Chapter-3-Faking It

Rity's Pov*

As I slowly regained consciousness, I felt an immense weight upon me, like a sunken ship resting at the ocean's depths. My senses were still disoriented, and a persistent buzzing filled my left ear, a haunting reminder of the death that had brought me here. I could only blink, my vision blurry and unfocused.

Amidst the haze, I heard a soft cry, a gentle plea for reassurance. "Oh, my baby," a voice filled with concern and love whispered. "Will she be alright?"

A comforting response followed, a voice calming the worried mother. "Your Grace, she appears malnourished and fatigued for now, but rest assured, she will soon recover. Don't worry."

With a surge of realization, I instantly recognized the tender voice that belonged to Laritza's mother, Reina Von Jager . It marked the beginning of my role, the path I had chosen. I found myself questioning, seeking affirmation from an unknown source. Was this the moment I had been waiting for?

The absence of her actual daughter weighed heavily upon me. I possessed none of Laritza's memories, yet her mother's voice stirred something within me, an empathetic ache. I understood, without explanation, the depths of her mother's love. And so, I knew what I must do.

"I have to act," I thought. "Pull yourself together. Even if you were to confess that you are not their beloved daughter, wouldn't it shatter their hearts?"

Caught in the turmoil of conflicting emotions, I felt torn asunder. But my survival instinct prevailed, urging me to reclaim control. With a deep breath, I summoned the strength to speak, my voice trembling but resolute.

"Where... where am I?" I uttered, my words hesitant yet laced with curiosity.

I opened my eyes, my eyelids and rest of my body felt immensely heavy and exhausted, and I felt faint due to thirst and hunger, but I managed to sit up after struggling a bit.

There were three people in the room: a young woman in a maid outfit, an old man wearing gloves and a black coat, and a graceful middle-aged woman who looked eerily familiar, like the reflection I saw in the mirror yesterday.

I immediately recognized the maid who had taken care of me before. Standing beside her was an old man who seemed like a doctor. And the beautiful middle-aged woman... I remembered her voice from yesterday. "She must be Laritza's mother," I thought.

She looked at me with worry and nervousness, asking,

"How are you feeling, Pumpkin?"

Her voice was sweet but husky, and I felt a lump in my throat. She could be kind, but I had to stick to the plan I had prepared; otherwise, nothing would go as intended.

I glanced at them, trying my best to appear shocked, and asked,

"Who are you?"

Suddenly, the middle-aged woman burst into tears, and my mind went blank. I was never good at comforting people. Then, her eyes met mine.

"My sweet baby, can't you recognize me?"

Even though I felt guilty for making her cry, I had to pretend as if I had lost my memories. Well, it wasn't really pretending since I didn't have any memories of being Laritza. I forced myself to focus on playing the role of a girl who had lost all her memories.

"I... I'm sorry, I don't remember anything specific. It's all a bit foggy, like something is clouding my mind."

The middle-aged woman looked at me with concern and sniffled gracefully. "My baby, are you saying you don't remember your mother?" She muttered something about how this couldn't be possible and then turned to the old man, her anger evident.

"Doctor Smith, you just told us there was nothing wrong with her. Will my daughter get better?"

The doctor looked bewildered, as if he was trying to diagnose me correctly after witnessing my acting skills.

"Your grace, the young lady seems to be displaying symptoms of amnesia. Although the head injury she sustained wasn't strong enough to cause damage to her skull or brain, if she recently experienced a shock or trauma, both issues might have triggered each other. And..."

The doctor seemed terrified, fearing the consequences if he upset the most feared Dukedom in the empire. He quickly embellished my acting with the symptoms he conjured up within seconds.

It was wrong of me to put him in this position, but I couldn't afford to worry about the feelings or well-being of everyone around me if I wanted to survive this story.

After the doctor's lengthy explanation, Laritza's mother appeared more at ease. Her gaze shifted from the doctor to me.

-"My dear child, don't worry. As long as you focus on healing and getting better, your mother will do everything she can to help you. Right now, all you need to do is rest and recover. Mommy loves you."

She then signalled to the maid standing by the door, and two new maids entered the room with trays.

The Duchess gave me a sad smile and cast a fierce look at the doctor. Both of them left the room, and I could see that the doctor was trembling until the very end.

One of the young maids approached me nervously, holding a tray in her hand.

"My lady, you haven't eaten anything for the past couple of days. I brought warm porridge that's easy to digest before your medicine. Is there anything else you need, my lady?"

The other maid was opening the curtains, while this young maid trembled with nervousness, waiting for my reply.

Even though I had lost my memories, I had to act like a noble girl.

"No, this is enough. You may both leave."

I turned to the maid I recognized from before. None of the staff or maids of the Dukedom were mentioned in the story, but it made sense that a personal maid was always on standby instead of the regular maids. I didn't know if the ducal couple would announce my amnesia to everyone, but for now, it was better to keep it as a secret among those who could be trusted with it.

"You there, come closer," I said, trying to sound as authoritative as possible. Ugh, this wasn't going to be easy.

As if she sensed my internal struggle, the maid approached with a smile. "What can I do for you, my lady?"

"You can start by telling me your name."

"Anne-Marie, my lady, but you used to call me Anne."

"What about mine, my mother..." I asked her about the Dukedom, the names of the staff, and their distinct characteristics. Of course, I was mostly interested in learning about the villainess I possessed, Laritza.

After finishing the meal and swallowing the disgusting medicine, I tried to focus on my survival plan.

The date was July 28th, 627, of the imperial calendar. I was terrible at remembering things, especially when it came to time and numbers. If only I were better, I could have remembered the entire story and would have fewer problems. If I had known I would possess Laritza, I would have memorized every sentence of that webcomic.

*****

Yesterday, Laritza's mother mentioned annulment of engagement.

The only engagement Laritza had was with Frederick Ferdinand De Regale,her maternal cousin.

Their engagement counted as annuled due to Emperor's sudden death and Crown Prince disappearance. So this means Emperor Abraham ( father of the crown prince and bastard prince) has recently been assassinated by their uncle, who has been crowned as the new Emperor .

So we are in the middle of the story.

It's not so bad, actually.

Cause upon till this point, Jagers had merely been mentioned as influential figures with neutral stance.

Crown Prince thought about using Laritza for means of taking power from neutral Dukedom and her stance in the social circle, but then he realised she was too much for him to handle.

However, Ezekiel found out about Laritza's involvement in bullying Elonara and helping their cousin (a son who is as treacherous as his father ), and they decided to eliminate her.

But if the engagement annulment is new that means Emperor Benjamin has only been Emperor, it probably has been days or at most few months , him still being the owner of the throne means none of the things Laritza's did for power , hasn't happened yet.

I decided to write what remember in a notebook , it was language only I could understand,I got this idea when i was watching Lord of The Rings as a kid, different letters, different grammer, reading them in backwards, mixed of couple different languages so it sounds foreign enough.

Well ofcourse it wasn't much of a linguistic invention, but I could understand, and I could keep everything I know in secret this way.

I started with noting the dates and important events and important figures in the story.

**********

Abraham Ferdinand De Regale was the oldest of the siblings he had a younger brother and two sisters.

His sisters' marriages were done for the sake of proximity of their kingdom.

But as a man and the future King , Crown Prince Abraham had the chance to choose his brides .

He got engaged and within a year married the youngest daughter of the Marquees Kobalt, Elena Kobalt.

They married in I.C 609th.

Elena Kobalt was the sister of Laritza's mother, Reina.

Reina, the oldest daughter of Marquees Kobalt, became Reina Kobalt Von Jager The Duchess of the Mountfield, and Elena became the Crown Princess Elena Kobalt De Regale and soon future Empress of the Bolawine Empire.

Approximately in I.C 610th Isabelle Solemn married the old Emperor, and She became Isabelle Solemn De Regale.

After a year, the old emperor Henry II. Ferdinand De Regale died, and Abraham first Ferdinand De Regale crowned as a new Emperor.

After couple months she gave birth to Ezekiel but because Ezekiel was a bastard child so he didn't get the name which was giving to princes of Empire , his name stayed as Ezekiel Solemn De Regale instead of Ezekiel Ferdinand De Regale.

Around the spring of 620th, I.C Isabelle Solemn De Regale passed away and around the winter of 622th I.C. Ezekiel ran away from the tower.

He met Elonara between 622-624th, I think.

Abraham Ferdinand De Regale passed in May of 627th I.C.

Benjamin Ferdinand De Regale has been crowned as the new Emperor.

And now it is the mid summer of 627th of I.C.

Kobalt family had a distinctive feature, their silver hair.

Empress Elena and Duchess Reina both shared their distinctive genes with their offspring.

Empress Reina and Emperor Abraham's only child also had this distinctive feature, Crown Prince Frederick; he had silver hair from his mother, and the eye colour solely belonged to Regale royalty ; ruby eyes.

Well as from anyone can guess, Laritza and Frederick were cousins, and also, they were engaged.

Cause ever since Laritza can remember, she wanted to be exactly like her aunt, the Empress.

Perhabs If people around her never feed this obsession , she wouldn't do as much as she did .

Everyone always treated her as the next Empress, which made her fall into abyss when her dreams started to shatter.

For me, I find this inbreeding unacceptable . Well, I am not Laritza, but it just doesn't feel right.

I am not Laritza, and I am not obsessed with being Empress, but that doesn't mean I can reject everything in the story.

I can't just announce my amnesia to public cause that might lead a public ridicule for both Laritza's parents and as a person possessing this body my social life as well.

And since I know Benjamin and his son will fail , I would rather not hold onto their power for protection.

Also from I remember Benjamin's son was engaged to Elonara, the main love interest, daughter of the Count Bachert, and sister of the Knight Commander, Zadiel Vauquelin Bachert, Zadiel the Hawk.

She was one of the most important people in the story.

She was smart and good at reading the room and charming.

But none of the things were the reason for Ezekiel's love for her. He loved her because she was kind and sweet to him.

But I think with someone as calculative as Elonara, there is no chance she didn't know Ezekiel was royalty .

His ruby eyes and dark black hair, he looks exactly like his father.