Chapter 2: Another Place And Time.
When she woke up again, she was in a different place altogether. "What has…" She sits up, wincing and touching her head, feeling bandages. "Huh?"
The door opens, making her jump slightly and look over as a woman in a maid's outfit comes in. "M'Lady! You're finally awake!" The woman startles. "O-One moment please!" She gasps before rushing back out.
"What the hell…" She blinks in confusion. The last thing she remembered was the car coming at her. 'I definitely died… But where am I?' She gets out of bed, going to the mirror to check her appearance.
Yellow-Orange eyes stare back at her, midnight blue hair cascading down her shoulders. "Wow… Beautiful…" She breathes feeling her cheek.
"M'lady." A voice sounds making her jump and look to the door as a man rushes over wearing a long coat. "You shouldn't be walking, your injury." He frowns.
"... Um… I'm sorry. But who are you?" She manages. "And… What's my name? Who am I?" She wonders out loud.
The man freezes, eyes widening in shock at that. "Amnesia…" He murmurs. "I'll answer your inquiries so please go back to bed. I need to get your available family." He tells her, guiding her back to bed.
"Alright." She manages getting back in bed. He rushes back out and she watches the door. 'I guess I'm meeting the family then.' She ponders.
After a few moments a man with silvery blue hair bursts in, instantly glaring at her. "What were you thinking?!" He snaps at her, making her jump in shock.
"Sir please, I just told you-"
"It's one thing to try and break off the engagement without my permission but then you went and threw yourself out of the window!?" The man continues to shout despite the doctor trying to calm him.
'Ah. That's screwed up…' Renia blinks at him dumbfounded.
"Answer me, Emelda!" He snaps looming over her.
"Is that my name?" She murmurs making him pause. "Sounds pretty." She looks down briefly before looking back at him. "I don't know what's going on. Can you please leave me alone?" She adds. He twitches seeming to realize something before backing off.
"Seems you have forgotten everything. What a disappointment." He turns away, "No matter, we can start over." He stalks back out. A young man with indigo hair hesitates, looking between them before following the man.
"... Are you okay Lady Emelda?" The doctor inquires, seeming to feel guilty now. He probably regretted ever getting the father.
"Not really. A man I don't know just yelled at me." She breathes. "Is that really my family?"
"Im… Sorry to say…" He offers a slight nod.
"So I did this to myself to escape…" She touches the bandages. The poor girl must've hated her life.
"Seems so…" The doctor looks down. She watches him for a moment.
"Thank you for saving me, doctor." She tells him, catching the man off guard.
"Eh?" He looks at her in surprise.
"Thank you for saving me, doctor. Please don't worry about the rest." She smiles reassuringly.
"M'lady…" He was at a loss for words for a few moments. "... Thank you. I'll let you rest now." He nods before going out.
She sighs and rubs her eyes. This was going to be a mess. Before she can lay back down, an older man with long white hair and scruff comes in. His glasses glint against the light coming through the window.
"Hello M'lady, I am to be your tutor. Kerim Kanook." He rumbles.
"He does not waste time." She comments.
"He does not." He pulls a chair to her bedside. "Lets get started…"
Emelda Night, the daughter of Duke, Eric Night. The Night family had control of most of the fabric trade in the Kingdom of Drenuz. Emelda was known as a timid weak hearted woman that could cry, or faint almost on command. She was engaged to the son of a Marquess, a man named Jack.
Apparently Emelda was in love with a childhood friend, but when she pleaded with him to take her hand instead- he refused. This led to the attempt on her own life. Sad really.
And now that was to be Renia's new life. She didn't like the sounds of any of it. She was hardly happy with the thought of dealing with sexist oppression. She would have to figure out a way to live with this new lifestyle.
Over the next week, she was trained and prepped to behave like a 'proper lady'. She hated every part of it. The shoes were the worst. How anyone could maneuver in such hard and restricting shoes was beyond her.
"Can't I just runaway..." She mumbles to herself, currently striding in circles with books atop her head. Balance was a server skill she had mastered thankfully.
"And do what M'lady?" Kerim inquires from his seat.
"Cross dress, then become a merchant." She hums.
"I don't think that'll work as planned." He chuckles. Kerim wasn't like anyone else here at least. He seemed more... Modern in his thought process. Hence, why he seemed amused this moment.
"Sure it can. I just need to speak deeply." She tries to do just that as she speaks.
"You sound more like a corpo doing that than a man." He chuckles. Corpo is a type of creature in this world, it sounds like a frog but looks like a cat-toad. So ugly they're cute.
"How brutally honest..." She sighs. "Can I stop now? My neck is cramping."
"Oh, yes. Probably should have made you stop a while ago." He admits, standing to remove the books.
"Emelda..." A man with indigo hair and green eyes opens the door to peer in at them before dropping his gaze. "Jack has come to visit." He informs.
"I'll be right there, Caspian." She assures. With that, her older brother closes the door again. "He feels guilty about something." She comments to Kerim.
"You have quite the sense on people." He remarks, starting for the door. "I'll get a maid to help you change." He adds as he reaches the door before going out. Emelda frowns at the door, hands going to her hips. This would be her first meeting with her 'fiance'.
"How annoying." She mumbles as a maid with sandy hair and freckles comes in.
"Oh dear. He wasn't supposed to come this soon after the accident." The maid comments to her, rushing to the wardrobe.
"I'd prefer if he just broke things off." Emelda tells her. The maid brings over a midnight blue dress.
"I'm sure you would. But Jack has had his eye on you for a while." The maid reminds.
"Just like a poor man to a gem he has bought. No interest besides in the way it sparkles. And how expensive it appears." Emelda sighs.
".... Well maybe there's more to it than that?" The maid offers.
"Be honest, Jinx." Emelda raises a doubtful eyebrow. Jinx hesitates, peering at the door before giving her an honest look.
"He reeks of arrogance and probably can't see past his own nose." She confesses, making Emelda giggle in amusement.
"I do love your honesty. Thanks for the heads up." She smiles at the maid before helping to dress herself. "Well, lets go see how bad it is." She muses before leading the way out and down to the waiting area, she could hear her father's fake laughter as she nears the room.
"I assure you she's much more capable than before. It's as if the lord blessed us with a new Emelda." He was assuring Jack.
"Well, I can't wait to meet the new her." Jack comments in response. Emelda enters then, eyes already on the newcomer. Jack was tan, Rust colored hair, moss green eyes. He was handsome alright, but he didn't seem her type.
"Ah. Finally." Her father stands. "Jack has come to take you out for lunch."
"Shall we be off then?" Jack stands as well, going to her. He offers a smile, eyes grazing over her first. It gave her the ick when he did that.
"Lead the way." She responds simply. He nods and offers his arm to her. She takes it, letting herself be led out to the carriage that awaited them. He helps her up before climbing in after.
"So tell me, how much do you remember before your... Accident?" He asks. She meets his gaze.
"Nothing. I only know what I've been told." She responds. He hums, this answer seemed to please him. His reaction sent up redflags for Emelda. But that was it for the conversation, the rest of their time spent together mainly consisted of him talking about himself and the mundane things he had done.
The only interesting topic came on the way home, when he had the coachman detour to look upon a rundown manor that looked abandoned as it overlooked their little town.
"So this is where they sent the new Grand Duke?" He mutters peering at the building. "Seems empty." Emelda peers out at it as well. It would be a nice piece of real estate if it were taken care of. "Your father is most angry about this."
"He mentioned a demon of a man appearing." She nods in acknowledgement.
"Indeed. The king is enraged about it. I'm sure he'll send assassins to get rid of him." Jack smirks as he says this, signaling the coachman to move on.
Emelda didn't like that smile. It revealed too much of the man she was to be bound to. She had to find a way out.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone