CH. 1 Sci-fi or Fantasy?

It was a fine day and I was having fun spending my part-time salary that I just got in the most famous and expensive department store. It was supposed to be that way. I was supposed to finish my shopping and go home for dinner. Then I would spend my vacation with my family and go back to university to start my second year of college. It was supposed to be like that, my fairly exciting life. Where did it go wrong? No, I'm starting to sound like it's unfair but it is. I don't regret my choice to cover that little girl from the gun. That was my choice? Well, my body moved before I could think, actually I was thinking because I even had the time to put my bag in between the girl and me to provide a better shield so It was my choice in a way. Anyways, It hurt like hell and I was aching all over and yet I held on until the man ran out of whatever few bullets he had in his gun. I didn't count how many he shot at me but it didn't seem like many so I thought I would wake up in a hospital soon with my family bawling their eyes out while hugging my still aching body. It was supposed to be like that. It was until I opened my eyes to an exquisitely carved and painted ceiling that I only saw in aesthetic pictures online. Who built a hospital that looked like a noble family's house in a historical fantasy? Quite a taste, If I may say. I would have admired it a little longer and think of it as my finest dream I ever had if it weren't for the increasing headache and the wailing voices that weren't helping at all.

"Shut up." I managed to say but what sent a chill across my spine was that it wasn't my voice. Even though I was the one who was speaking, It was someone else's voice. Like my vocal cords were replaced with someone else's. What kind of bizarre cyborg movie was I dreaming!? I tried to shake my head only to feel it as heavy as the workout dumbbell I had. And this pain, Why does my head hurt when It was supposed to be my back and torso? I didn't get a bullet in my head, If I did that I would have died immediately even before realising that the man ran out of bullets.

"Sister Grace! How are you feeling? You didn't open your eyes for almost a month. We were all worried to death." The same wailing from before.

"His Highness didn't let us look over you until now. I was against this marriage from the beginning. You can't trust that man who isn't a Verdant and he must be plotting behind your back to break this marriage now that he gained another territory."

His Highness? Marriage?

"That's right. He must be the one behind the carriage accident."

Carriage accident?

"That wretched man dares to plot like this even though it was His Majesty, the King himself arranged this marriage for you. You must not trust that man." The three different voices began to wail one after another making my head ring every time they uttered a sound.

This isn't a dream, My head hurts and my body does have wounds but they were on my legs which was weird. This is certainly happening and I have come to an extremely absurd conclusion about all this but I don't want to accept it and yet It seems I did just that. And before I could think rationally, my eyes began to sting as tears trailed down to the side of my head wetting the soft pillow beneath.

"Grace, Why are you crying? Does it hurt anywhere? Call the priest! What are you doing standing there? Move your feet!"

"Y…yes, My Lady!"

There it is again. Priest. My Lady.

Transmigration was such an absurd theory but how else am I supposed to rationalise everything and everyone around me. If it is true then What book did I end up in? I read many genres but by the looks of it, this is some kind of Historical Fantasy.

"Grace, Hold on. The priest will be here soon." I turned to take a look at the woman speaking. It was a middle-aged woman dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief and the way she did it was so fake that I almost laughed if it wasn't for my uncooperative body. A middle-aged man, probably her husband and a young man and woman beside her. That girl called me sister before so that means this is the family of this body but their words were something that I can't help but play it again in my head. There was subtle gaslighting in them if I wasn't wrong. Is this body some abused daughter of a stupid noble family? Am I destined to become some villain?

I want to go back to my world. I want my family and my fairly exciting life back. What stupid marriage? I'm only nineteen for godsake! If my brother or father heard this, they would kill whoever did this to me. I swear to god, I'm not joking! What stupid transmigration? I just want to go back. Please, if someone heard me, please help me go back. If it was some kind of force that brought me here then tell me what I should do in order to go back. I don't want this.

I silently cried as I stared at the ceiling. Someone was ushered into the room and I felt some warm feeling surrounding my body and the pain lessened a lot. I don't know what anyone was saying or what's happening around me, I don't care. I fell asleep like that hoping I would wake up to a reality that was different from this and something familiar than this.

But that long nap didn't change anything! I woke up on the same bed and in the same room and to the same sight of the ceiling only it was night and everything was silent. The moon was full and the moonlight from the window was bright enough to give me a good picture of the room. This was another sight that I only saw in illustrations online. It was like I jumped into one of them. But this serene atmosphere was disturbed by a creeping feeling of being watched. I never felt anything like this before.

"Who's there?" My throat was parched and a silhouette made its way towards the side of the bed I was lying on. A tall man with dark grey hair that almost reached his shoulders (mullet?), poured me a glass of water and I took it silently. Once my throat didn't feel like a dried parchment anymore, I sighed before clearing my throat.

"Wh-" Before I could question, the man pinched my chin and lifted my head to meet his blueberry eyes, that's what their colour was. The sight of them made me feel parched again. I want to eat blueberries. I think I'm hungry and as if replying to my thoughts, My stomach growled in strain. The man didn't seem to hear it as he was still looking at me with that cold and aloof look. 

"Good thing you didn't die." His deep yet mellow voice blew my thoughts and hunger for a moment. The corner of his lips ticked as he looked at me for another second longer. "Make sure to recover soon and don't die. I still have some use for you after all." He said before he left.

A few minutes later, a young girl in a maid outfit carried a plate full of food into my room and placed it in front of me. There was chicken, salad and an aromatic and delicious-looking soup along with them staring right back at me. I couldn't help but swallow to stop myself from almost drooling. As I lifted my hand to eat, I realised one of my hands was still in a bandage and the other was shivering like I just took a late-night walk in the middle of winter in my nightgown.

The maid who was watching me shuffled towards me hesitantly. "Please pardon me for my insolence, Your Highness. You can punish me once you are healthy but for now please let me help you." The little maid said even though her own body was trembling in fear. My conclusions were right, the former owner of this body seemed to be the villainess sort.

I sat there silently eating as the little maid fed me spoon after spoon of soup and then some chicken and salad. The food was indeed delicious just like how it looked seated in this fine tableware.

"What's your name?" I asked the little maid. Let's just see how she replies to my out-of-blue question. She was the same girl that called for the priest in the morning. Since she was always by my side and was serving me that meant she was my personal maid. Is that the accurate thing to call her?

"I..Ivy, Your Highness." The little maid stuttered. Ivy was it. Doesn't ring any bell and there was no onslaught of strange memories which means I was cursed with a type of transmigration that doesn't come with memories of the previous owner.

As soon as I thought that, tears fell again as Ivy panicked around me and fiddled with a soft handkerchief as she helped me wipe my tears and blow my nose. The little maid is sweet.

How annoying!