Apparently, she was Aurora Atkinson, the daughter of a wealthy family that was promised as a fiancé for another wealthy man. It looked like something out of a book.
A young girl about to become an adult betrothed to a wealthy man. A diary filled with flowery thoughts and a room that belonged to a Barbie doll. It was as if she stepped into a glittery wonderland.
Whenever her thoughts grew chaotic, Leah danced. The rhythm helped her sort through the mess in her head. This time was no different.
When Leah woke up, she saw a bunch of faces relieved to see her alive. Aurora was a victim of poisoning. She died and Leah took her place. But of course, her family didn't know that.
Leah tried her best to play the dutiful daughter until she got a better handle on her situation.
It didn't make sense at all. Magic wasn't real so it was impossible for whatever happened to happen. Yet here she was, in a new body after dying to a monstrous, human-eating flower. Was this elaborate hallucination?
Hallucinations were a dangerous thing and some poisons caused them. She wondered if someone poisoned her and she was the victim of a powerful hallucination.
But again, everything felt real. The thorn that dug her flesh and the pain… Too real to dismiss.
"It doesn't make sense," she whispered mid-spin, trying to convince herself.
"Did you ask for something, my lady?"
A voice spoke. Leah didn't stop dancing. She had to think.
The voice started her. Leah froze and turned towards the servant, Dina.
Since she woke up, there was always someone in the room. She was never left alone. The servant's constant presence made it hard to let her guard down. Dancing was the only thing that gave her a fleeting sense of freedom.
Because apparently, Aurora loved dancing too.
"No," Leah paused briefly.
Dina returned to her stitching without further comment, leaving Leah to her thoughts.
It was weird to see everyone that kind. Every single face that met her was like that. They asked about her well-being, were ready to do whatever she wanted. They even went a step further and treated her as if she was the most precious thing in the world.
It made her miss her childhood. Everyone was kind when she was a child. It was a given. Children were weak and helpless; they received kindness for free. When people used to see an orphan like her outside, a lot of them would give her food or gifts. Sebastien read them stories before bed and made sure they were comfortable. He was the head of an orphanage before being her boss. Free kindness was everywhere.
It was the time where the biggest worry was to make Sebastien, who was their father figure, proud. Nothing mattered. But once they became adults, kindness came with a price. If someone was kind to you, it always meant that he wanted something from you.
Leah recalled how Celeste was kind to everyone. She comforted those who were bullied but never did something about it. Her kindness had levels. For those who had something she wanted, she was diligent in offering an expensive one.
This was what Leah believed. Kindness always had a price for adults but children had it for free. Like time.
Leah's spinning slowed to a halt as an idea crystallized. She came to a conclusion.
She wasn't sure what was happening and had no choice but to accept it.
She turned toward the towering bookshelf, the second most captivating feature of the room after the window. Rows of vampire romances lined the shelves. Some were piled into mountains on the ground; books she started and couldn't finish.
It seemed that Aurora had a vampire-romance obsession. She had to admire the dedication and time spent to collect all those books.
With a sigh, Leah picked up a nearby book and flipped through the pages. This book too, it had notes and highlights that had no meaning. Those notes were the main thing that showed Aurora's personality to Leah.
Leah realized after reading a lot of books that Aurora was a flowery sweet girl that was too rich to understand problems of the poor.
She returned the book where it belonged.
"Hey, Dina!" Leah met her servant with a bright, kind smile. "Is my father in his office?"
There were no memories from the original Aurora. Just consistencies from the servants' talk and observations.
"The master usually takes a walk around the garden at this hour, my lady. Is there anything you want me to tell him?"
Leah felt the same chill run down her spine. The servant's smile was the same. Kind. Attentive. However, no matter how hard she tried to piece things together, it didn't seem right too. She was an adult and free kindness wasn't a thing anymore.
"I can tell him myself," she forced herself not to shrug. "I don't need you to be my mouth too."
"You can't leave the room, my lady. The master ordered that."
Leah flinched.
"Moreover," the servant resumed her activity. "Your body is weak, my lady. You can't exhaust yourself. If you want anything, you can ask me to do it. I'm your hands, feet, mouth, eyes, everything you want."
Leah was shocked. She didn't expect that. These last three days, she didn't bother going out because she wanted to understand how Aurora was. It seemed she was a prisoner.
Leah didn't insist on it anymore. Instead, she tried to find something else to occupy herself with. Dancing didn't feel enjoyable anymore.
She moved to the window and crossed her arms, watching the transparent silhouettes in the garden. The previous day, she managed to get out of the bed. The first thing she did was to crawl to the window and stare outside.
There was a beautiful garden but it wasn't empty. There were a lot of apparitions.
She would prefer not to associate with them. Hallucinations or not, anything she couldn't understand, not even for a bit, was dangerous.
"Wow! You look like my lady," the servant whispered.
The servant lowered her head and stared at her broidery. She tried to make a bird but it turned out wrong. Her fingers weren't nimble and skillful.
Leah's coughs drove her out of her thoughts. The servant needed to stay vigilant and watch her intently. Her lady's suicide attempt shouldn't happen again or her life would follow.
Leah's knees quivered. Her cough grew violent. She pressed a hand against her mouth, suppressing it but it backfired. The taste of iron touched her tongue, followed by blood dirtying the palm of her hand.
She stared at her hand in disbelief.
The coughs didn't stop until Leah fainted. The servant was terrified. She moved her lady to the bed, called one of her colleagues and informed her of what happened, then returned to the lady's side and cleaned her from blood.
Dina waited for the doctor to come but no one did.
Her lady stayed in bed for the rest of the day. In the end, she could only sleep on the couch and wait for the next day. Another servant would take her place and she'd be free from this torture.
All servants felt pity for their lady. However, what would happen to her was the less of two evils.
Once the night settled, Leah opened her eyes. She stared at the ceiling for a while, thinking about her life. Was she dying?
But one thing for sure, she was watched.
She scanned the room and heard someone breathing in the room.
She got up from the bed and checked on Dina, sleeping on the couch. She was sleeping soundly. Dina was kind, too kind. It made Leah's skin crawl.
She squatted and poked Dina's face. This was the first time since she woke up that someone's eyes weren't on her. Before, even at night, someone was always there to keep watch.
A wicked smile formed on her face.
"I wonder how I should bully you."
There was a small bottle of water next to the couch. An idea rooted in her head. She reached for the bottle and disappeared in the bathroom. She came out with the same bottle, filled from toilet water.
She put it back where it was.
For an hour, she waited for Dina to wake up, tucked in her bed. But the servant only tossed and turned. In the end, she wondered how she could wake her up and make her drink the bottle.
She grabbed her bottle of water and opened it. She was about to drink the content when another idea came to her. With a smile, she hurried to Dina, the bottle still in her hand.
Leah balled her fist and punched Dina in her belly. Dina woke up and almost screamed when she saw a shadowed face above her. It took her a second to realize that it was her lady.
Without wasting a second, Leah grabbed the bottle on the ground and gave it to her servant. She sported a face full of worries and sadness.
"Are you alright? Did you have a nightmare? Here!"
Dina grabbed the bottle, swallowing hard.
Leah hid her smirk behind a hand, disguising it as a yawn.
Dina's hands trembled as she adjusted the blanket around her. Her smile was steady. But the faint crease between her brows betrayed her nerves.
She slept. It was a mistake.
If Mister Atkinson learnt of it, he would fire her. She couldn't afford to lose her job.
"You were tossing and turning for a while. You were also crying in your sleep. I thought you were having nightmare. I had to wake you up."
"My lady… That's so sweet of you!" Dina looked around, her heart pounding hard. "Why are you awake?"
"Oh! I don't know. I couldn't sleep. I woke up a few minutes ago. Drink. You sweated a lot."
Dina studied Leah's face. For a moment, she was sure someone hit her but seeing how her lady was sweet, she let it go. She opened the bottle and drank half of it. It smelled funny.
"It's time to go to sleep, my lady."
"I don't know if I can do that. I'm scared. I coughed blood earlier. Is there something wrong with me?"
Leah's face showed fear. Of course, it wasn't true. She was scared, but not much. Not enough to make her lose sleep.
Dina sat down and pulled her lady into a hug. She patted her back kindly.
"I told you that your body is weak, my lady. You've always been this way. The doctor recommended full rest. You need to stop dancing."
This was the kind of kindness Leah was familiar with, full of lies and deceit. Sebastien only acted like a father-figure to hide his true self. Also, to raise loyal assassins. It worked for years. Even she, herself, was loyal to him until he betrayed her for the sake of his goals.
Leah hugged Dina back, smiling.
But she didn't smile for long. Before Leah could relish her small victory, a glowing circle appeared beneath them. Dina's face twisted in horror. But it was too late. Leah barely had time to process what was happening before they were teleported away.