CHAPTER 1 - Where Am I? Who Am I?

"Hahh…hah…hah…" A young woman on her edge of death laid down on her own bloodstain. She gazed upon the night sky with tears dripping through her bleeding cheeks. It was then, her vision turned dark.

Lavanya Arein, a 23rd-century woman who believes love was something pure and sacred. She was a faithful woman in the name of love.

Her first love experience was with her schoolmate. She loved him so dearly and hoped that he would be her first and last love, but her hope was all in vain. When they graduated from high school and attended different colleges, she found her boyfriend cheating behind her with his college friend.

Two years later, a man came to her with all sweet manners. The wound in her heart was subdued bit by bit, but it also didn't last long. She found the man cheating behind her with his ex-lover. The wound that yet fully healed now had another wound.

After graduating from college, she ran her Boutique and Dessert Café business with all her heart. On her twenty-eighth birthday, she gained fame, popularity, and prosperity from her hard work. It was then, a handsome man came to her. Having been broken twice by love, she didn't really mind the handsome man at first.

As time went by, she thought he might be different from the two men of her past. She decided to open her heart for him.

Unfortunately, things were not going well. The handsome man left her all alone without a word and pretended as if he never met her in the very first place.

Arein, who believed love as a pure and sacred matter, started doubting its existence. She buried herself deep contemplating. She wondered what she had done that made her deserve to be treated that way.

"Why?! What have I done that makes me deserve this?! Why do I always end up like this?! Why?!!!!!!"

She screamed and smashed anything in front of her. Then, she grabbed her car key and headed to the garage. With her wet eyes and chaotic mind, she left her apartment at a high speed.

She kept crying while driving the car. The more she cried, the more she increased the car speed until the wetness in her eyes made everything become blurry. She could not focus on the road. She lost control over the car's direction and ended up hitting the side road border at a high speed.

"Kyaaaaaaaa"

CRASH!

Arein's head bumped to the steering wheel. The bubble shield cannot work well due to the hard crash. Her bones were cracked and blood flowed all over her body. She tried her best to keep breathing. The front car was totally damaged. She opened the car door with all the left strength on her body.

She fell to the ground and tried to avoid the car just in case it would explode. She crawled and crawled but her body was too heavy for her to move a bit fast. A great pain she felt made her stop moving and laid helplessly. With blood spraying from her mouth and her weak breath, she whispered her last words.

"God, if you really do exist, please help me. I'll be very grateful no matter what it is."

Those were her last words before she shut her eyes forever and the soul living her body that laid helplessly on the ground. The last thing she heard was the noise of serene. A few seconds after that…

"Hahh…hah…" Arein breathed so hard.

She opened her eyes widely and sat down suddenly. Her eyes scanned all over the aesthetic room she was in. It was a so-wide room with a beautiful carved wall decorated with diamonds on every edge of the carve. There were also many antique and exotic pieces of furniture. Everything was really like the castle in Barbie tales!

"Athe?!" Urged a man.

She wandered her eyes to find the source of the voice. Then, her eyes caught a blond-haired handsome man in his late-thirty who put a worried look on his face. He looked relieved yet full of anger.

"My Lady!!"

Her eyes wandered again for the voice, then she saw an old man in his black and white suit crying together with a girl dressed in maid attire behind him. She also saw five doctors standing up in line on the left side of the bed.

"Athe, you are back! Don't worry, this father is here." The man who claimed to be her father spoke again and hugged her tightly. She widened her eyes.

'Huh? Father? I am sure my dad was dead when I was sixteen. And I am pretty sure that my dad wasn't this handsome!!!! What the hell is happening?!' Arein screamed inwardly.

"I am so grateful to have you in my arms again, Athe. I am so grateful." Said the man with so much concern.

'Wait, wait, wait, Athe? Who? What the hell is happening?! Oh, gosh!' Arein cluelessly speaking to herself again.

"Uhm…Who are you?" Arein asked him straight in the eyes.

Hearing her words, the man widened his eyes in shock as if being struck by thunder. He never imagined his dearest daughter would say such a thing.

"My Lady..." Cried the maid doubting anything she heard.

"Wh…what the hell is happening to her? Why didn't she know me? Speak now!" The man urged the doctors.

"I...I beg your pardon, Your Grace. My Lady is experiencing memory loss." The first doctor said.

"It is because the lady's head bumped to the tree trunk hardly back then, Your Grace." The second doctor adds.

"The hard bump in the head made the Lady's brain get damaged and caused the memory loss, Your Grace." The third doctor continued.

"Your Grace, the injury wasn't too severe. Fortunately, this type of memory loss is only temporary. I believe the Lady would gain her memory back." The fourth doctor explained.

"Recalling her past memories may take a few months or less, Your Grace." The fifth doctor said.

With the doctors' explanation, the duke stared at Arein again with a pitiful look and disbelief. His soft expression a moment ago had somewhat disappeared. In Areins eyes, the man's face was filled with anger more than before.

"Listen to me, I am Arlo Ein Harrigan, the duke of this Empire and I am your father. You are Althea Ein Harrigan, my only daughter and the Lady of this house." Said the duke firmly with his violet eyes focused on hers.

'What now? Duke? Empire? Am I transmigrating or what? What should I do??' She screamed inside.

Everyone's eyes in the room were focused on her. Hoping that she would remember something about them. This made Arein get more pressure as she didn't know what to do.

'Geezz, whatever. Seems like I need to act as I am supposed to be? A duke's daughter? Well, let's just go with it!' At last, Althea decided to engage with the situation she was in.

"Fa…father?" Arein stated hesitantly.

"Yes, Athe." The duke nodded with a smile.

Seeing the man relievedly smiling, Arein thought she did something good for the moment. She would gather information about what was happening to her later once she could get out of the pressure around her.

"You, come here." He pointed to someone.

"Y…yes, Your Grace." Upon his call, a light brown curly-haired maid stepped forward. Her eyes were all swollen from crying all night long.

"You are my daughter's personal maid. Aren't you?" The duke asked coldly.

"I…I am, Your Grace." The maid named Zoey answered crackly.

"You have to help my daughter recall anything in her daily life, even the smallest thing. Understand?" The duke commanded.

"I...I will, Your Grace!" Zoey answered excitedly.

"Now I warn all ears in this room, I won't hear any rumor about my daughter's condition spill out from your mouths to others. If I heard anything about this from other people outside, you know the consequences." The duke spoke in a firm tone.

"I heed your command, Your Grace." All of them answered in unison and bowed.