Good, that maid left the room.
I turn my head to my right and there's a door, I get up to check where it leads to.
I almost ended up tripping because I'm still not quite used to this new "me" just yet, I was so lanky in my old one, and now I have this slightly beefier body.
My movements are a little awkward, but I managed to make it. It's a bathroom!
It was built adjacent from the bedroom.
Good. That small mirror could only reflect my "new" face but not the entire body completely. I needed something that could give me a better look.
There's got to be something in here.
I stop in my tracks. Right in front of me was a huge mirror, the frame was gold, and candles served to light up the whole place. I was wearing a dark blue night robe, and of course I was walking bare foot. Looking at my eyes in the reflection...they weren't blue at all.
Ah, that was because of the mirror I was holding. They're just...a bland hazel.
Plus, I don't think this body is Ellis after all...plus he's supposed to have dark blonde hair. What this guy has is too dark to match his description, it's more along the lines of medium brown.
I thought back on the novel, the ML's family was only briefly touched on around the middle chapters. Only the countess was really introduced, Ellis's father passed away when he was young, and there was an unnamed brother.
His name was never formally mentioned, just that he was less dignified and warm than Ellis and was sort of a brat who was often cold to the servants. A foil to the ML.
Then naturally…
I looked back at the goliath of a mirror.
I've become that unnamed brother!
The plot mostly centered around Abigail - the FL, and her family; her ascension from commoner to nobility because her late father married a widow with more prestige. But as the usual Cinderella trope goes, the woman - the stepmother was unkind to her and let her two daughters bully their stepsister.
Where it got interesting was when the book introduced the academy element, instead of a ball, a lot was riding for the FL to get into the same academy that her stepsisters are privileged enough to attend. Both her blood parents wanted her to get an education, so that she could provide for herself if they pass away. They saved enough money, but the stepmother found out about it, and spent it on other things.
Since she couldn't pay for it, her chances were zero. Her real parents worked to the bone as merchants to get to the high amount of money needed to pay the costly enrollment fees.
So, when Abigail heard about how her money was taken, she ran away into the streets at night. However, danger lurked around every corner, and she fell prey because of her beauty. She almost fell into the hands of some goons, but little did she know that she would bump into Ellis Seymour, the ML of the story. A knight in shining armor, this sparked what would be a friendship, it wasn't an immediate romance.
His position was unbeknown to her, and she told him why she was out this late. In short, the ML was sympathetic to her plight and convinced his family to sponsor her enrollment.
They helped build each other up though, as Abigail kept being harassed by her stepmother and stepsiblings.
Since Ellis was two years older than her, he would graduate from the academy and must leave for a while to continue post-secondary education abroad because it was required for him – the future head of the family - to do so.
Then that shitty fake 2nd ML comes in.
While Ellis is out of the scene, someone else tries to cultivate a relationship with Abigail, and unfortunately it works. He lures her into going on a date, disguised as a chance to kidnap her.
Ugh. I wish I could remove that arc from my brain.
Abigail survives the ordeal, and the ones after that, but it must have been very traumatizing to be put in such situations. The FL struggled all so one day, she could see Ellis again. That's when she realized she wanted to be with him, since in her mind, he was the only kind person left on this horrible setting.
She sighed, "Well if this is all real, then it must be up to me to make sure she survives to see him. But I still don't know where I'm at in the story. If Ellis is already away, then-"
Someone knocked on the bedroom's door, surprisingly she picked up on it despite being on the far end of the bathroom.
"In a minute!"
She opens the door, and a man bows his head. A servant, with black hair. Not a lot of people work for House Seymour have that color hair.
Then this must be-
[James, the Butler]
The countess's most trusted and personal butler!
"My lord, the countess would like to see you. I will stand outside your room, tell me when you are ready. Although I would advise not to take too long."
Damn it, they keep calling me "my lord," I don't even know this cutie's name, I need to find out soon or things could get bad.
"Hah, James! My mother wishes to see her son. Who? Ellis? Or me?"
The butler returned my comment with an unamused expression although it wasn't hostile or anything, I realized that that probably wasn't the right thing to say.
"I see you've gained quite the strange sense of humor, Master Wright, your brother is at the academy. While he is the heir, and the servants talk more favorably about him than they do you does not mean your mother has disregarded you just yet."
Ouch…James is supposed to be the kind side character! What did this guy do to make him so uncordial!? Well anyway, I found out what his name is. Wright.
"I understand. I will get ready immediately."
"Yes, my lord."
The doors close, giving me privacy again.
Phew, that was risky. Well…I'll try my best to keep in character for now. If Ellis is still in the academy, then maybe I could change the direction of things. All I need is to be able to attend.... but that'll be hard...
I went into what seemed to be the original Wright's closet and browsed around for the right outfit, trying to match the description of the type of clothing Ellis regularly wore in the novel.
I guess this'll have to do then.
*****
It wasn't a long walk really, but it sure felt like one. Perhaps it was because I suddenly feel anxious that I'd be meeting this character in the flesh. I took a deep breath when they we stopped in front of a huge door.
"My lady, he is here."
"Yes, come in."
James opened the doors to the countess' office and there she was, in all her glory. She had a smile that was as bright as the sun, but knowing her character in the novel, it was a smile she wore when dealing with problematic people, maids, and all sorts. It seemed like not even her second son was spared.
"My dear," she started, extending her hand, motioning for her son to go sit at a chair across from her. In the middle was a desk that would separate the two of them. James began to close the curtains, shutting off the light from outside. Leaving only candles to illuminate the room.
"Have a sit, Wright."
Oh boy.