Sunlight streams from the window and warms my face. I open my eyes to see that I am in a different bed. I check for the oxygen tank, but it's not there. Instead, an old-looking table is on the side of my bed.
I shift my attention to the window and see a woman fixing the curtain.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
I stop. Why is my voice a little high-pitched? Is this because of that headache?
The woman whirls around and bows her head. "I am sorry Miss, but the Duke ordered me to open the window so you'll be forced to get up from the bed and meet him for lunch. You've missed breakfast already."
I frown. Duke? Miss? I sit up and am about to stretch when I realize I have no sore muscles, which I always have since I've started working. Did I rest for far too long that my body felt so refreshed?
I yawn and I look around the room. Where am I? Is this the hospital? I didn't know there was a room as extravagant as this. I am on a four-poster bed with gaudy pink colors, as if it's themed after some plush toy. The drawers on both sides of my bed have gold trimmings and engraved flowers. It's the same flower that's on the curtains. Is it marigold?
The woman goes to me and removes the blanket covering my lower body.
"Wait—" I start to complain but stop when I see that I am wearing… long nighties? No, this is almost like a white, simple long dress. I don't remember that I have a dress like this. And who dressed me? I remember I am wearing shorts and sandos.
Then the woman proceeds to pull my dress up. "Stop!" I complain and glare at the woman. From what I can see, she's not much older than me.
"Apologies, Miss, but the Duke also ordered me to force you into proper clothes for lunch."
"I can dress myself! You don't need to—"
I stop what I am saying when I see the confusion on the woman's face. "But you've never been able to dress yourself before."
"I said I can do it! Just give me what dress to wear and I will do it!"
"If that's what you wish." She goes to the dresser, takes a long dress, and places it on the foot of my bed. But before she leaves the room, she says, "I'll be outside in case you need any help."
When the door closes behind her, I run towards the mirror. I exclaim at the reflection. This beauty. I touch the mirror and then my cheeks, then touch the mirror again. Instead of seeing a pallid face because of being sick for a couple of days, I see a young woman, barely twenty years old, staring back from the mirror. There is a blush on her cheeks and her lips are a light shade of red. I wipe it. I'm not wearing any lipstick.
Instead of black eyes, the reflection staring back at me has eyes that are almost transparent gray in color. I lost my brown skin as well, replaced with a light brown complexion. And my hair, which I usually keep short for easy grooming, is now a tumbling black, wavy hair that looks like I've come from a salon, rather than from a long sleep in a bed.
And my features! I am not ugly, but the face that's looking back at me has a face that can only be seen in romance novels. The one that can make knights, generals, and princes swoon over. There is also a beauty mark on my right temple.
I step backward and pull the plain white dress over my head. I am not wearing anything underneath, but this figure! I trail my fingers on my breast, to my flat stomach, the curve on my waist and hips, and then my legs!
I exclaim again. What the heck! There is only one person I know with these features. Lyrica Dunnett! The daughter of the Duke of Cairns kingdom from the Princess of Fate novel! No, wait. One more check! I look down at my chest. True enough, there is the prominent mole on my left chest, the one that drives men crazy! The one she uses to seduce men into her bed, so they will do her bidding!
No! No! No! Another check. I need to be sure. There is a scene in that book, wherein she's on the bed with Prince Cairns. She won the Queen selection, and he was forced to take her into his bed to sire an heir. On their first night, he notices another mole on her inner right leg, close to her privates. But instead of desire, he tells her that he was washed away with disgust. It was understandable, though—because there was one time that Prince Cairns caught Lyrica in the throes of passion while another man was sucking on that exact same mole.
I hit my head in consternation. What was Lyrica even thinking at the time? Yeah, I remember. When Lyrica won the Queen selection, and even after her marriage to the Prince, Prince Cairns never touched her. And rumors circulated that the Prince did not like the captivating Lyrica Dunnett.
Lyrica, despite being the proud woman that she is, tried to make him love her, but it's to no avail. Prince Cairns is already too much in love with the heroine, Eliana, to even give her a second glance. As a last resort, Lyrica tries to make him jealous. She did get the end result that she wanted, that is, being pregnant with his child, but his heart only gets further away from her.
I stoop down and check. There it is, as prominent as the mole on my chest!
"Miss, it's getting late. Do you need any help?"
Blast it all! I rush to my strange underwear and hurriedly wear the dress. But then, I realize that I can't reach the back. I groan in frustration. I open the door and see the woman waiting.
"I guess I'll need your help, after all," I admit.
There is a smirk on her face, but she never says anything. Instead, she enters the room and helps me with the dress. I groan. If my findings are correct, this is the world of Princess of Fate. This woman here is Lyrica's maid and her most trusted confidant. However, she betrayed her in the end, despite fearing her ruthlessness. Her name is Aiko.
Am I in a very long, vivid dream? Did I die in my world? What's my sickness, anyway?
Aiko ushers me into a chair in front of the mirror and fixes my hair. Perfect hair, perfect face, perfect body, perfect upbringing, and perfect magic. If I think about it, if Lyrica had chosen correctly, she won't end up on the gallows in the story.
Wait—Does that mean I will die in the gallows as well?! I swallow. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Princess of Fate is not the only novel I've read in that theme and genre. I've read and watched multiple stories with the same scenario that I am having now. All I need to do is to show kindness to everyone around me, to help everyone, to change from the selfish person into a caring villainess that turns out to become the lover of all the precious and handsome men around.
A blush creeps into my cheeks. Am I on my way to creating a reverse harem? Like those villainesses' turned into heroines' stories? I stare at my reflection. Lyrica does blush so beautifully. In the story, she's the loveliest in the Cairns Kingdom. Not even Eliana comes close to her natural beauty.
But wait, Lyrica knows a lot about people. That's why she could manipulate people around her, but as a reader, I don't have a full glean on that! If I am asked about things and people that Lyrica should know about, I'll be damned. Magic exists in this world. So I will not be surprised if the people believe that there is another person in Lyrica's body!
Is it the gallows, after all?!
"It's done now, Madame," Aiko says.
I look back at my reflection. My god! How come Lyrica is such a beautiful, luscious woman? With a face and body like this, it will not be hard for her to become the heroine of this world. But wait, how about her perfect magic? Lyrica is known for learning how to use it at an early age. Because of that, she's considered a genius. Despite being cunning and ruthless, she's the very definition of femme fatale. That's why I liked her character, especially when she falls in love with the Prince. That is just so bittersweet for her.
I take a deep breath and stand up. I need to calm down. This is just like meeting a business client without a schedule. All I need to do is to present and demo how the business works and how our products help the company to earn money.
Let's see, there's no need to panic. Most of the villainesses say they forgot their past. In that way, they can escape all the questions. Besides, there's no way I'll remember something that I don't know. I should have read more about the fan pages!
I take a deep breath. In the meantime, I will face this Duke Dunnett. Later, I will find a way to create a scapegoat to explain my forgetting of Lyrica Dunnett's unmentioned past.