The first thing I felt was a soft, velvety sensation under my cheek.
I groaned, forcing my eyelids open.
My eyes were met by light, flickering and warm from dozens of candles. I was lying on a sofa in the center of a luxurious study. The entire study was spotlessly clean, the floors scrubbed until they shone, and every item on the desk was clean and neatly arranged.
Lifting myself with difficulty, I sat up, feeling the incredibly expensive material of the sofa.
Raising my hands to my face, I saw sinewy, calloused fingers and a ring with a coat of arms, but despite the calluses, my skin was pale, almost porcelain.
My heart began to pound hysterically. With the last of my strength, I rose, clinging to everything in sight, and reached a huge mirror in a gold frame.
The mirror wasn't me.
Looking back at me was a young man of about eighteen, tall and well-built, exuding arrogance and power. A face with sharp, perfectly chiseled features. High cheekbones, a straight nose, thin, slightly pursed lips. But the main thing was the hair, perfectly white as the first snow, slicked back, imparting a sense of aristocracy. And the eyes, pale gray, without a drop of warmth, without curiosity, only a detached, studying emptiness.
I stepped back.
"What the hell?"
Panic clenched my throat; I knew the man in the mirror.
The first villain from my favorite novel.
The man the protagonist of this world hated.
Elian de Melluer, first son of the Golden Count.
My thoughts were shattered by the deafening slam of the double doors.
In the doorway, bathed in the light from the hallway, stood she, Isabella de Melluer. Her white hair was swept into a flawless, sleek hairstyle. She was dressed in a formal, lapis-lazuli dress. Her sky-blue eyes were colder than ice. She was much shorter than me and two years younger.
"Brother" she nodded slightly. Her sharp gaze swept me from head to toe.
"Sister" I answered reflexively, indifferently.
"I just spoke with the Baron of the Lumer family," she began in a level voice. "He suffered... a misfortune. A fire broke out in his stables overnight, killing ten rare breeds of horses. Very valuable. A strange coincidence, don't you think?"
I remembered. There was this little detail in the book, a detail about Elian's character. The Baron had allowed himself to doubt the de Melluer family's first heir the day before. His answer was an 'accident' involving his most prized possession. There was no direct evidence, only a perfect, frightening coincidence.
"The world is full of coincidences, Isabella" I said without thinking, letting the corner of my lips lift a millimeter "It's a shame about the horses, the Baron, I'm sure he's very sad"
She pressed her lips together so hard they turned pale. Her fingers, hidden in the folds of her dress, clutched the fabric convulsively.
"Yes" she whispered. "It's a great shame. It's even more of a shame that some coincidences... are beginning to acquire an ominous regularity"
She took a step forward, and her restraint cracked. Her voice remained quiet, but more confident.
"Do you think you're smarter than everyone else? That your antics go unnoticed by others? I see everything, Elian. I see how the people around us are beginning to fear. Not respect, but fear Elian!"
I tilted my head slightly, like a scientist examining a new species of insect.
"Fear is the only foundation that doesn't wash away in the rain... Isabella, don't forget, our father sees everything, and if he remains silent, everything is going well" I said without emotion, looking into her raging eyes.
"After all, I was created to be the next count. While you were enjoying the life of a noblewoman, Father did everything to ensure our family wouldn't crumble in the next generation"
Isabella froze, as if she'd been slapped. Not because I was rude, but because I was right.
"Isabella, my dear sister, you have no idea what goes on in the shadows of noble houses; you don't understand the full weight of the Melluer family" I said briefly, subtly ending our conversation.
Isabella slowly lowered her head in defeat and turned back toward the door. But I didn't see a hint of defeat in her eyes.
"And my advice to you: stay out of my business. Your underdeveloped brain is incapable of comprehending even a fraction of reality" I said to Isabella's retreating silhouette.
When the doors closed, my heart rate jumped sharply, and I returned to the couch.
"What the hell is going on? I couldn't even control the words coming out of my mouth"
Rubbing my hands together, I clutched my face.
After pondering my situation for a long time, I came to one conclusion.
"I'm in deep shit"