Adele had to admit that when she first opened her eyes, she did not expect Heaven to look like this.
Dark, gauzy canopies were draped across a gold-gilded bedframe. Above it was an impressionist painting of a flock of swans floating across the starry night sky. In the middle of the room's dome hung a huge candle-lit chandelier, capturing her eye as its hanging crystals glittered against the sun's setting rays.
Adele slowly blinked in surprise.
'Whoa. If this really is Heaven, I am not complaining at all.'
For someone who seemed to have drowned the night before, it was jarring to suddenly wake up into this warm, extravagant bedroom that looked as if it were part of the Versailles Palace.
Still disoriented, Adele slowly pushed herself up from the comfort of the soft, fluffy bed. As she lifted a hand to rub her sleepy eyes, she paused when she caught a strange observation.
Huh.
"Did my hand always look like this?"
She initially didn't know how to point it out. But for some reason, her hands and arms have noticeably appeared ... prettier?
No longer were there specks of freckles sprinkled across her pale, slender arms. In fact, her arms and fingers have somehow looked longer, if that was even possible. Even her previously stumpy nails had been properly filed into thin, elongated shapes, and manicured into a glossy shade of lilac.
Noticing the thin layer of wrappings that swaddled her right hand, Adele tried to scavenge the foggy memories of the night before. She didn't remember hitting her hand after falling off the yacht, but she could feel some throbbing somewhere in the middle of her wrapped palm, so she must've hurt herself at some point.
Perhaps it happened after losing consciousness in the sea?
Still, that didn't explain how her hands and arms suddenly looked so different. It was too much to expect that a simple spa session overnight would've done a job this inconceivably good.
And if she really were in Heaven, shouldn't she be free from any sort of physical pain or doubt? Where were the angels?
"... What's going on?"
Bewildered, Adele's attention soon turned to the clothes she was wearing.
A thin, loose peignoir enveloped her body. Observing closely, she could spot the subtle, delicate floral embroidery decorating the edges of the wide black sleeves. Underneath the robe was a long silky nightgown interwoven with purple and silver threads.
Adele had to admit that she wasn't exactly an expert when it came to fine garments. That had always been more of Lila's specialty. But even she could tell that this outfit was made out of incredibly high quality materials ... and therefore very, very expensive.
It wasn't something you would normally let a random stranger wear. Even Lila didn't bother wearing fancy pajamas like these.
Was it really possible that somebody had successfully rescued her from the ocean, and then brought her to an extravagant hotel to be pampered like this?
"But where exactly am I? And who did this to me?" Adele mumbled to herself in confusion.
Knowing her parents' practical mindsets, it was unlikely that they would ever send their recovering daughter to stay at a lavish palace, instead of the most prestigious hospital where the finest doctors could care for her. And if this was her stepsister's wild idea of a prank, then she sure didn't find it funny.
Just as she was about to lose herself in thought, a small creak from the tall white doors fell onto her ears.
Adele turned towards that direction, spotting a shaggy head of light ginger hair peeking out from the door. A squeaky voice suddenly resounded in the bedroom.
"Your Highness!"
A flash of orange and black swiftly crossed the wide distance between the door to Adele's bedside. Entering the latter's view was a tiny, fragile-looking woman dressed in what seemed to be a traditional maid's uniform.
'... Who the heck is this weirdo?' Adele couldn't help but feel baffled at the appearance of this unfamiliar person, dressed in this unusual getup.
Immediately, the young maid dropped down to her knees. Her almond brown eyes began to fill with tears as she continued to stare at Adele in both relief and disbelief.
"Y-Your Highness is finally awake!"
"Huh? Uh... yeah."
"Oh, thank the goddess! Your Highness could speak as well!"
"..."
Adele wasn't sure whether she was dreaming or not. But she sure didn't expect the timid young maid to suddenly plop down and smack her forehead hard on the marble floor with a loud reverberating "BANG".
'W-What the heck?!'
Adele jumped in alarm as the impact echoed within the bedchamber. Her eyes bulged wider as the remorseful maid rapidly banged her head a few more times on the ground.
"I'M SO SORRY, YOUR HIGHNESS! I DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE!"
'HUH. WHAT.'
Stunned, Adele frantically jumped out of the bed and held the maid's shoulders before she could continue to give herself a concussion.
"Please stop this, miss... uh-"
"PLEASE GIVE ME MY PUNISHMENT! I.. I WAS ORDERED TO KEEP AN EYE ON YOU WHILE HIS HIGHNESS WAS AWAY! B-BUT I FAILED! IT'S BECAUSE OF ME THAT YOUR HIGHNESS GOT HURT!"
The maid continued to sob loudly, ignoring the painful looking bruise that continued to spread around her forehead.
"I... I DESERVE TO DIE THE MOST GRUESOME DEATH! PLEASE! I'LL TAKE ANY PUNISHMENT!"
"N-no... really, you don't have to.. Are you even listening to me?" Adele mumbled as the maid continued spouting endless apologies.
Adele chewed on her lower lip, unsure of what to do with this poor, groveling child.
If this girl was just acting, then she surely deserved an Oscar!
"Um, excuse me, miss?"
Careful, Adele tried to put a comforting hand on the young maid's shoulder. But the latter only squeaked in fear and stepped a small distance away, covering her freckled face with her tiny, skinny hands.
"Eek! P-Please don't h-hurt me!"
'Huh? Didn't you just say a second ago that you would take any punishment?' Adele thought, bemused. 'Nevermind that. What exactly did I do to make her so scared? I don't remember meeting this girl before.'
If the young girl happened to be so afraid of how she looked, then Adele had every right to feel offended. She knew that she wasn't exactly a great beauty, but she was pretty sure that her looks weren't unfortunate enough to be considered anywhere near beastly.
Well, maybe except during those times when she woke up with early morning bedhair.
Adele recalled how just a moment ago, she discovered many different things as soon as she woke up. Her body, her clothes, even her room ... they all seemed a little too good to be true. In addition to that, this little maid has been weirdly addressing her as "Your Highness" the entire time, despite it being their first time meeting.
"... Could it be?"
Turning her head to her surroundings, Adele noticed a gaudy looking vanity table that sat on the left side of the bedroom. A large rectangular mirror, decorated by an intricate golden frame, was attached right above the table.
Hesitant, the young woman slowly paced towards the mirror. She wasn't exactly sure what she expected to see. But she had this nagging feeling in her gut that something was definitely off.
As she stepped in front of the enormous mirror, Adele froze in astonishment as she caught sight of her own reflection.
... Forget being a "great beauty".
This woman ... was like a GODDESS!
Bright golden eyes, as brilliant as topaz, stared right back at her, veiled by a pair of dark, thick lashes. Her originally round baby face had now turned sharper, with naturally defined cheekbones that aspiring models would've killed to have.
A pair of luscious, thick lips as red as tulips complemented her flawless, rosy-pale skin. Her impeccable face was completed by two small beauty marks that stood out underneath both of her eyes.
The dull, brown hair that she used to have now looked so unbelievably smooth and shiny; it was almost as if her locks had turned into threads of the finest silk! When observed in a different angle, her long, dark tresses looked as if they were a shimmering river in the deepest shades of wine.
Even her body grew a bit taller, while its shape transformed into an attractive silhouette. Her chest was no longer as flat as before, and her hips had grown a few inches wider to balance out her ample upper body.
The only things that Adele found disappointing were her unnaturally skinny waistline and her slim, bony arms that's visible to the naked eye even underneath her robe. In all honesty, it felt as if she could easily be snapped like a twig if the wind so much as blew on her!
As a ballerina, she could easily tell that her current body hadn't exactly enjoyed a very healthy lifestyle. But she supposed that that was to be expected, considering that she must've been unconscious for some time.
'... Did I literally turn into Snow White? Was this what they called a transmigration?'
Adele couldn't believe it at all! Sure, she made a wish upon the red moon not too long ago. But that didn't mean that she actually believed in any sort of magic or superstition!
Weren't those things only found in fiction?
And even if this was real, how was it possible for her to end up in a whole different place and in a completely unfamiliar body?
There was no way that this whole transformation was the work of a regular plastic surgeon. Everything from top to bottom seemed absolutely genuine!
Adele patted her face, her nose, her chest and hips ... everywhere that her hands could possibly touch! There were no odd sensations, save for the throbbing on her bandaged hand. She didn't care about the odd looks that the confused maid gave her way while she unashamedly prodded herself in front of the mirror.
"Um.. Y-Your Highness? Are you alri-?"
"My God! This isn't a dream!" she exclaimed after pinching herself in several places. She laughed ecstaticly for a long minute as she continued to admire her brand new look. But then, as reality began to sunk in, the edges of her lips sank down.
To be honest, she wasn't entirely sure how to feel about this whole situation. Even though she had turned into a vastly remarkable beauty, that largely meant that the person she was in the past no longer existed in this world. It's true that she held a lot of insecurities during her past life, but that didn't mean that she wanted to change completely in this manner.
"It's pretty ... But this ... This isn't me." The woman murmured sadly as she reached a hand towards her elegant reflection. In her mind's eye, she could still remember all the plain features on her face during her previous life; of how envious she felt when she compared herself to the beauties in her ballet academy. Perplexed, she suddenly realized that a huge part of her missed her old, ordinary appearance.
"Heh, and to think that I wished for a complete change within myself. And now that I have, I've turned into an ungratefil git." Adele mumbled in self-depreciation. She lifted her injured hand to touch the side of her cheek. "What a loser ... I can't believe that I actually want my old face back."
"Pardon?"
The hesitant maid with a swelling forehead took a step closer towards the mirror. Her brown eyes flickered back and forth between Adele and her reflection, confusion coloring her face.
"But Your Highness. You don't look any different at all."
"... Is that so?"
"Well, I suppose you have become a little slimmer, which I thought was what you would've wanted. But everything else looks exactly as before."
"Oh ... Right."
Her life as Adele. Was it really over?
'I haven't even done everything that I wanted to do. Haven't told my family everything that I wanted to say.'
Her golden eyes shone as crystalline tears gathered under her lids. A swirling dissatisfaction grew in her gut.
'Heck, I haven't even gotten the chance to dance as the Black Swan yet! Seriously, why did this have to happen? Damn you Carla...'
Adele sniffed as she roughly wiped the tears out of her eyes.
She wanted to deny it for a little longer. Perhaps this was all just a hyper-realistic dream. Or maybe an exploration team found her in a cryogenic sleep after several years under the freezing ocean. It could even be that her family actually found her ravaged body and then hired the best plastic surgeons to redo every part of her face and body.
None of those excuses made any real sense, but so was the possibility of transmigration.
She didn't care though. Any dumb reason would do!
She just wanted to go home.
"Hey you."
The ginger maid jumped in fright, flinching at her mistress's blunt tone.
"EEK! Y-Yes, Your Highness??"
Adele raised an eyebrow at the girl's peculiar reaction. Seeing the young stranger tremble in fear, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. Whoever this "Her Highness" was, it didn't seem like she treated this maid well very often. Unfortunately for her, right now Adele needed to focus on more important things.
"Don't mind me asking, but where exactly is this place?"
The young maid couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her odd question.
"Um, what do you mean? We're in your bedchamber at the royal palace."
"... Riiight. And which palace is this?"
Now the maid was completely astonished. Did that fall in the water actually muddle her mistress' brain a little too much?
"... The Moon Palace, Your Highness. Where the Crown Princess and future Queen of Tchaikovia is required to reside."
She added in a tiny whisper.
"That's you, of course."
".... What?"
If this really was a huge elaborate prank spawned by Lila, or maybe even possibly that crazy Carla, then they've sure gotten her good.
A crown princess? The future queen of Whathamacallit? No wonder she's been calling her "Your Highness" this whole time!
But then .. who the heck was "she"??
As far as she could remember, Adele had never heard of any country or kingdom called "Tchaikovia". Recalling the novels she'd read and the movies she'd watched was all for naught; nothing familiar came to mind.
But it sure sounded an awful lot like Tchaikovsky, the famous Russian composer of Swan Lake.
'Wait a minute ... By any chance, does this place have anything to do with Swan Lake? It can't be some coincidence, can it?' She contemplated in suspicion. 'Whoever did this, did they actually know who I am?'
Maybe this really was some weird, twisted prank orchestrated by some crazy stalker after all.
"Tell me, miss um ... who are you again?"
"... Roslyn, Your Highness. And you don't have to call me 'miss'. I am just a palace maid."
"Right. Roslyn." she nodded. "Anyway, may I ask if there's any way we could contact anyone? I mean, is there a cellphone or a telephone somewhere around here?"
The ginger maid, Roslyn, cocked her tiny head sideways, curious of the unfamiliar words her mistress had just spouted.
"Pardon? A cel...phone? Te-le-phone? What are those?"
'Crap.' Adele slapped her forehead in frustration. 'That was stupid of me. If it's true that some sociopath has kidnapped me and brought me to this place to be their own personal play thing, then there's absolutely no way they're going to allow me to get into contact with anyone on the outside.'
"Nevermind. Anyway, you've mentioned earlier that somebody had asked you to watch over me. May I ask who that person is?"
"Oh! You mean His Highness?"
'So it's a man, huh.' Adele pondered.
She supposed that she shouldn't have been surprised considering that men have been statistically the more likely suspects. The question now was, who exactly was he? And why would he kidnap someone like her?
"His Highness? May I know where he is?" Adele tried to inquire.
Roslyn bit her lip. "That would be difficult. He's still out on an excursion with his knights. But he might be returning soon though!"
"I see."
Could there have been someone that she had unintentionally offended in the past? Were there a lot of them?
The only person she knew who would have any sort of grudge against her would be Carla, the biggest reason why she ended up in this situation in the first place. But she remembered briefly of how shocked the redhead looked when Adele fell overboard. That didn't seem fake at all, especially considering how quickly everything had happened. At the very least, Adele was sure that Carla did not do it on purpose.
Carla may be cruel ... but Adele didn't believe that she would be so insane to the point of hiring a man to trap her in this elaborate dreamland.
So if it wasn't her ... then who was it?
Someone else who desperately didn't want her to play the roles of Odette and Odile? If so, then that would be one of the pettiest reasons for a kidnapping that's ever happened!
Adele knew deep down that none of her thoughts were making any sense. It's just that something about this whole situation didn't seem real. She needed to know more, explore this place if she could.
And then perhaps make her escape.
"If you don't mind, Roslyn, I need to go out and have some fresh air. I've been feeling kind of stuffy in this room for awhile now."
As Adele started marching towards the door, the nervous maid began to blubber.
"B-B-But-!"
TANTARAAAAAAAA!
A loud, blaring fanfare suddenly echoed outside of the room. Adele snapped her head towards the vibrating glass doors leading to the balcony.
"What was that?!" she exclaimed.
The freckled maid gave out a sigh of relief. "His Royal Highness has finally returned! He must've received the message we've sent about five days ago!"
At that, the bewildered woman frowned.
"Five days? That's how long I was asleep?"
Now this made her situation more complicated. In normal human standards, it was impossible for her to look like a completely different person AND to be moving perfectly fine after being in a coma for five days.
Could it really be possible then that she had truly experienced a transmigration?
"His Royal Highness will be coming in soon! Quickly now!" Roslyn cried out in a frenzy. She scurried towards the giant wardrobe on the corner of the room and heartily pulled on its heavy metallic handles. Shortly after, she then took out a long, thick dressing robe that appeared more orthodox than her current peignoir.
"We must at least dress you in the proper attire!"
"I don't believe there's a need for that. I'm sure that propriety would be the least of our concerns."
'Besides,' Adele mulled over. 'We don't know if this place is actually dangerous or not. Kidnapped or no, I still need to find a way out of this place. And for that to happen ... '
Pasting on a funny grin on her face, Adele straightened out her posture and flipped her wine-colored locks over her shoulder. Channeling her learnings from her acting classes, she tried to mimic the haughty actions of those princess characters that were prevalent in her favorite period novels and dramas.
"Perhaps it's time for this royal princess to give 'His Royal Highness' a proper royal greeting. I shall be going now, Roslyn."
"Wait, Your Highness! Y-You haven't even changed your-!"
But Roslyn's warning came a little too late. As soon as Adele tried to take hold of the knob, the majestic white doors were pushed open from behind, hitting the unsuspecting woman squarely on her face.
WHAM!
Dumbfounded, Adele stumbled backwards as she clutched her throbbing nose. So much for making an escape!
"Dammit! Who the heck-?!"
"You're awake."
A smooth, husky voice penetrated her ears. It was surprisingly pleasant to hear, despite its slightly frosty tone, to the point that the aggravated woman immediately forgot the pain on her nose.
And that's when she lifted her head up.
At that moment, Adele saw the most beautiful set of silver gray eyes that she'd ever seen in her entire life.
....