Sophia smiled gently, her sweet smile reflecting in the mirror. She said softly, "I won't give up, not that quickly."
The next day, she woke up from her sleep and saw all of Sophia's original memories flooding in. She felt a rush of emotions all at once: sadness, pain, misery, conflict, anger. However, none of those emotions showed in her blue eyes, which seemed stagnant like a calm pond.
She sighed sadly for the original body's owner, who had truly lived a wretched life. In her mind, she thought, "Despite being one of the princesses of the Northern Kingdom, she didn't enjoy a life of luxury within the tall palace walls. She had to survive various plots and attempts to frame her and send her to the underworld. The original body's owner had survival skills at a master level, managing to stay alive till now, even though she was treated as garbage, exploited, and finally forced by another kingdom's prince to marry her."
Since the marriage to Noah, Sophia was no longer as worried as before. She used to be cautious of everyone she knew, but now she lived her days in peace, knowing her time was limited, and that she would die soon.
Because of this, she and Noah were not close like before. They pretended to be a happy couple in front of the world. She helped him communicate with officials and ministers, while he guarded the kingdom's borders from attacks by the Western Kingdom and the Ancient Forest.
From a different perspective, Sophia was like an employee for Noah, working part-time in public relations.
Learning this, Sophia began to respect the original body's owner more and more.
Despite everything she had been through, she didn't surrender or fall into the schemes meant to send her to the underworld, even though she knew she wouldn't live long. The original body's owner continued to maintain a strong appearance, while no one knew how weak she truly was.
On the other hand, she felt relieved realizing this. No one would find her behavior strange, as the original body's owner distanced herself from everyone. She didn't trust anyone to begin with, so how could she get close to them and reveal her thoughts? She developed a closed and strong persona, overcoming all obstacles and challenges.
The second reason she felt at ease was that she would stay away from Noah. She didn't have a good interaction with him the last time they spoke. She only felt pity for his unfortunate end at the hands of the novel's hero, Alex. She saw him as an unlucky young master, destined to flirt with death.
I apologize for the misunderstanding. Here's the text without changing anything:
"After arranging her thoughts and feelings, Sophia decided to gather her fragmented self and accept the reality she was in. She moved into a harem novel, and the first thing she did was to reclaim the noble and strong appearance of the original body's owner. This beautiful appearance had been one of the reasons that kept her alive in this accursed world.
She rose from the bed, barely able to stand, instinctively realizing that her body's condition had deteriorated from before, and that her wrist had been cut. Upon this realization, she immediately looked at her hand, fully certain that all the veins in it had been severed, and that she was meant to die at that moment.
Even if she didn't die, her hand would remain disabled forever, rendering it unusable. The best treatment for cases like this was amputation, to prevent further loss of blood and to address the situation swiftly.
However, unlike what Sophia knew, there wasn't even a single scratch on her wrist, let alone an injury or an amputation.
Suddenly, a floating blue screen appeared in front of her:
[Ding : Host's condition: Critical condition, requires immediate treatment.
[Ding : Disease's cause: Chronic poison transferred to the host when she was a fetus.]
[Ding : Closing energy and Qi pathways throughout the host's body; the suppressor is a martial artist at the Warlord level.]
[Ding : Thousand Parasite Poison, resembling a parasite that feeds on energy.]
[ Ding : Cold Poison, gradually freezing the host's heart and slowing cultivation.]
[ Ding : The toxin slowly freezes the host's heart and retards cultivation.]
[ Ding : The cultivation pathways are blocked in the host's entire body.]
[Ding: Fire Poison ...]
[Ding: Water Poison ...]
[Ding: Hydra Snake Poison ...]
[Ding: Osmanthus Flower Poison ...]"
There were also blood tests and X-ray images illustrating her condition. As she looked at the floating blue screens in the air and examined them, Sophia felt a sense of disbelief in what her eyes were seeing. One question lingered in her mind: "How am I still alive?"
Being a surgeon, she understood the meaning of the symptoms and images before her. Yet, thinking about the fact that she was in a world where one man could fight hundreds of thousands of soldiers, she managed to somewhat come to terms with the situation. She resisted the urge to return to her bed, where the thought of all the challenges she had to face in order to return to her world caused her a great headache.
She decided to take a bath, as she had done nothing other than cry and act mad since her transition, and certainly bathing was not among those activities. Mentioning this made Sophia feel extremely hungry; her stomach was practically touching her back.
Literally!!
After her bath, she put on a white-colored Hanfu, a traditional Chinese dress, where she felt comforted by the sight of that color. For the first time since her transition, she stepped out of her room. As soon as she did, she saw the courtyard covered in snow, dressed in a white blanket. She muttered, "Is it really winter?" According to the events of the original novel, Noah died in the summer when he went to explore the ruins of an ancient sect and fought the hero.
"Stop," her thoughts paused at this point. The element for which Noah and Alex fought was the complete quarter of the Soul Gem, the goal she would strive for to remember a few lines from the novel afterwards.
***
After the battle between Alex and the Prince of the Eastern Kingdom came to an end, a blood-red system window appeared before Alex.
[Ding: Destroyed a portion of the Soul Gem .Reward: Penetrated the realm of the True Lord.]
Alex smiled upon reading the system's task, immediately intending to destroy the gem.
***
A frown appeared on Sophia's face, for while she was seeking to gather the parts of the gem and preserve them, Alex aimed to completely destroy it. This meant that they would inevitably face each other in a battle sooner or later, and that time they would undoubtedly fight each other.
The primary task of Alex's system was to "destroy the Soul Gem," in contrast to her mission of collecting and containing it.
According to Sophia's knowledge from the novel, the Soul Gem was scattered into six pieces across all four kingdoms and the ancient forest.
While lost in thought, Sophia was surprised to hear a gentle voice calling out to her with concern, "Are you alright, Your Highness? How are you feeling now?"
Sophia turned towards the voice and felt an internal shock when she saw who was speaking to her; she recognized the speaker instantly. How could she not recognize her when the author of the novel dedicated an entire chapter to describe her face and two whole chapters to depict her body curves? She asked, "Are you Emma?"
The astonishment was evident on Emma's face as she recognized the princess instantly. They had never met before, and Emma wasn't particularly famous among the ladies, so she curiously asked, "How did you recognize me, Your Highness?"
Sophia smirked, thinking, "Who doesn't know the famous Fourth Pearl girl with her magical hands? I even remember skimming through those initial chapters where you appeared."
However, what Sophia said in response to Emma's question had nothing to do with her thoughts. She stated, "That's obvious. Who wouldn't recognize the Fourth jade from the Fontaine family, known for their magical hands? I recall that their early chapters were quite memorable."
But her reply to Emma's first question had a different intention. She continued, "I'm fine now," but as if the heavens were mocking Sophia, the moment she said that, she began coughing. Quickly, she covered her mouth with a handkerchief. This action was a habit of the original host, as she didn't want anyone to know about her illness.
As for Sophia's current condition, she didn't want anyone to know the extent of her weakness.
A clear frown appeared on Emma's face when Sophia claimed to be fine. However, Emma had no right to say anything, yet she made a request that surprised Sophia, "Could you give me your hand, Your Highness?"
*******
I need your comments on the novel, whether they are negative or positive. Please give me your opinion on the chapters you've read so far.