Elisa Beth

The reincarnation trope, a genre that has been around for years now. Normal everyday people appear in a fantasy world of some kind. These worlds vary greatly from story to story. Magic is an ingrained new addition that takes the forefront in select worlds, allowing their protagonists to wield ungodly amounts of power that boosts them up past any common man. Other stories have magic as a side commodity, not explored nearly enough and only popping up when convenient to the plot. Then there are stories where magic does not exist at all, the protagonist is thrown into some kind of fantasy medieval world that are all slightly similar to one another with different coats on. 

Ages rage from infant to full grown adult as some people just kick an existing person's soul out of their body and take over, manning them like some kind of twisted version of a certain popular movie involving a rat hiding under a chef's hat. Thousands of readers enjoy this trope, oftentimes a new version of it popping up to suit a new audience that only draws in more people. Among these readers, Virginia Brooks was an avid fan of female centered stories. Don't bother remembering that name as she will soon throw it out like many other reincarnation protagonists before her. She herself was surprised with how fast her old name faded out of existence, replaced with a shiny new one that bound her to the world she was thrust into without warning. 

Virginia's life ended suddenly, truck straight to the face. After being pancaked on the side of the road by an out of control driver, she found herself groggy in a strange new world. It did not take long to register her surroundings, the reality of the world she was in coming to her like an omnipotent sense. Similar to how in a dream one will often know things as simple as breathing. For instance, dreaming that you live in a waterpark, you will know the waterpark is your home without needing to say or think anything to confirm that fact. 

Oh god. I'm in a novel.

She thought, holding her head with her significantly tinier hands. They were rough and bruised, the nails peeling up at the sides only being stuck to her skin by blisters. Internally freaking out as she ruffled through her hair. 

I know I often joked about this but you have to be kidding! Was I seriously killed in the most stereotypical way possible…truck-kun barrelling straight towards me without a hint of hesitation? Do truck drivers just smell orphans and hunt them down to throw them into another world!? And even if that's the case, out of all the stories I've read in my lifetime, why this one??

Virginia's mind raced to remember the book she knew she was in, "The Cold-Hearted Duke's Auction Prize, the Rescued Daughter!?" It was a talent to have a title so strangely specific that only generated more questions. A guilty pleasure of Virginia's, stories with gentle, well-natured female leads who were showered with love by a 'savior' of some kind. However, never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined she would be brought inside of this story nor would she really ever want to. 

The plot was quite simple and straightforward, the female lead melts the Duke's heart and wins the affections of two leads, one clearly more likely to be end game than the other. This cold-hearted Duke the title is referring to is Duke Earnest, a fittingly serious and icy man who never let anyone past his iron defenses until his adopted daughter came along. The female lead, lovingly named Elisabeth from her parents who passed not long after she was born, had faced hardship after hardship before meeting the Duke. After being adopted by her aunt and uncle, they found no room in their house to feed or take care of the "little burden" (as they affectionately called her), so the bastards sold her for a quick buck to a child trafficking ring. That's where the "Auction Prize" came from. Soon after being put up for sale, the Duke bought her. The reason for his bid was due to the fact that Elisabeth had unpreceded untapped magical power. Did I forget to mention the magic aspect of this world? Magic is everywhere, but only a very select few can use it, Elisabeth being a special one who of course can because she is the all powerful protagonist. After conveniently hearing word of a magical child being at the auction, the Duke showed up to check it out. 

Now, you may be wondering, who did Virginia reincarnate into? Could it be the protagonist, the lovely Elisabeth? Perhaps she genderbent and was turned into the duke, maybe even the male leads that have not been mentioned yet? Sadly no, she was brought into the body of a character that barely had a paragraph dedicated to them in the original story. 

Just my luck, I'm the wrong Elisabeth!! 

Virginia cried internally. 

Yes, she was in fact an Elisabeth, just not the Elisabeth. In the original story, after being sold to the child trafficking ring and right before being bought by the Duke, Elisabeth found a girl with the same name as her being sold off. The scene of this child with the same name as her being taken away by the frightening crowd scared the protagonist Elisabeth greatly, but it also had the effect of showing how lucky and special she was for avoiding that fate. This random Elisabeth confused many readers but hardly stuck around long enough to be a problem. The real problem was that Virginia found herself in that body, about to be sold off to the highest bidder just to boost the wonderful and special female lead up another pedestal. 

No way! Absolutely not! Who knows what will happen to me, it was never even mentioned who bought that side Elisabeth! 

Horrific scenes of possible outcomes flashed through Virginia's mind, no doubt unsavory kinds of people came to these child auctions and not everyone was lucky enough to be bought by a Duke who was looking for a magical daughter! 

Running was not an option as adults three times the size of her and ten times the strength of her guarded every corner of the building. There was only one possible way out of this, befriend the female lead. The female lead was the kind of person who would repay a small favor ten times over, especially by someone who helped her during her lowest time. It was risky to get involved with the plot and change the story, but there were more important things at the moment. If the female lead was able to plead with her new father to take Virginia with them, she'd be safe!

It did not take long for Virginia to spot Elisabeth, not many people could overlook bright pink hair no matter how common that was in this world. For comparison, Virginia's new body was the definition of side character. Brown hair and eyes that allowed her to blend into the background. If the original novel ever got a webcomic version, she would most likely be a reused asset for a child on the street the female lead walks by on her way through town. Elisabeth on the other hand was the spitting image of her role, the pink hair aside, her face was bright and clear despite being apparently starved for days. The gaunt bags that sunk into Virginia's face were nowhere to be seen on Elisabeth, her green eyes still sparkling despite her fearful expression. 

So that's…the female lead.

Virginia thought in awe, she never wanted to be reborn as the male lead more badly than in this moment. Intimated by the protagonist's aura, Virginia almost stepped back to rework her whole plan, but instead decided to power through it. 

"Um, hello…"

 Virginia gently extended her arm towards Elisabeth who looked up a bit surprised. The children never really talked to each other, the fear of being beaten for being too loud prevalent amongst them. However the men supposed to be watching over them were too enthralled with their own conversation to even notice the soft exchange of whispers. 

"Hi…" Elisabeth replied back, taking Virginia's hand without hesitation. Virginia had not really thought this far and was unsure what to say next, what would help Elisabeth like her?

"What's your name?" Virginia asked, a bit amused thinking that she fully knew Elisabeth's name. She knew everything about Elisabeth honestly, what would happen to her, how old she would be when she first meets the male lead, what kind of magic she would use to save the world…It was almost like meeting a celebrity, Virginia's heart was racing unexpectedly. 

"Elisabeth, and you?" 

Virginia paused in her tracks. 

She could use her own name, as there would be no one to go against her and claim that she is lying. Though she would not even be lying in the first place, Virginia was her name, but it was never really a name she was proud of. Unlike Elisabeth, her name was not something given to her out of careful consideration or love, it was slapped onto her by her mother based on the state she was conceived in. Then after being born she was thrown into a box with a note to explain that very fact and nothing else. Perhaps this was a chance to forget that name altogether. Besides Elisabeth and her could bond over their shared name. It was already apparent that having this name is what allowed this side character a paragraph in the spotlight instead of being an unnamed extra. 

"What a coincidence, that's my name too."

From that brief sentence, Virginia's name was gone forever, buried deep into the recesses of her mind along with her previous life. It was not important to remember such things like that anyway, it was much more important to remember the novel and to use her brain power to figure out how she could survive.