Chapter 8

After being berated once again and getting asked whether she wanted to get another concussion, she tried lying her way out of it by saying: "I thought by hitting my head again, I could get my memories back." But the maid from hell, who she soon learnt was named Marigold, saw right through her lie.

Now that her mandatory bed rest sentence had expired, she decided to explore the house some more. However, after five minutes of wandering around in what seemed like a maze, she became hopelessly lost. It appears that god's definition of a comfortable life was a little different from hers! She would have been satisfied with a cosy little cottage and a loving middle-class family, but what she got instead was a huge mansion and an overdoting, overprotective and over-the-top excuse of a family! It turns out that her father in this life was quite amazing. Not only was he a duke distantly descended from royalty, he was also the royal court veterinarian! He put her previous life's office worker father to shame! In public, he was stoic and stoned faced, but in private, it turns out he was one of those adoring father types. Looks can be deceiving!

It had taken her a while to work it out, but she soon realised that the country she had been reborn into was none other than the country of Falora. She had heard about it in her previous life during history lessons and such. Falora was a country somewhere in Europe that had cut itself off from the rest of the world for the past 200 years! No one had been allowed in or out of the country and there had been little to no contact or trade with the rest of the world. As a result, their technology was severely behind. If she hadn't known any better, she would have thought that she had time travelled back in time! They still used horse-drawn carriages and lived in Victorian-era houses. They even dressed like the did 200 years ago! She was most devasted of all when she found out that there was no tv! How on earth was she supposed to watch her favourite tv shows!? The only people in the whole country to own something remotely modern where the royal family who owned a car from the 1950's, but even that was still old!

The country still ran on an absolute monarchy system where the royal family held all of the power. In this country, animals are worshipped and have the same status as humans. The founding families believed that by aligning themselves with a certain animal, they could take on that animal's abilities and characteristics. Every family in the kingdom has their own totem animal that stems from 1 of 5 branches. These branches are as follows - birds, reptiles, fish, mammals and amphibians. These branches are then split into lineages. For example, the canine lineage is an extension of the mammal branch. This lineage is made up of several sub-families, with each family laying claim to a different species of dog as their totem animal.

She found out that her family descends from the bird branch, but she wasn't quite sure what lineage or sub-family they were a part of yet.

She also learnt from the household staff that her father was a close friend of the current king, King Wolfgang from the wolf family of the canine lineage. Apparently, everyone had been trying to set up her and the king's son, Prince Colin, for years, but she had no time for romance! Especially since she has an animal sanctuary to establish! Speaking of which, how exactly did the pet-protector expect her to do that at such a young age?