Chapter 2

✧ The Awakening ✧

The cheery sunshine poured through the glassy windows, highlighting every corner of the exquisitely designed room. It then began to plaster itself over the figure that lay sound asleep on the bed, peacefully. The figure was of a girl, whose long golden locks were spread all over the sheets on the bed as she started to move around in her sleep. Her eyelids then started to twitch mainly because of the sunlight pouring on her face, and she opened her eyes to reveal a beautiful turquoise shade of the sea. The female languidly rose upwards while she rubbed her dull and sleepy eyes. As she was starting to slowly regain the ability of sensuality, the room and everything around her started to seem even more unfamiliar to her.

“Eh..? What place even is this? Am I day dreaming again?”

She muttered, her voice sounding extremely drowsy.

“Oh well… better snap myself to reality before I get late for school…”

With saying that she quite literally slapped herself on the cheek lightly but sadly to no avail. Her eyes were now wide awake and she was fully in her senses yet… why was she still in the same expensive looking room?

“Huh? What-“

The girl was glancing at the furniture around her, extremely dumbfounded and confused. She then dropped her gaze to her hands and legs which were far more pale than before and her night gown that she was sure she had never even seen in her life. For a few seconds Eliana just stared at her attire as if it was out of the world.

“This… what is all of this???”

Hopping off from the bed and rushing to the mirror, the girl couldn’t believe her eyes at what she saw. She stared at the reflection of herself with her mouth gaping wide open. There stood before her in the mirror, a beautiful woman in her late teens, with golden hair that draped down, softly curling along the ends, and eyes that had a thousand hues of turquoise in them with a small touch of blue. The only words that could escape Eliana’s mouth were…

“WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL?!?!?!?!?!?”

The noise of her yell made all of the servants of the Gentileschi house startle themselves, and every one of them rushed to their lady’s room looking extremely alarmed. A flood of knights, caretakers and staff hurriedly marched through the long hallways with their feet thumping on the ground loudly, and the whole household was in confusion as to what happened with their lady.

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While all of this commenced in the Gentileschi mansion, a similar situation occurred at the De Luca estate as well. A yell was also heard from the room of lady Flavia, who looked in an extreme state of shock. The maids entered the room promptly, panting heavily due to all the rushing.

“Your ladyship! What seems to be the matter is everything alright?!” The poor worried maid inquired, still half out of breath. Flavia turned to look at her, with her mouth pursed but slightly open. Just then, thoughts flooded her mind rapidly until there was space for no other thing in her mind.

“Ladyship…Ladyship????”

The words kept repeating themselves in her mind and to the maids it looked as if she was in deep thought.

“L-Lady Flavia…are you alright…?” The maid inquired once again but it seemed that her lady was too busy being occupied in her own thoughts. What basically was going on in Flavia’s mind was this:

“Ladyship? Ladyship? I think- I think I’ve heard this word before! Yeah, in those novels and shows…wait…this situation is quite similar to what happens in those romance fantasy novels! Of course! This…this is another novel I’m reading right?? Am I dreaming about it? Wait no, no matter how hard I pinch myself I won’t return back to my senses! This is…THE REAL DEAL!”

Flavia’s eyes were glued to the ground while she fought a fierce battle in her head, and to outsiders it would seemed as if she is plainly staring at the ground. The maids exchanged worried glances around each other, hoping one of them would know the answer to all of this absurdity.

“Uhhh… your ladyship”

Flavia’s trembling hand rose up and she positioned it in front of the maid’s face for some seconds.

“P-Please. Let me make sense of all of this... I-I need to think… what did Lydia from ‘My true love’ do when she found herself in the dukes chamber one morning…….that’s right! She asked whose room it was!”

The dumbfounded female surveyed through the group of confused maids before her and sharply pointed to one with the dainty and petite appearance.

“You Miss! Tell me please, where am I?”

The startled maid let out some gibberish mumbles before answering her question in a way that would possibly make sense.

“Y-Your ladyships room…”

“My room..?”

“Y-Yes…”

“And…who am I exactly?...”

“Your ladyship…is…your ladyship?”

Flavia made a dejected expression at the maid’s words and drooped her face downwards for a moment before replying to her.

“I understand that… I meant what’s my name? And, exactly who am I??”

By this time, the maid’s timid body was trembling from the odd behavior of her ladyship and the poor girl was on the verge of tears.

“Y-Your L-Ladyship is… L-Lady Flavia of the D-De Luca house…”

“Flavia..? De Luca house?...Don’t tell me I’ve-”

The door suddenly burst opened, revealing a tall gentleman that seemed to be rushing towards Flavia herself and without a speck of hesitance, he embraced Flavia in his arms, making the softest gentle expression a man was capable of making.

“Oh Flavia! You’re alright! I was worried to death, my dear!”

Flavia who was caught completely off guard by this sudden act of affection, tried to detect the man’s facial features which was hard due to him completely crushing her in his huge arms but she got lucky as he soon later released her from his grasp and stared intently into her eyes.

“Are you feeling fine, Flavia..?”

The girl who was immensely star struck by his beauty, couldn’t mutter a single syllable at his service. He was the handsomest man she had ever laid her eyes upon. His mahogany hair, lightly tinted deep blue eyes and perfect symmetrical bone structure, had completely captivated Flavia. Upon hearing no response from her, the male proceeded to ask.

“My dear sister…aren’t you going to say something?”

At that moment, Flavia’s day dream had crushed into pieces and she appeared to be even further stunned.

“Sister? I’m your sister Sir??”

“Why yes of course, you are my dearest sister. Why are you asking me such an obvious question Flavia?”

“Uh- yeah- no reason…”

It then occurred to Flavia that her suspicion was correct. She was indeed in the world of the novel called ‘meant to be rivals’ as Flavia De Luca, one of the female main character. Flavia had yet to process all of this odd information in her mind, and yet the maids along with her “alleged” brother were making it incredibly difficult for the girl to even properly think for a minute. The young woman was being flooded by question after question, leaving her no time to even answer them.

“S-Stop! Nothing is wrong with me! But, something is definitely wrong with all of you… Who even breaks into a woman’s room so early in the morning and bombards her with nonsensical questions? All of you are scaring me for doing so… Let me have my privacy please! I beg of you!” Flavia yelled, with all her possible might.

If she was a lady of this household by what she observed, she is sure to have some privileges that she can use to her own advantage. The maids seemed to be retreating into their chambers dejectedly after their lady’s outburst. However, the brother didn’t even budge instead he was gazing upon Flavia with a face which in her modern dialect is called a “puppy dog face”.

“You..why aren’t you leaving Sir?”

“But- but- Flavia, you won’t kick your own brother out of your room, would you? Tell me dear, is this another stage of your puberty?? Or…Perhaps a woman issue that I am not fully aware of? Won’t you let me know the complication that has made you react in such a way my lovely adorable Flavi-

Unable to digest any another syllable from the man, Flavia pushed him out of the room before shutting the doors with a loud bang.

“I’m sorry! But I need my privacy!” Flavia exclaimed as she continued her way to her bed.

The female exhaustedly placed herself on the edge of the bed while clasping her hands together. To her all of this didn’t make sense. She didn’t understand why any of this is happening to her and since this wasn’t any novel she was reading, rather it was all happening in real life, the girl didn’t know how to react to or comprehend any of it. Unlike the female MC’s in the games and novels, she cannot just accept everything as soon as she realized the current situation she was in. No! Not at all. This is reality. Flavia’s mind was in a state of mild shock and she let out a sigh as the memories of her past life slowly but painfully started to recollect in her head. That’s when tiny droplets started to flow down her cheeks and onto the fabric of her nightgown.

“That’s right…we died... Well…that’s a lame way to die...right Amy? If- If- you are alive like me Amy…and you can remember me…your Wena…I wonder what- what- could be going through that rebellious mind of yours….heh…” The girl said dejectedly. All the moments she spent together with her beloved Amy were being played like a movie in her mind and the fact that all their memories ended with that tragic incident just…broke the girl’s heart into pieces.

Flavia’s hands clenched onto the silk of her gown, and she let out an agonizing wail full of despair and grief. Amy was gone, and yet she was still alive. The guilt of being able to see another day and the gloom of losing the most important person to her were heart throbbing. Despite acknowledging the fact that Amy wasn’t by her side anymore, the girl still moped and believed that Amy could hear her somehow.

“I’m sorry Amy… I shouldn’t have gotten a second chance to live…why’d it have to be me and not you? This doesn’t make sense at all…..I am….sorry…” Her broken voice then started to fade as she was shedding tears on the mattress of her bed, looking absolutely devastated. .

While Flavia was grieving over the loss of her best friend, there in another household, Eliana was doing the same. Their bodies may have been changed, but both the females held the same compassionate heart in their chest, along with the love for each other. These two best friends were unaware of the fact that both of them were still living however, not as best friends anymore rather each other’s…. deadly enemies.