Ludy watched as Melissa went to work on the papers strewn across the ground as she turned to the mirror inside her bedroom, sure enough if the house, the weird name she now had, the odd memories and the maid tidying up her room hadn't been enough to convince her then the body she was in felt like the nail to the coffin.
She had dark hair, long and luscious that went past her shoulders and although messy at this point it did well to accentuate her youthful face. Deep silver eyes met through bronze rimmed spectacles and she was currently in a short dress-like pajama, in contrast to her previous appearance she couldn't deny it was a slight upgrade but the fact that it wasn't hers barely made this anything to celebrate over.
'Have I…essentially stolen this child's life?'
She thought about it for a sec and slowly felt a little guilt creeping up on her, this was a fifteen year old living the life as an innocent and doted over child. She'd died and then somehow taken over her body, from that perspective and it was truly insidious what she was doing but the guilt didn't have any time to settle even further as Melissa suddenly spoke to her again.
"Ah Young Lady Ludmilla" Melissa began however Crusch's body suddenly flinched, an involuntary reaction that surprised her. At the mention of the name a boiling feeling of irritation bubbled in her heart that weren't emotions she was supposed to be feeling.
'Is it something about the name?' Crusch thought, but why would she feel irritated over that? It wasn't even her name however as she thought about it more deeply, a memory flashed in her thoughts and Crusch frowned.
"I think that's enough of that, there's no one around you know?" She interrupted, in the memories she was now recalling between her new body and the maid in front of her and Melissa usually referred to her as—
"Of course, if that's what little Ludy wants," Melissa smiled, at that moment there was feeling of warmth that overcame Crusch so much so it unnervingly odd.
'So this body still has an influence over my actions…'
"So what's wrong?" She shook her head and inquired.
"Ah! Have you already forgotten?" Melissa stared at her in wonder and then her eyes narrowed slightly, "Ludy, these piles of paper…how long were you awake last night?"
'I honestly have no idea'
"It wasn't long" She glossed over the topic and then once again sifted through her fragmented memories for at least an idea of what was so significant today, her face both visibly frowning in thought which caught Melissa's attention as she sighed.
"Ludy, it's your birthday today" Crusch suddenly froze, her eyes widening in shock at the words.
"My…birthday..?"
The Ludunhime family was large and expansive, the number of its possible inheritors or more aptly, children couldn't even be counted with the average fingers and toes on one's body. Although the usual state of inheritance was supposed to come from seniority, the Ludunhime family vehemently disagreed with this as while age demanded respect, the old were not always the best choice over the youth. It was for this reason that internal strife was a thing, a birthday was a concept that Ludmilla had never really experienced much.
The family didn't take much notice into things so insignificant as a birthday, there were so many siblings she had that catering for each and everyone one of their birthdays was a pain.
"My birthday? I thought mother and father weren't interested in those kinds of things?" Melissa who heard this felt her face frown a bit as she shook her head in disagreement.
'Little Ludy must've been bothered by this for a long time, it must be why she's forgotten about her own birthday'
Melissa came to a conclusion in her mind, her gaze somewhat solemn and a little amused although the truth behind the matter couldn't be anything further than mere negligence.
"Fifteen years is a long time Ludy, it's something worth celebrating over" Her gaze seemed extra mysterious today, were the thoughts that swirled in Crusch's mind as she relented.
'Come to think of it, have I ever even celebrated my own birthday with my parents?'
She thought back a bit on her own memories and found it hard to recall, her parents weren't neglectful or abusive; that was something she'd never experienced in her life.
However Crusch could note that they were barely present for most parts of her life when they were needed, it was of no ill will however, her mother and father weren't exactly in the most stable of financial statuses and they couldn't support her under a proper roof so by the age of seven she'd already been sent to live with her aunt who had the bare minimum to fit the requirements.
Apart from that and Crusch never saw her parents for extended periods of time, the visits they made every week were short and fleeting, of course when they met with her it was the best times of her life as they doted over her, bought a small gift or two but when it was all over…
She shook her head, the past was the past, her mother and father had died a little over a year after she'd started working, that was twelve years ago back on earth so the time to mourn was well and truly over.
She turned to Melissa as the latter slightly felt worried over her lack of reaction, perhaps Ludy couldn't bear to go with it since it'd been so long ever since something like this had ever been celebrated were thoughts swirling through Melissa's head however the reaction she acquired was quite the opposite.
"Are we going anywhere by any chance?"
It was a castle no inferior to any she'd ever read, although her bedroom itself was wide and expansive, when Crusch took a short walk on her own down the wide hallways and its true size was mesmerizing.
The floors were of polished wood, walls of deep grey and aged stone but barely hampering the beauty of the place while the ceiling itself, high enough that it felt untouchable was accompanied by portraits that her fragmented memories although vast couldn't exactly give an answer as to who they were.
'This body sure was a Hermit'
She recounted, it seemed as though the person named 'Ludmilla' largely never came out of her room, nearly all her memories resided either in between a book, sentimental moments with Melissa or dozing in her room. There wasn't a memory outside of a few steps of her own room and if they were, they were fleeting and vague but Crusch couldn't blame the kid either as after all, her own life wasn't largely sociable and to be fair there was little reason to go outside while living so lavishly. Next to that and Crusch found no reason to reprimand someone so intelligent either, the body was a Hermit but a good one if that made any sense?
"Lady Ludmilla!" Crusch nearly yelped in fright, the voice was so sudden that she instinctively half turned before catching sight of who was behind her.
"It's so early in the morning, whatever reason has you up so early?" The maid asked, it was a tall woman dressed in the same attire as Melissa but looked leagues younger and perhaps only slightly older than her current body. She had bright pink hair, eyes of a deep ember and a childish face that spoke of her youth as she stared at Crusch rather surprisingly although a part of it felt uncomfortable to her. Does this body hate her? Crusch thought but before the thought could fester any longer, the woman suddenly smiled.
"Ah, this must be what Ms Melissa was talking about" the woman smiled, her posture changing as she slightly bowed "Happy Birthday Lady Ludmilla"
It was an energetic voice she had and almost innocent in tone, for a moment Crusch felt the worries from earlier dissipate and slither away as though having never been there; an odd feeling. The maid then suddenly rose again and Crusch felt the door behind her which she'd been meaning to open in the first place suddenly creak as a rough hand landed on her head with a light ruffle.
"Ludia!" The person exclaimed, it was fast and it was sudden but Crusch was quickly pulled into a tight hug as the air was squeezed from her lungs. "Happy birthday!!"