Ave stared blankly at the unfamiliar white ceiling she was met with the moment she opened her eyes.
She frowned. Was she finally back home and in a hospital?!
Those thoughts made her quickly sit up and look around, but the hope that she was in a hospital was demolished the moment her eyes adjusted to her white surroundings.
This wasn't a hospital, she thought as she looked around the pure white room with every corner being white, with no furniture, windows, or doors, aside from the bed she was currently sitting on. And even the bed, when she looked down, she realized...
It was an invisible bed!
Was she dead? Did she die from that fall in the forest? Could this be heaven? But then she'd never considered herself a good person to end up in heaven; there must be some sort of mistake.
Death was the last thing on her mind when she escaped that palace and dashed into the forest!
Ave abruptly stepped down from the invisible bed in panic, and to her surprise, everything immediately turned dark after she left the bed. So dark she couldn't see herself.
"What's going on?!" she panicked as she began to run around the room. Suddenly, a window appeared from nowhere with a figure standing before it, moonlight illuminating only the figure while everything else was dark, including herself.
Ave stood still and stared uncertainly at the silhouette at the window. Though she couldn't see the person's face, from the figure and flowing hair, she knew it was a woman.
Was she dreaming? Because this certainly didn't seem real. She decided to pinch herself to make sure, and the pain she felt made her realize she wasn't dreaming.
Could it be that instead of transmigrating back to her time, she'd transmigrated into another world?!
"Hello? Who are you?" she called out to the figure. "Can you please tell me where I am and how I ended up here?" she asked, trying to sound calm even though she was far from being calm. She was just one step away from going crazy if she didn't get an explanation.
All she wanted was to go back home, but she kept—
"You shall go back home if that's what you want, my dear," said the woman as if she could read Ave's mind.
Her sudden voice startled Ave and amazed her at the same time. She could read her mind!
"How? Can you help me? Are you my guardian angel? Can you guide me back home? I will be forever grateful if you can help me," she pleaded. Without giving the woman the chance to say more, Ave thought she should add more words to make her understand why she had to go back home desperately.
The woman would surely pity her and send her home quickly once she heard her reasons.
"Please, I'll go mad if I don't go back immediately. I have many dreams I haven't achieved yet. I want to face-slap my entire family who bullied me and make them see that I can make it without them. I haven't traveled the world yet. I also—"
"I said you shall go back home, Aveline," the woman repeated to assure her with no emotions in her voice, cutting off her rambling.
Ave was taken by surprise yet again that she knew her name. Could it be that this woman was behind her transmigration to 1303?!
"Then take me back now," she said excitedly, staring at the silhouette, where she couldn't make out anything but a shadow.
"You haven't accomplished your quest in 1303 yet, Aveline. You can only go back home once you have fulfilled your destiny, mended the broken heart, and given it light," said the woman gently and calmly, her voice like a sweet melody yet lacking any emotions.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Ave asked with a scoff. What sort of rubbish was this woman saying?
"Aveline, have you ever wondered why your life seemed unfulfilled even after you've accomplished your dreams of being an actress?"
Of course, she'd always wondered that, and the answer to that had always been because she hadn't gotten back at her family and all the people who had stomped on her while she was working hard to make a living yet. However, she wasn't going to waste time talking about her life with a stranger in a dream.
"My life has nothing to do with this. Take me back to my time. I want to go home," she said in frustration, wishing they could cut the small talk and get on with magic.
"Just as I've said, you can go home only by completing your quest and fulfilling your destiny."
Though she found it absurd and unreal, she decided to hear whatever this quest was.
"And what is my quest?"
"You were brought to 1303 to soften the heart of a man who can ruin the world and destroy everything to the point that the world you know would cease to exist."
Ave would have laughed at this nonsense if she wasn't in a dark place talking to an invisible woman who was just a shadow and was saying things that made no sense to her. She would have laughed if her instincts weren't so wary about this shadow and her situation.
"Miss, ma'am, whatever this is, can you find someone else to do your quest because I have my life in 2024 and would like to go back. You—"
"There will be no 2024 if you don't do this. The world you know will be gone, and there will be no Aveline Eamon either."
"What? How?"
"Because Lucian Pendragon will destroy everything before your time, and a different world will exist instead of the one you know. A world filled with demons and monsters, a world built from hate and pain."
This made no sense to Ave, but then nothing had made sense since the day she'd woken up in a different era.
"Lucian Pendragon? You mean that psycho?!" She laughed maniacally, thinking this shadow woman must be joking with her somehow. Still trying to control her laughter, she said, "Let's assume I agree to whatever you are saying. How is me being in that era going to change Lucian's mind from ruining the world?"
"It's your destiny to figure it out, but it's your quest to make him know the real feeling of love and extinguish the hate that burns deep in his heart. At this point, only a little compassion is left in him, and if that compassion burns away... the world will pay the price, Aveline. You have to make him the next Emperor, but you have to make him want the throne for the right reasons."
"Make him fall genuinely in love with you and be his backbone in the battle for the throne," said the woman, her emotionless voice betraying a bit of emotion.
"That is ridiculous. That psycho would kill me before I do anything. This is not some fairy tale where love can cure all! Take me home!" Ave exclaimed as she tried to approach the woman, but everything suddenly began to swirl around her.
"Only by accomplishing this mission can you return to your time. And remember, nothing you do can take you back, Aveline. You are the key to changing the world," said the woman as she disappeared along with the room, her voice sounding distant this time as if it was all in Ave's head. Her eyes snapped open, and she found herself still laying on the forest ground, with a growling beast right in front of her!