girl remarked sententiously. "You've been sitting in the library late again, haven't you?"

I decided to ignore the persistent neighbor and pretended that I had gone to bed. Fortunately, it worked. She sighed, said good night, turned off the lamp, and lay down on the opposite bed. After a while, she sniffed.

But I couldn't get to sleep. And how can I sleep on such a terribly narrow and hard bed? Truly, I cannot understand commoners.

It doesn't matter. Tomorrow, with a clear head, I'll sort out what has happened and return everything to the way it was. Or my name isn't Hanna von Leyman!