After the angry man stormed out of the room, Ave could not sit still anymore. She began to pace back and forth in the spacious room, worried and terrified about what she'd gotten into. The atmosphere was luxurious but felt alien to her, and the pain in her head was nothing compared to her messed-up emotions.
First and foremost, in all the transmigration novels and movies she'd watched, the transmigrated person always had the memories of the body they transmigrated into, but her unfortunate self had ended up in a body with no memories whatsoever.
If she could have a glimpse of this Victoria's memories, she'd have known what year she was in, what era, and most importantly, why the hell that angry man seemed to be after her head.
If she had this woman's memories, she might have been able to navigate this world and understand how and why she ended up here when she doesn't belong.
All she knew was that this Victoria had also been in an accident, but she didn't know the details. What if she'd been transmigrated here and this Victoria into her real body?!
No freaking way, she had to go back, but first, she had to know what year this was and what had happened to this woman.
She hadn't been able to look into any mirrors again, but the sight of the red hair made it obvious that she wouldn't be seeing her own face if she did. Thus, when she turned around, she made sure to avoid looking into any of the many mirrors in the chamber.
"This woman sure liked to look at herself, or else who in their right mind would put a mirror on almost every wall of the room?" Ave muttered to herself.
From what she'd heard from a terrified maid who'd come to check up on her after the angry man stormed out, Lydia was her maidservant and had been since her childhood.
Clapping her hands and ready to get down to business, Ave pointed to the terrified maid who looked ready to disappear at the far end of the door. "Alright, let's get to the bottom of this. You there, fetch me Lydia."
The maid rushed out in such haste that she tripped over her dress, stood up again, and Ave watched her in disbelief.
She came back within a minute with the young maid Lydia, who fell to her knees the moment she entered. "Your Highness, you summoned me?"
"Yes, I did. I want—" before she could complete her words, Lydia had begun to cry while kowtowing.
"Please forgive me, Your Highness. I tried to protect you, but His Highness shoved me out of the way! Forgive me for my incompetence..."
Not again with this maid crying and asking for forgiveness! Ave thought in dismay, but then something the maid said caught her interest. First, she needed to know the answer to a burning question.
Sitting down, trying to appear regal and not show her discomfort in the weird dress she was wearing, Ave said, "You can stop crying. I have forgiven you."
"Really, Your Highness?" Lydia asked in disbelief, knowing the princess wasn't the kind of person to forgive easily without punishment. Not even she, who had grown up with her, was spared from her punishment, not to mention after her huge mistake of ruining things for her and almost causing her to lose her life in the process.
Could it be that the princess was testing her again before punishing or even beheading her like she did to a maid a few months ago?
Lydia broke down in tears again, her body trembling as she continued to kowtow while saying,
"Your Highness! I swear on my life I tried to stop him! Please don't kill me, I have been serving you for a very long time. I am—"
"If you don't stop crying, I think I might choke you to death!" Ave exclaimed to keep the girl quiet so she could ask her questions without being interrupted by some melodramatic scene about things she didn't know.
Those words worked; Lydia was as silent as steel and her face as pale as a sheet. But she nodded obediently.
Trying to be friendly after obviously scaring the poor girl, Ave asked gently, "Alright, I will forgive you if you answer my questions without crying. Do you understand?"
Lydia nodded quickly.
Satisfied, she asked, "First tell me, what year is this?" She needed to know what era she was in before anything else. And she hoped it wasn't far behind from 2024 and that the people here were just still living in ancient times.
'I hope it's in the late '90s. That way, I can work my way back up again. Please let it be 1999 or even 2000, I can work with that.'
Lydia frowned but answered without hesitation, "We are in the year 1303, Your Highness."
All color drained from Ave's face, and she lost her balance on the bed and collapsed to the floor, her mouth wide open in horror and disbelief. She was seven centuries away from her time and era!
This must be some sort of a joke!
"Are... are you all right, Your Highness?" Lydia asked, anxious as she noticed the princess's pale face.
"I am way past all right, girl. I am doomed!" She cried out, feeling her stomach knot and her body shake internally. How was she supposed to survive in an era where everything was strange and foreign to her? She would be crazy to just accept the fact that her perfect life in the big city of New York was over in a blink of an eye!
She'd just bought a house and was even planning on getting a private plane after she'd signed the contract with a company that offered to make her the face of their brand. Everything was falling into place before this, and now...
No freaking way. She was going to leave this place, but first, she needed to know how she'd ended up in 1303! She could only go back by knowing the way she'd come here.
Still trying to recover from her shock, she glanced at the concerned maid and asked the next question she was curious about.
"And who was that angry devil who left this room a few minutes ago? What is my relationship with him?"
Lydia's eyes widened at those questions, and an obvious shudder shook her body as if the mere mention of the angry man scared her.
"Y-your Highness, don't you remember who he is anymore?" She asked nervously, finding it strange that the princess was asking questions she already knew.
"I'm having a bit of a problem with my memories; I can't seem to remember a lot of things," Ave said to make the maid answer her questions without wondering why she asked them when she already knew.
"Oh, I have summoned the royal physician earlier, but he's taking so long to get here. Let me go and check—" Lydia said in panic, already standing up, but Ave stopped her.
"Let the physician be. Answer my questions first. What is my relationship with that man?"
"He is the second prince, Your Highness..." She muttered, not daring to speak out her mistress's relationship with the second prince, whom she hated to the point she didn't like her name being mixed with his nor acknowledge their relationship.
"And what's my relationship with the second prince?" Ave raised a brow in question.
"I daren't say it, Your Highness!" Lydia bowed her head, trembling.
"It's a command; you can't refuse unless you want me to strangle you to death." Ave said, enjoying the fact that an empty threat was enough to make the maids here waver and do whatever they were asked of.
"Forgive me, Your Highness. The second prince is your husband!"
"MY WHAT??!" She exclaimed in a voice loud enough to cause an earthquake, terrifying the maid even more.