One hop.
Two hops.
Spin.
And jump.
The light engulfed Anna's body as she felt her body starts shrinking, and then she dove inside the lake and emerged as a black swan with beautiful black feather.
It was a summer night, and her body was aching after the whole day cleaning the royal palace. It was the part of her job, but sometimes, she wished it would be easier.
It had been about a month since she suddenly transmigrated into this medieval-esque kingdom, Lunaris Kingdom. It was a prosperous kingdom, with trade and gold mining as its primary source of income. The land was also blessed with fertility. Thus, the kingdom did not lack wealth.
"But it's very… Uhm, passive. No war, no conflict, but I can sense something is wrong," Anna elongated her swan neck as she stared at the palace quite far from the lake. It was the Lunar Palace, where the moon shone brightly over the palace every night. And when the full moon appeared, it would shower the highest tower of the palace with its gentle light, the Prince's tower.
Prince Corvus Lunaris, the second prince of the Lunaris royal family, was the one living in the tower.
"The rumour said that Prince Corvus is isolated because he is harmful. I wonder what kind of harm gets you locked inside a tower for ten years," Anna wondered. She had no idea about the royal family except that the King was already deceased. While the Queen, Queen Seria was the temporary ruler until the Crown Prince Ignis can rule with a clear mind.
"I wonder what really happened inside the royal palace," Anna pondered. "I've been working as a maid for one month, and the only royal members I saw are Her Majesty Queen Seria and Crown Prince Ignis."
Queen Seria was in her mid-forty. She had auburn hair and noticeably sharp eyes as if she could see through your heart. But when Anna focuses on Queen Seria's eyes, she could see the exhaustion and sadness lingering there.
"Well, I have no business with the royal family either. All I need to do is to collect enough money by working in the Lunaris Kingdom as a palace maid and then travel through the kingdom to find the white swan," Anna said determinedly. She tried to remember the content of her dream before she transmigrated.
Anna was a hardworking nineteen years old girl. After she graduated high school, she started working two jobs, a cashier job in a supermarket and as a night-shift online customer service. She could not go to university because her family was not well off. In fact, her family was considered poor as they struggled to eat well daily.
She had a sickly mother whose health continued to deteriorate and a little sister whom she needed to provide for her study. Her sister was fifteen years old already.
Their father died two years ago. As the oldest of the family, Anna had to help her mother working, until her mother fell ill and became the sole breadwinner.
Being the sole breadwinner at the age of nineteen, there was no chance of studying or joining a friend circle. Anna was lamenting whether she could have a happy ending like those in fairy tales. She loved her family, but it was normal for her to get tired sometimes, right? Because she was tired right now.
In her craziest wish, she wished that she could be a princess like those she read in the fairy tale when she was only six and have a beautiful happily ever after story, with her current family, of course.
It was four in the morning. After she finished her night shift at online customer service, she returned home and fell asleep in less than a minute. She was exhausted with her daily job and had a headache the whole day.
In her dream, she saw an old woman with a blue cape, like a fairy godmother. "Your name is Anna Moore, right?" she asked as she flew around Anna.
"Yes, and who are you?" Anna asked back.
"Oh? I thought you are a young lady with a grieving but wishful heart," the fairy godmother giggled modestly. "I am your fairy godmother, the same fairy godmother you often see in the movie when you are just a little girl."
"Ah, you mean Cinderell—"
"Shush—" the fairy godmother zipped Anna's lips with her magic wand. "She already got her happily ever after. Now it is time for me to fulfil someone else's wish," she explained.
"Tell me, what is your biggest wish?" Fairy godmother asked.
'My biggest wish…' Anna seemed to think for a moment and then replied. "I want to be rich and help my family."
The fairy godmother smiled gently in response. "Young lady, it is a very realistic dream, but I want you to be a tiny bit whimsical."
"Whimsical? Hm…" Anna was a whimsical girl when life was better back then, in elementary school. But the harsh reality already corroded those whimsical dreams of hers. But if the fairy godmother wanted her to be a tiny bit whimsical, so be it.
"I want to have a million dollar," Anna replied. "Like, a money from djinn or something."
"… Honey, there is something called romance," the fairy godmother said as she spun around happily. "Don't you ever feel your heart beats faster when you are in love? Don't you ever blush when you see a man hold your hands tight and pull you to his embrace? Ah, sweet, sweet romance, do you want me to make it come true?."
Well, Anna had that idea when she was in middle school. But all those ideas just dissipated after she entered high school, cramped with school exams. Then those ideas disappeared after she graduated because she had to work extra hard daily.
She did not even think that she could have a friend after high school, let alone a boyfriend.
Anna shrugged. "I don't have an interest in romance. I need money."
"…" The fairy godmother was shocked that someone could reject her offer of sweet, sweet romance.
"H—Honey, do you want to transmigrate in a beautiful kingdom? Maybe you will find your loved one there," fairy godmother offered.
"… I don't need a lover. I need money," Anna insisted. "I have a sickly mother and a little sister I need to feed. I have no time for romance, fairy godmother."
"Ah, don't worry about that one," fairy godmother said. "Right now, you are still sleeping soundly in your bed. Time will freeze until you return back to your real life. As long as you can complete the main mission once you transmigrate."
"Main mission?" Anna tilted her head, not understanding what the fairy godmother was saying.
"Indeed, my darling. You will transmigrate into the body of Anna the maid. You are a palace maid in the Lunaris Kingdom. Anna the maid is not just a regular palace maid though, she is a girl that can turn into a black swan, and she can use magic. Although, I won't tell what kind of magic that is," the fairy godmother explained.
"Your mission is to find your long lost sister, the white swan. She is the main character of this fairy tale. She is the one that wished upon the star for happiness~."
"So, you can be there as a villain or a main supporting cast, but what you need to do is to fulfil the white swan's happiness! Once she has a happily ever after ending, then you can return back to your real world."
The fairy godmother waved her wand, and a contract floated in front of Anna, "Please sign that, my dear, and you will transmigrate immediately!"
Anna stared at the contract, and then she looked up towards the fairy godmother, "What is the prize?"
"Huh?"
"What is the prize?" Anna repeated.
"Uhm… my dear, you will get an amazing experience—"
"That is what those corporate boss said when they hired me as an intern," Anna shrugged. "By signing this contract, that means I am your employee. Why don't you give me a salary or a prize for completing this mission?"
"H—How materialistic!" the fairy godmother was shocked by Anna's demand for salary or prize. The previous girls she contracted would never say something like that. They just readily transmigrate due to the excitement.
"I just need my payment for my hard work," Anna said.
"…" The fairy godmother seemed to think a bit, then said, "I will give you ten thousand dollars for completing the main mission and returning back to your real life."
"One million dollar," Anna negotiated.
"ONE MILLION DOLLAR?!" the previously gentle fairy godmother were so shocked by such brutal negotiation that she started thinking about returning Anna back to real life.
But fairy godmother had no bad track record in her career as a happiness caregiver. If she returned Anna back to real life, that meant the white swan would never find happiness.
"500 thousand dollars?" fairy godmother suggested.
"750 thousand dollars, take it or leave it," Anna said.
Fairy godmother almost got a heart attack by this girl's ruthlessness with money. She grumbled as she edited the contract, adding 750 thousand dollars for the prize.
Anna giggled as she felt that she had a good dream today. She signed the contract after reading the content. Basically, what she needed to do was to give the white swan a happily ever after ending.
And after it has been fulfilled, she would return back to her real-life with 750 thousand dollars transferred through fate, either by winning a lottery or something else.
It sounded silly and magical, so she signed it without much thought.
'This is just a dream anyway,' Anna thought.
After the contract has been signed, the fairy godmother rolled the contract and summoned a chest to save the contract. "Alright, since the contract has been signed, I will send your soul to the fairy tale world as the black swan."
The fairy godmother waved her wand, and magical dust started to swirl around Anna, covering her body. "Good luck, my dear! Remember, you can always call me with my fairy godmother hotline! Just wish in your heart, and we will be connected!"
Poof!
With that, Anna transmigrated to the Lunaris Kingdom as the black swan.