1 I Woke Up Like This

I have always been branded as one of the guys, a tomboy, and even a man lady ever since I could remember. Probably because I'm built like one. A tall, muscular, buff body coupled with an angular face and fierce phoenix eyes. I was a far cry from those gentle, feminine types as soft as water. I like to brand myself as valiant and heroic, though.

Well, for one, because I am, and second, because these features of mine led me to the best decision I have made.

My name is Bai Feng Jiu. Yep. It's the same as that nine-tailed red fox in that particular drama. And I am the current captain of the Special Forces of Country Z. It is a tough life in the military. However, for an orphan like me, it is the best place to be. It is where I found my family.

Family. Hmm. Yep, they are the only family that I have. What about creating my own? Nah. I scare off the guys half the time. Err... All the time, actually. After all, it is rare for men to prefer women who are even more masculine than they are. Something about them feeling emasculated or whatever bullshit that is. Which is freaking lame, if you ask me. So, frankly, I just gave up on that. If it comes, it will. If not, then I could still work with that too.

Although I may be a skeptic of my personal lifelong happiness, that doesn't mean that I hate romance. Au contraire, dear readers, I love romance: dramas, comedies, films, and novels. I love them all. I'm a masochist who loves getting served dog food. Ha ha ha.

An excellent romantic tale could change a person's life.

And guess what? It changed my life from a structured and organized militaristic lifestyle to something totally bonkers and beyond my wildest imagination.

Okay. It may not be bonkers. It's more like totally cliché and typical. Still slightly bonkers. But it's definitely unrealistic.

It all started on my holiday. A forced holiday. My superior gave me an absolute order to take a few days off. Why? He said that seeing my dedicated self spending every waking moment doing missions outside or duties on the base was making him question his work ethic. And that he thought it was time that I had a life. Though I know that old geezer meant well, I was still pretty miffed about it. The military was MY LIFE, okay?

What's more, before I could even work my way out of that order, my team hauled my ass off to an island resort leaving in their wake the commander-in-chief's threat of recalling my firearms if I left earlier than the end of my holiday. Heh. They are a bunch of gutsy rascals colluding with an old geezer. I may not be able to touch the chief, but I could still make them question their life decisions once I get back. At least, that was what I thought at that time.

The island resort was great, but I tried out all it had to offer on the first day. I decided to stay in the hotel room the next day. And voila! Boredom at its finest.

I was in the throes of slouching on the soft bed, munching on tropical fruits served by the hotel, and contemplating life as I scrolled through my smartphone. It was then that I saw a web novel recommendation on my reader app.

The Princess Knight's Rival. It was the story of Princess Adelaide von Resse, a princess who walked the path of a magic knight and supported her wise and righteous brother in becoming the Emperor. Aside from the political struggle aspect of the story, her hardships as a magic knight and the ambiguous relationship between her and the heir apparent of House Trier, Carlisle von Trier.

The novel was chill. No heavy drama and loaded with romance. It was hilarious as well. It was immersive. Totally my type of reading. So, expectedly, I ended up reading all of it throughout my vacation.

The ending was still vivid in my mind.

[Adelaide gazed at Carlisle and their son with an amused look. She never expected that the man she previously could not stand seeing would become someone she could not live without. The world was a strange place, alright. And love was even more so.]

It was such a great ending that I even got teary-eyed. With a content sigh, I closed my eyes to sleep.

'Hah. It's not just the world that is strange. Life. Life itself is strange.'

Those were my bumbling thoughts as I drifted off to dreamland, expecting that the next day, I'd be able to beat up those rascals back at the base.

Except I wouldn't be able to. Why, you might wonder.

It is because I woke up like this. Completely different from where I was and who I was.