Year 229, in Elarion Calendar
Today is a beautiful day in the Dravenhart Empire. With the sun shining so brightly, the warm breeze of summer, and the lively streets of the empire, everything seems perfect and normal. Anyone would definitely agree that it's the best time of the year to enjoy!
Well, not for me... ABSOLUTELY NOT! This is the worst summer I have had!
The last 6 days for me were absolutely chaotic. I woke up in this unfamiliar world with this unfamiliar body of mine, and I don't even know who I am! All I know is the name of this body that I had possessed.
Seraphina Elyndra Sebastienne, the daughter of Marquess Ronan Sebastienne and Marchioness Elena Sebastienne. And I am the soon-to-be-wife of the young Emperor, Emperor Aurelius Dravenhart. So, I am going to be the Empress! Great! What do I even know of being an empress, nor being a nobility? I came from the modern world, year 2025 in Earth's calendar! I don't even know what dimension this is.
Back on Earth, I read a lot of manhwas, mangas, and manhuas about reincarnation, transmigration, and regression tropes. Usually the stories revolved around an ordinary girl being reincarnated into the novel as a villainess, a weak person regressing and having OP power, a regressed heroine that was wronged in the past and came back to change her destiny, the revenge and runaway-bride trope, and there's the dark romance. Aside from that, what clues do I have? Among those tropes, which trope do I belong to right now?
My looks are not helping as well! I have long silver hair with a petite body and porcelain skin. My eyes are the color of a ruby. And then what? How am I supposed to know? All the female leads I've read so far had some similar to close looks! I'm mixing things up in my head. The recent novel I have been reading when I was still on Earth is titled "The Regressed Villainess". Which I am absolutely sure this wasn't. The female lead there had blonde hair with blue eyes. If you are going to ask about the books I've read 10, 7, and 3 years ago?
HAH! That's where we messed up. I don't remember some of them perfectly! And there are those that I remember, but the names are all mixed up in my head; I'm not even sure which is which and who is who! I'm doomed literally. I just hope that this isn't one of those dark romance tropes or those stories I hated before.
Ugh! Life's really hard. And fate is playing games sometimes.
I heard a knock on my door; I guess it's the head maid again. "Come in!" I yelled.
"Young lady, the Marquess summons you in his office."
I stood up from where I was sitting and glanced at the mirror to check how I look right now. One thing I've learned about this household is they don't get along. The Marquess and the Marchioness act like they are enemies and could stab each other any minute. Though I don't know the reason behind it, and no one is telling me. As for their treatment with me, I guess it would be nice to say that they are somewhat civil to me? Well, not that I mind; at least I am not being abused like those other stories I've read.
But the weird thing I've noticed is the Marchioness' obsession with her daughter's look, the way I dress, and the way I act. She's obsessing for me to become the epitome of nobility. While the Marquess' obsession was for me to become the Empress, which I totally understand. There are a lot of stories like that, full of greed, so it's not surprising.
The guards let the Marquess know of my arrival, and they motion for me to enter upon the Marquess' approval. Once I entered, I saw the Marquess reviewing stock files on his table; he only glanced at me once and resumed to what he was doing before I entered.
"Greetings, Father! You summoned me?" I politely asked and curtsied in front of him.
"There will be a banquet 2 weeks from now, and it will be the official announcement of your engagement with Your Majesty Emperor Aurelius. I need you to prepare at your utmost best! Make sure that when the Emperor sees you, he'll be heed-over-heels for you. " his voice is as stern as usual
"Yes, Father." All I can say is yes for now and go with how the story progresses, since I am still trying to figure out what story I am in. Maybe a few more days, and I'll be able to know. For now I have to be low-key first and observe the story unfold. If I remember the story, then that's the time I'll be deciding what to do. I don't want to raise suspicion on my identity as well, because it might be the end of me.
He looked up at me and stared for a while before speaking up again, this time with more conviction in his voice as if threatening me.
"Don't make mistakes, Seraphina, and don't pull any tricks if you don't want to go back to the way it was before."
He signaled me to leave after that, and I immediately left; confusion is starting to arise from my head. What does he mean by that? What were the ways before that he's referring to? Is there something fishy going on here?
'Arghh!! If I could just remember! Why? Why? Why does it have to be me? Why can't it be someone else who has good memories and can remember what they're reading! WHYYYYYYY!??? '
"My lady? What are you doing?"
I turned around to see Ana, one of my attendants; she caught me kicking the wall and tweaking my hair out of frustration. I hurriedly got up straight and fixed my hair.
" Nothing. " I pretended to grabbed a book on the shelve and sat down to read. I let her do her thing, mostly just cleaning and arranging stuff while I pondered again.
Honestly, I don't even know how to act around these people. Should I be rude? Kind? Polite? Civil? Am I a villainess? Or am I the kindhearted heroine? A side character? A what?? I sighed after thinking of all of those unanswered questions again.
God, if you can hear me, can you please, please give me even the tiniest bit of a clue? Have mercy on this poor soul! T_T
[3rd PERSON'S POV]
Ana is watching her lady doing weird faces and random actions; she doesn't know what those are for. What was her lady thinking that made her so immersed in it that she's losing her poise in front of her attendant? She really doesn't understand nobility and the things that are going on in their mind.
But one thing is for sure; her lady has been acting weird for the past few days ever since that last 'incident' had happened. Sometimes she's wondering if this is really the same lady she's serving.
'I need to notify her.'
Ana silently made her way out of the room after cleaning, leaving her lady behind still doing weird stuff.
******