Isabelle, My Love

"Isabelle, my love, do you have a fever?" Arnacia awkwardly touched Isabelle's forehead.

'I bet the writer would have made Arnacia check the temperature by touching foreheads.' Estelle was now Arnacia, but couldn't properly get into character. She frowned when Isabelle frantically looked around.

"Isabelle… my love, talk to me," Arnacia said.

"I am not Isabelle. Where is this place? Who are you?" she spoke quickly.

"This is the Maid Training Camp. Garden of Chambers? Lorein Kingdom? The Tale of…"

Arnacia hesitated to speak the name of the novel. She saw the expression on Isabelle's face and was sure.

'She is like me? There is no mention of Isabelle losing memory in the novel. But I don't know the hidden details, nor the information from new chapters. I can't be sure anymore.'

"I-I don't belong here. Can you give me a phone?" Isabelle's panicked expression decreased just a little because a girl was in front of her.

"Please," Isabelle begged, her teary eyes would have made any man comply, but Estelle only frowned.

'She's from Earth, but should I tell her about myself?' Estelle pondered, but it felt like she was forgetting something.

'How should I handle'-. A vague voice, barely audible, sounded in her head, but she couldn't make out the words. So, she concentrated on the matter and said.

"You are Isabelle, a trainee maid. Now. There is no home for you to go, this is your new home."

'Maybe I would panic like her if I didn't know about this world. Or if my previous life did not end like that'. Estelle had a vague idea that she died with overwork but did not have memories of her last day. She decided to live as Arnacia now.

Arnacia pushed Isabelle back into the bed. And pulled over the blanket on her again.

"This is your new identity. If you deny it, the consequences will be cruel." Arnacia's voice, her hands, and eyes prevented Isabelle from getting up.

"Let me go, my mom, dad-" Isabelle rebelled.

"You only have an hour or so before the other maids come to see you. This is not your home. There are no phones in this world. It's a place far, far away.

"If you decide to run away, do it at your own risk. This world is ugly for beauties like you. In case you don't believe me and go out of this room… make sure to come back," Arnacia said in a serious tone. She walked out of the room after giving Isabelle a deep look.

The Maid Training Ground was towards the west of Lanceworth castle. Estelle looked back before heading towards the bathhouse. The maids had all disappeared now. And the sun peeked from behind the hill in the East.

Arnacia quickly went inside the wooden bathhouse. Sounds of water gushing entered her ears. Just as she opened the door, she saw clothes placed in separate racks before a wooden wall. In one rack, two towels were left.

'What the hell, is this a Japanese-style bathhouse in medieval English time?'. Without removing her clothes, she went around the wooden wall.

Arnacia peeked inside and saw naked maids washing their hair.

'The writer didn't mention this place either, just what happened in the chapters which I have not read!'

The first two volumes she read were centered on the Lanceworth castle, the wives of King Nicolas, and other incidents. Only one chapter was about the time when the King visited the Garden of Chamber and a handful of mentions about the trainee maids.

"Arnacia, your actions are not worthy of a maid," Rosalia's stern voice echoed inside the bathhouse.

"Miss Rosalia, I went to fetch Isabelle but the poor girl is sick," Estelle respectfully stood straight and bowed.

"Bathing every day is of utmost importance to a maid. Carry her here, if you must," Rosalia ordered.

'Ugh, this witch always bosses the poor maids around,' Arnacia went back.

On the way, she spotted Isabelle, who was crossing the bridge. Shaking her head, she also headed in the same direction. She trailed the lost kitten and made it up on the small hill.

"Isabelle, do you see now?" Estelle called out.

The view from here was magnificent during the day. Lanceworth Castle stood like a giant surrounded by countless buildings. Smoke glided upwards, to the blue sky, and in the distance, a giant ball of orange hung above the mountain range.

But before seeing it all, Arnacia saw the pale maiden's worried face lit up in a red hue of the sun.

'Being this beautiful must be a crime.' Estelle was grateful for this second chance at life. But seeing another girl from Earth getting transmigrated into the same world, in a better position than her, aroused jealousy.

'Just a little jealous,' Estelle mused. She quickly put these thoughts at the back of her head. Instead, she sighed and hugged the poor girl.

However, the touchy moment ended just as it began.

"Let's get back now. Remember, you are Isabelle. You have a light headache right now." Arnacia pulled Isabelle's apron and led towards the bathhouse.

"And I love- I am your lover, Arnacia."