Chapter Two — Bloody

I don't want to get up. I feel like a college student who has to get up at 4 am, but it's cold and I'm comfortable in bed right now. I'm not going to lie, it's the best. I've never slept in a bed as comfortable as this one. I had woken up slightly and was about to go back to sleep when the door burst open.

"Good morning, Lady Allen," a female voice greeted me.

I sit up on the bed yawning and look at the owner of the voice.

Mrs. Alice looks at me seriously from the door and next to her the same two girls from yesterday greet me with a bow.

"Good morning, Mrs. Alice," I greeted her back with a smile.

She looks at me, still bewildered.

"There's no need for formalities, you can call me Alice, Lady Allen," she says.

"Very well. You can call me Sophia," I reply.

"Very well, Lady Sophia," she says. "These are Lia and Yera, they will be your personal maids. Present yourselves, girls," she asks them.

"Good morning, Lady Sophia, my name is Lia Klin, I am the youngest daughter of Viscount Klin," says the girl with short brown hair. She had olive green eyes and pearly skin. She was shorter than me.

"My name is Yera Ninmin, I am the second daughter of Count Ninmin," says the girl with blonde ash hair and blue eyes.

"A pleasure to meet you," I reply with a smile.

Lia returns the smile while Yera avoids eye contact.

Ahhh I see… It seems like I'm gonna have a lot of annoying situations from now on like all those FMC. That is if i was like them.

"Alright! It's time to get started! The wedding is this afternoon."

Ah... Yes.. the wedding.

And so the war began. A one-hour bath, scented oils and a full-body massage. Then another two hours with make-up, dressing and styling my hair.  Finally, I was in front of the mirror, wearing a long white dress with sky blue details, a diamond necklace and small but beautiful earrings.

"It really looks great on you, Lady Sophia!"

"Ha ha.. thanks Lia."

"Lady Sophia, everything is ready," Alice tells me from the door.

With great regret and care, I walk through the corridors of the mansion. My hands are sweating, my stomach is churning and I want to cry. I had read this novel from beginning to end, I remembered details of the story, even the names that are so hard for me to remember. And the name of the duke was unforgettable.

Aleph Kleas. I remembered it because I had found the meaning of Aleph, which is "leader." They had only mentioned him twice in the whole novel. The first time was when he helped the crown prince with the Empress's troops, and the second time when they sent the villain to marry him. They mention him as someone terrifying, bloodthirsty and sadistic; someone who didn't care about the lives of others, someone arrogant.

At the main door a carriage awaited me, ready to take me to the church. I stopped as I was about to get in. Was I really going to do this, was I going to marry the duke, someone tied to the original story? My stomach churned at the thought that the moment I got into this carriage my only destiny would be death. I try to calm myself at the fact that it never mentioned if the villain really died at the hands of Aleph, it only mentioned that she had left the capital to marry him. I took a deep breath.

"Nothing is set in stone, I can change my ending," I repeated to myself mentally as I got into the carriage. As soon as it starts moving, my already churning stomach starts to take action and I feel like vomiting. Alice, who had gotten into the carriage with me, notices and offers me a handkerchief with a beautiful embroidery on it. I look at her gratefully and take it. I hold it against my mouth, as I feel my eyes fill with tears.

Someday I imagined my wedding. A long white dress, with sparkling and small jewels. A beautiful veil over my head and a heart pounding with excitement in my chest. A church decorated with white fabrics, plants and ribbons. The love of my life waiting at the end of the aisle, as my father walked me down the aisle. My friends and family around me. A smile on my lips and a future ahead of me. I could expect everything, wish for everything.

Now I only felt fear, desperation, anxiety. These weren't the right feelings for a bride, or for any human being.

The carriage stopped in front of the church and my heart stopped. I don't want to get out of the carriage.

How could all those protagonists endure all this? How were they able to take it so lightly? I missed my family, my friends. It was my wedding, but I couldn't even have that.

Alice took my hand warmly. Through the veil I could see that her eyes showed kindness towards the poor bride who didn't even know her groom. The air that had been stuck in my throat finally came out, even with the stomach ache, I felt better than before.

The carriage door opened and a gigantic church stood before me. It had a Renaissance style, like those churches you see in pictures of Italy. My eyes sparkled at the sight of such architecture. I didn't know much about the subject, but I loved this style. Alice's hand on my back brought me back to reality.

I watch as one of the guards offers me his hand to get out of the carriage, I take it hesitantly and get down. Without letting go of my hand, the guard escorts me to the church door, there he lets go and the church door slowly opens.

I stood still, not knowing what to do. The veil covered my face, so I couldn't see much of what was happening inside the church. Alice gave me a gentle pat on the back and I unconsciously started walking down the aisle. I could hear the murmurs around me, a lot of them being about the many rumors there were about Sophia.

"Isn't she the ex-fiancée of the prince?"

"I heard she tried to poison the new crown princess..."

"No way! Is she going to be the new duchess? How low the nobility has fallen now."

The murmurs continued until I reached the end of the aisle. There they stopped abruptly. I kept my head down, not wanting to see the duke.

"...Hey... he is coming, right?" I heard someone say. What were they talking about?

"Maybe...?"

Confused by all the murmurs, I looked up and noticed that there wasn't anyone in front of me except for a poor priest. He was looking at me terrified, as if I were crazy.

I looked around and there was no sign of the duke anywhere. Haha... a groom who didn't even want to have left me standing at the altar. I had gotten nervous for nothing, I had felt the worst on my way here only to be greeted by an empty altar at the end of an aisle. I scoffed, annoyed, this was awful.

I lifted the veil and I could see Alice's anxious gaze staring at me from the church door. It seems she had no idea about this.

I was determined. I wasn't going to cry desperately over this situation. Maybe I can't go back to my original body, but I wasn't going to die at the hands of this irresponsible duke who couldn't even make it to his wedding on time.

The church door opens and everyone turns in that direction. A man in his twenties enters, agitated, with papers in his hand. I frown as he approaches with hurried steps and smiles at me nervously, bows and takes a deep breath.

"For official reasons, Duke Aleph Kleas has appointed me as his representative for this wedding. I apologize to the guests and, of course, to the bride, for this minor inconvenience." He says with a smile looking at all the guests. Then he turns to look at me, nervous. "The Duke feels very ashamed of not being able to be here, but he has sent me for the wedding to go on. Would it be alright for us to continue?" he asks and I smile at him.

"Of course not," I reply with a cheerful smile. His smile disappears from his lips and he looks at me dumbfounded. Everyone falls silent upon hearing my bold answer. "I do not intend to get married if the Duke is not present. You must understand that for a woman, her wedding day is very important, and without the groom, it's not worth it. You understand, right?" I ask with a cold smile, to which the poor man steps back a little, terrified.

"Well, as it seems like there won't be a wedding today, we can..."

The church doors burst open again dramatically, and a tall and somewhat stout man stands in the doorway. Is this seriously happening? Can't they stop entering the church as if it were a dramatic movie?

I squint to see the face of this new character. I could only distinguish bright forest green eyes, staring at me intently, like a memory in the wind, a moment I had forgotten but constantly yearned for.

Well, that was until I noticed the bloodstains on his clothes and my face changed completely. Indeed, everyone here, every single one of them, is BLOODY CRAZY.