There was nothing but darkness, complete and absolute.
The darkness wasn't frightening or suffocating. But it wasn't comforting either.
It just existed.
Maya's consciousness drifted through that darkness for a time that felt both long and impossibly brief. Perhaps time did not exist here at all.
She couldn't see, she couldn't speak, and she couldn't even form proper thoughts. She just… existed, like a wisp of smoke drifting through empty air.
It was comforting, but it was also lonely. It felt as if she were the only thing that existed within that void. Or maybe… she was that void.
But after an unknown amount of time, she finally felt something. It was the sensation of her body returning.
The sensation grew stronger until she could finally feel her body again.
Then slowly… she opened her eyes.
'... huh?'
The view before her was dark, but it wasn't the same darkness that had surrounded her before. It was the kind of darkness that existed in dim light.
'But shouldn't I be… dead?'
After all, she had felt it back then, that it would be her end, and that was final. There was no way she would've survived.
But the rhythmic beating of her heart was proof enough. She was alive.
No, not just alive.
'I can feel it.'
She could clearly feel her entire body, which was strange since she had barely felt anything below her shoulders. She even felt that she could move her legs if she tried hard enough.
'This makes no sense. What the hell happened?'
Back then, it had all happened so suddenly that she couldn't understand any of it. What even was that sudden jolt of pain?
'No, maybe I didn't die. Maybe that was just an attack, and I lost consciousness by the end of it?'
But if that were true, then…
Relief washed over her chest, and with it came embarrassment.
'Ugh, why did I have to be so dramatic, as if it was the end?'
She mentally shook her head to clear her thoughts. Then she began looking around to understand where she was.
The place was dark, but the vague outline of walls at least confirmed that she was inside a room, a very large one.
It most certainly wasn't her hospital room. Setting aside the fact that she couldn't spot any of her belongings or the posters that should've been on the walls, the room itself felt significantly wider and more spacious than her hospital room.
'That room is small enough as it is, but those bulky medical devices packed together made it almost feel cramped.'
For a while, Maya thought in confusion. But suddenly an imaginary lightbulb went off in her head, and everything began making sense to her.
'I see what's going on now. Since my condition suddenly worsened, I was moved to another room for better treatment. My body probably feels like this because of all the anesthetics.'
Indeed, that was most likely the case; there was simply no other explanation.
'Still, it doesn't look like a hospital room.'
No medical devices could be seen anywhere. In fact, she couldn't even spot any electrical appliances.
With the ornate furniture and paintings on the walls, it looked more like a house than a hospital room. An old-fashioned house of a wealthy person.
'No, I can't be certain. After all, I haven't seen a house in person.'
Most of her knowledge came from watching videos online. But since her sister always said that one shouldn't completely trust the stuff on the internet, those home videos she had watched couldn't be trusted.
She took a deep breath of cold air, calming her mind. Slowly forgetting all about her surroundings, she began feeling sentimental.
'I-i… I'm glad… that I'm alive. I might've hated my life, but it's a million times better than dying.'
Throughout the course of her life, she had wished for death several times, so that she could be released from her misery. But that experience, which felt almost like death, made her understand something.
It made her realize the true value of life.
No matter how miserable, life is far more comforting than death. The end of your existence is too scary in comparison.
'Uh?'
As she was lost in thought, Maya noticed something from the corner of her eye. She glimpsed a subtle violet glow in the dark room.
Lying flat on the bed, Maya turned her head to look behind her. But as she did, her heart almost jumped out of her chest.
'Shit! That scared me! How long has she been there?'
Someone was sitting right behind her. It was a woman, barely noticeable due to the dim light and the place where she sat. Maya wouldn't have noticed her at all if not for her violet eyes glowing subtly in the dark.
The woman had long, pinkish-purple hair flowing down her back, and a soft smile on her beautiful face as she silently watched her.
But to Maya, she couldn't look any scarier. The dark room, coupled with her glowing violet eyes, made her smile look extremely creepy.
The woman's smile deepened as she observed her reaction. Then she spoke in a very gentle tone.
"Are you awake, my baby?"
That made Maya pause.
'What's she saying? A foreign language, perhaps? More than that…'
As she passed the initial shock, Maya noticed that the woman's clothes were weird. She was wearing a long, elaborate dress with lots of frills and layers, with an ornate design.
They didn't look like the kind of clothes people wore in this day and age. In fact, those clothes bore a striking resemblance to the aristocratic clothing she knew.
'Is she… a cosplayer?'
That would be the only explanation.
Maya was still confused after seeing the woman, but then another imaginary lightbulb went off in her head, and she suddenly understood the entire situation. And it made her heart swell up with emotion.
'I can't believe it…'
Her family had probably been notified about the sudden change in her condition. They must think she would be feeling down.
But to think they would bring some random foreigner cosplaying on the road, simply to cheer her up
"My baby, you are making rather interesting faces."
The woman's incomprehensible words brought her back from her thoughts. Maya noticed that the woman was making a weird face.
Then, with a wide smile, the woman lifted her up into her arms effortlessly.
'Huh? How did she-?'
The nurses had a hard time lifting her, yet the woman seemed to have done it effortlessly. There wasn't a single sign of strain in her brightly smiling face.
The woman walked up to what seemed like a dressing table with a large, full-body mirror attached to it.
The dark room made it harder to make out the reflection within that mirror, yet as the woman walked closer, the reflection became clearer.
As soon as Maya saw her reflection, she froze.
If before, imaginary lightbulbs went off in her head, this time, it was as if an atomic bomb had gone off inside her head, leaving nothing.
The woman in the mirror was the same, but the one she held in her arms wasn't her.
It was a baby that was extremely small, with pinkish-purple hair and violet eyes that seemed to glow subtly in the darkness, just like the woman's.
As if turned to stone, Maya's eyes remained glued to that baby.
For a while, the woman observed her silently with interest, then she leaned in and placed a light kiss on Maya's forehead.
Maya's brain was still malfunctioning, but that kiss shifted her attention and prompted her to blankly stare at the woman instead.
Seeing her reaction, the woman's lips stretched into a warm, caring smile. Her eyes reflected Maya's own face.
Maya understood nothing about her situation. But time didn't wait for her to understand. It passed indifferently.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months.
And just like that, five years passed.
***
The morning sun shone on her through the window as it signaled another new day. She woke up, rubbing her eyes.
After staying still on her bed for a while, Maya slowly got off and went towards the full-body mirror attached to the dressing table.
Within the mirror, the reflection of a little girl with long pinkish-purple hair and violet eyes appeared. Looking at the mirror, a wide smile stretched on her face; the little girl within the reflection also smiled brightly.
Maya cupped her cheeks.
'Aww… how can you be so cute? I might fall for you if I'm not careful.'
She still had trouble believing the girl in the mirror was her. Well, who could blame her? She was just that unbelievably cute.
It took a bit of time, but Maya slowly came to terms with her new reality. It seemed that she really had died that day and was then reincarnated into another world.
'The best part? I was born into a noble family!!'
This world had nobles and kingdoms, and she was born as the daughter of a count of the Valcarion Empire.
Her new identity was Evangeline Florivelle of the Florivelle Count family.
'Things have worked out perfectly, almost too perfectly.'
A noble family, a beautiful face, and a healthy body.
'It's as if someone is compensating me for the years of suffering in my previous life.'
She closed her eyes, and the scene of the female lead becoming the empress once again appeared in her mind. The cheers, the praise, the satisfaction.
It had been a while, but the scene from that story was still fresh in her mind.
Remembering it always filled her with emotion, and that's why… she knew what she wanted to do in this life.
'I had lived my entire life devoid of hope and dreams. If this is compensation, then I'll gladly accept it.'
She put her hand on the mirror's surface, and a determination she had never felt before ignited in her heart.
'I've decided, I will become the female lead of this world.'