"W–what the…" Noel gasp as she passed by a window only to a whole different person in front of her. She finally understands why the black cat called her by name earlier. She's possessing the body of her novel's side character... Diane Gladwine. She softly touched her face or rather the character she created. In disbelief that she was touching and gazing at a real body, but how? Why? A lot of questions run through her mind as she pinched her cheeks to clarify if she was dreaming or not
"This. This is not a dream?" she thought to herself but being in a public place, she wasn't aware that a lot of people are already looking at her with a weird face. She was embarrassed as she looks around, people staring at her while she still holding her face like an idiot. The cat was the first one to notice that she's been acting weird. But since they have arrived at their destination. The black cat assumed that its alright to leave her behind. But just before he could turn his back, a random guy chased him again recognizing him as the cat thief. So he ran as fast as he can and didn't even bother to look back. After a moment, he finally lost the strange villager who kept on shouting. He took a long sigh. He was about to leave his hiding spot when he heard a familiar voice. He finally looked behind him and saw Lady Glandwine. Uninterested, he turns his back as if he was saying that the lady is all on her own now.
"Wait…Don't leave!" Noel added trying to catch her breath. She did her best to catch up with the cat.
"Your name is Xavier, Is that right?" she asked kindly
The cat was rather confused and surprised at how she knows his name, it made him suspect her even more.
***
"Oh Gosh. What am I thinking? I'm not Noel anymore. I shouldn't be too obvious" she tries to calmly explain her side but the cat doesn't seem to believe in her. Xavier was the personal guard of the main character of her story, he was a huge impact on the plot, being a part of the war. So she can't afford to lose him. It may be possible that Xavier knows some solutions to bring her back to the real world as he was a natural shapeshifter who has a unique power. She looks at him intensely as she crouches and lowers her voice to communicate and thinks of a way to answer his question with something that Diane Gladwine would say.
"I'm actually good at fortune-telling!"
"Huh?" There's no way Xavier believed what she said, knowing the fact that Diane was just a commoner who happened to be close to the royal family. And except for being called a lady, she was rather arrogant and clumsy. But this didn't stop him from getting closer to her. As much as he hate it, he was rather interested in knowing the Gladwline. "Then, what do you want from me?"
Noel starts to shake and felt nervous, she was not ready to adapt to the kind of situation she got herself into. From being awakened in the midst of a battlefield to suddenly helping a black cat, and finding out who she really is are quite a lot to dig in.
" Ah, this feels like Deja Vu…" As a writer in her past life, she was already familiar with fantasies and fiction stories such as getting isekaid or being reincarnated. It's the most common genre she reads and a trending topic on social media. But never would she think that it would happen to her. Words started spinning before her eyes, all were jumbled and stacked up like a pile of papers.
She suddenly felt dizzy. It was a lot to comprehend and she suddenly collapse on the ground, leaving Xavier in shock, helpless, and annoyed. He poked and punched her with his little paw multiple times, yet she remained silent facing the concrete ground…Did she die? Moments passed and Noel was awoken by the sun tracing above her face and was greeted by a cold stare of a black cat. He's been waiting for long. Xavier looked down at her with soulless eyes, dismayed seeing a lady on the ground in front of her. So, Noel quickly stood up and greeted Xavier properly. She vividly remembers what happened before she collapsed.
"So, what's your deal woman?" Right. I called him so suddenly because of how things gradually changed. Noel is aware of how powerful Xavier can be, so she was thinking if she should tell him…
"I'm not your Lady Gladwine. I just got reincarnated and I was just possessing her body. So if you want to live. Tell me the way to go back to my real world" but of course, she wouldn't say that. She knows her characters well. Diane would never say such a thing and Xavier would surely refuse and would give her a cold shoulder. She was hopeless, She wasn't aware of which chapter is she currently in. But this is the last thing she could ask Xavier.
"What years is it?" Hesitant at first, asking such a common question out of nowhere might sound weird.
"Huh? Are you serious" As expected, She knows a useless answer would come. So she just walked by and finds someone she can freely ask questions with. She was followed by Xavier whom she thought had given up on her different attitude. But by looking around with such a crowd and merchants walking by. It's no ordinary day. Xavier starts to climb up to some boxes and counters to see a better glimpse of the lady. But she intentionally got closer to him as she realize that he was getting curious. She lifts him up to take a better look at Xavier's green-emerald eyes. Before she could ever speak a word, she heard a shout from a distance. The man, who's against the cat thief. And now that it was already in her hand, people think that Noel was the owner of the cat. They both looked at each other with worried faces, already sharing the same thought and emotions…"Run"
And so they ran and chased one another yet again… Noel wasn't aware of what to do running with a cat known as the village thief, the most wanted of all. It sure was exhausting for both of them. But before they met the dead end of the way, they split up. Xavier ran towards the castle and Noel ran through a random ally. While the man behind them didn't hesitate to follow the owner, for he thinks that she should be responsible for all the actions and depths of her own pet.