"Father, why?"
Tears started to flow uncontrollably, but in her blurry vision one could see a man, standing tall in front of her.
"I-I apologize Aria… I did not intend to hurt you like th—-
"It's too late father, everyone's gone so your apologies are of no importance.
"You don't have to say it like that, I will own my mistakes so just give me a chance for forgiveness. Aria you're the only one I have now and this goes true to you as well, I'm the only one you have."
"I wish it's that easy Father, but you already broke my trust so how can I depend on you? *sob*sob* How?"
The man slowly walked closer to her and tried to hold her hand but she avoided it. She took a step back and clutched both of her hands.
"Aria, my daughter…"
"I wish to be alone Father, I only ask that you permit me to take time recuperating in our summer villa in Perion."
"Aria let's talk this out first…"
"Father…! Please…"
"*sigh* I understand… you have my permission."
"Then, I will take my leave."
She immediately turned her back and walked her way out to the room.
*****~~~*****~~~*****
*gasped*
When I opened her eyes, what unfolded before me was the same familiar canopy bed, the same decorative walls, and the same tall glass windows.
I'm still stuck in this unfamiliar place, but now I'm beginning to understand that I might have to live in this place for longer than I expected.
This could be proven with what I just dreamt about. It wasn't me who's crying, it wasn't me who's talking, but I could remember almost every memory of it. I'm stuck in someone else's body and now I have her memory. I don't know how it happened or why it happened. I just know that it's now my reality. However, it scares me to death. I'm so afraid at the thought that I'm alone in this world, that I'm the only person who knows the version of my reality. And in that reality, I may be already dead.
"What about my family?"
Tears began to fill my eyes, my heart tightening. I cried quietly, suppressing my sobs. I remained in that pitiful position for a couple of minutes until I'd fully composed myself.
I got out of bed and walked my way to face the full-sized mirror. I stand there looking at my reflection contemplating.
This young woman I'm seeing is my new reality. I am now Aria Lanchester, a daughter, a sister, and a noblewoman. A renowned daughter of Duke Damian Lanchester and Duchess Amanda Thornton Lanchester, who are both prominent figures in the Varmount Empire. She has an older brother, the heir to the duchy, Dion Lanchester, who was a genius in swordsmanship. Her life was like a fairytale, afterall she has everything that every young lady in this era could ever hope for. She has the beauty, wealth, power, and a loving picture-perfect family. However, everything took a drastic change after the accident that happened 2 years ago. It all began when the world was in chaos, as there was an ongoing war happening between the two most powerful rival empires, the Varmount and Rassov Empire. This prompted the most powerful duchy, House of Lanchester, to offer their undying loyalty to the crown. The heir of the duchy, Dion Lanchester who was only eighteen at that time bravely took the positions of the commander-in-chief and set off to aide in the battle. Then after a couple of months, the war ended with the Varmount Empire holding the winning hand. This was a celebration of the century but it was different for the House of Lanchester, as they were faced with a terrible truth. The heir to the dukedom was missing, some said he survived while some believed he passed away, but no traces were found to support both claims. The investigation went for a year but it was all futile, the church even started to pressure the duchy insinuating that without a funeral, the soul of the deceased will not be able to cross the afterlife. With everything that has happened, the once unbreakable House of Lanchester began to struggle, without the presence of heir, internal conflict was to be expected. Then the rise of an unknown disease made matters worse, the North was in shambles. Tragically, the situation only worsened when the duchess herself, who supervised the treatment of her people, became affected as well. The duchess was already in a bad health condition from all the stress she had to endure in dealing with the absence of her beloved son, so it was only a matter of time before she succumbed to her illness and passed away. The North mourned, the duchess was like their anchor. On the other hand, Aria's mental stability began to deteriorate. She lost her mother, her brother is missing, her people are suffering, but what really pushed her to the end was because of the very person she trusted the most. Her once harmonious picture-perfect family was shattered to pieces. Her father had a secret affair and had a child out of wedlock. This was revealed just 6 months after the death of the duchess, when a woman suddenly came to the duchy claiming she brought in the duke's son by blood, a young man who's only two years younger than her brother, and looks exactly like her father. This became the talk of the empire, where people's opinions were divided based on their belief, some were throwing agonizing remarks to the duke especially for those who have long revered the kindness and generosity of the late duchess. In contrast, some thought that this might save the falling dukedom through the arrival of a son albeit illegitimate. Unfortunately, for Aria it was like a slap in the face, she was afterall known to be just like her mother, a caring and soft-hearted girl. After what happened, she became utterly heartbroken and the betrayal of his father became the last straw. That was when she asked to be sent to one of their summer villas for the excuse of recuperating, and there she eventually made a final decision and that is to end her life.