|NYLA|
My eyes opened as I woke up with a gasp. The pain at the back of my head was so sharp that it numbed my other senses for seconds before I pushed past it to grasp the situation.
'What the…?'
A plain white ceiling was the first thing my visual senses picked up. My nasal senses were hit with a putrid smell; like I was in the midst of rotten food and excrement.
I couldn't move. No, it wasn't like I couldn't move. My body felt too heavy for me to do a single thing, as though weights were placed on every limb.
I suddenly heard the sound of voices that drew me to reality. I was inside a room. A very small and smelly one.
Outside the room were two people, I made it out clearly from the conversation that conveniently entered my ears.
"She's dead."
"Mn." The other hummed in a nonchalant manner, but the first person continued to speak.
"Her fall was really terrible. We should start preparing for a funeral…"
I tuned out from the remaining exchange.
I knew it. I was dead. But what did they mean by fall? I didn't fall to my death. I was stabbed in the chest by my mate and left to bleed out.
With that gruesome thought came a serious inquisitive thought. My chest didn't hurt. I didn't feel any pain in the place I was stabbed.
In fact, the only part of my body that hurt was the back of my head. The rest of my limbs were just heavy, nothing huge.
'How come?'
I didn't get to think of an answer to my question as the people outside the room concluded their conversation and one of them opened the door and walked in.
Our eyes locked. He screamed.
"H-h-h-how are you awake!? Your heart stopped beating and your body was running cold…" The man clutched his chest with a terrified expression on his face.
I didn't respond to his question. The silence in the room was deafening for the next few seconds before the man composed himself. Then he approached me in slow steps, looking scared of the growing proximity.
If I had the strength, I would have rolled my eyes.
"Are you… alive?" he asked.
"No. This is my ghost form and I'm about to ascend to heaven."
I couldn't understand how at that moment, I got my throat and tongue to work in my favor, making my first words rightfully sarcastic.
I was alive. I was truly alive.
And this man, who was probably a doctor, judging from his get up, did not appreciate my sarcasm.
"Miss Florentine, you actually came back from the dead." The doctor said, surprise and irritation evident in his tone.
Miss Florentine? Who the hell was that? The name sounded a bit familiar but I couldn't place my finger on where I knew it from.
Miss Lombardi, First Princess, President, Team Leader; those were the only names I could be addressed with by the public. Where was the name Florentine coming from?
"I can't give you what you want. Even in death and sudden resurrection, you won't be addressed with the Supreme General's surname." The doctor spoke with a pinched tone.
Why the hell would I be addressed with that scumbag's surname? I was Nyla Lombardi for crying out loud! My name stood for more than just my royal birth! My name was my everything.
"Hold on. Let me check if you're truly alive." The doctor said, his medical senses returning.
He grabbed my left hand to check for a pulse. No, that wasn't my hand. My hand wasn't so pale and thin. I could even remember my skin tanning a few days ago.
"Your heartbeat rate is steady." The doctor dropped my hand and placed his palm on my forehead. He clicked his tongue, then lifted my head and tapped the back thrice.
"Hey! That hurts!" Another string of words escaped from my mouth in complaint.
"Sorry." The man said, still poking around the back of my head.
I complained again and he let me go for real, stepping back. The initial fear and irritation in his eyes had transformed to wonder.
"This is amazing. Your wound… it's healing up like it's supposed to. You're going to be absolutely fine, Miss Florentine! This must be a blessing from the Goddess. You're healed!" The man exclaimed like he just stumbled on the 8th wonder of the world.
"I don't understand what you're saying. How could there be a wound on the back of my head? What about my chest?" I was now fine enough to speak and ask questions.
The doctor frowned for a second before explaining. "You fell from the highest balcony in the Royal Castle and landed on the back of your head. It's a miracle in itself that none of your bones broke and you only ended up with bruises.
"But the fall did a number on your head. You were brought back here instead of the hospital directly, and you died on the way. By the time I arrived, you were already dead.
"It's a medical and supernatural miracle that you're alive right now, Nyla Florentine."
After the doctor's word vomit, my brain sparked. This, all of it, was not mine. That was clearly not the story of my death.
And the name Florentine. I just remembered it.
It was the family name of a bunch of low lives that I would have never paid attention to had I not known that their last child was named after me and that I once saved her from a rogue attack.
And now… It seemed like she was dead and I was possessing her body. I had been reborn in another person's body.
That was the only logical(?) explanation I could come up with for my current situation.
"Miss Florentine, give me a moment. I'll go inform everyone that you've come back to life! The plans for the funeral are going to be canceled at once. Hold on!" The doctor took hurried steps out of the room after that announcement, leaving me to my scattered thoughts.
I died and came back to life in another person's body. Not only was this crazy, it was also perfect.
I was back! Back to breathing and living! This was my chance to do all the things that I couldn't do in my first life.
And the first was revenge, of course.