"Why ...."
The thin hand was trying to reach out for the salvation of the one she loved. She whimpered in pain at the breaking of her heart as well as her life.
"Why?" Her eyes, which had begun to close, recalled the last impression of the killer and the person she had been living for in a world that was foreign to her.
The expression on that person's face was indifferent as if the care, affection, and love he had shown her all this time was just an illusion in Mayleen's mind.
When the time of her death came, Mayleen laughed, a laughter filled with all her pain and devastation. Ah, she suffered so much.
As her figure fell motionless with the sword in her heart, the killer, Ken, watched her with cold eyes until the entire world around him reset.
***
[Eternal Love]
A popular Manhwa that is trending among comic and novel fans. Felia, who became one of the fans of the story, always saved up to buy one published volume. Fighting with other fans to get the first batch published with the author's signature.
The manhwa story was a college romance with Vampire tropes. The male and female protagonists are pure-blood Vampires and are childhood sweethearts. They are destined to be together, but there are many obstacles that cause them to be separated until they finally manage to maintain their affection and live happily ever after.
On the night of the release of the last volume, Felia had an accident in her office building. The elevator she was riding suddenly got stuck and she was trapped in it until she lost her life.
The last thing she thought about was not her work, her family, or her relatives and friends, instead she regretted that she had not read the last volume [Eternal Love].
For her, it was the only solace she had amidst all the pressure her environment put on her. She had no boyfriend and her family demanded that she get married soon. Her work was hard and monotonous, her friends and relatives were only concerned with their own affairs. Felia was tired of it all.
It was [Eternal Love] that filled her empty heart. Imagining if she had a lover like the handsome male protagonist in the manhwa. Treated so sweetly and tenderly and guarded from all the things that bothered her.
When her life ended, she regretted not having experienced true love.
---
The pain of being suffocated and out of breath disappeared. Felia opened her eyes only to find the unfamiliar ceiling of the luxurious room.
'Who am I? Where am I?!' She momentarily questioned her own existence because she felt she was dreaming.
"Miss Mayleen!" The loud call startled Felia, instantly she turned her head to the origin of the voice and was astonished to see several people dressed as medieval servants.
One of the servants rushed to help her to sit back and brought her some water. Several other servants came out to inform the head of the family about her condition.
In the midst of all this confusion, Felia drank the warm water that was given and felt that the water tasted strange. Sweet and like something fresh. She tilted her head at the servant beside her, but resisted the urge to ask.
There was still something nagging. She heard the waitress shout her name. Mayleen.
Mayleen....
Felia's expression froze and her mouth gaped. 'No way!' Her face paled compared to before and it caused more concern for the servant who was watching her.
"Miss!" The waiter took the empty glass in Felia's hand and then grasped her hand as she said, "Don't worry, you'll be able to see your fiancé soon. He'll be fine, he's just undergoing the coming of age ritual."
'Fiancé? Who? No, wait ... If I'm really Mayleen, then ....'
Felia said, "Ken?"
The maid looked like she was holding back her tears. "Lord Ken will be back soon and the two of you are destined to be together. Miss, don't worry."
As if begging Felia, no, Mayleen to calm her shock.
Her guess was confirmed. Ken ... Mayleen ... Felia was sure that one thing was happening to her at the moment. She was reincarnated as Mayleen and due to the shock of her fiancé disappearing, she had finally awakened the memories of her previous life.
Felia began to sort out the chaotic things in her mind since waking up. Her memories as Mayleen and Felia in her previous life began to merge and acceptance of this new life arose in her heart.
'It's not a bad life.'
Although she became a Vampire, she could still behave like a human, eat human food and so on. It's just that, she needs the blood of other living beings to keep her life energy intact.
From the explanation she heard and her memories of her fiancé, Felia realized which plot point she was at now.
This is the middle of the story. Where Ken was rumored to have disappeared from Tensera Academy and only returned half a year later with major changes in him.
If Felia didn't know the story of [Eternal Love], then she would have been heartbroken like Mayleen portrayed in the manhwa.
Her feelings and emotions as Felia were more dominating than the teenage girl Mayleen who was just entering adulthood. On the one hand, she was happy that the ending of the manhwa wasn't bad, on the other hand she was confused whether she could change the story along the way because of her knowledge?
At that moment, a chill ran down her spine. Felia shuddered as a feeling of surveillance came over her.
[You can't change the story.]
The words echoed in her mind over and over again until her consciousness was heavy and she fainted.
---
Time passed according to the trajectory of the set plot, Felia lived her new life without resisting the written plot. She didn't really want anything. Her previous life could be considered tragic and now she thought it was much better with the attention from those close to her and friends at the academy.
She was still a 4th semester student at Tensera Academy, a school populated by Vampire nobles and representatives of other creatures of equal position.
Ken is the student leader with the highest popularity ranking. Not only because of his good looks, but his status as the candidate Lord Vampire.
It had been 100 years since the previous Lord Vampire was in eternal rest so Ken's emergence as a candidate for Lord Vampire brought high hopes for the nobles. The Lord Vampire is the spearhead and shield that keeps the rationality of the Vampires under his rule.
With a world populated mostly by creatures of darkness and powerful humans threatening, the balance in this world is on thin ice.
Once a new Lord Vampire is born, the thin ice can be strengthened and the threat of other creatures of darkness and Vampire hunters lowered.
Regarding how Ken and Mayleen got engaged, it was due to a contractual agreement between two families. Mayleen's family who is the highest noble status, the Emerda family, has a contract with the previous Vampire Lord, Ken's ancestor.
Their engagement contract has been decided by the ancestors so they are inevitably destined to be together. Unlike what many expected, Ken accepted the arrangement well and even treated Mayleen quite sweetly and tenderly with rare affection.
So, Felia decided to accept her new identity. She would live as the lover of Lord Vampire.
'From now on, I am Mayleen.'
***