Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 137017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
More than that, Alicia is accused of poisoning Lillia, and after the Crown Prince announces his intention to marry Lillia, Alicia is sentenced to death and beheaded.
I’d already died once at the age of twenty-six.
It wasn’t something I wanted to repeat.
Thankfully, along with the original Lady Alicia’s memories, I had all of mine from my past life as Alicia ‘Allie’ Montgomery, complete with that of the book’s plotline. I didn’t know much about Lady Alicia’s life from the novel, but if I combined what I did know with her memories, then maybe I could change her fate.
Ahem.
My fate.
We were one and the same now.
“What are you thinking about, my lady?”
I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to being called that.
“Ah.” I turned to Bella, the maid who’d been crying when I woke up. She was Lady Alicia’s personal maid—well, my personal maid. She didn’t appear often in the novel, but from what I remembered, she was Alicia’s only ally both before and after she was forced into the arranged marriage that started her downfall.
“Are you feeling unwell, my lady?” Bella asked, setting a cup of tea down on the table in front of me. “Shall I call for a doctor? Perhaps a pries—oh dear, I always forget we can’t do that.”
I waved my hand. “No, no. I was just lost in thought for a moment. Thank you for the tea.”
Bella’s brown eyes filled with tears. “Oh, my lady. I’m so glad.”
“Bella, stop crying. I’m fine, aren’t I?” I smiled softly at her, picking up my handkerchief from the table so I could dab at her cheeks. “I’m still a little tired, but that’s all.”
She sniffed. “I can’t believe you almost died.”
“Mm.” I tucked the handkerchief into her hand and turned my attention to my tea. “Wipe your tears.”
I wasn’t sure the original Alicia hadn’t died. There was no other explanation as to why my soul had ended up here. She hadn’t been able to use magic, and while she’d resorted to underhanded and petty ways to piss off the heroine in the book, she’d never resorted to a magical means of hurting her. She didn’t seem the type to do any hinky-dinky soul-swapping black magic nonsense, and honestly? The Alicia I knew of had been kind of self-absorbed, so I couldn’t imagine her wanting to live as anyone else.
After all, the reason she’d died in the book was because she’d been unwilling to give up her husband and thus her position as Grand Duchess.
She was far more the type to turn back time to get revenge with her own two hands.
Yes.
I was almost certain that the original Alicia had died.
Right after her half-sister had pushed her down the stairs.
An incident that hadn’t happened in the book but existed very clearly in my memories.
“My lady?” Bella waved her hand in my face. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
I blinked at her. “I think I’ll rest for a while, Bella. Can you clear this tea away? I’m sorry, especially after you went the lengths to make it for me.”
She didn’t bat an eyelid as she cleared my almost untouched tea. “Not at all, my lady. It’s important that you rest enough. Would you like me to wake you for dinner?”
“What time is it?”
“One-thirty.”
“If I’m not awake by five-thirty, bring my dinner to my room, even if it wakes me.” I got up from the table and walked over to my huge bed, perching on the edge of it. “Please make sure nobody disturbs me.”
“Of course, my lady.” Bella swiftly closed all the curtains in my room, then wheeled out the tea tray, pausing only to bow her head before she shut the door behind her.
I flopped back onto the bed and blew out a long breath.
It wasn’t a lie. I was exhausted—but not because of the accident. I was simply drained from this new life of mine.
It sounded ridiculous given that I was the pampered eldest daughter of a marquess, but waking up in possession of the memories of two people wasn’t as fun as books made it sound.
Especially not this body’s memories. It was an endless stream of abuse and hatred from my new stepmother and half-siblings, and those memories were exactly why I hadn’t yet left my room. I feared leaving and being subject to that same abuse. I didn’t have to be a doctor to know that it wouldn’t be a good thing in my weakened state.
Knowing that the reason I’d ended up here was because Sophia Vermillion had tried to kill the original soul was a tough pill to swallow.
No. She had killed her. There was no way other my soul could have found its way here otherwise. I didn’t know much right now, but something in my gut told me I was right.
Which meant there was no way back to my original world for me—neither would Alicia’s soul come to reclaim her body.