WINIFRED

The weather is an agent of equality. It falls on everyone, rich, poor, ugly, handsome, alive or….dead. Despite their deep contrasts, the pure white color of snow and the crimson color of blood mixed together quite well. It was almost picturesque that I wished to commemorate such a sight in a painting. However, the natural painting was made from the blood flowing freely out of every orifice of my body.

How did I get here, you ask?

It all started when I turned 29. It was a quiet morning in my apartment. The apartment was one of the several gifts I got from my father in his attempt to hide me from the world. Having an illegitimate child was a stain on his reputation, you know?

As I prepared for work, I wondered which gift I would get that day. It had been 19 years since I found about about the existence of my father, one of the richest men in the country. On my tenth birthday, the very first present he gifted me was his presence. It was magnificent really, pointing a gun at my mother and shooting her on the spot. I was shoved into a car and driven to a cold, deserted mansion where I was locked up for 10 years until I negotiated my freedom away from the man that was constantly trying to kill me.

Our deal was if I survived past 30, he would finally disown me and let me go. But on the morning of my 29th birthday, I got a message from my beloved father that informed me of my engagement to the immensely useless Keith Magnolia, the biggest playboy and my personal favorite, carrier of all known sexually transmitted diseases in the country. As a journalist, I was really privy to all the gossip of those who ruled society so I knew.

But before I could come up with a plan to counter the engagement, I was shot dead in the middle of the road by the enraged ex-girlfriend of that bastard. It was really a useless way to end the life I tried so hard to live. I wanted to do so many things too. I wanted to tour the world, wanted to try pineapples even though I was deathly allergic and….I wanted to fall in love too.

Alas, the gods don't really care about one soul in the suffering of many. Even though my mother tried so hard to raise me after being raped by her employer, she was killed just like that. My poor pitiful mother and…..my poor pitiful life. I really wanted to live too.

{You…wish to live?}

Yes. I want to live. I want to get back at that bastard. I want to avenge my mother. I want to fall in love. I want to live a good life. I want...

{There is a way to grant your wish. It's a pity that so much magical potential is wasted in this rather dull life. I will fulfill your wish. You shall have my life and I shall have yours. What do you think, Winifred?}

You know who I am?

{of course. I am you and you are me. We are two yet we are one}

I….see. I don't understand but I think I do. If you will fulfill my wish then I will do what you want.

{It might be a little dangerous but my wish is simple. I….also wish to live. But I cannot do something as simple as that. That's why if you were there in my stead, I'm sure you would be able to do it. Right now, our souls are being exchanged. It would be a long difficult journey but I'm sending you to live a good life so live beautifully, Winifred}

Thank you.

It became very hard to breathe. In the past, I had tried many times to take my own life but each time, I pulled back because I wanted to cling to life. The feeling of death was very painful but also very…..peaceful.

"...fred. Winifred. WINIFRED!"

I jolted awake, the momentary darkness dissipating. I didn't know how long I wandered in the darkness but I could finally see the light. See? No, I couldn't see it. It was for a brief moment but I realized that the initial light I saw quickly faded into darkness. I could see but at the same time, I couldn't see anything. My vision was blurred with darkness but I could see the general outline of everything around me.

"Winifred, I'm over here. I know you're bad with mornings but you have to wake up earlier today. The priests are coming to see us today," I heard a voice come from my left. When I turned to look, there was a faint outline of a human coated in darkness. The person was small, like a child. They also sounded like a child so I could assume they were a child.

I looked down at my hands and saw they were also coated in darkness. They were smaller than I remembered. The bed wasn't that big but I was still dwarfed by it. My body felt weaker than I remembered. What's happening?

"Where are we going?" I asked. The voice that came out of my throat wasn't one I could recognize. It was the voice of a child. It felt like a nightmare. It looked like I had become a child. No, that's impossible.

"Come on, Winifred. I'll help you wash your face. We have to hurry before the sisters come to inspect the dorms," the child said again, pulling me up from the bed. Taking their hand, I was able to walk through the door, ending up outside. I didn't realize how bad it was until I got outside. The scenery of green and the piercing morning sun that I was used to faded away. I couldn't feel the wind on my skin nor could I see the world for what it was.

"Stand there, I would fetch you a basin."

"You seem excited."

"Of course. Maybe it's because you're always disinterested but today is the day we get picked to go into the holy empire's capital. I'm hoping I get picked too. I can't wait to leave this stuffy orphanage," the child replied. From their voice, I could tell it was a boy. He seemed proficient in taking care of this body I found myself in because I was cleaned up in a fast and efficient way.

It was embarrassing to be cleaned as a 29-year-old woman but it wasn't like I could do it myself. Not only was this body color blind, they seemed to have no sense of touch either. The sense of hearing and smell was normal as far as I know and I haven't gotten the chance to test the sense of taste yet.

"When do we get breakfast?"

"If we don't get picked, we would end up eating dinner. But if we get picked, I hear the priests would give us food. Are you okay, Winifred? You're talking a lot today. Are you excited too?"

"Where are these priests from?"

"The Temple of Oriel, the goddess of light and magic. The sisters told us about them yesterday, remember? Or is something wrong with your memory too?"

"Yes, something is wrong with my memory. I can't seem to remember your name or where I am."

He sighed, clasping my small hands in his slightly bigger ones. I could hear the pity in his tone as he tried to explain again. As he did, I slowly remembered the familiar parts of the story he told me.

We were at the edge of the holy empire in a small town called Jora. The Holy Empire of Rovia was the largest territory of humans in the earthen realm and it held the most significant influence in the world, especially since it was under the influence of the goddess of light and magic, Oriel. I was brought to the orphanage a few years ago with only a blue pendant necklace on my neck and a thin cloth on my back. I could only remember my name and I was roughly ten years old. This just happened to be the backstory of one of the characters of the book I used to love reading a few years ago when I was trapped in the mansions. Her name was also Winifred and she was one of the women in the main character's ever-growing harem and also the final villainess.

I had reincarnated into a book and not just into any character, it was into the vilest and manipulative character, the Saintess and the Villainess Winifred.

When she was ten, Winifred was taken by the Priests of Oriel to be trained as the saintess seeing as she satisfied the conditions of having practically endless mana and she was blind. However, becoming a saintess of light when her magic had the darkness quality was almost suicidal and she found this out the hard way during a purification ceremony. The skin almost melted off her back being doused with holy water and since then, she had been covered with scars that disfigured her whole body.

The head priest of Oriel also figured this out but since there was no one else who could match up to the Winifred in terms of mana, she was left to be the saintess. After then, Winifred went through unspeakable rituals and ceremonies in order to change the quality of her mana. The resentment and hatred she built up were too much for love to just cleanse her heart. She had nothing but a surface-level attraction for the hero and easily turned against him in the end, sacrificing her life to revive the goddess of darkness and death which the hero defeated, bringing an end to the person known as Winifred.

What a cursed fate. I knew there were people that lived a life worse than mine but Winifred truly didn't have a good life. And now, I was the one who was going to live in her stead. If I go to the temple and enter the holy empire, it was going to be the end for me, just like it was for her.

Live beautifully, Winifred.

Those words resounded in my head even though I couldn't remember who said them. Perhaps it was my mother or it was my imagination. The memory of my death was even becoming faint.

"My name is Darryl. If you need my help, just ask."

Darryl. He ended up becoming a holy knight serving the crown prince of the empire. He was a very talented person that eventually became of the hero's closest aides and helped bridge the relationship between the saintess and the hero. He was also a very kind-hearted person who had a happy ending.

"Daryl, what would happen if we don't show ourselves before the priests?"

"The sisters would be very angry if we don't and we may not be able to live good lives. Why? You don't want to see the priests?"

"No, I just wanted to know."

There was no way I could stop Darryl from meeting the priests but he would be less likely to leave me alone. I was basically blind and handicapped so escape wasn't easy, especially since I didn't know where I was going. Slipping out in the last second would be hard too. I basically had no other choice but to go to the Holy Empire and become the Saintess.

No wonder Winifred stayed helpless, scheming for several years. As a child, she had no strength and no support. She only knew the quality of her magic when she was 15. Even then, she was too powerless to do anything. And I wasn't the type to stay down and let some man come and save me. That womanizer who couldn't make up his mind on whom he would take as his wife and a man who thought his goals were more important than his woman wasn't the kind of man I was willing to wait for.

"Oh, I hear horses! Come on, let's go before we are overtaken by the other children," Darryl said, pulling me inside once more.

The tale of Winifred, no, my tale, started here.