Darkness' Touch

Chapter 2: New Life

Although spoiled by her parents, Annie was raised to be tough and strong as the only child of a wealthy family. She has been with Lucy since she left France when she was twelve and continued her studies in her home country.

Avy woke up from her deep sleep when she heard the sound of the door opening. She opened and rubbed her eyes and sat up before looking in the direction of the door. It was the maid who was with her yesterday.

"Good morning, my lady. Did I wake you up?" she asked happily, as if she had not been yelled at by her before.

"Why did you come here?" she asked the maid questioningly, looking at the tray with a bowl in it.

"I was told to bring ice here by Sir Hayward, my lady!" she said cheerfully, and she approached her to put the tray down on the mini table at her bedside.

"What is it for?"

"Apparently, Sir Hayward heard the lady… last night. He figured out that you would need it in the morning, so he ordered me before he went to bed." The maid pointed at her own eyes, quite hesitantly.

"He was outside last night?" Avy frowned, not appreciating the thought of someone eavesdropping as she cried like a toddler.

The maid shook her head. "I am sorry, mi'lady. Sir Hayward was simply asked to check on you by the young master," she told her, looking at her apologetically.

Avy scrunched her nose and looked away. How embarrassing.

"I will just leave it here, my lady. Please call me if you need some assistance." The maid bowed and was about to walk out when Avy suddenly spoke.

"You are under me, right? What's your name?"

The maid looked taken aback by her question, taking her a second or two before she finally decided to answer.

"My name is Mariel Altham, my lady. I'm twenty-five years old." Mariel looked confused; she was sure to introduce herself on her first day, or did the lady just forget? Looking back, she has never heard the lady call her name before.

"Can you bring some record books here? About the imperial family and the most influential clans throughout the empire," she stated, since she badly needs to know the names of the people she will have to face soon.

She was always in her own little bubble in her past life and did not bother interacting with others; hence, she did not care about remembering their names. She developed the habit of just forgetting unnecessary details that did not concern her, including people, and it was not coming in handy now that she basically has to pretend like a person she barely knows. The memories that flashed before her eyes were only enough to give her a hint of the personalities of the people that the original Avy spent a couple of times with. She only recognized their faces and voices, but she did not know their identities.

"Understood, my lady," Mariel said before leaving.

Avy stood up and walked towards the chair in front of the mirror. She silently admired the beauty of the sixteen-year-old girl that was shown in front of her, missing her messy hair by the sight of neat and long ones that are now hers. Her once-deep voice was replaced by a much more feminine one, befitting her new body.
She stared at the mirror closely, letting herself become accustomed to the face that she now had to own.

She cannot promise to keep it as perfect as it is. However, she will definitely make sure not to die. At least not in a way that will embarrass her even if she crosses the afterlife.
It is not like she has a problem with dying or anything. She has already died once. Even for someone with a tough mentality like her, the image of the truck speeding towards her is one hell of a scary thing to witness. She is not scared of death, but she never wanted to die in shame. In her opinion, she can die anytime, as long as it's an acceptable death.